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God's Creation and Our Works

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Yielding to God is essential in recognizing that He is the Creator and the Prime Mover in our lives. He shapes and forms us, and our role is to react to His actions by choosing to follow the path He opens before us. Our works are simply the act of yielding to the pressures of His manipulations, as seen in the history of Israel, where He led them through challenges and deliverance, requiring only their willingness to follow. If we resist yielding to the pressures God places on us and choose a different direction, the consequences can be severe, as shown in the accounts of those who died for not following His will. Growth and conversion are the fruits of our yielding to His creative efforts. Without Him, as Jesus stated, we can do nothing in terms of producing spiritual fruit, for it is His work in us that enables any progress. Our response to His calling and actions, such as the scattering of the church, demonstrates our use of free moral agency to yield to His direction. Salvation and the ability to perform good works are not of our own making but are the result of His grace and creative power working within us. He initiates the relationship, calls us, sends forth His Spirit, grants repentance, and empowers us to believe, making it possible for us to respond positively. Yielding to God means acknowledging that we are His workmanship, created for good works which He prepared beforehand. Our task is to express and manifest what He has already placed within us, a process that requires effort but is enabled by His desire and power working in us both to will and to do. This yielding is not about creating ourselves but responding to what He enables us to do, trusting that He is preparing us for specific roles within His Family, even if we do not fully understand our place or purpose.

The Sovereignty of God and Human Responsibility: Part Eleven

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Yielding to God is a vital responsibility for His children, as it reflects our acknowledgment of His sovereignty in our lives. We must strive to submit to His will, recognizing that even the power to submit comes from Him. Salvation is the prize that goes to those who yield to His will, showing by their lives that He is indeed their sovereign. Jesus admonishes us to strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many will seek to enter and will not be able. Submitting to His will entails work, as we must overcome resisting human nature, Satan, and ingrained habits. God is the Potter with the power to mold and shape as He wills, and as the clay, our job is to yield to Him. The secret of growth in Christian character largely lies in realizing our powerlessness and acknowledging it before Him. Jesus declares that without Him, we can do nothing of true, godly, spiritual nature that glorifies Him. We must constantly turn to Him, for passivity declares that we think we need nothing and are sufficient unto ourselves. In order for Him to complete His purpose in us, we must become as little children: trusting, innocent, open, wide-eyed, teachable, yielding, and pliable. The sovereign God balances the help He gives to allow enough resistance from human nature to test us, building endurance, perseverance, trust in Him, hope, patience, love, sincerity, willingness to sacrifice, vision, understanding, and wisdom. On one hand resides His sovereignty, with all power and wisdom to express His will and carry out His purpose to create us in His image; on the other hand is our human responsibility to yield to His will, allowing Him free rein to mold and shape according to His desire and within His timeframe.

God Works in Mysterious Ways (Part Five)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Yielding to God is a profound responsibility that requires complete and total surrender to the Father and the Son, allowing Them to perform Their creative work within us. Christianity is not a casual endeavor but a full-time occupation, centered on yielding to Them so that we are shaped into Their image. We are a new creation, tasked with the duty to give our lives over as a living sacrifice, aligning our faith with God's intended purpose. Without this yielding, we cannot produce fruit that glorifies Him, as we desperately need a relationship with our High Priest, Jesus Christ, to be part of God's Kingdom. Only through divine intervention can our carnal nature, focused on earthly things and driven by self-satisfaction, be mastered, and this mastery must begin at the desire stage to prevent sin from taking hold.

God's Special Presence and Direct Intervention

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

The scattering of the early church strengthened it, allowing fresh seed to be scattered in new fields. The 'bad' thing actually increased the church's power.

Living by Faith: God's Grace (Part Three)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Grace implies empowerment for growth. It is the single most important aspect of our salvation, and His giving of it is completely unmerited on our part.

God and Self-Government

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The New Covenant, wherein God writes His law on the heart and gives His Spirit, empowers God's people to obey without the need for external control.

Reconciliation and the Day of Atonement

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Repentance is something we must do with our God-given free moral agency. Reconciliation is an ongoing process that enables us to draw closer to what God is.

Deuteronomy: What Is God Looking For?

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Deuteronomy constitutes instruction for the Israel of God, serving as a compass and guide, preparing God's people to enter the Kingdom of God.

Spiritual Maturity

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The Kingdom parables allude to the process of spiritual maturity, depicting a planted and cultivated seed becoming a sprout, eventually bearing fruit.

Two Contrary Visions

Sermon by John O. Reid

God has a vision for us, a vision He has been planning from the foundation of creation, an awesome plan to bring us into His very family, giving us His mind.

Firstfruits and the Master Potter

Sermon by Clyde Finklea

The Potter and Clay analogy provides instructions for understanding character-building tests and trials in the life-long sanctification process.

Sin and Overcoming (Part 3): The Battle For Eternal Life

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

The Laodicean temperament falls far short in promoting the processes of overcoming and repentance. Spiritual growth and godly behavior take tremendous work.

Eating: How Good It Is! (Part Five)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Both food and information are readily available in the West. What is our approach to them? Our attitude toward and application of them makes all the difference.

Marriage and the Bride of Christ (Part One)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Wives are admonished to submit to their husbands, children to their parents, servants to their overseers, and we all are admonished to submit to one another.

Unity and Unleavened Bread

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

As members of Christ's body, we must function for the good of the whole body, not competing with other parts. We must continually function as a son of God.

Limiting the Holy One of Israel (Part Two)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

We limit God through our willful sin and disobedience, pride and self confidence, ignorance and blindness, and our fear of following Him.

Submitting (Part 1)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Liberty without guidelines will turn into chaos. We will be free only if we submit to the truth. All authority, even incompetent authority, derives from God.

All in All

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

What does 'all in all' mean in relation to God and Christ? It has great significance to Christians today as they seek the Kingdom of God.