DEUTERONOMY 10:12-15 "AND NOW, ISRAEL, WHAT DOES THE LORD THY GOD REQUIRE OF THEE, BUT TO FEAR THE LORD THY GOD, TO WALK IN ALL HIS WAYS, AND TO LOVE HIM, AND TO SERVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, [13] TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD, AND HIS STATUTES, WHICH I COMMAND THEE THIS DAY FOR THY GOOD? [14] BEHOLD THE HEAVEN AND THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS IS THE LORD’S THY GOD, THE EARTH ALSO, WITH ALL THAT THEREIN IS. [15] ONLY THE LORD HAD A DELIGHT IN THY FATHERS TO LOVE THEM, AND HE CHOSE THEIR SEED AFTER THEM, EVEN YOU ABOVE ALL PEOPLE, AS IT IS THIS DAY."
Allegiance is defined as the loyalty owed by a subject to his or her sovereign. Synonyms for allegiance are loyalty, commitment, adherence, faithfulness and duty.
I. The meaning of allegiance
A. Fearing the Lord
1. Psalms 33:8 "Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him."
2. To fear means to reverence and honor, to hold in high esteem, to respect.
3. Jim Elliot wrote "In reading the Scriptures, I find a great moral power. Therein am I made aware of two great forces for good in human experience: the "fear" of God and the "grace" of God. Without the fear of God, I should not stop at doing evil; the fear of God restrains from evil. Without the grace of God, I should have no desire to approach positive goodness. The one is a deterrent from evil; the other an encouragement to good."
4. Romans 3:18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
B. Walking in His ways
1. Psalms 86:11 "Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name."
2. Psalms 119:1 "ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD."
3. Tozer - To many Christians, Christ is little more than an idea, or at best an ideal--He is not a fact. Millions of professed believers talk as if He were real and act as if He were not. Our actual position is always to be discovered by the way we act, not by the way we talk.
4. God didn’t call me to find fulfillment in the quantity of my work for him but in the quality of my walk with him.
C. Loving Him
1. Deuteronomy 6:5 "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."
2. Matthew 22:37-38 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment."
3. C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) A man’s spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God.
D. Serving Him with heart and soul
1. Psalms 100:2 "Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
2. I Thessalonians 1:9 "For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;"
3. Ignatius of Loyola - Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest: to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do thy will.
E. Keeping His commandments
1. Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
2. 1 John 2:3 "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."
3. Psalms 119:2 "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart."
II. The reasons for allegiance
A. It is beneficial to us - verse 13
1. Jeremiah 32:39-40 "And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: [40] And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me."
2. Deuteronomy 5:29 "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!"
3.
B. God is the Supreme Sovereign of eternity - verse 14
1. I Kings 18:21 "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."
2. If God is to be God over us, we must yield him universal obedience in all things. He must not be over us in one thing and under us in another, but he must be over us in everything.
C. He chose you - verse 15
1. II Chronicles 29:11 "My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense."
2. You have to celebrate your chosenness constantly. This means saying "thank you" to God for having chosen you, and "thank you" to all who remind you of your chosenness. Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an "accident," but a divine choice.
3. John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
