WEBVTT 00:00:00.730 --> 00:00:04.389 None of us could have imagined that President 00:00:04.389 --> 00:00:09.910 Gorbachev would be overthrown in a coup, nor 00:00:09.910 --> 00:00:12.150 after that event could we have imagined that 00:00:12.150 --> 00:00:15.089 he would be returned to power so swiftly as he 00:00:15.089 --> 00:00:21.570 was. As those events were unfolding, I went to 00:00:21.570 --> 00:00:25.149 the book of Isaiah and did some meditating there, 00:00:25.510 --> 00:00:27.969 upon the truth of God's sovereignty in the nations 00:00:27.969 --> 00:00:33.000 of the world. And I was reminded again how the 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.859 positions that men hold are but stewardship given 00:00:35.859 --> 00:00:40.140 by God himself. Whether they be godly or ungodly 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:44.140 it makes no difference. God raises up rulers 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:47.240 and when he has accomplished his purpose he puts 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:51.320 them aside. And all that God is doing in that 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:56.140 part of the world we cannot know. I'm sure that 00:00:56.140 --> 00:01:02.869 what we see exposes tremendous tumult in the 00:01:02.869 --> 00:01:07.370 spirit world, in the realm of spiritual warfare, 00:01:08.810 --> 00:01:11.329 in the fight between the forces of God and the 00:01:11.329 --> 00:01:16.569 forces of Satan. What we see taking place in 00:01:16.569 --> 00:01:19.750 human events reflects all of that in some way, 00:01:20.310 --> 00:01:22.670 and I say we cannot really know what it's all 00:01:22.670 --> 00:01:26.159 about, but our prayer is that what is taking 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.340 place will be for the advance of the gospel. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:33.099 We're always safe when we pray for the advance 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:40.760 of the gospel. And I believe also that God is 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:43.060 in some way preparing that part of the world 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:47.939 for the end time events. I'm not saying that 00:01:47.939 --> 00:01:51.510 what happened this week has any particular prophecy 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:54.489 and scripture in view. In fact, I don't believe 00:01:54.489 --> 00:01:58.510 that to be the case. But it is setting the stage 00:01:58.510 --> 00:02:03.069 for what is going to come according to the scriptures. 00:02:04.650 --> 00:02:07.590 We have witnessed world history. And we have 00:02:07.590 --> 00:02:11.530 seen how a position in the realm of government 00:02:11.530 --> 00:02:19.009 can be lost unexpectedly. Position. Position. 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:25.620 is as lasting as the power that one has to sustain 00:02:25.620 --> 00:02:31.539 it. In the human realm, the power to sustain 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:35.860 position is predicated upon several things. It 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:39.400 can be predicated upon human will and determination 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:43.979 to stay in power. It is also predicated upon 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:47.870 human institutions. For example, the Communist 00:02:47.870 --> 00:02:50.229 Party, which is no longer much of an institution 00:02:50.229 --> 00:02:54.810 in Russia. Position and the ability to keep it 00:02:54.810 --> 00:02:59.349 is predicated upon human loyalty. Gorbachev was 00:02:59.349 --> 00:03:01.830 overthrown at least temporarily because of the 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:05.009 disloyalty of men who were the closest to him. 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:10.949 Human position, position in the natural realm 00:03:10.949 --> 00:03:16.509 is only as secure as the power is that one has 00:03:16.509 --> 00:03:21.270 to sustain that position. How different it is 00:03:21.270 --> 00:03:27.210 in the realm of spiritual things. In that realm, 00:03:27.830 --> 00:03:33.729 position is decreed by God Himself. And one's 00:03:33.729 --> 00:03:40.030 position spiritually is determined by God and 00:03:40.030 --> 00:03:45.879 kept by God according to His power and his sovereignty. 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:51.479 Now it is with respect to that idea, that concept, 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:56.960 that we examine the good gift of God for today's 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:01.400 study. Because the Christian has received from 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:08.599 God the gift of position, which is packaged in 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:14.830 the word adoption. Our text is found in Galatians, 00:04:14.830 --> 00:04:16.990 and I invite you to look back there once more 00:04:16.990 --> 00:04:27.029 with me in the fourth chapter. Verse four says, 00:04:27.149 --> 00:04:31.310 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent 00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:34.670 forth his Son, born of a woman born under the 00:04:34.670 --> 00:04:38.290 law, in order that he might redeem those who 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:42.579 were under the law, that we might receive the 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:49.699 adoption. The adoption as sons, it is put. The 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:52.939 Christian has received from God the gift of position 00:04:52.939 --> 00:04:58.779 that is packaged in that concept, adoption as 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:03.519 sons. It's important for us to understand the 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.519 meaning of this idea, adoption. Literally the 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:17.449 word means to place as a son. To place as a son. 00:05:19.269 --> 00:05:21.829 When we think of adoption, we think of bringing 00:05:21.829 --> 00:05:27.930 into one's custodial care an individual, usually 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:34.149 a child, that is not naturally born to us. It 00:05:34.149 --> 00:05:38.129 is a very wonderful idea. And there are a number 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:41.829 of families in our church that have experienced 00:05:41.829 --> 00:05:47.009 the joy of that kind of adoption. But that is 00:05:47.009 --> 00:05:54.329 not the primary meaning of this word. Rooted 00:05:54.329 --> 00:06:00.930 in the Roman culture, we examine this word adoption. 00:06:03.589 --> 00:06:09.569 It was a ceremony whereby one's own born son 00:06:09.569 --> 00:06:16.990 was adopted into or placed into the status of 00:06:16.990 --> 00:06:26.269 adulthood with all of its privileges. The Jewish 00:06:26.269 --> 00:06:29.670 and Greek cultures as well as the Roman culture 00:06:29.670 --> 00:06:34.660 had a ceremony like this. The Jews still call 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:39.980 it today bar mitzvah. It normally occurs when 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.379 a boy is near the age of puberty, around the 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:48.600 age of 13, and in that ceremony this boy becomes 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:54.279 a man. It is a ceremony that parallels the idea 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:59.339 of adoption. A new status is given to this child. 00:07:00.569 --> 00:07:03.610 No longer is he looked upon by the family, by 00:07:03.610 --> 00:07:08.949 the father, as a child in training, as a minor, 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:13.129 but from that point on he is counted as an adult, 00:07:14.850 --> 00:07:21.430 as a son in the family. For most of us a better 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:25.029 parallel to grasp this might be a commencement 00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:28.670 exercise in a college. Many of us have been through 00:07:28.670 --> 00:07:32.439 that. that sometimes were the futile exercise. 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:36.779 And we have gone across the stage and we have 00:07:36.779 --> 00:07:41.879 received a degree of some sort. And normally 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:45.259 the president of the institution or an appropriate 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:49.879 dean says something like this, I confer this 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:54.740 degree upon you with all the rights and privileges 00:07:54.740 --> 00:08:00.740 pertaining thereto. And at that moment, you become 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:05.339 a graduate of the institution. No longer a student. 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:12.420 A graduate. No longer a student who borrows money. 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:18.939 Now a graduate who owes it. In that instant, 00:08:19.180 --> 00:08:22.680 a change is made in one's status. All of the 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:27.199 rights and privileges pertaining thereto. It's 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:29.399 sometimes hard to figure out what those are right 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:32.059 after you graduate. Usually it means to go to 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:35.460 the back of the line and work forward. But there 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:38.720 are rights and privileges that accompany a degree. 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.000 And so it is with the idea of becoming a son 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:48.659 in the family. One writer has summarized the 00:08:48.659 --> 00:08:52.659 custom this way in the Roman world. It was customary 00:08:52.659 --> 00:08:57.070 for the father to take his son into the forum, 00:08:57.629 --> 00:09:01.809 the public arena. And there from a public platform 00:09:01.809 --> 00:09:05.509 he would say to the citizens of the city, this 00:09:05.509 --> 00:09:11.549 is my son. He has now come of age. He inherits 00:09:11.549 --> 00:09:15.350 my name, my property, and my social position. 00:09:17.389 --> 00:09:20.750 Then the father would take off of the boy his 00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:26.299 youthful toga pretexta, it was called, and put 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:30.820 on him the toga virilis, which means the coat 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:35.059 of a man. It was a simple ceremony. It wasn't 00:09:35.059 --> 00:09:37.659 necessarily elaborate, but it was very, very 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:43.320 meaningful because it changed the status of that 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:46.639 child so that now the child was considered a 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:53.210 son, an adult. Adoption in God's family is somewhat 00:09:53.210 --> 00:09:57.370 similar. The Apostle draws upon that picture, 00:09:58.590 --> 00:10:02.370 that experience to tell us that we have been 00:10:02.370 --> 00:10:07.350 adopted by God in His family so that we are now 00:10:07.350 --> 00:10:12.570 adults. When he uses the word sons, he's not 00:10:12.570 --> 00:10:15.970 referring to the male gender only. This is for 00:10:15.970 --> 00:10:19.600 females as well, all of us. For, he tells us 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.299 in chapter 3, there is now no difference as far 00:10:22.299 --> 00:10:25.799 as our position in Christ is concerned, male 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:30.519 or female. God declares all of us not only to 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:37.259 be His born children, but also to be His adult 00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:42.720 children by adoption. I'd like you to turn over 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.580 a few pages to Ephesians chapter 1 and there 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:47.860 look at another text where the word is used. 00:10:49.630 --> 00:10:53.490 In verse 3, the apostle begins to enumerate the 00:10:53.490 --> 00:10:57.529 spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. He 00:10:57.529 --> 00:11:01.210 says in verse 4, he, God the Father, chose us 00:11:01.210 --> 00:11:05.549 in him, Christ, before the foundation of the 00:11:05.549 --> 00:11:09.049 world, that we should be holy and blameless before 00:11:09.049 --> 00:11:15.590 him. And so we have election. Then he says, In 00:11:15.590 --> 00:11:23.789 love he predestined us to adoption as sons through 00:11:23.789 --> 00:11:27.909 Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind 00:11:27.909 --> 00:11:31.629 intention of his will, to the praise of the glory 00:11:31.629 --> 00:11:35.730 of his grace which he freely bestowed on us in 00:11:35.730 --> 00:11:39.870 the beloved. From this text we learn that this 00:11:39.870 --> 00:11:43.809 whole adoption process, or declaration rather, 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:50.179 is predestined by God for those whom he has chosen 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:56.059 to be children in his family. To be predestined 00:11:56.059 --> 00:11:58.360 means to be marked out ahead of time and what 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:01.460 God has done is to choose those who will be a 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:03.879 part of his family and he's marked them out ahead 00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:08.259 of time not only to be his chosen ones but to 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:13.820 be his adopted sons. We notice here that this 00:12:13.820 --> 00:12:18.340 action is based not upon them and what they do, 00:12:18.340 --> 00:12:22.179 what we do, but it is based solely upon the work 00:12:22.179 --> 00:12:26.240 of Jesus Christ on our behalf. He says the adoption 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:33.419 of sons through Jesus Christ. It is through the 00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:37.340 cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ that any 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:43.519 of us are fitted to become the sons. of God. 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.039 Furthermore, you notice that it reflects a personal 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:51.059 relationship between God as Father and these 00:12:51.059 --> 00:12:54.440 whom he declares to be his sons. For it is through 00:12:54.440 --> 00:13:01.240 Jesus Christ to himself. It is the embrace of 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:05.919 a father for his children. It is the warmth of 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:10.279 a father's love that causes these children now 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:15.700 to be related to Him in this adult, responsible, 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:20.480 privileged sense. It is an action, furthermore, 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:25.960 which expresses God's kind intention. And thus, 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:30.399 it is done to the praise of His grace, and not 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:34.940 to the individual's own personal glory. Why has 00:13:34.940 --> 00:13:39.759 God done this? Why has God seen fit to make us 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:44.059 not only children but sons in His family? It 00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:48.139 is to the praise of His grace, which He has freely 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:51.519 bestowed on us in Jesus Christ, His beloved Son. 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:56.259 It is not just for our glory, for our pomp and 00:13:56.259 --> 00:13:59.600 circumstance. No, no. It is for the glory of 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:04.799 God that He will be kind in showing His love 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:09.200 to us through eternity. It is for the praise 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:13.899 of His grace that He says to us, You are mine 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:18.600 and I am yours. We sang that beautiful hymn this 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:22.379 morning, I am His and He is mine, based upon 00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:27.600 the song of Solomon. It is a relationship that 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.399 God establishes with us as those whom He has 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:36.480 chosen before the foundation of the world. It 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.240 is important to understand that this adoption 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:45.279 took place simultaneous with our faith in Christ. 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:48.320 It was not something that occurred subsequently. 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:51.440 Furthermore, it is important to note that it's 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:55.120 for all believers, not for a few who happen to 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:00.379 be more spiritual. But all believers, at the 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:04.389 instant that they are born into God's family 00:15:04.389 --> 00:15:08.809 also have conferred upon them the status of adulthood. 00:15:11.649 --> 00:15:16.690 That this is true is evidenced by the personal 00:15:16.690 --> 00:15:21.809 resident indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the 00:15:21.809 --> 00:15:26.049 believer, whom God has surely sent to indwell 00:15:26.049 --> 00:15:30.399 us as much as he sent his son according to Galatians 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:34.360 chapter 4. I would like to take just one moment 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.740 to turn to another passage that embraces this 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:42.120 idea of adoption. It's in Romans chapter 8, where 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:49.000 we'll pick it up in verse 14. For all who are 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:51.679 being led by the Spirit of God, these are the 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.950 sons of God. For you have not received a spirit 00:15:55.950 --> 00:15:59.730 of slavery leading to fear again, but you have 00:15:59.730 --> 00:16:05.389 received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which 00:16:05.389 --> 00:16:12.230 we cry out Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears 00:16:12.230 --> 00:16:14.570 witness with our spirit that we are children 00:16:14.570 --> 00:16:18.649 of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of 00:16:18.649 --> 00:16:22.460 God and fellow heirs with Christ. If indeed we 00:16:22.460 --> 00:16:24.820 suffer with Him in order that we may also be 00:16:24.820 --> 00:16:30.580 glorified with Him. And so we see that we who 00:16:30.580 --> 00:16:33.100 are being led by the Spirit of God are the sons 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:37.120 of God and the Spirit of God indwells us. He 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:41.100 is called here the Spirit of Adoption. And He 00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:45.460 is the one who within us enables us to say truly 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:53.360 and to say from our innermost being, Abba. I 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.659 want to talk more about that as we think concerning 00:16:56.659 --> 00:17:01.220 the implications of our adoption as sons. I just 00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:04.059 want to mention two of them this morning. What 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:09.339 does this mean that I have been adopted as a 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:14.299 son, as an adult, in God's family? Well in the 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:17.619 first place it means that we have an adult relationship 00:17:17.619 --> 00:17:22.799 with God who is our Father. an adult relationship 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:27.819 with Him. We can now, right now in this world, 00:17:28.420 --> 00:17:32.740 enjoy the benefits of our inheritance in Christ. 00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:36.880 Of course, there's one sense in which we cannot 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.579 know the fullness of that inheritance until Christ 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:44.839 comes and we receive the redemption of our bodies, 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.799 our new bodies. But right now there is a sense 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:56.539 in which we can enjoy the benefits of our inheritance 00:17:56.539 --> 00:18:01.460 in Christ. What does that include? Well, it would 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:05.259 include the peace of God in every circumstance. 00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:10.140 You and I can enjoy that right now. We need not 00:18:10.140 --> 00:18:14.049 live lives of anxiety, lives of worry. Right 00:18:14.049 --> 00:18:16.670 now God has made it possible for us to know his 00:18:16.670 --> 00:18:22.250 peace in our hearts. That's part of our inheritance. 00:18:24.069 --> 00:18:26.569 Right now today we can know the assurance of 00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:30.289 God's love and acceptance. That's part of our 00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:33.650 inheritance. This morning as you sit where you 00:18:33.650 --> 00:18:36.009 are you can know the certainty of God's leading 00:18:36.009 --> 00:18:41.369 in your life. That's part of our inheritance. 00:18:42.649 --> 00:18:47.049 Whatever your situation today, you can know the 00:18:47.049 --> 00:18:51.410 grace of God in your challenges because that's 00:18:51.410 --> 00:18:55.970 part of your inheritance. You see right now we 00:18:55.970 --> 00:18:58.670 have an adult relationship with God who is our 00:18:58.670 --> 00:19:01.809 Father and therefore we can enjoy the inheritance. 00:19:03.829 --> 00:19:08.150 Until one has become of adult age he cannot enjoy 00:19:08.150 --> 00:19:12.420 inheritance. That is generally true. Today it 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:17.240 was certainly true in the ancient days. A child 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:22.519 was nothing better than a slave legally until 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:25.099 he came to this time when he was adopted into 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:29.680 the family. Then he had the right of inheritance. 00:19:30.819 --> 00:19:33.119 That's our right from the very moment that we're 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:38.220 born again. because God adopts us into his family 00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:41.920 at that very instant as well. From the very moment 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:44.339 we are saved, we can know the peace of God, we 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:48.599 can know the grace of God, we can know the leading 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:52.720 of God in our lives. We need not wait until sometime 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:59.619 in the future. Today, we can enjoy that. There's 00:19:59.619 --> 00:20:03.559 a wealthy man who once called a faithful assistant 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:07.960 of his into his office and he said to him I put 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:13.240 your name in my will and when I die you're going 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:18.640 to receive a large sum of money and it may be 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.559 sometime before that occurs so therefore I want 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:26.839 to make you happy by paying to you each year 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:31.509 the legal interest on the amount of money you 00:20:31.509 --> 00:20:34.990 will someday receive. And he handed him a check 00:20:34.990 --> 00:20:40.269 for several hundred dollars as a starter. We 00:20:40.269 --> 00:20:43.869 see that clerk was doubly grateful because not 00:20:43.869 --> 00:20:47.369 only did he have the prospect of a future inheritance, 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:51.970 but right then he began to collect on it in a 00:20:51.970 --> 00:20:55.349 very real way. How true that is of us who are 00:20:55.349 --> 00:20:59.140 the children of God. We have a wonderful inheritance 00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:02.019 coming in the future, but even right now God 00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:06.720 as it were is giving us the interest on it That's 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:09.039 what Fanny Crosby meant I think when she wrote 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:14.579 blessed assurance Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste 00:21:14.579 --> 00:21:20.460 of glory divine She was saying the the assurance 00:21:20.460 --> 00:21:24.160 that I have right now of God's love and care 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:29.910 in my life is just the down payment on my inheritance 00:21:29.910 --> 00:21:35.029 to come, the glory that is to come. Not only 00:21:35.029 --> 00:21:38.430 can we enjoy the benefits of our inheritance 00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:41.750 now, but because we are adults in our relationship 00:21:41.750 --> 00:21:44.910 with Him, we can enjoy the fellowship of our 00:21:44.910 --> 00:21:51.690 Heavenly Father now. It is interesting that twice, 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:56.599 we are told that we may address God as Abba. 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:04.140 The word Abba is Aramaic in its origin. It is 00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:09.339 a diminutive expression that was used by children 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:14.000 in that day in talking to their fathers. And 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:18.500 thus it can be legitimately translated in our 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:23.799 tongue, daddy. The point in the word, though, 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:28.400 really is not one of immaturity in relationship 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:33.359 so much as it is intimacy in relationship. The 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:41.299 word daddy expresses trust. It expresses admiration. 00:22:44.339 --> 00:22:48.980 It connotes the dearness in that relationship 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:54.130 between parent and child. It is interesting that 00:22:54.130 --> 00:22:59.750 our Lord Jesus, in his praying, frequently called 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:08.490 God, Abba. Just as much as Jesus addressed God 00:23:08.490 --> 00:23:14.190 by that familiar and intimate word, so the Holy 00:23:14.190 --> 00:23:19.650 Spirit gives us freedom to do the same. Right 00:23:19.650 --> 00:23:24.259 now, today, If you are a child of God, you can 00:23:24.259 --> 00:23:32.019 look into the face of God and say to Him, Abba, 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:41.740 Father, Daddy. It's hard for some of us to understand 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:44.259 the emotion of that because some of us grew up 00:23:44.259 --> 00:23:48.019 in single parent homes and more are doing that 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:53.230 all the time. Some of us did not know a close 00:23:53.230 --> 00:23:57.990 relationship with our fathers. And thus it is 00:23:57.990 --> 00:24:04.309 difficult for us to understand the emotion and 00:24:04.309 --> 00:24:08.890 the intimacy that is encapsulated in this word. 00:24:11.869 --> 00:24:13.869 But you think upon the relationship that you 00:24:13.869 --> 00:24:18.250 had with your parents, your mother perhaps. Or 00:24:18.250 --> 00:24:22.029 maybe it was with a grandparent. or an aunt, 00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:25.650 or uncle, or someone who was very dear to you 00:24:25.650 --> 00:24:31.910 in your days of being reared. And identify the 00:24:31.910 --> 00:24:34.410 warmth that you have for that person with this 00:24:34.410 --> 00:24:37.289 term Abba, and you've got the essence of it. 00:24:38.410 --> 00:24:40.789 Because it means that we may come to God with 00:24:40.789 --> 00:24:46.650 this kind of intimacy and warmth. Thus did Wesley 00:24:46.650 --> 00:24:50.259 write the hymn that is not in many hymnals anymore, 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:55.519 unfortunately. But the words go, Arise, my soul, 00:24:55.779 --> 00:25:00.779 arise. Shake off thy guilty fears. The bleeding 00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:05.660 sacrifice in my behalf appears. Before the throne 00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:10.460 my surety stands, my name is written in his hands. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:16.319 My God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. 00:25:16.859 --> 00:25:22.160 He owns me for His child. I can no longer fear. 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:27.619 With confidence I now draw nigh. And Father, 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:35.359 Abba Father, cry." Because of this gift of adoption, 00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:37.940 you and I can know that relationship with God 00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:41.450 that that brings our inheritance into our daily 00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:45.309 experience and enables us to look into the face 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:48.630 of God and know that we are addressing the most 00:25:48.630 --> 00:25:52.069 intimate, the most dear one in the universe. 00:25:55.769 --> 00:25:59.150 To what extent do these ideas describe your spiritual 00:25:59.150 --> 00:26:05.930 relationship with God? Do you know the dearness 00:26:05.930 --> 00:26:12.970 of God in this way? Are you today experiencing 00:26:12.970 --> 00:26:16.130 the inheritance that God has given you in Christ? 00:26:19.869 --> 00:26:21.990 Not only do we have an adult relationship with 00:26:21.990 --> 00:26:24.150 God who is our Father because of adoption, but 00:26:24.150 --> 00:26:28.430 we also have an adult responsibility to God who 00:26:28.430 --> 00:26:34.809 is our Father. As children become grown -ups, 00:26:36.150 --> 00:26:38.710 what is expected of them dramatically changes 00:26:38.710 --> 00:26:43.029 over the years. Little children are expected 00:26:43.029 --> 00:26:49.170 to dirty their diapers. Little children are expected 00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:54.609 to be careless. Little children are expected 00:26:54.609 --> 00:27:01.230 to be sometimes wasteful and unwise. Little children 00:27:01.230 --> 00:27:05.289 are expected not to take life very seriously 00:27:05.289 --> 00:27:09.329 but to have a lot of fun. For little children 00:27:09.329 --> 00:27:15.130 life is play and play is their work and that's 00:27:15.130 --> 00:27:20.589 important for little children. But when we become 00:27:20.589 --> 00:27:26.869 adults things change dramatically. When we become 00:27:26.869 --> 00:27:34.069 adults we're to be more serious about life. We 00:27:34.069 --> 00:27:38.910 look at life as a stewardship. We see that life 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:43.650 is not all fun and games. Life is very serious. 00:27:44.670 --> 00:27:47.750 Oh, there are fun times, to be sure. And God 00:27:47.750 --> 00:27:50.329 gives us the gift of humor. But the basic attitude 00:27:50.329 --> 00:27:54.529 about life is that life is serious business. 00:27:56.730 --> 00:27:59.650 Because we are adopted as God's children, we 00:27:59.650 --> 00:28:02.009 are expected to look at life that way. There 00:28:02.009 --> 00:28:05.150 really is no period in a Christian's spiritual 00:28:05.150 --> 00:28:11.140 experience for babyness. We have adult privileges 00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:13.900 and adult responsibilities are assumed of us 00:28:13.900 --> 00:28:16.980 from the very beginning of our relationship with 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:20.460 God. But that doesn't mean that we are immediately 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:24.539 spiritual mature. That of course is not true. 00:28:25.660 --> 00:28:29.660 Spiritual maturity takes time, it takes experience, 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:35.019 etc. But as far as our responsibility to God 00:28:35.019 --> 00:28:41.039 is concerned, adoption implies that we are immediately 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:44.859 responsible, that life becomes a stewardship 00:28:44.859 --> 00:28:48.480 for which we are expected to be wise investors, 00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:54.799 that we might receive a maximum gain. And so 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:58.109 when we think of the gift of adoption, We understand 00:28:58.109 --> 00:29:00.829 that it not only brings to us privilege, the 00:29:00.829 --> 00:29:03.789 privilege of inheritance, the privilege of calling 00:29:03.789 --> 00:29:07.970 God Abba, but it brings to us a definite responsibility 00:29:07.970 --> 00:29:13.069 before God. So we don't see life as something 00:29:13.069 --> 00:29:17.730 that we can frivolously live and waste upon ourselves. 00:29:19.390 --> 00:29:24.549 But we see life has been given to us that we 00:29:24.549 --> 00:29:29.990 might return it to God. and apply ourselves to 00:29:29.990 --> 00:29:35.049 it with diligence. The good gift of adoption 00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:40.670 is God's loving declaration, establishing us 00:29:40.670 --> 00:29:45.130 as full heirs of His coming glory and kingdom, 00:29:45.849 --> 00:29:50.589 with all the rights and privileges and responsibilities 00:29:50.589 --> 00:29:54.769 that pertain to it. May I ask you today, does 00:29:54.769 --> 00:30:01.390 your life reflect in its choices, in its behavior, 00:30:02.390 --> 00:30:08.410 in its attitudes, in its direction? Does it reflect 00:30:08.410 --> 00:30:14.049 the reality of this position? Is the position 00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:18.089 that you have as an adult child of God being 00:30:18.089 --> 00:30:21.109 reflected in the practice of your daily living? 00:30:21.950 --> 00:30:25.890 If it's not, then it's time to stop in our tracks. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:32.680 and to address our Father very soberly and seriously. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:36.220 And to say, Father, I haven't been too serious 00:30:36.220 --> 00:30:40.859 up to this point. Father, I haven't learned up 00:30:40.859 --> 00:30:43.700 till now what it really means to be your Son. 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:51.539 But I want to learn that. And I want to fulfill, 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:59.019 and I want to enjoy the position that you've 00:30:59.019 --> 00:31:07.079 given to me in Jesus Christ. Homer and Langley 00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:14.039 Collier were the two only children of a respected 00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:21.220 New York doctor. When the old man died around 00:31:21.220 --> 00:31:25.940 the turn of the century, he left his entire estate 00:31:26.990 --> 00:31:32.589 A vast fortune, including a home, to these two 00:31:32.589 --> 00:31:36.430 men who were bachelors. They were now well secured 00:31:36.430 --> 00:31:39.569 for their whole lives, but the two brothers chose 00:31:39.569 --> 00:31:42.450 a peculiar lifestyle that wasn't at all consistent 00:31:42.450 --> 00:31:45.529 with their material success, or material status, 00:31:45.529 --> 00:31:48.869 I should say, which their inheritance gave to 00:31:48.869 --> 00:31:53.130 them. They lived in almost total seclusion, and 00:31:53.130 --> 00:31:55.630 even boarded up the windows on the mansion in 00:31:55.630 --> 00:31:59.849 which they lived. They padlocked the doors. And 00:31:59.849 --> 00:32:03.210 from the outside of the house, it looked deserted. 00:32:04.950 --> 00:32:09.549 On March 21, 1947, the police received a telephone 00:32:09.549 --> 00:32:13.309 tip from someone that a person had died inside 00:32:13.309 --> 00:32:16.990 the boarded up house. They had to go to the second 00:32:16.990 --> 00:32:21.250 story window to get into the home. And there, 00:32:21.450 --> 00:32:25.450 in a bedroom, they found Homer's corpse on a 00:32:25.450 --> 00:32:31.920 bed. He had died clutching the February 22, 1920 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:35.759 issue of Jewish Morning Journal, though he had 00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:40.039 been totally blind for many years. This weird 00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:44.539 scene was set against an equally grotesque backdrop 00:32:44.539 --> 00:32:48.200 because it seems that the two brothers were collectors. 00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:53.079 Their house was crammed full of broken machinery, 00:32:54.299 --> 00:32:59.200 used auto parts, boxes, appliances, folding chairs, 00:32:59.579 --> 00:33:03.000 musical instruments, rags, assorted odds and 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:07.099 ends, and bundles and bundles of old newspapers 00:33:07.099 --> 00:33:11.200 which they had kept. Virtually everything in 00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:16.140 the house was worthless. Nearly three weeks later, 00:33:16.259 --> 00:33:22.299 a workman was continuing to haul out heaps of 00:33:22.299 --> 00:33:26.599 this refuse when they made a grisly discovery. 00:33:28.019 --> 00:33:30.579 Langley Collier, the other brother, was buried 00:33:30.579 --> 00:33:34.259 beneath a pile of this rubbish and had apparently 00:33:34.259 --> 00:33:39.259 been there for years. He had been crushed to 00:33:39.259 --> 00:33:42.859 death in a crude booby trap which he had built 00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:45.599 to protect his precious collection from anyone 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:49.940 who might intrude into the home. He had died 00:33:49.940 --> 00:33:57.180 in his own trap. Homer and Langley Collier are 00:33:57.180 --> 00:34:00.000 but a sad parable of the way many Christians 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:05.279 choose to live. These brothers had an inheritance 00:34:05.279 --> 00:34:09.139 that was sufficient for all of their needs, and 00:34:09.139 --> 00:34:13.780 yet they lived in unnecessary, self -imposed 00:34:13.780 --> 00:34:21.199 deprivation. Spurning their father's lavish legacy 00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:26.960 given to them, Homer and Langley binged instead 00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:38.260 upon the scraps of the world. Let's pray. I wonder 00:34:38.260 --> 00:34:44.780 if that parable, which is a true story, might 00:34:44.780 --> 00:34:49.539 expose the tendency that some of us have to binge 00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:54.820 upon the scraps of the world. rather than to 00:34:54.820 --> 00:34:59.840 live in the lavish inheritance that God has given 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:07.119 us as His children. Some of us are choosing to 00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:16.420 live life as paupers spiritually when God has 00:35:16.420 --> 00:35:20.300 called us to be princes of His kingdom and provided 00:35:20.300 --> 00:35:26.639 for us as such. May our hearts today hunger to 00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:34.059 know the reality of God's inheritance and the 00:35:34.059 --> 00:35:39.219 intimacy of his fellowship as Abba. And may there 00:35:39.219 --> 00:35:44.400 be a deep desire in us, Father, to fulfill the 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:48.719 responsibility that you've given to us in calling 00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:57.639 us your sons. Sing with me, please, this chorus. 00:36:23.710 --> 00:36:28.949 Let's stand together with our heads bowed. In 00:36:28.949 --> 00:36:40.090 our church, Lord, be glorified. Be glorified. 00:36:40.849 --> 00:36:55.070 In our church, Lord, be glorified today. Father, 00:36:56.469 --> 00:37:01.829 throw your arms around us. Embrace those of us 00:37:01.829 --> 00:37:04.349 who are your children afresh this morning in 00:37:04.349 --> 00:37:09.090 the truth of your Word. Show us its glory. And 00:37:09.090 --> 00:37:13.530 by the Holy Spirit who lives in us, warm our 00:37:13.530 --> 00:37:16.210 hearts in this relationship that we can enjoy 00:37:16.210 --> 00:37:21.150 with you now. Father, I pray that our hearts 00:37:21.150 --> 00:37:23.650 will likewise be burdened for those who know 00:37:23.650 --> 00:37:28.829 not Jesus, who are not the sons of God nor the 00:37:28.829 --> 00:37:32.389 children of God through faith in Christ, and 00:37:32.389 --> 00:37:39.070 who truly are paupers. O God, give us great burden 00:37:39.070 --> 00:37:42.829 to share your wealth with them, for surely in 00:37:42.829 --> 00:37:46.510 the lavish riches of your grace there is provision 00:37:46.510 --> 00:37:50.239 for them too. if they would become to Christ. 00:37:51.860 --> 00:37:54.699 Bless our witness to our friends and family this 00:37:54.699 --> 00:37:59.039 week as we seek to reach them for Jesus' sake. 00:38:00.699 --> 00:38:03.739 Amen. God bless you, we're dismissed.