The Holy Spirit-ual Life (Romans 8:12-17)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:07.080 Please remain standing. Let's give our attention to God's word in Romans Eight, 2 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:19.949 Romans eight verses twelve through seventeen. Romans eight, verses twelve through seventeen. 3 00:00:19.989 --> 00:00:26.500 Let's hear God's word. So, then, brothers, we are debtors, 4 00:00:26.739 --> 00:00:31.140 not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, for if you 5 00:00:31.260 --> 00:00:36.810 live according to the flesh, you will die, but if, by the 6 00:00:37.009 --> 00:00:41.369 spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 7 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:46.369 For All who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God, 8 00:00:47.210 --> 00:00:51.280 for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, 9 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:57.200 but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry 10 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:03.600 Abba Father, the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children 11 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:10.310 of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow 12 00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:15.310 heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also 13 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:40.849 be glorified with him, he may be seated. In Romans Chapter Eight, 14 00:01:42.049 --> 00:01:48.760 Paul has been showing us the implications of the Gospel. What does it mean 15 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.239 that, as Christians, we believe that we are saved by faith alone, 16 00:01:55.239 --> 00:02:00.750 through the righteousness of Christ imputed to US credited to us and his forgiveness of 17 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:06.469 our sins, God's forgiveness of our sins through Christ's work on the Cross. 18 00:02:06.709 --> 00:02:09.669 What does that mean? What kind of people are we? What kind of 19 00:02:10.069 --> 00:02:16.939 lives do we live? Well, here in this particular passage, Paul continues 20 00:02:17.099 --> 00:02:23.379 to draw out implications of that for us. He makes a conclusion right there 21 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:28.340 at the beginning. He says we are debtors not to the flesh, to 22 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:31.650 live according to the flesh. Therefore, the opposite is true. We are 23 00:02:32.050 --> 00:02:37.409 debtors of God, to live according to God, or we are debtors of 24 00:02:37.449 --> 00:02:42.770 the spirit, in particular, to live according to the spirit. And he 25 00:02:42.849 --> 00:02:46.879 goes on to say that and to make this kind of conclusion. And when 26 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:52.439 he says this he teaches us this very important thing about our lives. Our 27 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:58.560 spiritual lives are inward lives, and that's that. As Christians, our lives 28 00:02:58.590 --> 00:03:04.830 are lived from beginning to end in and by the spirit of God. If 29 00:03:04.949 --> 00:03:07.909 we are a Christian, if you are a Christian, if you believe in 30 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:14.860 Jesus for your salvation, for the forgiveness of your sins, then something has 31 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:20.300 happened in you, Paul says, you have been reborn. You are now 32 00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:24.900 a son, you belong to a different order and as a result of that, 33 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:30.689 because of your sonship, because of your new birth, it's not just 34 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:35.449 the beginning of your life that's different, but throughout your life it's different. 35 00:03:36.289 --> 00:03:38.530 You don't live according to the flesh anymore. You live according to the spirit, 36 00:03:39.129 --> 00:03:43.159 and the same is true not only at the beginning and the middle, 37 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.639 but also the end. As he says, we are not only children of 38 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:53.039 God by the spirit of adoption, but also airs of God, Fellow Airs 39 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:57.629 with Christ, which means that the things that he has been given are things 40 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:01.629 that we have been given as well. So this is what Paul is saying. 41 00:04:01.669 --> 00:04:05.870 He's saying that the spiritual life is lived from beginning to end in and 42 00:04:06.550 --> 00:04:13.620 by the spirit. Well, Paul's focus here is particularly on the middle portion 43 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:18.220 of that life. That's his focus in the first verse and First First Verse 44 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:23.939 or two. Again, notice what he says. We are debtors not to 45 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:27.449 the flesh, to live according to the flesh, because if you live according 46 00:04:27.490 --> 00:04:32.170 to the flesh, you die. You Die, but if you live according 47 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:35.410 to the spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, then you 48 00:04:35.569 --> 00:04:40.199 live. That's what it means to be a Christian. It means to live 49 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:46.160 in the spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh. But what 50 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.560 does that mean? What does it mean to live according to the spirit, 51 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:53.389 to put to death the deeds of the flesh? Or let me put it 52 00:04:53.470 --> 00:04:57.470 this way, let me ask it in this way. How much holiness does 53 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:01.949 God want in your life? When God washes you by the blood of Christ, 54 00:05:01.990 --> 00:05:08.060 when he justifies you, when he declares you as holy in this objective 55 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:15.300 way, what does he want inwardly from each of us? How much holiness 56 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:23.009 does he want, or how holy should we be? Five percent, ten 57 00:05:23.089 --> 00:05:30.089 percent, maybe ninety five percent? That's pretty high. Well, God wants 58 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:34.410 a hundred percent holiness. He wants us to be holy in every way. 59 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:40.480 His spirit has come into us to cause us to be reborn so that we 60 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:45.720 can be the children of God, made in his image. And when we 61 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:50.670 consider the image of God, How holy is God? Five percent, ten 62 00:05:50.750 --> 00:06:00.069 percent, Ninety five percent? God wants us to be his children. He 63 00:06:00.269 --> 00:06:05.860 wants us to be perfect, but that call to be perfect and no way 64 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:12.660 teaches a doctrine of perfectionism. Sometimes we sort of jump the gun and we 65 00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:15.939 get frustrated with God. We say, I'm supposed to be living this life 66 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:20.529 according to the spirit, but I know I'm not. Paul even assumes that 67 00:06:20.689 --> 00:06:27.850 right. He's speaking to Christians and calls them to put to death the deeds 68 00:06:27.889 --> 00:06:30.810 of the body. These are Christians who have put to death the deeds of 69 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:34.279 the body and are called to continue to put to death the deeds of the 70 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:42.120 body. It's a lifelong process, but it does have an end. SANCTIFICATION 71 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:46.790 has an end. It leads to perfection, it leads to glorification, but 72 00:06:46.910 --> 00:06:51.750 it must go through a process. This is what Paul has in mind when 73 00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:57.029 he put talks at the end of this section or when he writes at the 74 00:06:57.029 --> 00:07:00.149 end of this section, airs of God and Fellow Airs with Christ, provided 75 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:04.540 we suffer with him in order that we also may be glorified with him. 76 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:13.019 Jesus went through a process of suffering before his glorification, and we follow in 77 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:16.410 the steps of our Lord. We don't jump to glorification without going through the 78 00:07:16.490 --> 00:07:23.009 same process of suffering, the same battles, the same fighting. But Paul's 79 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:28.170 concern is how do we do that? How do we live this life? 80 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:31.240 How do we struggle through our flesh? How do we put to death the 81 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:40.240 deeds of the body. The answer is by the spirit. By the spirit. 82 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:45.149 That means that ultimately, it's God who is working in us and that's 83 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:51.029 the life he calls us to live. I want to make one brief comment 84 00:07:51.189 --> 00:07:57.910 about that and then talk to you about the assurance that God offers. The 85 00:07:58.029 --> 00:08:03.779 brief comments is that this doctrine of the spirit working in US and leading us 86 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:09.060 in a process of sanctification to the end of glorification, undermines any kind of 87 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:13.649 idea that you can be a Christian and not care about the things of God. 88 00:08:16.089 --> 00:08:18.610 You can't be a Christian and not be putting to death the deeds of 89 00:08:18.649 --> 00:08:24.370 the body. You can't be a Christian and not have the spirit testifying to 90 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:30.480 you of your adoption as a son. You can't be a Christian and not 91 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:37.960 care about holiness. We are not called to be debtors to the flesh, 92 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:46.590 but debtors to God. John Murray writes it this way. He says the 93 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:52.509 believers, what are the believers? Once for all, Death to the law 94 00:08:52.629 --> 00:08:56.460 and sin does not free him from mortifying sin or putting to death the deeds 95 00:08:56.500 --> 00:09:03.179 of the flesh, but it makes it necessary and possible for him. We 96 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:09.539 come to life. We're able to do this because what God has given us 97 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:13.649 to do. There's a sort of doesn't this make sense kind of argument that 98 00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:18.850 Paul is using and has used throughout this chapter. If you've been freed from 99 00:09:20.009 --> 00:09:24.480 slavery, does it make to any sense to go back into slavery? If 100 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.240 you've been freed from sin, you're not going to go back under the slavery 101 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:35.159 and bondage to sin. Let me use a silly example, if you would 102 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:41.590 indulge me. It seems to me that people with small dogs often get the 103 00:09:41.669 --> 00:09:46.230 dogs off and get bathed a lot more often than the big dogs. least 104 00:09:46.309 --> 00:09:50.830 this was my experience growing up. We had a big dogs, and the 105 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:54.379 reason we didn't bathe these dogs very often, at least the reason I didn't 106 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:58.779 bathe them very often, it's because it's really hard and often it feels kind 107 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:01.019 of fruitless. The dog doesn't seem to get it. You go out there, 108 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:05.379 you get your swimsuit on, you wash the dog down, which isn't 109 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:09.009 easy because their coats repel water often, and then you get the suds in 110 00:10:09.129 --> 00:10:11.049 there and you're a big mass in the dog's a big mess and you finally 111 00:10:11.049 --> 00:10:15.970 get it done. The dog shakes himself off and then rolls around in the 112 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:20.610 grass and runs through the bushes, and that grass isn't always very clean because 113 00:10:20.610 --> 00:10:24.399 the dog does other things in that yard. There's this kind of vanity to 114 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:28.440 the whole thing. Right, you go out and you wash the dog and 115 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.840 then the dog gets all messed up again. It doesn't make sense, right. 116 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:39.990 We're called to be better than that as Christians. God doesn't just wash 117 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:43.190 us. He washes us with the blood of Christ and then for us to 118 00:10:43.269 --> 00:10:48.509 go around and roll in our garbage and to run through the dirty bushes and 119 00:10:48.669 --> 00:10:54.059 to get all messed up again. We haven't really understood what just happened, 120 00:10:54.299 --> 00:11:01.299 right, we haven't understood what God has just done. Well, this is, 121 00:11:01.419 --> 00:11:03.570 of course, the sinfulness of sin and the flesh working in us. 122 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:07.850 This is the kind of thing as Christians that we're fighting against, that we 123 00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:11.169 say no, I don't want to believe that and I don't want to act 124 00:11:11.289 --> 00:11:16.210 that way. And that's what a Christian does. A Christian fights against that 125 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:22.879 and fights against those thoughts and strives to live according to the washing of the 126 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:31.799 blood that they have received. But there is this reality that that Paul speaking 127 00:11:31.870 --> 00:11:35.950 to here. We have to. It makes sense for us not to live 128 00:11:35.990 --> 00:11:39.950 according to the flesh, because we're not debtors to the flesh anymore. We're 129 00:11:39.029 --> 00:11:48.019 debtors to the spirit. But this is hard, this is hard to live, 130 00:11:48.259 --> 00:11:52.220 this life that we are called to live, and we often grow weak. 131 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:58.659 Our faith grows weak, and this is sort of a double problem because, 132 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:05.769 as act eighteen says, sanctification, growing in holiness is by faith. 133 00:12:07.250 --> 00:12:11.450 So wherever your faith is weak, your sanctification is typically weak. It's a 134 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:18.320 double edged sword. But here's the good news. Here's what God does in 135 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:26.080 his word. He strengthens our faith. He calls us to greater sanctification, 136 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:30.269 but he doesn't just say well, get at it, start working for it. 137 00:12:30.389 --> 00:12:33.110 No, he speaks to us. The spirit of God himself speaks to 138 00:12:33.190 --> 00:12:39.789 us through his word and brings a lot of comfort and courage and confidence to 139 00:12:39.950 --> 00:12:46.299 continue in on, to continue on in that battle and to persevere. And 140 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:50.419 that's how I want to spend the rest of our time, to assure you, 141 00:12:52.620 --> 00:12:54.980 to give you confidence that as a Christian, if you are a Christian 142 00:12:56.019 --> 00:13:00.929 indeed, of what God is doing in you, of who you are as 143 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:05.889 a Christian and why you can continue that fight and continues striving and continue working 144 00:13:09.450 --> 00:13:16.159 because of the spirit. Consider what Paul says about you as an adopted person. 145 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:24.879 Consider what Paul says, what God says in this passage about you as 146 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:31.710 one who has been adopted. This is the language he uses in a verse 147 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:35.990 fifteen. He says you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back 148 00:13:37.110 --> 00:13:43.059 into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption. This language of 149 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:48.940 adoption means something in particular. It means that we who did not belong to 150 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:54.980 God according to this holiness that he requires, according to the justification that he 151 00:13:54.179 --> 00:14:00.490 wants. We didn't belong to him, we didn't deserve this, we weren't 152 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:05.210 a part of the family. He goes out and he takes us in. 153 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:13.960 He gives us something that was not our right to have. And this adoption 154 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:18.480 has several things attached to it. All Talk About for briefly. There's the 155 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:26.309 freedom of adoption, the privilege of adoption, the testimony of adoption and the 156 00:14:26.429 --> 00:14:33.149 inheritance of adoption, and each of these things, with each of these things, 157 00:14:33.230 --> 00:14:37.389 God builds our confidence more and more in who he is and what he 158 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:45.980 has done so that we may live by and in the spirit. So first 159 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:52.100 the freedom of a option. When God says we are not debtors to sin 160 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:56.009 anymore and implicitly we are debtors to God, that is a good, good 161 00:14:56.610 --> 00:15:03.210 thing. When God brings us into his family, he doesn't beat us as 162 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:11.440 slaves, he adopts us as sons. To be brought into a family as 163 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:16.720 not to all is to owe a different kind of debt. It's to say 164 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:20.120 to this one who has given you something that you didn't deserve, thank you. 165 00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:26.990 Now I'm free from all the things of my bad old family. You 166 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:31.830 know what the Bible calls people who don't belong to God through Jesus, children 167 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:39.139 of Wrath, those who belong to Satan or the evil one, those who 168 00:15:39.179 --> 00:15:45.019 are under condemnation and slavery and bondage. That's a bad family to belong to. 169 00:15:46.620 --> 00:15:50.049 But what is it when God gives us adoption in him, a new 170 00:15:50.330 --> 00:15:56.649 family? He gives us freedom. As again John Murray wrote, he makes 171 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:02.730 it necessary and possible to put to death the things that were killing us. 172 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:11.480 To have freedom and life and and blessedness, to be protected by the arms 173 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:18.909 of your father is a good thing. To not have him is death itself. 174 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:23.110 So there is this great freedom of adoption. Well, connected with that 175 00:16:23.309 --> 00:16:27.230 and related to it, lots of overlap. There is also the privilege of 176 00:16:27.269 --> 00:16:33.139 adoption. Well, we are debtors to God, we belong to his family, 177 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:38.740 and with that comes many privileges, some which are mentioned here. Robert 178 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:45.460 held dame says that whenever we pray, whenever we pray our father and speak 179 00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:51.409 to him as our God and father, all of our prayers are summed up 180 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:53.929 in that. If we speak to God as our father, are we not 181 00:16:55.090 --> 00:17:00.330 speaking to him in seeking protection from danger? If we speak to God as 182 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:03.440 our father, are we not calling on him to provide for us in our 183 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:07.960 weaknesses? If we speak to him as our father, are we not seeking 184 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:15.549 comfort from him when we're tired and lonely and afraid? To Go to God 185 00:17:15.869 --> 00:17:21.589 as our father, who is capable of taking care of us, of wrapping 186 00:17:21.630 --> 00:17:26.630 us in his arms, is to find everything that we could possibly need in 187 00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:34.660 him. It is a great honor and privilege that you are children of God 188 00:17:36.980 --> 00:17:41.420 and can go to him as a father. Included in this, of course, 189 00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:47.650 is is prayer. The Bible calls us in various places to go to 190 00:17:47.769 --> 00:17:55.250 God, our father, in confidence, enjoy ingratitude in prayer, and this 191 00:17:55.730 --> 00:18:02.160 prayer is not one of irreverence or anything like that. It is deep reverence, 192 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:08.440 but it is very personal, it is very relational. If you had 193 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:15.190 a bad father, then in some ways it's helpful because it teaches you that 194 00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:19.789 God is everything that you were missing, everything that you wanted, everything that 195 00:18:19.910 --> 00:18:25.390 you should have had in your father. God takes care of you and that 196 00:18:25.549 --> 00:18:30.099 and to a great and infinite degree. And if you had a good earthly 197 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:33.980 father, then that teaches you as well. It shows you the kinds of 198 00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:38.180 ways in which God is toward you, the ways he protects and cares. 199 00:18:41.250 --> 00:18:47.609 With this kind of reverence, but also closeness, is how we go to 200 00:18:47.730 --> 00:18:52.529 God. Just as a brief aside, since many say at this word Aba 201 00:18:52.650 --> 00:18:57.920 doesn't mean I'm Daddy, I'm Greek does have a word for that, Papas, 202 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:04.039 that you can use to describe a daddy, use that kind of more 203 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:10.950 informal language, but it doesn't use that here. It uses potter. Also 204 00:19:11.269 --> 00:19:15.750 do this. So you see this, for example, in Mark and, 205 00:19:15.869 --> 00:19:22.670 I believe, Luke in the Lord's prayer. In one place that uses this 206 00:19:22.869 --> 00:19:29.099 word Auba and another place that uses father. I'm God of course, deserves 207 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:36.420 to be treated with a very deep reverence, but not at a distance. 208 00:19:37.619 --> 00:19:41.609 We are close to him, and that language is summed up in those words 209 00:19:41.170 --> 00:19:48.690 father. You might translate this phrase as dear father or dearest father or exalted 210 00:19:48.809 --> 00:19:53.839 father. Father, father, you are my father. That kind of doubling 211 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:59.079 and closeness is what's going on here and that, to go back to a 212 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:03.680 adoption, is our privilege. We go to God not as a stone or 213 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:10.309 a piece of wood or as a superstition, but as our father, our 214 00:20:10.470 --> 00:20:18.029 dear father, our heavenly father. So that's the freedom of adoption that you 215 00:20:18.109 --> 00:20:22.259 have in a spirit. That's the privilege of adoption that you have. And 216 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:26.900 then there's the testimony of adoption that God gives to you as well, and 217 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:33.019 it's a twofold testimony. The first comes by the spirit, through our spirit. 218 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:37.890 Notice what he says. He says for you are all led, but 219 00:20:38.210 --> 00:20:42.009 for you, for all who are led by the spirit of God's are sons 220 00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:48.089 of God. And then he says that you've received the spirit of adoption by 221 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:53.960 whom we cry Abba Father. The Spirit himself bears with our spirit that we 222 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:00.559 are children of God. So first, if you are a Christian, then 223 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:07.150 in your conscience, in your soul, in your inner being, your spirit 224 00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:12.190 speaks to you a truth. It does that by the spirit of God, 225 00:21:14.630 --> 00:21:19.019 so that you may know that you belong to God. If you have ever 226 00:21:19.259 --> 00:21:26.299 felt the conviction of sin, if you've ever felt the want of holiness or 227 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:30.539 clinging to his promises, and you've felt that in your soul and you know 228 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:37.170 the in yourself. I believe this. I know this. You know other 229 00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:42.410 things right. You know whether or not you love your husband. You know 230 00:21:42.569 --> 00:21:48.640 whether or not you like your job. You know whether or not you prefer 231 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:52.799 this thing or that thing. The same is true of your relationship to God. 232 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.720 The Bible says, you know whether or not you call on God as 233 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:04.349 father. You know whether or not you believe. Now others may be able 234 00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:10.309 to judge that in part by the works and fruits that are produced, but 235 00:22:10.470 --> 00:22:17.339 altimately it's only something that you know and God knows, but you know and 236 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:21.819 it's a question you must ask yourself, do I know? And it's a 237 00:22:21.859 --> 00:22:25.579 question that, when you ask yourself and you say yes, I do, 238 00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:30.690 that you can have comfort from that. There is a testimony of your spirit 239 00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:36.650 that is coming by the spirit of God, that testifies to you that you 240 00:22:36.809 --> 00:22:42.529 are a son of God. But there's another testimony that comes in addition to 241 00:22:42.650 --> 00:22:48.400 this. God speaks to us about our adoptions, so that we might not 242 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:52.839 have doubts about that. Not only in our spirits, but by the spirit. 243 00:22:53.039 --> 00:23:00.630 Immediately notice what he says. He says the spirit himself. It's not 244 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:06.390 just that we notice this cry in ourselves ab a father, but the spirit 245 00:23:06.549 --> 00:23:11.269 himself bears witness with our spirit, with our spirit, double testimony that we 246 00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:18.700 are children of God. How's that for assurance? God himself speaking to you, 247 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:23.299 saying you're my child. How is it that we can persevere in this 248 00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:27.450 life? To get back to the original question, how is it that we 249 00:23:27.490 --> 00:23:33.970 can have strength and weakness and keep on, keeping on, because inside our 250 00:23:34.130 --> 00:23:41.640 souls God is speaking to us and saying you are mine, I love you, 251 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:49.799 I'm taking care of you now. This may be strong sometimes and may 252 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:56.269 be weak at sometimes. David Experience this right in the psalms. We hear 253 00:23:56.309 --> 00:23:59.150 him saying why have you left for me? Why have you firstaken me? 254 00:23:59.470 --> 00:24:04.029 Where's that testimony? But you notice how he cries. It's not talking to 255 00:24:04.150 --> 00:24:08.750 a brick wall, he's talking to the god and whom he believes, the 256 00:24:08.869 --> 00:24:14.019 God who is testifying to him these things, and David clings to that. 257 00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:18.180 He clings to the God who is to the God who has promised. And 258 00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:25.769 that's the final point about adoption. Not only does God give us the freedom 259 00:24:25.809 --> 00:24:30.450 of adoption and these privileges of adoption and then these testimonies of adoption to us, 260 00:24:32.490 --> 00:24:38.000 but he makes these promises, he gives us an inheritance. What does 261 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:44.599 he say? He says the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that 262 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:49.759 we are children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God 263 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:57.869 and fellow heirs with Christ. This is an amazing thing. Imagine receiving the 264 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:07.029 title to a great inheritance, vast sums of wealth and power and honor. 265 00:25:07.109 --> 00:25:12.859 I say, here you go, this belongs to you. It legally is 266 00:25:14.420 --> 00:25:19.660 yours. That's what God does for us. When we find ourselves falling and 267 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:26.849 stumbling and weak, think about your inheritance. Remember what's in that safety deposit 268 00:25:26.970 --> 00:25:32.930 box. You have a title given to you by God himself, guaranteed by 269 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:37.960 the blood of Christ, that you are heirs with him, and not only 270 00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:45.319 airs with Christ, but heirs of God. You don't just receive the new 271 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:51.430 heavens and the new earth and all the wealth and glory of God. You 272 00:25:51.670 --> 00:26:00.710 receive God. He gives us himself. How do you know you have God 273 00:26:00.869 --> 00:26:04.339 himself? Well, go back to the spirit, the spirit of God living 274 00:26:04.420 --> 00:26:08.900 and dwelling with you. How's that for a down payment? How's that for 275 00:26:08.940 --> 00:26:15.740 a guarantee? God himself giving himself to you in Christ, by the spirit 276 00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:25.170 we sang earlier, the Psalm, we would dwell and live in God's house 277 00:26:25.289 --> 00:26:32.529 forever. That's possible because God is living and dwelling in us. He's making 278 00:26:32.569 --> 00:26:37.759 us his dwelling place and US in him. Jesus, Jesus, Our Lord 279 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:42.599 himself, praise that. The unity that he and the father would have, 280 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:52.309 we would have with him. This is the inheritance of adoption. God doesn't 281 00:26:52.670 --> 00:26:57.190 give to us a little bit or a partial amount. He doesn't. He's 282 00:26:57.230 --> 00:27:02.339 not like earthly fathers who have to divide it up equally among their children. 283 00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:06.339 You get twenty five percent, you give twenty five percent. He gives us 284 00:27:06.339 --> 00:27:10.859 all of himself and he gives it all to you, and you and you 285 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:14.180 and you and you. All of us together is the people of God, 286 00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:19.410 the body of Christ. God promises to sanctify us and glorify us and give 287 00:27:19.450 --> 00:27:30.000 us everything, as a father does. If you have faith in Christ, 288 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:37.240 then you have been adopted. You have everything that you could ever want, 289 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:41.160 everything you could ever need. You have the spirit testifying to you that these 290 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:45.029 things are true. You have the great freedom to live your life in the 291 00:27:45.069 --> 00:27:52.069 spirit, privileges to pray and to call out to God. So this road 292 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:57.579 that we travel is hard, it is narrow, it is difficult, but 293 00:27:57.740 --> 00:28:03.900 what do we have to fear? Nothing. We have suffering to endure. 294 00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:07.180 Yes, Paul's going to talk about that more in the next passage, which 295 00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:11.619 will consider next time, but let me give you a highlight of the kind 296 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:18.890 of things he will say. Verse Eighteen Paul says, for I consider the 297 00:28:18.049 --> 00:28:27.359 sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to 298 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:33.039 be revealed to us. The sufferings that you feel, the weights that you 299 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:37.160 and Doure, he says, don't even bother. Don't even bother comparing. 300 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:42.109 It's not even worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed. That 301 00:28:42.309 --> 00:28:47.430 is something that we must believe in by faith if we are to room be 302 00:28:47.910 --> 00:28:52.349 in God, and we will. That is his promise to us when we 303 00:28:52.549 --> 00:28:56.660 have been given adoption. You don't fall in and out of adoption. You 304 00:28:56.740 --> 00:29:00.460 know one week you're doing well and next week you're not. One Week your 305 00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:03.220 child of God, next week you're not. No, you belong to the 306 00:29:03.299 --> 00:29:07.900 family. God has given you his spirit and you will continue you to the 307 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:17.130 very end. So, Christians, don't jump the Gun, don't feel disappointed, 308 00:29:17.210 --> 00:29:22.170 don't be frustrated, but trust in the spirit of God working in you. 309 00:29:22.410 --> 00:29:25.680 And when you trust, when you put your faith in him, when 310 00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:30.400 you have confidence in the adoption that has been given you, you will find 311 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:36.519 that the process of sanctification is happening, that the deeds of the body are 312 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:41.069 being put to death and the things of the spirit are being brought to life 313 00:29:41.589 --> 00:29:45.910 in you, and that, in turn, will lead the greatest, greater 314 00:29:45.950 --> 00:29:48.910 assurance, which will lead to greater faith. And on and on you go 315 00:29:48.029 --> 00:29:56.339 until the flower broom blooms and God says you're ready. This life will be 316 00:29:56.380 --> 00:30:00.900 a struggle even up to the very very end, but the promise of God 317 00:30:00.180 --> 00:30:06.420 is sure. It's been secured in Jesus Christ and has been guaranteed by his 318 00:30:06.579 --> 00:30:11.809 spirit. Let us trust in him. And if you don't trust in him. 319 00:30:11.849 --> 00:30:17.369 If you are still bound in slavery and fear, if you don't know 320 00:30:17.730 --> 00:30:21.759 Jesus in this way, if the spirit of God is not dwelling in you, 321 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:26.559 then there is still time. God gives to you this promise that all 322 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:30.200 these things that are you have to have been given to the sons of God, 323 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:40.670 will be given to you when you believe. Jesus says that on those 324 00:30:40.750 --> 00:30:47.349 who believe in him will have eternal life. So go, go as a 325 00:30:47.470 --> 00:30:52.779 son, go in Jesus and receive all that he promises to give to you. 326 00:30:53.660 --> 00:30:57.259 Let's pray and ask that God would do these things in us.