I want you to turn back to that
2 Samuel 9 passage. 2 Samuel chapter 9. Hold your place there, and then
turn to Romans chapter 8. I want to begin reading in Romans
8 at verse 14. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the
spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we
suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. I wanted to say this in the very
beginning of this message, and that is that any religion, any
so-called gospel, any preacher, any spirit that puts people under
a superstitious Slavish fear or bondage is not of God. Just absolutely, unmistakably,
is not of God. Such a spirit is not the Holy
Spirit. And if we had no other portion
of Scripture that states that, though we have many, We would
have to know that that is true by what the Apostle Paul is led
by the Spirit to say in these few verses that we have read. He talks about some who are led
by the Spirit of God and says that they are the sons of God. And these, he says, have not
received the spirit of bondage again. They every one once were
under that spirit of bondage. But he says, they have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear. but they have received
the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The relationship
between God and these sons or these children is without a doubt one of a legal
relationship. Some seem to deny that or even
make light of it. But the truth of the matter is
that there is this legal matter, this matter of justice that must
be satisfied between God and His people. But undoubtedly,
it is also a family relationship. And for that reason, they are
called the sons or the children of God. As to that legal relationship,
they are said to be justified. That is, justification is something
that God does as the judge, whereby he releases them from all condemnation
on the basis of Christ's blood shed, and accepts them as righteous
based on the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them. They are said to be, using that
legal term we find in Scripture, justified. declared righteous
before God and by God on that basis of Christ and Him crucified. But on the other hand also, we
read here about adoption. And adoption is something that
God does as the Father. And by that, he appoints them
his children, still on the basis of Christ's work, and on that
basis also makes them joint heirs with Christ. They are the family
of God. And so it could be said, I suppose,
that justification brings them into His favor, but adoption
brings them into His family, His glorious family. But adoption in the Bible, though
it has some similarities to adoption in our day, is different in some
aspects to adoption in our day. I read a sad thing recently that
said that since a tax deduction was being eliminated in some
of the new tax laws, a large tax deduction when people adopt
children would no longer be allowed, and therefore, there wouldn't
be nearly as many children adopted. In other words, evidently, a
large portion of adoptions have to do with what somebody can
get out of it. Maybe by way of a tax deduction. But that can never be the case
with God. Because all His dealings with
us are on the basis of His free grace. He does not deal with
His children or make us His children because of something He will
get out of it. Though He will get something
out of it, they're called His inheritance also. But He deals
with us in grace in order to give us something. to make us
something that we are not in ourselves, to bestow upon us
something that we could never deserve or earn or merit, were
not born to, and apart from His act of grace, would never have
or be. John, in all of this very thing,
says to us in 1 John 3, in that first verse, he says, Behold,
behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
heaped upon us, that we might be called the children of God. The children of God. You see, adoption is a blessing
of grace that is given to the Lord's people by God as the triune
God that He is. In other words, the Godhead in
these three sacred personages is actively involved in this
adoption so that in that united harmony within the Godhead, this
adoption is bestowed upon these children. Turn back in Ephesians
chapter 1 for a moment. Because here in Ephesians chapter
1, we find that God as our Father, God the Father, purposed in Christ
to bring His people into His family. It is no accident. It is not
based on our choice. It is not some contingency plan. This is what God the Father,
in an act of grace and love, determined for us before the
world began. Listen to what He says in Ephesians
chapter 1 and that third verse. The Apostle Paul says, "...blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." He identifies
Him so many times in all of his preaching and in all of his epistles,
but what a name and title, God the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And what he says is that God,
without our consent, and without our approval, and without our
help, He did something before time that has so affected us
in both time and all eternity. He says, "...who hath blessed
us, with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him." And most believe that's where that statement ends. And
the next two words begin the next statement, wherein he says,
in love, having predestinated us, not just predestinated some
things, not just determined a few things that would take place
providentially, But divine predestination has to do with individuals. And it says that he did this
in love. He didn't do it in some fatalistic
way, but he did so in love, it says, having predestinated us,
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself."
What did He do? He predestinated us. That means not only that He marked
off beforehand, which is what that word means, but that He
determined beforehand, that He foreordained beforehand this
relationship that we are brought into in Christ Jesus. Children. He says, by Jesus Christ,
to Himself, and note this, according to the good pleasure of His will. Not free will, not man's will,
but according to the good pleasure of His will. Alright? Hold your place there and look
back at our other passage in 2 Samuel chapter 9. Because what
we have in this second book of Samuel, here in chapter
9, is a picture and an illustration of just what we're finding here
in Romans 8 and Ephesians 1 and also in Galatians 4. If you notice,
David has now risen to the throne. David is the king now, the unopposed
and totally accepted king. He has authority. He can do what
he will. And one of the things that a
king normally did when he rose to power like that was, he dealt
first with all his enemies. We don't want to have to deal
with them again. We don't want to have them rising
up in the kingdom. But here is David sitting on
a sovereign throne, and out of nowhere, it seems, one of the
first things he did is he says, is there yet any that is left
in the house of Saul that I may show him kindness? In other words, it all began,
all that we'll see that transpires in the life of Mephibosheth,
all these blessings that he is about to receive, they are bestowed
upon him by an act of the king when he knew nothing about it. when he was not in any way of
himself acting for or against David. As a matter of fact, he's
living in Lodabar, which means a land of no pasture. He's dwelling
there in a place of exile because he is naturally a member of a
household and family that is the enemy of the king. And here is David as a picture
of God the Father. And he simply says as a way of
expressing his will and his counsel and his desire, is there not
yet one in the household of those who have acted as my enemy that
I can show a kindness to? Can you imagine God looking down
from all eternity We get a few years on us and we can't even
remember back five years ago. And here is God Almighty who
dwells sufficient in Himself, who has need of nothing, has
need of no one, and yet He determines because He would. that He would
show mercy and be gracious and save and receive into His family
such sinners as we are. You see, that name Mephibosheth
means literally something like this, destroying shame. And by all our natural associations,
that pretty well describes us in our Father Adam, and in ourselves,
in our flesh, nothing but destroying sin and shame. So here it is, God determining,
predestinating, marking out beforehand, deciding to do, and that is to
receive, a family, a children, predestinating us, Paul says,
and including all true believers in that group and family, predestinating
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. That's amazing! You know, it's
amazing One thing is that you and I, we didn't even decide
what natural family we'd be born into. We didn't have anything
to do with that. And then the second thing is,
not only does it show that in Scripture, but it shows also
that God the Son, in His work of redemption, He removed all
the obstacles from His people receiving this adoption. Turn over to Galatians chapter
4. Galatians chapter 4. And listen
to the Apostle Paul in these verses in Galatians chapter 4,
verses 4 and 5, where it says, "...but when the fullness of
the time was come..." Nothing ever happens by accident with
God. Nothing ever happens happenstance
or anything like that. It's at a predetermined, foreordained
time. And it says, "...when the fullness
of the time was come. God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, that we
might receive the adoption of sons. In other words, here are
all of these obstacles. Here is the matter of justice,
here is the matter of our sins, here is the matter of everything
in us and about us being such that a holy God could never accept
us into His family. But the Son of God, second person
in the Godhead, co-equal with the Father, in that covenant
of grace that Roger prayed about, in that covenant agreed to be
surety and Savior and representative of these people in order to come
into this world, take on himself a body, die on that cross, and
redeem them. I hate to say it, but I think
there are a lot of people who don't really understand redemption. And sometimes it's in innocence,
but they'll say things like, Christ bought all these blessings
for us. Christ bought this, He bought
that, He paid for that by His blood and all this kind of stuff.
That's not exactly true. The blessings of God in His grace
are I don't know how many times it says this, they are freely
given to us. They are the gifts of His grace.
They don't have to be redeemed. But if we ever receive them,
we have to be redeemed. You just take your concordance
and you go out in the Bible and you look at all those references
to redeem and redemption, It doesn't have to do with things
so much as it has to do with people. When Hosea went down
to the slave market, he didn't redeem something that Gomer had. She didn't have anything. He
redeemed her. When Boaz went down to the gate
to redeem Ruth and Naomi, he redeemed them. That's what Christ
had to do. He had to redeem us. And so he
came into this world. No disagreement with the Father.
Perfect agreement with the Father. Same love as the Father. Same will toward this people
as the Father. And He comes into this world
and He redeems them by His blood. He pays their sin debt. He pays that liberating price
and sets them free from the bondage of their sin by the paying of
that price. And He enables them to be in
such a condition so as to receive the adoption. He redeemed us. And that's what we find there
in 2 Samuel. If you just kind of peek back
over there and look at that first verse again, it says, "...David
said, Is there yet any that is left of the household of Saul,
that I may show him kindness?" For Jonathan's sake. For whose
sake? for Jonathan's sake. You see,
everything that God gives us, every blessing, adoption included,
everything that's done towards sinners in the way of God's grace
is for Jesus' sake. It's for Christ's sake. That's
how He sets us free. It can never be by anything that
we do It can never be by any work we perform. There is no
way that anything that we have ever done or doing or ever will
do has anything to do with getting us into this family, would Jonathan
say. That's the Beloved. We sung that
hymn. I love that hymn. In the Beloved,
accepted am I, And that's the only way. I could have said it
just like this, in the Beloved adopted am I. You see, the Son,
the blessed Son of God, is that one who is the equal, the co-equal,
not only with God, but the equal participant in this matter of
the adoption of His people. And then you know it has to be
also if this is God who does it. If He is truly God, our Savior,
as He says that He is, then God the Spirit, in the same manner,
with the same enthusiasm, with the same effort and strength,
God the Spirit, working in the heart of each one of His own,
is the Spirit of adoption. Oh, He's the Spirit of truth,
is He not? And He is the Holy Spirit, He
is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Life, but He's the Spirit
of Adoption. What does that mean? It means
that He comes to each and every one of these that the Father
loved and chose and predestinated unto the adoption of children
in Christ. These who are the same ones that
Christ came into this world and stood in their place, shed His
blood in order to redeem them, that they might fully and completely
and eternally receive this redemption and adoption. And He comes to
each one of these, and He manifests this adoption to them. You could say in one sense, and
surely be true to the Scriptures, that by this Spirit they are
born from above, they are begotten from above, they are brought
forth from above in the new birth, and by that new birth they are
given spiritual life and faith by which they now perceive. this adoption. You say, Preacher,
how would you ever know that you were one of these that God
has adopted in His family? Well, I can tell you this, not
always by the virtue of my feelings, especially lately, not by virtue
of my feelings. I don't always feel like His
child. Do you? I used to, my dear mother's laying
in that nursing home, And I can remember as a small child, and
even growing up a bit bigger child, to just feel her arms
wrapped around me and drawn close to her, and I knew I was her
son. There was no doubt I was her
child. But sometimes when I was off
in some of my mischief, sometimes when I maybe had been away from
her for a long time. I didn't feel so much like I
was her child. But the scripture says that the
Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God. Now is that just simply a subjective
feeling? No. It is a revelation based
on the Word of Truth. You say, preacher, how can you
be sure that you're one of God's children? Just on the basis that
God said it. He said it. He said, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. I hear my name there. In due
time, Christ died for the ungodly. That's me. There's something
about the Word of God when the Spirit of God takes it into these
redeemed, loved, chosen sinners. It's like that God takes that
Word, and by His Spirit in our minds and hearts, it's as if
in these things He takes us, and He wraps His arms around
us, and draws us to His bosom, and we know He loves us. We know. Look down in verse 6 of Galatians
4. You see, the Spirit of God brings
to the hearts of these children of God the assurance of every
promise because of this relationship. And I'll be honest with you,
I've told you this before. Sometimes I can get in such an
awful fix. Now, I know there are these preachers
who, they float along on a little cloud through life and they just
They're always just a little holier and higher than you are
and everything like this. But this is one that gets in
the mud a lot of things. So much so that sometimes it's
like I do my best to try to convince myself of what the devil whispers
in my ear. That thinking what you just thought
or saying what you just said or doing what you just did Most
often, feeling what you just felt, there's no way you could
be a child of God. You don't know anything about
that. But He whispers these sweet promises back to my ear. By grace are you saved. and try as I will sometimes to
convince myself that there's no way I could be a child of
God. His promises that are yes and
amen in Christ, they come flooding back into my soul in a humbling,
blessing fashion. And I know I am. It's like when
I'm saying there's no way I can be, I know I am. Does that make
any sense? When I'm doing just exactly the
opposite of what a child of God ought to do, I still am. Paul says in Galatians 4, 6,
"...and because you are sons." Men get the cart before the horse
and everything else. Paul says, "...and because you
are sons." Not in order to become sons. But because you are sons,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father." That word in the Aramaic, I understand,
means the most intimate relationship and can be expressed something
like, Papa, Papa. I love to hear my little granddaughter
call me Papa. I'm a papa. I'm a grandfather. I thought being a father was
good, but being a grandfather, now that's really something. Papa. And when God just causes
His promises to invade our thoughts and our hearts with that assuring
power of the Spirit of God, all we can say, papa, our Father
who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven." Look back over at Romans chapter 8
again. Romans 8 and verse 14, he says,
"...for as many as are led by the Spirit of God." What is it
to be led by the Spirit of God? I realize that In a great sense,
it has to do with being led by biblical principles and such
as that, but I don't think that's what it means first of all. First
of all, it means being led to Christ. Again and again and again
to Christ. He says, to whom? Coming. He's always leading us to Christ. He's always, as Christ said,
taking the things of His and showing them to us. You go back
and read 2 Samuel 9, when David heard that there was one in Saul's
household, in the household of his enemy by nature. He looked
on that young man, old man, whatever he was at that time, He said,
this fellow is living over there away from you in the land of
no pasture. He's there. And I know in Mephibosheth's
heart when he heard that David was king and Saul was dead and
Jonathan was dead, he thought, I'm next. He was hiding. But David in his determination
to show mercy and be gracious to Mephibosheth, he sent his
servant. There's David, the father. There's Jonathan, the son. Here's
Ziba, the Holy Spirit. It says that he sent and fetched
him, brought him. Well, what if he doesn't come?
Kings send effectual invitations. King's sin means by which those
he fetches are really brought." And he fetched him. He brought
him. Brought him back to Jerusalem.
Told Ziba to help him the rest of his days. Have all your servants,
all your family going to be his servants. He's got everything
that was lost and more. These children get everything
they lost in Adam. And more, more, because the Son
said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. Take
away this cup from me, nevertheless not what I will, but what thou
wilt. There was no way that the Spirit
of God will ever fail to call and bring and make manifest this
adoption to these that the Father determined and that the Son died
for. He's not just wooing. That's
how they describe the work of the Spirit nowadays. He's trying. He's wooing you. Wooing you. Just like you're trying to get
a gal to marry you. You're just wooing her. I'll
tell you, when I met one gal, by any means, hook or crook,
I was going to get that girl to marry me. And she sits right
back there this morning. Just no way. I mean, it just,
there were obstacles, but if I could get by them, over them,
through them, I was going to have her. Is the love of God
less than that? Joined with sovereign power?
The spirit of God less than that? Oh no. They're led by the Spirit
of God. Paul says, wherefore thou art
no more a servant. Galatians 4 says, you're no longer
more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. How could the Father love me
and adopt me? In Christ. How could I be saved
from my sins redeemed? By Christ. Why would the Spirit
of God come and reveal this to me? Because of what Christ has
done. And that's why Paul says, we're
not under law, we're under love. Now we had some laws at my house,
kind of unwritten laws, but I'll be honest with you, not any of
those laws hardly ever restrained me. I'd get off by myself and
I'd get with what we then called the wrong crowd. You know anything
about the wrong crowd? A friend of mine was a principal
in a school. A lady called him one night and
her son had gotten in trouble and all that. She wanted him
to do something about it. She said he does these things
because They let him get with the wrong crowd. My friend, he'd
had it about up to here. He said, lady, he said, your
son is the wrong crowd. We are the wrong crowd, sinners,
inside and out. But those things, fear of punishment,
threats and all, they never dictated much to me. But I would think,
if I do this, how it would hurt my mom and dad. If I get in this
trouble doing this, what shame it will be to them. And I love
them, and I don't want to hurt them. The love of Christ constrains
us. Being in the family of the children
of the King, we want to conduct ourselves as such. Then the Bible
says of old Mephibosheth, it says when Ziba brought him, he
did all these things, You thought that would be enough. Well, you
know. But no, it says, and you can
read it for yourself, it says that David had him seated at
the king's table as one of the king's sons. And he did eat bread
as one of the king's sons, live as one of the king's sons, be
regarded as one of the king's sons continually, it says. Continually. Somebody said, well,
you know Mephibosheth's not really one of David's sons. Somebody
said, you go try to tell the king that. He loves him. And he brought him into his family.
And he's one of the king's sons. Paul, writing in Romans 8, he says in verse 18, well, verse
17, he says, And if children, then heirs. What do you have
to be to get all the inheritance? Men by nature say, What do I
need to do to get all the inheritance? It's not about doing, it's about
being. He said if you're a child, child
of God, you're an heir. You're not going to get more
than me, I'm not going to get more than you. Why? It's based
on relationship, grace, based on Christ. He says, "...and if
children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with Him." Oh, there's something to
be suffered identifying with Christ, that we may be also glorified
together. That word glorified means to
be revealed and manifested for what you are. One day Christ
is going to be glorified to all in that sense. It will be made
known to all that He is the Son of God. And as He is made manifest
to every soul that He's the Son of God, all His children, they'll
be manifested with Him that they are the children of God. He says, "...for the earnest
expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the
sons of God. For the creature, or the creation,
was made subject to vanity not willingly, but by reason of him
who has subjected the same in hope, because the creation itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. It's going to be made
manifest to everybody who these children are. Who these children
of God, who are the children of grace, who they really are. And they're going to dwell in
His house, eat bread at His table as the king's sons forever and
ever. And what a glorious thing it
is. when his gospel is preached. And they are given that ear of
faith, that heart of faith, to believe what he says, to rest
in Christ alone, to trust Him and only Him, to cast off all
their own imagined righteousnesses and put aside all their supposed
good works. and just find all their family
in the Son. In the Son. You say, you got
problems, preacher? I do. You got weakness? You don't look like you're living
like a child of God. Maybe not, but I am. In Christ
Jesus, it says, as He is, so are we in this world. Is He God's
Son? Yes, He is. And He is in a unique
sense. At the same time, His people
in Him, they are the adopted children of God. Our Father,
this day, we thank You for Your mercy, and for Your love, and
Your grace, and for this glorious adoption in Jesus Christ. He is our life, He is our Savior,
He is our Redeemer. We thank You for making these
things manifest to us. We thank You for everything.
We give to You all the glory. We cry in our hearts, Abba, Father,
do Your will on earth as it is in heaven. Like a father pities
his children, pity us, watch over us, and keep us, and protect
us. For we pray and ask all things
in Christ's name. Amen.