Let's open up this morning's
service in the Blue Hymnal No. 6. No. 6, Come Thou Almighty
King, No. 6. If you could please stand.
? Come Thou Almighty King ? ? Help
us Thy name to sing ? ? Help us to praise ? ? Father all glorious
? ? Lord all victorious ? ? Come and reign over us ? ? Ancient
of days ? ? Come Thou incarnate Word ? ? Gird on Thy mighty sword
? ? Our prayer attend ? ? Come and Thy people bless ? ? And
give Thy word success ? ? Spirit of holiness on us descend ? ?
Come Holy Comforter ? ? Thy sacred witness bear ? ? In this glad
hour ? ? Thou who almighty art ? ? Now rule in every hour ?
? And ne'er from us depart ? ? Spirit of power ? to the great one in
three, eternal praises be to him evermore. His sovereign majesty may we
in glory see, and to eternity love and adore. You may be seated. Well, it's a delight to be with
you and see everybody. What a blessing. Turn with me
to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one. I want to begin reading in verse
3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. in Christ. Now, this sentence does not end
until verse 14. And we're not going to get to
that many things of all these blessings that he speaks of.
But the first blessing he mentions in verse 4 is election. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. That we should
be holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. Now that is going to be our subject.
the adoption of children. By Jesus Christ, for the sake
of Jesus Christ, that's why you've been adopted, by Jesus Christ
to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy son. And Lord, we ask that we might
be enabled to worship him. We ask that you would deliver
us from hearing the words of a man, but that you would buy
your spirit, cause your gospel to be preached in the power of
your spirit. And Lord, give us hearing ears and receptive hearts.
Forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake. Cleanse us, afresh and
anew in the blood of thy dear son. Lord, we thank you for the
fellowship we have in the gospel. In Christ's name we pray, amen. You know, I can't, I've just
got to express this. I can't tell you what a joy it
is to feel just as home here as I do at home. feel like I'm
home, so I'm very thankful for that. You all make me feel that
way, so thank you. Now, look again in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us. He hath. With what? All. All. Means I already have. all spiritual blessings. This
is the heritage of every believer. We have all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's why we
have them. They're in Christ. If I'm in Christ, I have them
all. Now, how many times do you read
this phrase in Christ in this passage of scripture? And in
Christ, what's that mean? Well, the illustration the Lord
gives is the Vine and the branches. The same stem that goes through
the vine is in the branches. Same stem. There's no connecting
point. They are one. And that's what it means to be
in Christ. It means to be one with Christ.
Now, how much do I understand that? Not much. I believe it. I am in Christ, I can't be separated
from him. I'm united to him and every blessing
I have is because of him. It's not because of me. It's
not because of anything in me. It's being united to him. And
we have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. And you can't separate any of
these spiritual blessings. He begins with election. according
as he hath chosen us in him before thy foundation of the world.
And what a blessing this is that we should be holy. Now, do you
feel holy? No. But if God has chosen you
to be holy, are you holy? Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. And being without blame, that's
justification. I, right now, there's nothing
to blame me for. I stand perfect in Christ Jesus,
without guilt, having his very righteousness, without blame.
But you know what I think the greatest of these blessings is? Is being adopted. Being a son
or a daughter of God. Now these blessings can't be
separated, you know that. They cannot be separated. They
all go together. But what greater blessing can
there be than to be adopted into the family of God and actually
made a son of God? You see, this is not for everybody. God's not everybody's father.
You remember how he said to the Pharisees in John chapter 8,
you're of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father
you will do. He's not everybody's father,
but oh, what a blessing it is to have him as my father. He said to his disciples, I go
to my father and your father. I go to my God and your God. He said, your father knoweth
what things you have no need of before you ask him, and to
have God as my father. Now, what all does that mean?
I'm going to try to talk about adoption, what the scripture
has to say about it. What does it mean to have God
as your father? Well, first of all, it means
Christ would call you his brother. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Christ would not be ashamed to
own me as his brother. What kind of blessing is that?
to have Christ as your elder brother, your savior, your brother.
To have him as my father, I have the family name. Jeremiah 23, six, this is the
name wherewith he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And then in Jeremiah 33, this
is the name wherewith she shall be called, same name. The Lord,
our righteousness. Now that's my name. That's my
name. If I'm in the family of God,
if God is my father, that's my name. The Lord, our righteousness. That means I have, if he's my
father, I have constant and continual access in his presence. And there's
nothing that holds me back from it. In whom we have boldness
and access with confidence. by the faith of him. I'm always
welcome. You know, my daughter, I've just
got one child, and she's always welcome. I don't know if there's
anybody else like that. I don't know if my wife's like
that. Well, she is. I shouldn't say that. But my
daughter is always welcome. And that's the way every child
of God is. I have his fatherly pity. If he's my father, turn with
me to Psalm 103 for just a moment. Verse 10, Psalm 103. He had not dealt with us after
our sins. Aren't you thankful for that?
He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him, as
far as the east is from the west. So far hath he removed our transgressions
from us, like as a father pitieth his children. So the Lord pitieth
them that fear him, for he knows our frame. He remembers. that were dust. If he's my father,
I have his fatherly pity, and I have his fatherly provision
if he's my father. I love his name in Genesis 22,
Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. Now when I'm talking
about his provision, sure material provision is included in that. He's not going to let me go hungry.
He's going to take care of what I need, and he's going to do
that with all of his children. But I'm talking about Him providing
for me everything He requires. All that God requires of me,
every bit of it, He provides for me. He requires righteousness,
He gives righteousness. He requires faith, He gives faith.
He requires a perfect new heart, He gives a perfect new heart.
He requires a perfect sin payment, He provides a perfect sin payment.
Everything that I need, everything He requires, He gives me. I have his fatherly provision.
I have his fatherly protection if he's my father. If God be
for us, who can be against us? Nobody and no thing. I have his fatherly education. The Lord homeschools all of his
children. You know what that means? they shall all be taught of God. Every one of them. And everyone
that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. I have
his fatherly education, him being my teacher. I have his fatherly
chastening, if he's my father. Whom the Lord loveth, he chastens. You know, I don't want to be
chastened, but I don't want to be without chastening, do you? I'm not going to come
up and say give me a weapon. I don't want that. But I don't
want to be without chastening in the sense that if I don't
have it, I'm not his. You don't chasten other people's
children, do you? You chasten your own. And so
we need his chastening. We are actually, if it were his
children, this is not just adopted in the sense that we think of.
It's also being a partaker of the divine nature. being born
of God, being born of the Spirit, having His, and I want to say
this reverently and fearfully, and I know that I don't even
understand what I'm talking about when I say it, I believe it,
but we have His genes, born of God, born of the Spirit. Now what all that means, I don't
know, but I know that the Scripture says we're actually partakers
of the divine nature, that which is born of God. As many as received
him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even
to them which believe on his name, which were born, not of
blood, not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh,
but of God. It's mysterious. And if I'm his
son, I have the entire inheritance. as a joint heir with Jesus Christ. I've got everything. I've got
everything. I've got the love of God. The
Lord said, as the father hath loved me, so have I loved you.
And he who has loved them as thou has loved me. I've got the
same love. I wouldn't say that if the Bible
didn't say it. But however the father loves the son, that's
how he loves his sons and daughters. Can you see why I would say this
is the chief blessing? All of these are blessings that
can't be separated, I realize that. But the chief blessing
is to be a son of God. John said, behold, what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. Nothing higher than that. Paul
called it in Romans 8.21, the glorious liberty of the children
of God. Now are we the sons of God? Now this word adoption, this
is one of five times it's mentioned in the scripture. Adoption, it's
mentioned five times. It's on every page of the scripture.
I don't want to limit it to that. The concept, the teaching is
on every page. But five times it's found in
the New Testament. One time when it's used, it's
with a reference to Israel. He said, remember in Romans 9,
he said, to whom pertaineth the adoption and the giving of the
law and the promises who concerning the flesh Christ came. And God
adopted the nation of Israel. You can't read the Old Testament
and fail to see that he did something for Israel that he didn't do
for anybody else. He adopted that nation. And that was given to picture
and to illustrate the true adoption, the true Israel, which shall
be saved. All Israel shall be saved. That's
all of God's elect. That's every believer. And so
the other four times, it's with reference to the believer, the
individual believer. And really these other four times
is going to be the outline of this message. Here's the four
points. The grace of adoption, the price of adoption, the reality
of adoption, and the permanence of adoption. Those are the four
points to this message. Now, don't you want to be an
adopted son? Well, how's it going to happen? Me and you are sinful beings.
How can I actually be a son or a daughter of the living God? How's that gonna happen? Here's
the first point, the grace of adoption. The grace of adoption. Now, the fountainhead of adoption
is found in his electing grace. That's where it begins. You see,
this thing of adoption, you weren't adopted some time in your experience,
if you are adopted. You were adopted before the foundation
of the world. That's when this adoption took
place. You see, if he would have waited until time, he wouldn't
have adopted you. He wouldn't have had anything
to do with you. God's holy. You know, some woman once said
to Charles Spurgeon, she said, I know that God must have chosen
me before the foundation of the world, because even if it waited
afterwards, he wouldn't have done it. And that's true. That's
very true. Look in verse four, according
to Ephesians 1, 4, according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world. I had an election is a declaration
of the character of God. He really is God. He really does
control everything. Somebody says, I got a problem
with that. Then you've got a problem. You got a real problem because
this is who he is. Election declares man's Deadness in need of grace
election declares what Christ was actually doing on the cross.
He wasn't just making salvation possible He was saving he was
saving a particular people and he accomplished their salvation
Now this is where we begin this these blessings that he's blessed
us According as he's chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy And if he chose you to be
holy, you know what you're holy You're holy I don't feel holy.
Doesn't matter. You're still holy if you're one
of his. You're holy. And here's your fitness without
blame. Actually justified without blame. When God looks at me,
he's got nothing to blame me for. He's got nothing to be mad
at me about. I'm just. I'm without blame.
Holy in his presence. Now look what it says. In love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. Now all this is, is grace. That's all you can call it. Notice how it says the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ, for the sake of Jesus Christ,
because of Jesus Christ, for this reason, Jesus Christ. That's
why you've been adopted. Why would God adopt me? By Jesus
Christ. That's the only reason. according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace. Now, how much of election is by grace? That's the question
we want to deal with. How much of election is by grace?
Well, look in Romans 11. This will answer that question. Verse 11. No, I'm in Romans 9, Romans 11,
verse 5. Even so, at this present time,
there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, it has absolutely
nothing to do with your works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
Don't call it grace if any part of salvation is dependent upon
you. Any part. And you've got to begin with
election and go all the way through every other aspect of salvation.
It's by grace. God's unmerited favor, it's demerited favor.
You've demerited it and he gives it anyway. That's grace. The
election of grace. And if it's by grace, it's no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it's works, don't call it grace. This being an adopted
son is completely by grace to the praise of the glory of his
grace. So if you're an adopted son or
daughter, understand this, it's utter free grace. You believe that when you're
in heaven, you will be an example of just how much salvation is
by grace. I believe that about myself.
And I know every other believer believes this. I will be the
biggest example there of just how much salvation really is
all of grace. An adopted son. Now would you
turn to Galatians chapter four. Here's the price of adoption,
the grace of adoption. You don't have to, if you want
to be adopted son, remember, There's nothing you've got to
do to earn it. It's free grace. It's the only kind of grace there
is. It's free grace. But look here in Galatians chapter
4, now I say that the heir, as long as he's a child, differeth
nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under
tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Now, before the heir is recognized
as the heir and the one who owns everything, When he's a child,
he's treated like a servant. No different. And that was Roman
law at that time. He's treated like a servant.
He's not treated like a child. He's under tutors and governors
and laws. He's corrected. He's not treated
any differently than anybody else. Let's go on reading. Even
so, we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements
of the world. Now, you were adopted before
time began, but you were born into this world an enemy of God.
I was born in this world an enemy of God. A sinner by nature, a
sinner by choice, and a sinner by practice. That's the way I
was born. I didn't know anything about
being an adopted son, didn't even care. Born into this world
an evil person. Under all the... I had all the
the maxims and precepts and loves of the world. I was a worldly
man, born into the world. I was just like everybody else,
no difference. But verse four, when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman. The word was made flesh. It was
flesh that sinned, flesh must be punished. God became flesh,
made of a woman, made under the law. You think about this, the
law giver placed himself under the law. Somebody had to keep
the law. I mean, you can't do it. He placed
himself under the law to redeem them that were under the law
that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now here is the price
of adoption. Look in Galatians chapter 3 verse
11. but that no man is justified
by the law and the sight of God. It is evident for the just shall
live by faith, and the law is not of faith, but the man that
doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For it's written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now, for me to be
an adopted son, I'm gonna have to be without sin. without sin. How in the world
can I be without sin? Because Christ took my sin in
his own body on the tree. He was made sin. I don't know
what all that means. Only the Godhead knows what that
means. He was made sin. He was made to be sin. No, he
never committed sin. Somebody says, if you say he
was made sin, you're saying he started committing sins? No,
I'm not saying that. It's worse. He was made sin. What all that
is, I don't know. And being made sin, he was made
a curse. You know what I'm talking about
this? I feel like a complete idiot.
Because I know that I'm talking about things that I really can't
enter into other than just believe because the Bible says so. He
was made a curse. I deserve to be cursed by God.
I deserve to be cast off. If God sent me to hell, the whole
creation would clap in admiration of the justice of God. I deserve
this curse. He was made this curse. And you know what? He completely
satisfied God so that God is completely satisfied with me
because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's the
price of me being adopted. First, there's the grace of adoption.
It's an act of God's grace. It doesn't have anything to do
with me earning anything or me doing anything for him to give
it to me. Then there's this price, this amazing price of adoption,
the redemption of Christ. And look what it says in verse
six, because you are sons, you see, you've received the
adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the spirit of his son. into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Now, in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Christ said, Abba, Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Now, what does Abba mean? Well,
it's the Aramaic for father. It just means father. I've heard
people say it means daddy. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't.
No, it doesn't. He's God. He's the father, he's holy father,
the way the Lord, he's the only holy father. You know, the way
the Lord addressed him in John chapter 17, holy father, keep
it on. He's Abba, Abba, father. Because of the grace of this
choice, because of the redemption of his blood. Now let's consider
the reality, the experience of adoption. Turn with me to Romans
chapter eight. Romans chapter 8 verse 14 for as many as are led by the Spirit
of God they are the sons of God now if I'm an adopted son that
means I'm led, led, led of the Spirit of God the Spirit of God
done something for me. Now what is the evidence that
I'm being led of the Spirit? A lot of people make that claim,
well I'm led of the Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 verse 18
says, if ye be led of the Spirit. Anybody know the rest of the
verse? You're not under law. That's the evidence of being
led of the Spirit. You're not under law. If you're into the law, if you're
into salvation being what you do, if you're into salvation
being in some way dependent upon anything about you, you're not
led by the Spirit, you're under the law. They that are led of the
Spirit. Now let's go on reading. Verse
15. For as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received
the Spirit of bondage again to fear. Now what's that talking
about? Spirit of bondage works. I've
not done enough. I've not done enough. I don't
love enough. I haven't given up enough. I haven't started
doing enough. I'm afraid something's going to happen to me. I'm afraid
God's going to take it out in a coffin. He's going to take
it out in a hospital bill. I've done these bad things. Therefore, God's going to get
me. That's what that spirit of bondage
is. God's going to get me. I know something about that spirit
of bondage. I know a whole lot about it, as a matter of fact.
I've always thought, you know, the Lord's going to punish me
for this or he's going to punish me for that. That's, that's,
that's against the spirit of adoption. It's wrong. It's wrong. Every believer knows what the
spirit of adoption is. I don't know if an unbeliever can really
understand it, but a believer does. And Ellis, you've not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you've received the
spirit of adoption. whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Now, this is the spirit of adoption.
We cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself beareth witness
with our spirit that we're the children of God. Now, does that
mean God the Holy Spirit actually bears witness with my spirit?
There's a communication going place where God the Holy Spirit
bears witness to my spirit and lets me know I'm a child of God.
Is that what that means? Yes. But understand this. This can only be understood by
faith. You don't have God the Holy Spirit
telling you you're a child of God. You don't have anything
to worry about. Well, good. I'm glad to hear that. No. your children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Go ahead and turn back to Galatians
chapter 3. Hold your finger there in Romans 8 because we're going
to come back there. But Galatians chapter 3, verse 26. Well, let's start in verse 24.
Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster, And notice, to bring us is in
italics. You know what that means? It's not there in the original.
To bring us is in italics. And that word, did the law ever
bring you to Christ? All the law ever did was condemn
me. All the law ever did was beat me up. All the law does
is show me my, it never brought me to Christ. But notice it says,
The law was our schoolmaster, and that word unto, get rid of
the, to bring us, that word unto can just as easily be translated
until. The law was our schoolmaster
until Christ. That we might be justified by
faith. But after the faith has come,
you're no longer under a schoolmaster. for ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. Now, what is the evidence that
I'm a child of God? Do I look within my heart and
say, well, yeah, I'm a child of God. I can feel the spirit
working within me and I can see how holy I'm becoming and how
less sinful and more holy and I'm just getting better and better.
No, the only evidence that I'm a child of God is that I look
to Christ only as everything in my salvation. Now, that is
the spirit of the child. You know, when our Lord taught
us to pray, now you think about this. Our Father. Now this is the prayer of the
true child of God. It comes out in that our Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed, holy, reverend is thy name. Now, his name is his attributes. It's not just Jehovah. I mean, that's the most glorious
name there is, but it's not just knowing the audible name. The
name is the person behind the name, his holiness, his justice,
his power, his love, his omniscience, all that he is. Holy and reverend
is thy name. Now, if I'm a child, what that
means, as much as anything else, is I'm a worshiper. I worship
Him for who He is. Holy and reverend is thy name. This is the nature of a child.
The child worships the father. We worship his sovereignty. Aren't
you glad he's sovereign? Aren't you glad everybody's in
his hands and he controls everybody and everything? He's even controlling
the thoughts that are going through your mind right now. He's in
control of them because he's God. He's in complete sovereign
control over the free, uncoerced actions of men. Isn't that glorious?
That's who he is. We love who he is. Hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come. We're looking
for a kingdom whose builder and maker is God. This world's not
our home. We're strangers here. But we
truly pray thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Now, here's
what a child of God is. You cut into a child of God's
heart, and he wants God's will to be done. And the worst thing
that could happen to him is to be left to his own free will.
don't want, I don't want to have anything to do with that. Oh,
thy will be done. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power and it's only by his power that we're
willing. Thy will be done. Now that's the prayer of a real
child of God. Thy will. This is what I want.
Whatever, whatever it does to me, I want his will to be done. Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Now, a child of God knows he's
dependent upon God for everything. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts. You
know, a child of God's a sinner. He knows it. And when he comes
into God's presence, he can't come without this prayer. Forgive
us our debts. But not only is a child of God
a sinner, he's a forgiven sinner. And the only way you can look
at your sins are as forgiven sins. Don't deny the reality
of your sinfulness. You're worse than you think.
I'm worse than I think. But all of my sins are forgiven
sins. And God's people are forgiving
sinners. Forgive us as we forgive our
debtors. God's people are forgiving sinners. Now, if you can't forgive somebody,
You will not be forgiven. Our Lord made that promise. You
won't be. Does that mean that our forgiveness
is dependent, our being forgiven is dependent upon us being forgiving?
No, but it means if you are forgiven, you will forgive. It does mean
that. God's people are sinners. They're
forgiven sinners. They're forgiving sinners. And
next in this prayer of the children to their father, our father which
art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. We're dependent for everything.
Forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us
not into temptation. And you know what that means?
That means I know sure enough if I'm tempted, I'll fall. I
cannot resist temptation. So what I'm asking you to do
is prevent me from being tempted. Put up a hedger about me because
I'm so weak. I'm so sinful. I know it. I don't
know it near as well as I should, but I know it. So don't let me
even be tempted because I know what happens when I'm tempted.
So don't let me be tempted. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Deliver me from the evil one.
Deliver me from this evil one. I'm my biggest problem. I need
to be saved from God. I've sinned against him. But
I need to be saved from myself. I'm my biggest problem. Lord,
save me from myself. Save me from my sins. Save me
from the circumstances my sins create. But deliver me from evil. And then from the depths of their
heart, every child of God says this, thine is the kingdom. Thine
is the power. Thine is the glory forever. Amen. Now that is the nature
of a child. a true adopted son. Go back to
Romans chapter 8, the last point is the permanence of adoption. Verse 19, for the earnest expectation of
the creature, the creation, waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God. A lot of people looked at that
verse and I think it could be looked upon in this light. He's
personifying the creation, the creation, the world, the universe,
the earth is waiting for that manifestation of the sons of
God. Um, it could certainly mean that
I'd say that's included, but I think more than anything else,
it's talking about the creation, the new creation. the eternal
new creation, the new man in Christ Jesus, is waiting for
that manifestation of the sons of God. Verse 24, the creation
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
who has objected the same in hope. The creation has had to
go through all the problems that sin has brought, and it's been
subject to vanity. Well, that could be what it means,
and I think that that's certainly included, But I think more than
anything else, it's talking about that eternal new creation that's
united to Christ. He was made subject to vanity
in the fall and all that's associated with it, not willingly, but by
reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope because, verse
21, the creation itself The creation itself shall also be delivered
from the bondage of corruption under the glorious liberty of
the children of God. Now, is this talking about the
physical creation? Well, it could certainly be included,
but I don't think it's what it's really talking about. I'm going to be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children
of God. Verse 22, for we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Now that's the physical creation.
It's being personified. It groans in the earthquakes
and all the horrible natural disasters that happen, but It
may, that is a reference, but I think this is talking about,
oh, wretched man that I am. Oh, wretched man that I am. And there's a groan, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? And that is a reference
to a dead man chained to a living man in prison. And Rome actually
did that to murderers. They would take a body, a dead
body and chain it to them. And he's talking about his body
being a body of death. Now listen real carefully. I
am a new man, but I'm also the old man that's
not a bit different, that's not a bit better, that's just as
wicked and evil as it ever was. Got improved. Somebody says I'm
a better person. I'm not. Now, I'm a new person.
I'm a new person, but I've got the same evil, wicked nature,
sinful desires that I can't stop that I've ever had. I've got,
you do too. If you say, I don't, I don't
believe you for a second. You're not being honest. You
do too. You do too. You're just as bad, just as hellish,
just as evil as you ever were. But bless God. One of these days,
that's all going to change. And my old sinful nature will
be taken away. And I will wake up without a
sinful nature. No sinful desires. No. That man's
going to be put away. He's going to be put in the grave.
He's going to be gone. Look what it says. Verse 23, and not only
they, but we ourselves also, which have the first fruits of
the spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption. To wit, the redemption of our
body. When I'm going to have a body
that does not sin. And that is a state of permanence. Permanence. It will always be
that way, this new creation. And we're waiting. We are waiting,
aren't we? I'm not excusing sin in any way. I'm not saying, well, don't worry
about it. You're old man, you can't help it. No, we ought not
ever sin again. There's never an excuse for sin. There's never
justification for sin. It's always wrong. We know that. But I'm waiting for that time
when I won't sin anymore. when I will awake to perfect
likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ. I love what John says. Beloved
now are we the sons of God. We really are, right now. And
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We can't even understand
what it's gonna be like to be without sin. But we know this.
When he shall appear, we'll be like him. For we shall see him
as he is. would to God that we might be
enabled to glory in this thing of adoption.