All right, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to Romans, Romans chapter 8. My text will
be found in verse 14. The Scripture says, For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. The title of the message is simply,
Who are the sons of God? The sons of God. Now we know
this, that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. He is the only eternal Son. John says, in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That's confessing the deity of
Jesus Christ. He is God. And yet He was with
God. The same was in the beginning
with God and all things were made by Him. Without Him was
not anything made that was made. Behold, Jesus is God and He was
with God even because the Son is equal with the Father and
the Spirit. He is equal in power, in deity,
in will, in wisdom, He is equal in all the attributes of the
Father and the Spirit, yet He is distinct in His person. Solomon wrote this in Proverbs
chapter 8. Many hundreds of years before
the Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world in the flesh,
he said this, speaking of wisdom. Wisdom is the personification
of Jesus Christ. Christ is the wisdom of God,
Paul says. Proverbs 8, verse 22, it says,
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way. That word
possessed means begotten. The Lord begot me in the beginning
of His way. When was the beginning of His
way? Can you say that there is a beginning? It's an eternal beginning. It's
an eternal begotten of the Son. The Lord possessed me, begot
me in His way before His works of old. Now then, in the next
verse he says, I was set up. He who is begotten was also poured
out or anointed, that word has reference to anointing a king. He was poured out. He was set
up from everlasting. What was he set up from everlasting?
To be the Christ. He was set up to be the high
priest and the surety of God's elect. There is only one true
Son, eternal Son of God, and that is Jesus Christ. But as
we see in our text, that God also has other sons. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they also are the sons of God. Not eternal sons, not
born sons by nature, but yet they are nonetheless sons of
God. And as we look at this chapter, we see that these heirs of God,
these sons have many blessings. This chapter is full of blessings
for the sons of God. These sons of God, they are heirs
of God. They are joint heirs with Christ. In other words, everything Christ
has, they are joint heirs of all He possesses. All He possesses. And though they are sons, the
Scripture says, yet they are made to suffer. He says, I reckon the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that shall be revealed. Though they suffer, yet there
is a glory to be revealed. Anything they suffer in this
world is just small potatoes. It's nothing to be compared with
what they shall receive when they are glorified. And it says this, that all the
creation, verse 22 to 23, it says, all the creation groans
with them. You and I are groaning. Isn't
that a good way to describe our experience in this life? Groaning. Groaning within ourselves. But
know this, the whole creation groans. You see it churning,
you see the creation. Look at all of the things that
happened in this world, tornadoes and hurricanes. Is that not a
sign of groaning? And what is it waiting for? The
creation is expecting something. It's expecting our glorification. It's waiting to the day that
we would all be glorified, all the sons of God. And he concludes
this then that all things, in verse 28, all things, I've told
you this, I've given you the definition of that many times.
All things means this. All things. That's what it means. All things work together. For what? For good. To a very specific group of people.
Not everything works together for good for everybody. That's
not true. It works together for good to
them who love God. Who else loves God but sons of
God? We love God to them who are called according to His purpose. So all things in providence,
in circumstance, in time and eternity are continually, perpetually,
ever working for the good of the sons of God. Oh, then these
sons of God, in the first verse, they are without condemnation. You who are sons of God are without
condemnation. There is no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. These sons,
in verse 33, have been justified before God. You know, it doesn't
matter how men look on you. It only matters how God sees
you. It doesn't matter how you feel
about yourself. It only matters this. Are you justified before
God? Sons, they're justified. They're
justified before God. Look at that. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. And these sons of God, they are
redeemed. They are redeemed by the blood
of Christ. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather is risen again, even at the right
hand of God, ever living to make intercession for us. You hear
that? That He redeemed you and He is sitting there at the Father's
right hand, ever living for one purpose, to intercede for you. He intercedes for us. This is
the conclusion of the whole chapter is that nothing shall ever separate
the sons of God from the love of God. You got that? How often do sons
of God feel separated from the love of God? When we sin, we
feel separated. We feel alienated. And we feel
like, yes, that's what we deserve. We feel it is our just dessert
to be cast out forever. And yet that has an absolute
no bearing whatsoever on the love of God for His Son. Nothing
shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Heck, had a man came in here
yesterday. He saw our building, came in,
and he said himself was a preacher. And he began to talk and I knew
right now, right away, this was not God's man, this was not God's
preacher. He was talking about a salvation
that could be lost. He was talking about how man
should strive for perfection because that's what God wants
you to do. He just wants you to be perfect and you've got
to work at it. Not sons of God. Nothing shall
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Jesus Christ said himself that no man shall pluck my sheep out
of my hand. So we know this, that no son
shall be separated. Now this religious age, they
have a different view of who are the sons of God. They reason that because God
created all men and that God has sovereign dominion over them
and they must somehow give an account to Him, that somehow
they are all sons of God. They suppose that all men are
children of God. No, the Scripture limits this
very carefully in our text. Only, as many as are led by the
Spirit, they, they alone are the sons of God. To be led by
the Spirit is simply this. It is to believe on Christ. That's
what the Spirit leads us to do. He leads these who are the sons
of God to believe on Jesus Christ. And as we walk through this world,
we walk not according to the flesh. We walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit, Paul said. What is it to walk
after the Spirit? It is simply this. It is to continually,
perpetually believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to have faith
in Christ. Our Lord Jesus tells us plainly
that not all... I'll give it to you. John 8,
verse 44. He tells us those Pharisees,
they had a father, and it wasn't God. He said, you are of your
father, the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. This is plainly also stated in
Genesis 3 verse 15, I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
between thy seed and her seed. You see, Satan has a seed. He
has a children. He has sons. And they are at enmity with the
seed, Christ. And all who are in Christ, they
are enmity with you. Jesus said they'll hate you.
Why? Why would they hate you? Because they first hated me. There's enmity between the two
seeds. And it's here by the grace and
power of God, the Holy Spirit, I desire through His His grace
to show you who the sons of God are, so that you may know your sonship. Is there anything more important?
Because you're either a child of God or a child of Satan. That's it. Which are you? There is very specific God does
not leave us to doubt who these are. He plainly reveals who His
sons are. I've got several things here.
First of all, true sons of God are sons by purpose. True sons of God are sons on
purpose. Someone once asked Ralph Barnard
about elections. He said, you believe in elections
and we don't. What is election? And he simply asked this, were
you saved by accident or on purpose? Well, she said, well, on purpose.
Then you believe in election. You were saved on purpose. Not
your purpose. The purpose and will of God.
Go to Ephesians chapter 1. We love this text. We quote it
quite often because it is so clear. I could go to other texts,
but this one is just so plain. He begins to bless God, the Father. He said, 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. Didn't that
just sound like I read to you in Romans chapter 8? All of those
blessings. No condemnation. Going to be
heirs and join heirs with Christ. All things work together for
your good. You're justified. You're redeemed. You cannot be
separated from the love of God. What is that but spiritual blessings? Spiritual blessings. Now how
is it that the sons of God were given such spiritual blessings?
Look at that. According. Doesn't leave you to doubt why
these sons have spiritual blessings. According. As the Father hath
chosen us in Christ, put us in union with Christ, when? Before the foundation of
the world. This passage, He blesses and
gives all spirit as described as being heirs and joint heirs
of Christ. We have all spiritual blessings. And these blessings
come according to the Father's divine choice. You are sons of
God by choice. Not yours, but God's. You are sons by divine election. Kick if you will. Rip it out of your Bible if you
want to and throw it away. Doesn't change it. God chose
an elect people for Himself. He chose a people, put them in
Christ, and gave them all spiritual blessings. And this is one of
those blessings. Listen. That we should be holy and without
blame before Him. This is the first of all spiritual
blessings. Purpose to sons. That we should be holy. Now this
is not the experience of our natural birth, is it? We were
not born holy. Our experience was we were born
in sin. We came forth from the womb speaking
lies. Nobody taught you to lie. You
knew that because that was your nature. You were not born neutral. But this ordained holiness was
to come. It was not to come by our nature. This ordained holiness was to
come by His love that predestinated us to be His sons. This holiness,
this blamelessness was to be accomplished by another. Look
at that. With all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, according as He had chosen us. I'm sorry,
verse 4. That we should be holy without
blame before Him. In love, having predestinated us under the adoption
of children. Not by your merits, but by the
merits of another, by Jesus Christ unto Himself. Back in our text, He said that
we were predestinated to be conformed to the image of the Son of God. Is that not exactly what He's
saying? Being holy without blame? Being conformed to the image
of His Son? That's exactly the same thing. And this is not according to
the will of man, but according to the will of God. Look at this.
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. Do you get that? These sons,
these chosen sons were made accepted. When were you made accepted? The word hath is past tense.
He hath made you accepted. Where? In the Beloved, by your
union with Christ. He chose you, not according to
your merits, but according to His free grace. I ask you this
morning, do you believe on Christ? Do you believe on Christ? Have
you been made holy by the obedience and the blood of the Son of God. Then you are sons of God. Not
by your choice, but by His. You are purposed sons. According to the will of God,
He predestinated you unto the adoption of sons. Out of love, divine love and
free grace, you were chosen to be Go to Galatians. Look at this. I like the way
that Paul describes it in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4. Look at
this. He says, But when the fullness
of the time was come, Remember God had purposed that His Son
should come into the world. I just read that in Genesis.
The seed of the woman shall crush the head of the serpent. He shall
bruise his heel. This was God's purpose, that
Christ should come into the world. He said, but when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made
under the law. Now why would the eternal Son
of God come to be made flesh? Here it is. to redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive what God purposed. What did God purpose? He purposed
your adoption. Christ came to buy that adoption
so that you might actually receive it. You might actually receive
the adoption of sons. Now why did you receive the adoption
of sons? Why did Christ redeem you? Look, and because you are sons, God sent forth His Spirit of
His Son into your hearts. Why did God call you to faith
in Christ? Listen, because you were already
sons. You just didn't know it. You
were already sons. You were adopted long before
you ever knew it. Long before you ever knew it.
So that's the first thing about true sons of God. They're sons
on purpose. They're sons on purpose. Second
of all, these sons are purchased. These sons are not only purposed,
they're purchased. Though God had ordained us to
be His holy sons. Though our adoption was predestinated
by the Father, yet because of our natural birth, we were under
the dominion of sin. Because of our natural birth,
we were guilty before the bar of justice. We owed a debt of
sin that we could not pay. Men think so lightly of sin.
What is the debt of one's sin? What is the debt of one's sin?
Debt. Debt. The soul that sinneth,
it shall surely die. The wages of sin is death. And yet the Scripture concludes
this, that there is none righteous. No, not one. that we have all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. You see how God levels every
man and puts us all on the same level? Let men think they're
higher than another man. There is no such thing. The Scripture
is the great leveler of men. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. One person described it this.
He said, you take a bunch of swimmers These are really great
swimmers. And you sent them out in California
and you said, okay, now you need to swim to Hawaii. Some men make
it a couple of miles and drown. Some men might even make it a
hundred, 150 miles. But listen, he still drowns. No one is without sin before
God. We all have sinned. We must therefore forsake the
wisdom of man who despise the justice of God, forsake those
who suppose God to be like themselves. A lot of men suppose God, well,
God just loves everybody and because He loves everybody, we're
just all going to go to heaven. They suppose God's love, God
can love someone at the expense of His justice. No, God's not
like you and me. We can. We do. But God is not
like that. God will never love someone at
the expense of His justice. God's justice is absolute. And so, even for His adopted
son, He cannot receive them. Though He purposed to receive
them, He cannot receive them without payment for sin. Therefore, all of the adopted
sons, all of the purposed sons of God must also be purchased. Purchased. So if God adopted sons, if He
is to make them holy, He must also pay the price and the price
is The only currency the justice of God will accept is blood. Blood. How do you suppose men think
sin is covered? They think, well, if I just do
good, surely God will weigh my good, and my good will outweigh
my bad. No. I don't know, preacher, I'm pretty
good. God says you ain't. Didn't I just quote that there?
None righteous. No. Not one. Not even you. Not even me. The only currency
God will accept for the payment of sin is not doing good. It's
death. Death is the only payment for
sin. You know, if Christ died for
all of my sins but one, I'll perish forever. Some people believe that faith
is somehow a payment for sin. This is what the religious world
believes. They believe that Jesus died for all men without exception.
Yet, you must make a decision. So, they say, well, He died for
all of the sins of all men, except for unbelief. And if you just
believe, then you'll be saved. When does faith pay for sin?
No, Christ paid for all the sins of all those that He died for,
not for all men. Go to 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse
16. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 16. The apostle here exhorting us
to holiness. He said, Be ye holy even as I
am holy. Verse 17. And if you call on the Father,
without respect of person, judge according to every man's work,
pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as
you know. Now believers, we pass through
this world calling upon our Father. Understanding that He is no respecter
of persons. I'm not saved because of who
I am. I'm saved by the free grace of
God alone. There is no difference between
me and Judas except the grace of God, none. So I do not walk through this
world haughty, I walk through this world humble, for I know
that I am not redeemed with the corruptible things of silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition of your
fathers. I am not redeemed by my works. I am not redeemed by
silver and gold. I can't buy it. I can't earn
it. I can't merit it. How then are the sons of God
redeemed? But with the precious blood of
Christ. As of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. Isn't that just what I told you?
Isn't that what the Scripture just said? That He was purposed
before the foundation of the world to save His sons? And He
came into this world and offered His blood, His spotless, sinless
blood for the redemption of His sons. Look now to the eternal counsel
of God who adopted us and purposed our sonship, has also decreed
that His only begotten Son redeem us by His one blood offering. You know the first time the word
redeemed is used in Scripture is in Exodus 6. Exodus 6 and
verse 6. And listen to what it says. He
said, say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord. I am Jehovah. to what He purposed to do. I
will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians
and I will rid you of their bondage and I will redeem you with an
stretched out arm and with great judgments. This is a picture
of how He purchases every one of His sons. Every one of His
sons are purposed and purchased the same way. We by nature were
in bondage to sin under the condemnation of the law. But God swears, I
will bring you out from under your burdens. I will redeem you. How? The same way He redeemed
Israel. Remember, what was the redemption?
When He took them out of Egypt. How did they get out of Egypt?
How did they escape? You remember it was the Passover
land. God says, I'm going to pass through
in judgment upon all Egypt. And He says to the Israelites,
but you take a lamb, a spotless lamb, and you kill it. You pour its blood on the doorpost
and on the lentil, and everyone Every firstborn son in that house
that has the blood, He said, when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. I will pass over you. Why was
God's judgment stayed? Why did He not kill the firstborn
of Israel? What made the difference between
the Israelites first born and the Egyptians first born? They
were both sinners. They both were under the judgment
of God. God was passing over the whole
nation. What's the difference? The difference
is the blood. The blood of the Lamb. How much
more then has the precious blood of Jesus redeemed His people
from their sins? His sons. Behold, Jesus is the
Passover Lamb. He was ordained of God to offer
His blood for the redemption of His sons. And after His blood was shed
once for sin, after His one offering, listen to what Paul says in Hebrews
9 and verse 12, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
by His own blood He entered once into the holy place. having obtained
eternal redemption. Now what does that mean? He got
it. When Christ died upon Calvary's tree and justice for the sins
of His sons, the sins of His sons were imputed to Him. And when He died on Calvary's
tree under the justice of God, He had forever put away the sins
of His sons. forever remove them. This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, what did he do? He sat down. He sat down. What does that mean? It means
he sat down forever. It's done. You who are sons of
God, you were purposed to be sons, but you were also purchased.
And all of your sins, all of them, have been redeemed. There is not one thing left for
the sons of God to redeem. Not one. All of our sins have
been removed forever. Jeremiah chapter 50 and verse
20. Listen to what it says of those sons that are redeemed.
In those days and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. The sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found. Who's looking? God's the one searching. You
know what God finds? None. How many sins of Judah will be
found? None. Why? For I will pardon
them that I reserve. I will pardon my sons because
of Christ's victorious death. He has fully, perfectly, forever
obtained eternal redemption for His sons. Thirdly, every true Son of God
will experience this adoption. Every true Son of God will know
His Sonship. We know this. By nature we were
not. the sons of God. Every true son
of God is first made aware of this. If you haven't been made
aware of this, it's because you're not. You have no right to be
called the sons of God. If you've not been made aware
of this, this is true. We know this. That we by nature were
outcasts. Outcasts. We by birth were sons
of Adam. The father of our fleshly nature
was Adam. He was ordained by the Father
to be our federal head, and in Him we all spiritually died. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered in the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men, for all have sinned." Go to Ezekiel chapter 16, and
I want you to see how the Spirit describes us in our natural condition. Chapter 16. This is thy birth. You son of God, listen to your
birth. This is how we were born. He said, Thy birth and thy nativity
is of the land of Canaan. You're a heathen by nature. Your father was an Amorite. Your
mother was a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the
day thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither were thou
washed, in water to supple thee, thou wast not salted at all,
nor swaddled at all, none I pitied thee to do any of these, to have
compassion on thee." How horrible a child must it be for no one
to have compassion on them. The story here is simple.
We were bastards. That's what you did in that day
with the bastard son. They didn't want anybody to know
they even had a son. They would have to cast it out
in the middle of the field and let it die. None I pitied thee had compassion
on thee. Thou was cast out in the open
field to the loathing of thy person in the day thou wast born. This was us by nature. We were
cast out. There was no one to help. We by nature are at enmity against
God, for we are not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. How helpless is man? Now, man believes he's not helpless
at all. Man believes he's strong. Man
believes he has some ability within himself to please God.
Some ability to save himself. God says you have about as much
ability as an infant thrown out in the desert by itself. If left
to yourself, you'll die. But the Scripture says this,
when I passed by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine own blood. That's how God comes to every
one of His sons. He comes to us polluted in our
own blood. Cast out to the loathing of our
own souls. And God says, this was a time
of love. And I said unto thee, live. This is the experience of every
son. We are cast out, we are sinners, and it is the grace
of God who comes to us. You know this? We were not looking
for God when He found us. We were like that man born blind.
You know, he was just sitting there begging. Every day was
like the day before. And you remember, Christ came
to him. That's exactly how He comes to
His sons. He comes and He gives us life. Go back to your text. Look at
verse 15. For you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. When God calls you to
life, there is nothing else you'll do but cry. Not to man. You won't look to yourself. You'll
look to Christ. God reveals this to us, that
in ourselves is no righteousness, but in Christ is all our salvation. This is nothing less than a new
birth. A new birth. Jesus said, except
a man be born of water, even of the Spirit, he cannot enter
the Kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not,
I said to you, you must be born again. The wind bloweth where
it listeth. You can hear the sound thereof,
but you can't tell where it's coming and where it's going.
So is everyone that is born of the Spirit of God. All the sons
of God who are chosen of God, all the sons of God who are redeemed
of Christ shall be called of the Spirit to life. And this is an effectual call.
This is not a suggestion. He is not giving you an invitation
to life. When He calls you to life, you'll
live. And if He won't, you'll stay dead. The Spirit blows where it lists. You can hear the sound. Isn't
that what you've been hearing? This is the word of the Spirit.
This is not my word. It's His word. You can hear the
sound thereof. You can't tell who it's going
to apply to and who it's not. I don't know. I cast this seed
of the venture. But the Spirit knows where it
lands. He implants life. This is far beyond our ability
to perform. It is the will of God that gives
life to sinners. The new birth is a sovereign
work of the Spirit of God and is given to those chosen of the
Father and redeemed of Christ. Jesus tells us plainly, He said
this, no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down
from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven." In other
words, no man could approach unto God, no man has ever come
to God. Any of you ever ascended to heaven? Why not? Because we can't be
accepted, we won't be accepted. Only Christ has ascended before
the Father with His own blood, and He came down from heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." Faith is the evidence
of the new birth. Faith in what? Him that was lifted
up. All my salvation. You sons of
God, you understand this. All our salvation rests on His
work alone. All of it. There is no part that
belongs to me. It's all His work. You're sons
of God. You know you were not redeemed
with corruptible things. You know you were redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ. And you know this. It's done. It's done. We believe He was lifted up on
Calvary's tree and God has forever accepted HIS ONE OFFERING FOR
SIN, DO YOU KNOW YOUR NATURE? DO YOU KNOW YOUR SIN? DO YOU
KNOW YOUR NEED OF CHRIST? EVERY TRUE SON OF GOD KNOWS HIS
NEED. AND I TELL YOU, I KNOW MY NEED
MORE TODAY THAN I DID I need Him more now than I ever
did before. I constantly need His love. Constantly need His mercy. Constantly
need His forgiveness. And I know this, that I cannot
keep myself. Isn't that a shame? And yet it's true. I can't keep
myself. I know this. that everyone that
is a son of God is kept by the Spirit of God. Go back to your
text and read this just with me real quickly. Look again at
verse 14. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. You that are led by the
Spirit of God, what are you led to do? you're led to continually trust
in Christ. Jesus said of the Spirit, He
said, when the Comforter comes, He is going to testify of me.
Any spirit that doesn't testify of Christ is not the Spirit of
God. The Spirit of God always testifies of Christ. You see people running around
and saying, oh, look what the Spirit did for me, and they're
jumping up and down, They're doing all this and they say,
the Spirit this and the Spirit that. If the Spirit is testifying
of Himself, it is not the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God always
testifies of Christ. He always points sinners to Christ. He always says this, come to
Christ. Believe on Christ. Love Christ. Do you love Christ? Do you believe
on Christ? That is because you are led by
the Spirit of God, and if you are led, listen, you are the
sons of God. You are the sons of God. Purpose, son. Why are you a son
of God? The will of God. You are purchased, sons. You
are bought with a price. Therefore, we confess we're not
our own. Isn't that right? People get all up in arms about
slavery. I like it. I like it. I have a master. Yeah, I have more than that.
I have a father. And I am his son because he bought
me. Remember that old prodigal son?
What a good picture of this. I'll close with this. That prodigal
son. You know, he was a son even when he rebelled. He rebelled against his father
and said, Give me my inheritance! And the father gave it to him.
He went off, lived every lust he ever had. Spent it all. Find him eating the husks of
swine The thing that the pigs throw away, that's what he was
eating. What a picture of us by nature. I will not have this
man to rule over me. Will not! Give me what's mine! I'll give it to you. But his sons find themselves
in the swine of their sin. Bankrupt. The only thing for him is death.
And he said, I know this. He came to himself. How did that
happen? How did you come to yourself? The Spirit of God let you see
where you were. And he's all the way coming home
His hands out. He said, I'm just rehearsing.
Maybe He'll make me a servant. If I could just be a slave in
His house, just let me live. Just let me be a slave in Your
house. He said, Father, I've sinned
against Thee and against Heaven. And before He can finish His
confession, you remember this, that the Father saw Him a far-off. A far-off! And this is the only
time in Scripture where it gives the reference that God's in a
hurry. Since the Father ran. And as He comes to Him, He said,
Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. And He fell
on His neck and He kissed Him. He said, this is My Son. Got
that? He was a Son when He rebelled.
He was a Son in the hog pen. He was a Son when He came back.
He said, this My Son that was dead is now alive. Kill the fatted
calf. You know what that means? Kill
My only begotten Son for this one. He put a ring on His finger.
A sign of sonship. You know what that ring is? It's
the Spirit of God that dwells in us. We are His sons. We, listen,
are His sons. And nothing can change that. Not all of hell, not all the
providence of time and eternity will ever change that. I'm a
son on purpose. I'm a son that's purchased. And
I'm a son that's called, led by the Spirit of God. There is therefore now no condemnation
to His Son. Are you a son? Are you a son? If a son, then an heir. Heir of what? Everything. Everything. You know everything's yours?
If you're a son, everything's yours. Everything. I'm not talking about this time,
this earthly stuff. It's all going to burn up. It's
yours. It's all being used for you.
It's all working together for your good. It's all yours. It's
all for you. Even your suffering is for you.
even your pain, even your affliction, so it weans you from this world
and sets your eyes upon what's coming. You're an heir of God
because you're a son. I pray God will comfort you with
this. Give you peace if you are a son. If you're not, I pray
He stir up your heart move you to come to Christ. Pray that you would. Let's stand
and be dismissed in prayer.