Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter
8. The title of the message this
morning is Suffering Children. Suffering Children. Verse 14
says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God. While all men are creatures of
God, all men by nature are made of God, not all men are sons
of God. This scripture is very clear,
very specific as to who the sons of God are. They are as many
as As many as, that may be a very
large number, that may be a very small number, it is as many as
are led by the Spirit of God. These are the sons of God. Jesus plainly reveals this to
the Jews in John chapter 8 when He was talking with them. The
scripture says they believed on Him. And Jesus told them that if the
Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. And they became
upset. They began to be very upset because
they said, Who are you to set us free? We're not in bondage
to any man. We're Abraham's seed. And Jesus told them, the same
people that believed on Him, were the same people that railed
against him when he spoke of freedom from bondage. They said,
we're not in bondage. And Jesus says, oh yes, you are. You are the sons, you are the
children of your father, the devil, the devil. Those who will not hear the truth,
Those who will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, are led to faith in Jesus Christ
alone. We just sang a song, Only Trust
Him. I say, trust Him only. Trust
Him only. Alone. By Himself. Those who will not trust Jesus
Christ alone, They're sons alright, they're
just not sons of God. These Jews believed on Him, but
as soon as their faith was put to the test, it proved empty,
vain, because they would believe on Jesus plus their ancestry. Do you see that? They believed
on Jesus so long as they could believe on their ancestry as
well. So are all who put their trust
in Christ plus their works, plus their religion, plus their ceremonies,
or plus their own obedience to the law of God or the traditions
of man. If you put anything to the work
of Jesus Christ, this is His response to you. You have no
right to call yourself a son of God. Rather, you have every right
to call yourself a son of Satan. To put anything to the sacrifice
and righteousness of Jesus Christ, listen to me, it defiles His
sacrifice. The minute you put your work
to it, the minute you put your name to it, it defiles the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. I want you to see a picture of
this. Hold your place here, but go over to Exodus chapter 20. God gives us a good picture of
this. Exodus chapter 20, we know that
this is the place where He had given the Ten Commandments, the
Law. And immediately after He gave
the Law, verse 24, immediately after He gave the
Law, He said this to Moses, "'An altar of earth shalt thou make
unto Me, And thou shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings,
and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen. In all
places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I
will bless thee. And if thou shalt make me an
altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones, carved
stones, For if thou lift up thy tool
upon it, thou hast polluted it. Do you get that? God says, if you make me an altar
and you burn a sacrifice on that altar to me, I want you to take
stones and I don't want you to touch them. I want you to pile
them, put them up, don't carve anything on them. Because the
day you put your tool to it is the day you get some glory for
it. Well, God, that was a good sacrifice.
Did you see how I made that stone? Did you see how pretty that stone
was I made for you? You see, what did you do? You
robbed God of His glory. You put your work to the sacrifice,
and you said, the sacrifice plus my work is acceptable to God. And God said, you've done nothing
but pollute it. You've defiled it. You've made
it worthless. O believer in Christ alone, may
God, the Holy Spirit, reveal to us again and again and again
how it is that Jesus has come and willingly fulfilled every
jot and tittle of the law of God. Behold, Jesus is our all-sufficient
Savior and Redeemer, so that we have to put nothing to Him. He's perfect in Himself. I'm
not adding anything to Him by believing on Him. I had nothing
to Him. Consider this, you who believe
on the Son of God. Pray, O thou blessed Jesus, you
did take the whole debt, the whole debt upon thyself. And
when we had nothing to pay, either in doing or suffering, then you
said, I will be your surety. I will be your guarantee. And you said it my hand, Father,
thou shalt require it." Do you not see the law of God was given
and then he was saying, when you offer a burnt offering? Why? Because they would need a burnt
offering. They gave them the law and he knew they were not
sufficient to obey it. But Jesus has come and honored
that law for his people and offered himself a sacrifice for sins. And what did you put to it? I
put nothing to it. Put nothing to it. Behold, Jesus
is the justifier of all his children, and his children desire only
to worship God upon an altar made of God, which is Jesus Christ,
who is the altar, he is the high priest, and he is the sacrifice. And I'm the beneficiary of all
he's done. That's it. I'm just a beneficiary
of it. I had nothing to do with it.
The children of Satan are those who go about to establish their
own righteousness and thus pollute the righteousness that is in
the offering of Christ. But the children of God, we know
this. We know this. We have no righteousness
in ourselves. Every child of God that is led
by the Spirit of God knows this about ourselves. We have no righteousness. But God, by His free grace, made
Jesus Christ to be all our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. He has made Him to be all those
things. What part of those things belong
to me? What part of redemption? What
part of wisdom? What part of sanctification belong
to me? None. None. Christ is made all my wisdom,
all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my redemption.
He's all. He's all. The children of God
know this. Therefore, all who are led by
the Spirit, born again of the Spirit, have received what? The spirit of adoption. You see, I wasn't a natural-born
son. I was an adopted son. I'm an
adopted son. I know what I am. We received the spirit of adoption.
It says that in verse 15 of chapter 8. It says, For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage, legalism, law, again to fear. But you have received the spirit
of adoption whereby you cry, Abba, Daddy, Father. Jesus said back in John 8, what
I was just referring to, John 8, He said, the servant of sin
abideth not in the house forever. Do you realize that this whole
sinful world and all sinners in it will one day be gone? They're not going to abide forever.
That's just so. There's coming an end to sin.
There's going to be an end. But the Son Abideth ever. He abides always. If the Son
therefore shall make you free. Free from what? Free from sin. Free from the bondage of Satan. Free to be a son. If the Son shall make you free.
You shall be free indeed. All of Adam's race were born
into bondage to sin and Satan. But the hope of the sinner is
that there is a Son, Son of God, a natural Son of God, the only
begotten of the Father. Sinners who are servants of sin
shall be justly cast out, but whosoever is a son Whoever the
Son sets free, they shall abide with the Son forever." That's
what Jesus was telling these people. He said, if I make you
free, you'll be free forever. When the Son abides forever,
you'll abide with Me. This is the adoption of God's
free grace to God's chosen sons who were born in bondage. But
now, by the grace of God through the work of the Holy Spirit,
we are not given a spirit of bondage again to fear, seeing
that Jesus Christ has made you free. If you are a son, you are
free. You are free from sin. I don't
feel free. Don't give me that. Oh, I'd have to tell myself that
daily, constantly. My feelings rise up. May the
Word of God crush the thoughts of this flesh and abide by faith
in the truth. The truth is I'm free. Not free
from the presence of sin, but one day I will be. But I know
this, I'm free from the guilt of sin. bondage of sin and one day I'll
be free from the presence of sin. Why? The Son has set me
free. The Son has set me free. How did He do that? He did it
by honoring the law of God. He did it by doing what I could
not do. I could not go to God and demand
sonship. I deserve nothing but God's wrath. I did nothing but dishonor God
my entire life. Every thought and deed was nothing
but sin. But consider what He has done
for me. He has honored the law in my
place. He has made, He has fulfilled
the law of God's justice. and made for me a righteousness,
the very righteousness of God, and by His blood He has forever
satisfied God's justice." And I tell you, He did that all by
Himself. He did that all by Himself. Do you have the spirit of adoption? Is this same spirit in you These things that I'm talking
about, does that the Spirit of God testify of these things with
your spirit that they're so? It says in verse 16, he will, the
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God. The Spirit of God, as Jesus told
us when He would come, He said He will not bear witness of Himself,
but He will testify of Me. Does the Spirit testify that
Jesus Christ is all your hope and righteousness? Does He testify
that to your spirit? Then you are a son of God. Do
you trust Him completely, absolutely, with no work of your own, no
merit of your own? That is the work of the Spirit
testifying with your spirit that you are a son of God. You are. You're not a son by
merit. You're a son by His merit. You're not a son by flesh, are
you? As many as received Him, to them
gave He the right, the privilege, to be called the sons of God,
which were born not of the flesh, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, not of blood, but of the will of God. You were born of the will of
God. That's why you believe on Christ
alone. And you are His Son. This is
what the Spirit testifies. And now then, if you are a son,
listen to me. Here, follow the logic of the
Apostle. Now he's going to take you on
from sonship to show you what you have as a son. The privileges
of sonship. Look at verse 17. And if children... Now I'm speaking only to believers
here. You have no right to this if you're not a believer in Christ.
You're an heir of damnation, you're an heir of hell, but you
are not an heir of God. Listen, he said, if children,
then heirs. Heirs of God. If son, then heirs. Those who
will not believe on Christ alone but inject their works and will
into it, you have no right to this. But if you are a true son,
if you are a believer in Christ, this is all yours. You have an
inheritance. You have an inheritance. We who are sons of God are not
going to be cast out like the bondwoman and her child. But
we will be received as heirs of the promises of God. Go to
Galatians 4. Go to Galatians 4. Paul says
pretty much the same thing here in this book. Galatians chapter
4, but I want us to kind of notice something very particular about
the way he says this. It's really good. Galatians 4
and verse 6. And because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father." Very similar to what he says there in Romans,
isn't it? Consider this your privilege, believer, that you were sons of God even
before you knew it. I'm not making this up. Read
it again with me. And because you are sons, because
you are sons, God has sent forth His Spirit of His Son into your
hearts. Wait a second. Why did God send
His Spirit into your hearts? Well, because you are already
a son. You were already a son. The evidence of this sonship
was that He sent His Spirit to you. That's the evidence of it. You were already sons. You were already a son. Son by
eternal adoption. You already is. Before you knew
it. But now you know it. Now you
know it, because He sent His Spirit into your heart, and He
gave you life. He gave you grace to believe
on Jesus Christ. Now then, that you are sons,
consider you were sons, now you are sons, and guess what? You'll
always be sons. You'll always be sons. And because you are sons, you
were sons, you are sons, and you shall be sons, guess what?
You are heirs of all things. Now I'm gonna let your mind run
as far and as fast in every direction you want to with that. Everything is yours. all things. The Apostle says
in 2nd Corinthians 2.14, he says, for all things are for your sakes. You get that? Do you see that
this world spins and everything that's done in it is for your
sakes? God does it for you. you're his son, why would he
not do it for you? He's going to tell us later in
the last part of chapter 8, he said, if he has freely given
his son, how shall he not with him freely give you what? All things. Andrew asked me the other day,
Dad, who's the richest person in the world? I said, I am. He said, no, no, no, Dad, I mean
the richest person. I said, I am. I said, I'm an heir of God. And if God is my reward, then
what do I not possess? All things are mine. Now, I may
not have them now, but I know this, they're mine. And whatever
I do have now is specifically designed for me. It's mine. Whatever you're having right
now is specifically designed for you by the Father of Lights. by the Father who gives all things
abundantly to you. Consider this, believer, if God,
if you are an heir by God, if God has chosen you to be a son,
and you are an heir of God, consider this, that you've inherit all
of His love, all of His mercy, all of His grace, All of His
goodness. And you are an heir of all of
His providence. You get that? You're an heir
of all things. Not like these greedy, self-righteous,
religious, fanatic fools who think that this world is what
they want, what God's going to give you. They said, have it
now. Is it one of their books? That
one false preacher, he has a book called The Best Life Now. He can have that crap. I don't
want it. I'm an heir of God. I'm a son
of God. Not by my works. And I'm not
saying this presumptuously. I'm not saying this proud and
arrogantly. I say this with all humility
because He made me a son. I didn't deserve to be a son.
And neither did you. He made me a son. And because He did that, I have
every right to receive what promises He gives me. They're mine. He says they're mine. Well, preacher, how does this jive with my experiences? What of our experiences, believers?
Are we at not times faced with things that seem to run contrary
to all this? Don't the circumstances of your
life seem to run contrary to sonship and this matter of being
an heir of all things? Don't it seem contrary? I'll tell you what, if you're
not facing trouble and trials just yet, wait a minute. God will try your faith. And during these times of pain,
our hearts cry out to our Father, if we are sons, if we are heirs
of your grace, then why so much grief? Why so much pain? If thy word is true, that we
are heirs of all things, then why are we not delivered from
our afflictions and troubles? God's promise to you is this.
He says in Psalm 25, verse 14, the secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him, and He will show His covenant to them. What's
His covenant? His covenant is in Jeremiah 23,
40. He said, I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will
not turn away from them to do them good. That's His covenant. There it is. His covenant, His
sworn covenant to you who are His sons. I will not turn away
from you to do you good. Is this true? How can my afflictions be reconciled
with God's covenant to not turn away from us to do us good. Child
of God, listen to me, let us be well persuaded of our conditions
as sons so that we may pass through these troubles and difficulties
in cheerful service. Is that not what you want to
do? Do you not want to pass through these troubles with cheerful
service to God? then you should be well considerate
of your sonship as you pass through them. If you lose sight of this,
how do you suppose you'll ever make it through? Do you think
you'll make it through with cheerfulness? No. It'll be darkness. Let us be well grounded in this
truth, so that when trials come, We may endure them patiently. We may be able to rejoice in
the darkness of our times of trouble when we see the sonship
does not depend on our circumstances. Is that not going to be a help
to you when you're in trouble, to know that your sonship does not
depend on your circumstance? See, child of God, that all your
suffering and affliction, though it is painful, and though it
seems contrary to your inheritance of all things, we by faith may
see in the Word of God that they are not meant for our destruction,
but for your profit. Afflictions are not for your
destruction, but for your profit. See in verse 17 of our text,
go back there real quickly, 17. He said, If sons, if children,
then heirs, heirs of God, join heirs with Christ, if so be we
what? Suffer with Him. One thing about Christianity
that differs from all other false religions is that we're not blinding
you or deluding you as to think that you're not going to suffer.
Have I ever said that to you? By God's grace I never will.
Your master suffered and you will suffer. This world hated
him, it will hate you. Jesus said in this world you
shall have tribulation, suffering, So then, suffering children,
you should, like the apostle in verse 18, when you suffer
with him, you should do this, for I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. When you are suffering,
brethren, by faith, By faith you should count these
afflictions, though weighty and dark, to be small and insignificant
in comparison with your inheritance." Compare them. Compare your trouble
now with what He has promised. And they will shrink. I listened to Tim James this
week. He said, I'm nothing more than a grease spot on the road
of time. Isn't that what we are? Just
a greasy spot. Our lives are nothing in comparison
to eternity. So then what is the trouble of
your life, which is even smaller than that? Compare it with the
glory, righteousness. eternal joy, peace. It's nothing. Your suffering
is very small when you compare it to glory. And so you should. You should compare it. Yes, the Apostle goes on and
tells us that we've grown in this flesh. Now I'm not saying
that faith is going to alleviate your pain. It won't. Do you get
that? Your pain is real and it hurts.
And your faith will not alleviate the physical or emotional or
whatever kind of pain you're going through. It won't relieve
it. But I'll tell you, it strengthens you through it. That's what it
does. It puts a foundation under your
feet so you don't fall. In trouble, I know this, you
pray, don't you? You don't pray as much as you
do when you're in trouble. But let me ask you this, do you
know what to pray for? I know this, you will pray for,
Lord deliver me! Get me out of this! That's the
first one we go for right there. Now whether that's good or not,
I don't know, but I'm praying that. And you've got a right
to. God tells you to deliver those
prayers. But I'll tell you this, you've
got something better, because the Spirit of God knows what
to pray for, and He intercedes for you in all your prayers. This is part of the privilege
of sonship, is I don't know what to pray for. But when I pray,
I can pray anything. But I know this, all the bad
stuff gets burned up before it gets to the top. And when it
gets to God, all God hears is, Thy will be done. Thy will be
done. Thy will be done. Thy will be
done. Listen to my son! He's praying! Thy will be done! Listen to him! And you know what's
going to happen? We're going to get exactly what
we asked for. The will of God shall be done.
And what is that will? All things work together for
your good. That's the will of God. Why?
Because you are a son. And if a son, then an heir. An
heir of what? All things, even your trouble. And friends, God will turn it
to your good, I promise. If you've been a believer for
any length of time, you know this to be true. He's done it. How many times? Will He not do it again? May God give you such stability
to stand on Christ alone and all who do are His sons. May
God bless this to you. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.