What a great thing, Lord, that we can come before You and call You our Father. What a wonderful thing, Lord, that we can stand before You and worship You in spirit and in truth. And it's only, Lord, by Your works, by Your grace, by your mercy, Father. Bless us as we continue our studies and looking at the different names that the doctrines of your word teach us, the teachings of your word that they bring to our hearts. Bless us, Lord, for your son's sake. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.

All righty. We began chapter 8 of Brother Don's book last week titled, Our Heavenly Father. And he takes his thoughts from Luke 11, verse 13.

Good morning, Roger. Good morning. Where it says, if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts, speaking about our nature, that's what he means. If ye then being evil, our nature, how to give good gifts, unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask of him?

Your heavenly Father, writes on, what a delightful name, what a wonderful name, as we just sang, for our God. We have already seen the clarity with which the scriptures teach in the doctrine of the Trinity, so this morning we're going to pick up where we left off, and we left Father is an eternal Father of the eternal Son. We also consider, we understand and rejoice in the fact that our Heavenly Father is created in the heavens, our Heavenly Father created the heavens, not is created, but created the heavens and the earth and all that dwell therein as it reads in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 and 2.

We also consider that our hearts rejoice in to know that it is our Heavenly Father who dictates and rules all the affairs of Providence. I was looking at an interview this morning, one of the men who stepped up for Charlie Kirk, remember Charlie Kirk was the one who was addressing a lot of college students He claims to be a Christian. I don't know who he was. I don't know where his heart was. I don't want to be into that part. But somebody stepped up, and a man stood up, and he said, how do you deal with that? How do you deal with the fact that Charlie was killed? Are you mad at God? And I thought to myself, we could very easily be mad, couldn't we, to lose a loved one in that kind of way? We could be very easily mad about it.

But God teaches us something. He teaches us something in his word. And that is that he's God, which means that every single thing that happens is under his realm. It's under his purpose. And as I thought about those things, I don't want to go into a deep discussion of what the answer to that question is. What I want to bring before you is this is what my thoughts were. If my God is ruling over all things, if He's truly my Father who art in heaven, hallowed be His name, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then all things are inconsistent with this. All things are for my good. Despite what it is, despite whether I'm angry, despite... See folks, this sinful flesh can do all kinds of things. It doesn't make any change in God. We don't add and we don't take away anything that God does. We're the clay. He makes us exactly the way he has determined us to be. We are the vessels of mercy. We're the vessels of wrath, one of the two. And if we're the vessels of mercy, we look upon everything.

Does that mean we don't get mad at God? No, that's not what I'm saying at all. Eventually, though, if we belong to God, we may get mad at Him, but we'll come back around to see the truth as it is, because He'll bring us. He brings us through His Holy Spirit and teaches us those things.

We understand and rejoice the fact that our Heavenly Father created the heavens, that we rejoice in the fact that He controls all things and that He rules all affairs of providence.

looked at not only does our Heavenly Father rule all things in Providence, He does it according to His own eternal purpose and grace and sovereign predestination. So that brings us to our fifth point of how our Father works and brings joyfulness, brings eternal how he brings rejoicing to our hearts, being our father.

God's eternal purpose, writes Don, of grace and predestination and in his execution of that purpose and providence is according to our heavenly father's sovereign choice of his people. We rejoice in the fact that God chose us. We know that we would have never chosen him. So we rejoice in the fact that he has chosen his people into salvation in his son from before the world began in eternal election. And that's what we read about in Ephesians chapter one through six.

Turn over to 2 Thessalonians though if you would. I wanna look at a couple of verses there that point us to that very fact. 2 Thessalonians, you got the three Ts right before Hebrews, right before Philemon. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter two. Listen to what Paul's saying here in his letter to the Thessalonians, verse 13.

But we are bound to give thanks always. This is chapter two of 2 Thessalonians, verse 13. Always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning. See how this goes right along with Ephesians chapter one? where it talks about predestination in Christ, have from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification, that's setting apart or being made holy of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So we see very clearly.

One more, if you would, turn over to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter, the other side of Hebrews, just before Revelation, just before 1 John. 1 Peter, chapter 1. One verse over there to coincide with what we've been reading. Look at verse 2. 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 2.

Elect, in other words, chosen, called of God, as we read in Romans chapter 8. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through Sanctification, made holy of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied.

So we see here very clearly that God's eternal purpose of grace and predestination and his execution of that purpose brings much joy to the hearts of God's people.

Here again is a display, writes Don, of the distinct persons within the Godhead. The Father chose us to salvation in the Son and through the sanctification of the Spirit. And I believe chapters 9 and 10 will be looking at the Son a little more deeply, and then 10 will be looking at the Spirit a little more deeply. But this is, again, we see all three of them right here in that verse.

The sixth thing that he brings out to us, not only did God the Father choose us to save us, choose to save us, it was our Heavenly Father who found a way to save us that is altogether consistent with and honoring to His own glorious holiness, His own glorious justice, and His own glorious truth. Love chose us, but justice demanded satisfaction. Mercy resolved to spare us, but truth said the soul that sent it shall die. Grace cried forgive, but holiness insisted without holiness no man shall see the Lord. It must be perfect to be accepted.

Our Heavenly Father to live as a man and die as our substitute. And the father himself, willing to sacrifice his dear son for us, looked upon his chosen and said, in Don's words, Eureka! Deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. That's in Job chapter 33.

Turn over to Psalms 89. Let's look at several verses there. Psalms 89. Beginning at verse 19, Psalms 89 verse 19. Then thou speakest in vision to thy holy hill and saidest, I have laid upon, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant with my holy oil have I anointed him. With whom my hand shall be established, mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him. And in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever. and his throne as the days of heaven.

Listen to this song that we sing quite often in our hymn book. Love found a way to redeem my soul. Love found a way that could make me whole. Love sent my Lord to the cross of shame. Love found a way. Oh, praise.

Seventhly, Don tells us that our Heavenly Father entered into a covenant with His Son on our behalf for the saving of our souls. In Hebrews 13, 20, the covenant is called the everlasting covenant. Frequently, it is called the new covenant. It is a covenant made in eternity between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But it was made for us. Insofar as the benefits and the blessings of it to us are concerned, it is an unconditional covenant. And the Lord God said this, he said, I will love them freely, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. This is the everlasting covenant that God the Father had made with God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is a sure covenant, a covenant which is infallible. secured and guaranteed to God's elect and all the blessings of salvation and eternal life can be found in Christ Jesus.

Turn over to Jeremiah 31. Oh, I love this verse so much. I just love this verse so much. Jeremiah 31. Look at verse 3. You cannot read these words without knowing, without feeling the love that God has for His people. He's not waiting for us to make a move for Him. He makes His move on the day of His love. Look at verse 3. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. That's a love that never had a beginning and never has an end. It's everlasting. Therefore, and because of that love, therefore, with loving kindness, I have I drawn thee. Oh, to be looked upon by others. Look over verse 34 of that same chapter. Look over verse 34 of Jeremiah 31. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brethren, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them. Sayeth the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Hey, there's a verse I can use in our next subject. Our next subject is iniquity forgiven. I might use that for the next one as well. That's an excellent.

Okay, let's go look at another one. Shall we turn over to chapter 32 of Jeremiah and look at a couple of verses there. Jeremiah 32, look at verses 38 through 40. It says in Jeremiah 32, verse 38, and they shall be my people and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me.

The only condition to the covenant And to the blessings of grace and salvation promised in it was the obedience of the Son of God as our substitute unto death. And you can read that in Hebrews 13 20 of your own time. Be sure you understand that there was never the slightest possibility of failure on our Lord's part. He was willing to unto death, even unto the shedding of his blood, the blood of the everlasting covenant.

So we have great reason to rejoice in him as our father, and that reason as well. The reason number eight, having found a ransom for our souls, our heavenly father, writes Don, gave his chosen into the hands of his son, as sheep into the hands of a shepherd, and trusted him with the salvation of our souls, and the glory of His own great name.

Turn over to John chapter 6. One verse over there, John chapter 6. Look at verse 39. And this is the Father's will. You see there? We rejoice in our Great One that we call our Father, for His will which hath sent me, saith the Lord, that all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again the last day. So we see very clearly our reasons for having such joy, such rejoicing in our hearts.

Don writes this in closing into that part of the scripture or part of his book. He says, if God the Father had trusted his glory to his dear son as our substitute and our savior and trusted the salvation of our souls, as it states there, that's what we just read in John chapter six, verse 39. If God trusted his son for that, we can and should trust him as well. We can trust him with our immortal souls and with all that concerns us.

Remember I mentioned a minute ago, would we be mad at God if something like that happened to us? Absolutely. I can't say we wouldn't. That doesn't take our trust away from him, does it? Folks, our trust in God is through the spirit. That's the spirit doing his work. John Reeves has no power to trust in my savior. If God removed His Spirit from me, if He removed His hand from me, I would fall away within a second. I would go right back to the old John Reeves who worked everything out according to the whim of luck. Mother Nature. Wouldn't you? Oh, to be kept by the Spirit of God. We have all the reason in the world, folks, to trust our Father. If the Father trusted the Lord, He is a trustworthy Savior indeed.

Ninth, he brings us to this point. He says, moreover, our Heavenly Father has adopted us into His family as the sons of God from eternity. Turn over to 1 John. Remember that one right before Revelation? You've got 1, 2, and 3 John. Turn over to 1 John, chapter 3. Our Heavenly Father, notice what John says here, has adopted us into His family as the sons of God, and He did it from eternity.

Look at chapter 3, verses 1 and 2. Behold, this is 1 John, chapter 3. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Another one, if you would, turn over to Galatians, go to the left over to Galatians, just a few pages. Look at Galatians chapter four. Look at verses 6 and 7. Galatians chapter 4, verse 6 and 7. And because ye are sons of God, if because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son than an heir of God through Christ.

So we see why we would rejoice that God the Father has adopted us into his family. John Gill wrote this. He said, this is a privilege that exceeds all others. It is more to be a son than to be a saint. Angels are saints, but not sons. They are servants. It is more to be a child of God than to be than to be redeemed, pardoned, and justified. It is a great grace, it is great grace to redeem from slavery, to pardon criminals and justify the ungodly, but it is another thing, another thing, a higher act, higher act of grace to make them, those who are ungodly, those who are criminals, make them your sons. and which makes them infinitely more honorable than to be the sons and daughters of the greatest potentate on earth. Yea, it gives them an honor which Adam had not in innocence, nor the angels in heaven, who through sons of creation, yet not by adoption.

Tenth thing, having chosen to adopt us, our heavenly father has accepted us and the beloved. And we know that's in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 6. I'm sure you don't fail to grasp the teaching of the Holy Scripture regarding the matter of the believer's acceptance before God. Our acceptance is in Christ and Christ alone. Our acceptance is from everlasting to everlasting. Our acceptance is absolute and unconditional. Our acceptance means that God the Father, our Heavenly Father, looks upon us in Christ as perfect in Him.

And I want to break away from God's Word for a moment and remind us what we read in Hebrews chapter 10. We are perfected by His one offering. Are we not perfected forever by His one offering? Was His offering not sufficient enough to purge us of our sins as we read in Hebrews chapter 1? We are perfect in Him. And it has been so since eternity. He declares it must be perfect to be accepted.

The 11th point that Don brings out is accepted in the beloved. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ from eternity and has promised to bless us forever for Christ's sake. Look over at 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy, again the three Ts. One of our dear sisters pointed that out to me when I was struggling with remembering where things were in the Bible. You got the three T's right there before Hebrews. Second Timothy, chapter one, verse nine. Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us where? In Christ Jesus before the world began. Those are good words.

The Lord God commanded Aaron, his high priest, to bless his people symbolically in Numbers 6, verse 23, because he had sworn from eternity for Christ's saying, saying, I will bless them.

The 12th point that Don brings out is if you want to get some idea just how great our Lord's blessings are for you and I, try to get a hold of this. Our Heavenly Father has given His own dear Son for and to us. Turn over 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. As it is written, and this is referring to Psalms 112 verse 9, as it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor his righteousness which remaineth forever.

One more if you would, let's look over at Isaiah 49. All the way back to the Old Testament for a moment, Isaiah 49. one verse over there if you would, verse eight. Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.

Our Lord gave us His Son in a promise before the world began. He gave us His Son in the fullness of time, in the incarnation to fulfill all righteousness for us. Our God gave His Son as a sin-atoning sacrifice, a substitute at Calvary. Our Heavenly Father gave us His Son in regeneration, forming His Son in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, and He will give us His Son in the day of resurrection in resurrection glory when He brings us into Heaven.

Quickly now, I'll get to the last three points here. The 13th, our Heavenly Father gives us His Spirit and He gives it to all of His elect. He does not give His Spirit to some of His elect and withholds His Spirit from others. The Father gives the Spirit to all the chosen, to all the redeemed according to His covenant Galatians chapter 3 for just a moment if you would. Galatians chapter 3. Verses 13 and 14 it says, Christ hath redeemed us. This is Galatians chapter 3 verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for as it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessings of Abraham might come unto the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The Holy Spirit is given to every chosen redeemed sinner by, as a sanctifier, a convincer, a comforter, a strengthener, a teacher, an enlightener, an illuminator, a guide, and a seal. This everlasting covenant of grace between the great three and one is a sure covenant. It's not one that can be changed. It's a covenant which is infallible. It's secured with the guarantee of God, for the guarantee of God's elect and all blessings of salvation and eternal life. flow through this covenant, this covenant which is in Christ Jesus. That's what we read over in Jeremiah 31.

The only condition to the covenant. Oh, wait a minute. Sorry about that. Went back on a page. All right, 14th and 15th. Our Heavenly Father graciously and effectively teaches chosen sinners causing us to come to Christ for salvation and for life. That's what we read in John 6 verse 44 and 45. I'll leave that for you to read in your own time. And he also teaches us his will and his way as we seek it for his glory.

Turn over to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. in between Isaiah and the Psalms. You have Ecclesiastes, back one book from there is Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 3. Look at Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6. Talking about teaching. We're talking about the wonderful thing about the Holy Spirit teaching His will and His verses 5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

One more, if you would, the 15th point that Don brings out is it is our God, our Heavenly Father, who keeps us in the way of life. and grace by his omnipotent, sovereign, gracious power.

One last verse, you would turn over to 1 Peter chapter one. Look at verse five. First off, no, let's go back to verse four actually. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fate is not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through what? Through faith. Under salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

Don closes with these thoughts, he says, how we ought to rejoice, to know that our final salvation, our perseverance, and our preservation depend not upon our strength, but his. Not upon our faithfulness, but his. Not upon our resolve, but his. The hymn we sing is, he will keep me till the river rolls its waters at my feet. Then he'll bear me safely over where my Savior I shall meet.

Listen to Romans 8, verse 15 through 17. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Holy, perfect, sovereign be thy name. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth 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. Amen.

Brother Mike Chialotti, would you lead us in closing prayer?