Go back to Luke 11 with me now,
Luke chapter 11. Monday night, listening to one
of the brethren preach, either Brother Fortner or Brother James,
I don't know which one, said something that made this verse
of Scripture come to mind. And it spoke so clearly to me,
to my heart, and I began jotting things down. It's a blessing
to me, this one phrase. One line that our Lord uttered
here in Luke chapter 11, very familiar, verse 2, He said unto
His disciples, and if you are His disciple, I believe you are,
I am, I hope, He said unto them, and us, when you pray, say, Our
Father which art in heaven. That's the line that just really
struck me. How many times have you heard
that? How many times have people just quoted that, just repeated
that? I hope we'll get a blessing in
thinking about this. The Lord said to His disciples,
to us, say this, our Father, Call God, he said, your Father. What does that mean? If you can
call God your Father, if God Almighty is your Father, if the
God of the universe, the Creator, who reigns and rules, controls
all things, is your Father, do you know what that means?
I hope we'll see. Okay? Though God is not the Father
of all men, He is the Father of many, as the sands of the
sea and the stars of the sky. He is the Father of many. And
what that means, oh my, I won't be able to tell it, but I'm going
to try. Two very simple points. How can we know if God is our
Father? How can we know if God is our Father? And secondly,
what that means to us, if He is. John's Gospel, go over there. We're not going to deal with
the Lord's, the disciples' prayer. We will come back to it. We've dealt with it many times.
But I just want to consider this question. How can we know if
God is our Father? In the Gospel of John, God is
called the Father many, many, many times. The Lord Himself.
calls God the Father. And He says, My Father. And then
He finally says, Your Father, to His disciple. A hundred and
thirteen times. A hundred and thirteen times.
In the Gospel of John. More than any other. And now
here, I'm going to go ahead and give you the answer, okay? How
can you know if God is your Father? How can you know? God is our
Father if we know If we believe, if we love, the only begotten
Son of God. God is our Father if we know,
believe, and love the only begotten Son of God. Because no man has
seen God at any time. And you never will. But the only
begotten Son, He hath declared Him. And the Lord said, he that
seeth the Son, and believeth on him. Alright. Christ is called. Look at John
1. We're just going to... You know, all a preacher is supposed
to do, and Gabe knows this, is just repeat what the Lord has
already said. That's what we're supposed to
do. Preach God's Word. Repeat what He's already said.
You know these things, but we're going to just Look at them, just
browse through here and see what the Lord said about the Father.
John 1, verse 12, he says, as many as received Him, that is
Christ, to them gave He the power, the right or the privilege to
become the sons of God. Who? Them that believe, even
them that believe on His name. It doesn't say that they do,
anybody that does great works. No, those that believe on His
name, the sons of God, who believe on the Son of God, the name of
the Son of God. Verse 13, "...which were born,
not of blood, nor the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God."
Verse 14, "...the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father." Have you? Haven't there been times? that
you've beheld His glory, when you've heard the gospel, or even
reading His Word, as of the only begotten? Have you not? Verse 18, No man hath seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. And this
is what Christ does through this whole book, is declares the Father,
who who God is and who He's the Father of. His people. His people. The only begotten
Son. Christ is called, you know these
things, but I never tire of hearing it. It's safe for you. Christ
is called the firstborn among many brethren, isn't it? Christ is the firstborn, the
only begotten, Son of God. Hebrews says the express image
of God. Now, he's called the Son of God. You know this. Not because he's
less than God. Or that he had a beginning. He
really had no beginning. But simply because he had a body. Oh, the fullness of the Godhead.
The body. And the Scripture says this,
a body hast thou prepared me. That means he existed before
he took a body, doesn't it? He said, a body hast thou prepared
me. None of us said that, did we? We weren't until we had a body. He existed. He said, I was with
him, Proverbs 8, in the beginning, before the worlds were. Alright? But a body. God has prepared
me. Why? You know. Very few people do. But you know. To dwell with the sons of men.
We can't see God. Can't talk to God. Except through
the Lord Jesus Christ. He came also in a body to live. To die. To die. As a man for men. Not all men. But some men, many men. He's
the eternal Son of God. He's eternal. He is God. He's
equal with the Father. He's equal with the Father. And
He's the only God we will ever see. And Job said, I'm going
to see God. You know who he's talking about?
His Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3, go over there. John chapter 3. Our Lord said
this. This is John the Baptist. John
the Baptist said this in verse 35 and 6, the Father loveth the
Son and hath given all things into his hand. Do you believe
that? All things, all powers given unto him in heaven and
earth. Do you believe that? Everybody doesn't believe that. All his
children do. Verse 36, he that believeth on
the Son, believeth what? What he just said. who he is,
Lord of all, hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
See, God doesn't love everybody. He wants to show you who he loves. Christ is going to tell us who
he loves. His children. Chapter 6, John 6, verse 37. Go over there. You know these
verses. You love these verses. This is
the Lord's Verse 37, our Lord said, All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. What does it mean to come to
cry? That's what Gabe was preaching Sunday, wasn't it? Come. What
does it mean to come to cry? It means to believe Him. It means
to need Him. If you won't come to somebody,
believe. You don't need. Needs to need
him. Needs to call on him. Needs to trust him. Needs to
come to him. In faith, all that the Father
giveth me, the Father comes to me. And him that cometh to me
I will in no wise, for no reason cast out. And he went on to say,
neither will the Father. He said, I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all
which He hath given me, this is God's will, who works all
things after the counsel of His will. This is the Father's will.
That of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but
raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of
Him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son Well, I haven't seen Him with
these eyes of you. You've seen Him with the eye
of faith, haven't you? Everyone that seeth the Son,
seeth who He is, seeth His glory, seeth His work, seeth your need
in Him. Everyone that seeth the Son,
the light, the knowledge, the glory of God, the person of Christ,
Like the Son. Everyone that seeth in him, all
in all, if not I, be single. The whole body is full of life.
Have you seen it? That everyone that seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day. That's the Father's will.
That's the Father's will. Look at verse 44. No man can
come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. It is written, he says, verse
45, they shall be all taught of God and every man therefore
hath heard and learned of the Father. Who teaches the children? The Father. The Father. What does He teach them? This
is my Son. Doesn't it? Every one of them come to me.
Every one of them. Well, how can I know that God
is my Father? Do you believe what you've read
so far? John 8. Go over there quickly.
John chapter 8. And we're going to settle in
one place in a moment. But John chapter 8, verse 41. He was talking to some Pharisees
who claimed that God was their Father. And they said in verse
41, the last line, we have one Father, even God. The Lord said
unto them, verse 42, if God were your Father, you would love me. How can I know if God is my Father?
Do you love Jesus Christ? Huh? If God were your Father,
you'd love me. Everyone, every son of God loves
a son of God. He that is begotten loveth him
that is begotten of him. That begat and begotten. Do you
love Christ? I mean, do you love His person? Who He is? Do you love His glory? Do you? Do you love His glory? Everybody
does. They say they do. Do you love
His glory? Do you love His rights to be
Lord? You love His work. You love the
salvations of the Lord. That such as love thy salvation,
say, the Lord be magnified. If God were your Father, you'd
love me, Christ said. Do you? A lot of people say that. Those that love His glory, love
His person, love His salvation, love that it's all in Him. Look
at verse 40. Well, let's go on down. Verse 47, it says, He that is
of God, that is, a son of God, heareth God's Word. Heareth God's
Word. Do you remember what our Lord
said? He that heareth My Word, he barely,
barely, I say unto you, he that heareth My Word and believeth
on Him that sent Me is passed from death unto life. shall not
come in the condemnation of his past from death unto life." Have you heard his word? I am
the way, the truth, the life. John 14. Now go over here and
we'll hear a little bit because he is speaking specifically to
and expressly to his disciples here in John 14 through 16. After Judas left, latter part
of John 13, and then these three chapters, these are very intimate
words of our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples. And He says
the Father, and He talks about the Father to them many, many,
many times. For their comfort and ours. How
can we know that God is our Father? Alright, look at John 14, verse
6. You remember, Thomas said unto
him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know?
And Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. No man. If you'd known me, you should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth, you know
Him. And you've seen Him. You've seen Him. You've seen
the Father. Philip said, Lord, show us the Father, and it is
sufficient. Just show us a little glimpse
of the Father. We believe Him that He is the
Father, the Father, the Son. We believe that. We believe God.
Christ said, you believe in God, believe also in Me. We do. He
said, in my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and where I am you may be also." Philip said, Well, just show
us the Father. Christ said in verse 9, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet thou hast not known me, Philip? He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. Didn't Isaiah say? Call His name. Wonderful. The mighty God, the
everlasting Father. Didn't it? Huh? How sayest thou
then, show us the Father? Believest thou not? This is to
us. Verse 10. Don't you believe? Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father is me? The words
that I speak unto you? I speak not of myself, but it's
the Father. Everything I'm saying, it's the
Father speaking. You believe Jesus Christ. You believe, you hang your soul
on His Word, His precious Word. It's all your comfort, all your
hope and salvation. That's the Father speaking. Everything
He said. Believe me, He said in verse
11, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. Yes, believe
me, for the very work's sake. Even His enemies said, no man
can do what you do except God were with him. His enemies one
time said, who can forgive sins but God? That's right. This is for our comfort, our
great comfort. Jesus Christ is God the Father
and the Son. Though a separate, though a distinct
person, yet one. Everything God has to say to
us, He says it through His Son. They are one. They are one. No
amount. Look at verse 21. Go down here.
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father. If you love Jesus Christ, I can
tell you this from the authority of His Word. God loves you. God is your Father. Now, I didn't
say that. Jesus Christ did. He that loveth
me I don't think we're getting a hold of it. If God loves us.
I'm going to try here in a little bit to tell us what, if God loves
you. It's not like these preachers
are saying that. If God loves us. People, it's not like these fellows
are saying at all. It means everything. If God loves
us. If God is our Father. I'm going
to go ahead and say, if this was my last life, if God is our
Father, we have nothing to worry about. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. If God is my Father, isn't it important that we know
He's not everyone's Father? So far, it all depends on the
Son. It all depends on what we think
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we believe Him, whether
we trust Him, whether we hear His voice. Now look at verse 23. The Lord
said, If a man love Me, he will keep My words. That means lay
hold of it. Have you laid hold of what Christ
has said? I mean, laid hold of it like
your only hope. Like, I don't need that. Like
a baby latching on to his daddy. Like a hungry man grabbing hold
of bread. A drowning man, a life preserver. A thirsty man, water. If you do, you say, you'll keep
my word and my Father will love him and we'll come into him and
we'll make our abode with him. We'll dwell with him. What does
it mean if God is your Father? It means you'll get to live in
His house. He with you and you with Him. Oh, boy. Love of God. Let me
see if I can illustrate this, all right? I preached a little
while ago. I want to illustrate. In my family, we all had one
father. You know him. You know a little
bit about him. And you love him and admire him,
don't you? I do. We all had the same father. Four children, same father. My
father had a firstborn son named Robert Carey, named after both
parents' fathers. Named after my mother's father,
Robert, and my father's father, John Carey. That firstborn eldest
brother is most like my father. I wish you'd have known him.
You would see the resemblance. He's most like the father. Quite
often it's that way, isn't it? That fellow sitting behind you,
Nancy, gives the spitting image of his daddy. He is. Everybody
agree with me on that? The firstborn, quite often it's
like that, isn't it? The firstborn bears the most
likeness to the father. Well, my brother did. And he
was an admirable young man. a role model for the rest of
us children. We admired him. Even my other
brother, who's the second child, had sometimes a problem, you
know. But no, he loved him, looked
up to him, admired him, because he was a great character. He was a fine
young man, esteemed by all of us children. My oldest brother,
was greatly admired and esteemed by all, especially me. I was
the baby. I was the youngest. He was eight years older than
me. And oh, how I looked up to him. I wanted to be just like
my oldest brother. Just like him. This is a good
illustration. And so we admired him not only for his character,
and he was the heir. Had he lived, he would be the
heir. Not me, but him. would be the
heir of all that my parents possessed. That's the right. That's the
privilege of the firstborn son. But you know, I wouldn't have
minded that one bit because he deserved it. He deserved it. He's worthy to be the heir of
all things. And you know, he actually, my
eldest brother, actually died lived and died in the service
of this country and effectively serving me. He actually died. And now that he died, he not
only was admirable in his life, but doubly so in his death. So he is doubly honored and esteemed
by both the Father Do you know what my Father thinks of him
now? Doubly honored by his Father
and his brethren. Now, is that a good illustration? It is the same with the altogether
lovely Son of the Most High God. God has one only begotten Son. He's the eldest brother. He's
the firstborn among many brethren. God Almighty. And He bears the
most resemblance. Yea, the exact resemblance of
God the Father. And He is honored and esteemed
by all of His younger brethren. Because of His character. Because
He's altogether lovely. And He's the heir of all things.
God said so. But you know what? That's just
fine with me. Isn't it you? Why? Because he's
worthy. He's worthy. He's earned it all. And so he's admired, he's honored,
he's loved, he's esteemed by all his brethren. All of his
true brethren love him and esteem him and honor him above everything
and everyone. Because he's worthy. That's how you know they're his
brothers. That's how you know. And he lived
and he died to serve his brethren. He died that we might live. Now, what do we think of him? He's doubly honored. He's doubly
esteemed by the Father, God said, because he laid down his life
because he made himself of no reputation, took upon himself
the form of a servant, because he laid down his life for his
people, God hath given him a name which is above every name. And
everybody like Gabe preached Sunday morning, you better bow. You will bow. God's people love
to do it. They love to bow before their
King. And he is doubly honored by both
the Father and his sons. Is that a good illustration?
That's the way it is. That's how you know. That's how
you know who His brethren are. How may we know that God is our
Father? Well, I have many things to say unto
you, but not enough time. Our Lord went on to say, the
Father will send the Holy Spirit to you. Whoever God sends the
Holy Spirit to, that's the sons of God. Well, what does the Holy
Spirit do? Well, do look at this with me.
In chapter 16, look at verse 13. When the Spirit of truth
has come, and He said the Father sends Him, He says, He will guide
you into all truth. He will not speak of Himself.
Whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. He will show
you things to come. He shall glorify Me. What is
Spirit-filled preaching? How does God speak to His people?
through the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He'll
glorify me. He'll take the things of mine
and show them unto you, receive of mine. Verse 15, all things
that the Father hath are mine, therefore said I unto you that
he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you. That's who the Father, that's
who the sons are. And they're sons of God by adoption. You remember Romans 8, what he
said there? Mack, you loved it. Romans 8,
he said, we have the spirit of adoption whereby we can cry,
Abba, Father. We'll go to him and call him
Father. Father by adoption. Adoption. Can a father love an
adopted son as much as a natural born son? Has anybody in here adopted children? I know some that have. Anthony
Moody down in Kingsport, Tennessee. He's been here a few times. Alright?
They had two natural born children. A girl and a boy. Two or three.
Two. A boy and a girl. Anthony and
Rita. Alright? And they grew up into
their teens. Alright? They decided they wanted
to adopt a child. So they went to China. That's a long ways. China. And I can't tell you the cost.
Astronomical. And picked a little girl over
there, Lexi, Alexis, and brought her home. You ask them if you
can love an adopted child like you do your own child. I'll prove
it to you. You know how much they love?
They went and got another one. Can God love an adopted child
like His Son? How many does He have? That's hard to believe,
isn't it? That's God, though, isn't it? Can an adopted child
love The father that adopts him like his own father, can he?
Ask Ed Berry. Ed Berry came out of an orphanage. He was an orphan. And a man and
his wife came and adopted him. Ask him if that's not his father. His name is Barry. That's his
adopted father's name. That's his father. So we're adopted. Adopted. And born. I can't explain that, but it's
so. Both adoption and new birth. New birth. New creatures. Well,
that's another story. What does it mean that God is
our Father? Go back to Luke 11 in closing. I'll close right
here. Luke 11. What our Lord said here in Luke's
Gospel, chapter 11. What does it mean then if God
is our Father? It means everything, people.
It means everything. It means that God loves us. If
God loves us, the sky is not the limit. If God loves us, if
God is our Father, He loves us more than we can possibly love
our own children. Yes, you don't think it's possible,
do you? Do you? Do you love your children?
Do you love your grandchildren? Do you? Well, do you? Mike, do you love, I'll ask you,
do you love that boy of yours, that girl of yours, huh? Do you
really, really love them? Would you lay down? God loves
His people more than that. That love you have, you got it
from Him. That's hard to believe, isn't it? That's hard to believe,
but it's absolutely so. Absolutely so. He said, your
father and mother may leave you, but I won't. That's the love
of God. It means you'll never leave.
It means you'll be pitied by the Father. Like a father pitying
his children. Pity. Pity. Oh, my. A little girl looking at me right
now. I've got two of them looking at me. Does your heart go out just in
pity? That's what God feels toward
His children, but more. That's hard to believe in. We
think God's like us. That's the problem, isn't it?
He's so much higher. He says, the heavens are higher
than the earth. My ways aren't your way. My thoughts
are not. He said, I know my thoughts toward you. What? What are they? What did He say?
Somebody, one word. What did He say? Thoughts of
what? Peace! Nothing but peace. That Psalm
103 says, he won't chide. He seems to chide, but he won't
keep chiding. He won't keep it that he's angry.
He can't. He's merciful. He's ready to pardon. Remember
that story of Isabella taking my Bible one day and writing
in it, you know? And I caught her. Oh my! I knew what I was going to do
before I talked to her. Huh? I knew exactly what I was
going to do. I was going to forgive her. I
was ready to pardon. More ready to pardon than she
is to repent. That's God. If God's your Father. If God is our Father, we will
be saved. Saved. Christ said, Oh, which thou hast
given me, I've lost nothing. We were given to someone who
can't lose anything. We were given to a Savior. He
can't lose anything. It's impossible. He's never lost
anything. That's who God entrusted His children to. The oldest son,
he can't lose a sheep. If God is our Father, we'll be
forgiven everything. All men are a sin. It doesn't
matter what it is. Tell me, have you known stories
of children that go wayward and do just the worst things you
can imagine? And the parents will always forgive
them. Nobody else will. But the parent
always will. Huh? How much more, the Father? How much more? You will be forgiven.
You will be defended. If God is your Son, I mean, if
you are God's Son, if God is your Father, you will be defended. Will you defend your children?
Huh? Oh, God said, touch not mine
anointed. Don't do it. It would be better
if a millstone were tied around your neck. I'd hate to offend Steve Parks'
son, He'd be a tough fellow to tangle with, wouldn't he? God
says, don't touch My children. If God is your Father, you will
be defended. He said, vengeance is mine. I
will repay. The Lord said, battle is not
cured. And on and on it goes. If God
is our Father, you will be cared for. You will be cared for. You will be cared for. Pray this,
give us this day our daily bread. Bread? Bread? How much more? He said
that. He went on to say, didn't he,
if a son asked bread to the father, will he give him a stone? Can't do it, can you? Can't give
your children anything evil. If he said, you then, would do
that. How much more? How much more? If God is our Father, it's all
good. It's all good. I'm a sinful man,
a finite, fallible man. But I say from my heart that
I mean nothing but good by these children of mine. I mean it. And I'm a finite man, sinful
man, but I mean nothing but good for them. Nothing. No thoughts of evil cross my
mind. How much less God. It's all good. All good. It's all working together for
good. It's all right. It's all best.
I want nothing but the best for them. I can't always do it. God does. He can and He does. If God is our Father, nothing
but the best is going to happen to you. Nothing but the best. It's all for the best. That's
right. And he went on to say, forgiveness,
you'll have it. Daily bread, you'll have it.
Leadership, lead me, you'll have it. Lead me not, he won't. Ask, he said, ask everyone that
asketh. That's every son. He'll give
it. Everyone that seeketh, find it. Everyone that knocketh, open. Everyone. If God is your Father.
So it all depends on whether or not he believed the Son. You
know, it meant a great deal to us children that Henry Mahan
was our father. It meant a great deal. The Lord
was very merciful to us in giving us such a father. We still feel
that way. There's two of us left, and we
still feel that we were greatly blessed of God to have that man
as our father. It was a mercy of God that He
was our Father. Oh my! What mercy! If God is our Father. If He is, we really do have nothing
to worry about. Nothing. We will, but we shouldn't. If God is our Father. If we can
get a hold of Him. If God is our Father. And He is if you
believe, if you know, if you believe, if you love. Jesus Christ. That's it. That's it. I can tell you to do anything. Okay, stand with me. Our Lord and our Father which
art in heaven, we say upon hearing the blessed Word of our God and
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Precious promises. Many exceeding
precious promises. We say, Hallowed be Thy Name. Holy Father, thank You. Thank You for Your Word. Thank
You for the sure mercies of our God and Father, His compassions
that fail not, anew every morning through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank You, Lord, as they said, as the Queen said of Solomon,
that God surely loved Israel in making Him King. So we say
of Thee, You must surely love us if You put us in the hands
of our Lord Jesus Christ and have given us faith and love
for Him. We believe that He is the Christ,
the Son of the Most High God, and therefore we believe that
we are Thy children. So we thank You, our Father,
in Christ's name, Amen.