I want to welcome everyone here
this morning. As you can see on the screen
here, the title of my message is God and His Children, taken
from Romans 8, beginning at verse 14, going through verse 17 that
we're going to try to cover this morning. Now, to start with,
as I go ahead and begin this message, I'm going to go ahead
and start with verse 13, if you want to follow with me reading
here. The Apostle Paul says, beginning
at verse 13, for if you live according to the flesh, you will
die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live. And you remember the last message
I had was on mortifying the deeds of the body, mortification. And
this is a spirit work, this mortification. Beginning at verse 14, it says,
for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons
of God, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage, again,
the fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself bear 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. Here we have in verse 13 the
work of the Holy Spirit in putting to death the deeds of the body,
or mortifying the deeds of the body. And as I said, this is
a spirit work and it begins at regeneration. Then the Apostle
goes on in verse 14 of Romans 8 where he says, for as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Before
we get started with verse 14 this morning, with these verses
that we're going to deal with, having to do with the elect's
adoption in Christ. I want to draw a distinction
between regeneration within the believer and adoption. Let's begin by looking at a few
verses that has to do with this. First one is Hebrews 2, beginning
at verse 10. For it became him, God the Father,
for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all one, for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren. saying, I will declare the name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church, will I sing praise
unto thee. And again, I will put my trust
in him, and again, behold, I and the children which God hath given
me. There is a difference between
adoption and regeneration, though these two are mixed together
by a lot of theologians. They both have the same author,
The same God and Father adopts and regenerates. They flow from
the same love and grace, and the same individuals who are
adopted are in time regenerated. And they are adopted and begotten
again into the same inheritance. But adoption is before regeneration. Adoption is an act of God's will
in eternity. This act of God's will in eternity
and regeneration is an act and work of God's grace in time.
The elect are not adopted because of regeneration or because of
being regenerated or at regeneration, but they are regenerated because
they have been adopted by God. Look at Galatians 4 verse 6.
It says, because ye are sons, God has sent forth his Spirit
of his Son into your hearts because you are sons. God sends forth
his Spirit of his Son into our hearts to regenerate and to testify
to our adoption. Regeneration is the fruit and
the effect of having been adopted by God the Father and given to
Christ, who in time did accomplish all things necessary for our
salvation. Regeneration is the evidence of our being adopted
by God. Look at John 1 verse 12. But
as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. Adoption gives the
name of sons and a title to the inheritance, and regeneration,
once again, is the fruit and effect of our adoption. and gives
us a maintenance or suitability for the inheritance. The phrase
to become the sons of God is meant to be the manifestation
of the individual to be a son of God by adoption. The adoption of the elect to
the sons of God was in eternity, but it is not manifested until
in time, when they are, by the Spirit of God, regenerated and
converted Now, let's begin with verse 14 of Romans 8. Verse 14
says, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God. To be led by the Spirit of God
is to be led to Christ for all of salvation, righteousness,
and eternal life. It is to be led in sorrow over
sin and to repent of all our dead works and all that former
idolatry that we're in by nature. Not so as to despair without
hope, but to find peace and comfort and rest in Christ, whose blood
cleanses us from all sin and whose righteousness justifies
us before God. It is to be led to obedience
to the word of Christ, the gospel itself, as motivated and inspired
by the Holy Spirit in the grace of God, the love of Christ, and
gratitude to God for what he's done for us. The Holy Spirit
leads us to find assurance in Christ crucified and risen again. He testifies to every sinner
to whom he's given life and faith in Christ, that they are, not
might be, but they are the sons of God. In divine adoption, There
is no need on the adopter's side, on God's side, nor is there any
worth or any merit on the side of the one being adopted. All
qualifications and requirements are given to them for the enjoyment
of that inheritance. This is an inheritance which
exceeds all others. Now, this blessing of being the
sons of God is owing not to ourselves, nor to our earthly parents, but
to God, to the Father, who predestinated it and fixed it in that everlasting
covenant of grace. It is also owed to Christ. It
is by Him as the Son of God who stood as a surety of all whom
God the Father elected in the covenant of grace, and it is
through Him, through Christ, as the mediator of that covenant,
and it is for Him because it's for his glory, not ours. It is
also owed to the spirit of God who manifested, manifest this,
our being adopted in Christ. He works faith in the elect to
receive it and to witness it and seals up each one of God's
elect to the full enjoyment of it as believing saints. This
favor makes saints honorable, not due to any works on our part,
but due to what their substitute and representative accomplished
on their behalf. And it is attended with many
privileges as it lasts forever. Such who are in this relationship
to God, which is sons of God, such who are in this relationship
are sons of God ought to attribute all of it to God's grace and
not to ourselves in any way. Those whom the spirit of God
has done a work in our hearts should forever serve him out
of love and out of gratitude, not to gain his favor, but to
show our thankfulness for what great mercy he's given us by
his grace. This assurance of sonship is
only for those who have been convinced of their sin. and depravity
by the Holy Spirit, and who have been convinced of the power and
the grace and love and glory of Christ as Lord and Redeemer. Look at John 16 beginning at
verse 8. And when He has come, this is
Christ speaking, speaking of the Holy Spirit, when He has
come, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. of sin because they believe not
on me, of righteousness because I go to my father and you see
me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged.
The Holy Spirit of God impresses on our hearts that we have been
adopted into the family of God and that we are the sons of God
by adoption. And all of this due to our Father's
great love and mercy in putting us in Christ and sending the
Lord Jesus Christ to this earth to do for us what we could never
do for ourselves. Look at Ephesians 1 beginning
at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us into the adoption of children 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 in
Christ. Verse 14 says, for as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Then
the apostle says, in our next verse, verse 15, for ye have
not received the spirit of bondage, again the fear, that spirit that
we're in by nature, but you have received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry Abba Father. The spirit of adoption refers
back to the sons of God, In verse 14, God the Holy Spirit and his
sovereign blessed work within us in the new birth is opposed
to the legal spirit of bondage that fallen men, every son and
daughter of Adam, have by nature. The spirit of bondage is that
spirit which motivates and it energizes men to seek to establish
a righteousness of their own in order to be saved or to avoid
hell. It is a spirit of fear because
it motivates. Its motivation is fear of death,
punishment, and hell, and not the glory and goodness of God
and Christ. God the Holy Spirit is the spirit
of liberty because all for whom Christ died have been set free
from the law and from death. Look at John 8, beginning at
verse 32. And you shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we be
Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage to any man. How say
thou, you shall be made free? Listen to what Christ told them
in John 8, 34 through 36. Jesus answered them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is a servant of
sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but
the son abideth forever. If the Son shall make you free,
you shall be free indeed. And also at Galatians 5 verse
1. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again in that yoke of bondage, that yoke of bondage that we're
all in by nature, all in it, going about to establish the
righteousness of our own. We don't know anything about
the true God, the true Christ, anything about how God saves
a sinner. And so automatically, automatically,
we go about establishing righteousness of our own because we're in that
bondage. This liberty that Paul was speaking
of here is the liberty of grace and lies in a freedom from sin,
not from indwelling sin, but from the dominion, the guilt,
and the damning power of it. Once God, the Holy Spirit, regenerates
and converts the sinner, he's able to see the true Christ of
Scripture. He's able to understand what Christ actually accomplished
for him by his obedience and shed blood on the cross of Calvary.
The sinner is able to see and understand that what Christ did
in his person and word. He did it not as a private person.
He didn't do it for himself, but as a substitute and a representative
for people. He did it on their behalf, the
behalf of God's elect. Christ is the one that suffered
the condemnation and wrath of God on behalf of all those that
the Father gave him in the everlasting covenant of grace made before
time. And because of this, all those
that Christ represented do not owe a debt to God's law and justice. Jesus Christ, the God-man, paid
their debt in full with his shed blood on the cross of Calvary.
All that the Father required All that he required, perfect
satisfaction to his holy law and justice. God the son provided
everything that the father required. He was righteous and he worked
out a righteousness, the righteousness of God, whereby he imputes, God
imputes and charges it to all those that he represented. God
the Holy Spirit is the spirit of adoption, who testifies of
the saved sinner's sonship. And that sonship is not because
we've earned or deserve that position in the household of
God and the family of God, but because of our adoption of grace
in Christ. Let's look at a couple of scriptures
that talk about our adoption. Look at Galatians 4, beginning
at verse 4. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth his spirit, the spirit of his son into your hearts,
crying, have a father. Also, in Ephesians 1 verse 5,
which reads, having predestinated us into the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will,
God chose his children in Christ before the foundation of the
world and justified them by his grace based on the redemption
Christ accomplished by his blood in his righteousness and adopted
them into his family and gives them spiritual life and grace
in time by the spirit of adoption. Just like justification, adoption
rests on the loving purpose and grace of God in Christ, and not
on any meritorious work of the one that has been adopted. As
a result of this adoption, and once God's elect are regenerated
and converted, his children, all of his children, cry, Abba,
Father. Abba is Aramaic and comes from
the first word that a little child would say, like Daddy or
Papa. One who cries Abba Father shows
that the fear of punishment's gone and replaced by trust and
reverence and awe, like a little child that looks to their father. We who rest in Christ can come
to our Heavenly Father to obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. Look at Hebrews 4 and begin at
verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not
a high priest which cannot be touched with the filling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet
without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
into the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace in time of need. This is a beautiful picture of
every child of God. This truth ought to affect our
attitude regarding whatever the Lord is allowing to transpire
in our life. We are children of God, and he
is in control of everything that we experience in this life. We can cry out for him and we
can run to him. Christ will never leave and he'll
never forsake us. Hebrews 13 five says, let your
conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things
as you have. For he had said, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. Now our next verse here that
we'll deal with is verse 16. that reads, the Spirit itself
bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Again, God the Holy Spirit emphasizes
the assurance that all true believers can and should have as they look
to and trust in Christ alone for salvation. The Spirit is
the Holy Spirit himself, the third person of the Trinity,
the one who applies the power of Christ's blood in the new
birth, and he does this to each and every one of God's elect
in each successive generation. Our spirit mentioned here is
the spiritual life, that heart and knowledge given us by God
the Holy Spirit in regeneration, that imparted in spiritual life
that we receive. When we are born again, we are
given the spiritual ability to hear, receive, understand, to
believe, and love the word of God, the very gospel of God in
the power of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit bared witness,
it says here, or he provides credible and supporting evidence
to his case by giving testimony or by testifying through and
by the word of God that he's given us. Now this witness of
the Holy Spirit is to establish and to confirm that we are children
of God. Not to make our position more
sure, for that stands on the sheer foundation of predestination,
on the unalterable covenant of grace, on our union to Christ,
and on the redemption by Christ, and on the continuation of the
spirit of God in our life. The witness of the spirit is
to assure all of God's elect that we are children of God.
and to reveal to us our interest in this great salvation. The
Spirit's goal is to provide credible support to believers, and that
continually, that we are children of God. God the Holy Spirit is
not the author of any doubt or unbelief. What is the credible
supporting evidence that he provides us, the question might be. He
gives us faith, he gives us repentance by the Word of God. The Word
of God that always convicts us of our sin and always drives
us to Christ for assurance and for peace. That's the only assurance
and peace we have in this life concerning salvation and eternal
life. Look at Romans 10 verse 17. So then faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God. and then also in Hebrews 12 too.
Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. Let's look back at some of the
main points that we've discussed already this morning. First of
all, Romans 8, 14, speaking of the elects being the sons of
God, Then verse 15 speaks of receiving the spirit of adoption. And verse 16, that we are the
children of God. And then our next verse tells
us that if children, if you're a child of God, children of God,
then heirs, heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ. Let's
look at verse 17 of Romans 8 now. It says, and if children then
heirs, heirs of God and join heirs with Christ, if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Salvation
and all eternal blessedness and glory is not something that we've
earned by our works. It is an inheritance. And if
we are children of God, by his grace in and by the Lord Jesus
Christ, then we are heirs. of an eternal, incorruptible
inheritance. First Peter one, begin at verse
three, said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to his abundant mercy have begotten
us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. and that fadeth not away reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. How did we
come into such a great and glorious inheritance? According to the
last part of Romans 8 verse 17, which says that we are heirs
of God and join heirs with Christ. Being an heir of God is not based
on anything that we do once again or that we're unable to do, but
it's based entirely on God's sovereign mercy and grace in
and by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it's
based on. I'm going to use a lot of what
an old writer in the 1700s named John Gill says on the subject
of what it is to be an heir of God. And some of the statements
that I'll say. Gill says the everlasting covenant
of grace as administered under the gospel dispensation is a
testament or a will. And I know my brother Robert
is real familiar with the testament and a will. He does a lot of
them, I'm sure. The covenant of grace is properly
and appropriately a covenant to Christ and a testament or
a will to God's people. His elect, his sheep, all those
that the Father give to the Son in the everlasting covenant of
grace that was made before time. It is God the Son and the Father's
will and it's concerning giving these heirs both grace and glory. In it, Christ is made heir of
all things, and his people, those that the Father give him, those
that the Father give him, are made joint heirs with him. They
are given to him as his portion, as Christ's portion, and they
have all things pertaining to life and godliness that bequeath
or are handed down to them, even all spiritual blessings. The
witnesses of it are the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the
Triune God, and the seals of it are the blood of Christ and
the grace of the Spirit. Because of this will and testament,
there must also of necessity be the death of a testator, who
is Christ. Christ has various parts in this
will or this testament, He is the surety and mediator of it,
and He is the executor of it. What is given in it is first
given to Him. All things are given to Christ
first, and in order that they be given to others, or to the
elect. All things are put into the hands
of the Son of God, and He has the power to give them to as
many as the Father has given Him. And here Christ is called
the testator. Christ as God has an equal right
to dispose of this inheritance. Both grace and glory as a mediator,
nothing is given without his consent and whatever is given
is given with a view to his death. Therefore, there is a necessity
or a need of the death of the testator. Now let's look back
at Romans 8 17, the last part of verse 17, where it says, join
heirs with Christ. This proves that all whom Christ
redeemed, all who come to faith in him, participate in the same
inheritance that Christ will receive, which is eternal glory
and blessings. Then in Romans 8, 17, again,
it says that we may also, that we may be also glorified together.
Everything that Christ has, he has it because he earned it by
his obedience unto death. We, our God's elect, have it
because Christ died for us as he fulfilled all things necessary
on our behalf. And we're born into it by the
new birth. The new birth does not initiate
the adoption, but it manifests our adoption. Then in Romans
17, the last part of 17 again, it says, if so be that we suffer
with him. The proof of our standing in
Christ, our relationship with him, and our right to the inheritance
of grace and glory is that we identify with Christ in his suffering. We identify with him legally
in his suffering. When he died on the cross as
our substitute and surety, that's legally, Romans 6 verses 3 through
4 says, no you not, that so many of us that were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. Therefore, we are
buried with him by baptism unto death. That like Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. Romans, and then in verse five
through seven, for if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, likeness of Christ's death, we shall be
also the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead
is free from sin. We know that we identify with
Christ legally as we've just seen in Romans 6, but Christ
speaks here of the suffering we experience because of our
identification with Christ and in our testimony to the gospel.
Look at John 15, verse 18. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. Christ is still speaking
over in John 16, beginning at verse 2 here, when he says, they
shall put you out of the synagogues, yea, the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God a service. And these
things will they do unto you because they've not known the
Father nor me. Also in Philippians 1, 29, for unto you is given in behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for
his sake. Those who claim to be children
of God, but who refuse to suffer for Him or with Him, are not
true children of God according to Hebrews 12, beginning at verse
7. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as a son, for what son Is he whom the Father
chastens not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, all children of God, then you are
bastards and not sons. Our suffering with him, with
Christ, does not make us children of God. But it does give evidence
that we are children of God. This suffering here comes to
believers in different ways and to different degrees. Some of
us suffer when we come to believe the gospel and we have to separate
from that form of religion that we're in. We have to break religious
fellowship with those individuals. This is not an easy thing to
do. In fact, it's impossible to do unless the spirit of God
enables you to stand strong during this period of time. Does this
mean that we're not able to be friends with those individuals?
Of course not. But we're not to have religious
fellowship and speak peace to those individuals. And sometimes
those religious friends are not able to continue being our friend
due to all the implications of the gospel that we believe and
when we talk to them. Most of them will say, well,
if what you say is so, then you're telling me I'm lost. And so you
can see the implications come about. Most of the time, this
suffering comes due to our not speaking peace, as I said, to
family members. And I'm sure all of y'all are
familiar with that as you talk to your family members about
the gospel and what happens then. And most of the time, you have
to wind up just not talking about religious things
at all. You're around them, you love your family, you want to
be around them, but you can't have any kind of religious fellowship
with them because they worship another God, another Christ,
and there's no fellowship there. But through all of this, what
a blessing it is to know that God's our Father and we're his
children. We are children of God and we
are heirs of God and join heirs with Christ and all due to the
Father choosing us and giving us to Christ in eternity. The
Christ who came to this earth in time and accomplish all things
necessary for our salvation and for our final glory. What a blessing
it is to know that we're children of God, God and his children. Amen.