While Matt was praying, and I
hope whenever there's public prayer, we all enter in and we're
actually praying these prayers together. That's what public
prayer is. It's the church calling upon
his name. I don't know what I think about people getting around circles
and everyone taking turns praying. I'm probably Well, I don't know
what I think about that, but you know, we don't do it. So
I guess it tells you what I think about it, but still we are truly
united in prayer when we pray together. And Matt said something
in his prayer that made me think of Peter, where the Lord told
him how he was going to die. It says in John 21, 19, this
spake, he signifying by what death. And church tradition has
it that he was crucified upside down. This spake he signifying by what
death he should glorify God. And I pray that the Lord makes
this place, the atmosphere of this place, a bunch of men and
women who would find it a high honor and blessing of grace to
die for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of us. May God make us just that way. In Galatians chapter four, this
is not my text, but you might want to turn there, Galatians
chapter four. Verse four, 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 you are sons, God
hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou no more a servant,
but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. I've entitled this message, your
father. I turned back to Matthew chapter
six. Verse one, he speaks. You'll
have no reward of your father, which is in heaven. Verse four, that thine alms may
be in secret, and thy father, thy father, which seeth in secret
himself, shall reward thee openly. In verse six, when you pray,
enter into your closet, when you shut your door, pray to thy
father, which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly. Verse eight, be not therefore
likened to them for your father. Don't you love the way the Lord
speaks of God, your father? One thing the Lord never says
when he talks about him being the father, and he says our father
when he's telling us how to pray, but he says my father and your
father when he's speaking. of his relationship with the
Father and our relationship with the Father. Now, his relationship
with the Father is that of the eternal Son. We're adopted sons. It's different, yet it's the
same. He says, I go to my Father and your Father, my God and your
God. And how often he calls his Father
when he's speaking to us and instructing us. He says, your
Father. your father, thy father. In Matthew chapter five, verse
16, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good
works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. Look in verse
44 of the same chapter. But I say unto you, love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute
you, that you may be the children of your father. which is in heaven. Verse 48, be ye therefore perfect
even as your father, which is in heaven, is perfect. He taught
us to pray our father, which art in heaven. Look in Matthew
6, 26. Behold the fowls of the air.
You think of all the worrying we do. Behold the fowls of the
air, for they sow not, Neither do they reap nor gather into
barns, yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Are you not much
better than they? Verse 31 of the same chapter.
Therefore, take no thought saying, what shall we eat or what shall
we drink or whither with all shall we be clothed? For all
these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father
knoweth that you have need of these things. In Matthew chapter
seven, verse 11, I love this statement. If you then, he's
speaking to his disciples. If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that
ask him? Now, what do people do with their
father? They ask him for things, don't
they? They ask him for things. Now, God is one God. Here, O Israel, the Lord thy
God is one God, revealed in three distinct persons, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, we know this because
he's revealed it. but we cannot understand it.
There is no way anyone can understand how one God can be revealed in
three distinct persons. Don't understand it, but believe
it altogether. And glory in it. The Trinity
is in unity. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of God and is the Spirit of Christ. And the Lord said, he that hath
seen me, hath seen the Father. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. That's the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I and my Father are
one. Now God is Father preeminently
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. How many times does Paul call
him that? Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He is God's son. He's the only
begotten son. John 1 14 says, and the word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The
glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace
and truth. Now listen to this statement
real carefully. I want to read what I got in my notes because
this is the way I want to say it. As the only begotten son, He is
the sole representative of the being and character of the father. I want to repeat that. As the
only begotten son, he is the sole representative of the being
and the character of the father. It is the unoriginated relationship. It never had a beginning. This
beginning as the only begotten Son is not an event of time,
but it's a fact, irrespective of time. The Christ did not become
the Son, but necessarily and eternally is the Son, possessing
every attribute of pure Godhead, the Son of God. And God is His Father. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I love these scriptures. The
Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
hath not everlasting life, but the wrath of God abides on him. The wrath of God. Oh, the father
loves the son. Someone doesn't believe the son.
The wrath of God abides on that individual. It's right there. It pleased the father that in
him should all fullness dwell. He's the son of the father. So
that he never says to believers, I'm going to our father. He never
said that once. He said, I'm going to my father
and your father. You see his relationship. His relationship
as the son is essential and it's eternal, but ours is by grace,
by adoption. and by regeneration, but he is
the eternal son of God. And isn't it a great blessing
that this one who is his father is also our father? Our father. The Lord, how many
times does he say, your father, thy father? He's not the father
of everybody. You know, some people think that
creation makes him everybody's father, universal fatherhood.
Well, creation didn't make him the father of the angels, did
it? To which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. And he's certainly not father
to all men. Turn to John chapter eight. You're familiar with this
passage of scripture, but this totally blows out of the water
any idea of universal fatherhood. He says to the Pharisees, I speak
that which I've seen with my father. And you do that which
you've seen with your father. We have different fathers, the
Lord says. They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our
father. Jesus saith unto them, if you were Abraham's children,
you'd do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me.
A man that told you the truth, which I've heard of God, this
did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your father.
They then said they to him, we be not born of fornication, we
have one father, even God. They claimed this God as their
father, the one who's the father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
look how he answered them. He says, Jesus said unto them,
if God were your father, you'd love me. The father loves the
son, you'd love the son too. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not
understand my speech? And they didn't. He said, even
because you cannot hear my word, you lack the ability to hear
my word. You're of your father, the devil. Now he says to these
people, your daddy's the devil. And the lust of your father you
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in
the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own for he's a liar and the father
of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He
that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear them
not because you're not of God. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, say we not well that you're a Samaritan and has a
devil. You're plum crazy saying something like that was their
response. Now they're the children of God and they're the children
of the devil. Now, father and children, your
father, our father, that speaks of a relationship that That speaks
of an intimate relationship. The Lord said in John chapter
17, verse three, and this is life eternal, that they might
know thee. Know thee. Not just know about
thee, but know thee. This is a personal relationship.
Remember when our Lord said to that one group of people, depart
from me, I never knew you. I never knew you. Never did. It's his eternal life that they
might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. Now, I know the President of
the United States, but I don't have a relationship
with him. I know him, but if I called him, he wouldn't know
me. Hey, this is Todd Divert. Who are you? If I tried to get
into the White House, I'd be put in jail. I know him, but
I don't know him personally. There's no relationship there.
And what I thought about when I thought about a personal relationship
knowing somebody, I thought of, I'm kind of glad he's not here
for this illustration, I thought of Paul Almsley. I have a relationship with him
that caused this to happen. And I just got to thinking about
this. I remember when I was getting ready to go through that esophagectomy,
I didn't know if I was going to live. I was scared. I was scared. I didn't know what
was going to take place. And I didn't know what was going
to happen to my family. Don't have that much insurance. Can't
get more insurance. Didn't know what was going to
happen. And he said to me, unsolicited, he said to me, you're never going
to have to worry about Leonard Aubrey. I'll make sure they're
taken care of. Now that is a relationship, isn't
it? That's a relationship that would be going on after I was
gone, none out of love for me. Oh, thank God for that. That's a relationship. God as
my Father means I have a relationship with Him, an intimate relationship. Now President Obama or President
Bush or whoever was in office at that time, they didn't say
they'd do that for me because I didn't have a relationship
with them. Don't you prize relationships where relationships of love,
where you love one another, where you're true friends one to another. A relationship with the father.
He is the father of every believer. Your father, your father. I love singing that song. This
is my father's world. As a matter of fact, let's close
with that. You remember that this is my father's world. We got our life from him. What
about that passage of scripture? When he says, call, call no man,
your father upon earth for one is your father in heaven. Now
what that's talking about, I call my dad, dad, and I call my father,
father, and I'm supposed to, it's a title of respect. Call
no man your spiritual father, from whom you got your life.
You see, there's only one holy father, and he ain't wrong. It's
the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the holy father,
the giver of life. And there are infinite blessings
we have from this relationship. Every believer is his child. If you're a believer, you are
his child. Now, if you have children, you
know what great interest you take in your children. And everything
that happens to them is important to you. Everything. Casting all
your care upon him, for he careth for you. It is only his children
who can say, our father who art in heaven. That's what we pray. Our father who art in heaven. And we know this about our father.
Hallowed be thy name. Oh, he is the holy father, sanctified
be thy name." I remember one time I was reading a commentary
on that passage of scripture. He says, what that means is let
your name be glorified. No, no, his name is glorified.
We're not saying let your name be glorified. Hallowed is his
name, our father. Now we're his children by adoption. I remember when I was a kid,
I don't know why I thought this way, but I thought, boy, it'd
be a horrible thing to be adopted. No, it's not. It's a good thing.
What a blessing it is when someone adopts somebody. But I thought,
you know, that means your parents got rid of all the different
things you think about. But it's a wonderful thing. It's a blessed thing. And we're
his adopted children. Turn to Ephesians chapter one. Verse three, 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 unto the adoption of children. by Jesus Christ
to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. Now, if
you're an adopted child, it's because he chose you to be an
adopted child. Now, that's how adoptions work.
You don't choose your parents. Your parents choose you. They
pick you out. I remember one time hearing Brother
Mannion telling me a story about a man who came into an orphanage.
And he was trying to choose the child he wanted. And a kid actually
picked up a rock and threw it at him and hit him. And he said,
that's the one I want. That's the one I want. Our father. What a glorious father he is. He is the father of every believer. But not only did he choose us,
I love what the Lord said in John 15, 16. He said, you did
not choose me, but I chose you. Don't you know that so? Don't
you know that so? You did not choose me, but I
chose you. He chose us in adoption. But not only are we His adopted
children, we're His children by birth. John 1, 12, and 13 says, but
as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the
sons of God. Sons of God. Sons to the Father. Even to them which believe on
His name, which were born, which were birthed, not of blood. Not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but of God. The father of lights is
the one who of his own will begat he us through the word of truth
so that we're partakers of the divine nature. Oh, isn't that
mysterious and glorious? Christ in you, the hope of glory.
You actually have God dwelling in you. The very nature of God. Children are like their father.
They have, they have his gene pool. Now I, I, I want to be
careful as I say that, but we have, we have, we're partakers
of the divine nature and we're children by union turned. This is really the first one,
Hebrews chapter two. I don't know why I have this
third because this is actually first verse 11 for both he that sanctified
and they who are sanctified are all of one. for the witch cause
he is not ashamed to call them brethren." We're brothers of
Christ having the same father saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. And can you imagine listening
to the Lord sing praise to his father and we get to chime in
with him. And again, I'll put my trust in him. And again, behold,
I and the children The children which God hath given me. Children
by virtue of being united with Christ. Being one with Him. He's
the Son of God. I'm the Son of God. And children
by faith. You're children of God by faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's an evidence that you're
a child. You believe the Gospel. You hear the Gospel. You believe
it. You receive it. You love the Gospel. Children
of God. Now our father prepared our inheritance
before time began. Remember when the Lord said,
come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. This, this, this was
all already taken care of. This thing of me being his son,
it was prepared before the foundation of the word. You see Christ is
called the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And
that's why it can't be dissolved. It didn't happen in time, it
happened in eternity. And what happens in eternity
cannot be changed. It cannot be dissolved. It cannot
be done away with. Now, his children, his children,
me, you, can get very dirty. And sometimes they don't look
like children of God, or they don't behave themselves as the
children of God should. They sin and they sin grievously,
but this relationship cannot be dissolved. Let me show you
a scripture in Psalm 89. Would you turn with me there? Aren't you glad, and I'm not,
believe me, I'm not in any way giving someone the encouragement
to go on in your sin because your relationship can't be dissolved.
No, I'm not saying that at all. These things ride unto you that
you sin not. But aren't you glad you can't send away your relationship
with him? You see, if you could, it would have already been done,
wouldn't it? It would have already been done. Psalm 89, beginning
in verse 26. Also, I'll make him my firstborn
higher than the kings of the earth. It's talking about the
Lord, our elder brother. the eternal son of God. My mercy
will I keep for him forevermore and my covenant shall stand with
him. His seed, that's me and you, also will I make to endure
forever. They'll never perish. And his throne is the days of
the heaven. If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments,
if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then
will I visit their transgression with a rod and their iniquity
with stripes. Nevertheless, My loving kindness
will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break
nor alter the thing that's gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn
by my holiness that I'll not lie unto David. His seed shall
endure forever and his throne as the sun before me. It should
be established forever as the new moon. and as a faithful witness
in heaven. You see, nothing shall separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I don't know how many times I'd love to think about that night
of the Passover. How many different kinds of people,
now you think about this, how many different kinds of people
were in those houses? You had guys like Moses. I dare
say Moses was confident, confident. And then you'd have people who
maybe just two hours before, the day before, had done something
that was just terrible that made them think, boy, God's going
to cut me off. And everybody in between. You
had all kinds of different kind of people, people who seemed
to have great faith, people who were just scared at a wind, just
insecure, different kind of people. But let me ask you this. Was
the person with great faith any more secure than the weakest
person there? No. No. And there's one thing God was looking
for. Here's why. He said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over
you. That's all he was looking for.
When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. This thing of being
a child of the Father, This is a relationship that cannot be
dissolved. And as children, we're always
welcome. There's no time when Aubrey's
not welcome to come right to me. Never has been a time. Now
there's been times when she's come to me probably, and I don't,
I might be kind of distracted and don't pay attention. They
get mad at me about that, you know, when I've done that, because
I'm, you know, but this father's a lot better than this father.
Now, at no time, though, is my daughter unwelcome. She's always
welcome to come to me, and you know you're always welcome to
come into the presence of the Father. Always. Always. The Father loves for His children
to come to Him, and here's how we come. No man, our Lord said,
comes to the Father but by Me. And we come to the Father by
Him. The Father gave us to the Son. All of the Father giveth
Me shall come to Me. The Father gave us life. He birthed us into the kingdom.
We're the gift of God to His Son. This is the will of Him
that sent me, that all that He has given me, I'd lose nothing
but raise it up again at the last day. The Father is the one
who births us and gives us life. The Father is the one who teaches
us. John 6.45 says that they shall all be taught of God. Are
you a sinner? Are you a real sinner? That's
all I'm asking you right now. Are you a real sinner? Who taught
you that? I was talking to a lady this
week that called me and I asked her that question. She, her life
was a mess. And I said, are you a sinner?
And she said, no, no. Now I've got problems. I make
mistakes and my circumstances are bad, but I've got a good
heart. And I think that's indicative of what pretty much everybody
believes. It's not a believer. Are you a sinner? Who taught
you that? Do you believe that the righteousness of Jesus Christ
is the only righteousness there is and his righteousness is the
only hope you have? Do you believe that? Who taught
you that? Who taught you? God's been your
teacher. Do you really believe his grace
is sufficient? Who taught you that? Whom do
men say that I am? Well, they say good things about
you. Whom say you that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah,
for flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but my Father, which
is in heaven. Do you believe Jesus is the Christ?
God's anointed prophet, priest, and king? Do you really believe
that? Who taught you that? God did. And our Father controls
providence for us. You see, I'm a father to Aubrey,
but I can't control Providence for her. If I could, she'd have
a job making a quarter million dollars a year. I mean, she'd
never get sick. If I was able to do that, but
our father does control Providence, everything. And he said, not
a sparrow falls to the ground. Not a sparrow falls to the ground
without your heavenly father. He controls everything so that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. And our father,
oh, what a provider he is. He provides for his family. And
that's what fathers are supposed to do. They're supposed to provide
for their family and what a provider he is. You remember when Abraham
said to Isaac, when Isaac said, well, here's the wood, here's
the fire, but where's the lamb for the burnt offering? He said,
my son, God will provide himself. the land. He provides, oh bless
His holy name, He provides all that we need. Why? He even gives
us the grace to ask for what we need. Why? You know the things
you need that you ask for? You need mercy, you need grace?
He provided the grace for you to ask for those things. I mean
He provides everything. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not freely give
us all things? And oh, what a protector he is.
Oh, the father protects his children. If God be for us, who can be
against us? What protection there is in him. The Lord is my shepherd. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not want. But not only do we have his protection
and provision, Not only do we have his pity, as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knows
our frame. He remembers that we're dust, but as the father,
we also have his chastening. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. I fear not being chastened. I don't want to be chastened.
And I fear not being chastened. You see, if you do wrong, You're
going to be chastened. And if you're not chastened,
you're not a son. You see, you don't correct other
people's children, do you? Somebody else's kid does something wrong,
you don't correct them. You correct your own children.
And I want the Lord's chastening. Now, I don't want to be chastened. I thought before, man, I've gone
over seven years without getting real sick. I've had a string
of what's going to happen next. Let's hope nothing. Hope nothing,
I don't want to be chastened. But here in Hebrews chapter 12,
verse 5, and if you've forgotten the exhortation which speaketh
unto you as unto children. Children, my son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourges
every son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God
deals with you as with sons. Now, chastening more than anything
else. And I know this is so, I mean,
somebody thinks, well, you better give or God will take it out
in the coffin or you'll get sick. Chastening, and this is what
it's chastening to a believer. You don't hear his voice. You feel separated from him.
You feel like his hand is off of you. You feel like you've
been left to yourself. And to a believer, the absolute
worst feeling there can be is to feel left to myself. That's the chastening of the
heavenly father. And it's not, let's go on reading.
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons.
For what son is he that the father chastens not? But if you be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards
and not sons. Furthermore, we've had fathers
of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be subject
unto the father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few
days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he, for our
profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chasing for the present
time seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward,
he yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised thereby. Now, fathers give their children
things. They delight to give their children
things and they delight for their children to ask for things. The
Lord taught us, ask and you shall receive. We say, Lord, give us
this day our daily bread, whatever it is I need. And Lord, forgive
me my debts and Lord lead us not into temptation. Don't let
us even be tried. Lord, put up a fence around us
so we're not even tempted. And deliver us, Lord, deliver
us from the evil one. Deliver us from the evil one.
Satan, I'm no match for him. Deliver me from this evil one.
Deliver me from evil. You have not because you ask
not. And our Father rewards us with grace. So the grace of being
a child of God, me being by nature, a child of wrath, a sinful, helpless
creature, unable to do anything to save myself. And he saved
me and he made me his own child. What a gift of grace. And remember
how the Lord taught us to pray our father. You see, if we have
the same father, we're truly brothers and sisters in Christ. And this thing of being a brother
and a sister in Christ is a greater, greater, greater relationship
and bond than a human relationship. You see, this relationship will
go on forever. It's eternal. All these other
relationships, they're gonna be dissolved. They will be dissolved,
but this is the relationship that goes on forever. Truly,
children of the same Father, brothers and sisters in Christ. Isn't it a blessing to be in
the family of God? And to have God as our Father. Let's pray together.