If you have your Bibles, turn
please to Romans, the 8th chapter. I'm going to read two verses
of Scripture this afternoon. The title of my message is, The
Spirit of Adoption. The Spirit of Adoption. Verse 14 says, For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 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, Romans 8, 14 and 15. Let us pray. Our Father, we bless
you and thank you that we can read such words as these that
warm the hearts of your children to know that you have adopted
us and that you have sent your Son to die in our room instead
and sent your Spirit to give us the spirit of adoption where
we realize what has been purchased for us and what has been ordained
for us from all eternity. We thank you, Father, for your
book, that you did not leave yourself without a witness, but
you left this glorious book, that we might be able to see
what you have freely given us in Jesus Christ. We ask, Father,
as we gather this afternoon, that once again you'd give us
worship, that we'd see Christ in his glory, we'd see ourselves
as we are, and with thankful hearts sing
praises to your name. Father, help us even now. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. It's some of the sweetest language
you'll find in all of Scripture. This is what I think David was
talking about when he said, Thy word is like a honey in the honeycomb. This is sweet language. It is
a song of grace here. This is a song of grace. And
it's a song of grace that falls on the ears of the refugees and
the orphans that are sons of Adam. Estranged from birth, proceeding
from the womb speaking lies, sinners all, worthy of death,
and worthy of eternal death. For them to think that such a
title, such an honor as to be called the sons of God. The sons of God can be applied
to such rabble. And that's what we are. To such
rabble as this can only be received by God-given faith. If you're
not a believer, you'll never get this. And if you're a believer,
you'll never get over this. We are sons and daughters of
the Most High God, the One who called the earth into existence,
the One whose the clouds are the dust of His feet, who wraps
His hand in lightning and makes it hit the mark, who is in the
whirlwind. The God who calls for earthquakes
to take place. The God who makes it rain. You
ever really thought about that? It says that. It says that in
Scripture. He maketh it to rain. It don't
seem like much. Try living it out for a while.
What a wonderful thing. It's dripping in the dining room. We're going to have to fix it,
but He made that rain. It says things like, Hast thou
entered into the storehouse of the snow? It gives you your breath. Every breath, if He withholds
one, you don't breathe no more. It's just that simple. He holds
the breath of every creature in His hand. He spoke this world
into it. He hung the stars in their sockets.
He said, let there be light, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then He put the sun several days later into the day and the moon
into the night. He did all of that simply by
speaking it. And He looks at Old Ed. He says, it's my son. Now that's
an honor. That's a privilege to be called
the sons of God. The hymnist wrote, Grace, tis
a charming sound. Tis a charming sound. Now this
passage however begins, verse 14, begins with a caveat. It
says that There are those who are the sons of God, but it declares
this, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. They are the sons of God. Now
this verse, like all others, must be seen in the context of
the entire chapter. Paul is not taking the believer
somewhere he's not already taken him here in this 8th chapter.
In fact, through the first 8 chapters we've already seen in Romans.
Being led by the Spirit of God basically addresses three things.
I know people like to say, oh, the Spirit led me. Maybe He did,
maybe He didn't. Barney used to be fond of saying
when he'd preach a message, God or somebody give me this. Because
he was being honest. But preachers especially like
to talk like, I was led of the Spirit. It sounds religious.
It sounds good. And people think, I'm going to
follow that guy because he's been led by the Spirit. Everyone
who's a son of God is led by the Spirit. Everyone, everyone
who is a son of God is led by the Spirit. But basically this
addresses three things. First of all, it means that any
and every other spirit is excluded. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God. they are the sons of God. It excludes the spirit of man
because that spirit can only understand the things of men
according to 1 Corinthians 2 about verse 11. The spirit of man is
the carnal man in the flesh. When he's talking about being
led by the Spirit of God. He's excluding the Spirit that's
in man. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of God, and neither indeed
can be, it says in verse 7 of this chapter. When he talks about
minding the things of the flesh and minding the things of the
Spirit, the people who are minding the things of the flesh are not
sons of God, and they're not led by the Spirit. So they're
not led by the Spirit of man. And this also excludes the spirit
of the world, which is always contrary to God. Secondly, to
be led by the Spirit of God is to be led in a single direction. A single direction. Turn with
me to our Lord as He was leaving His disciples. He spent chapters
13, 14, and 15, and 16 teaching them what this world was going
to be like when He wasn't physically with them. And He promised them
that He would send them a comforter, a cleric, paracletos, one who
comes alongside you. And he says that the spirit,
that comforter is the spirit of truth who will guide you into
all truth. And he says that that comforter
is his spirit. Where he says in one place, one
chapter, when I go away I'll send you a comforter. And then
one verse later he says, and when I come to you. So the spirit
of God is the spirit of Jesus Christ. One fellow says he's
Christ's other self. He's Christ's other self. But
listen to the words of Christ. Now here He says, when I go,
I'm going to send you the Comforter. And when He comes, He's going
to do something. He's going to do something. Look what He says
in John chapter 15, in verse 26, it says, When the Comforter
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify
of me. That's what the Spirit does.
So when we're talking about those who are led by the Spirit, they're
led in a single direction because they're led where the Spirit
takes them. He's the Spirit of Truth, and He testifies of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look over at chapter 16. Again,
He speaks of this Comforter. In chapter 16, verse 7, He says,
"...Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for
you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you, But if I depart, I will send Him unto
you. And when He has come, now when the Spirit has come, He
will reprove, or convince, or convict, He will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Now if that
were left alone, and we didn't have anything that follows, people
could really have a ball with that. Preachers could have a
ball with it, and some of them do anyway. But our Lord goes
on to tell us exactly what that means. The Holy Spirit will not
convict a man about drinking, smoking, and chewing. That's
the conscience. The law will convict a man about that. The
Holy Spirit convinces men and convicts men about one thing
in particular. Of sin, of righteousness as a
judgment. Well, what's that mean? Look.
Verse 9. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. Sin is unbelief. That's what
the Holy Spirit is going to convict you of, of unbelief, that you
don't believe the Lord Jesus Christ. Of righteousness, because
I go to my Father and you see me no more. And that's talking
about the accomplished work of Christ. Why is He at the right
hand of the Father? Why is He at the right hand of the Father?
He's at the right hand of the Father because He finished the
work of salvation. If He finished the work of salvation,
then you are righteous if you are His. And the Holy Spirit
will convince you that Christ finished the work, and that He
alone is your righteousness. And then it says, "...of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged." He's saying this,
that the Holy Spirit will convince you that Satan was defeated on
Calvary's tree. His head was bruised and crushed,
though he bruised the Son of God's heel. And he says this,
"...I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear
them now." They would not be able to bear them until after
Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit did come. in power and begin
to show them who Christ was. Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth
is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak
of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak,
and He will show you things to come." Look at this next phrase,
"...He shall glorify Me." For he shall receive of mine, and
shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath
of mine, therefore said I, that he shall take the things of mine,
and show them unto you." So if you are led by the Spirit of
God, you are led to the Lord Jesus Christ. You are led to
learn, you are taught of Him, and therefore you continue to
come to Him as living stones. we come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are always coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, because that is
where the Spirit will lead us. Because that is, show me anywhere
in the scripture elsewise, and you can look, get your concordance
and run it, where the Spirit of God leads a man anywhere else,
but to Christ. and to the teaching of Christ.
That's where he leads us. Thirdly, to be led by the Spirit of God
is the same thing as Paul describes throughout this book, or through
this chapter. In chapter 7, verse 25, to be
led by the Spirit of God is to understand that with my mind
I serve the law of God, and with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
He goes on to say that those who walk in the Spirit are not
in flesh. Those who walk in the Spirit are not in flesh. He says
this three or four times here. That's what he's talking about. Being led by the
Spirit. Paul was led of the Spirit. Inspired,
in fact, of the Spirit to write these things for our understanding. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are given the great honor to be called the sons of
God. The sons of God. Marveled at
this great privilege look over at first John chapter 3 First
John chapter 3 Here's how he described it, and if you read
this this chapter down through verse 10 you'll find that it
is some of the most astounding things that you'll ever see and
And when you read this don't read it as a catalog or a list
of instructions for how you are to live That's not what this
is talking about This is talking about how God sees His people
in Jesus Christ. And then you can understand.
But we'll just read the first two verses. Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. What in the world! How much did
He love 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 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. John is saying, this is too big
for me! This is overwhelming! This is
stupendous! This is colossal! How can I be
called the Son of God? Knowing what I am, how can I
be called the Son of God? That's what he said. Behold.
So this is an amazing thing that we're reading here in Romans
chapter 8. They that are led by the Spirit,
the Spirit of God, they are the children of God. They are the
children of God. The believer is the Son of God
in two ways. First, he is He is the Son of
God by new birth. That's not in chronological order,
but I just gave that as the first example. He's the Son of God
by the new birth. The new birth. Our Lord said
to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, They that are born of the
Spirit are spirit. They that are born of the flesh
are flesh. He says, You cannot perceive and understand the things
of God unless you are born from above. It must be born again
or born from above. The wind blows where it listens.
You know where it's coming from, where it's going. So is everyone
that's born of God. Now he was saying that to a man who was
a religious man, but didn't have understanding. He said, you can't
understand unless you're spiritually made alive. And that's the new
birth. That's called regeneration or the new birth. So that's one
way. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 22 and
23 says, We are not born of corruptible seed, but incorruptible seed,
even the word of God, which liveth and abideth therein. This is
the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. James 1.18,
He of his own will hath he begotten us with the word of truth. of His
own will begetting us with the Word of Truth. So this regeneration
is through the Word of God, through the preached Word of God, through
the Spirit of God. And I know you should try to get any more
deeper than that because I can't. But I would advise this, if you
have any inkling to desire to be a child of God, I'd get around
where the Word of God is preached. Because it's not going to happen
without that. It's not going to happen apart from that. Secondly,
The Son of God is the Son of God by adoption, and that is
an eternal thing. That's important to understand.
That's declared in verse 15 of our text. For we have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but look how this is worded.
It didn't say, but we've been adopted. He said, but we've received
the spirit of adoption. the spirit of adoption whereby
we cry, Abba, Father. And that's an important little
tool of language that's spoken here. Now, the difference between
divine and natural adoption is so vast that it is really of
no value to try to compare the two. Really, there's no use to. There is no need with God to
adopt. God didn't need you. He didn't adopt you because He
was going to need you down the road. I know people like to say,
well, the only hands God has is your hands, and the only feet
God has is your feet, and the only ears God has is your ears,
and the only tongue God has is your tongue. If that's your God,
you're in trouble. That's what David said to those
people that had a God like that. Had ears but couldn't hear, and
eyes couldn't see, feet couldn't walk, and hands couldn't handle.
David said, our God is in heaven. He's done whatsoever He is pleased,
whatever is pleased. God didn't need to adopt you.
and there was nothing in you worthy that would recommend Him. Even your pitiful condition did
not recommend Him to adopt you. He adopted you because He would.
Go any further than that and you've gone past the clear declaration
of the Word of God. This matter is a decree of God
involved in the covenant of grace whereby God predestinated His
chosen Unto the adoption of children I notice that what he didn't
say predestinated him to adopt them as children He predestinated
him unto the adoption. So there's this thing called
the adoption in eternity It involves all whom God has chosen and elected
in Jesus Christ, and they are part of the adoption the adoption
and He did it through Jesus Christ through the accomplished work
of Jesus Christ. Let me show you that look over to Ephesians
chapter 3 That's where I quoted from Ephesians chapter 1, verse
3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
And here the word heavenly places means in the councils of eternity
in Christ. according as He has chosen us
to Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. That is not a condition
of our election that we should be holy and without blame. That
is a result of our election that we are holy and without blame
because Christ has made us holy and without blame and we have
not made ourselves so. Having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ. That is important that it is
worded that way. He didn't say having predestinated
to adopt us. He says predestinated us unto the adoption of children. This is talking about the eternal
counsels of God. This adoption is to the family
of God. It is opposite of the spirit
of bondage again to fear. That's clear here. We've not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we've received
the spirit of adoption. So there's a difference there,
a very difference. You see, bondage engenders fear. And we are born
in bondage in this world. We may not feel like we are shackled,
but from the moment we are born, when we first get our first cogent
thought that travels between our ears, we fear. And we fear dying. This world
is scared to death of dying. That's the bondage. That's the
bondage everybody is in by nature. Look over to Hebrews chapter
2. Hebrews chapter 2. Now the law can't cure that.
Only one thing that can remove the fear of death. That's if
death itself dies. And that was accomplished by
Jesus Christ. Now look how this is worded also. Chapter 2 and
verse 14, For as much then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood. Now which comes first there? Do they become Children because
they're flesh and blood? Or are they flesh and blood and
somewhere down the line they become children? He says the
children, already children, they're already children. Why? Because
they've been in that adoption. Those children are partakers
of flesh and blood, even so likewise He also took part in the same,
that through death He might destroy him that hath the power of death,
that is the devil, now, and deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Fear of death. Now I'm convinced that people
don't really fear death. They fear that that's not the
end of it. That's what they really fear. And there's something about
humanity that knows that. I don't care how much of an atheist
or how much of an agnostic a person is, you get him on his deathbed.
And I've sat beside and held the hands of many and prayed
with many who died. You get him on his deathbed, he begins to
consider earnestly the fact that if he dies, that's not the end
of the story. And that's what terrifies people
if they don't know Christ. It is appointed unto man once
to die, and after that, the judgment. Men are afraid not to die. They're
afraid they did not. They're afraid they're going
to physically die, but that's not the end of their life and their
right. Jesus Christ removed that fear,
that bondage. When we die physically, we live
forever. The other side of death for us
is just joy and peace and happiness. Seeing Christ face to face, seeing
Him as He is because we'll be like Him. That's what's on the
other side for the child of God. Now our Lord said, this fear
kept us in bondage. Now our Lord said, now when you
have this spirit of adoption, it ain't going to lead you into
bondage, it ain't never going to lead you to fear. Religion
operates on the premise of bondage again to fear. They fear liberty
and are opposed to any notion of freedom and liberty. They
control by fear of loss or reward, fear of censure and fear of hell.
They use hell as a goad to keep folks in line and in a constant
state of anxiety. Assurance is anathema to religion. However, it is a part of knowing Christ, being assured.
I'll tell you, if you're not assured today, if you know Christ,
you're not assured, you know why? Because you're not looking
to Christ. Most people say, well, I don't have assurance. You're
looking in the wrong place. What are you looking for? Well,
some kind of evidence in my life that, you know, I'm doing it
right. That's the wrong place to look. Full assurance of faith,
full assurance of hope, those things are in Christ. And you're
assured when you trust Him. When you look to Him, how can
you not be? If He's accomplished all of your
salvation, how can you not be assured? What happens is, oh,
we start looking and start worrying about this, start worrying about
that, thinking about our life, so we don't have assurance. We don't have
assurance. Assurance is anathema to religion
because if you get a person assured, you can't get them to do nothing
they don't want to do. It�s that simple. The Spirit of God, the
Spirit of Adoption will never bring you into bondage. Never! It will never shackle you with
fear of death or the reprisals of what happens after death or
the reprisals of religion. It will never cause you to do
that. The Spirit of Adoption, if you are led by the Spirit
of God, you are a son of God, and that Because God has Brought
you this state of adoption and it will never make you afraid
that will never make you afraid Let me tell you this if you're
a child of God. Let me tell you about to be honest with you if
you're being accused If you feel like you're being accused If
you feel like you're being accused it ain't God that's doing it
You hear me Oh, that can't be right. It's Satan, it's your
conscience, it's self. God has removed everything, everything
that would cause Him to accuse you. He's forgotten your sin.
He says, No charge shall be laid against my elect, none whatsoever. Blessed is the man to whom thou
wilt not impute iniquity, charged with sin. Romans chapter 4. God
is never going to charge you with sin. Your conscience will.
Satan will. Religion will. God won't. He just won't do it. You see,
if you're accused of sin, that's bringing you back under the fear
of bondage because sin operates in the realm of the law and conscience.
We're under grace. We are under grace. Sin shall
have no more dominion over you because you are under grace and
not under the law, saith the Scripture. Religion operates
on that premise of fear and bondage. I can remember when I was in
religion how preachers could make me feel so guilty. And how
Sunday school teachers could make me feel so guilty. About
everything. I always loved a good laugh.
I always loved to tell jokes and hear jokes and laugh. I've
always, you know, I believe in a good sense of humor. If you
ain't got it, there's something wrong with it. Start with it.
Y'all be able to laugh. Y'all be able to laugh. And I loved
that when I was a kid. But I remember preachers said, oh, you know,
y'all, that's just foolishness. Something wrong with you. Something
wrong with you. Y'all not be laughing like y'all
be serious. I didn't want to be serious. I still don't want
to be serious. I'm 62 years old and I ain't going to be serious,
thank you. If you are convicted, if you
are accused, let me tell you something, God didn't do it. He'll do that to you once by
His Spirit when He brings you to Jesus Christ. And the sin
He'll convict you of is not because you're too humorous, or you like
humor too much, or you like beer, or you like cigarettes, or you
like smoking, or you like to go to the movies. He's not going to convict
you of that. You fool, you know that stuff's already wrong. You
don't have to be convicted of that. But your conscience will. And
conscience tells you to stop it. It didn't make you feel better
because you didn't realize it until you hadn't done enough.
But that's another story. But the Lord, when He convicts you,
He convicts you of sin, righteousness, and of judgment. Sin, because
you believe not in the Lord Jesus Christ. Righteousness, because
I've gone to the Father. Judgment, because of the prince of this world is
cast out. It's cast out. God will never
bring His Spirit-led adopted children into a state of fear
and bondage. That's what He said. Back here
in our very text, He said He will not do it. He says, For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. You
have not received that. If you are operating in slavish
fear as religion would like you to be, then it is a revelation
that you are not a son of God. You are not led by the Spirit
of God, and you have not received the Spirit of adoption. If you
have not received the Spirit of adoption again to fear, then
Scripture says you are a son of God. You are not in bondage,
and if you are not in bondage, then you are free. You are free
to enjoy the benefits that your benevolent benefactor has bestowed
upon you. You are free from the curse of
the law, for Christ was made a curse for us. Galatians 3.13.
You are free from the fear of death. We just read in Hebrews
chapter 2 and verses 14 and 15. You are free from the fear of
judgment. 1 John 4.17. Perfect love casts out fear.
We don't fear the judgment because as Christ is, so are we in the
world. You are free from the law of sin and death. That's
what it said. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made us free from the law of sin and death. Chapter 8,
verse 2. You are free from the dominion of sin. I just quoted
Romans 6, verse 14. You have liberty without religious
rules or regulations. Now, here's the thing. You can
live in this world constrained by nothing but love for Christ. You can. You say, well, I don't. That's your problem. You could,
you could. The problem is, I remember one
time talking to this lady, she was having problems, and I said,
well, you know, I said, if you could just look away from this
thing for a little bit and look to Christ and ease your pain.
She said, thank you, I want to wallow in it for a while. That's
what she wanted, and we're that way too. Sometimes we get in
a fix and we kind of just want to work it over. We're not so
ready, if we get angry at somebody, we're not so ready to let go
of that anger. Because it kind of feels good
to think all those horrible thoughts, you know. I just brain them upside
the head or something. That feels good. Holding a grudge,
you know, it feels kind of good. But you don't know what they
did to me 20 years ago. You'll never believe what they did to
me. And people live like that. But a believer doesn't have to. Because he's been delivered.
He is free. Free. And liberty is a grand
thing. It is a grand thing. Now, today
I fear that as far as the nation goes in the concept of liberty,
that's been turned to license. And a lot of times people do
that in religion too. They take liberty and turn it into license.
They use their liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, Scripture says.
But liberty is still a grand thing. You don't throw away the
good thing because people use it badly. It's like these people
are talking about, you know, we need to get rid of all the
guns because people get killed by guns. Well, let's get rid
of all the rope because people hang themselves by rope. Let's
get rid of all the kitchen knives because people stab each other
in the kitchen. Let's get rid of all the cars because people run
over people with cars. Let's get rid of all the beds
because some people die in their sleep. That's a stupid idea. Liberty is a grand thing. Will
some people abuse it? Absolutely. Absolutely, sure
they would. But liberty is a grand thing,
and religion fears it, and the saints love it. Liberty means
that you can use your freedom to do what's right and good,
considering the glory of God and the welfare of the brethren.
You can use your liberty. Paul said that. Paul, writing
in 1 Corinthians, he didn't have an out-of-body
experience, but he's writing like that. One man described
it as Paul sitting on top of a huge mountain and looking down
at all that surrounded him. And he looked at everything that
was down there. And he says, you know, everything down there
is mine. And everything down there is
lawful to me. He's talking about liberty. What
about those things God restricted? He wasn't talking about those
things. He wasn't talking about it's lawful for me to commit
adultery or lawful for me to be licentious or lawful for me to
kill. He's not talking about that. But everything else that
God hasn't prohibited is lawful to you. It's okay. You can use what God has given
you. Don't abuse it. He said, Paul said, Use the world,
but don't abuse it. Use the world. It's all right.
It's out there. God gave it to you. God gave
it to you. Now listen to Paul's letters.
1 Corinthians 6 and verse 12 says this, All things are lawful
to me. Now Paul's looking out at everything.
He says, All things are lawful to me, but not all things are
expedient. And that word is profitable.
What does that mean? I can use my freedom To say, that I could
have, but it might not do me any good. That's what freedom
is. The law said, don't you touch
that. Grace says, you can have that,
but you must decide as a child of God. Is that going to be helpful
to me? There are a lot of things out there that I could have because
they're lawful to me. But I don't use them because
I don't believe they help me. I believe they'd probably harm
me if I used them. So I don't use them. But that don't mean
they're not there for me. It means it just would not be beneficial
for me to use them. He says this, and I will not
be brought under the power of any. I'm not going to use something
that will overtake me, that will overwhelm me, so I can't get
out of the wondering. That's what he's talking about. Now
look over at chapter 10 and verse 23. He uses the same kind of
language again. And he has a couple of other things that have to
do with the liberty for the child of God. In chapter 10 and verse
23, he says, "...all things are lawful for me, but all things
are not expedient." Now, this word is different than the word
before. The word before was profitable for me. Things out there that
I can have, but might not help me. Now this word is, they might
not help you. All things are lawful to me.
You remember when Paul says things like, if your brother's offended
by meat, don't you eat meat in front of him. Now, it's okay
for you to eat meat. That's lawful for you. Ain't
nothing to him to eat meat. But if your brother's offended,
then don't do that because it's not helpful to him. So we're
not only considering what's profitable to us in this walk of life, we're
also figuring out what's profitable for our brethren. So our liberty
has to do not only with us, but it has to do with our brothers
and sisters in Christ. So we are at liberty. If I like,
say I like a glass of wine for dinner, I'm not particularly
fond of wine, but say I like a glass of wine for dinner, and
I went to Ethel's house, and this is just using hypothetical
situation Ethel Ethel's maybe she's had a problem with alcoholism
in her life or maybe she's had a problem with it and wine is
just she can't be comfortable with it around her. Now I have the liberty to go
to her house and I could actually say I'm drinking wine in front
of you. It's lawful for me to do that.
It wouldn't help me and it wouldn't help you would it? So what do
I do? I go and drink wine in front
of her. Because she has difficulty. That's why he says, your brother's
offended by meat. Don't eat meat in front of him. He didn't say
don't eat meat. He said don't do it in front of him. People say,
well that's just hypocrisy. It's not, it's caring for your brother.
It's caring for the feelings of your brother. You want not
only to have things you do to be profitable to you, you want
them to be profitable to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
That's why liberty can't become a license. Some people like to
think that liberty is, well, it means I can do what I want.
No it doesn't. Well it does in one sense, but What do you want? Do you want to harm yourself?
Do you want to harm your brethren? Isn't there something wrong with
your wanter? It's not working right. All things are lawful
to me, but not all things profit me. Not all things profit you.
And so my liberty has to be used in that context. That's how we
use it. And then, he goes on to say in
verse 23, All things are lawful to me, but not all things edify.
And that's talking specifically about the brethren. He said,
something's lawful to me, but it might not build you up, might
not encourage you, might bring you down. It's free to you. I can do it. I'm free. I'm at liberty to do
so. It's lawful for me. But if it
don't build you up, it don't help you, don't encourage you,
then I don't need to be doing it. And you see, I'm free to
make that decision. I'm free to choose that. That's
what freedom is. Freedom ultimately is being able
to decide, isn't it? Man, you say, well, doesn't man
have a free will? No, his will's not free. My will's
not free. My will simply follows the dictates of what I want.
It's like a puppy dog that trails along my nature, behind my nature,
licking my nature's boots. That's all it is. It can't do
anything. When I'm talking about deciding and choosing, I'm saying
as a child of God, as one led by the Spirit of God toward Christ,
you're free. And that freedom entails yourself
and all the brothers and sisters in Christ. What's profitable for you, what's
profitable for you, what's going to build you up. That's where
my liberty is. Think about this. Did you realize
you're actually free? to think about what's profitable
for you. You're free to think about what's profitable for your
brethren. You're free to help your brethren grow in grace and
knowledge. What a freedom is that? And that's simply by either
exercising or not exercising what's lawful to you. Isn't that
something? That's a wonderful thing. That's
a wonderful thing. You're free. It's a grand thing.
And the spirit of adoption puts us in a wonderful state of grace
and extreme privilege. By this wondrous thing we have
a loving familial relationship with the thrice holy God. The
act of adoption has made you a son or a daughter. The act
of adoption has made you a son or a daughter of God. This was
an act done in eternity and because He adopted you, in eternity,
He birthed you in time. That's the language of Scripture.
The Holy Spirit has been given you because you were adopted
in eternity. Let me show you that, Galatians
chapter 4, and I'll quit, I'm just about done. Galatians chapter
4, verse 3 says, Even so, when we
were children, now you're already children, we were in bondage
under the elements of the world. That was us, how we were born
in this world. Well, you weren't a child of God. Yeah, you was,
you just hadn't realized it yet. Because though you had been put
in that adoption before the world began, the knowledge of that
adoption comes later with the Spirit. But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
her under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now we are already children,
but we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are
sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. So not only were you adopted
in eternity, but God made sure you knew about it in time, and
birthed you into His kingdom and into His family by the Spirit,
because your sons He sent forth His Spirit into your heart. And what is your cry? Abba, Father. Abba, Father. One man said, spell
it backwards and forwards, it's the same, God's always going
to be your Father. A-B-B-A, A-B-B-A. Abba. Abba really means, in the
most vehement of affectionate terms, my Father. Or Papa. Went home, first of the week
went to Winston-Salem, saw mom and dad. I looked at my daddy,
he's 85 years old now, he's bent over a little bit, he don't have
the strength to use his head, he's got COPD, it's out of breath real
easy. When I saw him, I walked up and kissed him on the cheek
and I said, hey puppy, I love you puppy. And I do. You realize that's the relationship
you have with the God of the universe. Let's roll that over in your
poor old head for a minute. Tonight, when you're alone and
you start speaking to him, talk to him as your father. Say, Papa,
I love you. I don't love you enough, don't
love you like I ought to. Thank you, Papa. That's the language. You see, you've received that
spirit of adoption. You were adopted in all eternity.
And because you're sons, God sent forth His Spirit into the
earth where you cry, Abba, Father, my Father, Papa, Papa. And what
could possibly sweeter concept than for one who was born as
an enemy of God to be so completely made new, a new creation, that
he could freely and confidently cry, that's the word, vehemently
show affection and love, my Father, Papa, Papa, to the very one who
holds your breath in His hand. I'm telling you, the Gospel,
no matter where you come at it, it's good news. It's good news. Father, bless us for our understanding
and help us, Lord, to appreciate what You've done for us. In Christ's
name, Amen.