The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 18: Chosen

Episode Date: May 20, 2018

We are no longer slaves to fear. We are children of God.

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Everybody good? Hope you were ready for today. If you got your Bible and I hope you do, grab it. Romans chapter 8. If you're new with us, we are in Romans, the book of Romans for nine months. This is our 18th week in a row. We're doing about 34 or so, and we're doing a month just in this chapter, just in Romans chapter 8. And so we're just going to pick it up from there, Romans chapter 8, beginning of verse 12, so then. So the so then is there because of what comes before it. And so that so then is really about what we talked about last week. week. So then, since therefore now, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Remember that?

So then, since God has done for you what you and I could not do, that God has sent his son as the propitiation for our sin, to live the perfect life to be the just and justifier, and so then, since the spirit of God dwells inside of you with resurrection power, that's the so then. Remember, the enemy whispers to you condemnation. Condemnation are condemned as a building term. It means unfit for use. The enemy wants you to be focused on the mistakes that you've made, the sins that you've committed, on your past and on your activity,

and says, see, God is done with you. You are unfit for use. And then Romans 8-1 tells us, therefore now, there is no condemnation that God looks at you, not because of what you have done, but because of what Christ has done for you at the cross. And he says, take the condemned sign, on and hang a sold sticker there because you are not your own, you are bought at a price,

and the spirit of God, God literally dwells within us that you are not your own, you are bought at a price. The spirit of God moves into every believer. His permanent address here on this planet is inside of you. This is why in 1 Corinthians, the Bible tells us, therefore, honor God with your body, because your body is a temple. And how many people know that has nothing to do with what you're going to look like at Beach baptism in two hours?

Praise God, can I get a witness? It means that God looks at you and you are not condemned. He's not discounting you and discrediting you because of what you have done. He is moving into you. That's what the so then is there for. So then. By the way, at the end of last week's message, at all of our locations, at all of our services, 111 people surrendered their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Amen? Incredible. I mean, truly miraculous. this. And if you got saved last week, I got good news, you could get baptized today, like in a couple of hours. We're going to pray the rain away, and when this service is over, in case you just didn't know this was happening today, somehow you missed that, or you live under a rock, or whatever, welcome. We're moving for all people, even people that don't pay attention. So you're going to run home and get on whatever clothes you feel good about, and we're going to go to Hannah Park, and we're

going to baptize. At this point, it looks like 480 people that we're going to baptize today. Amen, right? And I'm going to tell you what, man, this might be my favorite day of all of our church days. Now, listen, I love Christmas and Christmas Eve, and I'm pro baby Jesus. I mean, who's not into that? And I love Easter, right? Because if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. And so Easter is like our Super Bowl, all right?

So I'm for sure. I mean, if he's still in the grave, we're wasting our time here on a Sunday. We should do something else. And I love saturated, you know, when we do like adult camp for that whole weekend. And we do that. I love it. But today. But I feel like today is like the greatest day in the life.

life of our church because we are going to get together and we're going to celebrate over 450 people declaring that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. And I love it because people from all of our campuses, we all join up on the beach. It's kind of the only time in the year we can do that, right? And so for some of you old school folks, it's like dinner on the grounds, except it's like tailgating for Jesus. That's what it's like. And here's what I love. Every single one of these people in the water is somebody's one more. Somebody that they've been praying for and sharing the gospel and sharing an invitation, and they got to the point where they surrendered their life to Christ. And I'm telling you, when that person gets dunked in the ocean, there's a little group of people

standing on the beach, and they thought it was impossible for you to get saved. And it was, except with God, all things are possible. And so when we get done here, this is like the pep rally, okay? The real service starts at the beach, so you got time to run home, get changed, I'll meet you there, and we're going to baptize 480-something people. rain or shine, if it lightens, we'll figure that out a little bit, but we're going to heaven, so it'll be all right, okay? So, but I'm praying that it'll quit raining for us to baptize people. So, then, brothers, we are debtors.

Literally, that word means financial obligation, that we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. Why? Because it's by grace that we have been saved, not by works. And what did we do to deserve God's grace? Nothing. But just because of who God is, God saved you. By grace, you have been saved through faith, not by work so that none of us would brag about it. And when he says that we're not debtors to the flesh, he doesn't mean like your actual skin and hair and stuff. It means like that old you.

Last week you called it the old man. That when the old man, when the old hue begins to demand payment, when the old you begins to leave. to lead you down the roads of temptation, to lead you down the roads of fear and doubt, then you're not a debtor to the old you. So stop payment. You don't have to do the things you used to do because you are not the person that you used to be is what he is saying here. So then, brothers, we are debtors. Not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. You get this? Every single one of us are on a path, and that path leads somewhere.

And the path that you are on determines your destination, not your intention. We talked about it last week. If you want to go to Miami and you get on 95 north, you ain't going to Miami. I don't care how much you pray about it. I don't care how many worship albums you got going on in the car. I don't care how much a prayer group is praying for you. That path just does not go there. And he says that the path of this world leads to death.

And I'm telling you, you live by the ways of the world. not only will you die, you will be disappointed on your way there. Because this world, listen, I hope you know this. I hope you know commercials are not true. Don't you know this? Like, people spend billions of dollars a day to try to get us to buy into things that will not provide what they promise to provide. Like, I'm telling you, if you drink light beer, it is not going to help your abs or your volleyball game. That is not how it goes.

In fact, it is a detriment to both. And yet this is the world that we live in. It begs us to walk down a road and then blames us for walking down that road. And he says, so then brothers. We are deaders, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. 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. Underline in your Bibles, put to death, put to death.

This is a theological term that we use a lot around here. I don't know that you use it in your life that much, but it's called mortification. Mortification. The reason is it called mortification, and in the King James Version, that's the word they use. To mortify does not mean to be really embarrassed. To mortify means to kill violently. That's what it means. And so what Paul is saying here is that by the spirit, you violently kill the deeds of the body.

In other words, this is the way John Owen said. He was a Puritan. He said, either you kill sin or it is killing you. That we have a spiritual enemy that wants to kill, steal, and destroy everything good about your life. And you think, oh man, sin's just fun for a minute until it wrecks and ruins everything. And the thing is, most of us don't mortify sin. We flirt with sin. We visited it on the weekends. We think, I got this. I think I can tame this sin. And the sin in our lives, I'm telling you, it is like a wild animal in your house that wants to kill you. And yet we try to make a pet of it.

Like, no, I got it. Every single year in the news, some animal, some person thinks, I got an idea. I'm going to have a pet jaguar. Okay? That does not go good, right? Much like our jags, you may lay dormant for a decade. but eventually right

that'll preach so I've told you for one of J.P.'s favorite shows is that when animals attack show especially when he was a couple years ago and we're watching it one time we were on the road I was preaching I take him with me sometimes and we're watching this

and there's this lady selling shampoo in a bikini I don't know what that has to do with anything but she was and there was a bear there's a pet there's a bear right and then the moment it comes on J.P. goes doesn't she know she shouldn't be on this show? with a bear. I'm like, that's not how it works. Actually, never mind. I'll explain it later. And so sure enough, what happened? She's like, look at my shampoo. And the bear eats her head.

Just reaches over and grabs her by the head and starts eating her head. Then they interview the trainer. And he's like, I don't know what happened. His name is Gentle Ben and I'm not sure what happened. I have an idea. It's a bear. That's just what bears do. They don't put out forest fires. They don't deliver honey. That is not what they do. They just eat stuff. Because it's a predator, and that's what predators do. Like, for instance, if you put a plate of nachos here on my table, I may not eat the nachos during the service, but I promise you this, at some point in the day, ain't no more nachos,

because that's what I do, all right? Now, oftentimes we treat sin like trying to, like a domesticated animal, and it's not. Listen, I spent a bunch of time in the woods, and there are certain animals that I'm mortify. I kill violently, you know, like a snake. If I see a snake, that's a dead snake. And then one of you goofballs always is like, no, that's a good kind. Let me tell you the good kind. The dead ones. Those are the good kind. Right? And I know you're like, no, but if it's like this and they, well, listen, I'm telling you, read your Bible. They are evil. They are cursed. They walk with some kind of evil voodoo magic with no feet, all right? I shoot them with a gun. I chop their head off. And then I take

their dead snake body and I hang it up in the tree to show all their evil brothers and sisters. You come around me and mine? That's your. your future, all right, mortification. I ain't playing with a snake. And yet we play with sin. We do. We think, I got this. I got this. And listen, what the gospel of Jesus Christ tells us,

the cross tells us, bro, we ain't got this. That we can all stumble, we can all fall. And I'm not just talking about just trying harder. See, he says the spirit in you, by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body. So we've got to understand that victory over sin comes from resurrection power of the spirit in us. Either we kill sin or I'm telling you it will kill us and sin grows in the soil of self-pity and self-satisfaction and self-justification. The way John said it was the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

The great 20th century theologian coach boy, my JV football coach would say this, boy, if you don't want to fall down, don't walk in slippery places. because a bunch of us just skating around on the ice. I wonder why we all banged up and bruised because we keep falling down. Thursday night 722, a guy after the service comes up to me and says, I'm just really struggling with pre-marital sex with my girlfriend. I'm like, okay, talk to me, man.

You don't have to fake it here, let's be honest. And he's like, well, every time I spend the night there, I was like, stop, hold on stop. Bro, you don't have a spiritual problem. You just dumb. You're just dumb. I mean, that's like shopping with no money, okay? You're either going to take something that's not yours

or leave frustrated. don't go in that shop anymore. You understand? flee, run away. And yet so many of us think, I got this. You ain't got this. Andy Stanley wrote a book about a decade ago that could help you with mortification.

He will never use those words, but he talks about this. He says, the best question you can, this is called the best question ever. The best question you can ask is not, is this thing right or wrong, but what is the wise thing to do? Based on my past circumstances, my current situation, and my future,

hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do? Because what he's talking about is every single one of us are on a path. That path leads somewhere. And so what Paul says here, he says, if you live according to the flesh, that's a path, you'll die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. That's a path. Coach Lee used to always tell me he does too, show me your friends, I will show you your future. So you realize, as we are at war against the enemy that wants to kill still and destroy

us, we should never do this alone. A Christian should never be in the battle alone because we are a part of a body, we are part of a family. And one of the incredible tools of mortification that God has given us is that of fellowship, confession, and repentance. That you've got people in your life that love you enough to ask you real questions and not listen to your lies when they go, how are you doing?

I'm fine. You ain't fine. I saw your Facebook. You're jacked. Talk to me. And then you can confess. Confession is a tool given to us by God to shine light in dark places and to kill sin. And then you repent. Repentance didn't mean, it's not some deeply theological term. It means to change direction or literally in the Greek, it means to rethink the situation.

And that you've got some brothers and sisters helping you with that. Now this is not just sin management. Just guardrails in your life will not be enough. It says that the spirit has to lead you. My friend Matt Chandler last week said this. Fighting sin without the spirit is like open hand slapping a bear. It's not going to go well for you. And it's true.

So not only do we try to kill the sin that is killing us, but by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. You do the things in your life that stir your affections for the Lord. Like you go to the beach baptism today, and every time you see somebody get dunked, you remind yourself of God's grace in your life that you did nothing to deserve it. And he brought you from death to life. verse 14.

Four, this means like because, here's how you do that, because all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. How are you led by the Spirit of God? Then you trust when Jesus died on the cross, that counted for you. And then the dwelling place of the Spirit is you. And when it says that the Spirit will lead you to put the death the deeds of the body, it sounds like the Spirit is a tool in our hand, but that is not how it works.

because the spirit is not a tool, the spirit is a person, the third person of the Trinity. In essence, what he's saying is that you are a tool in the hand of the spirit. And that you, if you know Jesus, you are a son of God. In other words, identity precedes activity. And every single one of us who trust Jesus as Lord has the spirit in us. And the spirit is doing what theologians call progressive sanctification. This means that not overnight, but over time, the spirit in you is killing all the things in you that don't match up with who he is and his holiness. But it takes a minute.

Sometimes around here, I think our expectations are kind of too high. Honestly, like you get saved on a Sunday, and by next Sunday you think you're going like, you know, be walking on water. And progressive sanctification is God's work in you over time. It's almost like the Spirit of God. Think of the Holy Spirit in you with a hammer and a chisel. And anything in your life that doesn't look like Jesus, he's just chisling that out. And it's a mess.

It is painful. But most of the good things in your life, most of the God honoring things in your life came through pain. And it takes a minute. It takes a minute. I can remember when we first had JP, look, I'm into being a dad. I love it.

But at first, it wasn't as awesome as it is now. For me. I know you're not supposed to say that, but I just did, whatever, okay? Because he was like, you know, a month old, and he didn't do anything. He would just sit in the little car seat. And Gretchen was still working then. Sometimes she'd go to work for like a whole day, and it'd just be me and him. And that was pretty scary.

And so there we were. And she would come home, she'd go, how'd it go? I was like, I'm not sure. I'm not sure it's working. She's like, what do you mean? I was like, he didn't do anything. Like, he just laid it, he made a mess. I cleaned it up, didn't say thanks.

I did it again, he did it again. That's just what we did, okay? But, I mean, I was looking all day. He didn't grow. He has not learned a word. He didn't say, thanks, Dad. Nothing. All right.

He just kind of sit there. Like, have you ever seen your kids grow? You never see him grow. You never look at them and then just at the table one day. They're like, whoa, they don't, right? But it's like you take your eyes off him for a second, and then you come back and you're like, why do your pants look like caprice now? What just happened?

I know that works in England? My boy ain't wearing that. You understand? We've got to get you some pants. Because it's over time, not over night. And so the same thing with the spirit. It's progressive sanctification that over time, the spirit of God is leading us to look more and more and more like his son. Verse 15.

I love this verse. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry. Abba father. I honestly don't know where to start. on this verse. Now listen, don't change it to try to make it say sons and daughters. In English, that makes sense to us. In the first century, only sons had, only sons could receive the inheritance. And so, think about this, ladies. In the first century, if you were to show up to church, this would be one of the most empowering things you had ever heard in your life. That as they were

reading the letter of Romans to the church, and you would hear, if you are in Christ, you are a son of God, meaning your legal status had changed, and everything that is Jesus is now yours, whether you're male or female. Why? Because this is in Galatians. Because in Christ, there's neither male nor female, Greek nor Jew, slave nor free. At the foot of the cross, we are all children of God if we believe in Jesus. And then we have received the spirit of adoption, not the spirit of slavery to fall back in fear so that our spirits cry out, Abba, Father. The word Abba, it's not just a band from the 70s for you older folk. It is an Aramaic word.

It's like an intimate word for father. Whatever you call. I don't call my father father. Where I'm from, we call them Daddy. Like, D-I-D-D-D-I. That's how we say it. Hey, Daddy, that's how we say it, all right? And my kids call me Daddy.

And this is this word that God has given us the spirit of adoption, that He sees us as his son. and we had to know him as Fahaba. By the way, like when I go home, my eight-year-old girl, Reagan Capri, this is that she didn't call me Abba, but she greets me this way. I walk in the door and she goes, Daddy, and she puts your arms up like this, and her lips out, and she comes running to me. By the way, this is what worship is.

If some of you are new to our church and you think it's weird that we do this, we think it's weird that you don't, but that's okay. You can catch you up. Because it's when you begin to get a glimpse of who he is and what he has done for you and that you were a rebel against him and what kind of king leaves his throne to pursue his rebellious children, the kind that wants you to know him as father. And he did not give us a spirit of slavery. But of sonship.

Notice it's received. It's not earned. If you're a son and not a slave, you have authority. there's intimacy there, there's security there. You see slavery is about control, and the Bible's going to say over and over and over that the spirit has set us free. Free from what?

Free from fear. Do you know what fear is? Fear is putting your trust in your circumstances. That's what fear is. Freedom is putting your trust in your sovereign savior regardless of your circumstances. And we do not have a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.

We have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. And I'm going to tell you, there's a bunch of people in church, and you have a slavery mentality when it comes to who God is. You think, if you mess up, he's going to crush you, he's going to punish you. You think, I have to earn this. You think that it's about control, and none of those things are true. When you relate to God as Aba Father,

then you can see yourself as a son or a daughter of the king and you're free from the performance trap and you're free from pretending that everything's okay. Why? Because you're a child of the king. In one of Jesus' most famous parables, is in Luke chapter 15. Even if you're new to Bible study, you've heard of this one.

It's called the prodigal son. And Jesus, he's giving us this parable, this story for us to understand more about the character and nature of who God is. And he primarily wants us to know God as father. 187 times in the four Gospels, Jesus refers to God as heavenly father. And so he tells this story.

He says, there's a dad, and he's got two kids. And the younger boy, the younger son, comes to his father and says, basically he says, I wish you were dead to me. Why don't you give me what's coming to me now? Now this is how you know it's a Jesus story. Because the dad gives him what he's asked for. Now, I don't know how you grew up.

But when I was a teenager, if I had to go to my dad and go, Daddy, you're dead to me. Why don't you give me what's coming to me? He's like, I'm about to show you what's coming. That's how that would have gone, okay? But you can tell us, this is a Jesus story because the dad gives him what he at, gives him his inheritance.

Then the Bible says that the boy goes, he's known as the prodigal son to most of us. He goes out and squanders it away on wild living. Prostitution, partying, there he goes. And then eventually the money runs out and he's got to get a job. And the place that he gets a job is working on a pig farm. Now, maybe you grew up on a pig farm. Great. But here's the problem. If he's an Orthodox Jewish boy, this means that he is always and forever religiously, ceremonially, unclean. He can't go to temple. He can't do sacrifices. In other words, not only is his relationship with his dad broken, his relationship with his heavenly father is broken.

And then the Bible says, the Bible says that this younger son comes to his senses. Now, remember in the first couple of weeks of the book of Romans, we said that the Bible says that God's kindness leads us to repentance, that it would be the wrath of God to turn us over to our own desires. But it's actually God's grace when we get busted. It's actually God's grace that we find ourselves at rock bottom because God loved this boy so much that he allowed him to get to the lowest place in his life so that finally when he got there, he only had one direction to look and that was to look up. and then maybe he would see God for who he is. Do you ever consider it could have been God's kindness that allowed you to go bankrupt so that you could realize you were investing in the wrong thing?

Maybe it was God's kindness that led to that heartbreak so that you would realize that only God could put your heart back together. Maybe it was God's kindness that allowed you to feel the loneliness that you felt so that you would realize that he would never leave you or forsake you? Because he is a good, good dad. And so this kid, he comes to his senses. but he starts thinking like a slave. In fact, he thinks,

my dad's hired servants live better than I do. I know, I'll go home, I'll apologize, and maybe I can earn my way back into the family so I can live indoors and eat hot food. And he begins to come up with his apology, and he's practicing it on the way home. Father, I have sin against heaven and against you, would you please hire me back into your family?

This is what he's practicing on the way. And then the Bible says, that the father sees his son who is still a long way off. You know what this means? That the father never stopped looking for his wayward son. And he sees him from a long ways off. And then the Bible says that the father runs to his son. And I've told you this a million times before.

But in Hebrew culture in the first century, men did not run. It would be humiliating for a man in authority to run after somebody, especially somebody that was under his authority that had rebelled against him. And a part of it is because, you know, the decency factor, in the first century was through the roof. And you've seen the Jesus movies. They wear those like choir robe, man robe dress things, right? And so in order to run, you would have to gird up your loins. You would take you at bottom of your robe and you would hike it up. And nobody needs to see that much man thigh. That's unholy. They knew it. We know it. By the way, college boys. Get you some pants

that fit. Fella, seriously. Get you some bathing suit like a grown man. Quit so on man thigh. This is unholy. All right. Anyway. But he did. He cared more. He cared more. about his boy than what people thought about in. He humiliates himself for the sake of his son. And he runs to his son. And the Bible says he wraps his arms around his son. He hugs him, he kisses him. The boy begins to apologize and try to make a deal with dad. He goes, shut up. He just cuts him off. And part of the reason he wraps his arms around him is because he knows this. A good servant of him, based on the law of Moses, would take rocks and stone this rebellious son because he had shamed the name of the father. And the dad wants to make sure that he covers up

his son so if anybody throws rocks it would hit him and not his boy and then he says bring me my signet ring that would have been that that would have been the ring with his family name on it and he puts it on his son he goes no no no you're not a slave you're a son my name is your name and then he says bring me some sandals for his feet because servants didn't get sandals only sons got sandals and he put sandals on his feet and then my favorite part he says bring me my robe this perfect spotless robe And this kid, I don't know if you've been around pigs. They're nasty, man. And this kid is just full of filth and nasty.

And the dad takes this robe and he wraps it around his son. It's a picture of the imputed righteousness of Christ on us. That when anybody sees this boy, they don't see the filth that he's been in. They see the righteousness of the father. And then he says, let's throw a party. Let's throw a party. Why? Because his son of mine was dead and now he is alive.

Let's throw a party. Kill the fatted calf. You hear that vegans? The fatted calf. Now if you're a vegan, God bless you. I mean, whatever, more for me. I just don't know how you do a party. I don't know. You all kind of have the like, get the really good celery. Like it's all the same. Okay, whatever. Fatty calf.

And then they party. Why? Because he's a son. He's a son. He's not a slave. He's a son. He's a son. And then, and then this is where a lot of people stop the story, but the story keeps going. There's an older brother. and honestly the older brother would be the person that grew up in church in our modern context that's what it would be and the older brother hears the party and goes and talks to one of the other servants and goes what's going on here and literally the bible says that he hears dancing do you hear that baptist dancing i know sin's right in the word isn't it dan sin no i don't know what kind of dance you're doing that you can hear it but you can't hear this

you know what i'm saying like they're dancing in such a way that somebody on the outside of the party can hear dancing. And the older brother's like, what's with the party? And one of the other servants says, it's your dad. Your dad is throwing a party for your brother because he was dead. Now he's alive again. And then the brother, he's enraged. And do you know why he's enraged? Because he has a mindset of slavery and he steps back into fear. Because it's all about fear and control. And he's a debtor to his flesh because you know what he begins to say? I deserve that. I've been here my whole life. I'm the obedient one.

Man, selfishness can really twist your idea of obedience, can it? And so he goes to his dad and he goes, why would you throw a party for this son of yours, not this brother of mine? For this son of yours. And his dad was like, we have to. He was dead and now he's alive. He is my son.

And then the older brother goes into why he deserves a party. And he goes, I have been with you always. I've always obeyed you. And the dad is like, are you kidding me? All that I have has always been yours. And then the Bible says that the father entreats the older son to come into the party. In other words, the father treats the older son with the exact same grace that he treats the younger son. Because entreat means he embarrassed himself.

He humiliated himself. He is the lord of the manner. And he is begging his boy. want you please come at this party is for you too. And because of the older son's sinfulness in his selfishness and pride, he misses out on the sonship that his father is offering. Let me tell you what scares me about being the pastor of this thing. Those of you that grew up in church and grew up in Sunday school

and know your Bible's better than all the rest of us. And if you think you've earned it, you have a spirit of slavery and fear. and you have yet to experience what it means to have the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. You see, the spirit of adoption to know God as father and to know that you're his son or to know that you're his daughter, that is what drives away the fear in control. You see, you know the most commanded thing in all the scriptures is don't be afraid. And the number one solution for that fear is this, for I am with fear.

you. And when you know him as father, when you know God as father, then everything else in your life takes this rightful place. Man, when I was growing up, when I was with my daddy, I was never afraid. I had no worries, no fears, no anxieties when I was with my dad. Why? Because he's my dad. I got this whole country daddy that can do everything. I hope you were blessed that way. I know everybody wasn't. I mean, he could do everything. He had one little pocket knife with one blade, and I'm telling you he could fix the world. He's like McGiver before there was McGiver. Some of you don't know, McGiver, Google it. All right, he was an evangelist in the 80s.

I'd be like, Daddy, you got your knife? Here go, I got my pants on, don't it. That's my daddy. That's that guy, all right? And this knife had one blade, and I'm telling you, it was like a wrench, and it was a screwdriver, and he could fix the electricity in our house, and he could gut a deer and pick his teeth and all of that

with that one little magic tool. And we grew up fishing, man. I go fishing all the time. And you know what I worried about when we go fishing? Nothing. I didn't worry about how we were going to. get there. We drove a 73 Chevy with three on the collar. My brother standing up on the bench seat in between us. We weren't worried about vehicular safety. Daddy had that move right there, man,

save your life. We'd get out there. We didn't worry about a license. I don't know if he did either, but we didn't. We didn't worry about catching fish. We always caught fish. We'd go brim fishing. Some of y'all don't even know what that is. Some of y'all get them and put them in your doctor's office aquarium. We put them into frying pan. You understand? We didn't know catch and release. We weren't liberals. All right? We ate what we call. I didn't worry about nothing. Because my daddy had it under control.

This is what he's saying here, for you did not receive a spirit of slavery where you got to, like, prove yourself and fall back into fear as if he's going to squish you. But you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Now, see, here's the difference. See, I was born into that.

That's just my dad. Joseph Perry Martin, Jr. I'm Joseph Perry Martin III. I was almost junior, junior. That can happen where I'm from, all right? I've got a fourth at my house. JP is Joseph Perry Martin the 4th. We're into us.

But that whole father-son thing is meaningful to us. I was born into that. None of us were born into God's family. We had to be adopted. We were chosen by God. Man, there's been a bunch of families here at our church that have adopted children, going through the process of adoption.

And so when we got to this verse, I didn't know if I could explain. it very well because I haven't been through it, but we wanted to just let a family that has been through the experience of adoption share with you what it means for them. Check this out. So one day Alex and I were sitting out on the beach and we saw a group of people coming over for beach baptisms. And funny enough, I just felt the tug to, you know what, we got to go check this church out. But I don't know what they're doing because I thought only those crazy baptists got dumped like that. So it was kind of funny.

to walk into the service and see the baptism videos rolling the next time. I was like, that was them. That was the beach baptisms we were at. And we ended up finding ourselves over at Beach United Methodist at the 1122 service that day. And we were like, this is our home. This is our home away from home. When we first got married, we tried to have children. I have children from a previous marriage, but Denise does not.

So we did attempt to have a child ourselves, and after numerous tries, it was unsuccessful. So we did try to find out what our options were for adoption. We have some friends that took in a young girl, a friend of his daughters, that was pregnant, and they weren't quite sure what to do, and she wasn't quite sure what to do, and they had started talking about us and what we were doing. And his daughter's like, she needs to me. the pet cheese. So we had her over for dinner and got to know her and she was very clear-cut that she wanted to go the adoption route. And I said, well, you know, coming up, you're going to,

you know, if we get you with an agency, you'll get to look through books and choose parents. And she's like, oh no, I already chose you. And to hear, to hear, um, I already chose you, and just to hear that you're chosen, that you've been chosen, and it came full circle and hit me like a ton of bricks. Talking to him, you know, he's only three, so he doesn't understand a whole lot, and it doesn't understand a lot of words. But to be able to say right now that, oh, we are so lucky that Jesus adopted us into his family. The first time I said that he's like, huh?

but that we've been adopted into his family and mommy's been adopted and Danny's been adopted into Jesus' family and you've been adopted and we got to adopt you and he's hearing it he doesn't understand it but he hears it and then little by little it'll just settle on into his heart and he'll get it to adopting all then is it's a selfless love you have that same love because you're sacrificing, just like God's sacrificed for us. You sacrifice a part of your life to raise up that child. So for me, it's just something you do that you never want anything to return for your children. And it becomes a good example of God's love for us.

Seeing the bigger picture on how we were chosen also by God, and there is that unconditional love. There is that, you know what, he is a little black-hearted sinner. But man, I love him. My personal relationship with God, and I'm like, I get it. I get how many times I've fallen short, how many times I've been disobedient, you know, disobedient, and how many times it didn't matter.

He just loved me. I think that's opened up my eyes and my heart, Amen. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Aba, Father. This means that we were not always children of God. In our culture you're here like, you know, all God's children and people mean all people. We all are image bearers of God, but we are not all children of God. To be a child of God means that, that, I'm not, A legal transaction has to happen where you went from being orphaned to adopted into the family of God. You say, how does that happen? John says it this way in John 112.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Paul keeps going to verse 16. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. and if children then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. If you take that verse seriously, it'll make a head blow up. That everything that God has for Jesus Christ, he has for us. That everything that we are co-heirs with Christ. 1.1 will say it this way.

Oh, what manner of love the Father has lavished on us that we would be called children of God. And that is what we are. that God lavishes his love. It's not just enough love just to get us into heaven, but he just keeps dumping his love on us and dumping his love on us and dumping his love on us over, and it's a mess. There's just God love all over the place.

It's a mess. The angel's like, hey boss, I think that's enough. He's like, I'm just getting started. And he lavishes his love on us. That we, I mean, nobody's like me and you. Rebels and rejectors of God like me and you. not just misdakers but sinners and people that are hostile towards God like me and you. Oh, what manner of love?

The Father has lavished on us that we would be called children of God and that is what we are. And if children, then heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. That's for all of us who have been adopted into his family. You see, adoption is a picture of what it is for God to love us. You talk to some of the families around here. that have adopted kids. You see, he means this. He chose us.

That's called unconditional election. Do you know what does not happen in an adoption? Tryouts. There are no tryouts. Have you ever met a family? Oh, these are your kids? Yeah, we adopted this one. Tell me how that worked.

Well, we called up the adoption agency. We said, all right, send us six of your best. And we're going to run like a clinic at my house, all right? We're going to have tryouts. We do IQ tests, see who cleans up the best, who obeys. Maybe who can handle the rock, you know, because scholarship would be great. So, and then we voted that one off the island, that went off the island. Congratulations, you won orphan idol.

That is not how it works. There's just every parent that has adopted a kid, they were chosen to choose. If you were in Christ, then God chose you. And, and just like an adoption, he bought us to adopt a kid these days, very expensive. And when anybody adopts, you know what, they choose, they say, I know it's expensive, but it's worth it. It is worth the price to pay for that kid. And here's the thing.

They don't just pay the money to the adoption agency and then bring them into the family. And they'd be like, good luck from here on. You know how much we put into you? You better earn a living. No, man, they pay for everything else too. It's expensive to have a kid, isn't it? They want to eat like daily.

And you got to have clothes on them. And I mean, there's all of that stuff. And so you continue to make the payments over and over and over and over, just like God made the payment for us. And your name is changed. Your name is changed. So you had one name, then you get adopted, and then the family that you're adopted into,

that's the name that you get. Did you know? I didn't know this until after the last service. A dad and a mom that adopted a kid told me. Not only did they change the kid's name, they changed the birth certificate. They legally change the parents on the birth certificate, even though the parents didn't actually give birth to that kid,

the birth certificate has the parents. names on there. Just like we were enemies of God and now we are children of God and we are co-ares. If you adopt a kid, all that is yours one day will be that kids. Just like if you are in Christ, all that is His is ours. That in Christ we inherit eternal life. That in Christ we inherit unlimited access to God. that in Christ we inherit the right to reign and rule with Christ one day.

You realize this, one day is coming, there will be a new heaven and a new earth of which we will rule and reign over the new heaven and in the new earth with Christ. Now, I'm going to be honest, I don't know all that that means. I know I work here, give me a break, all right? I don't know what that means. Anybody tells you they know what it means? Run. They don't know what that means either.

But I will tell you this. I do know that we will stand in judgment over the angels. That's what the Bible says, which is crazy. Think about this. We've talked about it before. Every time an angel shows up on the scene, what happens? Every time on earth, they have to go, don't be afraid. Why?

Because they're scary-looking things. These cosmic messengers from God, they show up, and everybody's like, they're like, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. There will come a day when we are ruling over the angels, when we'll walk in the room, and the angels will be like, ah, and we're like, oh, relax, don't be afraid. Remember? That's how this thing is going to go. Why?

Because we are co-hears with Christ. That in Christ, our inheritance is imperishable. That means it never ends. that in Christ our inheritance is unspoiled. That means nobody can jack it up for you. That in Christ our inheritance, it's unfading. It's not like your new car. It starts a lot awesome and it gets less awesome by the day.

That is not how it works. They don't have to polish the streets of gold up there because they're losing their gleam. It is unfading. Our inheritance in Christ is reserved. You have a crown of glory with your name on it. Our inheritance in Christ is all satisfying. All satisfying.

better than even the scriptures can satisfy because even the scriptures are limited to our English language. That our inheritance in Christ will make any and all of the suffering here seem not worth comparing to the glory revealed in us there. And our inheritance in Christ is Christ. That is our inheritance. that we get to experience in an unhindered, unlimited way what Adam experienced when God breathed the breath of life into him, and he opened his eyes. And he thought, Abba, Father. And that's what we get to be adopted into. Now, here's how I know that the Bible was written by God and not just by men.

Because if a man's just writing this, you stop there. You just put a big, fat, period, and say, let's go to the beach and baptize some people. right and if God has this unlimited inheritance for us then then why don't we start now and we can just start praying for cotton candy and Cadillacs right name it and claim it the problem with that the Bible he says and his children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ and he keeps going provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him why because he is a good dad and good dads always discipline their children you can discipline without love you cannot love without discipline you cannot love without discipline and if that's the standard my daddy loved me a bunch

i can promise you that okay you see because god god loves us and has adopted us and is raising us as his own and there are times in my life you look at this thing and go like if i'm a co-air then how come everything doesn't go my way because it's God's kindness that he would allow us to go through the tough stuff. I don't know, I don't know any strong person with an easy life. And there are times in our life where I'm like, Father, I need your help. And he goes, I got you by the hand, my son. And instead of lifting me over the trouble, he kind of drags me through the mud with one nose sticking out, right? God, I thought you about killed me. He's like, I know, because I love you enough to transform you into the likeness of my son. So here's the point.

that we are no longer slaves to fear, that we are children of God. And just a second, we're going to join our voices. We're going to sing that song. And I want you to keep in mind that the song we sang before the sermon, Good Good Father, you know we just don't sing stuff because we just got to do something for 20 minutes to let everybody get in here.

That's not what we do. That we want to teach you good theology through the music that we sing. We want to make much of him by joining our voices together. and we saying, good, good father, that's just who you are. We are loved by you. That's just who I am. If you know those two things, it will change everything about everything about everything about your life. And because he has given us not a spirit of slavery for us to fall back into fear,

but he has given us a spirit of adoption that we would know that we were children of God, then you would know that you were no longer a slave to fear, but we are children of God. and here's why this matters today in just a few minutes when we leave here and we all go to hannah park to baptize 450 plus people if you are a co-air with christ that all that christ has is yours and on the day jesus got baptized listen to this matthew chapter 3 this is what happened as soon as jesus was baptized he went up out of the water and at that moment heaven was open and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and a lighting on him and a voice from heaven said, this is my son,

whom I love. With him, I am well pleased. And when we see these people getting dumped over and over and over, I hope you will know that God has not given you a spirit of slavery and fear. But he has given us the right to be called children of God, which means this. If you are in Christ, when you go out there and you see these folks get baptized in a very real sense,

the heavens open up and God the Father says about you because you are in Christ, behold, that one's mine whom I love. And with him or her, I am well pleased. That is the spirit of adoption that does something in us to cry out, Abba Father. Would you please stand and pray with me? Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we thank you that you love us. not because of who we are, but because you are love. And that God, you sent your only begotten, son, Jesus Christ,

that we could be adopted into your family, that our names would be changed, that we are set free from performance and pretending, that we are co-ares with Christ in your family. And because you were pleased in Christ, God, you are pleased with us. And so, Lord, I thank you for the party that you throw. And the reason that you throw the party is for your glory, and yet somehow we are the guest of honor. Just to demonstrate that you are good.

So God, by the power of the spirit, would you constantly remind us that we are no longer slaves to fear? But we are children of God. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.