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Adoption · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
Hey, how's everyone doing tonight?
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Thanks so much for being here.
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This is such an honor.
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If we could just pray really quickly for our time.
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Father, thank you so much for this night that you've given to us, Lord.
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Thank you for the message that your word just tells us, Lord.
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So much hope and love.
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Father, I pray that you would be with us in this room tonight,
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that you would speak to us through your word.
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And God, we would just praise you at the end of the night.
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We thank you so much, and we love you.
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Amen.
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So again, thank you so much just for joining me.
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This is such an honor.
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And in the back of the room, there is like a box of rotten fruit.
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So if things get really dumb and just really bad and blasphemous,
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you can just chuck this here.
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But honestly, I wanted to start off the night with a question.
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I'm just posed to everyone in the room.
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If you were talking with a friend who would say they don't trust in Christ with their life
0:59
and wouldn't call themselves a Christian in their life, isn't really evident of it.
1:03
And you had to explain to them why trusting in Christ was so vital,
1:07
why it was so life-giving, why it changes your life.
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But you couldn't use heaven as a reason.
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Like, what would you tell them?
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We're going to revisit this question throughout our time together.
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And I hope that tonight's message is one that is encouraging and also challenging.
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So we're talking about the doctrine of adoption tonight.
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But in order to really talk about adoption,
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we have to really come to the uncomfortable truth that at one point we weren't children of God
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and we weren't a part of the family of God.
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So it's just something that no one wants to really, really talk about.
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But at one point we weren't sons.
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We weren't daughters of God.
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We weren't in the family of God.
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And it's not simply that we were just neutral before we entered into the family of God.
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It's not that we were just neutral and we weren't against God.
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It's a lot worse than that.
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It's a lot more awful and it's a lot more glorious.
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So what did the Bible say about us before we were actually children of God?
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And unfortunately tonight, I don't have to go into too many details
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because if you've been here,
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then you've been tracking with what Clay and what John have been talking about
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as far as our depravity and our need for God
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and why we need Christ in general.
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But I just wanted to kind of give a few verses
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just to paint the picture a little bit more clear tonight
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so that we can know what we're working from.
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So just three characteristics of what we were before we were in Christ.
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The Bible says that we were slaves in Galatians 4 verse 3.
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So you really don't have to turn anywhere.
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You can just back up a verse.
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And it says,
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In the same way also,
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when we were children,
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we were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
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And it also says the same thing in Titus 3.3 if you're taking notes.
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The second characteristic is that we're dead.
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And so not,
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I mean,
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obviously we're all alive,
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that we're all,
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you know,
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we're all breathing and our bodies are functioning.
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But spiritually,
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the Bible calls us dead.
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And so you can,
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and you can find that in Ephesians 2.1.
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It says,
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and you are dead in your trespasses
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and the uncircumcision of your flesh.
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But it also says in,
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it also says that we're enemies of the gospel.
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Another reference verse is James 4 verse 4.
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So we're working from this standpoint that we were at one point.
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And the thing is that this is how the Bible describes us before we were in Christ.
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And,
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and so a lot of us have been brought from that into life.
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And a lot of us in this room are also still in that state.
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At least that's what the Bible says about us.
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And that if you haven't trusted Christ within your life,
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and you don't,
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and if you're not a Christian,
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or if you don't follow Jesus,
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then it describes us in those ways.
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It says that we're slaves.
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It says that we're dead.
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It says that we're enemies.
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And no one wants to embrace this verse.
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That's not obviously a warm verse to talk about.
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It doesn't make us feel good inside.
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But,
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but that's what we were working from.
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That's the truth.
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That's what the Bible talks about us.
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Um,
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so we have that crucial background set up.
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We have this background of that.
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We were slaves,
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that we were dead,
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that we were enemies.
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We have that set up in the background.
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Um,
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and so now let's define adoption,
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which is what we're talking about and see like,
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why is it important?
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Um,
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and so simply put adoption is an act of God whereby he makes us members of his family.
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That's it.
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So it's like,
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if you just forget everything else,
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if you just like pass out for the rest of the night,
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it's like,
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that's what we're talking about.
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It's like we were made into the family of God.
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Um,
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so it's important to define adoption because it's,
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it's frequently confused with a lot of other meanings.
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Like people confuse adoption with us being saved.
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Like our,
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the words are a regeneration and justification,
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but it's not,
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it's not those things.
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It's not that we're talking tonight about when Christ redeemed us,
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when we were saved,
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but it's going a step further than that.
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Um,
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because adoption is not the act of God making us right before him.
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And it's not the act of when he declared as vindicated of all sin and blame,
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vindicated of being enemies and slaves and,
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and dead.
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Um,
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verse five of Galatians four makes it clear that adopt,
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that we were adopted into the family after we were made right before him.
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Um,
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just read that verse really quickly.
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Um,
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verse four,
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I mean,
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uh,
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verse five,
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it says to redeem those who were under the law so that we might become sons.
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We might receive adoption as sons.
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So it came after.
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So we were saved by God.
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We were taken from our,
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from our dead state.
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We were,
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so we're saved from God.
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And then we were brought into his family.
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So,
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I mean,
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like that's just,
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we need to clear that up right now.
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Um,
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but,
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but why is that important?
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Why is the order important?
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Like,
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why is it important at all?
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Um,
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like,
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why is it that Christ,
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that God had to take us from that?
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That sinful state and bring us into his family.
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It's important because like,
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like,
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let's just think about like the God that we just sang a song to.
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I was like a God who's like infinitely perfect and holy and blameless.
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And it's like,
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we can't just bring in like a simple man,
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like straight into his presence.
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It's like we,
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we,
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the fact is that if you've been redeemed by Christ,
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you have his righteousness over you.
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So it's not that we're just merely brought into God's family because like God is so perfect and holy.
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Um,
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so we must be made righteous by Christ sacrifice first.
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In order for him to welcome us into his family.
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Um,
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now I,
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I,
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I wanted to go a little bit further so that you guys know where I'm going to be going for the rest of the night.
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I'm going to have a definition that is going to be thrown up on the screen because it's so long and worried that I wanted us to be able to see it.
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Um,
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so the Westminster larger catechism defines adoption as an act of the free grace of God in and for his only son,
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Jesus Christ,
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whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children,
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have his name put upon them,
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the spirit of God given to them,
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are under his fatherly care and dispensations,
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admitted to all liberties and privileges of the son of God,
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as sons of God,
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made heirs of all the promises and fellow heirs with Christ and glory.
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Um,
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so,
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yeah,
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I know that was really wordy.
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Um,
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so if you can,
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if you're able to catch all of that,
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um,
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I hope you were,
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but so then why is adoption so crucial and vital?
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Um,
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to be honest,
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adoption is,
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is crucial to our understanding of God because without it,
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um,
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it changes our view of God completely.
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Like if you just,
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if we were just saved and justified and made right by Christ,
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but the adoption didn't come after that,
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like God didn't take us into his family,
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that would completely diminish the glory of God.
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Um,
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and,
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and the remarkable thing is that many of us live our days as if adoption is non-existent
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and we don't even really notice it.
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Um,
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so,
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so let me explain what I mean by that.
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Many of us have viewed or continue to view God,
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like many of us here tonight.
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Um,
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I know like myself,
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like at one point or still do view God as someone who is distant,
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uninvolved,
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uncaring,
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and unloving.
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Someone who we can run to when things get tough.
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Um,
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and someone who we only talk about in philosophy class and someone we only pray to before a meal.
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Um,
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but this is actually called deism.
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This has a name.
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It's called deism.
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And it was,
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it was spawned in the 18th and 17th century in the,
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during the time of the age of enlightenment.
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I mean,
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basically just said,
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like,
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just to sum it up,
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it's this view that,
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that depicts God as a clockmaker.
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If you've heard the idea of,
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of God as a clockmaker who designed the world,
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he,
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he put everything into it,
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designed the world,
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um,
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wound it up and then let it go on its course.
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And then just kind of like stepped back and kind of like does his own thing now.
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And isn't really involved in our world at all.
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So,
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so deism may sound familiar to you because you heard about it in a history class,
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but the way it works into our lives and our thoughts is something like God saw our sin.
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He sent Christ.
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He redeemed us.
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And now he just chills in heaven only to occasionally glance down and shake his head in disappointment when he sees our sin or our need.
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Um,
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the problem is that this worldview sends direct opposition to the act of adoption and it sells short the glory and greatness of our God.
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Now,
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many of us know that this isn't an accurate picture because we read about in scripture,
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like we know that God isn't a clockmaker and we know that he has a part in our lives,
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but few of us actually believe that,
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um,
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few of us believe that that's not a truthful picture of God.
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Um,
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because if you say that you believe something,
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but you don't actually follow it out and doesn't affect your life,
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you don't believe it.
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Um,
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so I just kind of want to talk about like,
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what happens in adoption?
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There are two things that happen in adoption.
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I mean,
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like first it's the old authority that we served was destroyed by Christ because we lived our whole lives in darkness.
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The old authority that we had served had to have been broken.
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Um,
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if you're taking notes,
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references for that would be Ephesians two,
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verse two and second Corinthians five,
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verse 17.
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Um,
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we must be first released from darkness in order to be called children of God.
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And this can only be done by God in order to come into light.
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We must be rescued from darkness.
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We see this work through justification and regeneration,
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um,
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where God,
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through his infinite wisdom and mercy and grace,
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uh,
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he broke the bonds of sin over us.
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Uh,
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like a really,
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really good passage that paints this picture really clearly.
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If you,
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you'll go to Colossians verse chapter two,
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um,
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verse 13,
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that's a little bit to the right.
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Okay.
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Okay.
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It says in verse 13 of chapter two of Colossians and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
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God made alive together with him,
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having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.
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This,
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he set aside,
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nailing it to the cross.
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He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.
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So that's like the first thing that happens like in,
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in,
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in the role of adoption is that God takes us from that slavery and he,
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and he brings us into,
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um,
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or he destroys that.
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He makes a public mockery of it by triumphing over them in him.
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Um,
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and the second point,
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the second point is that God takes us.
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So with this background of us being dead slaves,
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enemies,
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treasonous,
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um,
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sons of Raccoon and children of the devil like that.
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These are the verses that the Bible uses to describe us,
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um,
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before we are in Christ.
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Um,
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it takes those people,
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God takes those people and he brings us into his own family.
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Um,
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sorry.
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Uh,
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so he takes us into his own family and restores that which was broken and lost by the fall.
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Um,
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and so this needs,
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I beg you,
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like this needs to hit you hard right now.
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Like this needs to hit you hard.
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The fact that,
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that God takes us from that slavery,
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from that darkness and brings us into his family.
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Um,
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because the only thing that like I can compare this to perhaps is if a friend came up to you every single day,
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walked up to you,
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slapped you in the face and took a nine iron to your shins and knees and said,
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sorry about that,
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pats you on the back and walks away.
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You're lost.
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You have no clue why that happened.
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Then he comes back the next day and he does the exact same thing.
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And the thing is that there might be one or two people in here who are such forgiving souls,
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so holy that they can forgive that person and not hold it against them.
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But for the rest of us,
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pagans,
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like I'm going to come looking for that person,
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probably with a bat and a couple of homeboys,
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you know?
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Um,
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and we're going to become a lot better friends.
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But the truth is,
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honestly,
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we take this same approach to God.
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Um,
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the truth is that we approach a perfect and sinless and holy God.
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And we do this exact same thing,
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except 10,000 times worse.
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And like,
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that is the only thing I can compare it to.
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And so we do that same thing to God.
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So that same picture of the nine iron,
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like turn to Romans five really quickly.
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Um,
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it is a couple books to the left.
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Um,
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verse six in chapter five,
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for while we were still weak at the right time,
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Christ died for the ungodly.
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For one will scarcely die for a righteous person,
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though perhaps for a good person,
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one would dare even to die.
13:58
But God shows his love for us.
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And that while we were still sinners,
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Christ died for us.
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Um,
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it says that God saw us.
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He saw us like that.
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And he sent his son to die for that person.
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Um,
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none of us are happy with being called evil and sinful people.
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No one wants to imagine themselves as the person that's taking the nine iron to the shins.
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Um,
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no one wants to really think about that because there's so many things that can distract us from,
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from,
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from going there.
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Um,
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but it's like at the end of the day,
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that's exactly how the Bible describes us.
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And God sent his son to die for us exactly as we were.
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Did not say you need to clean up first and you need to make your life right.
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And you need to go to church at least 10 more times before I can even consider making you a part of my family.
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Like,
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did not do that at all.
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Um,
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and if that does not send a shiver down your spine,
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if that doesn't hit home,
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if that doesn't mean anything to you,
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then it's possible that sin has numbed you to their reality.
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Because that is honestly the greatest picture of love that you can ever come up with.
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Like,
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I don't care how good the notebook is.
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Like,
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it's nothing compared to that kind of love.
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Like,
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I'm dead serious,
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you know?
15:07
Um,
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I have a friend who once told me that if he's like,
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he,
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he was afraid that if he had stepped foot into a church,
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he would burst into flames because of his sin.
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Um,
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if you also think that you are too far gone,
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like if you are too far gone from grace,
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find me after the service and we'll debate which one of us is the worst sinner.
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And I will win because my life is so jacked up.
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Um,
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so now it's like the,
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the great thing is that we need to talk about the privileges of being a part of God's family.
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Um,
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because God's love and grace is as good as it sounds.
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Like,
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I'm not just describing something to you that's romantic and written in a book that's not true and doesn't hold any weight over our lives.
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Like,
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this is exactly what has happened.
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Um,
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and it's almost too hard for me to comprehend sometimes.
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And it makes me question whether or not that's actually real because that's just,
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I don't know anything like that.
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Um,
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so that question that I asked at the very beginning,
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um,
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about if you could,
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if you had to convince someone,
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you had to talk to them about what was so great about being a Christian,
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what we,
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and you couldn't use heaven as an example.
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Um,
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like that question,
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let's revisit that right now.
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Let's turn to Matthew four,
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verse 17.
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Matthew four,
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17.
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From that time,
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Jesus began to preach saying,
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repent for the kingdom of heaven will come when you will all die and miss out on everything fun and neon in life.
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It doesn't say that.
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Okay.
16:58
Well,
16:59
no,
16:59
like that's not it at all.
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Like you just said,
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if your Bible says the exact same thing that my Bible says,
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your Bible says,
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repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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So how does the kingdom start now and never end?
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Um,
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I mean,
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I have four points that we're going to go through,
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like four privileges.
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There's,
17:20
there's a lot more,
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but these are just kind of condensed that we can talk about tonight.
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Um,
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the first one is we get to know God as our father and as our daddy.
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John 17,
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verse three,
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you don't have to turn there real quickly.
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I will,
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because I don't have it.
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Bookmark.
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Um,
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John 17,
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verse three says,
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um,
17:44
and this is eternal life.
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They know you,
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the only true God and Jesus Christ,
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whom you have sent.
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No,
17:51
that this is eternal life,
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that they may know you.
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Now,
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um,
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for a lot of us,
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this isn't difficult to find.
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This is very difficult to find appealing because the best thing for God to give from,
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give to us,
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which is himself is usually like the last thing that we really actually want.
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Um,
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a verse,
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I mean,
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you don't have to go.
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There's Psalm 73,
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verse 23,
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24 through 26,
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which says like,
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whom have I in heaven,
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but you,
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and there's nothing on earth.
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I desire besides you for my flesh and my heart may fail,
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but God is the portion and my strength forever.
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Uh,
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C.S.
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Lewis said it really,
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really good.
18:29
C.S.
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Lewis is the guy who wrote Narnia.
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I'm in a lot of other great,
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um,
18:33
books.
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Um,
18:34
he says,
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we are halfhearted creatures fooling around with drink and lust and ambition.
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When infinite joy is offered to us like an ignorant child.
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He wants to keep on making mud pies,
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in the slums because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a vacation at the beach.
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So the first point that we get to know God is our father and our daddy.
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The second point is that God loves us and understands us.
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Now,
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this is also a foreign concept for some of us to understand because for some of us,
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our earthly fathers never communicated to us that they care about the things that we care about.
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And they never communicated,
19:12
communicated to us that they love us.
19:14
Uh,
19:14
I have the great privilege,
19:16
privilege of having two awesome parents who are here in the back room,
19:19
embarrassing me.
19:20
Um,
19:21
but,
19:21
uh,
19:23
I love them to death.
19:24
And,
19:24
and,
19:24
and the fact is that they did show that,
19:25
but the honest truth is that for a lot of us here,
19:27
like,
19:28
that's not the case.
19:30
Like a lot of us,
19:31
like you didn't have an earthly father who was there,
19:33
who took an interest in the things that you cared about and,
19:36
and,
19:36
and said,
19:36
I love you.
19:37
Um,
19:37
so this is like really hard for us to understand because we frequently apply the,
19:41
our earthly fathers to our heavenly father.
19:45
Um,
19:46
Hebrews 4,
19:46
15 is a great verse to check out for that.
19:49
Um,
19:49
but one that we're going to be that you guys don't have to turn to that I've got here is
19:52
Jeremiah 1,
19:53
11.
19:54
Um,
19:54
and so this verse isn't strikingly significant,
19:57
but it is important because in this verse,
20:00
like God addresses Jeremiah by name.
20:04
And,
20:05
and I know that we're all thinking,
20:06
well,
20:06
of course,
20:06
like he's in the Bible.
20:07
Of course he's going to address him by name,
20:08
but that doesn't make any sense at all.
20:09
Like it's just,
20:10
this is Jeremiah.
20:11
Who's really no one.
20:14
And God says to him,
20:15
and the word of the Lord came to me saying,
20:18
Jeremiah,
20:19
what do you see?
20:21
Um,
20:21
that sends shivers down my spine.
20:23
Every time I read it,
20:24
because I would assume that the God of the universe has a lot more important things to do,
20:28
like direct flaming death ball comments away from hitting the earth or keeping our universe from being stuck into oblivion.
20:34
Um,
20:35
but the fact is that he knew Jeremiah's name and he knows my name and he knows your name.
20:42
Like,
20:42
just let that sit in just for a second.
20:44
The God of the universe who's made all of this,
20:46
like knows your name and cares about the things that you care about.
20:53
Thirdly,
20:54
he cares for our needs and he gives us good gifts.
20:58
Um,
20:59
Matthew seven,
21:01
verse seven through 11.
21:03
Um,
21:03
really quickly,
21:03
if you just want to turn there.
21:04
verse seven,
21:18
ask and it will be given to you,
21:21
seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks,
21:25
receives the one who seeks finds into the one who knocks,
21:28
it will be opened.
21:29
Or which one of you,
21:31
if his stone,
21:31
if his son asks him for bread,
21:34
will give him a stone?
21:35
Or if he asked for a fish,
21:37
will give him a serpent?
21:38
If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children,
21:42
how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?
21:47
Yeah.
21:54
Like,
21:54
unfortunately,
21:55
like the truth is that like Satan has planted this lie,
21:58
like deep in everyone's minds,
21:59
including mine,
22:00
that God does not want to give you good things,
22:03
is not interested in your life,
22:04
does not care about you,
22:06
and is not as good as his word says he actually is.
22:09
And the sad thing is that we've all bought into it.
22:16
Fourth and last point that I have is that God gives us the privilege of suffering for his name.
22:24
Wow,
22:24
it just got like really,
22:25
really heavy in here because everyone was with me for the first three points and was psyched about those.
22:29
But now that I said suffering for his name,
22:31
it's like,
22:32
where are those rotten tomatoes that you falsely promised us?
22:35
Um,
22:38
but here's the truth.
22:41
The word of God is at odds with the world and has been since the fall of man.
22:47
We can dress up the gospel as cool as we like,
22:50
and we can put on our tight jeans and our level five deep V necks and our flashing lights and sound.
22:59
But at the end of the day,
23:00
the gospel is offensive to this world.
23:02
If you don't believe me,
23:05
then I would suggest reading the latter half of the gospels where Christ gets crucified.
23:13
It's not popular to be a follower of Jesus,
23:16
nor has it ever been.
23:17
Jesus promised suffering because he suffered and he was murdered.
23:21
So,
23:22
but,
23:22
but,
23:22
but so why is suffering a privilege then?
23:25
Like,
23:25
why,
23:26
why is it that I included on this list of suffering being a privilege?
23:31
Um,
23:31
and here's why.
23:32
Um,
23:33
um,
23:34
turn to,
23:35
or actually,
23:36
yeah,
23:36
turn to John 14 verse 18,
23:38
since I think we're already kind of in that book or were at one point.
23:42
So this is like the context,
23:59
like,
23:59
let's just set this up really quickly.
24:00
This is Christ talking to his disciples right before he's about to be delivered up to,
24:05
um,
24:06
the Pharisees and those that are about to flog and crucify him.
24:09
Um,
24:09
so,
24:10
so that's the setting.
24:11
And,
24:11
and so he's telling his disciples that he's about to go away and he's about to be crucified.
24:16
They don't really understand what he's saying.
24:18
Um,
24:19
but he says in verse 18,
24:20
he says,
24:20
I will not leave you as orphans.
24:23
I will come to you.
24:26
Now,
24:26
the original Greek word there is orphanos,
24:28
which means parentless or comfortless.
24:30
I will not leave you comfortless or parentless.
24:33
Um,
24:34
so let's back up two verses,
24:37
um,
24:38
to verse 16.
24:42
And I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.
24:48
Um,
24:49
now another Greek root word,
24:53
um,
24:53
is this word helper translates to parakletos,
24:56
which means comforter or advocate.
24:59
Um,
25:02
we rejoice in our suffering because first of all,
25:04
it brings God glory.
25:05
Like this is how his word is spread is through,
25:08
um,
25:08
his gospel being proclaimed and their gospel is not popular with the world.
25:12
So we rejoice in our suffering because when it brings God glory,
25:16
and that's the best thing that like,
25:17
honestly,
25:18
we can ever have.
25:19
Um,
25:20
but secondly,
25:21
like with those verses,
25:22
we get the Holy spirit who brings us comfort.
25:26
The Holy spirit brings us joy and it brings us peace.
25:33
The question that's frequently raised in church,
25:35
and I'm sure you've asked it yourself,
25:37
like just as much as I have,
25:39
because along with so many of our doubts,
25:41
like just,
25:41
I mean,
25:41
if we're going to be real,
25:42
like that's exactly what happens because we have so many doubts about our faith,
25:45
um,
25:46
that just brew on the inside.
25:47
But one of the questions that we get asked a lot that I've asked a lot is why do I not feel and see the Holy spirit's presence in my life?
25:55
Like,
25:55
why don't I see him working?
25:57
I'm like,
25:57
I read acts.
25:58
Like I read this and I see that the Holy spirit is powerful,
26:01
but I don't feel him working in my life.
26:05
And one of the ways that that question is answered is by examining your life.
26:09
Like,
26:09
what does it consist of?
26:10
Are you giving your life?
26:12
Where are you rejecting the carnal,
26:14
temporary,
26:14
fleeting passions of this world and giving your life to Christ?
26:18
Um,
26:19
um,
26:20
because that,
26:22
that word that we just said,
26:23
comforter,
26:24
um,
26:26
like it,
26:27
it means to come.
26:27
So,
26:28
I mean,
26:28
advocate and comforter.
26:30
And then,
26:30
but the,
26:31
but the answer to that question of why do I not feel the Holy spirit's presence in my life?
26:34
Whose name is the comforter?
26:35
Whose name is the advocate?
26:36
Is because like,
26:38
we're so comfortable here.
26:40
I mean like that's,
26:41
that's our,
26:42
that's our,
26:43
our temptation here is that like,
26:44
we're not openly being persecuted.
26:46
There's no one about to rush through the doors and haul us all off to jail because we're meeting here.
26:51
Like that's our trial is that we are so comfortable here.
26:54
And so many people say like,
26:55
I don't feel the Holy spirit's presence in my life.
26:57
And his name is the comforter.
26:59
So the question is like,
27:00
if you're already so comfortable with your life,
27:03
like if you're,
27:03
you're so comfortable here,
27:05
like why would you ask for more of the comforter?
27:08
Like if you're comfortable,
27:10
why would you ask for more comforted?
27:12
Comforted.
27:16
Romans eight.
27:17
Turn there really quickly.
27:29
Verse 14 is where we're going to start.
27:30
It says in verse 14,
27:39
for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God.
27:45
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
27:48
but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry,
27:52
Abba,
27:53
father,
27:54
the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
27:58
And if children than heirs,
27:59
heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ,
28:02
provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
28:09
Now,
28:09
back up to verse 15 says,
28:12
by whom we cry,
28:13
Abba,
28:14
father.
28:15
I mean,
28:15
this is not,
28:16
I mean,
28:16
I've resorted to this as well,
28:18
where I want to believe that this verse is talking about like a cutesy child cry of like,
28:26
of just like a father,
28:27
like I love you.
28:28
And it's like this cutesy cry that we have in our minds,
28:31
just resting quietly in the arms of the father.
28:34
But it's the exact opposite.
28:35
It's,
28:35
it's one of a child who's tripped and fallen and is crying out,
28:39
daddy,
28:40
like,
28:40
I need you father,
28:41
help me.
28:41
Um,
28:42
and,
28:42
and that verse that,
28:44
that,
28:44
those two words,
28:45
Abba,
28:45
father,
28:45
that probably strikes a bell with a lot of us because we can remember that like on the cross when Christ called that out,
28:51
like right before he died.
28:54
Um,
28:54
so I wanted to wrap this up by drawing all these privileges together into one central idea.
29:04
When we become children of God,
29:08
our identity changes.
29:12
We're no longer enemies of God.
29:16
We're no longer slaves.
29:18
We're no longer dead in our sin.
29:21
Um,
29:21
but we're his children and,
29:23
and you are no longer that guy who struggles with lust or that girl who struggles with body image.
29:28
Um,
29:29
but you are a son and a daughter of God.
29:33
So I have two challenges tonight.
29:34
To end our time.
29:36
Um,
29:36
and there's,
29:37
there's two of them.
29:37
So the first one is to believers and Christians who are in the room.
29:41
Um,
29:42
believers like,
29:42
do you view yourself that way?
29:43
Do you view yourself as a son of God and a daughter of God?
29:47
Do you view others that way that are also believers?
29:51
Do you know and believe in God in the way that he's depicted in the scriptures?
29:57
Or do you view him as a clockmaker who set the world in motion and then is uninvolved,
30:02
uncaring,
30:02
and,
30:03
and couldn't care about our lives at all?
30:05
Um,
30:06
have you realized the benefits that you've received from being in Christ?
30:11
Or are you living in a way,
30:13
are you living your life in a way that fails to accurately portray the glory and greatness of our God?
30:18
We are called to be imitators of Christ.
30:22
Um,
30:23
are you still living in a way that does not,
30:25
are you still living in a way that does not imitate Christ,
30:28
but it does in fact imitate your former darkness that you've been brought from,
30:32
that Christ redeemed us from?
30:33
Like,
30:34
are you an imitator of Christ?
30:35
Or are you an imitator of that darkness?
30:37
Like,
30:38
um,
30:38
the first Peter four one verse 14 and 16 says,
30:41
as obedient children,
30:43
do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
30:47
but as he who called you is holy,
30:50
be holy yourselves in all your conduct.
30:54
Since it is written,
30:55
you shall be holy for I am holy.
30:57
Finally,
30:59
my last question for,
31:00
for the believers in this room is,
31:01
are you showing people that don't trust in Christ,
31:05
the things that you stand against?
31:09
Um,
31:10
and then,
31:10
but also,
31:11
and not lovingly showing them the things that you stand for.
31:15
Like what,
31:16
like what does your life consist of when you're around people that,
31:18
that don't trust in Christ and that are looking at you and they're examining your life because they,
31:22
because you call yourself a Christian.
31:24
Like,
31:24
are the only things that they see just the things that you stand against?
31:26
I don't drink.
31:27
Um,
31:27
I don't smoke.
31:29
Um,
31:29
I don't cuss.
31:31
Like,
31:31
is that the only thing that your life is showing?
31:32
Or do you show them like the love and greatness that you have been shown by Christ?
31:38
Um,
31:39
the second one is for nonbelievers here.
31:41
People that don't,
31:43
that wouldn't call Christ their savior.
31:44
Um,
31:46
I beg you,
31:47
please come to Jesus.
31:48
Like consider him whose love is 10,000 times more radiant and pure and true than anything,
31:54
you know,
31:55
or ever will know.
31:58
Um,
31:58
if Christianity has ever come across to you as a religion where Christians wait around for heaven and abstain from drinking and gambling and cussing and all the fun things in life while being unloving and uncaring,
32:11
I deeply apologize for I am guilty of these exact same things.
32:17
Um,
32:19
but if you're hiding behind those reasons,
32:22
I also must tell you that you're using those people who are simple,
32:26
just like you and I,
32:28
as an excuse to hide from facing the truth of a relationship with an amazing God that calls for your entire life.
32:35
And you are missing out on a kingdom that far surpasses the fading glories of this life,
32:40
which are at best getting old.
32:43
Um,
32:43
this kingdom starts now and will never be shaken.
32:48
Let me,
32:48
let's just pray for you.
32:49
Let me just pray for you guys.
32:58
Holy father,
32:59
thank you so much for loving us in a way that we could never understand.
33:06
Father,
33:07
that's so unlike anything we ever have seen.
33:11
God,
33:11
I praise you so much for that.
33:14
God,
33:14
I thank you for not just leaving us,
33:17
um,
33:18
in the state that you just saved us and left us alone and you don't care about our lives anymore.
33:22
But fact,
33:22
but the fact is father that you brought us into your family and you love us.
33:27
And God,
33:28
you,
33:28
um,
33:28
care for us deeply.
33:30
God,
33:30
I pray that we would,
33:31
um,
33:32
just wake up to that reality.
33:33
God,
33:34
that this would pierce our hearts and this would not just be something that you teach us tonight.
33:38
And we forget,
33:38
but father,
33:39
this would be something that we live by.
33:41
And God,
33:41
I,
33:41
I pray for that.
33:42
You just convict,
33:43
um,
33:44
those in this room that need to be convicted father,
33:46
that you would just work in those lives right now.
33:48
God,
33:49
um,
33:49
thank you for being powerful and being far more than I can,
33:52
more than anything I can ever understand or grasp.
33:55
Lord,
33:56
um,
33:56
I love you.
33:57
And God,
33:57
I love these people that are in this room.
33:59
I praise you,
34:00
father,
34:00
in your holy and precious name.
34:02
Amen.