Amen. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we are grateful for your word, for it speaks of you and your attributes, the perfection of your very person. We thank you, Heavenly Father, that it comes to us in a tongue that we are able to understand. It comes to us in a way, oh Lord, that enables us to understand things that are sometimes just very common. And we thank you, Heavenly Father, as we approach the subject that we look to tonight that fills us with great assurance that we are indeed the children of God. We pray, Father in Heaven, that by your Spirit sent near to us to dwell with us, O Lord. We ask that you would open our eyes to see and our ears to hear, that we may receive these truths, O Lord, and be guarded against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and ask, O Father, that you would continue to seal us more and more to you, and that we, as your own, would live to you. Thank you, Father, for your goodness to us in speaking so clearly, and we ask that you will bless us now, for Jesus' sake. Amen. If you have a copy of God's Word this evening, if you'll please turn with me to Romans chapter 8, looking at verses 14 through 17. This is found on page 944 of your ESV pew Bibles. As always, I remind you that as we look to our passage tonight, there are a couple of different places where we'll be going. Those are underlined on your sermon notes on the back of your order of worship or inside your order of worship. But let us more particularly remember that it's good to keep our Bibles open because this is the word of God. Let us hear it with great reverence and lay these truths upon our hearts as we seek to practice them in our lives with exceeding great joy. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him. Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. He may be seated. In the fifth week of our series in Romans 8, which is the winter of our assurance, and one of the things that we have noted through this four preceding weeks is that Paul is piling up assurance upon assurance. We know that in the beginning passage that we saw, verses one through four, where he tells us that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, while the spirit of life has set you free from the spirit of sin and death, that we are those who are no longer under condemnation, that the wrath of God has been turned away from us, and it has turned to us the favorable and smiling face of our God. But we also continued in verses five through eight, noting that we are not what we were. That there has been a great change that has taken place, that for those who live or are according to the flesh, that they set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live or are according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. We've mentioned that that shows us not only of our own disposition, but where we find ourselves. We are part of a different domain now, that we are not where we were or what we were. But notice as we saw in verses nine through 11 as we continue here, the reason for this is because we are in the spirit. that we're no longer in the flesh, that is no longer something that categorizes us of sin and death, but rather it is life and one that takes us to Christ. It shows us that through the resurrection power of what Jesus has accomplished, that we are a new creation in Christ. And then finally, last week, this leads to what we saw in verses 12 through 13, that because of this, that we are able to kill sin, in fact, We must be killing sin, for as John Owen, as we recall from his famous quote, says that if you are not killing sin, it will be killing you. That we hold death close to our hearts and within, next to our chest, it will kill us. But if we have life and take hold of what the Spirit is working within us, and seek to work in accordance with His will, that it does allow us to live new. But notice tonight that we see a new layer that is added to all of this in verse 14. Again, when we were told that all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. The idea of lead here is not necessarily that he's going to guide us out somewhere, just maybe go down the street, make a left there, go about a block and a half, maybe two miles, and then another left, and you'll arrive at your destination. But what we find here is more along the lines of what we see in Psalm 23, where he leads us in paths of righteousness for his own namesake. that here our God, in doing that, yes, leads us along a straight path that is narrow, that always leads us to the destination. In fact, we're almost to consider that as we make our way down this path that we are to see on the horizon heaven itself, but understand that what he's pointing us to particularly is it makes us to see our sin and our need to be able to deal with it. Now there are times where we begin to wonder, well, can we, should we deal with sin? How do we do this? Yes, the spirit, we are in the spirit. We're not what we were, but let us understand that Paul, the way that he helps us to understand that is by establishing the assurance that we have in the truth, that we are the sons of God, which we hear in verse 16, we are the children of God. And I want you to note that, because it's not just those who have been given the assurance that they have been regenerated, that they have passed from death to life, that they are now justified, that you are seen as righteous as Christ, and as we joyfully follow Christ, that we begin to see His work within us. But let us understand that through the very Spirit who indwells us, that He brings us into the family of God. In fact, I'll tell you one of the greatest things that any sinner who has been an outcast from God and kind of like a child living on the streets with no direction whatsoever, I'm terrified that here the sinner is able to hear that we are the children of God. but a refreshing and encouraging thing because it's not just, mind you, a relationship that we have because anyone can have a relationship with someone, but notice that this is one that speaks to an intimate relationship, a familial relationship, one that yields blessedness and joy. As there, we find that there's security, that there's peace. There is, in a sense, a loving and kind home to be in. And I want you to know that because as last week, Paul wanted us to note the connection between holiness and tonight, let us see that he wants us to see the connection between holiness and being a child of God. And not only is that because we are told in Psalm 93, verse five, that holiness befits the house of the Lord, that we are his people gathered into one, that the house is his people, not a building. That we are those who seek to bear the family likeness of the Father in heaven as his Holy Spirit makes us more and more holy into his likeness, but also that we will do so because the Spirit of God and Christ is also. the spirit of adoption. And I think that's very important for us to know, because there are times when Satan and the world around us will undermine our assurance, and our hearts will begin to swell with doubt, insisting to us that the relationship that we have with God has been broken, or at least permanently marred by some sin that we have done. I want you to understand this because in hearing this, there are times in our own hearts and minds where we know this to be true and it can be terribly convincing. But again, that's why the apostle Paul tells us at the beginning of verse 15, pardon me, that for you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear again. I want you to note that because here that idea of fear is one of a slavish fear, an anxious mindset, thinking that eternal life in some way, shape or form depends upon me because while God has brought me into the kingdom, it almost makes us insist of ourselves, as our sin does of us, that there must be a certain level of obedience that we must maintain if we are going to continue with our God, as if there is therefore still at least some condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I want you to note that because there are many who come from backgrounds where they do have this sort of fear, and this fear is real. And that's why here Paul tells us, in fact it's the Greek, I'm probably not translating it the way your ESVs are, but the Greek gives to us after fear the word again. that it shows us that you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into the same kind of fear again and again. It's not something that is meant to go on. Believing that the only thing that's keeping you from returning to back where you were before is yourself and what you do. But dear friends, what he's wanting us to understand here very clearly of this, again, is that we have an easy way of reverting back to believing that we have no claim and that we have to somehow earn something of our keep with God. But let us understand that as we find in Luke chapter 15, verses 29 through 31, if you would turn there with me just briefly, we see that that's actually the attitude of the prodigal son in how he looks at his father. Remember that the prodigal son in that parable is kind of the bad example here, the one who shows us something of the Pharisee. But I want us to see that because Jesus, in continuing this parable, we're near the end, verse 29 here, the prodigal son has come back and we see a little bit of attention that comes out in his older brother. And he answers his father, look, these many years I have served you. I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him." Notice that there's hostility that he has toward the father because he's merciful to one of his children. That in a sense he's saying, it's almost like I have never been treated as your child. Why would you do that? But nevertheless, note that the father very clearly says to his son, that you're always with me, and all that is mine is yours. that you are one who has inherited from me also what is mine, that you are a partaker of all these things that are mine, and all of these things that you tell me here that I've always served you, I've always disobeyed you." Yes, he delights in that, but the fact of the matter is, is what he's telling him is that you never had to earn any of this stuff. And I want you to note that because it's the same thing that Paul deliberately tells us at the beginning of 15 again. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear again, but you received the spirit of adoption as sons. It's not one that's terrified of the reality or an imaginary reality that, well, this is something that could take place, but he's saying that we have a Spirit who is different. The same Spirit who has freed us by applying the work of Christ has done something different in us here, too. And let us note that, that it conveys a couple of different things that we see in regards to that. As we look and we consider that we have been given the spirit of adoption as sons of God, first I want us to note that it shows us or conveys to us that we are the objects of God's love. I want you to know that as God in the Old Testament is often seen as a tender and loving shepherd who saves his sheep, and his children. I think of Psalm 103, that it likens God to a merciful father who forgives his straying children from time to time. Let us note that this idea is abundantly pressed home in the New Testament. And that's why we see this astoundingly coming from the disciple that Jesus loved in 1 John 3 when he says, See, or behold what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God. And so we are. He's amazed at this prospect, that God would do such an amazing thing for him, a sinner. And I want you to note that because Paul here is telling us to bring confidence to the believer, not in themselves and anything that they have done, but because of what God has done. It's meant to bring reverence for our God, seeing him in the right light as who he is and not as bringing him down to our level thinking he might just be as petty as we might be. But also is to bring forth a real and true affection like a child has for their parent that was not there in individuals before. That's what we see of our God, is we are called the sons through the spirit of adoption, that we are the object of God's love. But I also want us to see that it means, or it conveys here, that we now have a similar disposition. And I want you to hear that, because a few months ago, we were making our way through Christianity and liberalism in Sunday school, and J. Gresham Machen, described the liberals of his day, which is still consistent with the liberals of our day, in fact, something that John had in some way, shape, or form heard from a gentleman he was speaking with this week, that the liberals would believe that God, because he is their creator, is the father of all. It's the universal fatherhood of man. That's still something that's still around. Mind you, to a certain extent, it is true that, yes, God did make all people, and that does give us something, but because of a broken covenant that we have, and after the fall, let us understand that that relationship is not always in a good, or that relationship is not in a good state. In fact, to such an extent to where He is claiming new children and those who once might have been that they have ceased to be. And that's what we get in Jesus' speech to the Pharisees when he's telling them in John 8, 44, that you are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and as he's speaking to them, they are plotting to murder him. And they tell him that he never stood in the truth, for there's no truth in him. Dear friends, let us see that while that is the case with the unbeliever, that because of the regenerating grace that the Spirit has given to us through this new heart and this new mind, that we are adopted anew by the Father in Christ. That we who have been strays, who have been out on our own, are brought near to Him. And that's what we hear in John's Gospel, in John 1, verses 12 and 13. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave a right to become the children of God, who were born not of blood or the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God. That He is our Father because we are born of Him. And tonight, do we believe that in Christ, that we are in every respect the children of God? Not naturally His own, but much like children that you have seen who really don't look a whole lot like their parents, that they are nevertheless the objects of His love. They are nevertheless those who take on a similar disposition. And here, particularly because His Spirit indwells us and seals us in His grace, and He works in us to will and to work for His good pleasure, it shows, yes, that we are a people who have been adopted by our God, and we are no less His because the Spirit of adoption has given us a disposition that is His. But to clear this up a little bit more, notice that Paul goes on to tell us two ways that this is manifest, that the work of the spirit of adoption is manifest within us. And the first is, as we hear continuing in verse 16, pardon me, that the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. The first way it manifests is that we are actually the children of God. And not only does this work within us actually make us those who would be able to love God from the heart, but it does so that we will not doubt because the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of adoption, makes us very conscious that we are the children of God because of what the Father has done in the Lord Jesus Christ. That He has broken down all the barriers. He has removed everything that is in place and enables us to come into His very presence. And I want you to note that by the Spirit of God, He conveys this assurance to our minds by bearing witness to our spirits. Now, what that is not is not an audible voice or just a peaceful, easy feeling that may come upon us at some point in time, but is simply, let us understand that when by faith we are aware of the closeness of the relationship that we have with our God, and the joy of communion that we have with Him, and even in times where we are sharply convicted of our sin, understand that this is the Holy Spirit at work within us. In fact, that's the same thing that we hear in John 14.26, that the Helper will teach you all things and bring these things to remembrance. That's what we find actually taking place in Acts in the early chapters when Peter and John are before the Sanhedrin, and these uneducated men that they were seen as, well, they know how to say all these things because they've been with Jesus, and that the Spirit of God is doing exactly what God has promised He would do. He would bring these things that they had known from the Word of God, what Jesus had taught them, bring these things to their remembrance. Or as we also see in 1 Corinthians 12.3 that Paul tells us that no one can truly say that Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. Now I emphasize the truly here because yes, there are those who can say that Jesus is Lord even though their idea of Jesus is not something that is true, but the idea of truly is that someone in which the spirit of God is at work, someone in which the spirit of adoption is working in, and says that, yes, this is my brother by faith, one who is not ashamed of me, that yes, here we see that we are able to call upon him and know him because he is with us and he is familial with us as a brother, even as God is as our father. And I want you to note that, because by the inward witness of the Spirit, that we are assured that God is near, that He hears us, that He acts on our behalf in accordance to the Word. I think that's terribly important for us to understand, because the inward is always confirmed by the external. But the Word gives to us some clarity of what we have of the Spirit working within us. In fact, that's something that we find with those ministers who are called to ministry, that they begin with an internal sense or a desire to minister to the people of God. But instead of just walking into a random church on a Sunday and say, well, I'm called to preach, so move over. we find here that that's confirmed, yes, by what we see the characteristics within the Word of God, but also it's confirmed by others. And that's what, here what Paul, pardon me, and that's, pardon me, the way that that begins is with the inward work of the Holy Spirit showing that these things are confirmed. In fact, they must be confirmed by those things that are outward. But I want you to note that the same is true of our sonship, and that's what Paul goes on to illustrate at the end of verse 15, when he says, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. That the work of the Holy Spirit is why we draw near to God and we call upon Him with a sense of childlike dependence and trust and love. In fact, I was thinking of it today even as my children came in and that this has actually been something that we have done every Sunday that I have been working as a minister for years and years and years. that Sunday morning the kids come in and they'll kind of peek around the corner. I'm sitting there working and they'll kind of gauge whether or not they're able to come in. It's like, yeah, yeah, and I'll give them a hug, kiss, and then at some point in time we'll pray for them and thank God for our breakfast. But while my kids are able to do that, As much as I love y'all, I don't want you coming to my house about 6, 30, 7 o'clock in the morning while I'm sitting on the couch working. That's not to be offensive, but understand the reason why my children and my wife, my wife has a privilege because I'm her husband, my children have that privilege that no one else has because I am their father. And this is what Jesus is impressing upon his disciples as his disciples come to him and ask him, teach us to pray. And notice he begins by saying that when you pray, assuming that you are going to be praying, that we are to say, our Father who is in heaven. That we know that while God is great and glorious, and yes, while He is very busy, much like my children's father would be sitting on the couch working in the morning, and at times He may seem really distant or too busy for us, that we are to understand that our Father is completely accessible and always to His own children whom He loves. I think, interestingly enough, prayer is a very good barometer of our relationship with our God, and that we really do need to consider that in that way. Because, for instance, brothers and sisters, do we feel the freedom to come near to our God at any point in time, no matter where we are? We don't have to break out in prayer as we're standing in the grocery store line, but we can silently pray. Or are we those who, when we hear, come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may still be struggling with the fact that we're not really sure if we're welcome or not. He's showing us that we have the ability to do that. But brothers and sisters, isn't that what we also see in the newly converted Pharisee Saul in Acts chapter nine, when Ananias is told that you need to go to him, and Ananias is like, this guy's killing people, I do not want to go to him. But God tells, or the angel tells him that because, or basically you will know who he is because behold he is praying. And I want you to think about that for a second because only days before, you get the impression that because of his self-righteousness that Paul was not someone who was compelled to pray unless it was something along the lines of the Pharisee in Luke chapter 18 who gives God this laundry list of his works. But now, brothers and sisters, understand that the spirit of adoption is witnessing to the spirit of the apostle Paul that he finds himself free to come near to God, that God the Father makes it very clear through the spirit that he loves him, he hears him, he wants to spend time with him because he is his child. And I want you to note that because, brothers and sisters, for those who have had difficult relations with their fathers in the past, some of these things can be a little bit difficult. But let us understand that while human beings, yes, can be flawed in a great number of ways, that the same is not true with our God. You think of all the ways that we are called to come before our God with thanksgiving, with praise, but notice in our passage that they give us a very particular one, by whom we cry out. The idea of crying out to someone is a term that is filled with anguish and agony of spirit. In fact, let us note that what we find in Mark chapter 14, When Jesus is in the garden praying, it's very much the same as what we find in our passage. For in Mark 14, we hear that Jesus is praying, Abba, Father, all these things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. I don't want you to know that with the words that Paul is using, that they reflect this pleading of the Savior who is pouring out His soul because He can do nothing else, that there's a desperation, there's a pathos in this, in the very words that we sang this evening in Psalm 13. I'll read it to you very briefly. We find in verses one and two that the psalmist is crying out, How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemies be exalted over me? Notice that this is a heavy heart that not only desires but can do nothing else but cry out to God. And we might be saying, well, can't anyone just cry out to God? Because there is the old statement that there is no atheist in a foxhole, and that means, yes, in a way, anybody can cry out to the Lord. But the question that we have here is, if they can, how do we know that ours is of the Holy Spirit when theirs is not? Well, that's an interesting question, but very simply answered, brothers and sisters, because what we are doing is specifically and pointedly to the Lord who we know and our Father who knows us. In fact, that's what we hear continuing in Psalm 13, verses 5 and 6. But I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. There's an anticipation of deliverance that is there. that I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully to me, that here the Spirit directs him to flee to God who is his Father and plead just as he did with Jesus. And brothers and sisters, if that's the same with the psalmist, if it is the same with Christ with whom we are united, it's the same for us. And I want you to see that because assurance that we have the same spirit as Christ during his ministry, as he was in the garden, as he was on the cross suffering. Assurance of this, let us understand as we understand that he is indwelling us in times of our distress and that he is witnessing to our spirits that we are the children of God. Note that he is doing so that we will turn to our God and rely entirely upon him instead of setting our minds on the things of the flesh. So we will be certain in times when we are walking, in a sense, over a very thin ledge or on a tightrope where there is no net, that He witnesses to our spirit so that we will understand that our Lord is our help. He is our salvation, and He is always with His people to bless and to keep us. Tonight, do we understand and find assurance as we flee to our Father? And do we take delight in the communion with our God, wherever He is and through whatever is going on, no matter who we are? Make no mistake about it, that while the unbeliever may mimic the assurance that a believer has, that ultimately it's not going to be the same thing. It is only going to be mimicking because they do not have the Spirit because they are not the children of God. But trusting in Christ, do you note the connection that we have, that if we are in Christ, We have God as our Father in the spirit of adoption. And if we are united to the Trinity, this triune God, let us understand that ours is always blessedness. And I want you to know that that's why Paul uses the words Abba and Father here. Yes, they do give to us a sense, the Abba gives to us a sense of almost a daddy-like quality here in Father. But let us understand that What we find are actually two words in two completely different languages. Abba is Aramaic, Father is the Greek. And I want you to see that because when I look at this, yes, I do see a familial relationship here, one that is crying out to somebody personally that knows you and loves you, but let us understand, when we see these different languages, it's showing us that there is no distinction for anyone who comes in Christ and who is in the Spirit to the Father. that each is able to come and call upon Him as our Father, and with the familiarity of words that are on our own tongues, that God has made Himself so accessible that He understands all of His children, because we come through the intercession of Christ. But let us see, secondly, that we also note that we find assurance that we are the children of God as the spirit of self bears witness with our spirit that we are the heirs or that we are heirs with Christ. Now, I've already made it known that one of my favorite post-General Assembly pastimes, in fact, one of the things I'm really always thrilled about is when I get home from a long week at General Assembly is my family and I sit down and watch the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice that was on the BBC. In fact, the family got Brit Box while I was at Presbyterian. I found it was on there. And they're like, no, no, you can't watch it. It's only after General Assembly. And I'm like, OK. But notice that the tension that is found throughout the entire story, which by the way is just hilarious, that the tension is that this family only has females and none of them can be the heir. So something has to happen. And I say that because in a sense what Paul is doing here is he's writing in the exact same context. And that's why He doesn't necessarily just refer to us as sons, but He refers to us as children of God, because yes, that involves males who are going to be heirs of the kingdom of heaven, but also females, rightly and equally, because this is something that is won by Christ and given to all who are His. And that's what we begin to hear in verse 17 when we're told, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." Again, notice this conditional statement that we've seen several in the past. And it means that unbelievers are not heirs because they have no claim to God or with Christ or any certainty that they have confirmation that the Spirit is a pledge and guarantee or earnest of all that belongs to Christ. But Paul is telling us that of our position, it's much different. that for those who trust in Christ, that everything for which Christ became man to accomplish, everything for which Christ has ascended to claim our justification, our adoption, our pardon, our reconciliation, our forgiveness, our cleansing from sin, our sanctification, our perseverance, and our hope and glory, and the assurance of eternal life, that all of these things that we enjoy now, and all of the future treasure that is ours laid up in heaven, that it is ours because of our union with Christ and our relationship with the Father. And I says tonight does the fact that the same Spirit that encouraged us to flee to the Father in our difficulty also allow us to rest in the truth of what lies ahead. That as He has us come and pray to Him, Does it encourage us that He will hear us when we are before His throne immediately? And does the witness of the Spirit lead us to live to Christ and to die to sin in this life? And I want you to note that because, in a sense, adoption in our day and age has picked up what I consider to be a very unhealthy connotation by some teachings. That is, if we are justified that we don't have to do anything is usually the mantra. But there is a certain degree that sanctification is by faith, by merely meditating upon our justification and on our adoption, which, yes, are very, very good things to meditate upon and to consider, but by only looking to these things alone that, in a sense, letting go and letting God, that we will just live the Christian life, that we will be sanctified. Granted, it might often be the compulsion of children to do something like this, but let us note that for those who desire to please their father and honor him as a response of gratitude for what he has accomplished on our behalf, that this is what they desire to do. But let us also understand that while we do have a desire to come to our God and serve him, sometimes that desire wanes. Sometimes the corruption of our flesh reminds us that we are sinners, and even as a child who loves their father, doesn't always come to their father in time of need. It doesn't cry out to him, doesn't cling to him. A sense of what we talked about this morning at the end of our affirmation of faith, taken up again from John L. Gerudo, that in his short book that he has on systematic theology and particularly adoption, he reminds us that the son is a king and we are still servants of the king. And even if he is the heir of all that is the father's, we must heed his decree because he is our father and because he is the Lord. And I say that because Simply, in this passage, it ends with us hearing that this provision that is given, that provided we suffer with Him, in order that we may be also glorified with Him. Now, it almost sounds as if Paul is telling us we're only gonna gain possession of glory if we suffer, that that's something that is necessary. And I want us to understand tonight that that is exactly what Paul is saying. But why is He saying this? Because let us understand that the Father who loves us and has designed suffering, that He has given it to prepare us for glory. In fact, that's something that we see through the New Testament, something that we've mentioned time and again in Matthew's Gospel, that the New Testament always tells us that exaltation comes after humiliation. In fact, you remember in Matthew 16, When the disciples say that you are the Christ, the Son, the living God, they understand that Jesus goes on to tell them that the Son of Man must go to Jerusalem to suffer many things and be killed and raised on the third day. And after he has his discussion with Peter in verse 24, he says, and clarifies that, if anyone comes after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now mind you, there are many people who would recoil at the idea that God would have his own people suffer. and they would turn away from Him. But let us understand that the spirit of adoption faithfully witnesses to our spirits that suffering for the sake of Christ is something that is given to refine our characters and more and more to conform us, not only with God's providential and good working in all things, but to conform our lives more and more to Christ. It assures us And the way that we may not want to have it assure us, but it assures us of the hope that is before us. And I want you to hear that because glory for that reason is not merely chronological that yes, we are saved and then we will die and we will be the saints of the righteous made perfect and we will be glorified one day. Yes, we can do that. But let us understand that what he is telling us here is really more of a causal situation. That glory is the result of the fact that He who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it at the day of Christ Jesus. That He's working within us to make us more like Christ through our lives to show others the great truth and the glory of our God and what He is able to do. And for that reason, brothers and sisters, are we exercising our sonship, actively enduring suffering because we rightly anticipate that we will be glorified? Mind you, something that we don't participate in, that God does. And this is because we understand that because Christ had suffered, and that He has attained glory, and as we hear in Hebrews chapter two, that because Christ was not ashamed to call us brothers, that God is pleased to allow us to call Him our Father. And do we see that there is a purpose for our suffering in Christ? For as Paul tells us in Hebrews chapter 12, that for all who endure and who suffer for Christ, that this is proof that we are the Father's legitimate children. For what Father does not discipline? And I want you to note that because we are a people who are often quick to think that the difficulty that we go through in life, where the bumps come along and hardships are happening, that this is something that shows that God is not pleased with us. And yes, Grant, there may be occasions where we are in sin and we know we are in act of sin and rebelling against God. Sometimes those difficult times do come, but let us understand that difficulties just come to the believer. But notice that the purpose of our God is that through suffering, the Spirit confirms that we are the sons of the Father and that He is making us ready to reside in His immediate presence. He's making us ready to delight in the glory that is to come. And is that what we hear, brothers and sisters, when we are rejected and alienated from the world for Christ's sake? It's not just because we are doing something that is worthy of getting alienated or rejected for, but because we're being persecuted for Christ's sake. And is it what we recall when temptation from the evil one is heavy and fiery and unescapable? And granted, most of us will not be martyred, and we thank God for that. But do we find as we suffer dishonor, as we seek to honor Christ because we want to live in accordance with His word and cling to Christ even when it stings, that there will be those in this world who do not like this and are terribly offended and will let us know all about it? And do we note that the spirit of adoption Here is encouraging us with the understanding that the things in this life will pass away and that you will receive the inheritance that is laid up for you in heaven, those things that are imperishable and unfading. Tonight, brothers and sisters, the Spirit of God, having made you a child of God, is making you ready to receive glory by drawing your hearts closer to the heart of God our Father. and by assuring us in our spirit, by witnessing to our spirit, that he will continue to conform us more and more by grace to the likeness and the holiness fully that we find in Christ Jesus. This is our hope and our joy, even in difficulty, that we are the sons of God. Let us go to him now in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, Your ways are not our ways. Your thoughts are higher and greater than ours. But we thank you that you grant to us the consolation that if we are yours, then we are sealed and that we will never be forsaken by you. You will never cast us out. Help us, Heavenly Father, as difficult times may come. We are unaware, we do not know, we pray that they will not. Father, certainly we will see death, we will see hardships in this life. We will see confusing things that perplex us, as we have seen with other psalmists. But Lord, we know that you remain faithful, that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Lord, speak to us and witness to our spirits, O Lord. And let us be reminded that, O Lord, as you make known the word that we have put into our minds and considered, O Lord, let us be those who are more diligent to seek your face through your word and in prayer, O Lord, that these things may stick. We ask, Father in heaven tonight, that you would grant us great grace as your church and let us tonight even find great delight and joy as we go out that we are not what we were. Yes, we are those who are part of a new domain, but Lord, we are those who have been raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly places, that we, O Lord, have a seat already at your table that you will serve us in the presence of our enemies, but Lord God, that you will also bless us while we are in this life. Care for us and keep us, Heavenly Father, this week ahead, for Jesus' sake. Amen.