It's not an easy chapter that we're gonna dive into today in terms of the the London Baptist Confession, but we want to try to understand the full measure of what is meant when we say things to one another even like we are with you or God is for you. Children of God have no greater gift than the love of our Heavenly Father. The doctrine of adoption provides assurance and it points back to that love. Lamentations five cries out, the crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us for we have sinned. For this is our, for this, our heart has become sick. For these things, our eyes have grown dim. For Mount Zion, which lies desolate, jackals prowl over it, but you, O Lord, reign forever. Your throne endures to all generations. Why do you forget us forever? Why do you forsake us for so many days? Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored. Let us pray. Lord, our precious heavenly Father, our emotions and patience is so fickle. We worry, we fear, and often forget the value of lament, the truth of your grace, and the gift of your presence. We would do well to remember your divine patience and your loving listening ear to our brokenness. So we cry out to you now, help us rely on your strength, your grace, and your truth. And help us hold firmly and boldly before your throne to the gospel, which has been revealed to us through Jesus. Help us to understand you reach out to our longing hearts and restore that which is clearly broken. and help us to know and to remember and to continue to hope in the inheritance your son's body was broken for us to possess. Amen. Chapter 12 of the confession deals with the doctrine or grace of adoption. Adoption implies being heirs with Christ. If we are followers of Christ, our faith in him means we inherit the righteousness and blessings he earned on the cross. We are not just legally reconciled before God, like with justification, but we are then brought into his family by adoption, shown intimate grace, and intentionally cared for in a group of souls that share in an infinite love Christ made a way for us to experience. In fact, he prayed for this in John 17, and his coming was even an answer to this cry that I showed you in Lamentations 5. because believers inherit eternal salvation. Chapter 12 looks forward to many of the graces explained in the following six chapters, all flowing from the eternal love of God. Romans 8, 14 to 17 puts it this way. 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, 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 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. That means that when we speak of the term children of God, that we need to remember Paul qualifies this description of the believer by saying that means we are fellow heirs with Christ. Paul goes on to talk about suffering and future glory. But in verse 11, if you look just a little bit before this, he says, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. That spirit seals you and identifies you. and makes you an heir. So how are we to understand this adoption and our inheritance? Chapter 12 is a really short chapter in the confession, but it's an extremely important one and often forgotten one in terms of practical biblical theology. This is especially noticeable in conversational evangelistical efforts. and often even in some big arenas that we often associate with revivals or big name popular Christian literature. So let's call a few things into remembrance since our backgrounds for all of us may be so diverse for how we came to faith. Abraham was a hundred year old guy who God promised would have a child one day with his 90 year old wife. but he still had no baby in his arms. So God said, go outside and look at the stars. That's how many descendants you will have. Abraham looked up and in that moment, he believed God would do what he'd promised. He believed God, even though it was clearly an impossible promise. Because of this trust, The writer of Genesis says, God credited Abraham with a completely righteous life, even though he had lived nothing of the sort. In the same way, when you believe that God sent Jesus to die for your sins and make you his forever child, he credits you with a completely righteous life, even though you have lived nothing of the sort. It's a gift you can only receive If you're trying to earn it, it's not a gift, right? This is where so many people get tripped up before even starting the Christian walk. They still think it is something that they can do that makes them a child of God. Not only is that wrong, but it is bewilderingly depressing. You would always feel overwhelmed, not sure if you've done enough. Being overwhelmed eventually gives way to exhaustion, and exhaustion points toward despair. Then that despair replaces any desire you have to know God with a resentment of Him. And you don't want to be close to Him. You want to avoid Him. And eventually, resentment and frustration turns to anger and hatred. but God calls out to trust him. The good news is that being God's child is something God gives you. Our place with God is not a hard wrought position we earn, but a gift of grace accepted. This is what separates that Christian message from every other religion in the world. Every other religion spells acceptance with God as D-O, do good works, do go to church or mosque or synagogue or mass, do keep the commandments. And then there's differing opinions on which ones. Well, the Bible spells acceptance with God, not D-O, but D-O-N-E. It's not what you do that makes you a Christian, but what he's done that you receive. J.D. Greer gets the credit for these evangelical arguments that I just portrayed to you. But is being a Christian all about getting gifts? No. Is Jesus' death for our sins all that needs to be remembered when we consider our salvation? Well, if that were true, Jesus could simply have been murdered as a baby when Herod ordered it before his parents fled with him to Egypt. But that's not how things played out. That's not how prophecy tells us that that would happen. And Jesus lived a glorious, perfect life meant to teach us some things before his death. And his resurrection delivers something even more glorious. Okay, so we are no longer asking questions like how good is good enough? And we're not asking what Jesus died to get rid of or how he paid for it, but rather what did Christ earn for us? We have to turn the page then on concern for acceptance with God. Think beyond accessibility to God. and even consider our life with Christ as more than just being forgiven for the wrongs we have done. The doctrine of adoption presses into what we inherit, having been chosen by God. The evangelical world has been great about asking the question, if you were to die tonight and stand before a righteous God in his holy judgment, Do you know with certainty where you would spend eternity? But when you follow that up with asking, when he makes that judgment, what's he going to judge you by? That's where we start getting some interesting answers. Having conversations like these really show a very real need for a deeper and a richer understanding of the doctrine of salvation in our society today. We've been studying through the London Baptist Confession to build our vocabulary and help equip us with fruitful tools to navigate these kinds of conversations. Even if it ends simply with us confessing what we believe the Bible to be teaching because we trust the God who divinely inspired the words on the page of Scripture. Our trust rests ultimately with Jesus. Chapter 12 of the Confession is valuable because it combats an isolated experiential-based faith that's rooted in some form of sensationalism by pointing forward to a congregational inheritance. even as it does involve individual wrestling matches with God. It combats a sense of orphaned Christianity that feels disconnected from God's purposes for his people. It combats a sense of God being a watchmaker that no longer has contact with his creation. It combats a sense of alienation people often feel when they seek to live for the Lord in a world that denies Him. And it points us toward things to adore God for, because He doesn't just leave us fatherless, without what we need, or burden us with responsibility, without care for how He develops our character. He doesn't just make a baby in the faith and then run or hide. but adopts us into a family of His choosing and is an enriching and nourishing lifeline of support for the ever-growing needs of that child. And God is dedicated to sustaining and edifying that child's relationship with Him, like the most precious thing He's ever set out to put work into. So what is our inheritance? Now, being joined together in union with Christ and reveling in the love of God, what are the benefits we receive and can hope for as we are richly adopted as God's children? The first part is to recognize you receive an inheritance because God has adopted you through his son, Jesus. You are a part of something that will continue to be blessed. And he boldly proclaim, we boldly proclaim membership in that family. And we get to be partakers of the grace of these liberties and privileges of the relationship we have with our heavenly father. Let's read chapter 12 together. all those that are justified. God vouchsafed in and for the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption by which they are taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God. Have his name put on them. Receive the spirit of adoption have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a father, yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. Dr. Renahan summarizes chapter 12 in this way. The grace of adoption allows new covenant believers a privilege not granted previously. They may come directly to the heavenly throne. This access brings several great benefits. They are enabled to cry, Abba Father, the plaintiff call of a child to its father when in distress. as they plead because they are God's children. Their cries are heard with the result that they are pitied, i.e., they receive divine compassion from the Father. They are protected, for His children shall have a place of refuge as the recipients of God's care they are provided for. And because he is a father that loves them, he chastens them for their good and for his glory. This divine discipline shows that they are loved and will never be cast off. Rather, they are sealed to the day of redemption, inherit the promises given to the son and his people, and possess the inheritance of everlasting salvation. As we are partakers of this grace of adoption, then what are the joyous possessions we have now obtained in the richness of this relationship? You might rephrase this by saying, what makes our relationship with the Lord so precious and wonderful? If you have ever had people ask you that, well, here is a list of responses. But remember that this is also a list of realities you can hold confidently is biblically true of you. Here's what we enjoy. His name is put on you, not as a name stamped on you representing ownership like a parcel of livestock that's branded. but more like a new name given to you having been given for a sense of belonging and being a part of something. Having been given a new character that is associated with that name and a privilege to enjoy the new family and the relationship with the Father forever. You've been given all the righteous and rich blessings that belong to the Savior, Jesus Christ, loved by the father the same, given the same lifeline of prayer, the same privilege to be heard when you cry out in plea or petition, the same privilege to receive what you ask when you long for compassion or protection. You have been given the promise to be provided for as a father provides for his children. And within that provision, you are provided redirection and chastening as the Lord sees fit to provide you. We often aren't too fond of that one as a blessing in the moment, but with maturity, we begin to see God's wisdom in the chastening. And we thank him for keeping us in line. And just to be clear, I believe internal heart conviction and as you could maybe say, renovation projects of the heart through the word and through the spirit of God, are the primary means of the kind of chastening the framers of the confession are poking at here. But it's fair and it's smart to recognize God knows what it's going to take to accomplish that task of correcting and redirecting Needless to say, humility is a good attitude to have when those moments come. After all, any chasing is done out of love and for the benefit of the child. And this grace of adoption, even through chasing, never casts us off. This means it's an eternal salvation you can't lose. He separated, He separated you. You can't lose that separation. You can't fall away from that eternal salvation that He has purposed you for. You are eternally secure in the love of Jesus. There's no safer place. We are sealed with His name, His benefits. privileges, liberties to the day of redemption and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. So if we're adopted by God, that means we inherit all the glories of God's kingdom. That means God sanctifies us forever. That means God is faithful to deliver his promises to us as heirs of salvation that is everlasting. That means the love the father has for the son and the love Jesus showed to his followers is the same love the Lord has for us. This means you enjoy an inheritance that is unmatched, never runs out, an infinite supply of more than you will ever need, and an abundance of joy you get to share with every member of the family without fear of losing any level of intimacy with the father himself. That's pretty incredible. And it means we get to enjoy those blessings now, with each other, here, today, in this place, and forever, wherever we are, in every circumstance, every mountaintop, every valley. Take note of this doctrine of your salvation then, especially when you experience your darkest moments. in the midst of the next tornado or hurricane that rages in your heart over anything. Find comfort in these things. Whatever your season, consider the discovery and the practice of things like God's gift of lament. For example, lament was how sufferers in the Bible struggled in the tension between their pain and God's promises. From Genesis to Revelation, burdened believers groaned boldly before the Lord, heartfelt cries about hardship, probing questions about God's involvement, and desperate pleas for his intervention. Scripture shows us that faith doesn't have to be neatly tied up. It is often knotted with all kinds of tension, The believers of old did indeed praise the Lord. However, their praise was filled with God wrestling, and engaging God with their hurts was part of what paved the way for lasting hope. Rest is found in that honesty and dependence. Thanks be to God, Jesus made a way for all those justified to enjoy complete relational security. We're placing a pretty high value on our relationship with God. Hopefully that is clear to you by now. But turn with me to Ephesians 1. Listen to what Christ has earned for his bride. Revel in these blessings to you. You're meant to enjoy them. So beginning with verse three in Ephesians one. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the beloved. In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth, In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you. What are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, And what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the work of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come, And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Don't miss that for the individual believer, your inheritance includes the intimate connection and relationship you have with your heavenly father. And don't miss that you have been blessed with being surrounded by other children, all at different ages and maturity levels that love you, that you can love. that have something to offer and will support you through the strength of that same Heavenly Father. There is great joy in the presence of the Lord. And our greatest inheritance is that we get to enjoy Him forever, together. God's care for his adopted children points to why we can trust Jesus is enough. If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, a pure, unadulterated trust in him means we inherit the righteousness, presence, and blessings he earned on the cross. Consider Christ's fellowship with the Father at present time. And consider your own value as part of that inheritance. Church, we are His family. He shows us tremendous grace that cuts to the depth of the soul. and we freely enjoy the privilege of sharing an infinite love in which Jesus Christ made a way for us to experience. Just pause and adore Christ for that for a moment. And consider we are the bride of Christ. being prepared for the wedding feast, the same bride in which Paul refers to as being his joy and crown. Don't miss the joy of resting in God's presence among his family, sealed by his name forever in his care. He cleans you, he clothes you, He loves and adores you. He protects you. He goes to war for you. He heals you. He listens. He works faithfully. He speaks. He makes promises. And he holds true to what he says. Jesus delivers unto all those that are justified. and everlasting salvation. Quite literally, a life with no distance between you and God, but also enriched with the blessed union with Christ and His church. So hold fast to these things. Adoption is God's cure for alienation. Remember, you are not alone. As people of God, we have a direct line of communication. We have a secure love, and we have an eternal home. We have this inheritance because of the work of Christ. And we enjoy these blessings together forever. We live life exposed to the elements, but eternally loved in the glorious and joyful presence of our heavenly father. whatever the struggle, but God. Adoption means we have divine assurance in our brokenness. So we'll close with this. This is a prayer that shows up in Ephesians chapter three. beginning in verse 14. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being. so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God, now to Him, who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.