If you don't have a Bible, that's okay. It'll be on the screen for you. J.I. Packer said, you sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase if you speak of it as a revelation of the fatherhood of the Holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one's Holy Father. He continues, if you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having God as your Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the fatherhood of God. Is that an overstatement? I don't think so, when you understand the New Testament. This morning we've come together to think about fathers, and Father Day, and fatherhood, And I think the best way to go about this is to think about God, because he presents himself as father. He doesn't present himself as father in order to take a human institution and kind of like analogically present himself as father. The human role or identity or institution of fatherhood emanates from God's character to begin with. His character is that of a father. So we do well, I think, to think about God as father this morning. One, maybe for those who don't have a very good relationship with their fathers. Maybe some who have misconceptions as to what fatherhood ought to be because you grew up maybe in a situation where dad was absent, abusive, maybe apathetic. Maybe that's your experience. So we do well to think about fatherhood from a biblical perspective, getting a genuine picture of what fathers ought to be. We also do well to think about God as our Heavenly Father because all the fathers here this morning really need a model to follow, don't we? Some of you dads this morning who are seeking to raise up your own kids don't have much of an example that you can go to in your memory from your upbringing to model your own fatherhood after. And so we do well to think about God as Father. And hopefully, as we do and we learn about Him, we can also make practical application to what then does that look like in our homes. So I think we do well this morning to think about God as our Heavenly Father. Whatever background you come from, whatever relationship you had with your father or lack thereof, we know that this has fundamentally shaped your view and my view of fatherhood. And so we do well to look at scripture and have God define for us what fatherhood ought to be. The Bible teaches that since one has believed in Jesus, if you're a Christian this morning, God the father has become your heavenly father. That's the nature of the relationship that you have. As we consider the relationship that we had with our earthly fathers then, that could potentially serve as the lens through which we understand God, which potentially could lead us into error. For many of us coming from broken homes this morning, absentee fathers, abusive fathers, that means that we can actually veer into serious theological error as we think about God and fatherhood. Or we may have an aversion to an intimate relationship with God because we are replacing Him with our earthly understanding of Dad. And so, look at Romans 8. We'll start here. Romans 8, verses 14-17. It says, 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. In this context, Paul would have his readers understand that they're free from the condemnation of the law. If we try to live up to the standard of the law, all we find is condemnation. All we find is human failure, because we are not holy by nature, we are sinners by nature, and so we cannot meet God's holy standard. However, those who are Christian, who are saved by faith in Christ, are freed from the condemnation of the law. This is what Paul is communicating. He wants us to understand that the hostility that once existed between man and God is destroyed. Beyond this, he reminds us that since we are saved, God grants us resurrection on the last day. That's what he's saying in this passage. Further, he's telling us that our relationship with God is a relationship of love and security. He drives this point home in verse 15 by reminding us that God has given us, what does he say? The spirit of adoption. The spirit of adoption. He says, you've received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba Father. It's significant that Paul is writing this to the Romans. He's writing to the Christians who exist in Rome. Roman adoption was far different from our understanding of adoption. When we think about adoption, generally we think about going and maybe adopting a young child, maybe a baby, into your family. Adoption in Rome was far different. In fact, adoption was one of the means by which the emperors or the consuls or the proconsuls would ensure that they could have a chosen heir sit on their throne, and they oftentimes would adopt grown men. They would adopt a grown man from another family. That man then would take on the name of the individual who adopted them. It would be as if that individual now who ascends to the throne as the heir of the former emperor or council then takes on the identity and even the lineage of the individual who adopted them. Their former identity is completely discarded, they take on a completely new identity, and they are considered as a legitimate heir having a rightful claim to all inheritance, all authority, all identity of the one who is adopted. When Paul uses the term adoption in Romans, this is the adoption that he seeks to bring to mind. What he's saying to us is, God the Father has chosen you as a rightful heir. And by adopting you into his family, he's completely changed your identity. In fact, he's grafted you into a completely different lineage. This is what adoption means. And so he says that he's given us the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Abba, Father. Unlike justification, which is merely a legal declaration, adoption actually includes a practical change in a relationship. God would have us, through the Spirit, learn to relate to him as Father. And so we say, Abba. Through the Spirit, we cry, Father. Then in verse 16, look at it. It says it's the Spirit Himself who bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. In other words, God is continually working in us by His Spirit to assure us of relationship, to assure us that we are His children, to help us to grow in the knowledge and intimacy of that relationship. So this morning, if you're a Christian, you've been adopted. You've been adopted. Not only has He adopted you, but He's given you His Holy Spirit to continually remind you of that adoption and to help you grow into that relationship. This is absolutely amazing and comforting, especially for those who maybe grew up in such a way where so much of your character and your nature and your perspective on life has been shaped and formed maybe by a relationship with an earthly dad or lack thereof that was less than healthy. And so it says also, in verse 15, that it's by the spirit of adoption that we cry, Abba, Father. That's a phrase of intimacy. It's not informal to the point of being irreverent, but yet it still speaks of intimate relationship. Intimate relationship. What he's saying is that God has welcomed us into a tender, intimate, loving relationship with himself. And yes, he is the holy God of heaven, But even as the holy God of heaven, he invites us to come to him with confidence. You can imagine a king standing or sitting on a throne and some individual who comes in desiring an audience with the king, and that king might have to formally grant permission for someone to approach his throne. What Paul is saying here is that we are children of the king and we have ready and full access. We can run to the king and say simply, We have access to our loving Heavenly Father. We have the confidence that He welcomes us as His children. Now, that doesn't cause us to think of God as less holy, not at all. In fact, what it does is it ought to help us understand the immense privilege that we have. We can actually approach the Holy God of Heaven in the context of intimate relationship. So this morning, you've been adopted. Doesn't matter what your upbringing is, doesn't matter what your background is, doesn't matter the relationship you had with your dad. We can say this morning, you have a father and you've been adopted into his family. So that's what we wanna do this morning. Just think about who God is and the nature of the relationship that we have with him. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6, Matthew 6. First of all, we're going to see, as we think about our relationship with God the Father, that since you've been saved and adopted into His family, you can have the confidence that your Heavenly Father knows who you are, and even knowing who you are, He values you. Even knowing who you are, He values you. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is teaching people how to pray. He begins by warning them to avoid the errors of the religions, the religious hypocrites that were all around them. The religious hypocrites who like to pray in public, who like to pray pious prayers in order to be seen by others and elevated by others. He says, don't be like them. He then warns against praying like the Gentiles. How did they pray? Chant-like, repetitious prayers. It really didn't mean anything. It didn't really reflect relationship at all. These are individuals who looked at prayer like ritualistic duty. Ritualistic duty, where maybe you repeat the same thing over and over and over again, hoping to gain an audience with your gods. Jesus says in contrast to this, understand first of all the nature of the relationship you have with God. He's your Father. So pray to Him like He's your Father, Matthew 6 verse 7. It says, when you pray, Do not heap up empty phrases, as the Gentiles do, for they think that they'll be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." According to verse 8 there, it says the way that we pray is determined by the nature of the relationship we have. Our prayer life is characterized, or we approach our prayer life Our view of our prayer life is determined by our view of the relationship we have with God. If He's Father, then you don't gotta come chanting. You don't gotta come ritualistically. You don't have to come begging with the same phrases over and over. He's your Father. Talk to Him like He's your Father. That's the point. Because He is our loving Heavenly Father, we don't need to beg for His attention. Why? Because he already knows everything we have need of. We don't have to try to desperately secure his provision. Instead, when we pray, we can do what? We can pour out our hearts. We can pour out our hearts with confidence. We can pour out our hearts to God in prayer, confident that he's sensitive to our needs and that he delights to fulfill them. We don't have to perform rituals or offer penance in order to gain a hearing with God. Why? Because he delights in us. And anytime you want to try to understand who God is in the perfection of his fatherhood, it is helpful at times to think about earthly relationships. You would never expect your child to come to you and to beg for your attention, dad. And if you do, you're just a really, really bad father. You wouldn't expect your child to come and to do some type of ritual or penance or do something to earn a hearing with you. You would never do that. And if you do, again, you're a bad father. We understand that. Don't assume that any earthly father is a better dad than your heavenly father. He already knows what you have need of, Jesus says, so then why pray? Why pray at all? Well, frankly, it's good for your soul. You're expressing your faith in him. You're expressing your dependence upon him as your father. It's you acknowledging that everything you have comes from him. And frankly, he's commanded us to do so. So we can be confident that God knows our needs. We can be confident that he's sympathetic towards our needs. As a loving heavenly father, he has compassion upon us in our struggles. When we feel that no one else knows, no one else cares about our needs, we can be assured that he does. So make some practical application. Again, dads, if we know of our heavenly father that he knows our needs and he's sympathetic towards our needs, then what does that mean for how we father our own children? Know your children. There are some dads who are in the home, they are physically present, but they are emotionally absent. They don't know their kids very well. They don't know their personalities. They don't know their needs very well. If you don't know your children, you don't know their character, you don't know their personality, you don't know their needs, then are they ever going to feel a confidence to approach you in their times of need? Again, Far be it from us to think that our Heavenly Father is a worse father than the best of an earthly father, and far be it from us that we can assume the role of father and not actively seek to model our fatherhood after God. So, He knows our needs, and we can say He knows our nature. Matthew 10, verse 29. Jesus says, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father, but even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, you are more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven." What's the point here? Jesus is simply saying that you are extremely valuable. You are extremely valuable. God places incredible value upon you. You're his child. You can be confident that he will always care for you because he considers you extremely valuable. Verse 29 of Matthew 10, he says that God exercises his sovereign care even over birds. If God would exercise such care even over birds, how much the more then will he exercise care over those whom he has adopted into his family at the cost of the life of his son. Verse 30 says, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. And this is where everybody makes bald jokes. I'm not going to do that, because that joke is overdone. So I'm not going to do it. But if you like the bald joke, you can make that joke here and say, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. That's easier for some of you than others, or something like that. You can insert that joke if you want to. His point is that God knows us intimately. Everything about you, every corner of your personality, every strength, every weakness, every aspect of who you are, God knows. That's the idea there. He knows every hair on your head. So, dads. Have you ever felt alone in this task that you've been charged with of fathering your children? Have you ever felt like this is a struggle? I don't really know what I'm doing. You know, you wake up in the middle of the night with that dad guilt, feeling like you're a failure, and then you have a good relationship with your wife, sure, but you still feel like sometimes you're alone in this struggle. The confidence is dad, that you have a dad. The confidence is father, that you have a father. The confidence is that God is there and he understands your struggles, he knows everything about you, and you can rely upon your father as you seek to father. Rely upon your father as you seek to father. Maybe you felt lonely and isolated. Maybe you're not a dad this morning, maybe you're a woman this morning, maybe you're a young person this morning, but you felt the same way, lonely, isolated. People just don't seem to understand my struggles. They don't understand my physical struggles, my material struggles, my mental struggles, my emotional struggles. I feel alone. Jesus is saying he knows everything about you. You are never alone. He knows you better than anyone else knows you, and he knows you better than you know yourself. He knows every hair on your head. That's the idea. He knows what we have need of before we ask. He knows who we are before we ever say a word. There's no need or sense in trying to maybe pretend that we're something that we're not when we approach God in prayer. There's no sense in trying to cover anything up in our relationship with God. He knows everything already. He understands, understands better than we understand ourselves. And so as we face this life, we can do so without fear because we have a loving Heavenly Father. We can face the task that we're charged with to mother our children or to father our children with confidence because we know that God is there for us. He knows all of our needs. Beyond that even knows our personal nature. We can say he's on our side and it works all things for our good. So, our Heavenly Father knows us, and He values us. He's invited us into a relationship with Himself. As believers, we're called to lean into that relationship. An essential discipline there, as we've already spoken about, is prayer, seeking relationship with Him, so that Jesus could say, hey, pray this way. In Matthew 6-9, our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your entire prayer life is predicated on the fact that you have a relationship with God as your Father. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says this, As Christian people, we must learn to appropriate by faith the fact that God is our Father. Christ taught us to pray, Our Father. This eternal, everlasting God has become our Father. And the moment we realize that, everything tends to change. He's our Father, and He's always caring for us. He loves us with an everlasting love. He so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son into the world and to the cross to die for our sins. That is our relationship to God, and the moment we realize it, it transforms everything. And so I think this morning we're just kind of calling like, you've heard that God's your father. You say father sometimes when you pray, but have you leaned into that relationship and actually sought to relate to God as your heavenly father? I mean, you hear sometimes people pray and they kind of flip a switch sometimes when they pray. They did not grow up in Elizabethan England. They never speak with Elizabethan English, but sometimes when they pray, it's like they've gone back in time 400 years. And all of a sudden, these and thous and this stilted, super formal language begins to come out of their mouth. And I feel like sometimes that serves as a barrier between intimate relationship, right? Talk to God as your heavenly Father. Revere Him as the Holy God, but understand you have free access and He delights to hear you as His child. So how do we pray when we come to our Heavenly Father? We pray words of adoration. Come to God in prayer and just adore Him. Begin by expressing the fact that you value God and His glory. Speak to your Heavenly Father about how you love and treasure His character. Jesus says, pray to your Father, hallowed be your name. Worship Him for who He is. Worship Him for what He's done for you, especially through His Son, Jesus Christ. So pray to your Father, words of adoration. Also pray to your Father, seeking provision. Jesus says, pray, give us this day our daily bread. Acknowledge that God's your Father and so he provides for you. He's the source of all things. And I say, that could be material things, that could also be your emotional, mental, physical, yes, all the provision that you need, he's the source. So pray a prayer of dependence. Pray a prayer of adoration. Pray for his forgiveness. You want an ongoing, intimate relationship with your Father. You know that sin at times can hamper that relationship, so you seek His forgiveness, knowing that you're forever reconciled with your Father and that relationship is unhampered. So pray words of adoration and provision and forgiveness. Seek His protection from temptation. And that basically summarizes Jesus' teaching on prayer. The point is, lean into the relationship with God as your Father. Adore Him. Depend upon Him. Seek His forgiveness. Seek His protection. Now remember, you can ask all of that and pray that way because when God saved us, He said, come on into my family. Adopted. Full rights. Full inheritance. And so you have a confidence to come to Him and to seek these things. So, this morning we can be confident that our Father has adopted us, that He knows us, that He knows our needs before we ask. We can be confident that He knows our very nature even more than we know ourselves, and we can be confident that He actually invites us to pray. Next, we learned something incredibly important about adoption. And that is that when we're adopted into the family of God, we are forever adopted into the family of God. Do you know how traumatic it is for a child to grow up in a home where they never quite understand or never quite have the confidence of their standing in their relationship with their parents? If you're a mom or a dad and when you discipline your child, you discipline them in such a way that you break off relationship with them, cold shoulder, withhold love, prolong that discipline so the kid is never quite sure whether they're on good terms with mom or dad, like that's cruel. That is absolutely cruel. When God adopts us into his family, he gives us the assurance that we are forever adopted and that relationship is never in danger. And though there are times that he must discipline us, and we'll get to that in a moment, it does nothing ultimately to put that relationship in danger. Never discipline your kids in such a way where they begin to think or question whether or not their relationship with mom and dad is in danger. As I said, that's absolutely cruel. When God adopts us, he keeps us. And he would have us have the absolute confidence that there's nothing that could ever happen to separate us from his love. We'll see that in Romans in a moment. Jesus says in John 10 verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life. and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the father are one." This morning, if you are a Christian, you are saved because the father has given you to his son. We're saved because we've been caught up into a loving transaction that actually takes place between God the Father and the Son. The Father has given us to the Son, the Son then gives us eternal life, all of that is effectuated by the Holy Spirit, and so the adoption takes place through the working of each member of the Trinity. Romans 8.15 again says, Verse 16 says, "...the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." That is a security that comes to the believer where consistently the Holy Spirit is communicating to our spirit saying, you're secure, you're secure, you're secure, you're a child, He's your Father. In other words, our salvation is entirely secure because it's entirely within the loving hands of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that the Father is greater than all in John 10. No one can snatch them out of his Father's hand. He then says, I and the Father are one. God and the Father, I'm sorry, God the Father and God the Son are perfectly united in applying divine power and authority to do what? To adopt and to keep us secure in that relationship. So we are safe and secure in the hands of the Father. We can be confident that this security is not based upon our worthiness, is not based upon our behavior, How do we know that? Because it's on the basis of Jesus' worth and not our own. We are as secure in our relationship with the Father as Jesus is in His relationship with the Father. We're going to see that in Romans 8. That's what God means when He continually uses the phrase that we are in Christ. So with that, look at Romans 8.26-39. Paul says, Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, For we do not know what to pray for as we ought." Have you ever been there? I know that I have a relationship with the Father, I know I can come to Him with confidence, but I don't know what to pray. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. God is so gracious that even in our frailty, when we don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit comes and in His mercy makes up for our own frailties and actually intercedes on our behalf. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined, He also called. And those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who is raised and who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Now listen, who shall separate us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. If you're here this morning and you're coming from some theological background where you believe that you can be saved and then unsaved, you can gain salvation or lose salvation, listen, just the Bible doesn't support it anywhere. It goes right to the, I think it's an attack, right to the heart of the character of God. The Bible says explicitly the nature of our relationship with Him is one of adoption. Adopted into His family, never to be cast out again. If we had such a relationship where we had to question from one moment to the next whether or not we were still adopted or not, again, that would be the height of cruelty. Instead, what does the Bible say? Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Why? Because it is, according to Romans chapter 8 and verse 39, it is in Christ. We are as secure in our relationship with the Father as Jesus Christ is secure in His relationship with the Father. The fact is we are in Christ and therefore entirely secure. If God is for us, he says, who can be against us? God the Father is the perfect example of a loving father. He provides a sense of absolute security and assurance to his children. And so dad's this morning, how's your home life? What type of environment have you created in your home? Do your children have an absolute sense of security and assurance that, you know what, even when things go a little bit wrong, even though dad sometimes has to discipline, even though sometimes dad is in a bad mood, you know, maybe give him a few minutes when he gets home from work and so on, even in the midst of all that, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm secure in my intimate relationship with my father. Is that the environment that you've created or have you created one of insecurity? Have you created one of insecurity and fear? Listen, learn from the example of your heavenly Father. Take the absolute security that you have with your Father and pass that on to your children so they have that same sense in their relationship with you. Why is that important? Because a day is gonna come when your children get older and the time comes for them to put their faith in Jesus Christ and have a relationship with their heavenly Father. And you want that transition to be so smooth because they've learned what it is to have a relationship with a godly Father here on earth. And so then to understand who the heavenly father is, is just like taking that very next step and saying, oh, I understand who the father is. I understand that he loves unconditionally. I know that he accepts me. I know that my relationship with him is never in danger. I understand this thing about total security. Why? Because I experienced that with my earthly dad. And so dads, you're the custodians of these children. Modeling the fatherhood of God so that the kids one day will embrace God as their own savior. And so our loving obedience to our Heavenly Father should never be motivated by some fear that something's going to happen where He's no longer going to accept us. Our obedience to our Father is always driven out of a deep sense of love and thankfulness for the security that we do have. So then, If we can have that type of confidence that God's never going to forsake us, that our relationship with Him is never predicated upon our own worthiness, does that mean that there's never going to be any consequences if we disobey? Not at all. Does the fact that we are secure in our salvation then give us a license to live however we want? I mean, that's what, again, if you're here this morning and you come from some background where you believe you can lose your salvation, oftentimes that's part of the reasoning. Well, then that means then you can just live however you want. No. We don't secure the obedience of our children by threatening them that if they disobey, we're going to kick them out of the family. Yet that's what you want to project upon God? Come on. You don't take the worst of human behavior and then assume that's true of God in His fatherhood. Our Heavenly Father's love for us not only means that He values us and knows us and hears us and provides for us and keeps us secure, but when we do disobey as a loving Heavenly Father, it means that at times He'll discipline us. He will discipline us. Hebrews chapter 12, starting in verse 4. The writer of Hebrews says, in your struggle against sin, you've not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. Discipline in the context of an absolutely secure relationship. He disciplines the one he loves, chastises every son whom he receives. It's for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. Discipline is never a sign of rejection. It's actually a sign of relationship. God disciplines you as sons. He treats you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? You want to know evidence of a lack of relationship? A lack of discipline. If you love your kids, you discipline your kids. Why? Because it's ultimately for their good. I love them too much. Do you, though? No. You're being unloving. Discipline your children? God the Father disciplines us. Isn't this really... Okay, rabbit trail. Here we go. Jared's going to cringe. It's interesting from generation to generation with parents, this generation of parents and the next generation of parents, it seems like every generation wants to come up with some new and better way to parent. We have a perfect example. Don't try to out-parent God, right? God says, you know an evidence that I love? I discipline. That's a wonderful evidence that you actually have relationship with me. Yet, it seems like we want to invent some new way to discipline, or I'm sorry, to raise our children and think in some way that this is better and it's more enlightened. What God says to us is, you know what? Follow my example. You know what a loving heavenly father does? Or you know what a loving father does? Disciplines, disciplines, continues. Verse 7 is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons for what son is there whom his father does not discipline. If you're left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. If there's no discipline, that's evidence that there's no relationship. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness." That is, sometimes dads, you discipline your kids because you're annoyed. You discipline your kids because of what you want, and that's true of earthly fathers, but when it comes to God, His discipline is always for our good, that we could do what? Share His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. But what's the point? God, as a loving Heavenly Father, at times disciplines you and I. And He does it for our good. What's the ultimate good? Holiness. Holiness. And He says, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. You know, last week we talked about darkness versus light. We talked about sin, and about how sin, kind of the Bible presents that as darkness, and about how it brings disorder into the world, destruction into the world. That also happens on a personal level. When we walk in the darkness, we invite chaos and disorder and destruction into our lives. And maybe some of you have experienced this or are currently experiencing this, where there is chaos and destruction and disorder in your life. And you can frankly connect it to the fact that, yeah, I've been walking in the darkness. When you walk in the darkness, when you walk in sin, it invites disorder and destruction and chaos. And so you experience that. But what does God say here in Hebrews 12? At times, He brings discipline in your life to set things back aright so that there is not disorder, not destruction, not chaos, but peace. The peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. And so, the writer of Hebrews addresses his readers and he reminds them that they're children of God, first of all, then says, since you're children of God, you're going to be disciplined. Don't be weary when it happens, when you're reproved by Him. Don't downplay it. Don't assume it won't happen. That's one side. On the other extreme, when God does discipline us, we should not weep or wail as if something unexpected has happened and it's unbearable when it happens. On the contrary, when we're disciplined or chastised by the Lord, we should recognize that this is love. He's still working. He cares for me. He receives me. He accepts me. He's brought me near. He delights in me. And because of all of that, He disciplines me. He disciplines me. What does that look like? Well, it could be a variety of things, you know, just personal conviction in your own life. You read the word, the Holy Spirit convicts you. You hear preaching, the Holy Spirit convicts you. The counsel or confrontation from fellow brothers and sisters, they confront you over sin. Sure, you could use all those things. Unfortunately, sometimes it gets to the point where you want to walk in darkness and walk in sin, and we're resolute in that, and so we cut off those voices. You can sit under preaching, but just not listen. You can reject the counsel of your godly friends and so on. And so you turn off his voice. You slam the book shut. You plug up your ears. So then that first line of correction that God has in your life, you've completely rejected. So then he has to bring in the next line. And sometimes that looks like the natural consequences of our sin. So he just allows us to experience the real life natural consequences of our sin as a matter of discipline. And maybe you can see that in your life. The chaos and disorder that I'm experiencing is because I've walked in the darkness and I've shut off those voices of confrontation and conviction, and so now God has allowed the darkness to creep in with all of its consequences. Well, don't assume that's because God doesn't love you. Understand that that may very well be a sign that He does love you. This is within the context of loving a relationship, and He's disciplining for our spiritual good. If you have children, you understand that, right? Dads, when you discipline your kids, why do you do it? Do you do it just to punish? Just to exact a price for the crime that's been committed? Just completely punitive? Or when you discipline your kids, and this is the way it ought to be, when you discipline your kids, are you doing it for their ultimate good? You have some good end in mind. I know what type of children God the Father wants my kids to grow up to be, so all of my discipline is aimed with molding and shaping their character to that end, right? That's how you discipline. And so we don't discipline out of anger. So dads, if you're here this morning and you have that tendency in your home where you get angry, you lash out at your kids because you've boiled over with your temper, that's wrong. It betrays, I think, a undisciplined character in your own life. Measured, deliberate discipline, which has an end goal in mind, which is the molding and shaping your children so that they grow up to be individuals whom God the Father has called them to be. That's the goal of discipline. Always for their good. Doesn't mean you don't discipline. You do discipline, but always with their good in mind, and God defines what that good is. So, again, according to Hebrews 12.8, if one never experiences discipline, then it doesn't seem to be any evidence that they are children. So, dads, you have hopes for your kids. You have expectations, you have goals. You're seeking to raise them up so they can achieve those things. This means that teaching them and being an example to them, and at times, disciplining them. All these things work towards that same goal, developing their character in such a way so that they will grow up to be individuals who please the Lord and eventually will embrace Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior. So, we've learned that God is our Heavenly Father, as we approach our conclusion here. God is our perfect Heavenly Father, knows us, We can say this morning that if you're experiencing loneliness, there's the cure. God the Father knows you. We've learned that He values us. If you're here this morning and you're struggling with a sense of self-worth, worthlessness, there's your cure. He values you. He already knows everything about you. We've got some people here this morning who are seeking to be valued by others, and so they put forth a, what, a fake persona? right? Molding and shaping themselves to be whatever they think others want them to be so they can have some sense of self-worth. You don't need to do that with God. He already knows everything about you, and He values you. There are some here this morning who might struggle with anxiety, fear of the future. We know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, knows what we have need of, and He provides for us. There are some here this morning who struggle with insecurity. Maybe there are those who seek illegitimate security from unhealthy relationships because they have that fear. Listen, you have a perfect relationship with a perfect Heavenly Father in which you are perfectly secure. He keeps you eternally. There's some here this morning who struggle with the idea of rejection. You understand you have a relationship with God the Father in which he hears you as you pray, he forgives your sin willingly, and continually restores you to relationship with himself, and delights in you as his child, and nothing can ever separate you from that love? There's some here this morning who struggle with maybe being misguided in life, struggles with experiencing the natural consequences of their own sin, having invited chaos and disorder into their lives. Understand, listen, submit yourself to the loving discipline of the Lord. Father, you've brought these things into my life. I recognize your hand. I submit to you. I repent of this sin. I want to be right with you. I know you're doing this for my good, and so now guide me. There's some here this morning who are dealing with suffering in your lives, having a difficult time dealing with this. You're very aware of your own mortality. Understand that the ultimate goal of our relationship with God the Father is that he's going to bring us to be with himself. so that he can glorify us completely in the end to us not just about this life. And so you have that absolute assurance that the day's coming when we can be with God in his presence as his children. And that ought to give us assurance as we face earthly suffering, understanding that it pales in comparison to that which awaits us. So in conclusion, we've all had different upbringings. We've all had different upbringings, which have affected us in different ways. Some of us have fond memories of childhood. Others have blocked out much of our childhood. Some of us recognize that our parents lovingly shaped us to be the people that we are today. That's some of you this morning, probably a minority. Others of us also recognize that our parents have shaped us to what we are today and the consequence has not been great. We recognize that maybe our upbringing was such that we have a dad who was abusive. Maybe a dad who was absent. Maybe a dad who was apathetic. By the way, if you're here this morning and you had a loving father who provided security for you and loved you and provided a godly example for you, and you're still a rebel, you're kind of an ingrate. You may have had a father who was abusive or absent or apathetic, left an indelible mark on our character. harmed us mentally, harmed us emotionally. We're still dealing with the fallout of that. Doesn't matter how old you are, you're still dealing with the fallout from that. And you do well not to think about your upbringing with your dad in order to excuse your behavior presently, but maybe to understand why. To understand why you struggle where you struggle. Right? Yeah. Think about how that has affected you. That's good. That's healthy. And then turn your gaze upon the Father in heaven and say, but God, you are the perfect heavenly Father. So help me to lean into this relationship in order to be healed from that relationship. The good news in all of this is that God knows that we are all the product of a sinful fallen world. He knows that. We all come to Jesus broken. He knows that when we came to Christ for salvation, we came as broken people. He designed salvation for just such people. There are no other kinds. But now that we are saved, we have a relationship with God as our perfect Heavenly Father. It's within that relationship that we can heal. So as your perfect Heavenly Father, God knows you, knows who you are, knows your strengths, knows your weaknesses, knows your struggles with sin. He knows your life experiences. He knows how they have shaped you. He knows why you do the things that you do. He knows why you think the things that you think. Whereas you're still trying to figure out yourself, He already knows all that perfectly. He truly knows you better than yourself. Even knowing all of that, He values you. Why? Not because of you, but because of Jesus. You're in Christ. You're precious to Him, not because of your goodness, not because of your personal worthiness, but because He purchased your salvation with the high cost of the death of His Son. Now you are a special treasure to your Heavenly Father. What would you do with a special treasure? You'd protect it at all costs. You'd keep it safe. That's exactly what He does for us. He promises to keep everyone who is in Christ safe and secure. He promises never to forsake him. There's never going to be a time where your Heavenly Father abandons you. Next, not only does our Heavenly Father know us and value us and keep us, but He delights even to hear from us. Never feel as if you're annoying God with your prayers. That's why He invites us to pray. This is why Jesus gives us the example. That's why prayer starts with our Father. As we read His Word and pray, we grow in our relationship with Him, we learn how to become vulnerable and honest and dependent and ultimately obedient. And then lastly, because God loves us and is therefore working to make us more and more like Jesus and less and less like the sin that we so often fall into, at times He does lovingly discipline us when we need it. He might use those who are around you, he might use preaching, he might use conviction, he might use counsel, but at times we get so far down that road that he simply uses real life circumstances to give us over sometimes to the darkness and disorder and chaos of sin. Understand that that's loving discipline. Because of Jesus, we are safe and secure in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. It's from that position of security that we can now spend the rest of our life learning more and more about who He is. Learning more and more about what He's done for us in Christ. If you're here this morning and you're not yet a Christian, you are invited into that kind of relationship. We talk about Heavenly Father, we talk about adoption, we talk about all these privileges. I hope you're understanding we're not saying this about a people who in some way are especially worthy of these things. It's the exact opposite is true. Individuals who come to recognize their own unworthiness and the fact that they can only have relationship with the Father through Jesus because He is worthy. That's the basis of all of this. But this invitation is for you this morning as well. By placing your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the only rightful Savior from sin who died in your place on the cross, to atone for your sins so that you can be reconciled to God as your Father. Through that, you can have relationship with God. The relationship of Father and Son. The way into that relationship has been made possible through the suffering of Christ. 1 Peter 3.18 says, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. Says what? All of that was done. He died in our place so that he could bring us to God. Bring the child to the father so that we can be adopted into his family and so that we can cry, Abba Father. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for who you are. We pray that you would use the sermon in multiple ways this morning. We pray that you'll help those who maybe are still scarred from relationships or lack thereof with earthly fathers, help us to recognize who you are, to lean into our relationship with you and to learn how to communicate with you, how to relate to you as a father, knowing that we have not learned those lessons in our relationship with our earthly dad. So help us to relearn, help us understand what it means to relate to a healthy, have a healthy relationship with a godly father, I pray you'd help dads this morning to lean into the relationship with you as their heavenly father, and then to pass that down into the relationships with their own children. Model your character, model the way you relate to your children. Help dads to do that in their own homes. Convict, challenge dads, areas in which they failed, areas in which they have not created a loving, accepting culture within their homes. Convict them. Rebuke them, frankly. Might be in a situation where mom doesn't seem like she's in a position to confront dad over these things, so I just pray that you would rebuke. If these dads have created that type of environment in their home, and they're Christians, we just pray you convict them. Challenge them, expose it, and help them to repent of that, and to be fully committed to model who you are in their home life. At the same time, as men are convicted over their own failures, help them to recognize your mercy. They are your children and you discipline, so help them to just repent and to seek to live as obedient children as they seek to father their own children. And then we pray for those who are not yet Christians. Maybe they don't understand the gospel very well. I pray you'd help them to understand. that the Christian faith is one in which lost sinners, unworthy of salvation, are able to enter into a reconciled relationship with you through Jesus Christ so that they can have an intimate relationship with you as a father might have to a son. Thank you for this and for your goodness. Help us celebrate fatherhood, even in the face of a culture that denigrates. We know that everywhere that you have order, the culture disorders. And everywhere you have design, the culture seeks to distort. So help us as a church to embrace your design for fatherhood, to celebrate it, to live it out, model it, and to perpetuate it to the next generation. Thank you for all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.