We're in Romans 8, verse 17. And since there was some confusion on last week with regards to verse 16, due largely in part to my inability to make it clear, we're going to touch on that for just a bit. Yes, there are, as with much of Scripture, opposing sides to any view that one can claim to hold. I think that we have already plainly stated that this one is a non-essential as far as salvation is concerned, but I believe it is essential as far as reaching the pinnacle of assurance is concerned. That's the way that Martyn Lloyd-Jones phrases it. That assurance is what we have been focused on from the first verse of this chapter, actually since the last half of chapter five. It has been assurance of our salvation. Paul has given us proof after proof of all that has been done for us in Christ and what the Holy Spirit does in us to lead us closer and closer to Christ to become more and more like Him. He then in these last two verses announces two things that we have available to us that are a step above and beyond intellectual knowledge and that have a power to bring us to the pinnacle of assurance that we long for. Admittedly, I knew absolutely nothing about this a month ago, prior to this study. I am not a feelings kind of guy, as most of you already know. So this was a revelation to me and out of my wheelhouse further than you can possibly imagine. Anyway, before we go there, we're going to look at something a little less feelings-based. You'll get your hymnals out. And turn to page 858, all the way almost in the back. It's chapter 18 of the Westminster Confession of Faith. And we're going to be here for a little while, so just hang on to it. Now, I'm a 1689 guy, but the words are exactly the same in both of them, just so you know. The title of this is The Assurance of Grace and Salvation. Paragraph 1. Hypocrites and other unregenerate men may deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions about their being in God's favor and about their being saved. In other words, there are people who are assured of salvation who are not saved. Their presumptions will die with them. However, those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, who honestly love Him and try to walk in good conscience before Him, may, meaning they have this option, in this life be assured with certainty that they are in a state of grace. They may, again having the option, also rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and they will never be ashamed of that hope. Paragraph 2. This certainly is not based on the fallible hope of guesswork or probabilities, because we have the proof from the written Word of God. There's no guesswork there. Rather, it is the infallible assurance of faith, and that is belief in that written Word of God, established on the divine truth of the promises of salvation. There's also the inner evidence, keep in mind that phrase, of spiritual insight. given to us by God, to which these promises are directed. And there is the testimony of the spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God." So this is what Paul is talking about here and what our lesson was on for the last two weeks. This spirit is the pledge of our inheritance, which we'll get to in the next verse. By him we are sealed, and this word is where the debate comes in, until the day of redemption. This infallible assurance is not so essential to faith that a true believer may not have doubts and conflicts about it, possibly wait some time for it, and then grow into it. But since the Spirit enables believers to know the things which are freely given to them by God, every believer may come to a full assurance of salvation by the ordinary working of the Spirit without unusual revelation." So again, remember that phrase, ordinary working of the Spirit without unusual revelation. Therefore, it is every believer's duty to establish the certainty of his calling and election so that his heart may be filled with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit with love and thankfulness to God, and with strength and cheerfulness of obedience. These are the true products of assurance, which is never conducive to an undisciplined life. Paragraph 4. The assurance true believers have of their salvation may be shaken, lessened, or interrupted for various reasons from neglecting to preserve it, from committing some particular sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the spirit, from some sudden or strong temptation, or from God's withdrawing the sense of his presence and allowing them to walk in darkness. Now, if it can be shaken, lessened, or interrupted from the original, then it stands to reason that it can also be increased from the original. Nevertheless, they are never completely without God's seed, the life of faith, the love of Christ and of other believers, and the sincere heart and obedient conscience, out of which the Spirit may revive this assurance in due time, and by which they are in the meantime kept from complete despair." So, all of that being established, we're going to look at our text once again. says the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. This statement is actually a continuation of what Paul told us in chapter 5 and verse 5. He says, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So our spirit bears witness that we are children of God. We know that we are children of God because the facts okay as we said on last week the first and lowest form of assurance is the facts that we know to be true by faith we have read the Word of God and we believe the Word of God and therefore we have assurance now for some maybe even full and complete assurance for others not so much so back to our confession it says however Those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, who honestly love Him, and try to walk in good conscience before Him may, meaning they have this option, in this life be assured with certainty that they are in a state of grace. They may also rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and they will never be ashamed of that hope. Now, everybody here knows for a fact that there are certain people who never ever reach that certainty that is referred to here. There are many who have died never reaching that certainty that is referred to here, okay? Does not mean that those people are not saved, but it is a miserably sad life to have to live never knowing fully the love of god poured into their hearts belief in the facts given in scripture that's the first step that's the first level of assurance all the universe fourteen if you remember when we dinner exposition of verse fourteen offered a test so that we could build on that first step uh... looking at First John and the tests of faith that are to be found there. One of which is the love of the brethren. If you can see in your life that you are being led by the Spirit, and that your daily life is characterized by living out these tests that are found in First John, tests of the faith found in the Scriptures, then that is without a doubt, full and undeniable proof that you are children of God. Again, from our confession, this certainty is not based on the fallible hope of guesswork or probabilities. So we have the proof from the written word of God. Rather, it is the infallible assurance of faith, that is, belief in that written word of God, established on the divine truth of the promises of salvation. That's the second step. Again, we know for a fact that there are those who can pass every test that is found in 1 John, pass them with flying colors, and yet are still constantly in doubt of their salvation. The proof is there. It is the infallible Word of God. It's there. God says it after all. He says that I'm His child. I passed all the tests, so why is it that I still have doubt? This is where we come to the feelings part that is found in verses 15 and 16. We did this last week, but it is far too good to not do again. Thomas Goodwin, 17th century Puritan pastor, wrote that one day he saw a father and son walking along the street. Suddenly, the father swept the son up into his arms and hugged him and kissed him and told the boy that he loved him. Then, after a minute, he put the boy back down. Was the little boy more a son in the father's arms than he was when he was down on the street? Objectively and legally, there was no difference whatsoever. But subjectively and experientially, there was all the difference in the world. in his father's arms. The boy was experiencing his sonship. So, this is the love of God poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Back to our confession. He says, there is also the inner evidence of spiritual insight given to us by God to which these promises are directed. and there is the testimony of the spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God so this is the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba Father this is the Holy Spirit of God himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God our spirit bears witness that we are a child of God we know it we have proof of it there is no doubt about it except sometimes there is entirely too much doubt about but now we not only know it we feel it and that's all the difference in the world it is written on our hearts it is now part of us but it does not happen to everyone Some don't reach this point for years, and some, as we've already said, you know these people. Some never reach it. It is entirely the work of the Spirit, and it is accomplished in His time and at His pleasure. Again, from the Confession, this infallible assurance is not so essential to faith that a true believer may not have doubts and conflicts about it. possibly wait sometime for it it is not instantaneous for everybody and grow into it as we have already established may never have it so now for the debatable part from the confession says but since the spirit enables believers to know the things which are freely given to them by god every believer may come to a full assurance of salvation by the ordinary working of the spirit without unusual revelation so every believer has the spirit within them we know that okay that scripture placed in us at our regeneration we know that it is the down payment for what is to come we know that this is that is none of that is debatable so then why is it that every Christian is not characterized by joy inexpressible and full of glory as Peter says. Why is it that every Christian is not characterized as having rivers of living water flowing out of their hearts as Jesus Christ himself said? So if every Christian receives the same thing at the same time, why is it that every Christian is not as on fire for the kingdom as the apostles were on the day of Pentecost. Why is it that for the vast majority of Christians, their rivers of living water accomplish barely more than to dampen the pew that they sit in for an hour on Sunday morning? These are the questions that I began to ask myself along about a month ago. The reason, says Martin Lloyd-Jones, is what he calls the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Now, that threw me for a loop to be sure. I have been to enough Pentecostal travesties to be wary indeed of such language. But as I read his 15 chapters, that's right, 15 chapters on these two verses, it began to make more and more sense He then gave some references to such men as Charles Hodge and Charles Spurgeon and John Flavel, who all claim to have experienced this baptism. Now, granted, some call it baptism of the Holy Ghost, some call it the sealing of the Holy Spirit. And then those men give references to other men that they had also studied And you get to researching and you find that men like John Owen and George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards and D.L. Moody and John Preston and Thomas Brooks and Robert Haldane, which some of you may have heard about. Those are kind of famous guys, okay? That's putting it mildly. Those are kind of famous guys. And so many more. Some that I had never even heard of. All. Every one of them wrote of having had this experience. Some only once, but the effect, the memory of it lasted for a lifetime. Some had it very often, and every one had the same experience. It was while either studying or meditating on the scriptures, All of them say, in as many words, I mean they don't quote each other, but in as many words, all of them say that it was as if God picked me up and kissed me and told me that I was his child. Regardless of my sinfulness and unworthiness, I am a child of God. And it was, they all say, as if everything else in that moment ceased to exist And it was only they and the love of God that mattered at all. And every one of them referred to it as either the baptism of the Holy Ghost or the sealing of the Holy Spirit. And it is vouched by George Whitefield that this work of the Spirit was entirely the reason for the event that we know of as the Great Awakening. So, then what about this, you might ask? back to our confession says every believer may come to a full assurance of salvation by the ordinary working of the spirit without unusual revelation without unusual revelation it is the contention of the majority of them those who addressed it at least so all those who addressed it contend this that this is the ordinary working of the spirit. This is how he worked. This is how the person of the Spirit worked in the first church. The love of God, as we read in Acts 2, bringing them to have all things in common and meeting and breaking bread together daily. How he worked on the day of Pentecost, the love of God taking men who were afraid for their lives and turning them into an unstoppable force for Jesus Christ. In the household of Cornelius, bringing Gentiles into a family where they were once not a family, and how he still works in places where worldly things are not so common or are not fulfilling their duties of quenching the Holy Spirit, because that is the purpose of worldly things, they exist to quench the Holy Spirit. The love of God cannot very well be poured out on hearts which are already full of something else, full of anything else. Charles Simeon, never heard of him before, but he had a really good quote, said that this is the last and highest experience which comes to those who have given a lifetime promoting their sanctification and to hungering and thirsting after righteousness." So from our confession once again, the assurance true believers have of their salvation may be shaken, lessened, or interrupted for various reasons from neglecting to preserve it, from committing some particular sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the spirit, from some sudden or strong temptation or from God's withdrawing the sense of his presence and allowing them to walk in darkness. Now, as contended, if it can be shaken, lessened, or interrupted from the original, then it also stands to reason that it can also be increased from the original. Luke chapter 11, verses 9 through 13, if you want to turn there with me, this is really good stuff. heard a thousand sermons preached on this one section and all of them apply to something other than what it is applicable to Luke chapter 11 starting with verse 9 and going through verse 13 Jesus speaking and he says I tell you and I tell you ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be opened to you for everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks it will be opened what father among you if his son asked for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent or if he asked for an egg will give him a scorpion if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more how much more will the heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him how much more of what the holy spirit that's what all of that's referring to that's the only good gift alright yes we have the holy spirit already yes we are being led by the holy spirit yes we may have full and complete assurance of pain from deductive reasoning of the Scriptures, but the Bible is abundantly clear that there is so much more available for those that diligently seek Him. Why do we all not receive it? What is the difference between the Christian that gives up everything and goes into the mission field, or willingly gives their life rather than deny Christ, and the Christian that exists only to hold down a pew once a week. Both are receiving exactly what they asked for. Both are finding exactly what they are seeking. Both have a form of assurance and a hope of what is to come, but only one has been picked up by the Father and been kissed by the Father and had the love of the Father poured out into their hearts in this very special way as a witness born of the Holy Spirit. Both have the Holy Spirit living in them. One asked for more of the Spirit, desired it more than any other thing that was available to them, and it was granted to them. The pinnacle of assurance is the Holy Spirit bearing witness with our spirits that we are children of God. There is nothing higher than this. Which brings us to verse 17 and the results of our being children of God. Now assurance is an amazing thing. Assurance makes for a happy, happy, happy life. Assurance is what brings us to joy inexpressible and full of glory But assurance is not necessary for salvation. I hope that you have seen this through the scriptures and through our confession, okay Christ in us is what is necessary for our salvation Christ in us is what makes us children of God and children of God are also heirs Verse 17, 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. So as a continuation, or maybe even an amplification, Paul has told us of this witness of the Spirit himself, bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. So why this addition? Why was he not just content to leave it at the witness of the Spirit? One answer is that the mention of the Holy Spirit as the one who seals us is generally joined with the fact that the Spirit is also given to us as an earnest, a down payment, a guarantee, depending on which translation that you're using. All three of those are the same thing. In either case, it is a promise of something much greater to come. It seems to be an established rule in Paul's mind that he never mentions the Spirit as the seal without also mentioning the Spirit as the guarantee or the earnest. Sonship brings to mind the idea of inheritance. The two are inevitably linked together. And so having shown us the Spirit as the one who seals to us the fact that we are the children of God, he goes on to say that that for that reason he is also the guarantee of the inheritance itself we see here that the dual work of the spirit as a seal and as the guarantee guarantee of our inheritance and he now begins to tell us something of the character of that inheritance now here for once almost all of the commentators agree on this doesn't happen very often but almost all of them agree here Paul has in mind here a main characteristic of Roman law with respect to inheritance. Since he was writing to Romans, he assumed that they would know their own laws. So according to Roman law, all the children of a man are his heirs and they are equally his heirs, as opposed to Jewish law wherein the firstborn got twice as much as the other children. So, this is his point. Because you are children, you are therefore all heirs of God. All Christians, not just a select few, are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Even if you don't live a great life, even if you are not entirely sanctified, even if you never reach full and complete assurance, you are still an heir, okay? There is no distinction made here at all. Now, he also does not say that the exact inheritance is the same in each case. There is the teaching in the scripture that suggests that there may be a variation in the amount of the inheritance dependent upon our conduct and our behavior, which I don't know enough about to expound on, so I'm just going to let that one lay right there. But what is established here is that we are all heirs, that we are all going to the same glory. He has been telling us all along since chapter five of this hope of glory, the inevitable consequence of being justified by faith is peace with God now and forevermore. We are united with Jesus Christ and so he continues to work out just what that means for us. If children, then heirs, which means now that we are children, and of course we've already seen that such is not the case with all human beings. We are not all God's children. There is no universal fatherhood of God, okay, to be found in the Scriptures. In fact, we find that there that the exact opposite is true. It is only those that are led by the Spirit of God that are the children of God. if you really are children of law of god being glory is what follows if not children then it does not follow john jay uh... john one eleven and twelve is as he came to his own and his own people did not receive him but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of god so that's that's who are god's children And because we are children, we are therefore heirs, meaning that there is a great inheritance awaiting all Christians. This is one of the great themes in the Bible and one that is rarely spoken of. The emphasis is always on our best life now or making America great again or health and wealth and prosperity right here and right now. But the scripture says that our reward is where? In heaven. Okay? Our inheritance is in heaven waiting on us there. Now, these two opposing perspectives, and that is what they are, they are opposites as light from darkness. These two perspectives influence our whole view of the Christian life. Our whole view of the world and our life in this world. And this is going to be Paul's theme for the rest of this chapter. That is how important it is that we get it right and do not conform ourselves to this world. He introduces this theme to us and at the end of this verse he says, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. This is a very practical theme to Paul's audience. The Romans were suffering and so he gives an explanation of their suffering. He's writing to comfort them And the most comforting thing he can say is that they are heirs of God. That is the controlling thought. The gospel is not a promise of your best life now. In fact, the Bible at first does not seem to promise God's children very much at all in this life, except that we will be hated and we will be persecuted. We don't know anything about this as Americans, but it is coming and it is coming rapidly. What the Bible does point to on behalf of God's children is to our glorious future, to protection through the valley of the shadow of death and ultimately to our great reward in heaven. This is what we should be preaching and teaching. This is what will give your children and grandchildren the strength to overcome the hell that is headed their way. This is the only message that will bring men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. that all men are under the wrath of God and if they die in that state, they will spend eternity in hell. But that there is a way of peace with God. There is a place to flee from the wrath to come. So why should we be concerned to know that we are children of God? Isn't it enough to just come warm a pew for an hour a week? The answer is so that we can be certain that we are heirs and that we are going to be in on that inheritance. This is the central biblical theme. It all points to this glorious future, to this promise. Going all the way back to Abraham where it was given at its clearest, but even back in the garden in Genesis 3 at the first hint of the promise of the glory that was to come. It says, the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. All of the scripture is continual, looking forward to what is to come, to the hope that lies ahead. Philippians 3, 13 and 14. But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. See, we were never intended to park here and put up a mailbox. We are passing through. We are passing through. Pilgrims and foreigners in an alien land. Our inheritance is not here in any sense of the word. The whole world and all it has to offer is nothing but kindling. And in entire nations, it's arguing over whether it will be a Christless man or a Christless woman who gets to rule over the flames of the fire that's going to come. So we are children of the Most High God. And because we are His children, we are heirs, and not just heirs, but heirs of God. That is our position, asserting that our position as heirs is immutable. It cannot be changed. because God does not change. So why the emphasis? Airship, if that is even a word, places a person in a very special position. We see this even in secular life, and then we see it magnified a hundredfold in the spiritual life, that the air receives special attention. The air is the one who carries on the lineage who keeps the name going and so therefore the heir is always in a special position and receives special attention and treatment. So if this be true among mere mortals, how much more are the exceptional privileges of those who are heirs of God? What might those special blessings and privileges look like? Well, in case you are not aware, that would require an exposition of practically every verse to be found in Scripture, which might take a minute. We're going to look at certain categories, if you will. First, as already noted, is that because we are heirs of God, all things that have been promised to us and are coming to us, those things are absolutely safe. We can never be robbed of this inheritance. because the one who has promised is God. Hebrews 6, 16 through 18. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise, the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us." God promised on Himself. That's as solid as you can get. Secondly is God's care for us. Special care as befitting an heir. Always under the Father's careful and watchful eye, always given us an exceptional amount of attention, even to the point of numbering the very hairs on our head. That is the measure of God's care for us. Though we be surrounded by troubles and trials, there is no need for concern. Having determined our destiny and having pledged himself to our destiny, nothing which is necessary in preparing for us the inheritance will ever be neglected. Much like an earthly father, only infinitely better, we receive the best training and the best preparation. God does that for us. Sometimes the school needs to be a rather painful one for some of us who are more stubborn than others. But because the Lord loves us, he sometimes finds it necessary to correct us, even punish us, which is further proof of our sonship. Because as scripture is very clear about, a son left without chastisement is not a son, but an illegitimate child. This is for our good, just like all the other things that he does for us. He feeds us, he clothes us, concerned about even the smallest things that happens to us, and shows it ultimately in the matter of our chastisement. Thirdly, the care which God exercises over us is continual and consistent. Unlike the human father who does things on a whim or in a motion of that given day, strict one day and slack the next, leaving children confused and uncertain, God is not like that. He continues what He begins, always. This good work of God will continue in us until the day of Jesus Christ. That is what we are looking forward to. And we can be sure that it will be completed even in spite of our own selves. God's work will continue. It is His power, His alone. And even when we are faithless, He remains faithful. Our destiny depends not upon us, but upon God and on God's power. Because the only power that we have on our best day is only from Christ working through us. You might be the brightest 12 million candle power LED light so bright that it blots out the sun. But if you unplug it from the power source, which is Christ and his Holy Spirit, you're left with what? Not even a glimmer. Ephesians 3, 20 and 21. Now to him, now to him, who is able to do far more abundantly than all 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. So in us, in our children, in our children's children, to all generations, all the heirs of God will be made faultless and blameless without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. as we stand before him in glory, because such is our inheritance as heirs of God. He says also that we are joint heirs with Christ. A reminder that it is only because of Christ that we are heirs at all. It explains how we became heirs. Jesus Christ is the heir of all things. All the promises in Scripture, although they by impartation fall to us, they are all made to the one true heir to Jesus Christ all the promises in scripture are made to Jesus Christ and him alone okay the seed of Abraham if you recall as we went into that in chapter three that was about a year and a half ago so everybody remembers that right yeah I know you do okay the seed the one seed of Abraham Jesus Christ is the one seed of Abraham We are in him making us also seed, but Jesus Christ is the one seed. We are children of God through Christ. We are no longer in Adam, we are in Christ. Revelation 321 says, to him that overcometh, I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and sit down with my father in his throne. So Christ's overcoming was imputed to us. thus making us overcomers. We are overcomers because we are in him and enabling us to sit down with him in his throne. All the promises, all the blessings, all the inheritance come to us only through our union with Jesus Christ. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Y'all remember that one, right? And thus by necessity, All who are in His Son, God is also well pleased with us. All things were made by Christ, all things were made for Christ, all things were made through Christ. All power has been given to Christ in heaven and on earth, who is at this moment preparing a place for us, the likes of which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined. This joint airship makes our inheritance absolutely certain in every way. And then we get to an introduction of something that seems to be out of place in this second half of verse 17. Paul has been, from the beginning of the chapter, he's been stacking, as it were, one glorious statement on top of another. with regards to our assurance and our hope of glory. Sonship and the freedom from fear of slavery and fear and the spirit of adoption and being able to address God not only as Father, along with that as Papa because of the filial relationship that we now have. And then even the spirit bearing witness, letting our spirits know in a heart-centered, deep kind of feeling way that we are for certain children of God. And because we are children, look at the inheritance that awaits us on that great day when we will be glorified with Him, one step after another, rising higher and higher and higher, as it were. And then suddenly, he says, provided We suffer with him in order that we may be also glorified with him. So why introduce seemingly out of nowhere this idea of suffering? Well, as we've said, it is because of his audience to whom he was writing. Therein lay a practical difficulty He had been holding up this elevated and moving picture of Christian people and of their relationship to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, talking about their great inheritance and the implications of their position as joint heirs with Christ, and then suddenly it's as if he realizes a question. I wonder how these people will react to these truths, because their current reality is very different from the story that is yet to be revealed. They're having a hard time. They're suffering. They're in trouble. They're surrounded by distressing conditions. And it may very well be that they might say, well, that's easier for you to say, Paul. That's all well and good, but we are here finding life to be hard and even bitter if you want to know the truth about it. And so he introduces it here and takes it through the end of the chapter. Suffering was a very urgent problem in the early church. Many of the New Testament epistles are concerned with this suffering. People were being tempted to renege on their professions of faith, go back, who is just forget about the whole thing they heard all the wonderful promises all the great statements about the kingdom of god and what would happen to them if they would believe the gospel but our actual experience they must say is that life is very difficult very trying very hard and so of course the enemy comes in with his temptations and with his doubts okay by this whole idea of assurance is so important. And the enemy says, I told you so. This stuff is all just a fairy tale. If God were God and Christ was his son, you would not be in such dire straits. Same thing today. Again, not here, because this is America. Not yet. But again, it is coming. But it does happen all over other parts of the world. How do we reconcile trials and troubles and tribulations with these exceeding great and precious promises? The view of glory, which Paul has just been painting for us, the New Testament devotes considerable space to that matter. far more than is generally realized, because if you are not one of the suffering masses, if you are not one of the persecuted church, then it is not something that is going to take up a whole lot of your time. That is something that is happening over there. It's way over there somewhere. Feel bad for them, but we just got to get on with our own lives. Much like we said of our sonship, until it becomes real to us, until it becomes real to us in the depths of our hearts, by becoming real to us in our physical existence, then it's just something that we know kinda sorta. Now, not to say that it is non-existent. There may be some here facing persecution. To be clear, being mean-mouthed on Facebook is not persecution. That's not the definition of persecution. Being mean-mouthed for being of the wrong political party is not persecution. Being despised and rejected because you act like a jerk in public is not persecution. Getting pushed back because you are platforming against a certain sin is not persecution. God hates all sin. God hates all who commit sin. Love the sin or hate the sin is not a biblical statement. It's not in there anywhere. Okay? Psalm chapter 5 verses 5 and 6, the boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. Two verses that just cancel culture to every politician since day one. This suffering that Paul is talking about is referencing persecution because of the name of Jesus Christ. Being blackballed from your families because you are a Christian. Being fired from your job because you are a Christian. being put to death because you refuse to deny the lord jesus christ that's persecution that is what happens the world over everywhere in the world except here basically and so these romans a kind of think it's unfair they think that uh... such a thing should not happen if god really is in control and so paul writes this to encourage those christian people suffering Then, in the days of the apostles, and in every period of time since, this is also Paul's way of continuing his doctrine of assurance, that suffering for the kingdom's sake is a further way of being certain and sure of our salvation. This whole matter of suffering, if we understand it correctly, is one of the most profound arguments for the assurance of salvation. and the certainty of our ultimate arrival in glory that we can ever find. So, since we're out of time, I'm going to summarize this as best I can. Maybe touch upon it again next week if I fail miserably in the summary, which could happen. What does this all mean? It means that because we belong to Christ, this is what happens to us. It happened to him. It happens to his people. He told us it would happen. It happened in the early church. It has been happening ever since. The followers get the same treatment as the head. The world despises us because it despises him. We just don't feel their hate yet because we have yet to feel as if we need to make a stand about anything. most are not really making a stand for Jesus Christ just for morality and politics the two are not the same but other than that we're mostly just going along to get along for now but it's coming when it comes what is our reaction going to be I don't know what our reaction is going to be but I know what it should be 1 Peter 4 verses 12-14 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. So the argument here is clear. If we are suffering or when we come to that place of suffering, it is absolute proof that we belong to Him. That we are therefore joint heirs with Him. The world, the flesh, and the devil want to convince us that suffering is a bad thing. The whole of the New Testament tells us that it is a thing to be rejoiced in, to be desired, to be happy about. Because it is one more assurance that I am a Christian, that I am a child of God, I am an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. If you are not in some way, shape, or form suffering for Christ's sake right now, you really should examine yourself. But on the other hand, Be it great suffering, little suffering, or almost no suffering. Suffering for His sake in any form, in any form, for His sake, is proof that you will one day be glorified with Him together in heaven. Let's pray. Father God, we love you so much. we thank you for your word thank you for giving men the wisdom to write our confession that we might be able to understand what your will is for us we thank you for the holy spirit in us we pray for more of that spirit father pray for more of your holy spirit that we might know for certain that it is only because of you because of your son that we exist that our existence should revolve around that fact give us strength, hope, desire, power to go into this world and make a difference for your kingdom. In Christ's name I pray. Amen.