Gospel Adoption

Okay, so we're going to do our third message in our gospel training series here.

! Today's message will be on gospel adoption.

! I'm going to be in two main texts in the Bible.

We're going to be in Galatians 3 and 4, and then we're going to be in Matthew 4.

So we'll start with Galatians 3.

If you have your Bibles, you can read along with me.

I'm going to read a larger section here to start us off.

Galatians 3, verse 8, and we're going to go to 4, verse 7.

Galatians 3:8

Galatians 3, verse 8 says,

Galatians 3:8

In the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,

preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying,

In you shall all the nations be blessed.

So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

So here we see this focus on the gospel, right?

Even back in the Old Testament, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,

God was preaching the gospel beforehand to Abraham.

Okay?

Verse 10,

And for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

For it is written,

Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law and do them.

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith.

But the law is not of faith.

Rather, the one who does them shall live by them.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

For it is written,

Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree,

so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles,

so that we might receive this promised spirit through faith.

To give a human example, brothers,

even with a man-made covenant,

no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.

Now the promises are made to Abraham and to his offspring.

It does not say,

And to offsprings.

Referring to many, but referring to one.

And to your offspring, who is Christ.

This is what I mean.

The law, which came 430 years afterwards,

does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God,

so as to make the promise void.

For if the inheritance comes by the law,

it no longer comes by promise,

but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

Why then the law?

It was added because of the transgressions,

until the offspring should come,

to whom the promise had been made,

and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.

Now an intermediary implies more than one,

but God is one.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?

Certainly not.

For if a law had been given that could give life,

then righteousness would indeed be by the law.

But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin,

so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ

might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came,

we were held captive under the law,

imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

So then the law was our guardian until Christ came,

in order that we might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come,

we are no longer under a guardian,

for in Christ Jesus,

you are all sons of God through faith.

For as many as you were baptized into Christ

to put on Christ,

there is neither Jew nor Greek,

there is neither slave nor free,

there is no male and female,

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ,

then you are Abraham's offspring,

he is according to the promise.

This verse is so important here.

Many people will take this verse and say,

this is the reason why

you should have an egalitarian vision

of men and women in leadership.

Because now in Christ Jesus,

there is no male nor female.

But you have to take this in context.

What he's talking about here

is the promise of Abraham.

What he's talking about here

is preaching the gospel to Gentiles.

And he's saying,

hey, there is a promise

that is for not multiple people,

but one person.

Offspring, not offsprings, right?

It's for offspring.

Who is that offspring that was pointed to

when God preached this to Abraham?

It was Christ.

It was Christ.

And so what he's saying here is,

if you're in Christ,

you get the inheritance of Christ.

So this promise was for Christ,

who's a Jew.

If you're a Greek, that's okay.

If you're in Christ, it's for you.

This was for Christ, who's free.

If you're a slave,

there's still hope for you

because in Christ, you're free.

This promise was for one person,

Christ, who is male.

If you're female,

there's still hope for you.

Because if you're in Christ,

you receive the promise.

If you're all one in Christ Jesus,

he's saying that if you're in Christ Jesus,

you get the promise

that was promised to Christ Jesus.

You get his inheritance.

If you are Christ,

then you are Abraham's offspring,

heirs according to the promise.

That's huge.

That's why this verse is such an awesome verse.

He's basically saying,

hey, you can think of all the reasons

why you would be disqualified from the promise.

But this promise isn't for you specifically.

So go ahead, list all your disqualifications.

None of them matter.

Because you can't have any qualifications.

There's only one person

who is able to receive this promise.

Only one.

It was to offspring,

not offsprings.

Right?

So it's only to Christ.

So our only hope to receive the promise,

the good news,

the gospel of this promise

given to Abraham

is that we would be in Christ.

And through faith,

we are in Christ

and we are sons of God

and the inheritance that is given to Christ

is now ours in Christ Jesus.

What a huge thing that is.

This is the gospel of adoption.

Right?

He then goes in chapter 4 here

and describes the implications of that,

what that means.

I mean that the heir,

as long as he is a child,

is no different from a slave,

though he is the owner of everything.

But he is under guardians and managers

until the date set by his father.

In the same way,

we also,

when we were children,

were enslaved

to the elementary principles of the world.

But when the fullness of time had come,

God sent forth his son,

born of a woman,

born under the law,

to redeem those who were under the law,

so that,

so that what?

This is,

here's the implication,

so that we might receive adoption.

This word here for adoption

is talking about full rights.

Actually,

in the NIV,

in the 1984 version of the NIV,

it actually says that we would receive

the full rights of sons.

Okay?

And because you are sons,

God has sent the spirit of his son

into our hearts,

crying,

Abba,

Father.

So you are no longer a slave,

but a son.

And if a son,

then an heir through God.

So,

some of you probably hear this,

like,

what is he even talking about this?

This whole,

like,

you were,

when you were a kid,

you were,

um,

under guardians and managers

until the date set by his father.

Well,

this is speaking,

it's speaking of two things.

One,

when you're a child,

you don't have the full rights

of a son,

right?

Even sometimes if a,

if a parent would die ahead of time

before a child would become an adult,

they'll sometimes put money,

inheritance into an account.

And when does the child get it?

When they become an adult,

right?

There's all this money set aside

until they turn 18.

And so there's people who are caring for them

until then.

But also,

so you have that dynamic,

just the difference between a child and adult.

But you also have in Roman culture,

they had this,

uh,

form of adoption where they would adopt adults.

In fact,

uh,

Augustus,

um,

and Claudius,

the emperors at the time,

uh,

or not at the time,

but around that time,

uh,

Augustus was adopted

and had,

uh,

three different successors that he adopted,

but,

uh,

two of them died before he was able to actually pass things on.

And then Claudius adopted Nero.

They actually had a form of adoption that they,

they could change the inheritance for,

instead of giving their,

uh,

the inheritance to their child,

they could adopt someone else as an adult and give him the full right as son.

And then they could become the next emperor because now they're,

they're the heir of that,

uh,

person.

So there,

uh,

there was a form of adoption there.

And this was,

this was how it would happen.

We often think of adoption.

We think of children.

Uh,

I think of it a little bit differently because I adopted,

uh,

my wife and I adopted a son in his late twenties into our family.

So you can,

we saw these same implications.

When a Roman adult adoption happened,

they received full legal standing.

They received a guaranteed inheritance.

Old debts were canceled and it was irrevocable.

Okay.

Sound familiar.

Does it sound a little bit like when God adopts us into his family?

Okay.

So he was referring to this thing.

So you're wondering,

what is this whole thing they would,

before they would reach the age,

but that the father had set aside to say,

okay,

until this age happens,

they were treated like,

uh,

like slaves or servants in the house.

But when they reached that date,

they had the full legal standing,

guaranteed inheritance,

old debts canceled and irrevocable status.

Okay.

This is what's happening.

And that's what we were given.

We were given full rights as sons in Christ Jesus.

And because of sons,

he sent the spirit of his son into our hearts,

crying,

Abba,

father.

So you're no longer a slave,

but a son.

And if a son,

then an heir through God.

Romans five,

verse five says,

God's love has been poured into our hearts,

bought through the Holy spirit who has been given to us.

When he's talking about the spirit of his son in our hearts,

crying out of a father,

there is a role of the Holy spirit in our lives to essentially baptize us with

this love,

with his love,

immerse us in his love and give us,

the ability to comprehend how much God loves us.

And that we are no longer slaves.

We are no longer servants,

but we are sons with the full rights of sons.

And that language sounds great,

but it's not just that it sounds great.

Listen,

it's true.

And there's a lot of Christians who live a slavery mentality,

an orphan mentality in their Christianity.

When the spirit that was given to them in Christ Jesus was given,

not the only reason,

but one of the reasons was so that you could receive the spirit of adoption,

that you could receive an understanding of the love that God has for you in Christ Jesus and the full rights of sons.

It says in Romans 8,

15 to 17,

you do not receive the spirit of slavery,

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 in him.

Do you know that that is one of the roles of the Holy Spirit in your life?

Do you understand that one of the reasons the spirit is given to us at salvation

is so that we in our spirits can bear witness with the spirit of God,

that we are children of God.

The Holy Spirit speaks to you,

establishes in you,

tells you that you are his child.

And that's something we doubt sometimes.

Do you ever doubt that?

Do you ever doubt being a child of God?

Do you ever doubt that you have the full rights of sons?

Do you sometimes feel like a second class citizen in the kingdom of God?

Do you sometimes feel like,

yeah,

I'm,

uh,

I'm,

I'm around God,

but I don't really feel like I'm his child.

The Holy Spirit is given to tell you that you are his child.

Okay.

And I don't think of no greater example of this dynamic and this fight of faith,

so to speak,

than Matthew chapter four.

So get your Bibles.

You can look there.

We're actually going to start with the context of Matthew three,

verses 13 through 17.

It's a familiar story for most of you.

If you've been a Christian for a while,

uh,

Matthew three,

13 to 17,

Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan,

to John,

to be baptized by him.

John would have prevented him saying,

I need to be baptized by you.

And do you come to me?

But Jesus answered him,

let it be so now for thus,

it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Then he consented.

And when Jesus was baptized,

immediately he went up from the water and behold,

the heavens were open to him.

And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

And behold,

a voice from heaven said,

this is my beloved son.

Okay.

With whom I'm well pleased.

And there's multiple words for son in,

in the original Greek language.

There's a,

like a child son.

And then there's an adult son.

The word used here is adult son.

So adult,

full right son.

Think of it.

Think of it that way.

Right?

So this is God literally saying,

God,

the father saying to Jesus,

publicly saying this,

this is my son.

So it's direct.

It's clear.

There's no ambiguity about it.

Right?

He literally is,

it says right here,

you got to take note of this part,

because this is important for the whole next part of the,

of the scripture we're going to look at.

Right?

He says definitively,

this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

Okay.

So he announces that.

Okay.

Matthew four,

verse one.

Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.

By the devil.

And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights,

he was hungry.

And the tempter.

Okay.

The devil's called the tempter.

This is,

this is literally one of his names.

This is his nature.

His character is to tempt.

And Johnny 44 says,

he's the father of lies.

So what does he typically tempt us with?

What is one of his main tools as the tempter?

Lies.

And this is no different,

right?

Okay.

So after fasting 40 days and 40 nights,

he was hungry.

So this is 40 days after God just said,

this is my son.

This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

40 days later,

the tempter came to Jesus and said,

if you are the son of God.

Well,

hold on.

What do you mean?

If God,

the father just said 40 days ago,

you are.

Okay.

God says,

you are the devil says,

if you see this,

what's the,

what's all this if language.

What are you talking about?

God just said,

you are.

Devil says,

if you are,

if you are,

right?

If you are the son of God,

it sounds a lot like Genesis three,

verse one.

When the serpent came to Eve,

remember what he said to Eve said,

did God really say,

did God really say,

this is the tactic of the devil.

This is the way he works.

You know,

it worked at the beginning and he's still trying it,

right?

Now it's not going to work on Jesus,

but he's still trying it.

And don't be so fooled as to think that he's not going to try it on you.

He does the same thing.

Did God really say that you're a son?

That's essentially what he's saying.

If you are the son,

if you are a son,

says that if you are the son of God,

command these stones to become loaves of bread.

But he answered,

it is written,

man shall not live by bread alone,

but every word that comes from the mouth of God.

So we're going to see three different ways that the devil tempts him.

He tempts him in three different aspects that the devil tempts us as well.

That's why this is important.

And it all relates to being a son.

It all relates to adoption,

which by the way,

if you're a woman and you're saying,

what's all the son stuff?

I'm not a son.

I'm a woman.

And you might say,

well,

why,

why,

why this male language here?

This was,

this was not,

this was actually radical language,

back then to actually say that a woman had the same rights of a son.

That was going over the top for most people in that culture to say,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa.

We're not going to give women the same rights of sons.

Yes.

God is.

God is saying in Christ Jesus,

there is no man.

There's not male or female.

You get the same inheritance in Christ Jesus.

You get that.

Okay.

So there's three different things he's tempting.

The first one is provision.

Do you ever get tempted to think I'm not provided for?

I won't be provided for.

I haven't been provided for.

This is where the devil is tempting him.

It says,

if you're the son of God,

command these stones to become loaves of bread.

Notice he says command.

In other words,

he's saying,

Hey,

you do it versus resting in what you already have.

You make things happen.

You exert energy and effort to get what an essence you already have.

You provide for yourself instead of thinking about what you already have.

That's the way an orphan thinks.

Ben Paisley in his really good book,

Orphan,

Slave,

Son,

says orphans don't know that anything is really theirs.

Orphans don't know that anything is really theirs.

He goes on and he says,

Physical property,

emotional property,

relational property,

and spiritual property.

The orphan spirit has no family given deed to any of these kinds of properties

and must work and strive to gain them.

Orphans steal and orphans strive.

I remember my brother-in-law used to work in an orphanage in Africa,

and he would tell stories about the orphanage that he worked at.

And he said,

you know,

these orphans are in the orphanage.

We're taking care of them.

They have more than it.

There was more than enough food in this orphanage.

And they never stopped stealing.

They were constantly stealing.

Even though we fed them all their meals,

we had more than enough for every meal.

It was never like we were short.

And yet they were constantly stealing.

So they were,

they were treated with provision in such a way,

just like a family member would be.

And yet,

even though in reality,

the provision was there,

they kept thinking and living and acting like orphans.

Do you ever do that?

Do you ever do that?

Orphans don't know that anything is really theirs.

Slaves work for everything.

How do you view yourself with the Lord and your inheritance?

You know,

Luke 2 49,

when Jesus,

when they took Jesus when he was 12 years old,

and they took him to Jerusalem,

and then they lost him.

Jesus wasn't lost.

They lost him,

right?

Jesus knew exactly where he was supposed to be.

And they finally found him.

He said,

Hey,

don't you know,

I had to be in,

listen to this phrase,

my father's house,

my father's house.

And you said,

well,

that's Jesus.

Well,

in Christ,

you have the same inheritance.

You're adopted into his family.

You've given the full rights to be called children of God.

Do you view his house as your house?

You know,

when you would,

when you talk about,

um,

uh,

when I talk about,

when I,

when I lived in my parents' house,

I wouldn't say my dad's car.

I would say our car.

I wouldn't say my mom and dad's house.

I would say our house.

I didn't pay a cent for that house.

I didn't do anything for that car.

But when I was a kid,

that car was mine.

That house was mine.

That's the way I talked.

That's the way most kids talk.

Your kids probably talk that way.

Right?

And they should because if it's your father's house,

then everything he has is yours.

That's how it works.

And,

and Jesus understood this,

but you don't have to be my father's house.

John 14 to in my father's house,

are many rooms for not.

So what I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.

Why for you?

Because it's your house.

Luke 15.

Remember when I read last week,

remember the older brother in the story of the prodigal?

You know,

he's,

he's,

he's,

he's acting kind of ripped off.

He's acting like a victim.

And he's acting like,

wait,

you,

I've been serving you all this time.

You haven't even killed a goat for me,

but you kill the fattened calf,

throw a party and restore the son of yours who wasted his,

his,

his urine,

the inheritance on prostitutes.

You know,

this kind of a gas kind of thing.

And then the father says to him,

son,

you are always with me.

And all that is mine is yours.

How many times do we need to hear this?

When we're going to him in prayer or maybe not in prayer,

we're just fretting.

I don't have enough.

I don't have enough money.

I don't have enough provision.

God isn't going to take care of me.

God's not going to provide for me.

God's not going to be there for me.

And we're just,

we're complaining.

Maybe we're complaining to God.

Maybe we're complaining to other people.

Maybe we're just have a complaining spirit in our own heart.

And we're just feeling ripped off.

We have this orphan mentality,

the slave mentality that always says there's never enough.

There's never enough.

And God is not providing for me.

And so we think if God's not for me,

I got to do it myself.

God's not going to be there for her.

I have to provide for myself.

I got to command those,

those rocks to become bread.

I got to provide.

It's all on me.

And the father,

the father says to him,

don't you know,

don't you know that all that I have,

that all that's mine is yours.

Some,

there's some people here who need to hear that this morning,

that all of it is the father's is yours in Christ Jesus.

All that the father has is yours in Christ Jesus.

Do you realize that this is what you got?

And listen,

this is the richest father there ever was.

Your father is more rich than any father.

You have everything that he has is yours.

Why are you working for something you already have?

Why are you working for something you already have?

In Christ Jesus,

you have everything that's his.

I love that.

I love that.

John 16,

15,

Jesus says,

all that the father has is mine.

That's the heart of a son.

Do you understand?

We should talk like that.

That's the way Jesus talked because God was his father.

Is God your father in Christ Jesus?

Yes.

Yes.

So you should talk the same way.

All that the father has is mine.

Do you pray like that?

Do you live like that?

Have you notified your face about that?

You know,

the way you,

your disposition.

Do you look like

all that the father has is mine?

Okay.

Or do you just think God is fatherly?

See,

a lot of,

there's a lot of Christians who,

they like,

oh yeah,

okay,

Josh,

I know God's God's father,

right?

No,

no,

no,

listen.

It's not that he is a father.

It's not just that he's fatherly.

We all have people growing up,

even if we didn't have a good father ourselves or didn't have a father ourselves,

there was probably some friend or someone we knew who was a very fatherly man,

right?

And say,

that guy,

he was very fatherly.

That guy was very fatherly,

but he's not my father.

He's not responsible for me in the same way my father would be.

He's fatherly.

And some people treat God this way.

They treat God as if he's fatherly,

but he's not my father.

Listen,

God is not just fatherly.

He just doesn't have fatherly attributes.

The attributes of God that are fatherly are very specific to his children.

And in Christ Jesus,

you are his children.

Do you treat him as if he's fatherly or do you treat him as if he's your father?

He speaks of the birds and the grass.

You know,

Luke 12,

six to seven says,

are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Why?

Even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear not.

You are more value than many sparrows.

Do you believe that?

Or do you feel forgotten?

Orphans feel forgotten.

Orphans feel like nobody notices.

No one's looking after me.

I got to look after myself.

A son says,

I'm not forgotten.

It's like that Isaiah 49.

It says,

can a,

can a woman forget her nursing baby at her breasts?

In the same way,

I will not forget you.

I will never forget you.

God has not forgotten you.

He cares more for you.

If he takes care of birds,

how much more value are you than,

are you than sparrows?

Luke 12,

Paul 24,

he says,

consider the ravens.

They neither sow nor reap.

They have neither storehouse nor barn,

and yet God feeds them.

How much more value are you than the birds?

Verse 28,

if God so clothes the grass,

which is alive in the field today,

and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,

how much more will they clothe you?

Oh,

you of little faith,

and do not seek what you are to eat,

and what you are to drink,

nor be worried.

For all the nations of the world

seek after these things,

and your father knows that you need them.

Instead,

seek his kingdom,

and these things will be added to you.

Fear not,

little flock,

for it is your father's good pleasure

to give you the kingdom.

Do you believe that?

That's the heart of his son.

All that the father has is mine.

He takes care of the birds in the grass.

He takes care of me.

Do you remember when the disciples were in the boat,

and the waves were starting to go over the edge?

They started,

those disciples acted like orphans.

Do you remember what they said in Mark 4, 38?

He said this,

because Jesus was asleep in the boat,

remember?

He said,

teacher,

do you not care that we are perishing?

That's what an orphan heart says.

God,

don't you care?

Don't you care?

You don't care.

The devil says,

if you're a son of God,

then he would provide for you.

And the fact that you're not feeling provided for,

that means he doesn't care for you.

The devil will accuse God to you

through your circumstances.

Did you hear that?

The devil will accuse God to you

through your circumstances.

So see,

say,

see,

your circumstances

evidence of God's character,

and that he's not for you.

And it's a lie.

It's a lie.

Psalm 56, 8 says,

you have kept count of my tossings,

put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your book?

This is the God who provides for you.

This is the God who provides for you.

Do you pray like a son?

I was thinking about this the other day.

You know,

when kids are asked,

a lot of us have little kids here.

You ever notice one?

I'm sure you have.

But have you ever noticed how kids

keep asking for stuff?

Even when you tell them not to?

It's just like,

all right,

that's enough.

Stop asking.

You know,

they just keep asking.

And even when you tell them to stop,

they'll still keep asking sometimes.

I saw one of the kids just smile

when I said that.

They were relating to it.

Yeah,

that's me,

man.

Okay,

kids keep asking.

That's what kids do.

Sometimes you're just like,

my goodness,

I cannot believe

how many times you've asked me.

Stop asking me.

Well,

you ever ask once with your father

and say,

oh,

I don't want to inconvenience my father.

I don't want to keep asking.

Kids keep asking.

There's no shame.

And,

not only is there no shame,

they will ask after they've already gotten something.

Case in point,

that you take them out for ice cream.

Really nice.

You give them a lot of ice cream,

plenty of ice cream.

You're full.

Of course,

you're thinking they're full.

You come home and guess what?

Dad,

can I have a treat?

It's like,

are you kidding me?

I just got you ice cream.

Like,

I'm full on the ice cream.

Of course,

you gotta be,

no shame,

right?

No shame in a kid's game.

The kid's like,

I had ice cream.

Of course,

I'm gonna ask for more.

You're my dad.

Why should I not think that you want to give more?

There's endless supply with you.

Kids don't ever worry about that.

You notice that?

But we do.

How many times have you not asked for things with the Lord?

Because you're like,

I don't want to ask too much.

I don't want to be this,

that,

or the other.

We need to stop acting like adults when it comes to asking our father.

You need to ask like children.

You need to keep asking.

You think,

oh,

he's blessed me.

I don't want to ask too much.

You know how kids ask.

They don't care about that.

And he wants us to come to him like little children.

You can never exhaust the endless riches of Christ.

The other thing,

you know what else kids do?

Kids hold their parents to their promises,

don't they?

You ever make a promise to your kids,

and then it's like really late,

and you're thinking,

man,

I hope they don't remember.

And then they're just like,

hey,

dad,

you promised.

And I'm just like,

oh,

wow.

Like,

they hold us to our promises,

don't they?

Kids do that.

They don't forget.

You're thinking,

man,

surely they'll forget.

No,

no,

no.

Kids,

they don't forget promises.

But we do.

We forget that Jesus promised.

We forget that our Father promised.

And we don't hold them to his promises.

He wants to be held to his promises.

He's a promise keeping God.

Okay,

so that's the first temptation.

That's the first temptation.

He tempts them in the area of provision.

The area of provision.

Okay?

Next,

verse 5,

Matthew 4.

Then the devil took him to the holy city

and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

and said to him,

if you're the son of God.

Again,

he does it again.

It's relentless.

It's what the devil does.

He just keeps lying.

That's his native tongue.

That's the,

when he speaks,

he speaks his native tongue,

which is lies.

And he questions God to us.

Did God really say that you're the son of God?

Did God really say you're the son?

Here he goes again.

The devil took him to the holy city

and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

and said to him,

if you are the son of God,

throw yourselves down,

for it is written.

Throw yourself down,

for it is written.

You will command his angels concerning you

and on their hands,

they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Jesus said to him again,

it is written,

you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

So what's the temptation here?

Another P word,

protection.

Protection.

He's saying,

hey,

test God's protection.

Does God really have your back?

Is God really going to protect you?

Are you protected by God

or do you got to fend for yourself?

Does God really protect you?

And he says,

throw yourself down,

for it is written.

You know,

test him in this.

Essentially saying,

do you really believe this?

He's testing,

he's pushing.

And oftentimes,

we don't feel protected by God.

We feel like,

because bad circumstances have come our way,

we feel unprotected.

Have you ever felt unprotected in your life?

The devil tempts us to say,

see,

if you were a son,

you wouldn't feel unprotected.

If you were a son,

you wouldn't feel that way.

Now,

it's important to realize

what we are protected from

and what we're not protected from,

because otherwise,

we can get really disillusioned with God unnecessarily

by things that he never promised us

to be protected from.

So,

what are you not protected from?

You're not protected from harm,

suffering,

sickness,

human abandonment,

and the rain that falls on the righteous

and the unrighteous.

Okay,

what's the good news?

No,

this is good.

This is important to know.

We're not some prosperity preaching

word of faith people

are going to tell you

that you're not going to ever have any harm

or suffering

or sickness

or human abandonment

or the rain that falls on the righteous

and the unrighteous.

We're all destined for those things.

We're all equally

sinners before God

and we broke this world

with our sin

and we faced the repercussions

of a broken world.

Okay?

That's a reality.

But,

God has not left us as orphans.

He does offer us protection

from things.

What has he protected us from?

Number one,

you are protected

from God abandonment.

A child is protected

from God abandonment.

Hebrews 13, 5,

I will never leave you

nor forsake you.

Do you ever think,

oh,

I don't know if I can count on God.

I don't know if he'll be with me.

He's going to lead me.

He's going to forsake me.

Or you take sickness.

Or you take hardship

as evidence

when the devil tempts you

and says,

see,

if you were his son,

then he would never

let you get sick.

If you were his son,

then your kid would never

have gotten sick.

If you were his son,

then this would have,

this hard thing

would have never happened to you.

If you were his son,

then this human

would have never abandoned you.

This parent would have

never abandoned you.

Those are things

the devil tempts us to say,

here's evidence

that you're not a son.

But the truth is,

God will never abandon you.

That is the implications

of being in Christ Jesus,

that he will never

leave you or forsake you.

Others will.

Others will.

But you can know

when that happens,

God will never leave you

or forsake you.

You're his child.

If you're protected

from never-ending

trial suffering,

you can know

that when you're in a trial,

it is going to end eventually,

and God will rescue

you from that trial.

2 Timothy 4,

16-18 says,

You can always know

one day,

that same Christ

that we are in,

that gave us our inheritance

in him,

he will return

and he will rescue us

from this present evil,

from this present darkness.

He will rescue us.

You can trust that.

You are protected from that.

Number three,

he'll protect us

from triumph of evil.

Right?

Romans 8, 28 says,

We know that for those

who love God,

all things work together

for good,

for those who are called

according to his purposes.

You can know that

anything that's happening to you,

that God is a sovereign God,

your Father,

who's in control,

is working everything

in your life

for his glory

and your good.

Do you believe that?

Do you believe that?

An orphan says,

No,

this is all just evidence

that I'm not a son.

This is all just evidence

that God's not for me.

This is all just evidence

that God's not with me.

This is all just evidence

that he's abandoned me.

You ever think like that?

You ever talk like that?

Have you ever even spoken

some of that stuff out loud?

We know that for those

who love God,

all things work together

for good.

Do you believe that?

God protects us

from unescapable temptation

beyond our ability.

1 Corinthians 10, 13 says,

No temptation has overtaken you

that is not common to man.

God is faithful,

and he will not let you

be tempted beyond your ability.

But with the temptation,

he will also provide

the way of escape

that you may be able

to endure.

Some people take the fact

that we're being tempted

as an abandonment of God,

as if God is not protecting us.

No.

He's always

not letting you be tempted

beyond your ability.

He's always providing

a way of escape.

And he's always doing this

so that we can endure

the temptation.

Do you believe this?

Are you acting like an orphan?

Are you acting like a slave

to your sin?

See, a slave says,

No.

When temptation comes,

I have to get into it.

Do you believe,

ultimately,

what this is about is,

do you believe that God

is for you?

Romans 8, 31 says,

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

Do you believe

that he's for you?

Again,

orphan thinking says,

God's not for me.

I'm on my own.

I've got to fend for myself.

I've got to protect myself.

A son says,

No, God is for me.

And if God's for me,

anything that's against me,

literally,

can it really be against me?

If God's for me,

what can be against me?

Really?

What can be against me?

Wow,

there's this major opposition

to me right now,

but God's for me.

But God's for me.

But I'm his child.

Everything he has is mine.

He is protecting me.

He's loving me

like a father does.

It's Psalm 23, verse 6.

Psalms 23:6

I love this verse.

The end of Psalm 23.

You know,

this famous chapter in the Bible,

but the last verse to me

is so comforting.

It embodies this,

God is for us, right?

He says,

first of all,

he says,

Surely,

surely,

surely,

goodness and mercy

will follow me

all the days of my life.

Surely.

Do you believe that?

Are you a person

who believes that

no matter what is coming my way,

surely,

goodness is coming?

Or do you have more faith

in bad things coming to you

than goodness and mercy

coming to you?

Unbelief is not

the absence of faith.

It's the absence of faith

in Christ.

It's actually faith

in the opposite direction.

Someone in unbelief

actually has really

great faith.

A person in unbelief

has great faith

that bad things

are going to happen to them.

A person in unbelief

has more faith

in the negative,

has more faith

in bad things

coming to them,

and a person

who has faith in God

has faith that

surely goodness and mercy

will come to them.

It's not that

you don't have

the ability to have faith.

If you're in unbelief,

you already have faith.

It's just in the wrong thing.

Is it really that ridiculous

to think that you can trust

more in God

in his good towards you

than the devil

and his bad for you?

Or the world

and its circumstances

for you?

I mean, come on.

If God is for you,

who can be against you?

Do you believe

that surely,

that it is a sure thing

that goodness and mercy

will follow you

all the days of your life?

What about when things

go bad?

See?

This isn't true.

No, no, no.

That's the fight of faith.

The fight of a son

looks at circumstances

that look bad

and say,

surely all things

are going to be worked out

for the good

of those who love him.

Surely goodness and mercy

will follow me

all the days of my life.

Well, this doesn't look

like goodness and mercy.

So what?

It's coming.

It's coming.

Why?

Because it's sure.

It says right there,

surely goodness and mercy

are following me.

Do you believe that?

Deuteronomy 127,

the Israelites,

they said,

they murmured

in their tents

and said,

because the Lord

hated us,

he has brought us

out of the land of Egypt

to give us

into the hand

of the Amorites

to destroy us.

The Israelites

acted like orphans.

They acted like

a fatherless people.

They said,

oh, the reason God

did this is because

he hates us.

The reason he did this

is because he wants

to destroy us.

Do you realize

that your father

is the king?

Matthew 26, 29,

Jesus says,

I tell you,

I will not drink again

this fruit of the vine

until that day

when I drink it anew

in my father's kingdom.

He said,

my father's kingdom.

If your father's

the king,

you're protected,

right?

He's not just

your father.

Your father

is the king.

He has authority

over all enemies

that you might face.

Do you act and believe

that God the father

is your king?

Or do you believe

that when bad circumstances

come to you,

he's punishing you?

Again,

that's the thought

of an orphan.

Because a true father

doesn't punish his children,

he disciplines his kids.

Do you understand

the difference with this?

It's Hebrews 12,

5 through 10.

I'm reading this in NIV.

It says,

have you completely forgotten

this word of encouragement

that addresses you

as a father,

that addresses you

as a father addresses his son?

It says,

my son,

do not make light

of the Lord's discipline

and do not lose heart

when he rebukes you

because the Lord disciplines

the one he loves

and he chastens everyone

he accepts as his son.

Verse 7,

endure hardship

as discipline.

God is treating you

as his children.

For what children

are not disciplined

by their father?

If you're not disciplined

and everyone

undergoes discipline,

then you are not legitimate,

not true sons

and daughters at all.

Moreover,

we have all had

human fathers

who disciplined us

and we respected them for it.

How much more

should we submit

to the father

of spirits and live?

They disciplined us

for a little while

as they thought best,

but God disciplines us

for our good

in order

that we might share

in his holiness.

How do you view hardship?

Listen,

you are not protected

from hardship.

Hardship will come to you.

And do you receive hardship

as evidence

that God hates you?

Do you receive hardship

as an indictment

against God

to say,

see,

he doesn't care.

See,

I'm not his kid.

See,

he's not protecting me.

See,

he doesn't care about me.

Or do you receive hardship?

Do you receive that

as punishment?

You think,

oh,

see,

God is punishing me.

God punished Jesus

for all your sins

on the cross.

He doesn't need

to punish you.

He punished Jesus

for your sins.

When you're his kids,

he doesn't punish you.

He disciplines you.

Do you receive hardship

as punishment

from an angry God

who doesn't like you,

who's not for you,

and doesn't treat you

as his kids?

Or do you receive hardship

as discipline

from a loving father

and that that hardship

is actually love for you

so that you can share

in his holiness

and so that you

are protected

from the ravages of sin?

There's nothing more loving

than to save someone

from sin.

Sin is the most destructive

thing in a person's life.

Discipline is a loving action

of the father

to save you from sin.

It's just like

if I tell my kids,

hey,

don't go into the road

because we live

on a street

where there's cars

going by really fast

and I say,

don't go by on the road

and then they go

on the road

and I give them

a spanking

for going on the road.

You say,

how could you spank them

for going on the road?

It's like,

they're just little kids.

I'm like,

they don't understand.

They don't understand.

They're too young

to understand.

Are you kidding me?

I don't want them

to understand

that it's dangerous

by having their face

in the grill of a truck.

I want them

to understand

that that's dangerous

by giving them

temporary pain

ahead of time

so that they don't

experience the pain

of getting hit

by a truck.

That's love.

That's kindness.

That spanking

is love for them

so that they experience

pain and realize,

oh,

if I go there,

pain is coming.

But I'm doing it

as a gentle,

loving father

in order

that they can share

in holiness

and not experience

the pain

of their sin,

which in this case

could end up being death

or something really bad.

You see,

this is the same thing

that what God does with us.

He disciplines us

so that we can share

in his holiness.

Sharing in his holiness

is one of the most loving

things he could do.

Keeping us from sin.

Sin is so destructive.

When he brings hardship

in our lives

so we can share

in his holiness,

that's keeping us

from the destruction

of sin.

Do you see this

as love from God the Father?

Or do you think

like an orphan?

Third temptation.

Verse 8.

Again,

the devil took him

to a very high mountain

and showed him

all the kingdoms

of the world

in their glory.

And he said to him,

All these I will give you

if you will fall down

and worship me.

Jesus said to him,

Be gone, Satan,

for it is written.

Notice,

all three times

Jesus said the same thing.

Three beautiful words.

It is written.

When the devil tempts you,

your first response

should be those three words.

It is written.

Okay?

The devil says,

See,

this is why you're not a son.

It is written.

I am his son

in Christ Jesus.

Right?

When he says,

Hey, see,

this is why God's this way.

No, no, no.

It is written.

And then you tell him

how God is.

You talk back to the devil

with three words.

It is written.

This is why you know the Bible.

This is why you dive

into the Bible.

You memorize the Bible

so that you can talk back

to the devil

with God's words,

not your words.

Jesus was a great example of this.

All three times he was tempted.

How did he respond?

It is written.

All of us should have that

in our repertoire.

Right?

He said,

You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.

Then the devil left him.

Behold,

the angels came

and were ministering to him.

Luke 4.13,

the same story.

It says,

No, the devil's not giving up.

He's coming back

for an opportune time.

What's the third temptation?

The third P word.

Power.

Power.

Okay?

He said,

Hey,

I'll give you all the kingdoms

of the world.

If you just fall down

and worship me,

I'll give you all this.

He tempts him with power.

Three temptations.

Right?

Provision,

protection,

power.

We hate feeling powerless,

don't we?

Do you like feeling powerless?

Most people don't.

Right?

We want to feel powerful.

We do everything we can

to avoid being

or feeling weak or powerless.

And oftentimes,

we seek unholy means

to feeling strong and powerful.

And the devil will tempt you with them.

The devil will tempt you with them.

He'll tempt you to pray on the weak.

He'll tempt you to identify

with strengths

and look down on those

we perceive to be weaker.

He'll tempt us to give in

to self-righteous performance

and condescension

on people who don't do it

as good as we do.

Right?

He'll tempt us into

pornographic lust,

which causes us

to feel powerful

because she never says no.

Makes us feel powerful.

Right?

Power is a temptation.

We want to avoid weakness.

And when we want to avoid weakness,

we're vulnerable

to the devil's temptation

to give us power.

But 2 Corinthians 12, 9-10 says,

My grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect

in weakness.

Therefore, I will boast

all the more gladly

of my weaknesses,

so that the power of Christ

may rest upon me.

For the sake of Christ,

then I am content

with weaknesses,

insults,

hardships,

persecutions,

and calamities.

For when I am weak,

then I am strong.

Do you believe that?

An orphan says,

I have no power,

I have no authority,

and so I have to

find power

through other means.

I have to find power.

I mean,

this is the nature of witchcraft.

Witchcraft is finding power

outside of God's power.

And this is why rebellion

is like witchcraft.

Because it's basically saying,

I will not submit

to your authority, God,

and take a weaker,

deferring posture

under the Lord's authority.

I'm going to be my own authority.

I'm going to rebel

against your authority.

It's an unholy seeking of power

when God is actually

wanting to give you power

through weakness.

Through weakness.

Colossians 1,

28-29 says,

Him we proclaim,

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil,

struggling with all His energy

that He powerfully works

within me.

He wants us to find power

somewhere else

by just pulling ourselves up

by our own bootstraps

and just trying harder

and just being a person

who says,

I can do it.

If God is a giving power,

then I've got to do it myself.

This is what the devil

is tempting Him.

Hey, you know what?

If you just follow me,

I'll give you everything you need.

I'll give you all the kingdoms

of the world.

If you just rely

on your own strength,

if you just forgo God's ways,

He's just a power-hungry God anyways.

He doesn't want you

to see your true power

and potential.

You just do what you want to do.

Do it your way.

And when you do it your way,

you're going to feel

a lot more powerful.

This whole Christianity thing

is just a weak religion.

Religion is the opiate

for the masses, right?

It's like,

it's just weakness.

You don't want to feel weak, do you?

You want to feel strong.

You want to feel like

you're in charge.

You want to feel like

you're in control.

Control is always an illusion,

by the way.

It's always an illusion.

But the devil will be

more than happy to tell you

you're in control.

You're not.

You never have.

You never will be.

And guess what?

When you have a loving Father

who is in control,

that's the best news

in the world.

Hey, listen.

You're not in control.

But guess who is?

Your loving Father.

He's taking care of you.

You don't have to worry.

Numbers chapter 13.

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

You have the story.

Remember the story

of the Israelites?

He said he was going

to give them the land

in Numbers 13.

It actually says

in Numbers 13,

1 to 2,

the Lord spoke to Moses

saying,

Send men to spout

the land of Canaan,

which I am giving

to the people of Israel.

The story starts out

with God saying,

Go to the land

which I am giving you.

Okay?

Before he sends them,

he says,

Hey,

he doesn't say,

Go spy it out

and see if it's

a good enough land

and maybe I'll give it to you.

He says,

Go look at the land

that I am giving you.

Like,

important point there.

Right?

He sent him to a land

that he's already promised

I'm going to give to you.

And when he does this,

there's two reports.

Right?

You have Caleb

who says,

Let us go up at once

and occupy it

for we are well able

to overcome it.

Caleb looks at it

and he says,

Hey,

I see they got grape.

There's milk.

There's honey.

There's grapes.

There's clusters of grapes

so big you need two people

to carry it on a pole.

I don't even know

what that looks like