Sermon
Sonship | Rachel Ann
Publisher transcript
Transcript
-
You're listening to a message to go from AX Church.
-
We hope this message will light up your day.
-
Title today's message is sonship. We're still on this journey
-
of discipleship right disciple first this year, and I want
-
to talk a bit about sonship. So let me share
-
a testimony about our son, quite fresh from the oven
-
last last last week, two weeks already, time flies. We
-
know that most of you know that our CPC passa Daniel,
-
his dad passed on, went home to be with the Lord.
-
And so we were there at his the dad's week
-
and at the end of the service, you know, we
-
were going around to pay our last respects and here
-
my son, he's turning six, Elias, my daughter is turning nine, Shena.
-
So Elius comes up to me with his I don't
-
know if you saw him just now. He's holding that cat. Yeah,
-
Chi chow. He was coming to me with his cat,
-
and he wanted to follow me, you know, to pay
-
us respects. So I carried him. We went around and
-
he saw he saw uncle in the casket, and on
-
the way home as a child, as you would expect,
-
started asking questions, you know, asking questions about about death.
-
About life after death. But it led to talking about,
-
you know, how to get to heaven, how to be
-
with Jesus. And you know, they gave both my kids,
-
gave some Sunday school answers and how to get to
-
heaven or read your Bible, pray every day, those kind
-
of answers, which is its true, but there's something very
-
important right at the beginning, you know, first, so I
-
kind of prompted them a little bit and we ended up,
-
you know, talking about, yeah, you need to first believe
-
in Jesus, which they said they did believe that he
-
died for since they said, yes, they believe, you know,
-
believe that they can be saved if they believe in him.
-
But they had to first receive Jesus into their hearts.
-
And so I asked, you know, do you want to
-
receive Jesus and invite Jesus into your heart now? Because
-
have you done it before? He said no, So even
-
if maybe they pay it in exkis and all that,
-
but sometimes he's just saying words. So when I asked,
-
have you invited Jesus into your heart yet? No? Do
-
you want to do so now? Yes? And so I
-
had the privilege to lead my son in the salvation prayer.
-
He followed loud and clear. We're on the way home,
-
driving at night. But yeah, all going to God. Even
-
through it's beautiful, it's beautiful, how even through death we
-
see that there's new life, that's birth. Even through those
-
said you know, situations and circumstances, someone else may find life.
-
And I know he will continue to receive again and again.
-
Our kids, you know, may pray at one point and
-
they will need remind us and they will need to
-
acknowledge Jesus again and again. But it's a start. It's
-
a start. That's the first time he's on his own
-
said yes I want to and not just like follow
-
teachers or following ex kids. So yeah, all going to God. Hallelujah.
-
So I talk about sonship, Okay, the gods where they
-
says that we're no longer slaves your sons. So why
-
don't you throw me some answers on what are the
-
traits of a son or a daughter? Cay and I
-
say son, I mean child? What are some traits? You
-
can go to Nick's lightning apart from that one answer,
-
but what are the traits of a child? Cute? True? Yeah,
-
then nineteen. But yeah, what are the traits? Look alike?
-
Very good? Who's that there? Yes? Yeah, look alike? Right,
-
you look, I don't look like a mom or a
-
dead or mixture or maybe like grandparents, but there will
-
be some resemblance. What else hect like the parents? Yeah,
-
maybe not completely, but there their behaviors, right, and you
-
realize why it is so stubborn A oh yeah, there's
-
me right, But there are different traits and behaviors that
-
our children have that actually it does come from us.
-
Anything else, who are honest? You wonder where did my
-
children do say that? Oh? Suddenly learn a new word
-
that you realize actually you said it last week and
-
your kid heard you. Somethings they speak like us, right,
-
they use I mean, they mimic, especially the younger they are.
-
They just going to pick up any word they thought
-
it was cool, the cool word my mom said, or
-
a big word that my parents said. I don't know
-
what it means, but I'm going to say anyway, they
-
start speaking like us. Right, And we're gonna talk a
-
little bit about DNA because at the end of the day,
-
that's what our children, at least our biological children have.
-
Our DNA right, cannot run from that. It is that.
-
And I asked her this this morning we had evening.
-
Who here study? I don't know bio or s. You
-
know what DNA stands for? I answer, Deity, Joshua know
-
how to pronounce that word? Oh knows the oxy ribo
-
nuclei as it? Okay, very good. Thank You need a
-
students to say that these words are too big ready
-
for me. So that's what DNA is, right. It's a
-
molecule that carries a genetic information or genetic code for
-
basically building our bodies are building who we are. Okay,
-
it develops who we are. Every every living being, every
-
organism has this, has this DNA right, and it looks
-
like that those who have forgotten your bio. Look, it's
-
a double helicks. It's like a twisted letter, and it's
-
found in the nucleus of ourselves. Okay, now, can you
-
just imagine that DNA is like a super secret instruction
-
book that tells your body how to build everything, right
-
from the color your eyes, the color of your hair,
-
how your brain works. When I discovered why our daughter,
-
our first born, was always crying when she was younger,
-
always overstimulated and overwhelmed. It was because she is highly sensitive,
-
and it's apparently an innate trait of twenty percent of population.
-
So in ten in ten people also say hundred people
-
that doing d Yeah, that are highly sensitive and it
-
is how it is innate. So it's in the DNA,
-
and it's how your brain works and processes things slightly
-
different from an average person. Maybe some of you may relate. Yeah,
-
I think differently from everyone else. I think I process
-
more deeply, more sensitive to subtle things. You pay attention
-
to little little things. Yeah, that's that's my my daughter.
-
But DNA, you can't change. It is going to be
-
there for the rest of your life. Yes, she will
-
learn to code better with different things, with changes, with
-
you know, blocking out certain things when you're younger, it's
-
like taking everything. You see more, you hear more than
-
other people, you feel more than other people, but you
-
learn the code. But it's it's still in the DNA.
-
It cannot change that, right, and it makes you uniquely,
-
you uniquely me our DNA. And even as when we
-
look that's that's in the physical, but in a spiritual
-
is in it the same right we have also a
-
DNA a different a different DNA a spiritual DNA. Yeah,
-
praise God where it comes from. And we'll talk through
-
that a little bit, a little bit more. But yeah,
-
it is the secret code that makes us, makes us
-
who we are. You know we are. We are different
-
from the world. Amen, man, So I'm made it easy
-
for us to remember. I try to do this with me,
-
trying to think of like words to make it easy
-
to remember. But since you're talking about sonship and DNA,
-
so my my appoints to you today will be DNA. Okay, DNA.
-
So let's start with the first one. D We're gonna
-
read a verse verse. I don't need to turn their XTV.
-
Let's get to flip your bibles. Can I see your bibles?
-
Yay?
-
Last summer waving their phones. It's okay, can't get as
-
long as you're a Bible there. But we encourage me.
-
We like people to have a physical Bible so we
-
can turn the pages. Nothing like flipping people. Okay. Hebrews
-
Chapter twelve, verse five, two six. If you're there, can
-
give me an amen? All right, And it says, and
-
you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as
-
to sons my son, do not despise the chastening of
-
the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him.
-
For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every
-
son whom he receives. I think I put it on
-
NIV so XTV. You can go to the next slide XV. Yeah,
-
go to the verse the verse God, Yes, that's right,
-
and IV. So he says, And have you completely forgotten
-
the word of encouragement that addresses you as a father
-
addresses his son. It says, my son, do not make
-
light of the Lord's discipline. That's the d there. 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. How many of us there like discipline? Nobody? Okay?
-
How many here are parents? How many of you will
-
never correct your child? Never, just let them do whatever
-
and trust nature to take its cost, and they will
-
one day learn what to do. No, one day get
-
it right. When you're young, just just let them just
-
close what eye? Sometimes you feel like that, love, because
-
it's so tiring to correct them, right, but I think
-
there's no parent here that doesn't correct your child. Those
-
are not parents. I mean you have parents still living
-
under your parents, some still living or yes, some no
-
longer because you are not parents, still getting And how
-
many of you have never been disciplined, never been corrected?
-
I hope not here. I mean some of us may
-
have come from backgrounds where maybe your parents weren't there,
-
so you just never got corrected. But you probably got
-
disciplined by teacher, maybe someone else, another adult, right, But
-
you know it's as humans also we we always it's
-
natural for us to correct the younger, those who do
-
not know better, who are still learning. But sometimes, as
-
human parents, we can do it out of anger. So
-
I can see myself out. We're just so, why you
-
doing that? Why did you get it?
-
Right?
-
And we can discipline out of anger. But oh God,
-
a heavenly father, he disciplines out of love. Right, It's
-
not out of anger, it's out of love. He rebuilds,
-
he corrects, and it's always for a profit. I maybe
-
we read down the if you're still there, he reached
-
up to twelve. If we read down verse seven onwards,
-
it says, if you're in deal chastening. God deals with
-
you as with sons. For what son is there whom
-
my father does not chasten. He chasten just means trained.
-
But if you are without chastening, of which all have
-
become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Or
-
I don't want to be that. Furthermore, we have had
-
human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect.
-
Show me not much more. Readily be in subjection to
-
the father of spirits and live for they. Indeed, for
-
a few days chasing us it seemed best to them.
-
But he for our profit, not his profit, or for
-
our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
-
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present,
-
but painful. Nevertheless, afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of
-
righteousness to those who have been trained by it. So
-
it's to train us. And at the end they want
-
this God want. He wants to transform our character. He
-
wants us to yield fruit off righteousness. Right, isn't that
-
what we want? I mean, I think it's all. It's
-
what all of us want. But sometimes we don't like
-
the journey to get there. We don't like the pain right,
-
the discomfort to get there, but he wants us at
-
the other day to share in his holiness. Amen. You know,
-
some verds might be going through continuous and again I
-
say this, I say this carefully because I don't want
-
us to to confuse discipline and sometimes just the breaking
-
that us Canna spoke about. You know that that one
-
is not so much discipline and rebuke that was that
-
The one is just you know, shaping us and allowing
-
a new anointing to flow that was pasted this message.
-
But if we are continually going through like repeated, repeated hardships,
-
you know, because it could come. This thing could come
-
in various forms. It go come in in our health,
-
you know our health is impacted. It go come in
-
in emotion, emotional hardship. It could be different challenges, financial,
-
you know, different different things we could go through. But
-
if we are continually seeing that and there's no breakthrough
-
for a long time, I wonder if we need to
-
ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Is there something Lord
-
that you're trying to discipline me? Is there something that
-
I need to change? Is there something I need to
-
let go off? Is the pride I need to let
-
go off, right? Is their unforgiveness? Is there something I
-
need to repent from? I think at the end of
-
the day. And sometimes we don't need to ask that
-
question because we don't really want to change. We are
-
creatures of comfort, right, But I see I see that
-
sometimes I do questions, you know, when I see friends,
-
some of my friends that I've known for years, you know,
-
from college days, to see them like go through the
-
same cycle of hardships and challenges continually, like from campus
-
into working, adulthood, into dating, into marriage, into having kids,
-
and it's still there, like it's just never ending. And
-
I sometimes wonder why, why, God, why are they Why
-
can't they get out of this? You know, what is
-
that cycle about? And and it did without reading this
-
and doing this study as also thinking about that, is it?
-
Is it?
-
God is actually trying to discipline, but we don't get it,
-
so we don't learn, So we don't learn, so we
-
keep repeating the same problem. And God's you know, He's
-
constantly disciplining, but we don't recognize that is a correction,
-
That is a chastening, is a training, yeah, and its
-
chasing training is like a think of it as a gym.
-
If we go to the gym, not comfortable. Albert would understand.
-
He comes home with like all kinds of He comes
-
back right and he can't even sit down and Leaeve
-
they got his shoes they cannot get up, or he
-
gets something and he gets a crap. He's in pain
-
every day. But it is that is the chasing is
-
a training too, Yeah, to get what he's he's he's
-
after a world championship. But us don't know. My husband Albert,
-
he is into powerliftings. So he's competed a couple of
-
times and he now holds the record Malaysian record for
-
his age and wait category. So he's gonna represent Malaysia
-
if it's God's hallelu Yeah. If we get raised funds,
-
thank you Jesus, get raised funds to go. Yeah yeah,
-
But it's like that training, right is painful, is uncomfortable,
-
but it makes us better, stronger than we were before.
-
You know. And when I think about his discipline and
-
so is are we maturing as believers or are we
-
still throwing tenttrums like a two year old like a
-
three year old? Right, things happen to us and we're
-
like God doesn't love me anymore, or doesn't love me
-
at all? Lost that lost my friend better? Why his
-
life or her life looks so good? Why why am
-
I going through all this? God doesn't love me, He's
-
not fair, life is unfair or even it's but God's
-
his fault. It is her fault. It's my parents fault.
-
They didn't teach me this. It's my teacher's fault. It's
-
my leader's fault, didn't give me the right advice, it's
-
my pastor's fault. We can very easily, you know, point
-
a finger and try to think of what why did
-
I make this mistake? And God's displining me, But it's
-
not my fault. But we need to be be very
-
careful and really really go to the Father and ask,
-
you know what, what is it? What is it in
-
me that your targeting that you want me to change?
-
And when I wrote this, I just wanna say wives, wives,
-
hear me out. The Holy Spirit recently reminded me, you know,
-
when we meet our creator, when we meet our heavenly
-
Father at the end of this life, we cannot say,
-
is my husband's fault or it's he didn't lead, he
-
didn't leave me well enough, he didn't leave my family
-
well enough because not nice women. We had the expectation,
-
like God, you make him the hat of the family.
-
Make him lead, you know, make him say sorry first,
-
make him do the right thing first, so that I
-
won't live in this uh frustration and anger, you know.
-
And I and I think with Adam and Eve. So
-
this morning we were doing devotion. Teachers exist teachers. We
-
meet in the morning and we do devotion and pray
-
and uh eron. Teacher Aaron was leading in the devotion,
-
so he brought us the passage about Adam and Eve.
-
And we all know the story, right, if took the fruit,
-
gave the fruit to Adam. But when God asks you
-
know what happened is she made me do it? And
-
this made me do it. There's always that pointing your finger.
-
But the day when we meet God, right, there's no
-
more husband, wife, father, mother, dott nothing, It's just us.
-
We are a child of God and we are accountable
-
to him and we can only answer for ourselves. So
-
so last week, after this, last week, your last last week,
-
last week, time is like, yeah, I cannot lose track
-
of time, but I remember it was after homes homes
-
some man of you at homes last year, yes, this
-
week and then the week before, two weeks before, and
-
we talked about warmth, right, warmth. It was about relationships.
-
There's one part about you know, just it will be difficult.
-
You always have people that will step on your toes
-
in church, et cetera. But you're just really forgiveness let go.
-
And so at that session, no, both of us were
-
leading of course our homes, and we talked about, yeah,
-
as we get older, it's easier, it's sort of easier
-
to let things go. You know, people don't get on
-
your nerves as much when you're younger, like feisty and
-
like ah, I'm wanting done my way, you know. And
-
then as you get older, just like chill those are
-
a bit older, not your hat, you're you're usually more
-
chilled as you get older. And then and right after
-
that homes the very next day, what happens, husband and
-
wife have disagreement now right, and my fault, my fault,
-
and and for three days, okay, so Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
-
no talking including Sunday, no Sunday leading in chesh or
-
I wasn't a good day, I wasn't preaching, or I
-
wasn't teaching did worship. Ah ha, you know problem. You
-
are only me my problem, but so the whole time,
-
right and and this is my problem from the time
-
before I got married. I really know that I'm the
-
kind that I avoid confrontation, so I'm silent. If I'm
-
not happy or something, I'm silent. I don't want to
-
talk about it. Usually I can just let it go.
-
Most times I can just let it go. Sometimes it
-
stays there longer. But but yeah, so silent, silent treatment
-
to someone, be silent. And the whole time God is
-
reminding me. Of course we're miserable those few days, right,
-
kids are so miserable extra can key. They don't say anything,
-
but I think they can sense it. And then God
-
was reminding me. Someone preparing this, I mean, this message
-
was already brewing. And God, it's like you think that
-
your kid laugh he did wrong for us. He says
-
sorry first, I don't want to say sorry he's fat.
-
But we we don't realize we are like those kids.
-
We are viture. We are you know, like little children.
-
Who does it first? Who's wrong? But God just says
-
my word says forgive, My word says be humble, be
-
the first to speak up and make it right. And
-
even if wives, even though yes, our expectation is husbands,
-
please lead the way, sometimes God is speaking those then
-
we are too answer to Godla right, we just have
-
to stie take that first step anyway. So yes, just reminder,
-
I mean not saying these onr husband's same same thing.
-
At the at the end of our lives. We cannot
-
blame my wife or so I cannot tell God my
-
wife my wife pulled me down. Cannot Our faith is
-
our own, it's personal, it's just us and God. Amen. Amen,
-
all right. So that is my first d on discipline.
-
It's difficult, difficult, but as sons and daughters of God,
-
we will go through it, and I pray that we
-
will recognize it, recognize it and then learn and sometimes
-
just suck it. Suck it up and just learn from
-
it and do the right thing and mature. Yeah, okay,
-
let's go to the next point. We're going to read
-
another verse now from Luke, a passage from Luke to Luke. Look,
-
chapter six, can we turn there? This is another difficult one,
-
difficult one to do and obey, Okay you there's amen,
-
almost there six Verse thirty five to thirty six. All right,
-
and he says we can read, read along with me,
-
all right, verse thirty five, thirty six. But love your enemies,
-
do good and learn, hoping for nothing in return, and
-
your reward will be great. And you will be sons
-
of the Most High, for He is kind to the
-
unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your father
-
also is merciful. I mean, out of many things. This
-
caught my eye because it explicitly says that you will
-
be sons of the most High when you love your enemies.
-
Ah Hi, yeah, yea so difficult. I mean God is
-
kind to even the ungrateful and evil. As we say, right,
-
it rains on the both the good and the evil.
-
Good or so we ASO suffer the evil. Also they
-
still prosper. Why no, But more than anything, I when
-
I think about this verse and all love your enemies,
-
I think about Jesus. Right. You don't need to turn there.
-
But in Louke twenty three, verse thirty four, Jesus say
-
his father forgive them, forgive them, for they know not
-
what they do. And these are the very people that
-
he loved, he cared for, he healed them, he taught them,
-
and they were all, you know, just a few days
-
before that, he they were worshiping him, right, putting palm
-
leaves and putting their clothes and saying, all hell son
-
of David. And they were, you know, they were just
-
celebrating him. And then when they found out he he's
-
not going to overthrow the Roman Empire, cross if I am.
-
You know, it just changed one hundred eighty degrees. It's
-
now you think about it, it's so bizarre. But but
-
that's what happened. And I think that's sometimes that happens
-
to us as well. Right, we think when God is
-
blessing us, we want They were like, oh, worship you Lord,
-
and then when things turn ugly, like nope, God, you
-
don't love me, and retrotrums. But yeah, but I think
-
about Jesus and he he said forgive them, even when
-
they were torturing him, they were shaming him. He was
-
in so much pain. And I'm thinking, you know, he
-
can say I forgive them, and we somethimes can say God,
-
I forgive that person that's hurting me. But to say God,
-
you so forgive them this next level because what I
-
really want to say is God, I forgive them. So
-
my conscious clear, my heart clear. But got you hold
-
that person accountable. You be my you take revenge for me.
-
You know sometimes we can have those thoughts at the
-
back of my mind. But to actually say, you know, Father,
-
you forgive them as well. They don't know, they don't
-
know better, I think that's really next level. You know,
-
most of us, or some of us, maybe all of
-
us are I don't think. I don't think anyone has
-
never experienced it, unless maybe you're quite young, but all
-
of us have experienced before that one person that's just
-
on our backs, the one person that just wants to
-
see us fail. Can we love them, let's they want
-
to step back? Can we forgive them? Let's forgive them first,
-
not asking to go all out and like buy gives
-
and take them out for dinner, and you know, might
-
just be awkward or seem like you're trying to get
-
something out of them. But maybe we need to start
-
off by just praying for that person, or treat the
-
person with respect, even though it doesn't feel like they
-
deserve it. I think most importantly, see them through the
-
eyes of Jesus. If we only you know, see through
-
Jesus eyes, he sees he sees all these people and
-
us sometimes as lost sheep. You know, we don't they
-
don't know better, they don't have someone to follow show
-
them the right way. But it may be even harder
-
to forgive believers for me, I think, because we think
-
that they should know better, they should know it. I mean,
-
forgive them for they don't know what they do. They
-
should know. But we can't assume. We can't assume you
-
would think that the Jews also knew knew it and
-
wouldn't have treated Jesus that way because everything was prophesied already.
-
They had all got the Torah and all the prophecies
-
of Isaiah, et cetera. But they still missed it. They
-
still missed it. So we can't, you know, I think
-
we can't assume that everyone a fellow believer, would know better.
-
We just got a yeah, see them through Jesus, isa
-
I've got a I shared a story as well this
-
morning about my workplace when some some some of you
-
know a bit of background. Uh, two three years back,
-
my workplace was really a toxic environment. We had these
-
two leaders that were making it very very uncomfortable and
-
very ugly. But there were three of them. Three of
-
them that made a lot of our lives difficult, and
-
especially mine, and long story shorts of you. I shared
-
the testimony, but two of them were removed right our
-
director and CEO and everyone came down and two of
-
them were asked to leave the business, but one remain
-
and ask at that time was Rachel, you need to
-
step up and they need to work closely with this,
-
with this other guy to bring you know, Malaysia back
-
to where it needs to be. My first thought is like,
-
oh my goodness, this guy has been making my life
-
difficult and I've been like so annoyed and just angry
-
at it. You know, how he's how whatever he's been
-
doing or has been saying, how he conducts himself, et cetera.
-
But and and actually, in my position, I probably could
-
have just said no, I want this guy out so
-
and they would they would sort of have to listen
-
to me because they put him in charge. Then my decision.
-
But I didn't, and I yeah, I just I just
-
rested in the Lord and surrendered to him and say, God,
-
if you, if this is what you're allowed to happen,
-
if I have to work with this person, help me
-
to do it well, Help me to just build build
-
a good working relationship with him. So yeah, what I did.
-
Of course, it started off awkward, like okay, and I
-
do have one on ones and you know, start talking
-
to his person before these like can't see I dole
-
eye and don't agree with anything he does. But now
-
we sat down and and again as he shot, just
-
over a couple of months, we built a very good
-
working relationship. I had other people who were still asking me,
-
can I trust? Can I trust this person? I say,
-
now I can. I can because I I even through
-
through prayer. Getting it takes a lot of prayer and
-
asking God help me help me see past you know,
-
whatever happened, and see past the outward outward countenance or
-
how because this person can can look quite he don't
-
think he you know, a bit a big cocky, a
-
bit proud, a bit too sure of himself. But God
-
allowed me to see past that and see who he
-
really was, and we really built a good, working, professional,
-
working relationship even until the time that he left. You know,
-
it was a good there's a trust in rebuilding the
-
team after all that had happened, all the toxicity. Okay,
-
but yeah, so not I know, not all stories were
-
end that way. Okay, some won't. But on our part,
-
can we, you know, just love our enemies, not with
-
our own love, because it's we can't do it on
-
our own human definitely possible. But with God, all things
-
are possible. And that's what he calls us. We'll be
-
sons of the Most High. Amen, a man. So the
-
N is for YEA actually think that a bit enemies? Okay,
-
sounds like n Let's go to my third point. A.
-
Let's turn to Romans. Let's go to Romans chapter eight,
-
fourteen to seventeen. And I think we're reading NKJV as
-
well as NLT just to get some of those keywords are.
-
And when there some still turning, give you ten seconds.
-
Romans chapter eight, verse fourteen to seveneen. All right, ready,
-
verse fourteen. For as many as are led by the
-
Spirit of God, these are signs of God. For you
-
did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
-
but you receive the spirit of adoption, by whom we
-
cry out ah bah. Father. The Spirit himself bears witness
-
with our spirit that we are children of God. And
-
if children, then heirs heirs of God and joined heirs
-
with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, then we
-
may also be glorified together. Amen, And can we read
-
the NLT version next light, For all who are led
-
by the spirit of God are children of God. So
-
you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead,
-
you receive God's spirit when he adopted you as his
-
own children. Now we call him Abah Father, for his
-
spirit joints with our spirit to affirm that we are
-
God's children. And since we are his children, we are
-
his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs
-
of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory,
-
we must also share his suffering. Amen. I pray that
-
we are all led by the spirit. Those who are
-
led by the spirit are sons of God. Pray we're
-
not led by our own desires, our ones, by wordy,
-
comfort worthy possessions. And definitely, I pray that none of
-
us are led by fear. It's very easy to be
-
led by fear all the decisions that we make. But
-
God's what he says, and hope we receive it. We
-
receive God's spirit. Might say it's not a spirit of fear,
-
but the spirit of God. And through that spirit he
-
adopted us as his own, his very own children, and
-
now we call him our our father. You know, if
-
we think about aphans and the life that they will live,
-
if they just were never taken into a home and
-
adopted as someone's own, very own children, life would be
-
so different. And for us spiritually is like that as well.
-
Right if we if God never took us in, we'll
-
be we'll be offans, we'll be lost, we'll be you know,
-
we'll be out in the streets. But he took us
-
in has his very own to be brothers and sisters
-
of Christ. You know, Christ was that first son, and
-
now we are the other children. And Jesus, even Jesus,
-
he led the way he called you know, it was
-
in the garden of gast Samone Jesus called the Heavenly
-
Father Abbah Abba Father, and now we also we can
-
call him Abba as well. And it's not just you know,
-
it's it's a term of intimacy, intimacy. It's not just
-
calling God God, you know, who's so far away, God Almighty.
-
It's not even just father. Father. Sounds very formal, right,
-
but in today's terms, it will be like calling daddy, daddy, daddy,
-
God or Papa you know, or whatever enduring name that
-
you call your dads. That's what Abbah is, you know.
-
The Hebrews used to call it ABBA's intimate. It's personal. Yeah.
-
And for those of us who maybe didn't have a
-
very good relationship with our dads or you know, a
-
very intimate one, I just pray that the Holy Spirit
-
minister to you today, because our heavenly Father and our
-
Bah Father is different, and I pray you all will
-
experience that whether or not your earthly father, you know,
-
what's the same or was the reflection of our other father.
-
I pray that you will experience he's who he really is,
-
how good our Aurba father is. Amen. Okay, if I
-
moved down to verse twenty nine. Still in Romans eight,
-
verse twenty nine says for whom he founded you, he
-
also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, right,
-
his son who's his son, Jesus, that he might be
-
the first born among many brethren. So Jesus was the firstborn,
-
first child. And then the rest of us were adopted
-
into God's family. And now we are all those brothers
-
and sisters who are the rest of the children and
-
he chose us. You know, it says he chose us
-
to become like his son, to be the image of
-
his son. And it doesn't happen overnight. Right, the last
-
time I spoke, I spoke about the journey of discipleship.
-
I think that was my title. It's a journey to
-
become more and more like Jesus, to start to look
-
like the Sun. And it comes from imitating, comes from learning,
-
comes from studying.
-
You know.
-
It's yeah, we we just have you know why. Some
-
have be asking me, why why do we need discipleship,
-
But it's it's really this, this whole year, that is
-
our focus. You know. We want we want everyone to
-
just learn to imitate, to be trained to look more
-
like the Son, to look more like Jesus. That's as simple,
-
there's the simplest explanation I think we can give on discipleship.
-
It's just to look more and more like Jesus, because
-
that's what God has called us to be, to be
-
in the image of his son. Right, and if we
-
turn to a similar verse that talks about adoption, it
-
turned with me to Galatiansy. For those who finally had
-
to flip your bibles, just remember go eat popcorn. Then
-
remember galicious Ephesians Philippines collisions. Okay, ge pc go eat popcorn? Okay,
-
Galicians Chapter for one, verse one to seven. I can't
-
remember who taught me that. Maybe in Sunday Schoolersson or youth?
-
All right, anyone there?
-
Yeah?
-
Cool? What's one says? Now? I say that the air,
-
as long as he is a child, does not differ
-
at all from a slave, though he is master of all,
-
but it's under guardians and stewarts until the time appointed
-
by the Father. Even so, we, when we were children,
-
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But
-
when the fullness of the time had come, got sent
-
forth his son, born off a woman born under the law,
-
to redeem those who were under the law. That's us
-
right that we might receive the adoption as sons. And
-
because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit
-
of his son into your hearts, crying out ah bah, Father,
-
Therefore you are no longer slaved. Someone say amen, But
-
a son, and if a son, then an heir of
-
God through Christ. Friends, I don't know how much you
-
comprehend of death, that we are and one way no
-
longer slave. And we are son. God causes his children,
-
and we are an heir of God. God's whole inheritance.
-
Everything that belongs to him is ours. That's what he's saying, right,
-
and it's through Christ. But it's interesting how this passage
-
points us back to as long as the heir is
-
a child, he's no different than a slave. Why because
-
and and understood this because I'm recently like trying to
-
complete right think my will, you know, been procrastinating for
-
so long, but right thing, I will. And so if
-
your child is a minor, I think you call it minor.
-
If we were to pass away early and our kids
-
are still kids, would the would they get the full inheritance?
-
No?
-
Right, they would first need to be under guardians. We
-
need to appoint guardians to take care of them, and
-
then when they're older, then they will get the inheritance.
-
And so I understood, like, wow, yeah, even in our
-
spiritual life, if we are still kids, not talking about
-
childlike faith, that this is like means your childish immature.
-
We're still not mature believers. Then we don't get to
-
enjoy the fullness or the entirety of of the inheritance.
-
You know, it's yeah, it's always parallels with with this
-
life and our spiritual life. And so you know, God's
-
glory why we talk about his inheritance is glory, his
-
his power, his influence, his victory because ultimately we know
-
we inherit eternal life. But while we're on earth, this
-
is all these things that God wants us to already
-
own and inherit. But we need to mature, right, We
-
still need to mature to receive that fullness because as
-
a child, we cannot we can't handle it. If we're
-
still taking milk, we can't handle it, you know, we
-
can't take one, can't get that inheritance. So yeah, Church,
-
then turn to someone and say grow up. Turns to
-
another friends saying that's mature in our faith. Amen? Amen? Yeah, Church,
-
God just says so much for us. Not let's not
-
just do do Church have no power? You know, day
-
in day out our lives and continue struggling with things. No, God,
-
God wants us to take hold, take hold of what
-
He's promised us. I mean, she's drawing to an end. Really,
-
you're gonna turn to one more? One more passage in
-
John John chapter eight, The Apostle, John chapter eight, verse
-
thirty four to thirty six. Yeah, are we there? And
-
Jesus unswer them most assuredly. I say to you, whoever
-
commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave
-
does not abide in the house forever, but a son
-
abides forever. Therefore, the Son makes you free. You shall
-
be free. Indeed, Amen, I declare that for all of
-
us we are free. Indeed, we are no longer slaves. Amen,
-
And we abide. You know, I caught this again because
-
I'm a right a abide. So it stood out to me.
-
The Son abides in the house forever. We are those sons,
-
We are those children. We abiding in God's house. Abiding
-
means to dwell, to remain, to continue on. And how
-
many els feel she feel like we are abiding in
-
God's house. Yes, we will have an eternal home in
-
heaven one day. Our father's house has many mentions, Amen,
-
many mentions for us. But even while on earth, this
-
is God's house, this is our Father's house. And even
-
Jesus as a child, he he told his parents, right,
-
why are you looking for me? Of course I would
-
be in my Father's house. Even then he wanted, he
-
always wanted to be in God's house. In those day
-
is the temple we have our church. How many of
-
us are really planted here? Our roots go deep. It's
-
not just okay, it's a weekend thing. It's a routine,
-
you know, just a checklist. No, it's can our roots
-
really go deep in the Father's house? And I pray
-
to all of us you know, from us, so our
-
next generation will continue to really just dwell in God's house.
-
This is where our roots, you knows, our roots go deep,
-
and then we bear much fruit. And who is the
-
fruit for? For those outside outside the four walls right
-
for them to enjoy the fruit, because we also enjoy
-
each other's fruitfulness in Christ. But those that don't know Him,
-
they want to We want them to taste and see,
-
taste and see that our God is good.
-
We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more
-
information on our church, please visit acts Church do RG.
-
We are all also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're
-
believing that this week is going to be a good week,
-
a hit for you. God bless