Importance

Review: Cardinal Blessings and the Threshold of Justification

0:00 For a considerable length of time, we have been examining in our Lord's Day morning series of studies some of the fundamental doctrines of the historic Christian faith under the general title of a series, Here We Stand. In the course of this examination, we have spent the majority of our time considering the amazing salvation which we receive and as the people of God which we seek to proclaim. Having considered the subjects of this salvation, the central figure in this salvation, we have

0:45 for a number of months been contemplating the cardinal blessings of this salvation. We have seen in the scriptures that all of the blessings of God's salvation come within one fixed orbit, namely that of union with Christ. And in this connection, Ephesians 1-3 is a pivotal text in which we read, God hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. But not only do the scriptures teach us that all of these blessings have a common orbit, they also teach us that there is an order in which those blessings are conferred upon its recipients.

1:34 We looked at the threshold blessings. Whenever you find the biblical term calling, and when you confront the biblical concept of regeneration or the new birth, you are encountering those blessings which come to us on the threshold of entrance into the kingdom of God. They form, as it were, the transition out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God's dear Son. The moment we pass over that threshold, certain blessings are immediately conferred upon us.

2:10 The first of those is justification. The second we begin to consider this morning, adoption. The third is sanctification begun. Then there are blessings that attend us all along the way, and some that await the consummation.

2:27 Well, we have spent a number of months of Lord's Day mornings examining that fundamental blessing that is given to us the moment we are effectually called into union with Jesus Christ, the blessing of justifying grace, that act of God's free grace in which He freely pardons all of our sins, in which He henceforth accounts and treats our persons as righteous in His sight, A blessing conferred not for anything done by us or wrought in us, but solely for the obedience and death of Jesus Christ, imputed to us and received by faith alone.

3:17 We have contemplated that great blessing in which in a real sense the sentence of the last day of judgment is brought into time so that God says there is therefore now at the present time no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Now, could any blessing be higher, more glorious, more elevating than to have the judge of the universe declare us completely pardoned of all our sins, to declare us as standing before his law perfectly righteous? Could any blessing be greater than that of the forgiveness of all of our sins,

Adoption as a Higher Blessing Than Justification

4:05 the meeting of the demands of all the standard of the holy law, the title to everlasting life? I ask the question, could any blessing from God be greater than this? Well, the answer of holy scripture is, yes, there is a blessing, even more lofty, more elevated, more glorious, more amazing than even the blessing of justifying grace. And that pinnacle of blessing conferred upon sinners is none other than the blessing of God's adopting mercy.

4:47 to show how it is a more elevated, a more glorious blessing and privilege than even that of justification. Think with me in terms of a human illustration. It has its holes and its weak points, but the overall thrust, I trust, will help. You children, I think you can follow this, so you gird up the loins of your mind and think with pastor, will you?

5:11 Imagine a young man brought up in a home where there was no love. His father was the very epitome He was the very essence The very embodiment of all that was harsh and cruel and dishonest and mean He was a criminal Fought nothing of stealing, of lying He was everything that you'd conceive a wicked man to be Well, he brought up his son to be just like him The son was brought up with a foul mouth Respected no one's authority Respected no one's property No one's name, no one's virtue, no one's dignity. And so he, as he becomes an adult, becomes a chronic criminal. He's made his way through the juvenile courts, and when he becomes an adult,

5:58 he's hardly blown out the candles on his 18th birthday but what he's booked and has a record.

6:06 And one day he's brought before the judge for one of his crimes, and the accumulated judgment of the court for these crimes is that he must pay out thousands of dollars in reparations, in restitution for thievery, and that he is sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The court declares him guilty, worthy of punishment. And as he is about to be sentenced, the judge's son, a young man brought up from his infancy to love the law, to keep the law, who has never so much as even known a visit to the juvenile counselor. In his community and in his home, he's been the embodiment of one who embraced authority,

6:52 respected law, honored fellow boys and girls, and now as he's a young man, honoring his fellow men and women in society. The judge's son comes forth and says to the judge, Sir, addressing him in the court, I commit myself to undertake to liquidate all that the court has assessed as this amount owed by this criminal. I will liquidate all of his debts to justice in terms of the fines that have been levied upon him. And furthermore, sir, I want the sentence of fifteen years in prison that is passed upon him to pass upon me.

7:38 And I will go into prison in his stead and in his behalf, so that he may go out into society not just a pardoned criminal, but be treated just as I have been treated, respected and honored in my person as one who has loved and kept the law. Now, if such a thing were possible, it would be a faint picture of justification. him. The Lord Jesus, the well-beloved Son of the Father, has come into the court of heaven and said to us who are of our Father the devil, whose lust it is our will to do, whose ways we have learned, he says, Father, I will liquidate all the debts. By my death upon the cross

8:28 I will pay the last farthing of everything that is assessed by the court of heaven. and furthermore I will go to the prison house in their behalf. I will pay what they justly deserve and by his life of obedience and obedience even unto death and by his death upon the cross Christ has in our room instead fully met all the demands of the law so that we may not just be pardoned criminals but treated by God with all the respect of those who had fully kept His law. For in the person of His Son, our debts are discharged, and we have kept the law.

9:17 Oh, you say, what could be more glorious than that? Well, think of this fellow. Who is his father? Well, his father is still that rotten, loveless, foul man.

9:29 He has no place to call home that is fitting for his new standing.

9:38 But now suppose the judge, after the disposition of the court is announced, that the judge's own well-beloved son will liquidate all the debts and go to prison in the room instead of this guilty criminal. The judge himself goes to the court, not the criminal court, but the court that handles adoption matters. And there he takes out papers to adopt that pardoned criminal and to take him into his own home, give him his own name, give him access to his kitchen, to his fridge, to his parlor, to his living room, And furthermore, to make out his will in such a way that that adopted son becomes heir of all that he possesses.

10:32 Now, is that relationship higher, more glorious, more lofty than the previous? Why, every one of you who's followed me at all is at least inwardly and several of you outwardly nodding your head in assent. Yes, it is. Well, with some glaring deficiencies in the illustration, that's at least a shadowy outline of the relationship of justification and adoption.

11:01 You see, in justification, we are still dealing with God as a judge. And it's wonderful when the judge of the universe pardons and declares us righteous and treats us as though we had fully kept the law. But when He opens His heart and gives us His very name, takes us into His family, and then it's stupendous, and if Scripture didn't say it, it would sound like wishful thinking, He makes us co-heirs with His own well-beloved Son, so that the Scripture says we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Such is the grace of adoption.

Setting the Task: The Importance of Adoption

11:50 And it's that grace of adoption to which we direct our attention this morning, and God willing, for probably four or five Lord's Day mornings. It's a warm morning. The attention span is less in spite of all your efforts. So I want to do just one thing this morning and maybe I only get half of the one thing done I want to simply underscore from the Scriptures the importance of this grace of adoption in the scope of redemption

Adoption in the Eternal Purpose of God (Ephesians 1)

12:25 One purpose in our study this morning, having credited as I trust your appetite by demonstrating that adoption is a higher and more glorious spiritual privilege than even justification, now I want you to take your Bibles in hand with me and see what the Scriptures say concerning the place of adoption in the entire scope of redemption. First of all, let us consider adoption in the eternal purpose of God. Turn please to Ephesians chapter 1.

13:05 And I remind you now that the letter to the Ephesians was just that. It was not a theological dissertation written in partial fulfillment of Paul's requirements for a Ph.D., that is, a doctor in theology, or a Ph.D.

13:24 It was a letter written to first century Christians. And because not many mighty, not many noble are called, it was a congregation of Christians or congregations of Christians in the area of Ephesus, made up of slaves, men of the artisan class, a few what we would call professional people, but people made of the stuff of which you and I are made. And Paul writes to them in these opening words, verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,

14:11 that we should be holy and without blemish before him, in love having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Now it is in this section of Ephesians that the Apostle Paul, by the guidance of the Spirit, takes the Ephesian Christians by the hand, as it were, and says, now look, every spiritual blessing that is yours is yours because God graciously designed it to be yours and it comes to you in Jesus Christ.

14:58 And it's as though the Ephesians say, all right, Paul, we've gotten the message. Every blessing is ours in Christ. What are those blessings? He says, I'll start with the fountainhead of all those blessings.

15:11 And he takes them by the hand, as it were, into the mists and into the mystery of the eternal mind and purpose of God. Now remember, he's doing this with slaves. artisans. And later on he knows he's even writing to children. So he's saying to think of eternity and the mystery of eternal purpose is not for theologians alone. It is for all the people of God. And so he takes them back into that glorious mystery of God's electing purpose. Now notice the connection of verses 4 and 5. Even as he chose us in him that we should be holy, having forordained

16:00 us unto adoption as sons. In other words, there is this close connection between election unto holiness and predestination or foreordination unto adoption. And the connection is this. Because he foreordained us unto adoption, he elected us unto holiness. Having stated that he chose us in him, he goes on to say that even the electing choice unto holiness had something lying behind it, and behind it was his predestinating or foreordaining us, or literally marking

16:50 us out unto sonship. For you see, as we heard in the previous hour, if he has marked out a people unto sonship, They must not only have the status of sons and be legally adopted, they must share the nature of the family likeness. And so if He marked us out unto sonship, He likewise elected us unto holiness. Or in the language of Romans 8, whom He foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son.

17:25 So according to this passage, when we trace our salvation back as far as the Holy Ghost will allow us to trace it, standing central to the purpose of God is the grace of adoption.

17:44 Adoption was the pinnacle blessing conceived in the mind and heart of God in eternity. Now, obviously, we could not be adopted while the demands of the law were still unmet. The judge cannot take that young man who's a criminal into his home until the demands of the court are settled. But you see, our God is saying in this passage, every other blessing, calling, regeneration, justification has as its ultimate end that we should enjoy the privileges of being the adopted sons and daughters of the Almighty.

18:26 And it is here in this passage that the apostle uses a technical term found five times in his writings in the New Testament, which literally means to place as a son. It's a compound word, a form of the verb to place, and the word which means son. So it means to place as a son. He predestinated us unto adoption of sons.

18:54 And then notice the three prepositional phrases. Look at them. He foreordained us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself according to the good pleasure of his will. so that in eternity, as God purposed that we should know the privileges of adoption, they would be privileges that could come to us only through Christ, the Anointed One.

19:26 They would be privileges that result in our being brought into the most intimate communion with God Himself. It is through Christ unto Himself. And when we ask, Lord, why me? He says, according to the good pleasure of His will.

19:47 You want enough to meditate for the rest of the afternoon? Just take that little verse. Meditate upon the pinnacle privilege of adoption. The three prepositional phrases through Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

20:03 What are we examining then as we seek to unpack the blessed doctrine of adoption? why we are examining this great privilege, that is, the pinnacle privilege to which we were marked out in the predestinating, electing love and purpose of the Almighty. We're not dealing now with the nature of adoption, the privileges of adoption. I'm trying to demonstrate one thing, the centrality, the importance of adoption, first of all, in the eternal purpose of God.

Adoption in the Temporal Activity of Christ (Galatians 4)

20:36 Secondly, consider adoption in the temporal activity of Christ. Since the adoption purposed could only be effected through Christ, that is, the anointed Messiah, there had to be a time when He would actually appear as the enfleshed Jehovah. Now, when the Lord Jesus came, that's why I use the term the temporal activity of Christ, When he came in space and time, what place did adoption have in the whole motive for his coming? When he came and actually lived and died, what place did adoption have in the whole work of Christ?

21:21 Turn, please, to a second pivotal passage, Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. beginning with verse 5, verse 4. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

21:59 In verse 4, the apostle, first of all, underscores the activity of God in the sending of his Son. The coming of Christ was no afterthought. It was no independent activity. Again and again our Lord affirms, I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

22:21 He was conscious of his sentness. The Apostle Paul picks up that thread of thought and says, When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son. In what condition? Born of a woman, that is a true human birth.

22:40 And then he points to the condition. Born under the law. He places himself in a voluntary relationship of submission to the very law which he himself, as the great lawgiver both articulates and upholds, but he places himself under that law. Then you have two clauses of purpose. Why did this come to pass? Why did God send him? And precisely at the fullness of times. Why born of a woman? Why born under the law? He's going to tell us in verse 5. Two purposes. That he might redeem them that were under the law. Christ came in the precise condition in which he came in order to buy back unto God those that have been sold to

23:28 the slavery of sin. The concept of redemption is to buy back at a price. Sometimes the emphasis falls upon releasing or bringing out with power, but here in this passage it is to buy with a price. Well, what was the great end of that purchase, we are told?

23:49 In order that we might receive the adoption of sons. In other words, in all of his agony, in all of his humiliation, in all of the mysteries of Gethsemane and Golgotha, Amidst all of that which blinds us by its holy brilliance when we draw near to the cross and to the open tomb there was this great purpose of God in the history of redemption that all of the people of God those who were his people under the old covenant those who would become his under the new that they might enjoy nothing less than being placed as sons.

24:39 What place then does adoption have in the temporal activity of Christ? This text says that it was the procuring of this privilege that was the pulsing motivation in all that Christ did as the Redeemer of sinners. Now if bringing to pass this privilege was the great end for which he was enfleshed in Mary's womb The great end for which he lived and suffered and groaned and bled and died and rose again Then do you see the criminality of being ignorant of this blessing? Do you see the criminality of not enjoying this blessing as it is extended to us in Christ?

Adoption in the Initial Application of Salvation (John 1)

25:28 It is a despising of the very end for which He came. For he was born of a woman under the law to redeem in order that we might receive nothing less than being placed in the position of sons. Well, let us hurry on now, having seen the importance of adoption in the eternal purpose of God, in the temporal activity of Christ. Now, thirdly, adoption in the initial application of salvation.

26:06 Adoption in the initial application of salvation. As surely as there was a point in time when the Savior became incarnate, a point in time when He died and rose again, So there is a point in time when the Spirit applies with power the salvation purchased by Christ. We may not know that precise time, for the Scripture says the ways of the Spirit are like the wind. But from God's perspective, there is a precise time when He applies with power the salvation purchased by Christ.

26:43 As we've seen, all who are called and regenerated are brought to repentance and faith. Now, here's the question. When we repent and believe, and in believing we embrace, we receive the offered Savior, what place does adoption have in that embrace of faith? Well, if you'll turn now to another key passage on adoption, John's Gospel, chapter 1.

27:11 we will notice that John underscores adoption as the first and greatest spiritual privilege that comes to those who embrace the Savior.

27:25 You remember, those of you familiar with the opening words of John, he asserts that Christ, the incarnate Word, is indeed the eternal Word with God, God Himself. This is the one who came into the world by way of incarnation. Now verse 11. He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not.

27:54 The basic response of the Jewish nation was unbelief. Not the pervasive or the exclusive, but the basic response was unbelief. If he came to his own, they that were his own received him not. But, verse 12, as many as received him, to them gave he, the old author I says, the power.

28:17 It should be translated right. He gave the right to become, notice now, not just pardoned criminals, not just accepted before the law, but he gave them the right to become children of God. Even to them that believe on his name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Now what is John telling us?

28:45 He is telling us that in the initial application of salvation, this matter of adoption stands foremost and central. When by the divine begetting, verse 13, the indisposition of the carnal mind is overcome, the insensitivity and impenitence of the human heart is overcome, the blindness to the glory of Christ is overcome in regeneration and in calling, verse 13, the first conscious act of the soul quickened to life is to see a desirableness, a beauty, a suitableness in Jesus Christ. So as He is offered in the gospel freely, fully, as the Savior of sinners,

29:37 the sinner thus quickened to life embraces Him, receives Him. Now, some of you don't like the term accept Him, but I'm sorry. In the original language, the word accept would be a legitimate translation of the Greek word to receive. Now, I know for a lot of us the term accepting Christ has a lot of negative connotations.

29:57 But don't throw the bathwater out with the baby out with the bathwater. Throw out the bathwater, keep the baby. And this text says, as many as accepted him, received him, embraced him, To them gave he the right, exousia Not the power, dunamis, ability to do But the right to do, the authority to do He gave them the right to become nothing less than what? The children of God And so in the initial application of salvation The principal privilege of the new covenant is that immediately we become the full-grown sons of God in our status in the family of God.

30:48 In the old covenant, Paul says, even believers were kept, as it were, in a period of tutelage. This is the teaching of Galatians 3 and 4. They were kept, as it were, in that stage of infancy, before they would come into the possession of all that was legally theirs. But he says, now when we embrace the Savior, we come into the kingdom as full-grown sons with all the privileges of adoption.

31:20 And so, you see, the importance of this doctrine is underscored by John. For in the initial application of salvation, Our great privilege is to become immediately the sons and daughters of God. That's why Paul in Galatians 3.26 says, Now ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of Adoption Witnessing to Sonship

31:46 Now this is so great a privilege that only God who gives it can enable us to understand it and to attest to the reality that we have it. May I repeat that? This is so great a privilege that only the God who gives it can attest to it in our hearts and give us the understanding of it and the appreciation of it. Why do I say that?

32:13 For the simple reason that Paul goes on in Galatians chapter 4 and says this. Maybe you wonder why I stopped short of verse 6. There was a reason, and the reason was holding off till now. Christ came to do what?

32:29 To redeem us, verse 5 In order that we might receive the adoption as sons And, now notice Because you are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts Crying Abba Which is the Aramaic word for Father Abba Father You see what he is saying? because God has placed you in the position of sons. He has granted you the spirit of sonship so that you might be enabled to know and enjoy the privileges of what He's made you. And without the Holy Ghost, we can neither fathom nor enjoy that great privilege.

33:13 It's too far beyond us. It sounds too dreamy, too ethereal. How can the Holy God of the universe take a rebel sinner such as the likes of us, and give us the status of sons, make us co-heirs with His own well-beloved. That's beyond us.

33:34 But the Holy Ghost has been given to illuminate our minds concerning that great privilege, and then actually to condition our hearts to enjoy it, and to approach God in the full awareness of it.

33:52 That's the teaching of Romans 8, is it not?

34:00 We considered it earlier today, and so often in the providence of God there is a dovetailing. It has been in recent months, particularly as we've been in Romans chapter 8. The apostle has been asserting our sonship. Now he says in verse 15, ye receive not the spirit of bondage again unto fear, but ye receive the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

34:28 The Spirit himself beareth witness not to our spirits, but with our spirit that we are the children of God. And as Mr. Garlington said, no man can have assurance without that twofold witness. Our spirits tell us that we are the children of God.

34:45 The Scripture says he that believes, he that receives, is given the right to become a child of God. And believing that promise, our spirits tell us, you are a child of God. The Word of God is faithful. Then there is the testimony of the Holy Spirit with our spirits brought in alongside as a joint witness.

Adoption in the Final Application of Salvation (Romans 8, 1 John 3)

35:10 So at the mouth of two witnesses, my sonship is confirmed. Oh, how central is the doctrine of adoption, for in the initial application of salvation, this pinnacle privilege is conferred immediately. And the sooner the child of God begins to enjoy it, he will grow by leaps and bounds in the confidence of his acceptance. And then finally, notice the place of adoption in the final application of salvation.

35:50 You say, man, if we have the status of sons now, and we have the Spirit giving us to understand the glory of the sonship, giving us the Spirit of sons and daughters so that we can not only articulate the words, our Father, but we can enjoy the filial love and communion as sons and daughters of the Almighty. Surely there's nothing beyond that. God says this, the best is yet to come. And in the consummation of redemption, the final application of salvation to the believer, so much of it is bound up in adoption You know what God calls the whole consummation The adoption and we waiting for it Look at Romans 8 verse 18 I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to usward

36:46 For the earnest expectation of the creation waits. Now notice, what's the whole creation waiting for? You say, well, around here it looks like it's waiting for a good rain. Yes, a parched earth and dried up gardens and withering peas, which is what I've got right now.

37:02 I have to go out and water my poor peas. They're just dying in the heat. All of this is evidence that we're under a cursed, we're in the midst of a cursed earth. The whole creation groans and travails, waiting for what?

37:16 The revealing, that's that word apocalypsis, the unveiling of the sons of God. You see, we're all veiled this morning. You say, we're not Muslims. We're not going around in Purda with a veil on.

37:27 Yeah, we're all veiled. If you're a son of God, a daughter of God, you're veiled. I don't see what you really are, and you don't see what I really am. You're something that nobody sees.

37:37 This verse says, and that parched earth out there that groans and travails, you know what it's waiting for? It's waiting for the veil to be pulled back, and for the whole universe to see what I really am and what you really are as the sons and daughters of God. Look at the text. That's what it says.

37:52 The earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, now notice, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know the whole creation groans and prevails in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit.

38:27 You see, the Spirit who is the Spirit of adoption, all that I know of my adoption now by the Spirit, this is just the down payment, the first fruit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for what? Notice, waiting for the adoption to it, that is, the redemption of our body. You see what he says?

38:48 All of our hopes of the completed salvation that is ours in Christ are so connected with the privileges of sonship that He actually calls them sonship by way of a synonym. We're waiting for the adoption. In other words, all of the glory of the sons of God that will be unveiled when Jesus returns. Our perfected spirits, our glorified bodies, are but the ultimate expression of the privileges of sonship.

39:25 So he says we're waiting for the adoption. That's what we're waiting for. Oh, dear people of God, if the glory of that begins to dawn upon us, how can we walk with heavy step? How can we walk with nothing but groaning?

39:44 There will be groaning. But the groaning will not be the groaning and groveling of unbelief and the spirit of bondage again to fear. It's the groaning of the man that's in a cage and he's hungry. and outside that cage is a seven-course banquet and he knows it's going to be his, but he's not sure quite when.

40:09 Well, he's groaning for it because he knows it's going to be his and it's the confidence that it is his that gives birth to his groaning until he can have it. You see, that's the groaning of faith. Those who are confident they are the children of God And what do they look forward to? They look forward to the full manifestation of their adoption.

40:35 Isn't that what John meant when he said, Beloved, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, what, pardoned criminals? No, that we should be called sons of God, and such we are. But it doth, beloved, now are we the sons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be. See, we're veiled.

40:59 There is glory veiled in every true believer. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. So adoption is central, not only in the eternal purpose of God, not only in the temporal activity of Christ, the Redeemer, not only in the initial application of salvation, but in the final application and consummation of redemption, adoption again is central. Well, what do we say to all of this as we round this to a conclusion?

Application: Universal Fatherhood Refuted and Believers Urged

41:40 Well, first of all, a word to you who have the mistaken notion all men are the children of God just because they are the creatures of God. You see how foolish that notion is in the light of the Bible. if it took the eternal electing, predestinating activity of God to mark out Son to adoption, if it took the incarnation and humiliation and agony and death of Christ to provide a just basis of a redemption that would result in adoption, if it takes the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit to attest to adoption and the mighty work of that Spirit in glorification to bring the full benefits of that sonship.

42:26 How stupid and foolish and inane is the doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God. My friend, by nature, you're a child of the devil. I was a child of the devil. And until by grace and the Spirit based on the work of Christ, you are brought into this spiritual sonship.

42:51 You know nothing of what it is to be a child of God. But my friend, this is the gospel. That privilege is open to every sinner. It is yours if you will have it.

43:02 As many as received Him, it is in Christ. Every privilege of grace is in Him. Having Him, you have all the privileges. Oh, that you might embrace Him.

43:14 Forsake any silly notion that you're a child of God simply by the fact that you're a creature of God. No, no, my friend. You must seek this grace in Christ. And, O child of God, if adoption is given so prominent a place in the scheme of redemption, do you see the wickedness of our being ignorant of this provision?

43:38 Do you see the tragedy of having no heart enjoyment of this privilege? And I'm going to tell you something that has shocked me. When I preach on these doctrinal themes, not only do I try to look up every key text, such as the ones I've expounded before you this morning, but I try to read usually in at least ten, sometimes more, of the standard theology books, everything that's written on those subjects. And do you know that there are books of systematic theology that don't even treat adoption as a separate blessing of grace?

44:13 They go right from calling, regeneration, justification into sanctification. What a tragedy. What a tragedy. We bless God that the court of heaven is silent as to our condemnation.

Heaven as the Consummation of Adoption (Revelation 21)

44:29 But we are not simply pardoned criminals. We are sons and daughters of the Almighty. And when we are brought home safe to glory, look at this text as we shut our Bibles this morning. Revelation 21, when he is describing all of the privileges of those in the eternal state with himself.

44:57 God will be with them. God will wipe away all tears. No more mourning, no more crying, everything passed away. Verse 5 of Revelation 21, He that sitteth on the throne saith, Behold, I make all things new.

45:12 And he saith right, for these words are faithful and true. And he said unto me, These are come to pass. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is a thirst of the fount of the water of life freely.

45:26 Now notice, He that overcometh shall inherit these things I will be his God And he shall be my son But the fearful Then he draws the picture of the state of those who are not the children of God It's as though God is saying Take all the privileges I've described All of the things that will pass away All of the things grace will bring And the great pinnacle the canopy, the crowning blessing is this. I will be His God. He shall be my Son. The full enjoyment of all the privileges of adoption will be the consummate glory of heaven.

46:09 That will be the heaven of heavens. Oh, may God grant that you will be there. And if you have the confidence of it, then you have something of heaven in your breast this morning as the Spirit bears witness to your sonship and surely we have incentives to live bearing the family likeness. Well, I said I would be briefer this morning.

Closing Prayer

46:32 I'll try to keep my promise. You've been attentive in the midst of a difficult situation, but if anything will wake up slumbering people on a hot day. If this one doesn't, my friend, there's no hope for you. Let's thank God for His great grace to us in the Lord Jesus.

46:50 Our Father, we understand more fully what your word means when it says, I have not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things you have prepared for those that love you, but they have been revealed unto us by the Spirit. O God, our hearts tremble with holy joy in the mere contemplation of such pinnacles of privilege. It would seem to us almost blasphemous to conceive that you would appoint so lofty a place for rebel sinners, but we would not dishonor you by bringing you down to the level of what we would do with rebel sinners,

47:38 but we would glorify you by praising you for what you have purposed to do in the infinitude of grace and love. O Lord, ravish our hearts. Make them thirsty to enjoy the privileges of our sonship. And for those that are yet the children of the devil, O God, give them a hungering and a thirsting to know this great privilege in the Lord Jesus.

48:06 hear our prayer, receive our thanks, and be with us through the remainder of this day that we may live and think and speak in such a way as to bring honor to you and be in the way of blessing to ourselves. We ask these things with thankfulness through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

48:36 Thank you.