Great Doctrines of Salvation

Today we're going to talk about the next chapter, which is adoption. First question that I gave you, in the general usage of the term, what does adoption mean? What does it mean? Time for you to answer. Taking a child of other parents. Sounds like a kidnap. Usually an adoption isn't legal in some way. It is. It always is. It's always a legal issue. It's a legal assumption of, in this case, a person as your own. Everybody understand that?

What we think of today in our society is adoption. What I wrote down, and I think maybe Marshbank said this, it means that one who is not a member of a family by birth or relationship is given by adoption a legal standing in that new family and is counted as a family member. Okay? That's how we look at adoption today.

You're saying not what? Not what? One not a legal member? Not a member of a family. But you can adopt your niece or something. There's still... Not a member of your family by birth or relationship. Well, they could already have a relationship. They could. But this is a different relationship. It changes it. Yeah, it does. So, is the biblical definition the same?

Boy, when you say no, then you've got to explain. Oh, no. It's the can of worms. The Greek word that you'll see in the verses that we're going to cover is Hwio Thesis. H-U-I-O. Hwio means sun. And Thesis means placing. So it's the placing of a sun. So you could say that it's sun placing. Let's talk a little bit about Roman law. I did some more investigation this week.

In the ancient culture, the Jews virtually had no system of adoption. They didn't adopt people in their society. And in the Greek society, they did a little bit of it. But the people that did major adoptions and set all the rules were the Romans. And they had specific things that they demanded that if you were going to adopt somebody, When Paul talks about adoption in the epistles, he is referring or using the Roman matrix as the example. So it's not a Hebrew thing and it's really not a Greek thing, it's a Roman thing and Paul being the Roman that he was, understood it. And the reason Paul understood it, the verse I found was Acts 22-28 when Paul says, I was actually born a citizen of Rome. And it meant that his parents were Romans too, even though they were Jewish. Now, what did the Roman law teach about adoption?

An adoptee was taken out of the relationship that they had at the time And they were put into a new relationship with a new father. So under Roman law, if you were going to adopt somebody, the adoptee severs all relationship with their, let's say, natural parents. All the relationship is severed. And they become actually, there's a new relationship with a new father. This is under Roman law now. All debts that the adoptee had incurred up to that time were cancelled. All of them. So if I was to adopt Courtney, it would be the best thing that could ever happen to him. Because all of his debts would be cancelled.

I noticed him nodding off over there. From a Roman's law viewpoint, a totally new life began for the adoptee. Now here's another interesting fact. The new father had the same control over the adoptee as his natural father did. And his natural father no longer has any control over him at all, or her. Which is interesting because When we talk about spiritual adoption, that we're adopted, it means that God, our Father, has absolute control over us, absolute, by the law of adoption. That's what Paul means when he uses the term. So, our Father, our new Father, or the new Father, owned all of the adoptee's property, if he had any. So I would get Corton's old truck I would get his house. I would have absolute control. Better than my truck. That's why I want to adopt him.

And the new father had the full right of discipline over the child. Conversely, the child being adopted was an inheritor of all of the father's property. and he had the same standing as any adult son would have in the family. Now, but let's say you were a Roman father and you had four kids, four sons. Would all four of those sons be inheritors? Maybe not. Only one of them might be adopted because there was a formal ceremony of adoption in which a person was placed as a son with the full rights and titles to where that is.

Now, the best example I've ever seen of that, let's see how good your memories are. Guys ever, you remember seeing the movie Ben-Hur? Remember the movie? Who hasn't seen it? Anybody under 30 probably. Ben-Hur was an interesting movie about a man, Ben-Hur, who was a Jew who grew up in Jerusalem from a wealthy Jewish family and through a set of circumstances he got sentenced to life in the galley in the Roman ships and he had to row the ships for the Roman warships and in the middle of one big battle his ship is rammed and destroyed and the general of the army happens to be on his boat and he saves the general pulls him up on a piece of wood and they both live.

So the general because he saved his life now begins to befriend Ben-Hur and in that movie there is a big party that's a formal adoption ceremony in which not only did Ben-Hur get the father's ring which was the symbol of the family authority but they actually changed his name from Ben-Hur to Arius. So when Ben-Hur went back to Jerusalem, he went to the proconsul, who was the guy who sent him to the gallows, and he said, tell the proconsul, send the ring in, tell him that Arius is here. And the proconsul, of course, thinking that this general, who he was the son, made Arius a really important guy. And when he walks in the room, he's totally surprised that it's really Ben-Hur, but he'd been adopted. and he had all the rights entitled to his father's property and his name and his prestige and everything. Different than what we have here in our country in terms of adoption. There was a ceremony with young men to adopt them and they may or may not have been a natural born son. It establishes a new test state and here's another thing.

If I adopted Courtney, I had the right to sell her. The interesting thing about that was that if I had incurred a bunch of debts and I couldn't pay them, I could sell Courtney to the person, but it didn't change his relationship with me. even though I sold him. He did not get adopted by the guy I sold him to. And he would work off the debt and then come back to me. And then you could sell them again. That's right.

And actually it became a huge problem in the Roman Empire and they had to change the rules about... because Courtney and I could work a deal with Erica where I owed her money or him money or he owed me money and then he would sell me Erica and we'd settle the debt and then she'd go back and there was really no change of money. Somebody got screwed in the deal. and Erica was the pawn. And we could do that legally. Well, they changed all those rules at one point because the Romans took advantage of them.

Now, the application was that there was always a cost of ownership. If I was going to adopt Courtney, I had to pay something for him. And what's interesting about that is you see an awful lot of language in the New Testament about what the father paid for us. What did he pay for you? What did it cost him? It cost him his son. It cost the blood of his son, the death of Christ. That was the cost, to adopt you. Acts 20, 28 says, we were once the children of wrath, but we have been bought with a price.

John 1.12 said, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name.

So if you look at that John 1.12 verse, you'll see that it doesn't, lots of evangelists use that as salvation, but really what it says is that by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you have earned, you shouldn't say earned because it's a grace thing, but you have become into a position to be considered a child of God. Do you see that? It gives you the right and title to claim to be a son. It doesn't make you adopted, it just makes you a child.

That word there for child is the word technon. Now you're going to see two words in the Greek for children, child, son. One is technon and one is wios, H-U-I-O-S. Technon just means that you are a child. Weos means that you are an adult son and have been adopted. So when you look at the Greek it is important to know in some cases what Greek word is being used even though in English it might be children or sons or child because it means something different in Greek.

Look at Colossians 2.14. We talked a minute about former debts being canceled.

Take a look at Colossians 2.14. And when you get there, go ahead and read it. Go ahead. Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of degrees against us, which was hostile to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. So in order for you and I to be adopted, Our former debts have to be cancelled. Did you have some? Yes. What was your debt? The price of sin. And what's the price of sin? Death. So in order for you to be adopted into the family of God, your debt had to be paid, which was death. and it was, wasn't it? Now, let's look at Romans chapter 8, and I want to show you something interesting here. And in verse 8, starting in verse I want to start in verse 13, and I'll show you something in a second here. I'm going to read down a few verses. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if you, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father and the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God some of yours will say sons of God and if children and heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together now let's talk for a second about What's the relationship between the Holy Spirit and sons? If you look at these verses, the relationship of the Holy Spirit and sons is that of a shepherd. We are led by the Spirit, right? If you're a son, you're led by the Spirit. You're not driven by him. You're led by him in verse 14.

And what's interesting is that it develops verse 13, which says, But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Only those people who are led by the Spirit put to death the works of sin. Do you see that? If you look at those two verses, because sometimes you read verse 13 there and you think, I've got to get busy and I've got to put to death the deeds of sin. But what this verse says is that the leading of the Holy Spirit, they are the only ones that can possibly put to death the deeds of the flesh.

What's putting to death the deeds of the flesh? What does death mean? Separation? So how would you put to death the deeds of the flesh? In this context you'd be led by the spirit, but what would he be doing? What would he be leading you to understand? That you're a son.

The price has already been given. Your old debt is cancelled. Your obligation to the sin nature has been cancelled. Your debt incurred by your sins has been cancelled. So therefore you are the only ones and we are the only ones as sons who put to death the works of sin. We're the only ones that are led by the Spirit.

Now sometimes people will grab these verses and make a lot of them and say, boy, you've got to let the Spirit lead you. If you don't, you're not going to be. But that's not what it says. It says that you are led. And because you are led, that the deeds of the flesh are put to death. Only sons do that.

OK, now. How can you be assured? These verses are kind of interesting. How can you be assured of who you are now. It's interesting. Can you know and be assured of being a son right now? I know you're afraid to answer yes, because if you say yes I'm going to have to explain. The answer is yes, you can. It's interesting, in all of these verses here, where it says our sons, the noun our is in the present tense. It means you are right now. You are right now. You are right now. You are right now. You're not going to be now. You are right now. You're always a son. Present tense.

Okay? 14 focuses on the leading of the sons. 15A focuses on the adoptions of sons. 15B focuses on the intimacy of sons. You see that? See the intimacy there? 16 focuses on the confidence of sons. 17A focuses on the heirship of sons and 17B focuses on the glorification of sons.

So if you ever had a doubt about whether you're a son, think about this, for as many as are led by the Spirit, present tense, you are, they are the sons of God, present tense, you are. For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received, present tense, the spirit of adoption, I'm sorry that's perfect tense, whereby we cry Abba Father, present tense. And the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are, and that word there is we us, adult sons of God, adopted sons. And if we're children, if there is a first class conditional clause, which means since we are children, we are heirs. Holly.

Could present tense be considered the same as eternal tense? Well, that's kind of a cool question. I think I don't think so because it doesn't look to the future. It just means right now. But right now and that's why I said right now and right now and right now and right now.

A perfect tense talks about something that happened in the past that has abiding results now. I think only the future tense, wouldn't it be, would look to the future? And what you'll find sometimes with the Greek, like the Lord Jesus would talk about his going to the cross. The Son of Man has already been glorified. He said that before he went to the cross and it was perfect tense. because in his mind it was done. So I think present tense fits the security better.

So what I like about these verses is that they are really in terms of being adopted and being a son they are very edifying that you can know about and the work of the Spirit of God to convince you and persuade you that you are a son because God has taken it upon himself. If out of your heart comes the phrase Abba Father, this verse says that you weren't the cause of that. Who was the cause of that?

The Spirit of God. This is the second time in Romans that the Spirit of God is used. The first time is in 5. when he says that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit. So, what the Spirit of God is doing, if you look at what his ministry is, the first two times he's talked about in Romans, it talks about his shedding abroad in our heart the love of God, and this adoption, intimacy, and whereby we cry Abba Father.

What does Abba Father mean? What's Abba mean? Daddy. What's father mean? That carries lots of formal... Well, it means legal adoption. I'm legally a son of my father, but he's also my daddy. That's what it means. It's a term of affection. At the same time, it's a legal term of possession. He owes me. He owns me. He's my father. And you know that because the Spirit of God has persuaded you that that's true. You okay with that?

Okay, what are you calling adult sons though? All of this, the legal part, the intimate part, the air part? Only the Republicans are adult sons. Oh, hush. I just don't feel like I've got the right answer down here. How do we become adult sons? It's by The legal question. I'm still on question one, two. What do you want? Number four. When are you going to catch up? Let's see. This goes along with what Holly's talking about. Are there future applications of being a son? What do you think? Responsibility to your family. What's that? Responsibility to your family. Well, we're not going to do it now, but if you read Romans chapter 8 verse 18 through 39, those verses talk about responsibilities and implications of what a son is. Verse 23 says, and not only this, but we also, we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, grown within ourselves, future, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

So there's an event that's going to happen in the future. Well, there's a couple of things going on here. Number one, we look forward to the rapture and we also look forward to the millennial kingdom. in which Christ comes to the earth to rule and reign for a thousand years and what are we going to be doing? We're going to rule and reign with him and we're going to come with him, right? What Romans here says is that the whole creation is waiting for what? What's it waiting for? No? The revealing of the huioses of God. The adult adopted sons of God.

That ushers in the millennial kingdom. And every one of us is going to be there. We are the ones that are going to be revealed. And notice back up in 18 or 19 it talked about glory. You're going to come to earth manifesting the very glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a really interesting subject because You think about, I have discussions all the time about people who say, well, gee, we're going to be here and the Jews are going to have the, you know, the new covenant implemented. They're going to have the law written on their hearts. They're going to, the earth is going to be released from its vanity and all that.

How are we going to be able to tell the difference between a really godly Jew and you? How are you going to tell the difference? How are we going to tell the difference between Laban and a godly Jew that's living in Jerusalem? How are we going to tell? Everybody is going to be able to tell. Instantly. How are they going to know? That's right, because out of Laban is going to come the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Adam and Eve were in the garden, what kind of, they didn't, we'd say, oh gee, they were naked. No they weren't. What were they clothed with before the fall? In light. They were clothed in light. So imagine coming back with the Lord Jesus Christ and manifesting the glory of Christ out of your very person and your body. Imagine what that's going to be like. And people are going to say, there goes Calvin, the son of God. And how do they know? They see the glory of Christ coming out of him. That's how they know. What does that look like? When I see it, I'll let you know. Well, actually you can see it, you can see it reflectively now.

Because 2nd Corinthians 3.18 says, Beholding is in a mirror the glory of the Lord. The mirror is the word, the beholding is done by the spirit of God revealing Christ to us through the word. And you can begin reflectively to see his glory.

But then, there's going to be no reflection, it's going to be full on face to face. And so what is that glory? It's the fullness of the characteristics of the manifestation of God, who He is. We look at characteristics of people as things they do, with God it's what He is. And it's so wonderful that it generates this thing called glory.

I don't know, is it light? Yeah, okay. Could you compare that to the Transfiguration? Yeah, the Mount of Transfiguration is a good place to see it. And what's interesting about that is that the Lord Jesus began to manifest his glory and the guys with him, and those guys aren't even members of the body of Christ, which is kind of cool.

And the cross hadn't been completed and resurrection hadn't been done, so the glory that Peter saw there will even be, I don't know, a million times more radiant than what they saw. Is that my phone beeping? Did it make a noise? I better shut it off. So, okay, now, Ephesians 1 verse 5 says that we predestine us to adopt some of the sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the intention of his will. So you are an adopted son by God's will.

And don't you find it interesting, you have those people who say, well what about predestination? When you read in Paul's epistles, he only uses the word predestination to refer to what believers are going to be. There's never a discussion about, well, some have been predestined to be saved. Now, the whole focus is, whosoever will may come. But once you are a believer, there's all kinds of things that you've been predestined to.

Hi, Carol. I'm moving along. I'm at question three. As far as the relationship is concerned, what causes us to become God's children? The new birth. Yeah, it's the new birth. That's the cause of John 1.12, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name. Technon here are born ones. this verse is born once, so our relationship to the Father, to become God's children, to be a born one, it's done by new birth. Alright, now question four.

As to our position in His family, how do we become adult sons? Now do you see that there's a difference between being a child and an adult son? Do you think the Bible distinguishes between those two? Yes, it does. So you become a child by new birth. How do you become an adult son? By adoption. By the process of adoption. So again, this is one of the, those of you who were in the class where we went through the 34 things that happened at the cross, one of the things we went through was adoption. Adoption is what makes you an adult son. Now, is that sometime later? Seems like it. Seems like it. Later than the cross?

Do you think that when you're saved that you become a child one day and then you get to grow up and be adopted sometime later if you do enough spiritual push-ups? No. No, you're an adult son right away. And you know what's interesting? You are treated by God and the Holy Spirit as an adult son from the get-go. You know, we want to be babes. God says, no, you're an adult son. So...

Like, does that parallel along with Your sins are forgiven, that's why you're the child, but then identification truth is more of the adoption? Oh, that's a great question. Everybody hear the question? The part of the cross that forgave you your sins is kind of child, but identification is the part that would lead you to understand being adopted. I think child, I mean like when you were Rebirth is of a different kind. That's the point. It's not a physical thing, it's a spiritual thing. And the adoption as the sons is also spiritual. It's all part of the birthday gift package.

Yeah, that's a great way to look at it because as we've studied before, when you became a believer, there were at least 34 things that happened to you immediately. You probably know one or two when you're saved. But there are 32 plus things that have happened to you at the moment of your salvation. And a lot of them are these issues that we're going through here with redemption and that kind of thing. we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, grown immorally, as we wait eagerly for adoption.

How does that? There's a time when an adoptee gains all right and title to all of the property he's going to possess, does possess it, but he just doesn't have it, as an example. Because you're a son, an adopted son, you have right and title to a glorified body. Got it yet? No. But is it guaranteed?

But it says wait for adoption. And what's the next verse say? Or the end of that verse? Even the redemption of our bodies, right? So what it's saying is that you are an adult son and what we're waiting for to be fully orbed as an adult son is the new body.

I think a lot of people understand the son part. I mean the child part, but they don't understand the adoption part. Yeah, they don't understand the adoption part because they want to stay in the nursery the rest of their Christian life. They don't want to have to move out of there because it gets a little scary.

But that's right. I mean the other side of the adoption coin is that an adopted, a fully orbed adopted son has responsibility, doesn't he? Sure does. He has responsibility to represent his family and his father. in a manner and character that befits the father in the family you're in. It's like Paul says, if you're a king, you ought to act like one. If you're a son, you should act like one. Because you have the life and nature to do it. So as to our position in the family, you can be a baby with no position. But as to your position in the family, you become an adult son by spiritual adoption.

Galatians 4.5 says, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons. So sometimes when you read Paul's epistles, you'll see birth truths, but most of the time you're going to see adoption truths from Paul, because Paul treats believers as adult sons.

So, five is not really redundant, but in terms of sonship, when were you considered full grown? When? At the time you were saved. It all happened at the same time. So, a couple of verses, 1 Thessalonians 4-6, But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief. for you are all sons of light and sons of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness so let us not sleep as others do but let us be alert and sober so at salvation one becomes both a child and an adult son at the same time because our position as adult sons we are treated as such from the moment of new birth so if God says look I adopt you as an adult son the very moment that you say it would it be inconsistent with him to treat us as a baby? Yes it would. Yes it would. And sometimes I think from a subjective standpoint that gets to be difficult for us because we want to be treated as babies sometimes. Don't we? A baby doesn't have any responsibility. Right? But an adult son does.

Galatians 3.26 says, for we are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Sons there is we us. Adult adopted son. That's what the word means. That's what I mean by the word. The words used in the New Testament for sons is really important. And children. So who treats us as full grown? The elders at Holly Hills. Who treats us as full grown? God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit too. We are full grown. Now, let's talk about what it means to be a full grown son.

Turn to Hebrews 12. I don't want you to get nervous about these verses, but this is how adult sons are treated. You're not going to like what you're going to read. Hebrews 12 verse 4. Everybody there? That first verse, you have not yet resisted sin to the point of shedding blood in your own striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as adult sons, we us. My son, we us, do not regard lightly, what word do you have next?

Discipline. Discipline, or chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him. What does the word discipline here mean, or chastening? What does it mean? Child training. It means child training. Now wait a minute. He's supposed to treat me as an adult son. Age can be chastened. What's that? I think people of any age can be chastened. You don't have to be a child. It says here you do. You don't have to be chastened by a parent. You don't? No. Someone else can do it. Show me. I'm going to meet those kids. You could do it. You could chasten me and you have nothing to do with me except spiritual brotherhood. But these verses say who does the chastening? Your new father, right? He does the chastening. I thought you were an adult son. Weren't we past all that? Have we not graduated and now we're pals? There we go. Laura says it's an issue of position and condition. Does everybody understand what she just said? If you don't, raise your hand.

You have a position of adult son. You also have, conditionally, he treats you as an adult son. But that doesn't mean you're going to act like it. It's a matter of you knowing it, believing it, and standing it. So here he comes. He child trains you. And he says to you, I don't want you to think of this lightly. I don't want you to think of this as something that's superfluous. This is very serious stuff.

Okay? For faint not when he reproves you. What's the word reprove mean? Some versions use the word scourge. What does it mean? What's that? Spanking. It actually is a pretty harsh word, isn't it? Jesus was scourged. Jesus was scourged. He was whipped.

So is our Father going to lay the leather to us? If we need it. If we need it. Okay. For those whom the Lord loves, he child trains, and he scourges every adult son whom he receives. See the word every. That includes everybody in this room. Every. So not only for your life, but for those believers that you fellowship with, get ready.

If you have this viewpoint, which is the correct one, then it goes a long way for you to understand what it means to be a son. And as you look around in your sphere of influence and other believers, you're going to see the Lord child training and scourging others. I guess that's a throwback to Proverbs 3, 11 and 12. It says, My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him who he loves as a father to son in whom he delights.

Sure. Sure. You know what's interesting? I remember years ago I read a book by a guy, actually a guy from Denver, a guy named Chuck Solomon, and it was called the Ins and Outs of Rejection, and it had to do with a Christian author, but here's his premise.

When a baby is born, he's born or she's born with a sin nature, and the sin nature means that they're king, and from the minute they hit the planet, what their agenda is, is to expand their kingdom, right? Isn't that what children try to do? Expand their sphere of influence? Take over territory?

You wake up one day and in your house the kid's got two rooms. How'd he get those? He'd been working on it since the day he hit the floor. And pretty soon he comes in conflict with the parents. Expansion of the parents' kingdom. Right? Because they got kingdoms too.

Once that DMZ has established, here was the premise, that parents will do one of three things. They will reject the child by overtly over disciplining them, by really being aggressive with them, or they will reject them covertly. They'll just quietly take a pass. The parents that love their children will discipline them. And here's why.

When the child gets older and he goes out into society, if he has been rejected, he's going to keep expanding his territory until he runs into the kingdom of the government. And the government's going to stop him and put him in jail. He's going to realize if he was disciplined and child trained by his father correctly at that time, he's going to be thankful to his parents that his parents loved him enough to set the boundaries for him when he was little. You see that?

I thought it was a very astute observation for this guy to write, say, and he used these verses, your father child trains you and disciplines you to conform you to his image. And a parent that doesn't do that, in our society today I think there's more covert rejection than there is any other time. where they just say, I don't have time for that kid. He's not going to come any closer into my kingdom and I'm going to let him do what he wants. And as long as he doesn't step on my toes, I'll let him do whatever. What's that? That's a short while. Yeah, I know. What do you think that is?

I think the bottom line reason is that the biblical principles aren't taught anymore in families. Because who teaches this? Who teaches Hebrews? Not very many people. And does your father discipline you because he's just got nothing better to do on a Tuesday? Why does he do it?

He says right here, faint not for reproof and for those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines and he reproves and he scourges every son he receives. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as an adult son For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

You see the premise there? Those of you who are fathers, if you don't discipline your kids, come and talk to me. We need to work on that. And here's why, and a warning. But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate. You know what that word is in English? It's a simple word, bastard. You're bastard children and not sons.

So, those of you who were really hoping that Christian life was going to be a trip and a yacht down the Platte River, we've got another thing coming. And what's the discipline? Give me an example of how our Father would discipline us. What would he do? None of you know.

He might take away some of your money. He might. He might. He might take away some of your money. I think maybe recognizing, helping you to recognize that it's something you need discipline about or for. And how would he help you recognize it? He'd let you get into it. Yeah, you might have a bump in your road. You might. And you know what? And guess who the fault was? It was yours. You suffered the consequences of your sinning.

Now I must say that being a believer sometimes God is gracious and you don't. But a lot of times he does it but he only does it to approve you. He only does it out of love to do what? To get you to grow up into who you are. You see that? To wean you away from sin and your sin nature.

So everybody gets the discipline, everybody gets the child training and it can be really severe sometimes, it can be medical. Do you think that what Michaeline is going through is the chasing of her father? What do you think? The fact that she has meningitis and is in the hospital, has really severe headaches, her family has been totally disrupted, do you think that that's You can't tell until you see how the Lord used it, and you may never see it, but it can still be there.

So do you think that something like that happens and it's just because? No. No. Every single thing. God works all things together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose. You cannot come up with one circumstance in your life that was difficult, or child training, or even scourging that God didn't ordain for you. What do you think about that? Every single one. No matter what it looked like at the time. Every one. And he did it.

Why? What was his motive? Because he loved you. Because you're a son. I mean, those of you who have had children, there are times that you discipline your kids and they look at you and say, what did you do that for? Well, it's because I felt like it. No. He did it because you can see the train wreck coming down the road that they can't see. You know? Just because my 13-year-old wants to take the car and go doesn't mean I'm going to let him. Is that okay?

So life is suffering and bumps in the road. Are they only painful to us because we're looking at it fleshly? If we looked at it from God's perspective? They wouldn't hurt so much? I don't know about that. I think sometimes you get the full shot so that you can learn. You can endure it because you trust the Lord and you're resting in His grace, but I don't think that lessens the pain.

God will comfort you. Consider it all joy. Consider it all joy. Yeah, so considering it all joy, the lesson that somebody you love dearly dies and you know there's a big hole left in you, consider it all joy. You know my skeptical nature says easy for you to say.

Sure. And that's part of the growing up. An adult, fully orbed, adopted son would understand that. How did he get that information and that frame of reference? He's been down the road with his father. He knows. He's been disciplined. He understands. Okay, we'll pick up with seven next week. Sanctification questions too. Father how we thank you for your grace and how we thank you for the interest you have in us as adult sons that every second because you love us you are growing us into the full image of the Lord Jesus. We thank you Father we pray in his name.