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A number of years ago, a Pakistani noble woman by the name of Madame Bilka Sheikh wrote
a little book called "I Dare to Call Him Father."
It's her conversion story.
She was raised as a proud Muslim, but in a rather supernatural way, the Holy Spirit had
begun to work in her life and eventually drew her into her living relationship with
God the Father through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The turning point in her life, as she describes it in her little book, came as she shared
her journey and her quest for God with a little Filipino nun.
And she described to that little nun how she had been trying to find God, but hadn't been
able to reason her way into truth.
And the nun had said to her, "Why don't you talk to God as if he were your father?"
It's the title of the book, "I Dare to Call Him Father."
Now, you've got to remember that in the Muslim world, "Ala God is not a God with whom
you have an intimate relationship."
He is a foreign, far removed, grand and glorious deity, and for a Muslim to call God Father
is far removed from their experience, but the word stuck within her heart, soon thereafter
she knelt down and she addressed her first prayer to God the Father.
He said, "Father, my Father, Father, God."
And at that moment of calling in the name of God the Father, her life forever was radically
transformed and changed, as for the first time in her life she encountered the living
reality and the living presence of God as his spirit bore witness with her spirit, that
he was indeed a Father, and that by faith in Christ she could be his daughter.
And that, of course, is what Paul has been talking about here in Romans chapter 8 when
he talks about receiving a spirit of sonship when we cry, "Abba Father, it is the spirit
himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God."
The spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
We looked at that two weeks ago you will recall and we saw that the spirit of sonship
stands in opposition to the spirit of slavery.
You have not received a spirit of slavery said Paul to fall back into fear, but a spirit
of sonship.
A spirit of slavery says I don't belong.
A spirit of slavery says if I don't measure up I'm going to be cast out.
A spirit of slavery says you better try to hold on to your position because somebody's
going to take it away from you.
Spirit of sonship says I belong, God's my Father.
He loves me, I'm his child, and he will protect, defend and guide and lead me when we cry
"Abba Father, the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."
This morning as we continue on that theme, want us to look a little bit more closely
as to what is involved in being the children of God because you'll notice in this passage
Paul now goes on to spell out in more detail some of the privileges that we have of being
the children of God.
Privileges that the Holy Spirit makes real in our lives by this spirit of sonship he says
if children then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
We are, he says, "If children then heirs, heirs of God."
Let's talk about that a little bit, what's an heir?
Well an heir of course is a person who inherits, I found it more than coincidental that this
past week because I was preparing to work on this message.
I got a phone call from one of my brothers saying that because my mother is no longer able
to live on her own, on her own in her own home, they've put her house for sale on the market
and they are having to distribute the contents and it's one of the children within the family
is there anything that I would like of the contents of her house?
That's an inheritance and in this day and age and in this culture where we have such
a cushion within our society in terms of social security and all the other safety nets
that we have inheritance are and what they used to be.
You've seen the bumper sticker on the cars some people drive with, haven't you?
I'm spending my kids inheritance, that's what a lot of people do today.
But historically and biblically an inheritance was really important because a person who would
receive the inheritance would receive the bulk of the parental property in Old Testament
Jewish law and air would receive double the percentage of all the rest of the kids.
And air is also the person who carries on the family name and the family tradition that's
all tied up in that. And for that reason of course an air very often would be the child
most favorably treated by the parents as he was being prepared to receive the inheritance
of his parents. And so what in this particular passage Paul says to you and to me if we're children
of God then we are airs, airs of God he is making an astounding claim because what he is saying is
that everything God is and everything God has. He has laid up so that one day he is going to give
it to every one of his children. And Paul's emphasis here if children then airs shows up the
difference between Roman inheritance laws and Jewish inheritance laws. As I said a moment ago
among the Jews the first born got the double portion. Among Roman inheritance laws as I
understand it all the children received an equal portion. If airs if children then airs
airs of God airs of God. I want you to think about that with me for just a few moments this
morning because our rich is God. Psalm 24 says that the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof
goes on to say he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
The Bible says the gold in every mine and the cattle and a thousand hills the old belong to
God. God as creator is infinitely rich and therefore to be an heir of God is to be eligible
for all the riches of his grace. He has purpose to share with us a kingdom that will never fade away.
That's of course a theme that runs throughout all of scripture.
Psalm 2 puts it this way ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the
earth your possessions. Matthew 2534 the Lord Jesus says come oh blessed of my Father
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
The Lord Jesus himself in Revelation chapter 21 verse 7 says he who conquers will have this heritage
and I will be his God and he shall be my son. If children then airs airs of God
and I for one can understand why so often so many of God's people cannot begin to lay hold of
something of the riches that we have in being the children of God. If one of us here the Lord
forbid won the lottery and knew that they were going to come into a million dollars and we
expect you to tide that I want you to know. Hey listen we may as well use the devil's money
and use it in the kingdom right anyway we would rejoice at the prospect of what it was that we
were going to receive and when one of us wins the prize or comes into a prize there is an incredible
rejoicing. The Bible says if you're a child of God whether male or female rich or poor slave or
free then you are a son of God if a son of God then Abraham's offspring according to the promise
and there is laid up an incredible source of riches riches that Paul goes on to point out
on this passage are the riches that God has imparted to Jesus because notice how he goes on.
If children then airs airs of God and fellow airs with Jesus or with Christ fellow airs
with Christ notice each time it becomes more specific we are airs it's nice to be an air but
it depends who you are inheriting from or some things we don't want to inherit. He says we're
airs of God. Pretty big picture where do you begin. He goes on to say we're airs of Christ
we are coal airs with Christ fellow airs joined airs you know what that means?
It means that whatever God the Father gave to Jesus on the day of his ascension when he
sat down at his right hand God is going to give to you and me. We are fellow airs with Christ.
I believe a lot of Christians don't understand that. I think we have so reduced the gospel
to the forgiveness of our sins that we have failed to realize sometimes the reason we have our
sins forgiven is to enable us to be restored to God as his children because once we become his
children we are eligible for all the blessings of his grace. We are fellow airs with Christ.
When God first made Adam and Eve he gave him the whole world to have dominion over that was his
inheritance. When they rebelled and lost their fellowship with him they lost a lot of their
inheritance. Christ comes back becomes the obedient son to God the Father and on the day of his
exaltation receives from God the Father for glory and the majesty and the honor and the kingdom.
One of the best ways to begin to understand what it is that God is prepared for those who love
him is to look at Jesus. This morning in the time that remains let's take a few moments.
Let's review together what it is that God the Father gave to Jesus and as we do that remember
then what God the Father gave to Jesus he's going to give to you and he's going to let you know
that you have it by the spirit of sonship. Number one Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the
Father has unlimited authority and power all authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me so Jesus and when he said down at the Father's right hand he received the Bible says the name
that is above every name in heaven and on earth and under the earth but at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus Christ sat down with his Father on his throne that's more than a chair
that's more than a place where they sort of sit around wondering what's going on in the universe
that's the control center of the universe from there God exercises judgment authority and power
over all the created order and Jesus Christ as a reward for his obedience to God the Father
received God's authority and power he rules over everything he will judge all the nations
his word is law God's power is his power and to be a fellow heir with Christ
is to be moving into that day when we too will share the authority of God as Christ has shared
his authority Revelation 3 verse 21 puts it this way he who conquers I will grant him to sit with
me on my throne as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne he who conquers
I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father
on his throne we are heirs of the kingdom of God in Matthew 1928 Jesus teaches the same
thing to his disciples when he says in the new world or the regeneration as it is in the Greek
when all things are made new when the Son of Man shall sit on his glorious throne you who have
followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel there's coming a day
when everyone of God's children male as well as female free as well as slave is going to come
into the inheritance of God's authority hard to begin to imagine what that's going to be like
but I imagine that it's going to be different levels of authority granted to all of God's children
where we are called upon to exercise his authority and his power in the everlasting reign of God's
kingdom will all have a title on our doors will all be somebody as God takes his whole kingdom
and he distributed it to all of his children in Christ so that we can share with him in his glory
and in his authority and in his majesty that by the way is why God spends so much time on his
children to get their lives into shape the only people that can be trusted with power
is the people that have learned the heart of a servant because part of the corruption of this
world is that people who do not have a servant heart use power to carve out their own inheritance
in the kingdom God gives you the inheritance and the degree of your inheritance is determined by
your spirit of servant here that's why Jesus was humbled unto death and that's why he received
authority over all God's creation because he demonstrated once and for all
there was no self-seeking there was no power play in his life there was only a desire to do the
fathers will because you see in God's kingdom your inheritance is determined by relationship
not by who you are not the kind of power you can wield but by what God chooses to give you
Jesus Christ shares in all authority and an all power number two the Lord Jesus Christ has
unlimited riches and immeasurable glory unlimited riches immeasurable glory revelation 513 that
heavenly scene were all creation worships around the throne of God they cry out to him who sits
in the throne into the Lamb the blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever and ever
Paul in the book of Philippians talks about the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus the word glory
means splendor comes from a Hebrew word originally meaning heavy reputation majesty one of the things
that we all crave for in the world is recognition we want to be somebody we want to be noticed
Jesus Christ at the Father's right hand has all glory and all riches again we can't even begin
to imagine what that involves means access to God the Father means that everything Jesus needs
to carry out the Father's purposes it's all there for him because God the Father has made the
whole universe he's given it all to Jesus that's a big inheritance not only that but it means that
all of the creatures in the whole universe they're at his back in call because his name as I
said a moment ago is higher than any other in new members class when we talk about this under
the theme of glorification we we often sort of try to put it a little bit in human terms in the sense
of of picturing somebody who's a who's a big land owner and the Father runs this big estate
and he has this one son and and he he wants this this child to grow up and to take over the keys
to the kingdom and there comes the day when the Father gives him the keys to the whole estate
and all of a sudden now he's no longer just a kid but he's a son who has inherited the Father's
glory and all the servants are now under his authority and all the Father's cars and all the
Father's whatever else it all belongs to the Son all authority all riches all glory all majesty
it's all been given to Jesus and to be a fellow heir with Jesus means that whatever God the Father
gave to Jesus he's going to give to you and to me second Thessalonians 414 puts it this way
Paul speaking he says to this he has called you through our gospel that you may obtain the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 verse 70 puts it this way that God has purpose
in the coming ages to show us the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus that you may obtain the glory he says of our Lord Jesus Christ can we even begin
to get our heads around that one I mean if I see how we strive in this present age to have a house
that's a little nicer than the neighbors a car that's a little newer closed perhaps there are
a little more fashionable or at least some kind of recognition how does that even begin to compare
with the glory that God has laid up for his children that's what it means as Paul of your child
of God he says this to a bunch of slaves remember now most of the people in Rome were slaves most of
the Christians were slaves he says I want you to look beyond your condition I want you to see
who you are in Christ you are the children of God and you are ears ears of God and fellow ears
with Christ wow that's powerful stuff Christ has all authority
immeasurable riches and glory and guess what else it's going to last forever
Bible puts it this way Hebrews 9.15 says concerning Christ he is the mediator of a new covenant
so those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance
Daniel many years ago concerning God's people said in the kingdom and the dominion and the
greatness of the kingdom that are the whole of heaven well shall all be given to the people of
the saints of the most high their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom the Bible talks a lot
about eternal life one of the characteristics of course of human inheritances as they don't last
very long I guess I was reminded of that by that phone call from my brother the house that my
mother lived in we spent many weeks and days as we have holidayed over there
now her furniture and all the possessions of her house like the back of her hand
it's going to be scattered all over the place there are people who are rich today
they're poor tomorrow wasn't very long ago that the Reichmann brothers of this country
managers of the Olympia and your development limit in were catered to by every banker in the
North American scene because they were wealthy and they were rich and they were powerful
today they've lost most of their possessions
and it's that way in all the rest of life you get a new car but it's going to rust out
you get new clothes but in six months or a year however long you wear them they're gone
you may be popular you may be somebody in the eyes of the world you may celebrate your riches
but tomorrow nobody knows who you were
the world is full of has been and part of the anxiety and the unsettledness of life
is that people not only try so hard to hold it all together but then when they've got it
they've got to pour all their energy into holding on to that and even when you succeed
there comes a day you've got to let it go and if you've ever been with old people who have had
a let go of their homes if you've ever been with people that have had a let go of
relationships or other aspects of their worldly inheritance you know how tough that can be
and it's very easy in the light of all of that to become very cynical and to say well life really
doesn't matter very much because there's nothing that's permanent the Bible says the riches we have
in Jesus they are an everlasting riches and they are an eternal glory Peter you'll recall puts
it this way at one Peter chapter one he says that in Christ we have been born a new to a living
home to an inheritance which is imperishable undefiled unfading kept in heaven for you John
Newton many years ago on that famous him amazing grace he sums it up this way in verse four when
we've been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun we've known as days to sing God's grace
and when we first begun the inheritance is an eternal inheritance and the glory that God has for
his children and the authority that God has for his children and all of the dynamics of eternal life
are going to go on forever and ever and ever and that's what the Bible says the man or the woman
who like Esau of old cells his inheritance for a bowl of potage is a fool he's a fool
because tomorrow he'll be hungry again and the wise man the wise woman in the scriptures
is that man is that woman who understands his or her eternal inheritance in Christ
and it puts all his or her energies into being found worthy of that day if children
s his paw then ears ears of God and fellow ears with Christ now all of that is just talk apart
from the spirit of sunshine somebody has said heaven is the place everybody wants to go but nobody's
in any hurry to get there you know why that is because the things of this earth the things we
can see and feel and hear and touch even for God's people are a thousand times more real than the
things that you cannot see feel here and touch and that's why we can talk about all these great
truths and we can even momentarily get excited about them but when we get back into our everyday
living all the glory of eternity fades away in the challenge of the needs of today
you know how that's going to change by the spirit of sunshine because the spirit of
sunshine that the Bible talks about bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God explains to us in a way that you cannot put into words what it is to be an heir of God
and what it is to be an heir with Christ of all the glory that is to be revealed to the children of
God Paul and Ephesians 1 verse 14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the down payment the pledge to
guarantee of our inheritance you know that means that means that the inheritance we're going to
receive we're going to receive fully only at the revelation of Jesus Christ Paul goes on to talk
about that later in Romans chapter 8 whole creation waits for the full revealing of the sons of God
but that doesn't mean we just simply walk by faith today even though that's an important ingredient
in our lives what the Holy Spirit does is he takes the power of the age to come
and he gives us a foretaste of that glory and of that majesty and of that power that's what Paul
means when he says if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ and I was
I said before that doesn't mean we're always going to be up in heaven doesn't mean we're always
going to be spiritually high and it doesn't mean we're not going to have our struggles of course we
do but it means there are those times in the lives of God's children often times times when we
feel lonely discouraged unwanted rejected when God by His Holy Spirit helps us to see a fresh
that it's okay he wraps his arms around me and he says you know the world may despise you
you may not be of noble birth you may not have the the kind of job title position security
whatever it is that other people might have in the eyes of the world you might be a big failure
but he says I want you to know you're my kid you bear my name I love you with an everlasting love
and I've got riches laid up for you I've got authority laid up for you I've got glory
laid up for you I've got majesty laid up for you the world hasn't yet begun to imagine what it
is that God is prepared for those who love him said Paul but God has revealed it to us by his spirit
and by his spirit he lets me taste some time what it is to share in his authority
what it is to share in his riches as he opens the windows of heaven he gives us a foretaste
of the glory that he's revealed to his children and by his spirit he gives us that foretaste
of eternal life and eternal glory and eternal majesty that's why it's so important to belong to
Jesus maybe you're the kind of person this morning who takes pride in your family inheritance
maybe you're the kind of person that has come into this world and you've been it's been drilled
into you that that whatever your surname is that's the most important clam there is in the world
or maybe this morning you belong to one of those families they just don't count all they're
there they're here and they're everywhere people who just never quite feel they measure out
people who just they're never quite good enough people will always feel they're they're sort of
in the edges of things maybe that's you or maybe you're the kind of person you look around you
and you look at all the other people and you see their gifts and their abilities and their talents
and their skills and you look at yourself and you feel like you've got two left hands and a
cutsy mouth and you don't know where you're going
God says good beyond it all God says keep your eye on Jesus
remember that if you are a child you're an heir and if you are an heir then you are a
joint heir with Jesus there is a place in life that God has prepared for you
and that he has equipped you for by the power of his Holy Spirit that nothing and nobody can
ever keep you alive because whether the inheritance is large or whether the inheritance is small
it is eternally secured because of Jesus because in him we are fellow heirs with him and heirs
of God of his glory then march out into life with his servants that of God's for you
nobody but nobody can ever really be against you because when God has purposed
and when God has determined you're going to have nobody else
we'll ever take it away join me in Brown
Father so often in our lives there is that spirit of cynicism
that says it's all talk doesn't work in my life Lord there's some of us here this morning
we've been deeply disappointed in our walk and in our journey with you we try to follow you we try
to be your children and things have gone wrong in our hearts have become cold there's others of us
Lord we have struggled so hard and so long for some measure of recognition and we've even turned
to you and we've looked for you to give it to us and it really hasn't come in
and Lord we've just settled for who we are and what we do
we pray this morning that you would forgive us for our unbelief
for looking at our experience or the lack of our experience as opposed to your truth
help us Lord to see who Jesus is help us to understand how he has inherited everything that you
are and everything that you have help us to see that if by faith in him we have become your
children then we are airs airs of God and fellow airs with Christ
help us to see that a God who would not spare his own son but give him up for us all we'll
with him also give us all things help us then to repent of our self pity
I doubt and I despair and help us to reach out to you and to receive gladly
that inheritance that you have for every one of your children I pray Father this morning
in the name of Jesus that your spirit of sonship will just sweep through his whole congregation
that you will help us never to glory in our human flesh human talent or human ability
because Lord none of those can ever inherit the riches of your kingdom they're given
to your children help us to receive ever more fully that spirit of sonship
and then in a world that is increasingly cynical broken
where people just become more and more selfish and self-centered because that's all that
seems to matter help us to live as your children full of love and full of power and full of glory
and full of majesty because we know our daddy and we know that even the sufferings of this age
are but a necessary preparation for that eternal day of your glory oh Father
we bless you we bless you for your love we bless you for your power we bless you for the gift
of your grace and we bless you for your everlasting wisdom in Christ Jesus help us to receive it
help us to live it in Jesus name Amen