The Fatherhood of God

In this message from Matthew 6:9, David Platt reminds us how believers have been adopted as sons and daughters of God. 

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Transcript

Welcome And Scripture Setup

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You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author, and teacher David Platt.

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If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, let me invite you to open with me to Matthew chapter 6.

Adoption And Belonging To God

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The reality of adoption, that picture, reminds every one of us as Christ's followers, that we belong to a heavenly father. That's the picture of adoption, that ultimately and eternally we belong to him as his children. And this is, and in a sense, this is the essence of what it means to even be a follower of Christ. J.I. Packer, in one of my favorite books of all time, Knowing God, said, What is a Christian? And Packer said, The richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father. If you want to know how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having God as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. To the extent with which, Facker says, you grasp what it means to have God as Father is the extent to which you grasp Christianity. Or maybe even grasp whether or not you're a Christian at all.

John Wesley And The Missing Sonship

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Listen to this quote from John Wesley. It's a short quote. But follow this. Wesley, background, graduate, undergraduate from Oxford University, ordained in the clergy, Church of England, solid theology in many, many different ways. Somewhere I might disagree with him here and there, but solid in theology, known for his good deeds, regularly visited inmates in prisons, workhouses in London, helped distribute food and clothing to slum children and orphans, studied the word diligently, attended numerous services every Sunday, as well as services during the week, gave generously to the church, gave to the poor, prayed, fasted, lived a strong moral life, even spent several years as a missionary to what is what was then the British colony of Georgia, and came over to serve as a missionary among Native Americans there. And so, so this was the picture of Wesley's life. And yet, after spending several years as a missionary, he sailed back to England, and when he got there, he wrote in his journal that he had still not yet become a Christian. I want you to listen to this quote. Wesley said, I who went to America to convert, convert others, was never myself converted to God. He said, I had the faith of a servant, but not that of a son. And all that Wesley was doing, all the stuff, all the great stuff, he had never entered into a relationship with God the Father. Everything he did, he did out of obligation to God as servant, instead of out of intimacy with God as son. And that alone begs the question all across this room, in religious culture, in the Birmingham church culture, are you a son, a daughter? Do you, right where you're sitting, do you know God as father? Not asking to go to church. Obviously, you do that at least today. I'm not asking if you study the Bible, if you do this, or that if you've been on mission trips, this shit. I'm asking do you know God as Father? And if if not, then today in the next few minutes, I want you to hear, I want you to see a picture of God as Father, and I want to invite you to become his son, daughter. To become a child of God in this room. Maybe to have that Wesley type moment where you go from even being a servant to being son. And for those of you who would say, Yes, I'm a child of God, I know God has father, today, on this Father's Day, you would be deeply encouraged in the depth of your heart, what it means to be his child and God to be your father. What we're gonna do is a little different than what we normally do. Instead of camping out just in one passage of Scripture, what we're gonna do is we're gonna look all over Scripture and particularly all over the New Testament. I want us to see the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God. I want us to see a portrait in all the New Testament of God as Father. And for us to realize what that means for all of us. You know, during this series, we've gone through a variety of different things that distinguish us. We've talked about manhood and womanhood and the differences in God's design and ease. We're talking about husbands and wives. We're talking about parents and children, singles. We've talked about what makes us different in many ways. And God's unique designs for each of us, as men, women, husbands, wives, parents, children, singles, whatever, whatever it is. But this is where I want to bring us all together and say, this is what it means for us all to be children of God the Father. And so we're gonna start with Matthew chapter 6, verse 9, a very familiar verse, and let that verse launch us into looking at two main truths

Our Father In Heaven Changes Prayer

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today. Two simple, glorious truths. So Matthew chapter 6, verse 9. Remember, this is the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and this is what he says in Matthew chapter 6, verse 9. He's teaching them about prayer, and he says, Pray then like this. Our Father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Now, we we hear that, and partly because the Lord's prayer is so common to us, partly because we've read this passage of Scripture before. We're not astounded when we see these words from Jesus' mouth leap off the page. So we're not we're not awestruck by them, and we should be awestruck by them. I want to show you why. Because what Jesus is saying here is new in a sense. It's revolutionary in every sense. See the background leading up to this? This is the first book in the New Testament, right? Book of Matthew? Before this Old Testament, in all of the Old Testament, God is referred to as Father. In all the Old Testament, he's referred to as Father only 15 times. In all the Old Testament. And none of those 15 times are the people of God ever told to pray to God as Father. But when you turn the page from the Old Testament into the New Testament, you get to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, these four Gospels, and the four Gospels alone, God is referred to as Father 165 different times. You know what's cool? Out of those 165 times, there's only one time. I think it's Matthew chapter 23, verse 9. That's the only time. 164 other times, when God has mentioned as Father, it is in the context of Jesus talking specifically to his disciples. Now, why that's significant? It's because when Jesus comes on the scene, this picture, this title of God as a father just bursts on the scene with him. And it bursts on the scene in relationship to those who are following Jesus. And we see it throughout the rest of the New Testament as well. But the picture is you can only know God as Father through who? Through Jesus. The Jesus makes relationship with God as Father, prayer to God as Father, intimacy with God the Father, Jesus is the one who makes that possible. So as we talk today about the care of God as Father for us and what it means to be his children, the reality is this is only applicable to those who have trusted in Jesus. So when I when I put us on here in the notes, he does this for us, he does this for us, that us is really only those who have trusted in Christ to save you from your sin. And the picture of what comes in the New Testament is to all who turn from their sin, trust in Christ. All of us have sin in our hearts, in our lives. It separates us from God, causes us to deserve the judgment of God, the wrath of God. Jesus comes on the scene, he takes the wrath of God the judge upon himself. He dies on the cross for our sins, rises from the grave in victory over sin, so that all who trust in him, turn from their sins and trust in him, can be reconciled to God. Not just made right before God the judge, but loved by God the Father to enter into an eternal family. And so I want us to see these two truths, but these two truths really only apply to those who know God as Father through Christ. So here's truth number one at the top of your notes: God is our Father. That's that's that's the breathtaking truth that comes on us in the New Testament. I wish we had time, but if you look in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, you search Father, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, 15 times in these three chapters alone, Jesus mentions God as Father. 15 times in these three chapters alone. We're seven chapters in the New Testament, and we've already seen God refer to as Father more than all of the Old Testament. He is our Father. When we pray, we don't just pray, oh God, dreadful creator of all things or supreme ground of all being. We when we pray, when you pray, Christian, you are not praying to some impersonal ground of all being, some ambiguous grand picture way out there. You're praying to, yes, a grand God, but a God who is. Jesus comes on the scene and says, When you pray, say Father. Dad. Oh. He has this eminency, grand and glorious, transcendence to come to us as Father, as Dad. So here's what Jesus does. He he contrasts God the Father with earthly fathers, and then he describes the care of the Heavenly Father for us. So I want to show you the contrast.

God’s Goodness In Asking And Receiving

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Turn over to Matthew chapter 7. Remember, we're going to be all over. We're going to camp out here a good bit here in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 7, verse 9. Well, start in verse 7, because I want you to see the context. Matthew chapter 7, verse 7. Jesus is again talking about prayer. Listen to what he says. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds. And to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, we'll give him a stone. Or if he asks for a fish, we'll give him a serpent. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? I want you to see what Jesus is doing here. He's arguing from the lesser to the greater. He says, You know, if you're if your son, dad's in this room, if your son asks you for bread, you don't give him a stone. If he asks you for fish, you don't give him a snake. You give him what is good. It's what dads do, and it's good. Jesus says, How much more? Because you're evil. I want to be a good dad, but the reality is, even the best dad in this room still has a sinful heart that is bent away from God toward sin. And the contrast he just sets up, he says, we are evil. He is good. He's good. Everything about him is good. There is no propensity towards sin at all in him. Every dad still struggles with sin. As a result, believe it or not, every dad in this room is not right 100% of the time. Close, but not a hundred percent. And if that's the case, then that means every dad in this room, as best as they want to love their children, dads are not guaranteed to do what is best every single time. But your heavenly father is. Let this soak in. Your heavenly father is completely good. And he always, always, always gives what is best. And we struggle with that, don't we? And especially in prayer. Jesus says, everyone who asks, receives, the one who seeks finds, we think, well, that's everybody but me. Have you ever prayed for something for years and not received it? You ever pressed in and prayed hard for something and not received it, and you begin, and then God begins to answer in ways you haven't asked for. So you're receiving what you didn't ask for, and you're not receiving what you did ask for, and you start to think, I don't know, I don't understand how prayer works. You start to begin to think that prayer is just like this one big slot machine, and you put enough coins in, maybe something good will come out of it. You don't know what. Know this. When you pray, you are never, ever, ever praying to a reluctant God. He's your father. And you ask for one thing, you ask for bread, he's not going to give you a stone. Even when you don't understand the way he answers, know this. He is good. And he always gives the best to his children. A hundred percent of the time. We're evil. He's good. Keep going. We have limited wisdom. He has infinite wisdom. He is wise. God knows what is best as our father. This is one of the characteristics I most admired in my dad. So wise, such good advice, counsel that I miss. And sometimes, I'll be honest, it drove me nuts, even as an adult, because sometimes I wouldn't take it as advice because, you know, I was an adult now. Like I understood the situation far better than he did. And I'd always have to go back to him and say those dreadful words. Dad, you were right. And yet, as wise as my dad was, he obviously was not infallible in his wisdom. His wisdom was limited. And that is never the case with our Heavenly Father. He has infinite wisdom. When God gives something, he never says, Well, if I'd have known this was going to happen, I'd have done this differently. I'd have given you something different here. He always knows. When he answers prayer, he knows the effect of that on 10 years from now, 100 years from now, 100 billion years from now for that matter. He has infinite wisdom. And therefore he always gives what is best. Tozer said, with the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare. So put these together. He's good, the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it. What do we lack? We can trust him. Final contrast, we have imperfect love. He has perfect love. Here's the beauty of it. God is a loving father, far beyond the most loving father in this world. He's perfect. In all facets of his being, he is perfect, including his love. This means, don't miss it, by the very nature of God, he can do nothing less than give the most and the best to his children. Because everything he does in our lives flows from perfect love for you and me. That's good. Contrast, best father in this world, how much more, Jesus says.

George Mueller And Trust In Grief

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Now we don't always understand this. Remember George Mueller? I talked about him before a variety of different times. He was a praying machine. As he led this orphanage like almost nobody else in history. He would pray. He never made needs known public. He would pray. He specifically recorded 50,000 different specific answers to prayer. Pray and God would provide. Pray and God would provide. And yet, amidst all of that, that doesn't mean George Mueller always got what he wanted when he prayed. What he asked for. You look deeper into his life and you realize that this man, this father with a heart for children like no other, he buried stu two stillborn children of his own. He saw his one-year-old son die. His adult daughter die. And saw two wives pass away. I want you to hear what he said when he preached his first wife's funeral. I want you to hear obviously the love he had for her. And then I want you to hear the diagnosis that came and hear Mueller's response. Listen to this. He said at the funeral, were we happy? Verily we were. With every year our happiness increased more and more. I never saw my beloved wife at any time. When I met her unexpectedly anywhere in Bristol, without being delighted to do so. I never met her, even in the orphan houses, without my heart being delighted to do so. Day by day, as we met in our dressing room, at the orphan houses, to wash our hands before dinner and tea. I was always delighted to meet her, and she was equally pleased to see me. Thousands of times I told her, My darling, I never saw you at any time since you became my wife without my being delighted to see you. So see that there's love, and then he begins to talk about the doctor, Mr. Pritchard, who came. When I heard Mr. Pritchard's judgment that the malady was rheumatic fever, I naturally expected the worst. My heart was nigh to be broken on the account of the depth of my affection. And then he goes on, and he says, The last portion of Scripture which I read to my precious wife was this The Lord God is a son and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. And Mueller said, Now, if we have believed in the Lord, Jesus Christ, we have received grace. We are partakers of grace, and to all such he will give glory also. So I said to myself, with regard to the latter part, no good thing will he withhold from them that walk them that walk uprightly. Mueller said, I am in myself a poor, worthless sinner, but I have been saved by the blood of Christ, and I do not live in sin. I walk uprightly before God. Therefore, if it is really good for me, my darling wife will be raised up again, sick as she is. God will restore her again. But if she is not restored again, then it would not be a good thing for me. And so my heart was at rest. I was satisfied with God. And all this springs, as I have often said before, from taking God at his word, believing what he says. Oh, to believe that. Even in the worst of times, God is good. Oh, I Don Robes don't I hope you don't mind, but I should have asked you for permission. Do you mind? Thanks. This is a dear brother who had the opportunity to walk alongside him and his family as his wife Gwen struggled with and passed away from cancer. And just uh just the beauty. The beauty and the picture of trust in the Lord. And Don just came up to me and handed me a book that Thomas Nelson has published. That is coming out in the next month. That is a reflection of God's grace and their whole journey for God's glory. And and words can't describe the way that God has provided for and then used this whole picture for his name's sake. To know this. I know there are people all across this room walking through all kinds of different challenges, right? Know this. When you ask for bread from God, he never, ever, ever gives a stone. He never gives a snake when you ask for He always gives what is good, what is best, from perfect, from a fountain of perfect love, infinite wisdom, and total goodness he provides for his children. That leads to, okay, care for our heavenly Father. And this is all over the New Testament, Matthew 6 included, as our Father. He loves us. It's talking about all who are in Christ. God, our Father, loves us. We don't have time to turn to all these places, but 1 John 3, verse 1, John says, See what kind of love The Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. See it. See the love he's lavished on us. And to think of it. Oh, Heather and I were in Phoenix this last week and was preaching at the uh uh Southern Maps Convention. I forgot to mention that last week, but thank you for those who are praying. God was very gracious in that. And while we were out there after the convention was over, we we drove up real quickly to uh to Sedona, north of Phoenix. And I don't know, anybody ever been in Sedona, Arizona? Okay, that place is awesome. Okay, you got the Grand Canyon, that's pretty cool as well in Arizona. But Sedona, these red rocks, like look at this picture up here on the screen with me. These rocks, they change color rocks on the side of mountains, they change colors as the day goes on. They just shine with radiation from the sunlight. We didn't take that picture. I found it on the internet, but that's what we saw. It's what we saw. Like everywhere you go, this is what you see, and you want to take a picture everywhere, but pictures just don't do it justice. It's just grand, and you look at that everywhere. At one point, Heather looked at me and she just said, I feel so small, so puny, just so grand, God's grandeur and his glory on display, and you do have that sense. But then, oh, but maybe to take it a step deeper and to realize that the God who made those mountains, who spoke and called them into being, the God from whose hand the sun radiates across those rocks, that God has called you his child. Oh. Let that just penetrate your heart, your soul, not just the person beside you, in front of you, behind you, or just all of us together. You, where you're sitting, every one of you is in Christ. God, God has called you his child. What intimacy with the universal king of creation. And this is exactly the whole tenor of what Jesus is saying in Matthew chapter

Hiddenness With The Father Matters

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six. You look at the beginning of this chapter, he's talking about giving and praying and fasting in a day when, in like our day, people would give to be recognized by men, pray to be seen by men, fast to be honored by men. Listen to what Jesus says. Look, when it comes to giving, verse 3, Matthew chapter 6. When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. So that, listen to verse 4, your giving may be in secret, and your father who sees this in secret will reward you. Same thing down in verse 6. When you pray, go in your room, shut the door, and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. You get to fasting, verse 17. When you fast, anoint your head, wash your face. That your fasting may not be seen by others, by your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. Jesus says, give in secret, pray in secret, fast in secret. Why? Because it's in hiddenness, it's in what happens between you and the Father alone, where reward is found. You see this, get this. Our hearts were made to find joy, not in receiving honor from men, but in experiencing hiddenness with God. Your heart was made to enjoy deepest intimacy and hiddenness with God, your father. It's in hiddenness where reward is found. Don't neglect this, brothers and sisters. Don't neglect hiddenness with the Father for anything. There is nothing, nothing, nothing in your life. No relationship, no job, no obligation, your work, your family duties, your bills, the things that you do. There is nothing in your life more important than intimacy with God the Father. Don't let even the best things of this world neglect you, cause you to neglect this one thing: intimacy with God the Father, who loves you, who he loves us, he understands us. Look at what Jesus says right after that verse we read about prayer in verse 6.

Prayer As Intimacy Not Information

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In Matthew chapter 6, verse 7, Jesus says, And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. What is that about? I thought the purpose of prayer was to inform God what I need and what I want. And Jesus says, No. God is not up in heaven with a notebook and a pen telling you to slow down so he makes sure to get all of your requests. He knows them before you even ask them. That begs the question what's the point of prayer then? Oh, and this is where we realize the point of prayer. The point of prayer is not to inform God, but to experience intimacy with the God who knows you and me better than we know ourselves. This is going so much deeper than a list of requests before God. It's not that it's bad to lift things up, but to know that our Father knows the depth of our hearts, that there is nothing hidden from him. That he understands and knows us, our circumstances. He knows what's going on in your life right now, and in your family, in your home, at your work. He knows it better than you do. He understands. Psalm 139, the psalmist says, Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar, you search out my path and my lying down, you're acquainted with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, oh Lord, before I even say what I'm about to say, in just a second, you know it all together. Brothers and sisters, no one understands you. Even the people that are closest to you do not understand you. But God understands you better than you understand yourself. Nothing is hidden from him, which, if we can really be honest, is a bit of a frightening reality, isn't it? Especially when it comes to our propensity to sin, to know that the God of the universe, God your Father, knows every sinful thought from your mind. Every sinful thing in your heart. He knows all your thoughts, the thoughts that nobody else, even those who are closest to you, know. The motives, every deed, every action, every thought. He knows the all, which would be a totally frightening reality for all of us. If God was not our father. And for him to be father means not only does he understand us, but follow us, he forgives us. He forgives us. So you get alone with God in the secret place and you pray, forgive us our debts, verse 12, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Verse 14, if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. Now the picture here is not, the picture here is one who comes to God already in relationship with him as Father, as a son or daughter, confessing sin. Not so they can remain in the family. Now follow this. When when my sons have disobeyed me, it's happened two or three times, maybe four. When my son. That's obviously a lie. So when my sons disobey me and they come to confess, ask for forgiveness, this is not about whether or not they can stay in the family. It's not a fear there. They are confessing that, not so they can stay my sons. They're confessing that so they can restore intimacy with their father. And this is why, as Christians, we walk in continual confession. The closer we get to God, the more we see our need for his grace. We're constantly crying, not so we can be made right with God that was sealed in Christ, but so we can have intimacy with the Father and walk with him. Oh, child of God, do not let sin go unconfessed before him. The foolishness. And some of you are doing it right now. Some of you in this room, I know, are trying to hide your sin from God, are living like God doesn't know what's going on. You are a fool. He knows. And not only are you a fool to think you can hide it from him, but you would be foolish not to confess it before him. He is a father who delights, he delights, he delights in forgiving you. What mercy, what grace from the Father's hand to believe it and to receive it, and not to dwell in unconfessed sin and separate intimacy from the one who alone brings joy, satisfaction to our hearts. I won't be done with unconfessed sin for your good and his glory. He forgives us.

Anxiety And The Father’s Provision

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Understands us, loves us, forgives us, he provides for us later in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. I'm just going to read this, 25 through 33. Therefore I tell you, Jesus says, do not be anxious about your life. Don't be worried what you'll eat or what you'll drink or about what you're about your body, what you'll put on. Is not life more important than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, verse 26. They neither sow nor reap nor gather in the barns. And yet your heavenly father feeds them. Look at the birds. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, the flowers, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, or you of little faith? Therefore, don't be anxious, don't be worried, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Look at the birds, the flowers. When we were up in Sedona, there was this state park we found. And we go into the state park, and they have this uh little theater in their visitor center that was supposed to be an introduction to the state park. So we're like, well, this is cool, give some history and see some of those grand pictures. Well, we got in there, and the video was not an introduction to the state park. The video was uh a monologue on hummingbirds in the state park. And it was the driest, most boring video. I mean, we we sat there, and first our jaws was kind of on the ground, like I thought we were gonna see like grand pictures instead. This is the red-billed hummingbird, and it does that, and the guy just totally monologue. And and so we're sitting there for a while, and and and just goes, There's this hummingbird, and then there is this hummingbird, and then there's this hummingbird. And it was just like one after another. After like 15 hummingbirds, you're like, okay, we've had it, we're going out to see some rocks. Um and I was just sat there thinking, who cares about the hummingbirds? And the reality is, God does he made that bill red, and he made this flower that this guy thinks is so cool, he made it that color, and this guy, and he's not showing it by his tone of voice, but he thinks this is interesting, and it's because God has made these birds interesting. And the reality is, Jesus says, Look at them, they're beautiful. God provides for every single one of them and all these weird things they do, and this guy thinks it's cool. Oh, God does all of that. How much more? They're not his children, you're his children. He provides for you, he knows all that you need. Mark this down. Worry is a sure sign that you have forgotten you're a child of God. Worry at any moment. Worry is a sure sign. Maybe momentarily when you get anxious when you weren't worried. No. And that's a sure sign you forgot momentarily that you are a child of God. Because a child of God the Father never, ever, ever has a reason to worry. Never has a reason. Do not be anxious about anything. He will provide for you. You can trust God the Father. He provides for us, he disciplines us, he disciplines us.

Discipline As Proof Of Love

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Turnly over to Hebrews chapter 12. We'll turn there and then we'll keep going in just a minute to Revelation. But Hebrews chapter 12, and we're in just a second, we'll be read verse 5. He disciplines us. Now, who among us really enjoys discipline? None of us in the moment delights in discipline. The other day after worship, uh Heather and I were down here at the front and we were talking with a couple people separately, and both at the same time, uh our our backs were kind of facing, well, our we were facing this way, so our backs were this way. The people we're talking to look over, and they see one of our sons who is leaning over the baptistry with his head in the water. Not not a good choice, son. And so Heather and I immediately leave our conversations, go over here to our son, and take him up to my office where we had some um good God-honoring discipline is the way I would describe it. And we made it clear that that is that is not a wise choice, not a good choice. He does not need uh premature immersion for a variety of different reasons. He does not need to get anywhere near that water again. And so that was good for him. He he needed that. He need he needed that. Every child needs that. We're children. We need this. We need it for our good. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 5 says, Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have had you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Don't resist the Father's discipline in your life. It is good to feel the sting of sin. It is good to feel, in a sense, to feel the pain associated with sin and its consequences because it chose us. And we don't need to run back to it. God disciplines us for good. He disciplines us and he leads

Led By The Spirit In Real Life

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us. He leads us. Romans 8 14. We don't have time to turn there. Romans 8.14. All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Let me say that again. All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. To be a son, now it's interesting, this is one of those places where we don't see son and daughter mentioned, and it's not because uh the Bible's just being chauvinistic here. The picture is when you see places in the New Testament where only sons is mentioned, not sons and daughters, the reality is first century culture, the inheritance, the privilege of family being passed on, went to son. And so it's a good thing that men and women are both referred to as sons, because the reality is there's no because you are uh female does not mean you're second place in the family of God. We're all sons of God, receiving the full inheritance that comes from God. And so the picture is those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. To be a son, to be a child of God, is to have a spirit. Now, why is this so important? Well, you think about it. Luke chapter 11, verse 13, we don't have time to go there either, but that's where Jesus, he kind of reiterates parallel what we saw in Matthew chapter 7, verse 7 through 11. If your son asks for bread, we give him a stone. And what Jesus does is he changes it up a little bit in verse 13 in Luke chapter 11. He says, If you then, though you're evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven? Now Matthew chapter 7, verse 11 said, How much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? In Luke 11, 13, Jesus says, How much more will your father give? Instead of good gifts, Jesus says, How much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? I remember reading that and thinking, well, what if I didn't ask for the Holy Spirit? What if I was asking for good gifts? Why does he give the Holy Spirit? And the beauty is, don't miss this. You ask for wisdom and a difficult decision you're walking through right now. God doesn't just give you wisdom, he puts a s his spirit, the spirit of wisdom inside of you to lead and guide you through this whole decision-making process. Just doesn't just tell you what to do. He lives inside of you. Makes it a reality from the inside out. You ask for joy, you ask for peace. He doesn't just give joy, he doesn't just give peace, he puts a spirit as the fountain of joy, and the fountain of peace inside of you. You ask for gifts, and he gives the giver. The Father in heaven so desires to lead you that he has put his very spirit inside of you so that you are never alone. The Father is always with you. Oh, side note here. Over these past weeks in this series, we've walked through manhood, woman and marriage, parenting, singleness. I know that there the elders and I have been praying especially for you. Because I know that there are there are marriages that are struggling all across this room. Struggling in different severities. I know there are parents and children who are struggling. I know there are men and women who are looking back and seeing what scripture says about manhood, womanhood, and saying, Oh, I missed it in this or that area of my life. Some struggling in singleness. And I know that as we've looked at these pictures in Scripture and what God has designed for marriage, singleness, parenting, manhood, womanhood, there's a there's a tendency for some to just walk away almost discouraged, thinking, ah, I'm so far behind. And I know that. And it can be, in a sense, a bit deflating. I was uh about three weeks ago, I decided I was going to start training for a triathlon. Um and uh I rode my bike three times and ran twice, and then I found out that there was a triathlon like right up the street from us in Oak Mountain, and it was three days later, and so I decided, oh, why not? I ran my bike, I ran I ran twice and rode my bike three times. I think I think I'm ready. And so so I signed up very late, very, very, very late. And so that meant I was at the I was at the very back of the pack. There's like four hundred and thirty people, and I was like four oh five, so there's only a few people behind me. And so you you run or you swim, which I had not trained for at all, then you bike, and then you run. And so I get in the water and start to swim. Well, I I did a marathon once, and out of that 26 miles, around mile 21 or 22, is when I remember thinking to myself, I I'm I'm just not very smart for doing this. And a week from now, I'm gonna think this was a good idea to have done this. And I tell myself, don't believe yourself a week from now. This is miserable, and you should have never, ever, ever done this. So that was about mile 21, 22 in the marathon. Well, I got the same thought about 100 yards into the swim. So 400 yard swim, which doesn't sound like a long way, but just a recommendation. I would encourage you to train in swimming before you do the swim. So I'm in the middle of this lake of an oak mountain thinking pastor drowns in lake. Like, I'm a hundred yards into it. I'm miserable. I there's just there's just people riding around on canoes to make sure everybody's safe. I I go up to one of the canoes and I grab onto it, say, can I hold on here for a little while? She's like, Yeah, sure. And so I just and I look, I kind of map it out. There's another couple canoes. I'm just gonna go from one canoe to the next. Now, my whole goal was not to finish last in the tribe line. Okay, my whole goal is not to finish last. But by the time I've grabbed onto a couple canoes, I'm looking behind, and there's only like 10 people behind me. There's a there's a designated last place finisher they have for these kind of things for somebody who's nice enough to come alongside the the back and help those who are in the back. Well, I see the guy, and I'm like, I'm I'm I cannot finish last. And so I finish kind of backstroking out of the water as best as I can. And then I go up to the bike. Now there were once for 400 plus bikes there. Well, now there's 10 left. And I'm as I get on my bike, there's other people that have finished the swim and the bike, and they're coming back in to park their bikes as I take mine out. What that means is as I get on the road to go out, it's it's six and a half miles out and six and a half miles back for the sprint triathlon. As I'm going out, that means all 400 of those people go right past me. And there's and and and so I and it was demoralizing. Like when I got back from the bike ride, okay, I've still got to run. There's people who have not only finished, walked their bikes back to the car, there are people that have put their bikes back on their car, gotten in their cars, they're driving out, and I'm still not even not even starting the run, and they're going to breakfast or lunch or whatever. Demoralizing the whole time. There's no, and looking ahead, thinking everybody else has got this thing figured out. I know, I know, I know there's a tendency for some to think, as we talk about marriage, parenting, singleness, this or that, to think, man, these other people are so far ahead because of past mistakes, because of this or that, who knows what. I just I don't even know how to get caught up. And I want you to know I want you to know that you are not alone. And the strength to fight for your marriage, the strength to fight for your children, the strength to thrive in your singleness, the strength to be a man or woman, but the God your father is with you. The God who moves the mountains. He has put his spirit in you to lead you and God, and he loves you, and he understands you, and he forgives you. Don't don't get hampered by past failure. He forgives you. He walks with you. He disciplines yes, but he leads us for our good. This is what it means for him to be our father. We are his father. God is our father, we are his children.

New Name New Family New Inheritance

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Now, I'm gonna go quickly through these uh real quickly. What we have, what we do, what we anticipate. First, what we have as his children, we have a new name. Have a new name. Obviously, we don't have time to turn to all these places, but John 1 says, to all who received him, to believe those who believed on his name, he gave the right to become children of God. We have a new name. We bear his name as his children. We have a new spirit. We've already addressed this. Romans 8.16. The spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. New name, new spirit, new brothers and sisters. All throughout the New Testament, we're addressed as brothers and sisters in this local church alongside other local churches. We have access to the Father's presence. Oh, so much here. Remember Exodus chapter 19? God revealing himself as a consuming fire on the mountain, the command is to stay away from the mountain, stay away from the holy presence of God. And then you see in Christ everything changed. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14 through 16. We have confidence to enter the throne of God, confidence to come before God. We are not afraid of God in some unhealthy way. Not afraid of God. We are now friends of God. Friends of God. Romans 8 says, You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father, not afraid, friends of God, welcomed into the presence of God, access to his presence, and we have an inheritance in the Father's kingdom. Inheritance of the Father's kingdom. The Spirit Himself bears witness, Romans 8, 16, and 17. The Spirit Himself bears witness that we are God's children. And if we are children, check this out. We are heirs, heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ. If indeed we may share in his sufferings in order that one day we will share in his glory. Oh, brothers and sisters, children of God, be free from the pursuit of pleasures and possessions and plaudits in this world. You have a Father in heaven who gives you a kingdom forever. It would make no sense to spend our lives running after the nice, nicer car, bigger house, better stuff, better position here. When we have billions of years of a kingdom waiting for us from our Father in heaven. So what we do, we worship him. That's the whole point of Matthew 6.9. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Make your name known. It's holy, hallowed in all the earth. We worship him, we glorify him. Matthew 5, 16. In the same way, let your light shine before me that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. That's oh, when you wake up tomorrow morning to say, yes, what I want to do today is live before my family, before friends, before coworkers. I want to live in a way that people see my life and glorify my Father. Glorify Him. We imitate Him. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1 says, Be imitators of God as his beloved children. We imitate him. We obey him. 1 John 3 10 says, By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. You want to tell who the children of God are? Look at their lives. They're obeying him. We reflect him. That's what we talked about earlier. Remember, this is why we adopt. This is why we do foster care. Not because we're just altruistic people. We don't adopt because we just want nice Christmas card photos to send out that people will think are cute. That that doesn't drive ministry to orphans. What drives ministry to orphans is gospel-driven tenacity. When there are difficulties in foster care and adoption, when there are challenges, when there is resistance, even from children who don't have a mom or a dad, but who have grown up in a context where they have learned to resist any effort at love toward them. Well, how do you press in? How do you press in in those circumstances? You know that there was once a day when we were rebels against God and everything in us turned away from him, and he pursued us with his love. He called us into his family, he made us his sons and his daughters, and that's what drives us. Not altruism. Not this or that. We are we care for orphans not because we are rescuers. We're not some good group of good altruistic people out to be savior for orphans around the world. That's not what drives orphan ministry. We're not rescuers, brothers and sisters. We care for orphans because we are the rescued. That's why we care for 143, 147 million orphans in the world. And all this brings back to us. So you look at it. What does it mean for God to be our Father? You look on your page there. What does it mean for us to be his children? Don't we want everybody to know God as Father? We want people to know God as Father. This is what drives us as men and women, husbands and wives, parents and singles, together to pass the gospel on the next generation because we want the next generation to be counted among the sons and daughters of God. Now and forever. More than anything, we want people to be to experience the joy of being children of the Heavenly Father. And what we anticipate, we don't have time to

A Tearless Future With The Father

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turn there. Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21, verse 1 through 7. There is coming a day when he will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more. Then there shall be mourning, crying, or pain, for the former things have passed away. Then listen to verse 7, Revelation 21, verse 7. The one who conquers will have this heritage. And I will be his God. And he will be my son. That's the picture of heaven. A heritage where he will be our God. We will be his son, his children. And so as children of God the Father, I invite you to look forward to a day when there will be no more pain. Brothers and sisters, there will be no more pain in your heart, in your body, in your relationships. Father's Day, always a tender day for me. Missing my dad. But there is coming a day when there will be no more pain. It will all be gone. And we're looking forward to an eternity where we will enjoy his presence. He will be our God. We will be his sons, daughters, forever and ever and ever and ever.

Closing And More Resources

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We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radical.net.