1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:05,533 Well, let's pray before we look into the Word. 2 00:00:05,533 --> 00:00:07,604 Our Father, we ask You 3 00:00:07,604 --> 00:00:11,896 for Your Holy Spirit this evening - 4 00:00:11,896 --> 00:00:14,357 the Spirit of faith and power 5 00:00:14,357 --> 00:00:17,965 and love and of a sound mind. 6 00:00:17,965 --> 00:00:21,480 We ask You that You would glorify Yourself 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,993 that we'd come away 8 00:00:23,993 --> 00:00:28,112 with a little glimpse of who You are. 9 00:00:28,112 --> 00:00:29,447 Help us, Lord. 10 00:00:29,447 --> 00:00:32,109 We're not able to do that, 11 00:00:32,109 --> 00:00:33,759 but we pray that You would do it; 12 00:00:33,759 --> 00:00:36,369 that You'd take control. 13 00:00:36,369 --> 00:00:42,697 We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 14 00:00:42,697 --> 00:00:45,873 Well, our text this evening 15 00:00:45,873 --> 00:00:58,051 is found in Matthew 6:9. 16 00:00:58,051 --> 00:01:00,377 Matthew 6:9, 17 00:01:00,377 --> 00:01:02,800 and actually just the first part of the verse. 18 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,532 "Pray then in this way, 19 00:01:07,532 --> 00:01:11,406 'Our Father, who is in Heaven...'" 20 00:01:11,406 --> 00:01:14,344 "Pray then in this way, 21 00:01:14,344 --> 00:01:17,238 'Our Father, who is in Heaven...'" 22 00:01:17,238 --> 00:01:19,842 As you know, these are the first words 23 00:01:19,842 --> 00:01:22,327 of what's called "the Lord's Prayer." 24 00:01:22,327 --> 00:01:24,959 Maybe a better name would be 25 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,946 the "model prayer" or the "pattern prayer" 26 00:01:27,946 --> 00:01:31,217 because the Lord is giving us this prayer 27 00:01:31,217 --> 00:01:35,087 as a pattern for our own praying. 28 00:01:35,087 --> 00:01:38,349 And as for the larger context, 29 00:01:38,349 --> 00:01:42,303 this prayer comes about in the middle 30 00:01:42,303 --> 00:01:44,978 of what we know as the Sermon on the Mount, 31 00:01:44,978 --> 00:01:48,203 and this glorious passage of Scripture 32 00:01:48,203 --> 00:01:52,287 that begins at the beginning of Matthew 5 33 00:01:52,287 --> 00:01:57,116 and goes all the way to the end of Matthew 7. 34 00:01:57,116 --> 00:01:59,609 And at the end of this sermon, 35 00:01:59,609 --> 00:02:01,329 Matthew makes this comment. 36 00:02:01,329 --> 00:02:06,044 He says, "the result was that when Jesus 37 00:02:06,044 --> 00:02:08,471 had finished these words, 38 00:02:08,471 --> 00:02:12,670 the multitudes were amazed at His teaching." 39 00:02:12,670 --> 00:02:16,510 They were amazed at His teaching. 40 00:02:16,510 --> 00:02:19,305 A couple of years ago there in Kirksville, 41 00:02:19,305 --> 00:02:21,145 we spent some time considering 42 00:02:21,145 --> 00:02:26,998 the amazing teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ; 43 00:02:26,998 --> 00:02:29,745 the radical teachings of Jesus. 44 00:02:29,745 --> 00:02:32,581 And by the time we finished the series, 45 00:02:32,581 --> 00:02:35,834 I basically had come to the conclusion 46 00:02:35,834 --> 00:02:40,428 that everything the Lord Jesus taught was radical. 47 00:02:40,428 --> 00:02:42,617 It's amazing. I mean, think of it. 48 00:02:42,617 --> 00:02:46,904 "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 49 00:02:46,904 --> 00:02:50,494 than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." 50 00:02:50,494 --> 00:02:54,731 What a shocking word that was in that setting! 51 00:02:54,731 --> 00:03:00,013 "Every idle word that a man shall speak, 52 00:03:00,013 --> 00:03:01,700 he shall give account for it 53 00:03:01,700 --> 00:03:02,898 in the day of judgment." 54 00:03:02,898 --> 00:03:04,287 You know that has to be true. 55 00:03:04,287 --> 00:03:06,512 God's not going to let some things slip by, 56 00:03:06,512 --> 00:03:09,684 but just think about that. 57 00:03:09,684 --> 00:03:13,323 "That which is highly esteemed among men..." 58 00:03:13,323 --> 00:03:14,438 Think of that. 59 00:03:14,438 --> 00:03:15,998 "...Highly esteemed among men 60 00:03:15,998 --> 00:03:20,515 is an abomination in the sight of God." 61 00:03:20,515 --> 00:03:23,989 "Unless a man is born again, 62 00:03:23,989 --> 00:03:26,344 he can't see the Kingdom of Heaven." 63 00:03:26,344 --> 00:03:28,126 You've got to be born two times. 64 00:03:28,126 --> 00:03:29,517 Think of these things! 65 00:03:29,517 --> 00:03:32,399 Just one after another! 66 00:03:32,399 --> 00:03:35,241 "Don't think that I came to bring peace on the earth. 67 00:03:35,241 --> 00:03:37,651 I did not come to bring peace, 68 00:03:37,651 --> 00:03:40,035 but a sword." 69 00:03:40,035 --> 00:03:42,952 "Strive to enter at the narrow gate; 70 00:03:42,952 --> 00:03:45,075 for many will seek 71 00:03:45,075 --> 00:03:49,139 and will not be able." 72 00:03:49,139 --> 00:03:54,281 "Before Abraham was born, I am." 73 00:03:54,281 --> 00:03:57,436 "No one knows the Father except the Son, 74 00:03:57,436 --> 00:03:59,719 and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." 75 00:03:59,719 --> 00:04:00,809 Think of this. 76 00:04:00,809 --> 00:04:02,704 Jesus said nobody in the whole world 77 00:04:02,704 --> 00:04:06,542 knows the Father except for Me, 78 00:04:06,542 --> 00:04:09,593 and anybody that I choose to reveal Him to. 79 00:04:09,593 --> 00:04:11,689 Well, we could go on and on, couldn't we? 80 00:04:11,689 --> 00:04:13,377 The wonderful, radical, 81 00:04:13,377 --> 00:04:17,061 world-changing teachings of Jesus. 82 00:04:17,061 --> 00:04:20,066 But tonight then, I'd like for us to focus on one thing; 83 00:04:20,066 --> 00:04:22,078 one of those teachings, 84 00:04:22,078 --> 00:04:24,154 and that is the teaching of the Lord Jesus 85 00:04:24,154 --> 00:04:27,014 concerning the fatherhood of God. 86 00:04:27,014 --> 00:04:29,137 "Pray then in this way, 87 00:04:29,137 --> 00:04:33,554 'Our Father, who is in Heaven..." 88 00:04:33,554 --> 00:04:35,959 We can't imagine how radical 89 00:04:35,959 --> 00:04:39,509 and earth-shaking these words were 90 00:04:39,509 --> 00:04:41,278 in the day in which they were spoken. 91 00:04:41,278 --> 00:04:43,012 The Jews had heard many times 92 00:04:43,012 --> 00:04:44,742 of the fatherhood of God 93 00:04:44,742 --> 00:04:49,826 in relation to the corporate nation of Israel. 94 00:04:49,826 --> 00:04:52,118 Just one example: 95 00:04:52,118 --> 00:04:53,379 Hosea 11:1, 96 00:04:53,379 --> 00:04:55,929 "When Israel was a youth, 97 00:04:55,929 --> 00:04:57,619 I loved him, 98 00:04:57,619 --> 00:05:01,098 and out of Egypt I called My son." 99 00:05:01,098 --> 00:05:02,423 So there's the Father - 100 00:05:02,423 --> 00:05:05,250 the Father of Israel His son 101 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:06,530 in a corporate sense. 102 00:05:06,530 --> 00:05:09,597 And even on the individual level, 103 00:05:09,597 --> 00:05:11,565 there were some passages, 104 00:05:11,565 --> 00:05:14,095 like Isaiah 43:6, He says, 105 00:05:14,095 --> 00:05:17,026 "Bring My sons from afar 106 00:05:17,026 --> 00:05:20,003 and my daughters from the ends of the earth." 107 00:05:20,003 --> 00:05:21,803 So there were some things like that, 108 00:05:21,803 --> 00:05:24,865 but when it came to the matter of private prayer, 109 00:05:24,865 --> 00:05:27,809 the Jews never addressed God 110 00:05:27,809 --> 00:05:29,617 as "our Father." 111 00:05:29,617 --> 00:05:32,933 In fact, those who have done a thorough study 112 00:05:32,933 --> 00:05:35,701 of the rabbinic writings 113 00:05:35,701 --> 00:05:38,427 just in recent years, 114 00:05:38,427 --> 00:05:41,913 say that no Jew ever used the term "father" 115 00:05:41,913 --> 00:05:44,723 as a direct address to God 116 00:05:44,723 --> 00:05:49,374 until the 10th century A.D. 117 00:05:49,374 --> 00:05:51,760 In other words, Christians had been saying 118 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,317 "our Father" for 1,000 years 119 00:05:54,317 --> 00:05:57,486 before any Jew began to do that 120 00:05:57,486 --> 00:06:00,795 as far as any records that we have. 121 00:06:00,795 --> 00:06:02,681 They spoke of "the Father," 122 00:06:02,681 --> 00:06:05,019 but they never used the term "Father" 123 00:06:05,019 --> 00:06:06,469 to address God in prayer. 124 00:06:06,469 --> 00:06:08,907 Yet, Jesus did it repeatedly, 125 00:06:08,907 --> 00:06:11,557 and He taught us to do it. 126 00:06:11,557 --> 00:06:13,751 He said, "When you pray, 127 00:06:13,751 --> 00:06:17,979 pray like this, 'Our Father in Heaven.'" 128 00:06:17,979 --> 00:06:21,075 Beloved, if you are Christian, 129 00:06:21,075 --> 00:06:24,315 God is your Father in a way 130 00:06:24,315 --> 00:06:29,568 that far exceeds any fatherly relationship 131 00:06:29,568 --> 00:06:34,151 that He had with the corporate nation of Israel. 132 00:06:34,151 --> 00:06:36,792 In fact, God is your Father 133 00:06:36,792 --> 00:06:41,613 in the most intimate, personal way imaginable. 134 00:06:41,613 --> 00:06:44,833 You have been born of God. 135 00:06:44,833 --> 00:06:48,311 John says born, "not of the will of the flesh 136 00:06:48,311 --> 00:06:50,891 or the will of man, but born of God." 137 00:06:50,891 --> 00:06:53,230 And he goes so far in 1 John, 138 00:06:53,230 --> 00:06:55,422 he says, "God's seed remains in you." 139 00:06:55,422 --> 00:06:58,685 We would have never said something like that, but he says that. 140 00:06:58,685 --> 00:07:01,729 "God's seed remains in you." 141 00:07:01,729 --> 00:07:04,161 You've been born of God. 142 00:07:04,161 --> 00:07:09,057 This fatherly relationship with God. 143 00:07:09,057 --> 00:07:11,699 In another place, he says we've become - 144 00:07:11,699 --> 00:07:13,464 Peter says, we've become 145 00:07:13,464 --> 00:07:18,814 "partakers of the divine nature." 146 00:07:18,814 --> 00:07:22,117 You're a child of God, 147 00:07:22,117 --> 00:07:24,083 both by legal adoption 148 00:07:24,083 --> 00:07:26,213 and by spiritual birth. 149 00:07:26,213 --> 00:07:28,458 And from deep within you 150 00:07:28,458 --> 00:07:31,299 comes welling up this elemental cry, 151 00:07:31,299 --> 00:07:33,506 "Abba, Father." 152 00:07:33,506 --> 00:07:35,627 Abba, Father. 153 00:07:35,627 --> 00:07:39,048 An intimate, love relationship with the God of the universe. 154 00:07:39,048 --> 00:07:41,650 Beloved, this is a fatherhood 155 00:07:41,650 --> 00:07:46,647 that's far deeper than any human fatherhood. 156 00:07:46,647 --> 00:07:51,499 It's the reality of which the best earthly father 157 00:07:51,499 --> 00:07:54,008 is only a shadow. 158 00:07:54,008 --> 00:07:56,849 In fact, God created earthly fathers 159 00:07:56,849 --> 00:07:58,506 so we'd have some idea 160 00:07:58,506 --> 00:08:00,713 of what He's talking about when He says 161 00:08:00,713 --> 00:08:03,013 He's our Father. 162 00:08:03,013 --> 00:08:06,723 Sadly, many of you may have had fathers 163 00:08:06,723 --> 00:08:09,063 that you have to try to forget about 164 00:08:09,063 --> 00:08:11,756 in order to get a right concept of God. 165 00:08:11,756 --> 00:08:14,745 But to the degree that there's common grace - 166 00:08:14,745 --> 00:08:16,890 I know myself and my home, 167 00:08:16,890 --> 00:08:19,894 my father did not truly know the Lord, 168 00:08:19,894 --> 00:08:21,426 but we went to church, 169 00:08:21,426 --> 00:08:25,610 and he, in many ways, 170 00:08:25,610 --> 00:08:30,331 gave me a glimpse of what it is to be a father. 171 00:08:30,331 --> 00:08:32,610 But all of those things are shadows. 172 00:08:32,610 --> 00:08:35,319 God created earthly fatherhood 173 00:08:35,319 --> 00:08:40,183 as the type of which He is the anti-type 174 00:08:40,183 --> 00:08:41,282 or the true Father. 175 00:08:41,282 --> 00:08:43,541 He is the only real Father 176 00:08:43,541 --> 00:08:45,823 that any of us will ever have. 177 00:08:45,823 --> 00:08:49,770 He's what fathers are supposed to be. 178 00:08:49,770 --> 00:08:53,232 And the Lord Jesus says this in Matthew 23:9, 179 00:08:53,232 --> 00:08:57,150 "Do not call anyone on earth your father. 180 00:08:57,150 --> 00:09:01,110 For one is your Father - He who is in Heaven." 181 00:09:01,110 --> 00:09:04,493 He's the real deal. 182 00:09:04,493 --> 00:09:07,969 Those other fathers are shadows. 183 00:09:07,969 --> 00:09:11,824 Hebrews 12:9, "We had fathers of our flesh 184 00:09:11,824 --> 00:09:13,937 to discipline us, and we respected them. 185 00:09:13,937 --> 00:09:15,833 Shall we not much rather be subject 186 00:09:15,833 --> 00:09:19,060 to the Father of spirits and live?" 187 00:09:19,060 --> 00:09:21,585 So the best earthly fathers 188 00:09:21,585 --> 00:09:24,539 try to be on a human level 189 00:09:24,539 --> 00:09:30,858 what really only God can be to us. 190 00:09:30,858 --> 00:09:34,222 But Jesus not only taught us to say, "Father," to God, 191 00:09:34,222 --> 00:09:37,630 He taught us to say, "Our Father." 192 00:09:37,630 --> 00:09:39,089 And this means, first of all, 193 00:09:39,089 --> 00:09:42,872 He's my father on an individual, personal level. 194 00:09:42,872 --> 00:09:44,688 And we've said that. 195 00:09:44,688 --> 00:09:47,612 But think of this, 196 00:09:47,612 --> 00:09:49,789 in teaching this, He's teaching us 197 00:09:49,789 --> 00:09:52,685 that we're part of a family; 198 00:09:52,685 --> 00:09:56,204 that we've got brothers and sisters. 199 00:09:56,204 --> 00:09:59,127 So there's true fatherhood - 200 00:09:59,127 --> 00:10:04,950 the only real fatherhood that ever was. 201 00:10:04,950 --> 00:10:08,677 And the real family - 202 00:10:08,677 --> 00:10:10,885 true brothers and sisters on a level 203 00:10:10,885 --> 00:10:13,842 that's never been in an earthly family. 204 00:10:13,842 --> 00:10:15,070 Think of that. 205 00:10:15,070 --> 00:10:18,652 And so we gather together as a family. 206 00:10:18,652 --> 00:10:22,790 And we lift our voices and say, "Our Father." 207 00:10:22,790 --> 00:10:25,674 Our Father. 208 00:10:25,674 --> 00:10:27,913 I mean, when we come to the place, 209 00:10:27,913 --> 00:10:29,425 when all these little things 210 00:10:29,425 --> 00:10:32,448 that our brother talked about this morning 211 00:10:32,448 --> 00:10:34,676 that we separate over this and that, 212 00:10:34,676 --> 00:10:36,173 when we come to the place 213 00:10:36,173 --> 00:10:38,680 where all that falls away and we stand 214 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:42,131 in the presence of our Father, 215 00:10:42,131 --> 00:10:44,769 we will feel a love for each other 216 00:10:44,769 --> 00:10:47,644 that is unimaginable. 217 00:10:47,644 --> 00:10:54,518 Brothers and sisters of the true Father. 218 00:10:54,518 --> 00:10:58,229 Men from every tribe and tongue and nation. 219 00:10:58,229 --> 00:10:59,157 Think of that. 220 00:10:59,157 --> 00:11:00,539 Wasn't that glorious to see 221 00:11:00,539 --> 00:11:02,808 all those different languages? 222 00:11:02,808 --> 00:11:06,630 And there's so many more - there's thousands more. 223 00:11:06,630 --> 00:11:09,507 All one in Christ. 224 00:11:09,507 --> 00:11:11,016 All part of the same family. 225 00:11:11,016 --> 00:11:12,875 All from the same Father. 226 00:11:12,875 --> 00:11:16,014 All born from the same Father. 227 00:11:16,014 --> 00:11:21,510 Indwelt by the same Spirit. 228 00:11:21,510 --> 00:11:23,369 Well, God is our Father. 229 00:11:23,369 --> 00:11:24,930 What else does Jesus say? 230 00:11:24,930 --> 00:11:26,045 Not only our Father, 231 00:11:26,045 --> 00:11:30,284 but He's our Father in Heaven. 232 00:11:30,284 --> 00:11:31,585 In Heaven. 233 00:11:31,585 --> 00:11:34,441 In other words, He's in a different realm 234 00:11:34,441 --> 00:11:35,573 than we are. 235 00:11:35,573 --> 00:11:38,052 He's the Creator. 236 00:11:38,052 --> 00:11:39,820 We're the creature. 237 00:11:39,820 --> 00:11:41,315 He's infinite. 238 00:11:41,315 --> 00:11:44,915 We're finite. 239 00:11:44,915 --> 00:11:47,205 You know, we use this word "infinite" - 240 00:11:47,205 --> 00:11:48,670 we don't really have any idea 241 00:11:48,670 --> 00:11:51,560 what that words means. 242 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:53,628 When I used to study math in college, 243 00:11:53,628 --> 00:11:55,240 we would talk about 244 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,536 a particular function at a certain point - 245 00:11:58,536 --> 00:12:00,708 it goes to infinity we'd say. 246 00:12:00,708 --> 00:12:02,302 It goes to infinity. 247 00:12:02,302 --> 00:12:03,754 And in your mind, you picture 248 00:12:03,754 --> 00:12:07,166 this really, really, really large number 249 00:12:07,166 --> 00:12:09,682 that looks like this... 250 00:12:09,682 --> 00:12:12,502 it goes to infinity. 251 00:12:12,502 --> 00:12:14,455 But you see, once you get to that number, 252 00:12:14,455 --> 00:12:16,818 you're not any closer whatsoever 253 00:12:16,818 --> 00:12:20,440 to getting to infinity 254 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,431 because there isn't any end to it. 255 00:12:24,431 --> 00:12:27,913 And so you travel a million, million, million miles 256 00:12:27,913 --> 00:12:30,336 and you haven't gotten any closer whatsoever 257 00:12:30,336 --> 00:12:33,689 because there isn't any place - you're never going to get there. 258 00:12:33,689 --> 00:12:35,773 You don't get any closer. 259 00:12:35,773 --> 00:12:38,270 Those are when you think in terms of space 260 00:12:38,270 --> 00:12:39,746 or in terms of numbers, 261 00:12:39,746 --> 00:12:41,836 but when we think in terms of God, 262 00:12:41,836 --> 00:12:48,994 infinite - we don't even know what that means. 263 00:12:48,994 --> 00:12:52,429 But He's infinite. 264 00:12:52,429 --> 00:12:56,959 So, how far have we come already? 265 00:12:56,959 --> 00:12:59,072 Well, Jesus said pray like this: 266 00:12:59,072 --> 00:13:00,252 "Our Father in Heaven." 267 00:13:00,252 --> 00:13:02,259 What's it mean? It means that we are 268 00:13:02,259 --> 00:13:03,998 in a love relationship, 269 00:13:03,998 --> 00:13:08,058 an intimate family relationship with God, 270 00:13:08,058 --> 00:13:10,711 and the God that we're in this relationship with 271 00:13:10,711 --> 00:13:15,585 is both personal and infinite. 272 00:13:15,585 --> 00:13:18,928 He's our Father in Heaven. 273 00:13:18,928 --> 00:13:22,102 Both personal and infinite. 274 00:13:22,102 --> 00:13:25,858 And that's the foundation and governing reality 275 00:13:25,858 --> 00:13:29,214 of the Lord's prayer that follows after, 276 00:13:29,214 --> 00:13:30,644 and all prayers, 277 00:13:30,644 --> 00:13:34,034 and the whole Christian life; 278 00:13:34,034 --> 00:13:39,056 that our Father is both infinite and personal. 279 00:13:39,056 --> 00:13:42,358 Charles Hodge pointed out many years ago 280 00:13:42,358 --> 00:13:45,077 that the human mind left to itself 281 00:13:45,077 --> 00:13:48,413 cannot come up with that. 282 00:13:48,413 --> 00:13:52,428 When men start thinking about God, 283 00:13:52,428 --> 00:13:54,396 and they start moving in the direction 284 00:13:54,396 --> 00:13:56,302 of an infinite God, 285 00:13:56,302 --> 00:13:59,757 they lose His personality. 286 00:13:59,757 --> 00:14:01,676 And you see that in Eastern religion. 287 00:14:01,676 --> 00:14:04,803 They talk about a god as a little-g god 288 00:14:04,803 --> 00:14:07,878 that is another name for everything. 289 00:14:07,878 --> 00:14:10,569 But the God of Hinduism for example 290 00:14:10,569 --> 00:14:13,098 is not a personal God. 291 00:14:13,098 --> 00:14:16,285 It's just another word. It's an "it." 292 00:14:16,285 --> 00:14:18,418 A word for everything. 293 00:14:18,418 --> 00:14:22,263 And some of you know about reincarnation. 294 00:14:22,263 --> 00:14:24,157 You know that you're reborn, 295 00:14:24,157 --> 00:14:25,993 you're reborn, you're on this wheel. 296 00:14:25,993 --> 00:14:30,756 The idea is to get off of the wheel of rebirth 297 00:14:30,756 --> 00:14:33,549 and to blend back into the nothingness 298 00:14:33,549 --> 00:14:37,896 of the impersonal. 299 00:14:37,896 --> 00:14:40,361 Hindus don't want to be reborn; 300 00:14:40,361 --> 00:14:41,968 they want to get off of that 301 00:14:41,968 --> 00:14:44,983 and blend back into nothingness. 302 00:14:44,983 --> 00:14:46,242 Why am I saying that? 303 00:14:46,242 --> 00:14:51,524 Well, because there's no place for a person 304 00:14:51,524 --> 00:14:54,598 or for personality in Hinduism 305 00:14:54,598 --> 00:14:58,190 because the god of Hinduism is impersonal. 306 00:14:58,190 --> 00:14:59,998 In other words, it can't hear; 307 00:14:59,998 --> 00:15:02,097 it can't speak. 308 00:15:02,097 --> 00:15:06,896 It's less than we are. 309 00:15:06,896 --> 00:15:08,695 And the Hindu idea of nirvana 310 00:15:08,695 --> 00:15:11,129 is not at all like a Christian idea of heaven. 311 00:15:11,129 --> 00:15:13,273 It's a negation of personality; 312 00:15:13,273 --> 00:15:17,175 not an affirmation of who you are. 313 00:15:17,175 --> 00:15:24,809 And so, you know in Buddhism, 314 00:15:24,809 --> 00:15:26,049 you have this saying, 315 00:15:26,049 --> 00:15:30,923 "man enters the water and leaves no ripple." 316 00:15:30,923 --> 00:15:34,220 In Christianity, you have: man enters the water 317 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:37,798 and leaves ripples that go on forever. 318 00:15:37,798 --> 00:15:43,006 Because God is personal 319 00:15:43,006 --> 00:15:45,043 as well as infinite. 320 00:15:45,043 --> 00:15:46,951 But anyway, you go in that direction - 321 00:15:46,951 --> 00:15:48,543 the mind of man has the infinite. 322 00:15:48,543 --> 00:15:50,044 You go in the other direction, 323 00:15:50,044 --> 00:15:52,981 you have the personal gods, but they're not infinite. 324 00:15:52,981 --> 00:15:56,971 Greek gods are like that. 325 00:15:56,971 --> 00:15:59,020 This is popular in our day - 326 00:15:59,020 --> 00:16:01,159 all these various "gods." 327 00:16:01,159 --> 00:16:03,414 And they're a bunch of big men and women 328 00:16:03,414 --> 00:16:05,761 fighting each other. 329 00:16:05,761 --> 00:16:08,208 And they're nothing. 330 00:16:08,208 --> 00:16:10,459 You see, you have personality, 331 00:16:10,459 --> 00:16:12,619 but unless God is infinite, 332 00:16:12,619 --> 00:16:14,862 He's just a big man who can't help you. 333 00:16:14,862 --> 00:16:18,318 He's in the same predicament you're in. 334 00:16:18,318 --> 00:16:21,062 But if you've got a God who exists - 335 00:16:21,062 --> 00:16:23,153 I mean, we can imagine a fire that burns; 336 00:16:23,153 --> 00:16:24,559 you keep putting logs on it. 337 00:16:24,559 --> 00:16:29,627 We can't imagine a fire that burns on its own forever. 338 00:16:29,627 --> 00:16:32,219 These are some of the things that we're talking about 339 00:16:32,219 --> 00:16:34,881 when we talk about a self-existent, 340 00:16:34,881 --> 00:16:38,992 infinite, personal God. 341 00:16:38,992 --> 00:16:42,004 So, our God is both infinite and personal, 342 00:16:42,004 --> 00:16:46,267 and with Him we have answers to everything. 343 00:16:46,267 --> 00:16:48,302 But, oh, what a hard time we have 344 00:16:48,302 --> 00:16:50,229 holding on to both realities. 345 00:16:50,229 --> 00:16:54,606 The mind of man wants to go one way or the other constantly. 346 00:16:54,606 --> 00:16:58,131 If we start seeing how great God is, 347 00:16:58,131 --> 00:16:59,646 immediately we start thinking 348 00:16:59,646 --> 00:17:03,738 what could He care about my little problems. 349 00:17:03,738 --> 00:17:05,660 And He gets more and more removed 350 00:17:05,660 --> 00:17:08,941 from really entering in to our feelings 351 00:17:08,941 --> 00:17:10,360 and our trials. 352 00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:11,975 You start going the other way 353 00:17:11,975 --> 00:17:13,546 and you really begin to realize 354 00:17:13,546 --> 00:17:14,725 how much God cares, 355 00:17:14,725 --> 00:17:17,025 and you start thinking of Him as little. 356 00:17:17,025 --> 00:17:19,455 You know, He's torn with the same problems you are, 357 00:17:19,455 --> 00:17:21,118 and He can't figure out what to do, 358 00:17:21,118 --> 00:17:22,676 and He's struggling with things. 359 00:17:22,676 --> 00:17:27,762 You see this in false theology. 360 00:17:27,762 --> 00:17:32,581 You see both directions all the time. 361 00:17:32,581 --> 00:17:35,973 But God is both infinite and personal. 362 00:17:35,973 --> 00:17:37,574 So, first of all, He's infinite. 363 00:17:37,574 --> 00:17:39,951 He's in Heaven. 364 00:17:39,951 --> 00:17:42,119 And that's absolutely foundational 365 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,884 to the whole Christian life, 366 00:17:44,884 --> 00:17:47,394 and to every prayer that the Christian prays. 367 00:17:47,394 --> 00:17:51,039 "Thy kingdom come." 368 00:17:51,039 --> 00:17:52,304 Well, God's infinite. 369 00:17:52,304 --> 00:17:55,041 He's able to make His kingdom come. 370 00:17:55,041 --> 00:17:57,955 John the Baptist said God's able from these stones 371 00:17:57,955 --> 00:18:00,977 to raise up children unto Abraham. 372 00:18:00,977 --> 00:18:02,754 So, we got out and look at things 373 00:18:02,754 --> 00:18:04,972 and say it's impossible - 374 00:18:04,972 --> 00:18:06,293 what's God going to do? 375 00:18:06,293 --> 00:18:08,322 Look at Islam. 376 00:18:08,322 --> 00:18:10,550 I've read accounts in the last year or so 377 00:18:10,550 --> 00:18:13,142 of people in Mecca having dreams 378 00:18:13,142 --> 00:18:15,012 that led them to read the New Testament 379 00:18:15,012 --> 00:18:17,605 and get converted. 380 00:18:17,605 --> 00:18:22,291 I mean, God's able to do anything. 381 00:18:22,291 --> 00:18:26,370 He's able to save, 382 00:18:26,370 --> 00:18:28,524 no matter how obstinate 383 00:18:28,524 --> 00:18:34,024 and impossible the sinner is. 384 00:18:34,024 --> 00:18:38,810 God says to Ezekiel, "Son of man," 385 00:18:38,810 --> 00:18:40,476 you know, he went out and looked 386 00:18:40,476 --> 00:18:41,941 at that valley of dry bones; 387 00:18:41,941 --> 00:18:45,145 there were very many and they were very dry. 388 00:18:45,145 --> 00:18:50,915 And God says, "Son of man, can these bones live?" 389 00:18:50,915 --> 00:18:52,394 I remember, years ago, 390 00:18:52,394 --> 00:18:54,635 I used to live in Lawrence, Kansas. 391 00:18:54,635 --> 00:18:58,068 One time, I went to the natural history museum there. 392 00:18:58,068 --> 00:18:59,478 It was late in the day 393 00:18:59,478 --> 00:19:01,984 and I think I was about the only person in there. 394 00:19:01,984 --> 00:19:04,604 I probably was the only person in there. 395 00:19:04,604 --> 00:19:08,426 And I walked around in those hallways 396 00:19:08,426 --> 00:19:10,260 with my footsteps echoing, 397 00:19:10,260 --> 00:19:13,308 looking at those bones. 398 00:19:13,308 --> 00:19:16,712 "Son of man, can these bones live?" 399 00:19:16,712 --> 00:19:19,304 And you look at the bones 400 00:19:19,304 --> 00:19:20,314 of those tar pits 401 00:19:20,314 --> 00:19:22,382 and those saber-tooth tigers and all that, 402 00:19:22,382 --> 00:19:24,838 and you look at them - they're very dry 403 00:19:24,838 --> 00:19:29,705 after thousands of years. 404 00:19:29,705 --> 00:19:33,603 But God speaks and they begin to come together. 405 00:19:33,603 --> 00:19:35,185 You see, this is the foundation. 406 00:19:35,185 --> 00:19:38,363 God's infinite power is the foundation 407 00:19:38,363 --> 00:19:40,738 of our praying for the kingdom to come. 408 00:19:40,738 --> 00:19:42,898 Nothing can stop Him 409 00:19:42,898 --> 00:19:46,919 from bringing in His kingdom! 410 00:19:46,919 --> 00:19:48,898 He's infinite in power! 411 00:19:48,898 --> 00:19:50,740 He can do anything! 412 00:19:50,740 --> 00:19:53,266 He can keep kings from sleeping at night 413 00:19:53,266 --> 00:19:56,490 so they happen to pick up a book and read it, 414 00:19:56,490 --> 00:20:04,132 and that type of thing, you know? 415 00:20:04,132 --> 00:20:07,537 He can save your child. 416 00:20:07,537 --> 00:20:09,378 He can save the most impossible cases. 417 00:20:09,378 --> 00:20:10,575 The devil will tell you, 418 00:20:10,575 --> 00:20:12,969 "look, God's a God of the mountains, 419 00:20:12,969 --> 00:20:15,182 but not the valleys." 420 00:20:15,182 --> 00:20:19,700 "He can save so-and-so, but this problem's different." 421 00:20:19,700 --> 00:20:21,871 "You never hear about anybody getting saved 422 00:20:21,871 --> 00:20:24,999 with that kind or problem." 423 00:20:24,999 --> 00:20:26,947 God hears that and He says, 424 00:20:26,947 --> 00:20:36,008 "We'll see about that." 425 00:20:36,008 --> 00:20:37,479 Daily bread? 426 00:20:37,479 --> 00:20:40,118 Just think about these requests in the Lord's prayer. 427 00:20:40,118 --> 00:20:42,891 Daily bread? You need daily bread? He's infinite in power. 428 00:20:42,891 --> 00:20:45,236 He's able to bend heaven and earth 429 00:20:45,236 --> 00:20:46,848 to get daily bread to you. 430 00:20:46,848 --> 00:20:49,327 He's able to do far above 431 00:20:49,327 --> 00:20:50,905 all we can ask or think. 432 00:20:50,905 --> 00:20:54,424 He's able to make all grace abound to you 433 00:20:54,424 --> 00:20:57,531 that always having all sufficiency in everything 434 00:20:57,531 --> 00:21:03,620 you may have an abundance for every good work. 435 00:21:03,620 --> 00:21:05,743 I remember Bob Jennings told me, 436 00:21:05,743 --> 00:21:08,664 and Terri may have to correct me on some of the details, 437 00:21:08,664 --> 00:21:14,329 but one time, when they didn't have any money, 438 00:21:14,329 --> 00:21:18,471 and they're praying and need daily bread, 439 00:21:18,471 --> 00:21:22,076 and as I recall, it was in the parking lot 440 00:21:22,076 --> 00:21:25,200 of the grocery store. 441 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,118 They got out and he said the wind was blowing 442 00:21:28,118 --> 00:21:32,604 and it blew a dollar bill up to his feet. 443 00:21:32,604 --> 00:21:34,968 Well, you can't buy much food with a dollar bill, 444 00:21:34,968 --> 00:21:36,032 but it's God saying, 445 00:21:36,032 --> 00:21:41,172 "look, I can give you a windfall. 446 00:21:41,172 --> 00:21:44,051 I can do anything. 447 00:21:44,051 --> 00:21:45,413 I just want to remind you, 448 00:21:45,413 --> 00:21:51,818 I'm in charge of this." 449 00:21:51,818 --> 00:21:53,996 If we put together the testimonies 450 00:21:53,996 --> 00:21:55,490 in this room tonight 451 00:21:55,490 --> 00:21:59,690 of all the miraculous provisions, 452 00:21:59,690 --> 00:22:02,869 I mean, it would be astounding. 453 00:22:02,869 --> 00:22:04,547 I used to keep a book of that 454 00:22:04,547 --> 00:22:06,876 until the book got full. 455 00:22:06,876 --> 00:22:08,975 One thing after another where God 456 00:22:08,975 --> 00:22:15,700 faithfully provides in ways that we can't imagine. 457 00:22:15,700 --> 00:22:19,904 Knowledge. 458 00:22:19,904 --> 00:22:22,249 Francis Schaeffer used to say, 459 00:22:22,249 --> 00:22:24,666 "There's no black hole back of God." 460 00:22:24,666 --> 00:22:27,196 There's no hidden things that He doesn't know. 461 00:22:27,196 --> 00:22:28,585 He knows everything. 462 00:22:28,585 --> 00:22:30,792 He's infinite. 463 00:22:30,792 --> 00:22:32,144 Because He knows everything, 464 00:22:32,144 --> 00:22:34,321 nothing's going to come out of the darkness 465 00:22:34,321 --> 00:22:38,622 and surprise Him and overthrow His plans. 466 00:22:38,622 --> 00:22:40,832 Providence. We talked about that last year. 467 00:22:40,832 --> 00:22:42,778 He's able to control every insect, 468 00:22:42,778 --> 00:22:44,566 every snowflake, everything, 469 00:22:44,566 --> 00:22:55,122 every aspect because He's infinite! 470 00:22:55,122 --> 00:22:56,364 Deliverance from sin? 471 00:22:56,364 --> 00:22:58,854 God's infinite. He's able. 472 00:22:58,854 --> 00:23:00,473 Beloved, do you believe this? 473 00:23:00,473 --> 00:23:02,636 He's able to take the most helpless, 474 00:23:02,636 --> 00:23:04,710 hopeless drunk or drug addict 475 00:23:04,710 --> 00:23:06,521 and make them stand. 476 00:23:06,521 --> 00:23:08,317 And Paul says stand he will, 477 00:23:08,317 --> 00:23:16,041 for God is able to make him stand. 478 00:23:16,041 --> 00:23:17,538 We used to sing that song, 479 00:23:17,538 --> 00:23:20,478 "It's the grandest theme in the earth or main, 480 00:23:20,478 --> 00:23:27,844 our God is able to deliver thee." 481 00:23:27,844 --> 00:23:31,174 Praying for some weak and struggling brother? 482 00:23:31,174 --> 00:23:33,507 God's infinite. 483 00:23:33,507 --> 00:23:35,643 He's able to keep Him from falling 484 00:23:35,643 --> 00:23:38,564 and present him faultless before the presence of His glory 485 00:23:38,564 --> 00:23:41,191 with exceeding joy. 486 00:23:41,191 --> 00:23:44,541 Praying in relation to the powers of darkness 487 00:23:44,541 --> 00:23:48,107 pressing around? 488 00:23:48,107 --> 00:23:50,111 Brother Dan told me that over there 489 00:23:50,111 --> 00:23:51,981 where they're laboring, 490 00:23:51,981 --> 00:23:53,279 you feel it, you feel it, 491 00:23:53,279 --> 00:23:55,033 he's laboring under it all the time. 492 00:23:55,033 --> 00:24:03,212 I didn't feel it because he's bearing it. 493 00:24:03,212 --> 00:24:04,931 God's infinite. 494 00:24:04,931 --> 00:24:07,334 Principalities and powers are nothing to Him. 495 00:24:07,334 --> 00:24:09,762 Greater is He who is in you - how much greater? 496 00:24:09,762 --> 00:24:11,656 Infinitely greater! 497 00:24:11,656 --> 00:24:13,610 He's not just a little bit greater; 498 00:24:13,610 --> 00:24:16,323 He's infinitely greater. 499 00:24:16,323 --> 00:24:18,345 Jesus is dealing with a legion of demons. 500 00:24:18,345 --> 00:24:28,654 He just says, "Go." 501 00:24:28,654 --> 00:24:29,667 God is infinite. 502 00:24:29,667 --> 00:24:32,380 We come to Him with reverence and awe 503 00:24:32,380 --> 00:24:35,231 as the one who is infinitely exalted. 504 00:24:35,231 --> 00:24:37,839 You know, even the Lord Jesus Himself 505 00:24:37,839 --> 00:24:41,765 in John 17, He says, "O Righteous Father." 506 00:24:41,765 --> 00:24:44,206 "Holy Father." 507 00:24:44,206 --> 00:24:48,045 We're not talking about a flippant attitude in this fatherhood. 508 00:24:48,045 --> 00:24:50,483 He's the infinitely exalted One. 509 00:24:50,483 --> 00:24:52,562 But at the same time, God is personal. 510 00:24:52,562 --> 00:24:54,625 He's our Father. 511 00:24:54,625 --> 00:25:00,019 The God who spoke the universe into existence 512 00:25:00,019 --> 00:25:03,511 is our Father. 513 00:25:03,511 --> 00:25:05,090 At the present estimate, 514 00:25:05,090 --> 00:25:09,378 how many stars do you think there are? 515 00:25:09,378 --> 00:25:11,123 Ten thousand? 516 00:25:11,123 --> 00:25:15,351 Well, I think all the grade school kids here 517 00:25:15,351 --> 00:25:17,346 know better than that. 518 00:25:17,346 --> 00:25:21,087 How about ten thousand billion? 519 00:25:21,087 --> 00:25:23,134 That's a lot. 520 00:25:23,134 --> 00:25:26,994 How about ten thousand billion trillion? 521 00:25:26,994 --> 00:25:29,131 That's how many at the present estimate. 522 00:25:29,131 --> 00:25:30,828 It's probably more than that now. 523 00:25:30,828 --> 00:25:33,720 It's been a couple years since I read that. 524 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:34,882 So what's a trillion? 525 00:25:34,882 --> 00:25:38,904 When you take a million of something, 526 00:25:38,904 --> 00:25:44,001 and you take a million of those millions, 527 00:25:44,001 --> 00:25:45,771 we can't even imagine that. 528 00:25:45,771 --> 00:25:46,942 You've got a million; 529 00:25:46,942 --> 00:25:48,994 and you've got a million of those millions. 530 00:25:48,994 --> 00:25:51,533 Now take a billion of them. 531 00:25:51,533 --> 00:25:53,601 A billion of them. 532 00:25:53,601 --> 00:25:59,122 And take ten thousand of that billion trillion, 533 00:25:59,122 --> 00:26:01,452 and the Bible says, 534 00:26:01,452 --> 00:26:06,705 He calls them all by name. 535 00:26:06,705 --> 00:26:08,762 Because of the greatness of His power, 536 00:26:08,762 --> 00:26:10,090 not one of them's missing. 537 00:26:10,090 --> 00:26:11,189 He calls them out 538 00:26:11,189 --> 00:26:12,144 Now, think of this. 539 00:26:12,144 --> 00:26:14,066 He's not calling them "one-billion-one," 540 00:26:14,066 --> 00:26:16,182 "one-billion-two," "one-billion-three." 541 00:26:16,182 --> 00:26:18,584 You know what names are in the Bible? 542 00:26:18,584 --> 00:26:21,265 They talk about some characteristic of something. 543 00:26:21,265 --> 00:26:25,610 He's got a unique name for every one of those 544 00:26:25,610 --> 00:26:29,665 ten thousand billion trillion stars! 545 00:26:29,665 --> 00:26:32,887 And each name - mysterious names - 546 00:26:32,887 --> 00:26:35,974 and names that go into what the character 547 00:26:35,974 --> 00:26:41,540 of that star is. 548 00:26:41,540 --> 00:26:44,967 And He's your Father. 549 00:26:44,967 --> 00:26:51,291 What right do we have to be so unbelieving? 550 00:26:51,291 --> 00:26:53,933 It's pitiful, isn't it? 551 00:26:53,933 --> 00:26:58,150 We can't lay hold of it. 552 00:26:58,150 --> 00:26:59,606 We've got to ask our Father, 553 00:26:59,606 --> 00:27:01,733 "Help. Help me. Help me to see." 554 00:27:01,733 --> 00:27:11,756 "Help me to believe a little bit of what You're able to do!" 555 00:27:11,756 --> 00:27:14,092 Our God is a personal God. 556 00:27:14,092 --> 00:27:16,853 Now, you theologians, 557 00:27:16,853 --> 00:27:20,417 don't let philosophy rob you of this reality. 558 00:27:20,417 --> 00:27:21,756 Some of the things I've read 559 00:27:21,756 --> 00:27:24,433 about God's supposed impassibility - 560 00:27:24,433 --> 00:27:27,021 that is, His inability to experience 561 00:27:27,021 --> 00:27:28,839 pain or emotion - 562 00:27:28,839 --> 00:27:33,097 they're sheer philosophy, and they fly in the face 563 00:27:33,097 --> 00:27:35,079 of a thousand Bible verses. 564 00:27:35,079 --> 00:27:37,141 It's from theologians thinking too long 565 00:27:37,141 --> 00:27:39,384 about God's infinity. 566 00:27:39,384 --> 00:27:42,859 If you do that, you can't hang on to His personality. 567 00:27:42,859 --> 00:27:44,706 But they say, look, God's impassible. 568 00:27:44,706 --> 00:27:46,360 He can't be touched with emotion. 569 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:50,597 Well, let me read a little bit to you. 570 00:27:50,597 --> 00:27:53,189 "Grieve not the Spirit of God." 571 00:27:53,189 --> 00:27:55,641 Don't make Him sad. 572 00:27:55,641 --> 00:27:57,266 That's what the word grieve means. 573 00:27:57,266 --> 00:28:00,648 You can look it up and look at all the other verses. 574 00:28:00,648 --> 00:28:03,574 "As a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, 575 00:28:03,574 --> 00:28:07,796 so your God will rejoice over you." 576 00:28:07,796 --> 00:28:10,469 How many of you have ever been to a wedding? 577 00:28:10,469 --> 00:28:12,564 You think there's any emotion there? 578 00:28:12,564 --> 00:28:13,971 You look at the groom 579 00:28:13,971 --> 00:28:17,301 and the bride comes through - 580 00:28:17,301 --> 00:28:20,673 we don't believe this! 581 00:28:20,673 --> 00:28:23,000 The infinite God - 582 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,036 He says, "I'll rejoice over you 583 00:28:25,036 --> 00:28:30,443 like a groom rejoices over the bride." 584 00:28:30,443 --> 00:28:34,661 Isn't it amazing? 585 00:28:34,661 --> 00:28:37,195 "He will exult over you with joy. 586 00:28:37,195 --> 00:28:39,025 He will be quiet in His love. 587 00:28:39,025 --> 00:28:43,379 He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." 588 00:28:43,379 --> 00:28:47,503 That sounds like some emotion to me. 589 00:28:47,503 --> 00:28:49,202 "God so loved the world, 590 00:28:49,202 --> 00:28:51,806 that He gave His only Son." 591 00:28:51,806 --> 00:28:54,864 He delivered Him up. 592 00:28:54,864 --> 00:28:58,225 And we can't comprehend this, 593 00:28:58,225 --> 00:29:02,893 but we know this, it cost God greatly 594 00:29:02,893 --> 00:29:05,084 to crush His Son. 595 00:29:05,084 --> 00:29:06,269 That's a revelation. 596 00:29:06,269 --> 00:29:07,812 God revealed that to us. 597 00:29:07,812 --> 00:29:09,452 Think of Abraham 598 00:29:09,452 --> 00:29:11,121 and that offering up of Isaac. 599 00:29:11,121 --> 00:29:13,172 He says, "take now your son, 600 00:29:13,172 --> 00:29:16,654 your only son, whom you love." 601 00:29:16,654 --> 00:29:18,944 What's He saying to us? 602 00:29:18,944 --> 00:29:21,547 He's getting across that what Abraham felt, 603 00:29:21,547 --> 00:29:23,911 there's something, somehow 604 00:29:23,911 --> 00:29:32,815 connection with Him sacrificing His Son. 605 00:29:32,815 --> 00:29:35,584 Beloved, God is not some philosophical "X," 606 00:29:35,584 --> 00:29:36,903 He's our Father. 607 00:29:36,903 --> 00:29:39,019 "'Wherefore come out from among them 608 00:29:39,019 --> 00:29:40,911 and be ye separate,' saith the Lord, 609 00:29:40,911 --> 00:29:42,551 'and touch not the unclean thing, 610 00:29:42,551 --> 00:29:45,296 and I will receive you.'" I'll welcome you. 611 00:29:45,296 --> 00:29:48,536 "'And I will be a Father to you, 612 00:29:48,536 --> 00:29:51,610 and you shall be My sons and daughters,' 613 00:29:51,610 --> 00:29:55,763 saith the Lord Almighty." 614 00:29:55,763 --> 00:29:57,207 You see it? 615 00:29:57,207 --> 00:29:59,368 Your Father in Heaven. 616 00:29:59,368 --> 00:30:01,696 He's almighty, and here He says, 617 00:30:01,696 --> 00:30:03,366 "You'll be My sons and daughters." 618 00:30:03,366 --> 00:30:09,218 He treats the ladies - "You're My daughters." 619 00:30:09,218 --> 00:30:11,429 And to the men, He says, "You're My sons." 620 00:30:11,429 --> 00:30:14,305 Think of that. Isn't that special? 621 00:30:14,305 --> 00:30:24,714 This God that we're talking about. 622 00:30:24,714 --> 00:30:27,970 Well, what are some of the implications 623 00:30:27,970 --> 00:30:34,409 of the fact that God is our Father in Heaven? 624 00:30:34,409 --> 00:30:37,765 I've got nine of these. 625 00:30:37,765 --> 00:30:39,777 And most of them come from the Gospels. 626 00:30:39,777 --> 00:30:41,137 Some come from other places 627 00:30:41,137 --> 00:30:46,489 where they're a little clearer. 628 00:30:46,489 --> 00:30:47,952 But some of the implications - 629 00:30:47,952 --> 00:30:50,828 and this will be the rest of the message. 630 00:30:50,828 --> 00:30:52,205 The first implication - 631 00:30:52,205 --> 00:30:54,557 I believe the most profound implication - 632 00:30:54,557 --> 00:30:56,530 and I hope that I'll be able somewhat 633 00:30:56,530 --> 00:31:00,439 to get it across. 634 00:31:00,439 --> 00:31:02,790 What's it mean that God is my Father? 635 00:31:02,790 --> 00:31:10,177 It means that I have a lap to climb into. 636 00:31:10,177 --> 00:31:17,216 I have Someone - you have Someone to hold you. 637 00:31:17,216 --> 00:31:20,617 You have a Father. 638 00:31:20,617 --> 00:31:24,937 You have a home. You belong. 639 00:31:24,937 --> 00:31:26,945 Think of the terrible state of those 640 00:31:26,945 --> 00:31:31,034 who have no heavenly Father. 641 00:31:31,034 --> 00:31:32,653 You're flying in a plane at night 642 00:31:32,653 --> 00:31:35,831 over some unknown city, 643 00:31:35,831 --> 00:31:38,664 looking down in the darkness 644 00:31:38,664 --> 00:31:40,307 on thousands and thousands 645 00:31:40,307 --> 00:31:42,069 of little specks of light, 646 00:31:42,069 --> 00:31:49,495 and every one of them is a house. 647 00:31:49,495 --> 00:31:53,514 Unknown names. 648 00:31:53,514 --> 00:32:01,591 In those little specks of light are people. 649 00:32:01,591 --> 00:32:03,189 Unknown people. 650 00:32:03,189 --> 00:32:04,384 Thousands of them. 651 00:32:04,384 --> 00:32:05,827 Tens of thousands of them. 652 00:32:05,827 --> 00:32:08,105 Millions of them. 653 00:32:08,105 --> 00:32:11,080 And then you realize, you're one of those 654 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,822 little, unknown... 655 00:32:14,822 --> 00:32:18,208 I'm talking about a person without God. 656 00:32:18,208 --> 00:32:24,280 The feeling that you have. 657 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,052 Pascal said it like this, 658 00:32:26,052 --> 00:32:30,602 "When I consider the short duration of my life, 659 00:32:30,602 --> 00:32:32,718 swallowed up in the eternity 660 00:32:32,718 --> 00:32:35,023 before and after..." 661 00:32:35,023 --> 00:32:39,293 He's talking about our smallness in relation to time. 662 00:32:39,293 --> 00:32:42,718 "...When I consider the small space which I fill, 663 00:32:42,718 --> 00:32:45,871 or even can see engulfed in the infinite 664 00:32:45,871 --> 00:32:49,720 immensity of spaces of which I know nothing 665 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,848 and which know nothing of me. 666 00:32:52,848 --> 00:32:56,024 I'm terrified. 667 00:32:56,024 --> 00:32:58,433 And I wonder that I'm here 668 00:32:58,433 --> 00:33:00,592 rather than there." 669 00:33:00,592 --> 00:33:03,319 Have you ever thought about it? 670 00:33:03,319 --> 00:33:04,802 "I'm here rather than there, 671 00:33:04,802 --> 00:33:09,549 for there's no reason why here rather than there, 672 00:33:09,549 --> 00:33:12,991 or now rather than then." 673 00:33:12,991 --> 00:33:15,215 He says I think about that - I'm terrified. 674 00:33:15,215 --> 00:33:18,356 You see, without God, 675 00:33:18,356 --> 00:33:21,164 man is an orphan in a vast, cold, 676 00:33:21,164 --> 00:33:24,138 very uncaring universe 677 00:33:24,138 --> 00:33:27,639 that doesn't even know he exists. 678 00:33:27,639 --> 00:33:29,076 And when you look out on those 679 00:33:29,076 --> 00:33:31,792 millions of stars in the darkness, 680 00:33:31,792 --> 00:33:34,785 if you have no heavenly Father, 681 00:33:34,785 --> 00:33:36,218 you are nothing. 682 00:33:36,218 --> 00:33:41,036 You are a nothing. 683 00:33:41,036 --> 00:33:42,415 And there's a terrible sense 684 00:33:42,415 --> 00:33:44,455 of insignificance and aloneness. 685 00:33:44,455 --> 00:33:46,222 I'll quote Pascal again. He says, 686 00:33:46,222 --> 00:33:52,549 "The eternal silence of those infinite spaces alarms me." 687 00:33:52,549 --> 00:33:54,528 But when you realize that your Father 688 00:33:54,528 --> 00:33:57,402 made all those stars, 689 00:33:57,402 --> 00:33:58,975 it's different, isn't it. 690 00:33:58,975 --> 00:34:01,297 And, that He's both infinite and personal. 691 00:34:01,297 --> 00:34:04,179 And He really does love you. 692 00:34:04,179 --> 00:34:06,936 Everything changes. You belong. 693 00:34:06,936 --> 00:34:08,302 You're accepted. 694 00:34:08,302 --> 00:34:10,680 And at the very root of all reality, 695 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:11,820 you have a home. 696 00:34:11,820 --> 00:34:15,927 You have a place to go. 697 00:34:15,927 --> 00:34:19,885 I remember one time I was in a strange city, 698 00:34:19,885 --> 00:34:22,275 and I was already a Christian, 699 00:34:22,275 --> 00:34:25,674 but it came over me - 700 00:34:25,674 --> 00:34:31,748 this sense of aloneness and smallness. 701 00:34:31,748 --> 00:34:33,996 It's terrifying. 702 00:34:33,996 --> 00:34:35,974 And then it came into my heart, 703 00:34:35,974 --> 00:34:37,286 "I will receive you. 704 00:34:37,286 --> 00:34:40,451 I will be a Father to you." 705 00:34:40,451 --> 00:34:42,098 And as soon as you have that, 706 00:34:42,098 --> 00:34:44,854 the infinite God is my Father! 707 00:34:44,854 --> 00:34:47,735 And everything's going to be alright. 708 00:34:47,735 --> 00:34:55,907 He's with me. 709 00:34:55,907 --> 00:34:57,096 You have a place to go. 710 00:34:57,096 --> 00:34:58,843 You have a home. You have a lap. 711 00:34:58,843 --> 00:35:01,240 You've found the ground of your existence 712 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:04,425 and it's not some cold, abstract principle; 713 00:35:04,425 --> 00:35:10,047 it's the lap of a loving heavenly Father. 714 00:35:10,047 --> 00:35:12,506 Surely the opposite of that 715 00:35:12,506 --> 00:35:14,931 is part of what hell is. 716 00:35:14,931 --> 00:35:17,540 You remember Jesus talks about outer darkness 717 00:35:17,540 --> 00:35:19,431 and weeping and gnashing of teeth. 718 00:35:19,431 --> 00:35:21,067 You look inside, there's warmth, 719 00:35:21,067 --> 00:35:22,698 there's a family, there's a home, 720 00:35:22,698 --> 00:35:25,224 there's rejoicing, there's Abraham 721 00:35:25,224 --> 00:35:28,787 and Isaac and Jacob coming; 722 00:35:28,787 --> 00:35:31,249 people coming from the east and west 723 00:35:31,249 --> 00:35:34,121 and reclining. 724 00:35:34,121 --> 00:35:37,639 And you're outside. They're in there. 725 00:35:37,639 --> 00:35:41,173 They have a Father. 726 00:35:41,173 --> 00:35:45,639 And you're outside in the darkness. 727 00:35:45,639 --> 00:35:46,796 No family. 728 00:35:46,796 --> 00:35:48,627 No Father. 729 00:35:48,627 --> 00:35:51,932 Well, I think the most fundamental meaning 730 00:35:51,932 --> 00:35:55,087 of having God as our Father, 731 00:35:55,087 --> 00:36:03,430 and that is we've found our reason for living. 732 00:36:03,430 --> 00:36:06,242 We've found the meaning of existence. 733 00:36:06,242 --> 00:36:07,619 But the second thing, 734 00:36:07,619 --> 00:36:09,694 that God is my Father means 735 00:36:09,694 --> 00:36:11,628 that I never need to be afraid 736 00:36:11,628 --> 00:36:14,735 because God cares for me 737 00:36:14,735 --> 00:36:17,321 in a personal and intimate way. 738 00:36:17,321 --> 00:36:19,206 Matthew 10:29-30, 739 00:36:19,206 --> 00:36:23,033 "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? 740 00:36:23,033 --> 00:36:25,541 And yet, not one of them will fall 741 00:36:25,541 --> 00:36:31,379 to the ground apart from your Father, 742 00:36:31,379 --> 00:36:34,029 but the very hairs of your head 743 00:36:34,029 --> 00:36:36,904 are all numbered." 744 00:36:36,904 --> 00:36:43,258 Jesus says, "Don't fear them that kill the body." 745 00:36:43,258 --> 00:36:45,468 The One who names every star 746 00:36:45,468 --> 00:36:48,511 has numbered the hairs on your head. 747 00:36:48,511 --> 00:36:50,587 He cares that much about you. 748 00:36:50,587 --> 00:36:52,572 And you know, it's not the idea 749 00:36:52,572 --> 00:36:55,445 just that God knows how many hairs are on your head, 750 00:36:55,445 --> 00:36:58,308 He knew how many hairs were on Hitler's head. 751 00:36:58,308 --> 00:36:59,972 That's not the point. 752 00:36:59,972 --> 00:37:03,724 But that He's that concerned about you. 753 00:37:03,724 --> 00:37:07,715 That concerned, 754 00:37:07,715 --> 00:37:10,802 that not one sparrow can fall to the ground. 755 00:37:10,802 --> 00:37:12,700 You say, how do I know I won't 756 00:37:12,700 --> 00:37:14,498 fall to the ground and get killed? 757 00:37:14,498 --> 00:37:16,306 You don't know, but you do know this, 758 00:37:16,306 --> 00:37:18,530 it's not going to happen without your Father 759 00:37:18,530 --> 00:37:20,000 being right there 760 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,920 controlling the whole thing. 761 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,427 The context of these verses in Matthew 10 762 00:37:26,427 --> 00:37:28,749 is persecution, but it applies to every area 763 00:37:28,749 --> 00:37:31,540 where we might be tempted to fear. 764 00:37:31,540 --> 00:37:38,587 God won't just let anything "happen" to us. 765 00:37:38,587 --> 00:37:41,438 He cares for me in a personal and intimate way. 766 00:37:41,438 --> 00:37:44,132 Not one of those little birds 767 00:37:44,132 --> 00:37:48,744 can fall to the ground apart from your Father. 768 00:37:48,744 --> 00:37:50,644 But the third thing 769 00:37:50,644 --> 00:37:52,523 that the fatherhood of God means to me: 770 00:37:52,523 --> 00:37:54,021 the fact that God is my Father 771 00:37:54,021 --> 00:37:56,635 means He will provide for me. 772 00:37:56,635 --> 00:37:58,483 Now, we know these things. 773 00:37:58,483 --> 00:38:01,370 Matthew 6:26-33. 774 00:38:01,370 --> 00:38:03,318 "Look at the birds of the air, 775 00:38:03,318 --> 00:38:04,578 that they do not sow, 776 00:38:04,578 --> 00:38:05,690 neither do they reap, 777 00:38:05,690 --> 00:38:06,926 nor gather into barns, 778 00:38:06,926 --> 00:38:12,657 yet your Heavenly Father feeds them." 779 00:38:12,657 --> 00:38:14,948 So there's the food thing. 780 00:38:14,948 --> 00:38:17,872 "Are you not worth much more than they?" 781 00:38:17,872 --> 00:38:20,523 He goes on, "Why are you anxious about clothing?" 782 00:38:20,523 --> 00:38:22,074 So now He's dealing with that. 783 00:38:22,074 --> 00:38:25,764 "Observe how the lilies of the field grow. 784 00:38:25,764 --> 00:38:27,737 They do not toil, nor do they spin, 785 00:38:27,737 --> 00:38:31,038 yet I say that even Solomon in all his glory 786 00:38:31,038 --> 00:38:33,372 did not clothe himself like one of these, 787 00:38:33,372 --> 00:38:37,850 but if God so arrays the grass of the field, 788 00:38:37,850 --> 00:38:40,964 which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, 789 00:38:40,964 --> 00:38:43,594 will He not much more do so for you, 790 00:38:43,594 --> 00:38:46,072 O men of little faith? 791 00:38:46,072 --> 00:38:47,602 Do not be anxious then, saying, 792 00:38:47,602 --> 00:38:49,834 what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? 793 00:38:49,834 --> 00:38:52,079 Or with what shall we clothe ourselves? 794 00:38:52,079 --> 00:38:55,531 For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek, 795 00:38:55,531 --> 00:38:59,658 for your Heavenly Father knows 796 00:38:59,658 --> 00:39:04,043 that you need all these things." 797 00:39:04,043 --> 00:39:05,656 So God is my Father. 798 00:39:05,656 --> 00:39:07,222 He'll feed me. He'll clothe me. 799 00:39:07,222 --> 00:39:08,676 He'll provide for me. 800 00:39:08,676 --> 00:39:12,546 What right do I have to be anxious? 801 00:39:12,546 --> 00:39:14,916 I'm not telling you anything you don't know, 802 00:39:14,916 --> 00:39:18,905 but beloved, how much have we entered into this? 803 00:39:18,905 --> 00:39:21,522 Can you imagine a life where you don't have 804 00:39:21,522 --> 00:39:24,243 any anxiety at all about any of that stuff 805 00:39:24,243 --> 00:39:26,576 because you know God is going to 806 00:39:26,576 --> 00:39:27,821 take care of it all? 807 00:39:27,821 --> 00:39:29,618 That He's infinite in power? 808 00:39:29,618 --> 00:39:31,408 That's what Jesus is talking about. 809 00:39:31,408 --> 00:39:34,300 He's talking about freedom from fear 810 00:39:34,300 --> 00:39:35,644 of somebody killing you. 811 00:39:35,644 --> 00:39:38,023 He's talking about freedom from fear 812 00:39:38,023 --> 00:39:41,749 of not having food or clothing or provision. 813 00:39:41,749 --> 00:39:43,623 Just to be totally free. 814 00:39:43,623 --> 00:39:46,492 Look, my Father owns everything. 815 00:39:46,492 --> 00:39:48,872 He spoke the universe into existence 816 00:39:48,872 --> 00:39:50,119 and all those stars. 817 00:39:50,119 --> 00:39:52,099 I don't have anything possible 818 00:39:52,099 --> 00:39:53,958 that could happen to me. 819 00:39:53,958 --> 00:39:57,752 A little bird can't fall to the ground. 820 00:39:57,752 --> 00:40:00,985 Think of this. 821 00:40:00,985 --> 00:40:03,426 The fact that God is my Father, 822 00:40:03,426 --> 00:40:07,499 it means that I don't have to use vain repetitions 823 00:40:07,499 --> 00:40:09,870 like the Gentiles do. 824 00:40:09,870 --> 00:40:11,334 He says your Father knows 825 00:40:11,334 --> 00:40:14,849 that you need those things 826 00:40:14,849 --> 00:40:17,249 before you ask. 827 00:40:17,249 --> 00:40:19,693 Number four: the fact that God is my Father 828 00:40:19,693 --> 00:40:23,495 means that I can trust Him implicitly. 829 00:40:23,495 --> 00:40:24,645 Now listen to this, 830 00:40:24,645 --> 00:40:25,987 "What man is there among you 831 00:40:25,987 --> 00:40:27,777 when his son shall ask him for a loaf 832 00:40:27,777 --> 00:40:30,237 will give him a stone? 833 00:40:30,237 --> 00:40:31,773 Or if he shall ask for a fish, 834 00:40:31,773 --> 00:40:34,068 he will not give him a snake, will he? 835 00:40:34,068 --> 00:40:36,567 If you then, being evil..." 836 00:40:36,567 --> 00:40:38,738 Now fathers - the best fathers - 837 00:40:38,738 --> 00:40:41,732 compared to the Heavenly Father are evil. 838 00:40:41,732 --> 00:40:44,473 They come so far short of what He is, 839 00:40:44,473 --> 00:40:47,058 but even we know how to give good gifts 840 00:40:47,058 --> 00:40:48,416 to our children. 841 00:40:48,416 --> 00:40:53,457 "How much more shall your Heavenly Father 842 00:40:53,457 --> 00:40:56,680 give what is good to those who ask Him?" 843 00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:58,772 Why would the Lord give this teaching? 844 00:40:58,772 --> 00:41:01,138 Well, because the devil is always telling us - 845 00:41:01,138 --> 00:41:05,308 you know the word "devil" (diabolos) means slanderer. 846 00:41:05,308 --> 00:41:08,772 And he's constantly slandering God to man, 847 00:41:08,772 --> 00:41:12,657 and he'll tell you that the kind of Father you have, 848 00:41:12,657 --> 00:41:15,487 that if you ask Him for an egg, 849 00:41:15,487 --> 00:41:17,379 He'll give you a scorpion. 850 00:41:17,379 --> 00:41:20,106 The devil tells you that. 851 00:41:20,106 --> 00:41:21,207 Constantly. 852 00:41:21,207 --> 00:41:22,977 He'll tell you God's a liar. 853 00:41:22,977 --> 00:41:24,774 "You shall not surely die." 854 00:41:24,774 --> 00:41:27,163 He tells you God's holding out on you. 855 00:41:27,163 --> 00:41:30,783 God knows that if you eat that, you'll have something good. 856 00:41:30,783 --> 00:41:33,423 He'll tell you that the good land 857 00:41:33,423 --> 00:41:34,636 that God is giving you 858 00:41:34,636 --> 00:41:37,436 devours its inhabitants. 859 00:41:37,436 --> 00:41:40,273 If you go in there, it will eat you up. 860 00:41:40,273 --> 00:41:44,357 All those slanders about the character of God. 861 00:41:44,357 --> 00:41:49,063 I've shared a lot more examples of this 862 00:41:49,063 --> 00:41:53,789 in talking about our adversary the slanderer, 863 00:41:53,789 --> 00:41:55,843 but there's so many of them. 864 00:41:55,843 --> 00:41:57,925 I was thinking before 865 00:41:57,925 --> 00:41:59,402 when I was preparing this, 866 00:41:59,402 --> 00:42:02,479 I was thinking of how many young people there are here. 867 00:42:02,479 --> 00:42:04,689 So you girls, you're praying, and you say, 868 00:42:04,689 --> 00:42:07,860 "Lord, I want You to choose a husband for me." 869 00:42:07,860 --> 00:42:09,372 Or you guys, you're praying, 870 00:42:09,372 --> 00:42:11,349 "Lord, I want to put it in Your hands. 871 00:42:11,349 --> 00:42:14,406 I want You to choose my wife." 872 00:42:14,406 --> 00:42:16,319 And the devil's right there saying, 873 00:42:16,319 --> 00:42:18,520 "Don't do that! 874 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:26,060 God will give you the ugliest girl imaginable. 875 00:42:26,060 --> 00:42:28,080 Or, if you do that, 876 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:29,926 you won't even get married at all. 877 00:42:29,926 --> 00:42:31,406 He won't even give you a wife. 878 00:42:31,406 --> 00:42:35,557 You've got to take this in your own hands." 879 00:42:35,557 --> 00:42:37,335 See, it all goes back to: 880 00:42:37,335 --> 00:42:38,872 do I have a Father? 881 00:42:38,872 --> 00:42:48,831 Do I have a loving Heavenly Father who can do anything? 882 00:42:48,831 --> 00:42:52,961 A.W. Tozer was telling his congregation one day 883 00:42:52,961 --> 00:42:55,018 about how he had put his little daughter 884 00:42:55,018 --> 00:42:56,151 into God's hands 885 00:42:56,151 --> 00:42:58,523 just for whatever God would have for her, 886 00:42:58,523 --> 00:43:01,280 and a woman came up after the sermon. 887 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:05,268 She said, "Aren't you afraid to do that?" 888 00:43:05,268 --> 00:43:07,042 Think of what kind of God 889 00:43:07,042 --> 00:43:10,301 the devil tells us we have. 890 00:43:10,301 --> 00:43:14,879 You know, that he's an "evil" type God. 891 00:43:14,879 --> 00:43:17,149 I can trust Him implicitly. 892 00:43:17,149 --> 00:43:18,664 That's what Jesus is saying. 893 00:43:18,664 --> 00:43:20,884 He's saying you will never come 894 00:43:20,884 --> 00:43:22,847 as a child of your Heavenly Father 895 00:43:22,847 --> 00:43:25,140 and say, "Father, will You give me an egg?" 896 00:43:25,140 --> 00:43:27,692 and He says, "I will, son, now close your eyes 897 00:43:27,692 --> 00:43:29,179 and put out your hand," 898 00:43:29,179 --> 00:43:31,887 and He drops a scorpion into it. 899 00:43:31,887 --> 00:43:34,362 He'll never do that. 900 00:43:34,362 --> 00:43:40,933 He'll give good things to those who ask Him. 901 00:43:40,933 --> 00:43:43,152 Number five: the fact that God is my Father 902 00:43:43,152 --> 00:43:45,031 means that I never need to make 903 00:43:45,031 --> 00:43:48,416 an outward show of goodness. 904 00:43:48,416 --> 00:43:51,404 God is able to keep track of everything in secret 905 00:43:51,404 --> 00:43:52,978 and reward me in ways 906 00:43:52,978 --> 00:43:56,065 that no man ever could. 907 00:43:56,065 --> 00:43:57,807 Oh, that we could lay hold of this. 908 00:43:57,807 --> 00:44:00,943 "Beware of practicing your righteousness 909 00:44:00,943 --> 00:44:03,549 before men to be noticed by them, 910 00:44:03,549 --> 00:44:05,874 otherwise you have no reward 911 00:44:05,874 --> 00:44:09,883 with your Father who is in Heaven." 912 00:44:09,883 --> 00:44:11,831 And He goes through three things. 913 00:44:11,831 --> 00:44:13,605 "When you give alms, 914 00:44:13,605 --> 00:44:16,028 do not sound a trumpet." 915 00:44:16,028 --> 00:44:18,805 You want your alms to be in secret. 916 00:44:18,805 --> 00:44:20,499 Don't let your left hand know 917 00:44:20,499 --> 00:44:22,114 what your right hand's doing. 918 00:44:22,114 --> 00:44:24,335 "And your Father who sees in secret 919 00:44:24,335 --> 00:44:26,018 will repay you." 920 00:44:26,018 --> 00:44:28,706 When you pray, don't be like these hypocrites. 921 00:44:28,706 --> 00:44:30,052 They stand out in the open. 922 00:44:30,052 --> 00:44:31,471 They want to be seen by men. 923 00:44:31,471 --> 00:44:34,577 Go into your inner room, 924 00:44:34,577 --> 00:44:36,457 and shut the door, 925 00:44:36,457 --> 00:44:38,743 and pray to your Father 926 00:44:38,743 --> 00:44:40,807 who is in secret. 927 00:44:40,807 --> 00:44:42,849 That's where God is. 928 00:44:42,849 --> 00:44:45,377 You say, God's so far away; 929 00:44:45,377 --> 00:44:47,166 I can't find God. Where is He? 930 00:44:47,166 --> 00:44:50,681 Well, He's in secret. 931 00:44:50,681 --> 00:44:54,132 "And your Father who sees in secret 932 00:44:54,132 --> 00:44:57,220 will repay you." 933 00:44:57,220 --> 00:44:59,074 And then He talks about fasting - 934 00:44:59,074 --> 00:45:01,821 not to put on a gloomy face 935 00:45:01,821 --> 00:45:04,787 to be seen fasting by men. 936 00:45:04,787 --> 00:45:06,583 "When you fast, anoint your head 937 00:45:06,583 --> 00:45:07,630 and wash your face, 938 00:45:07,630 --> 00:45:10,156 so that you may not be seen fasting by men, 939 00:45:10,156 --> 00:45:13,158 but by your Father who is in secret. 940 00:45:13,158 --> 00:45:15,548 And your Father who sees in secret 941 00:45:15,548 --> 00:45:18,152 will repay you." 942 00:45:18,152 --> 00:45:19,249 Think of this: 943 00:45:19,249 --> 00:45:22,584 I don't have to put on a show to men. 944 00:45:22,584 --> 00:45:25,325 It doesn't matter what men think anyway. 945 00:45:25,325 --> 00:45:28,439 God knows. He sees everything in secret. 946 00:45:28,439 --> 00:45:30,317 Every bit of it He knows. 947 00:45:30,317 --> 00:45:35,566 And He said I'm not going to let you miss out. 948 00:45:35,566 --> 00:45:38,884 Just as I was preparing this, I'm thinking, 949 00:45:38,884 --> 00:45:41,498 Lord, over and over You're saying 950 00:45:41,498 --> 00:45:45,500 He will reward you; He will reward you. 951 00:45:45,500 --> 00:45:50,025 If you fast, if you pray, if you give 952 00:45:50,025 --> 00:45:52,317 in the presence of your Father, 953 00:45:52,317 --> 00:45:54,460 He'll reward you. 954 00:45:54,460 --> 00:45:57,901 We can be sure He will. 955 00:45:57,901 --> 00:45:59,518 He keeps perfect records. 956 00:45:59,518 --> 00:46:01,241 He sees everything in secret 957 00:46:01,241 --> 00:46:02,957 because He's infinite. 958 00:46:02,957 --> 00:46:04,910 And He will reward. 959 00:46:04,910 --> 00:46:07,351 Number six: the fact that God is my Father 960 00:46:07,351 --> 00:46:09,983 means that I have a perfect example 961 00:46:09,983 --> 00:46:12,605 to pattern my life after. 962 00:46:12,605 --> 00:46:18,964 I've got a Father worthy of emulating in every way. 963 00:46:18,964 --> 00:46:20,485 "You've heard that it was said 964 00:46:20,485 --> 00:46:22,766 you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, 965 00:46:22,766 --> 00:46:24,562 but I say unto you, love your enemies 966 00:46:24,562 --> 00:46:26,907 and pray for those who persecute you, 967 00:46:26,907 --> 00:46:28,824 in order that you may be sons 968 00:46:28,824 --> 00:46:31,690 of your Father who is in Heaven. 969 00:46:31,690 --> 00:46:34,380 For He causes His sun to rise 970 00:46:34,380 --> 00:46:36,453 on the evil and the good, 971 00:46:36,453 --> 00:46:39,741 and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." 972 00:46:39,741 --> 00:46:40,724 I like that. 973 00:46:40,724 --> 00:46:45,666 It's like a little kid has an orange ball. 974 00:46:45,666 --> 00:46:49,245 God has His sun. "That's My sun." 975 00:46:49,245 --> 00:46:51,764 God causes His sun to shine. 976 00:46:51,764 --> 00:46:56,019 He causes His sun to shine on this earth. 977 00:46:56,019 --> 00:46:59,706 And He sends rain on the righteous 978 00:46:59,706 --> 00:47:07,530 and the unrighteous. 979 00:47:07,530 --> 00:47:09,824 He says, "if you love those who love you, 980 00:47:09,824 --> 00:47:11,127 what reward have you? 981 00:47:11,127 --> 00:47:14,135 Do not even the tax gatherers do the same? 982 00:47:14,135 --> 00:47:16,012 And if you greet your brothers only, 983 00:47:16,012 --> 00:47:17,742 what do you do more than others? 984 00:47:17,742 --> 00:47:20,084 Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 985 00:47:20,084 --> 00:47:22,305 Therefore, you are to be perfect 986 00:47:22,305 --> 00:47:26,664 as your Heavenly Father is perfect." 987 00:47:26,664 --> 00:47:30,821 We know how young sons want to imitate their fathers. 988 00:47:30,821 --> 00:47:33,440 Well, here's a Father worthy of imitation 989 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:35,361 in every way. 990 00:47:35,361 --> 00:47:37,736 And the Lord Jesus looks at what's happening 991 00:47:37,736 --> 00:47:38,860 in the world around us. 992 00:47:38,860 --> 00:47:41,146 He says, look, your Father's being kind 993 00:47:41,146 --> 00:47:44,806 to these ungrateful and evil men. 994 00:47:44,806 --> 00:47:46,655 You imitate Him. 995 00:47:46,655 --> 00:47:48,044 "Love your enemies. 996 00:47:48,044 --> 00:47:49,135 Do good and lend 997 00:47:49,135 --> 00:47:50,721 expecting nothing in return, 998 00:47:50,721 --> 00:47:52,422 and your reward will be great, 999 00:47:52,422 --> 00:47:56,372 and you will be sons of the Most High, 1000 00:47:56,372 --> 00:47:58,930 for He Himself is kind 1001 00:47:58,930 --> 00:48:01,203 to ungrateful and evil men. 1002 00:48:01,203 --> 00:48:03,774 Be merciful, 1003 00:48:03,774 --> 00:48:07,786 just as your Father is merciful." 1004 00:48:07,786 --> 00:48:10,396 Number seven: 1005 00:48:10,396 --> 00:48:20,398 (Is this good hermeneutics, Jesse, to have nine points?) 1006 00:48:20,398 --> 00:48:22,157 The fact that God is my Father means 1007 00:48:22,157 --> 00:48:23,537 that He loves me too much 1008 00:48:23,537 --> 00:48:25,802 to leave me without discipline. 1009 00:48:25,802 --> 00:48:27,882 Isn't that something? 1010 00:48:27,882 --> 00:48:29,633 Hebrews 12, "You have forgotten 1011 00:48:29,633 --> 00:48:32,625 the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. 1012 00:48:32,625 --> 00:48:35,880 My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, 1013 00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:38,064 nor faint when you are reproved by Him. 1014 00:48:38,064 --> 00:48:40,008 For those whom the Lord loves, 1015 00:48:40,008 --> 00:48:42,383 He disciplines and He scourges every son 1016 00:48:42,383 --> 00:48:44,384 whom He receives. 1017 00:48:44,384 --> 00:48:46,266 It is for discipline that you endure; 1018 00:48:46,266 --> 00:48:48,378 God deals with you as with sons. 1019 00:48:48,378 --> 00:48:54,379 For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 1020 00:48:54,379 --> 00:48:56,073 He disciplines us for our good, 1021 00:48:56,073 --> 00:48:59,602 that we may share His holiness. 1022 00:48:59,602 --> 00:49:01,024 All discipline for the moment 1023 00:49:01,024 --> 00:49:03,117 seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. 1024 00:49:03,117 --> 00:49:05,260 Yet to those who have been trained by it 1025 00:49:05,260 --> 00:49:11,184 afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." 1026 00:49:11,184 --> 00:49:14,962 Proverbs 3:12, "For whom the Lord loves, He reproves, 1027 00:49:14,962 --> 00:49:19,143 even as a father the son in whom he delights." 1028 00:49:19,143 --> 00:49:23,662 So, God loves me too much to leave me without discipline. 1029 00:49:23,662 --> 00:49:26,894 That doesn't mean that every hard thing that happens to us 1030 00:49:26,894 --> 00:49:28,371 is a punishment for sin. 1031 00:49:28,371 --> 00:49:33,406 Sometimes a trainer will have a runner carry weights - 1032 00:49:33,406 --> 00:49:35,071 something like that - 1033 00:49:35,071 --> 00:49:37,856 he's not punishing him; he's disciplining him, 1034 00:49:37,856 --> 00:49:41,150 preparing him; making him stronger. 1035 00:49:41,150 --> 00:49:44,891 God does that too. 1036 00:49:44,891 --> 00:49:47,480 Number eight: The fact that God is my Father 1037 00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:50,121 means that His attitude toward me 1038 00:49:50,121 --> 00:49:53,712 is one of kindness and compassion; 1039 00:49:53,712 --> 00:49:56,055 not harshness and rejection. 1040 00:49:56,055 --> 00:49:58,868 How many people are going around 1041 00:49:58,868 --> 00:50:00,822 thinking that God is carrying this club 1042 00:50:00,822 --> 00:50:02,265 waiting for them to slip up 1043 00:50:02,265 --> 00:50:06,291 so that He can smash them? 1044 00:50:06,291 --> 00:50:08,840 Jesus talks about this even in conversion. 1045 00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:12,661 He says (Luke 15), "While he was still a long way off, 1046 00:50:12,661 --> 00:50:16,190 his father saw him and felt compassion 1047 00:50:16,190 --> 00:50:19,105 and ran and embraced him and kissed him." 1048 00:50:19,105 --> 00:50:21,391 He's telling us what God is like 1049 00:50:21,391 --> 00:50:25,437 in His attitude toward us. 1050 00:50:25,437 --> 00:50:27,673 Psalm 103:13-14, 1051 00:50:27,673 --> 00:50:31,292 "Just as a father has compassion on his children, 1052 00:50:31,292 --> 00:50:34,875 so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, 1053 00:50:34,875 --> 00:50:37,827 for He Himself knows our frame; 1054 00:50:37,827 --> 00:50:40,344 He is mindful that we are but dust." 1055 00:50:40,344 --> 00:50:44,190 Think of what a wonderful thing that is! 1056 00:50:44,190 --> 00:50:45,783 When I'm going through a trial, 1057 00:50:45,783 --> 00:50:47,213 God knows our frame. 1058 00:50:47,213 --> 00:50:48,681 He has compassion on us. 1059 00:50:48,681 --> 00:50:51,761 He's mindful. 1060 00:50:51,761 --> 00:50:53,241 My Father understands. 1061 00:50:53,241 --> 00:50:54,775 He knows my frame. 1062 00:50:54,775 --> 00:50:56,398 His attitude's one of compassion. 1063 00:50:56,398 --> 00:50:58,896 He's so patient. He's so merciful. 1064 00:50:58,896 --> 00:51:01,349 He's not a harsh taskmaster. 1065 00:51:01,349 --> 00:51:04,129 Malachi 3:17, "'They shall be Mine,' 1066 00:51:04,129 --> 00:51:05,368 says the Lord of Hosts, 1067 00:51:05,368 --> 00:51:08,140 'On the day when I make up My own possession, 1068 00:51:08,140 --> 00:51:10,125 and I will have compassion on them 1069 00:51:10,125 --> 00:51:15,059 as a man has compassion on his own son who serves him.'" 1070 00:51:15,059 --> 00:51:17,437 Last one. 1071 00:51:17,437 --> 00:51:20,989 And I truly am sorry to have so many points. 1072 00:51:20,989 --> 00:51:23,065 The fact that God is my Father means 1073 00:51:23,065 --> 00:51:27,923 that He delights to give me an inheritance. 1074 00:51:27,923 --> 00:51:30,443 You may feel ever so weak and afraid 1075 00:51:30,443 --> 00:51:32,262 you may not even make it to heaven. 1076 00:51:32,262 --> 00:51:34,446 Satan may tell you that God doesn't want you 1077 00:51:34,446 --> 00:51:35,901 to make it to heaven. 1078 00:51:35,901 --> 00:51:37,940 And that He's against you. 1079 00:51:37,940 --> 00:51:41,130 That isn't true. 1080 00:51:41,130 --> 00:51:43,454 Jesus said, "It's not the will of your Father 1081 00:51:43,454 --> 00:51:46,131 who is in Heaven that one of these little ones..." 1082 00:51:46,131 --> 00:51:47,599 He's talking about believers. 1083 00:51:47,599 --> 00:51:50,390 "...That one of these little ones should perish." 1084 00:51:50,390 --> 00:51:56,609 And none of them will. Not one. 1085 00:51:56,609 --> 00:51:59,561 Right after Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom, 1086 00:51:59,561 --> 00:52:01,297 He immediately assures us, 1087 00:52:01,297 --> 00:52:03,273 "Fear not, little flock, 1088 00:52:03,273 --> 00:52:08,826 your Father has chosen gladly to give you the Kingdom." 1089 00:52:08,826 --> 00:52:10,811 And according to the Lord Jesus, 1090 00:52:10,811 --> 00:52:13,238 there's a day coming when the righteous 1091 00:52:13,238 --> 00:52:16,160 will shine forth like the sun 1092 00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:20,344 in the kingdom of their Father. 1093 00:52:20,344 --> 00:52:22,941 Well, there's so much more that could be said. 1094 00:52:22,941 --> 00:52:25,738 So much hinges on this love relationship 1095 00:52:25,738 --> 00:52:29,418 between Father and son or Father and daughter. 1096 00:52:29,418 --> 00:52:31,825 When our love for the Father 1097 00:52:31,825 --> 00:52:33,560 is really strong and clear, 1098 00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:36,981 immediately we think about His name, 1099 00:52:36,981 --> 00:52:38,936 wanting His name to be glorified. 1100 00:52:38,936 --> 00:52:40,615 Immediately we think about wanting 1101 00:52:40,615 --> 00:52:42,457 His kingdom to be advanced. 1102 00:52:42,457 --> 00:52:43,807 You don't have to say, 1103 00:52:43,807 --> 00:52:46,242 well, I've got to remember now 1104 00:52:46,242 --> 00:52:49,126 to be concerned about the name of God. 1105 00:52:49,126 --> 00:52:50,622 It just happens automatically 1106 00:52:50,622 --> 00:52:52,994 when you're full of love for Him. 1107 00:52:52,994 --> 00:52:54,782 And it happens automatically 1108 00:52:54,782 --> 00:52:57,329 that when you pray for your daily bread, 1109 00:52:57,329 --> 00:53:00,191 it's in connection with wanting His kingdom to come, 1110 00:53:00,191 --> 00:53:01,758 not just selfish. 1111 00:53:01,758 --> 00:53:04,020 And wanting to have victory over sin; 1112 00:53:04,020 --> 00:53:05,498 wanting forgiveness for sin, 1113 00:53:05,498 --> 00:53:07,381 and deliverance from sin 1114 00:53:07,381 --> 00:53:10,579 is not so you'll feel better about yourself. 1115 00:53:10,579 --> 00:53:14,067 But so that you can what? 1116 00:53:14,067 --> 00:53:18,156 So that you can let your light so shine 1117 00:53:18,156 --> 00:53:19,877 that men will see your good works 1118 00:53:19,877 --> 00:53:22,816 and glorify your Father 1119 00:53:22,816 --> 00:53:26,217 who is in Heaven. 1120 00:53:26,217 --> 00:53:31,673 Well, Jesus said when you pray, 1121 00:53:31,673 --> 00:53:36,028 say, "Our Father in Heaven." 1122 00:53:36,028 --> 00:53:40,548 May God help us to believe and lay hold of these things. 1123 00:53:40,548 --> 00:53:42,091 Amen.