CHILDREN, BE YOURSELVES

MF Blume Sunday, February 22, 1998 AM

Hebr 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebr 6:12-14 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

2Cor 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
2Cor 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Our text reveals that only things that result from faith please God.
Faith is the opposite of self effort.
When something comes by faith, it is something God accomplished.
God cannot accomplish anything for us unless we have faith for Him to do it.
And we then notice that God Promises us we can be SONS AND DAUGHTERS.

So... if a promise comes by faith, and God has promised we can be His children... then we become children and remain children BY FAITH.

A promise is a word from God, but you must have faith in order for that promise to be fulfilled.

Hebr 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Only through FAITH can we inherit the promises.
God promises many things, but unless we have faith that He will indeed give them to us, then we will not get them.
You can try to make that promise come about yourself through your own efforts, all that you want to, but there is only one way it comes... by faith.
God refuses to give us anything outside of our faith.

One of the greatest lessons we need to learn is that we become a child of God by faith, also.

Going to church and reading some bible chapters every day will not make us one of God's children.
Only one thing will make us a child of God -- FAITH.
You must believe that Acts 2:38's genuine repentance and water baptism will cause God to make us a child of God.
We are born by water and Spirit.

Only Faith pleases God.

Matt 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

If God is only pleased by FAITH, and if Jesus was God's Son in whom He was well PLEASED, then Jesus was a child of God by faith and knew there was no WORK to do in order to be what He already was!

Notice that water and Spirit were involved here.
Jesus Christ was God's Son since Bethlehem, but here we see Him called God's Son with water and Spirit in view. This is to show us a hint of what we must experience to be God's children.

But if God was well pleased by Jesus as SON, and without faith it is impossible to please Him, then faith existed in Jesus as SON.

ABRAHAM

Abraham was promised he would have a son, so Abraham did all he could do to have a son, and ISHMAEL was born.

But since it was what ABRAHAM COULD DO, it was not the son God was talking about.
The promised son could only come by faith.

When someone promises you they will give you something, you do not suddenly think that the only way it is going to come is by working all you can to produce it.

You were promised it by another.
You do not work for what is promised to you.
And when you RECEIVE THE PROMISE, you do not initiate a work to hold onto that promise after you first receive. It will always be yours!

Imagine a boy whose parents were Australian and told him he was going to grow up to be an Australian man.
The boy then thought of what he could do to make sure that happens.
So, he studied Australia's history.
He memorized all the towns' and cities' names.
He did all he could do to make sure he would grow up to be an Australian man.
But the fact was that he could do nothing to be an Australian man, because his BIRTH already did it!
On the other hand a person may not know that he is Australian, but he is regardless of whether he knows it or not.
When he finds out he is Australian, he will probably discover many things about himself and his rights in that nation. The most common way that citizens of a nation are citizens is because they are BORN of that nation.

I think many of God's children need to realize what nation they are born into.

And many people who want to be God's Children need to realize what it takes to be one.

One day, Peter was asked by the Jews whether Jesus paid temple tax or not. Peter was not sure, but thought He must have paid it, and said Yes. But notice what Jesus said:

Matt 17:25-26 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

Jesus was a CHILD of God compared to the people of Israel who were like peasants in a kingdom.
He had it made! He received favours that nobody else received, because He was God's ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.

Matt 18:1-4 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

They thought about the Kingdom, and how Jesus was Son in that Kingdom. The children are free. They thought about others in the Kingdom, and wondered who else besides Him was greatest.
Jesus made them realize that THEY could be in the Kingdom.
They had to become as little children.
THEY HAD TO BE BORN.
He said, "I have these benefits because I was BORN in this thing. But YOU can be born also!"

A special element exists in parents and their children that are not found in parents and someone else's children. DEEP LOVE.

The word "love" is not even found in the entire Bible until Genesis 22.

I am sure that Adam loved Eve, but the kind of love that God created man in order for him to know was not even hinted at until this chapter, and I believe it is because here there is a touch of what God was after.

Gene 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

The Love of a Father and His son.
God said, Take your only Son whom you love, to Moriah.
This is the closest thing to the Love that the Son of God and the Father had.
While God told Abraham to take his only son to Moriah and offer Him there, God thought about the cross and Jesus His Son, and added "WHOM THOU LOVEST."

Hebr 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

It is the LOVE between God and His children that is so wonderful.

It is the ultimate.
You can not earn the love of this Father.
There is nothing YOU can work to see this happen, other than ask.
YOU MUST SIMPLY BE BORN AGAIN.

What is this all about? Why is there a Bible?

Most people simply want to go to Heaven.
Angels are in Heaven.
Angels have that.
And God already has angels.

Others want to live forever.

Angels have that.
Angels live forever.
And God already has angels.

Others want to stop sinning and live right.

2/3 of the Angels never sinned a single time.
Angels have that.
And God already has Angels.

Is that all you want? If that is your idea of being a Christian, then you are far below what God intended. God wants something more.

Some think God wanted fellowship:

True, but Angels have that.
God already has them around.

But the goal God had in mind was to LOVE HIS VERY OWN CHILDREN.

Angels are not God's children.
Children of God are a new thing!

When speaking about the Gospel, we read...

Hebr 1:1-5 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

WE INHERIT THINGS ONLY BY BEING BORN -- we do not work to get these things.

ANGELS DO NOT HAVE GOD'S SPIRIT IN THEM.

All along, it was going to be a Son.
Hebrews quotes the prophets from the OT and shows that it could not be an Angel that God would send to tell us the Gospel.
What angel fell into the category, "Thou art my Son."?

Hebr 2:5-7 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

Angels will never rule.
SONS OF GOD WILL.

The reason God sent HIS SON, was because it was the best way to let us KNOW HIM AS FATHER.

If you are born again, BE YOURSELF! A CHILD OF GOD. Have FAITH, IF you are born again already, that you are already what He desired. HIS SON or DAUGHTER.

Every blessing in the New Testament is yours just by being who you are!
You are His CHILD! That is all God takes pleasure in. He takes pleasure only in that which is of faith. And have faith you are His son or daughter. THAT is Christian strength.
ACTUALLY BORN of Him.

He was only GOD to the Israelites.
He is only GOD to the Angels.

BUT TO US HE IS "FATHER."

The Gospel is not a list of tasks to perform before the world ends.

It is a way to become a CHILD OF GOD.
About being BORN AGAIN.

God loves US, not our works.

Clear your mind of such false doctrine.
These false errors ruin your chance to enjoy blessings from God.

So long as your goal is to live forever or to simply go to Heaven, you are not going to get anywhere, since your whole concept is incorrect.

Until you realize that YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD, you will mess it all up, because all of the Gospel is only about God blessing HIS children.
Any other idea will throw a wrench into the picture and violate the work of the Gospel.
The Gospel only gives its blessings to those who fit into one category -- THEY ACCEPT ALL FROM HIM BECAUSE THEY ARE HIS CHILDREN.

There is no other way to see everything work in the Christian Life.

You frustrate the grace of God when you TRY to be a child of God.

Gala 2:20-21 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Paul said he lives by JESUS' faith!
"FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD" simply means that you realize that being HIS SON and HIS CHILD allows you to have all you will ever need.

Notice the qualities Jesus knew about being God's Son:

John 11:41-42 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

And then Jesus relates how that the message was getting through.

John 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

Satan made us slaves of sin. And what a way to cause us to trip up, even after we get saved. We're not used to looking at God as FATHER.
We've been slaves for so long that many do not realize what SONSHIP is all about.

Going to heaven alone, or having to live forever and never sin are great aspirations. BUT NOTHING LIKE KNOWING GOD AS FATHER.

He'll lightly touch those who desire the other things, but those whom He sees seek to KNOW HIM, receive from Him HEAVY ANOINTING.

We think more of christians as Church "members" rather than GOD'S VERY OWN CHILDREN.

No wonder Jesus said so many things like, "Which of you, if his son asked bread would Give him a stone?... how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

As long as you TRY to stop sinning, or TRY to go to heaven or TRY to live forever, you will be all alone and get no help from God.

He only gives things to HIS CHILDREN who ask Him.
He already has angels who live forever and are in heaven who do not sin.
But He is bringing home a whole lot of HIS VERY OWN CHILDREN very soon!

I've had company come and go from my home, but WHEN OUR OWN BABIES CAME HOME.... ! It was VERY different.

JUST BE YOURSELF! A child of God.

He loves you for WHO YOU ALREADY ARE.

If you are not born again yet, come and be born into the family.

Open your heart and ask God to forgive you of all your sins.
Believe when He does that, He will not even remember them again.
Get baptized today in water in Jesus' Name.
Believe God and ask Him to give you the HOLY GHOST.
BE BORN of water and of Spirit.