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The Spirit

The Spirit - Makes Us True Sons & Daughters

Caleb Combs · Sunday, 17 August 2025 · Romans 8:12-17 · 49:20 · 7,868 words

Romans S17 · 8:12-17 Holly

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

The sermon walks through Romans 8:12‑17, explaining that believers are debtors to Christ who have paid a debt they could not pay. It calls listeners to stop living for themselves and instead offer their whole lives to God, being guided by the Spirit and putting selfish desires to death. The speaker invites everyone to surrender daily, to listen for God’s direction, and to remember they are God’s children and heirs through Christ.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

led 35 spirit 80 heir 25 cast 15 flesh 33 ultimately 16 want 76 relationship 24 indebted 6 adopt 14 god 140 place 26

Topics

The Holy Spirit 17 Adoption & Sonship 11 The Flesh 6 Prayer 3 Faith 3 Salvation 3 Sanctification 2 Sin 1 Assurance 1 The Gospel 1 Atonement & Sacrifice 1

Scripture referenced 24

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 8 5:22 Romans 8 5:33 Romans 8:12-17 5:33 Romans 8 5:44 Romans 8 5:51 Romans 8:12 5:51 Romans 8:12 7:46 Romans 8:12 7:52 Romans 12 11:07 Romans 12:2 11:38 Romans 12:1 11:59 Romans 12:13 13:54 Romans 12:14-15 18:44 Romans 12:18 23:44 Romans 7 26:16 Galatians 4 35:27 Galatians 4:16 35:54 Romans 3 37:25 Romans 3:17 38:43 1 John 3 40:00 Ephesians 1 40:20 Romans 8 41:11 Psalms 30 41:30 Psalms 30 41:36

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 9 lines, 0:41. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Phil, and thanks for checking out this message today.

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Good morning. Good to gather with you.

I was walking out, and Dave walks out and said,

I may have preached some of your sermon there.

And I said, I mean, you can have the mic if you want.

I'm okay with it this morning. I loved it. It's great.

The Word of God is so great, and it just speaks through just correcting and guiding our lives.

And so that's what our goal is for the next little bit,

in a few minutes, is just to open His Word,

see what He has for us as we study to show ourselves approved as the Bible teaches us to do.

And so that's the goal.

But before we jump into that, I want to welcome you.

If I don't know you, my name is Caleb.

I'm the pastor here.

And so for the next 30-ish minutes, I'll say 40-ish.

Let's get truthful.

40-ish minutes.

Some of you guys are like, yeah, right, 30 minutes.

I know. Romans, there's a lot to it.

So 40 minutes, we'll be opening God's Word.

We just look at it and read.

And talk through what God's Word says,

how it applies to the church in Rome,

as well as the church in Holly, Michigan.

And so that's what we do for the next little bit.

And so I want to welcome you here.

I want to remind you of what Pastor Noble talked about in our JTT.

We're excited about the work of the ministry,

seeing all the different baptisms,

seeing all the different things God is doing.

It's just been so fun.

I do want to highlight.

I want to highlight one area really quickly, okay?

And maybe I shouldn't do this, but it is.

We're always trying to build up our operations team.

You're saying, what is that team?

Well, if you look around on our Holly facilities,

we have somewhere around 100,000 square foot of building space, okay?

And so we're always trying to get people to join the team,

help, serve, be a part of the work.

It's important.

And so cleaning up, building, you're like,

man, I don't do and help.

I can't figure out how to teach or work with kids.

And those things are not my abilities.

But you know what?

I can change a toilet.

We would love for you to join the team.

And you're saying, really?

A hundred percent.

Because you're looking at a guy that has to call someone to change their toilet.

All right?

I'm not even ashamed to even say that.

And so nothing wrong with that.

And so if you have those abilities, man or woman, that's okay.

We are always looking to build that team of volunteers to help,

make these facilities look the way they are.

And so we were joking this week as a staff,

we have lived in a rainforest this year, by the way.

If you've noticed at your home, the weeds are out of control.

And so for some reason, the weeds still grow here as well.

I think that was the fall, all right, in Genesis, that they grow.

And so pulling weeds, all those different things.

And so if you're interested, you have questions,

you want to know more about that, stop by the operations area of JTT.

But every other minute,

I could highlight and I won't do that because I want to preach this morning.

But before I get to preach, one more highlight and celebration.

Yesterday, we had our backpack block party that we've been asking you to pray for.

It was, I was talking to Pastor Noble.

I think it's the largest one we've ever had as a church.

And so we had 247 kids come out yesterday.

It was really, really great.

And so I was texting with an administrator of Holly Schools this week,

just communicating how excited we are.

And just,

what can we do to help the schools

and be a part of the lives of the ones in this community?

And we believe that, okay?

We're not just an isolationist church

that's standing over here at East Holly Road and I-75 and going,

okay, all right, come to us.

No, we want to be active in the community, all right?

And so we want to be a part of things

and we want to see how God can use us.

And so thank you to everyone who donated, prayed.

It was really, really exciting.

We had First Babs of Holly.

And so Pastor Phil was a lot of fun.

He did get in the dunk tank yesterday.

And so, which was a lot of fun.

I did not.

I had to run to a wedding.

And so I was a part of that all sweaty,

then ran to a wedding and sweat more outside.

So, but it was just a great, great event too.

be a part of. And so thank you, thank you, thank you. We're just trying to take every opportunity

we can to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ, because we believe it is the power of God unto

salvation to anyone who believes. And so we believe that wholeheartedly. Pastor Noble shared

the gospel yesterday as well. And so we're excited about that. If you have a Bible, a device,

something to follow along, read along, we're in Romans chapter eight. You're like, we've been

there for three weeks. Yep, you're keeping track. And so we'll be there for two more after this week.

And so Romans chapter eight, we're gonna look at verses 12 through 17 this morning, looking at this

chunk of verses. One of my favorites, and you're like, man, I feel like you say that every week.

Well, Romans chapter eight is just a great, great chapter, but it really, we see a change,

and I hope to communicate that this morning. Romans chapter eight, verse 12 says, so then

brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live

according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,

you will live. For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive

the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as

slaves. You have received the spirit of adoption as slaves. You have received the spirit of adoption as

sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are

children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ,

provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Let's pray,

and we'll look at that passage this morning. God, we love you. We praise you. Thank you for your word.

Thank you for being active, a part of this place. God, we worship you. God, we sing about you. We pray

to you. We glorify you in everything that we say and do. God, over the next few minutes, may your

word speak very clearly. May your spirit work in our hearts. God, we glorify you. God, thank you.

Thank you for hearing us. Thank you for being here. We praise you in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.

This passage has a ton,

and so I really wanted to really kind of break it down and pull out a few highlights that we

really can talk about and just study this morning. And so let's look at verse 12 just for a few

minutes, and I'll kind of chunk it out for us. Verse 12, he says, so then, this is the apostle

Paul speaking. He says, so then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to

the flesh. We are debtors. Paul uses this phrase, we are debtors, to live according to the flesh.

He uses this analogy or description or illustration multiple times in the epistles he has written. So

Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament, and so he's writing these descriptions. And he describes

himself, if you look at Philippians, if you look at Ephesians, you look at Colossians, you look at

many of these books, he describes himself sometimes as a debtor, as a prisoner, as a slave, as a

servant. They're all descriptions of a place of debt. And so he puts himself in debt of something

or someone. And you're saying, why is he doing that? Well, he's making sure we understand that

Jesus paid a debt that he couldn't pay. He's making sure we understand as readers, as understanders

of what Paul is communicating. And ultimately in 2025, we are still in debt to Christ. That's an

important base understanding for us. And so he's saying, hey, you are a servant, you are a slave,

you are indebted to Christ. As a follower of Jesus Christ, each and every one of us are in that place.

And I'll tell you this, we're okay with that. You're saying, well, that feels demeaning. That

feels like something, language that God wouldn't say. Well, the truth of the matter is, this is

Paul writing and saying, God, I owe you everything.

You see that? I honor you. I'm indebted. You sent Jesus. I love this statement because it's

so important for us to understand. If God never did another thing for you,

us. Simply sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins was and is enough. It's

important that we grasp and understand. That's a core base belief that we must live by. God,

I owe you everything. God, I'm indebted to you. I want to serve you. I want to honor you. I want

to praise you. I want to worship you. I want to lift your name above all things. God, I place

myself under your authority. See, it's an identification, but a placement. The truth of

the matter is for us, and I don't want to offend anybody in the room and so know my heart here,

us as Christians, we easily invert that. Where we go, God, you are now a slave to me. I'm now

giving my life to you. You're lucky to have me and I'm on your team. Now, God, go and do for me.

You see the parallel different there? Come on, right? Do we see that difference? The truth of

the matter is for us, as we grasp and understand,

God, I want to place myself in your service. I'm in, I like this word, an obligation or I'm

obligated to live for you. I don't want to pre-preach Romans 12, but it just so communicates.

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a

living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Simply means this is

what God has called you to do. You want to honor him. You want to worship him. You want to glorify

him in all that you do. Here it is. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Verse two, he says,

do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

I think that King James says in verse one, present your bodies, a living sacrifice, which is a

reasonable service, or it's just, just a base level. I'm thinking, wow, if that's a base level,

we've got a lot of work to do, right? I'm good at presenting half of my life to him. God,

I'll give you this half, but the rest, I kind of like, I kind of want to shape this. I want to kind

of mold this. I want to speak into this. God, I'll give you half or I'll give you a couple of my kids,

but I'm not giving you all of my kids. I'll give, I'll give you some of my finances, but I'm not

going to give you all of my finances. I'm not going to give you my job. I'm not going to give

you my home. I can, I can figure those things out on my own, but God, I'm going to give you my health

because I know you can handle that. You see that balance that we tend to live out. Okay. I'm the

only one that does. No one else is like, all right, right. That's, that's what happens. That's

what it practically looks like for us rather than, okay, God, I'm indebted to you. I am in a hundred

percent debt. I want to serve you. I want to give you everything. God, I place my life in your hands.

What a great picture for us to understand.

I read this this week and I'm like, wow, this is echoed over and over and over again.

I'm a highlighter for a lot of books I read. And so I highlighted this and double started in the

books that I read. It said sanctification, which is the process of growing more holy and looking

more like Christ. Sanctification is not a luxury, but a necessity. And I went, oh my gosh, that was

the punch I needed this week. Thank you, God. Right? Come on. It almost feels like, all right,

God, work on me. No, no, no. The Holy Spirit working on me. That is a necessity for growing to

look more like Christ and realize as we are indebted to him and giving our lives to him.

Paul continues in verse 13, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if the

spirit, if by the spirit you put to death, the deeds of your body, you will live. This has been

a common theme over the last really, I'd say four to six weeks of living in the spirit, living in the

flesh. And so I won't re-preach that. And so if you've missed or you're new, that's what really

we've been talking about for the last four to six weeks, living in the spirit and not living in the

flesh. But now Paul is telling us, put the flesh to death, put it to death, remove it. Galatians

says, for I've been crucified with Christ. It is I no longer live, but he who lives in me. And so

we've been called to put our flesh to death. And I know you're like,

that sounds like a big, huge statement. What does that actually look like practically? And so I'm a

I would say this, I like very clear instructions.

It's helpful for me.

I don't know, maybe it's not for you,

but I'm like, okay, I'd like to understand

what that actually putting the flesh to death looks like.

We're gonna talk about this,

but Paul never intrinsically or clearly

gives us a step-by-step process.

I need step-by-step.

I did tell everyone I cannot replace a toilet, all right?

That's very clear, all right?

But I need a step-by-step, very clear process

of making something happen.

And Paul never really does that,

but yet Jesus speaks to this dying to self.

Other New Testament writers have called us

to deny themselves, right?

Deny themselves, take up their cross.

That's his words of Jesus.

And we've been called to put self or deny self.

And yet it continues to speak

as we've been talking over the last couple of weeks.

Our flesh.

Likes self.

Our flesh likes what we like.

We're all little.

I use this word because a friend used it.

Our flesh is persnickety.

It's an old word in case you're wondering, right?

We like things that we like.

And when something happens against us that we don't like,

We're now put in a predicament.

We're put in a balance.

What do I do?

Do I throw a tantrum or a fit?

And don't look at me like you've never thrown a tantrum

or fit to God because many of us in here have.

Let's just being honest.

I don't mean to offend anybody in the room or online.

Sometimes I say that I don't want to offend anybody in the room,

but online I can offend.

No, that's not what I'm saying, all right?

But for us is coming to that going,

God, I'm putting myself out of the way.

I'm removing my thoughts,

like what I think, my control and placing God.

You direct, you guide.

God, what I think that I want,

I'd rather want what you want.

That's what prayer is.

We think,

we think praying is aligning God to my desires, my wants.

The truth is prayer is aligning myself to what God wants.

Let your kingdom come, right?

Not my will, but yours.

It's placing and saying,

God, align my heart, align my feet, align my mouth,

align my thoughts to your will.

That is placing myself, not necessarily in the back seat,

but sometimes in the trunk.

Like, do you need that?

Yeah, probably in the trailer behind the car, right?

It's us.

Because there's too many times we want to bump God out of the way and go,

God, I know where I'm going.

I want to drive.

And yet we've been called to die to self daily.

And that concept, Paul is saying,

you know what?

If you are not going to die to self,

you can't live in the spirit.

You can't.

So if we live in self,

let's invert the word,

we live in self or flesh,

we will literally bring the things of death on our lives.

And yet Paul says,

if you live,

you'll live by the spirit.

And then he continues.

And I love this.

Verses 14 and 15.

He now begins to progress.

And this is,

this progression is really,

really good.

It says for all who are led by the spirit,

our spirit of God,

our sons of God,

if you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

but you haven't received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we call on.

Cry Abba father.

And so Paul begins,

I really begins.

says,

let's,

let's put this flesh.

Let's put the self to death.

And now let's live in the spirit.

And then he says,

he tells us to be led by the spirit,

to be led by the spirit.

And so this is a,

I want to try to teach this and also preach this,

but also apply it in our lives.

And so I want to try to help us understand,

understand this a little bit better.

And so to be led by the spirit.

And so I've never heard the audible voice of God in my life.

Okay.

And so I don't,

I don't claim to be.

And so when somebody gives up,

God told me if God's word says that,

That's why I'll say God, God told me. Okay. And so, uh, however, I have felt led by the spirit

and you're saying, what would that look like? Well, to be felt, to be led by the spirit is

to live out the word of God. And you're saying, what does that actually look like? Well, last

week we talked about this last week. We preached to this. What is the role of the spirit to

illuminate, remind, and to teach the words of Jesus. And so first and foremost, to be led by

the spirit, you will be in balance with the word, words of Christ. They will not come in

opposition. And so I've had people say, sending to my office, Hey, I felt led by the spirit to

do something. I said, that is against God's word. And so you weren't led by the spirit. And so I

probably said it a little nicer than I did just there, but, um, that that's the truth, but yeah,

we've been called to be led by the spirit. Understanding to be led by the spirit is to

Control to his control, follow his lead while we allow him to exert his influence,

godly influence over us. And so understanding as we look and seek the leading of the Holy

spirit in our life, trying to disseminate and discern that is difficult. I don't pretend.

And so you're like, man, I've ever, this is the first time I've ever walked in a church

or I was something I've struggled with and, and balancing. I want to be led by the spirit,

but I, I I'm afraid that sometimes it'll lead me to do wrong or it's not the right spirit. And,

and sometimes you just say being led by the spirit, it freaks me out. I don't even know

what you're saying. I get that. We've got that, that, that, that grand scheme of people. And so

maybe you grew up Baptist and you're like being led by the spirit, but man, we, we stay away from

people like that. That's, that's not what we've been called to do. We've been called as Christians

to be led by the Holy spirit, to live out in our lives. And so what does that look like? Well,

I'll say this. I wrote this down. I feel like the best way to be led by the spirit is to be in his

word and your life will be shaped by the word and the spirit will lead and speak. You're saying

really? Yeah. Sometimes we're looking, okay, it's gotta be some supernatural thing. Yes. I do believe

God works way beyond. We can see and understand. I I'm not putting God in a box ever. Okay. God,

God is all powerful, all knowing he can do whatever he wants. However, Galatians five gives us a great

description. God is all powerful, all knowing he can do whatever he wants. However, Galatians five gives us a great description.

I didn't give them this first because I, I was working through it this morning.

Um, but Galatians five, 16 through 24 says, but I say walk by the spirit or be led by the spirit.

You will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the desires of the flesh or against the spirit.

And if the desires of the spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other

to keep you from doing the things you want to do. There it is.

There's the juxtaposition that battle that's in us. God, I want to be led by your spirit. I have to

die to self. Sometimes I have to remove self. God, you direct, you guide, you lead, you place people

in my life to help speak truth into my life. That will be faithful are the wounds of a friend. God,

you place influence. You place the word you, you, you place interactions. Do I believe God does that?

Absolutely. A hundred percent because we must place ourselves to be,

to be walking or being led in the spirit. But it then continues. Verse 18. If you are led by the

spirit, you're not under the law. Galatians and Romans are great parallels. If you're ever doing a,

a study and you want to dive deeper of Romans, if you read, uh, the, the, the, I think five or six

chapters of Galatians, so profound, they, they speak directly to one another in a, in a great

way, but that's a, that's a side side sermon. Okay. Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are

evident, right? And the works of the flesh are evident, right? And the works of the flesh are

being led by the flesh. Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual morality, impurity,

sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,

divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you as I warned you before

that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. What is he saying? Those are

the fruits of the flesh. You're saying living those out in my life is being led by the flesh.

Very clearly, Paul gives that very clear explanation.

understanding but then as you've heard me say probably seeing in some some aspects but the

fruit of the spirit being led by the spirit these things will pour out of your life okay you won't

have to fake them you won't have to go oh gosh i i i pretend that i i do this no no these things

will begin to pour out of your life if you're being led by the spirit truly the fruit of spirit

is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against

such things there is no law but then he says in verse 24 it's just so good and those who belong

to christ jesus have crucified the flesh didn't we just talk about that come on didn't we put it

to death i have put the flesh to death i want to be led by the spirit of god and those who belong

to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires so what are you saying to be

led by the spirit of god these fruits will

you

pour out of my life not only will they pour out of my life they will become my desires i do want

to say this not perfectly right we talked about that in romans chapter 7 like man i am the most

impatient person i know guess what that makes two of us all right working on that thank god he is

still working on me as well as you and so this is not a place of perfection so don't feel like you've

walked into a church that says hey there's your prerequisites there's your there's your checkboxes

if i love and i have joy i have peace

i am living in this way yeah those will become pouring out of my life you'll go man i love that

person i don't even know how i did it right we all have that person that's hard to love in our

families guess what i mean if you if you don't it's you by the way all right like i don't have

that person okay we'll talk afterwards all right no it's for us it's going yeah that person's hard

to love guess what you'll love them in a way you're like i don't even know how i did it or

you'll be in the place that you're like i've had patience with this person i don't know why i've

had patience yet god has given it to me or or gentle a beak self-control you begin to faithfully

all these these these these fruits of the spirit we begin to go oh those sound great those are

great kids songs guess what no those are being led by the spirit or you love someone you're like man

i don't know how it happened and so you begin to watch those in my life and i don't want to be

careful here and not to be super uh to encapsulate everybody but if you're not watching any of those

you must begin to examine is the spirit of god in me create doubt because i believe the way we are

saved is not by our works you don't do these things to qualify for heaven how do we get to

heaven is realize that you're a sinner lost broken every one of us is we need christ in our life and

i have repent of my sin god i'm a sinner broken and i give you my life i believe you came died

and rose again and are coming back again i believe that wholeheartedly that's the gospel the good

you can't work your way there you can't love you can't have joy your joy your way there i don't

even know what that means but you can't be gentle your way there it's the the change that happens in

my life you begin to watch that change not only will my actions change my desires will change

that's being led by the spirit and those are in easy interactions because we all have people that

are love easy to love or i mean easy to be gentle with and those are the difficult ones so what i

don't want you to do is lose your patience with a co-worker this week and go wow my pastor just

said i'm not saved i gotta get i gotta get saved that's not what i'm saying okay please don't walk

out of here thinking that no it's coming to that repentance god i don't want to be led by those

those fits of anger right we see the the the difference is there i want to be led by the

spirit i want to find myself being gentle with a person that i sometimes i won't fill in the blank

right right right it is it comes out in our lives

i love this quote when we walk in the spirit we find that the sinful appetites of flesh

have no more victory over us i love that because that that just encapsulates i think all of what

he's saying here i just want to be led by the spirit and live out in a place of victory because

the flesh no longer controls me and the spirit of god leads me into being more righteous

living for him, not in my own mind, but by the spirit of God.

In such a great picture, we've been called.

He continues and says,

for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

but you have received the spirit of adoption.

Adoption, the spirit of slavery.

He gives the juxtaposition, the difference ends,

the spirit of slavery, the spirit of adoption.

I thought, didn't you say we were slaves, servants?

Didn't Paul say that in the beginning of the sermon?

Yeah, he did.

That's why I said it's progressing.

He says, yes, I am indebted to live out as a slave, as a servant for you, God.

Yet, I am now adopted.

I'm made a child of God.

As Paul is writing and pinning this to the church or the Christians in Rome,

they're understanding this picture of adoption.

This is not an adoption of natural kids and adopted kids,

and some get better, some get worse.

No, no, no.

To be adopted in that culture,

you have been brought into,

the exact same blessings, promise, inheritance,

same name as a born child.

That's the beauty of what Paul is saying.

Hey, you are no longer a servant.

You've been made a child of God.

And I'm not going to pre-preach the end of this chapter

because I want to right now because it's so good.

Guess what?

You've been made an heir.

You've been made an heir.

God has promised you heaven as a child of God.

And so I'll get there in a little bit.

I'm not going to pre-preach it, all right?

A little worked up.

I knew I was going to.

We'll get to that.

Yeah, it's good.

It's really good.

But he says, as Christians, we can relate to God.

No longer as a slave.

I'm not afraid of a harsh master.

I got failed.

And some of us, all of us fail.

But yet we don't have to be afraid of a harsh master.

But we are graciously into the family of God

and given an inheritance.

Beauty of that.

I can't even encapsulate with my words, honestly.

I wish I could.

I have.

I've thought about that.

I just can't even grasp that.

God, you've made me your child.

I don't deserve that.

You're from it.

You've done that.

But then he doesn't just stop there.

He says and finishes out 15.

You've been given, received the spirit of adoption

as sons by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.

So what's happening here is, I think for,

maybe you've felt, maybe you've felt the restrictions

of religion or the blocking

and you're just trying to understand God.

And maybe,

maybe you've just like,

God, I can't grasp or understand you.

This verse alone is God calling out

for an intimate, beautiful relationship with you.

See, we are told to have reverence.

God, we're told to place God where he belongs.

Yet God has said, call me Abba, Father.

He taught the disciples, call him Father.

It's the same, same word, same thought process.

Come to me.

He said, come to me boldly.

Approach the throne of God, the creator of all things.

Come to God.

And cry out, Abba, Father.

That Abba, Father is a picture of an intimate.

It's, it's dear father or dear dad.

See, what's mind blowing is Paul is writing this

to Jews and Gentiles.

The Jews, they couldn't even grasp or understand this.

They would never address the almighty God in that way.

And they still would never do.

Yet God is inviting you, them, everyone

to call him Abba, Father, an intimate, beautiful relationship.

God is designed.

He is inspiring that with you.

And for us, I would say being truthful this morning,

all of us that want to really be truthful,

we can't grasp or understand why God would do that.

See, beginning of Romans, he says, I've been an enemy.

I have gone against you.

Yet God, he is inviting me to say, God,

I want to hear the deepest, darkest, broken.

I want all of you in a real beautiful, intimate relationship

that will ultimately change you.

God inviting us into a relationship to live that way,

to know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

to know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

to know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

to know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

to know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

To know that you can cast all of us into a relationship that will ultimately change you.

you can give him all that you have and he's not too big to receive it not too busy he's not like

okay god can i set up an appointment to get to you no god's not hey anytime any place you could

drive down the road you can take your head off your pillow anytime god is seeking that relationship

and that's transformative for all of us as we truly understand and saying god i want to know

you it's such a great picture galatians chapter 4 he says because you are sons god has sent the

spirit of the son into our hearts crying abba father you are no longer a slave but a son and

if a son then an heir continues in verse 16 which i kind of already preached i'm sorry

spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that our children of god so the spirit will then

one translation says the original word used here is simply just means to bear witness

or to confirm what's great about this is old testament levitical law you had to have two

witnesses to confirm something guess what your salvation is sealed just as ephesians says

by the holy spirit you are a witness and the holy spirit is your witness i have the holy spirit

living inside of me the entirety of the holy spirit living inside of me ought to be led by

the holy spirit and guess what it is confirmation that i am a child of god i am sealed till the

return of jesus christ

such a great truth such a great truth john one's wild but all who did receive him who believed in

his name he gave the right become children of god some of you today are maybe dealing with the doubt

of your salvation man the devil is good at making you question isn't he i really do i mean this is

you can go all the way to genesis chapter three that's all he was doing he's putting question

marks on the words of god if you've confessed your sins you believed in your heart that jesus christ

came died on earth

rose again you've been saved and no one can pluck you out of my father's hand the word says

so i wanted to read this to you i i was gonna summarize but i thought it was really good all

too often a believer may come to the point of doubting their salvation because sanctification

has proceeded so slowly and so lamely spirit however does not base his assuring testimony

on progress or the lack of it in the christian life he does not lead us to cry i am god's

child rather he leads us to call upon god as father to look away from ourselves to him who has

established the relationship what a mind-blowing statement for us to understand god i just want

to remind you that you are my savior guess what that statement alone is not what god has called

he's saying call on me as your father this is your father solidified understanding that truth

in the verse 17 he says and if children then heirs

heirs of god and fellow heirs with christ provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be

glorified in or glorified with him you're an heir of god heirs with christ statement is i get

goosebumps just saying it saying what is that what are we heirs to well we're heirs to eternal life

we're heirs to heaven we're heirs to a repaired reconciled relationship with god how did this

happen well several months ago we were heirs to god we were heirs to god we were heirs to god

we talked about becoming justified becoming righteous what by our own works nope but the

works of jesus christ proof to shake you at your core to change that we are all heirs co-heirs with

I love 1 John 3 says,

see what kind of love the father has given to us.

We should be called children of God.

And so we are.

The reason why the world does not know us

is that it did not know him.

The King James uses the phrase,

it's bestowed on us.

Ephesians 1 describes the same love

is what kind of love has been lavished upon us.

I love that word.

It's been given to us, this great love.

And so what do we do with this as heirs?

Well, I want to say this to you.

It should change everything.

Change how we perceive, how we pray.

It should change what we desire.

It should change how we interact, how we talk.

There's that fruit of the flesh and fruit of the spirit.

Paul, there's a bow on the section, if you will,

kind of pause there.

We're going to get to the separation,

what can separate us from the love of God.

And it's a great end of chapter eight.

Can I give you a quick little preview?

I'm going to be grasping.

I'm going to be grasping.

Understand that.

The difficulties of this world put in perspective.

I love Psalm 30.

As I sat this morning,

just kind of finalizing thinking through this.

Psalm 30 says,

weeping may last through the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

Passages, understanding this God.

Yeah, there's difficulties in the season,

but God, I know I am an heir,

an heir to what you have.

This week, I got invited to a prayer summit.

And you're saying, what is a prayer summit?

Well, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

I went with 30 other,

I would say Metro Detroit pastors.

There was a couple from Traverse City

and we went up to the Thumb.

And guess what?

We prayed for pretty much three days.

Prayed for you,

prayed for one another,

prayed for the work of the ministry.

We prayed for some difficulties in families.

It was great.

It was just a great refreshing time.

Just a really cool organization

that we're able to do that with.

And just, it was,

it was great, great perspective.

So as I, the last day, they said, okay,

we're going to give you an hour of silence

to go hear from God.

I want you to know this.

That is terribly difficult for me.

My wife said to my kids,

your dad just talks.

And that's what I do, all right?

Usually my mouth's moving for some stupid reason.

All right?

And so I just, so he's like,

all right, we'll give you an hour.

Just meditate on some prayer.

Think of, and just, God, what do you have for me?

And I'll be truthful.

I really struggled with that.

And so I thought, okay, it's,

we're about a half mile from Lake Huron where we were at.

And so just outside of Deckerville.

And so I began to go, okay,

I got, I'm just going to walk there.

I'm going to walk to the beach and just sit there.

And so it's, so I walked there and just beginning,

God, what do you have for me?

But I began to, and this is terrible to admit out loud,

and maybe, maybe never come back again.

I began to find myself meddling with that place of going,

God, I want to hear from you.

But I want to tell you what I want you to hear from me.

I want to tell you about what's going on in my life.

I want to tell you about this situation,

which is, which isn't a bad thing, by the way.

Okay.

But for us as Christians, us as followers of God,

us as heirs to God,

finding our place of truly meditating on God,

I want to be led.

I don't know what you're doing.

I don't know where you're going.

I don't know where you have me going,

but God, I want you.

I want you.

I want you.

And the reality of that is, guess what?

He's invited us to do that.

Invited, not accidental or like just a select few

or not just pastors.

He's invited us to come boldly and say,

I place my hands, my feet, my knees, my body at your service.

And I want you to speak.

I want you to lead.

found myself at a place, sitting at a picnic table, we're looking Lake Huron, place of saying,

God, I surrender. I'm saying, have you done that for salvation? I know. But sometimes we

need to surrender or constantly surrender, or we just need to keep, okay, God, it's yours. It's

yours. It's yours. It's yours. God, it's yours. It's yours. It's yours. So if I can challenge

you this week, you're going to walk at Lake Huron. If you can do that, go for it. It's a great time.

Maybe in your car, maybe bedroom, maybe walking down the street. Maybe, I don't know. You place

your spot where you need it. God has invited us to come boldly casting our cares, but try 10 minutes

what you're doing. But I just want to listen. I want to be directed by you. I want to be guided

by you. I am a child. You've invited me to say, I have a father and a beautiful, intimate

relationship. You're not a far off, distant ball of fire. No, no, no. God, you're an intimate,

beautiful relationship that knows my thoughts.

And intense. You know, my struggles, you know, my victories, you know, my defeats, you know,

my, what I'm susceptible to do. And yet you still love me. And God says the same to you this morning.

And that's what I invite you to this week. God, we come to you as we study this passage. We look

at it and see what you have for us. God, I love the positioning that the Holy spirit inspired

the apostle Paul to write a position of being no longer a slave, but becoming a child and heir

to God, where you've invited us in a beautiful relationship to talk to you, to hear from you,

not be a far off, distant God, but knowing what we're going through right in this moment.

God, maybe we'll be led by you. God, I know there's ones in this room that just

maybe feel like Elijah, feel alone. They feel isolated. They feel like you're not listening

anymore. They feel just like they're the last, but yet God right now, may you speak to them

in a still small voice. Cause I believe you do that right in their heart. God, if there's

someone in this room joining us online, that doesn't, I know you as their savior. God right

now, I ask that you work in their life, that they come to the realization of their need for you

because of their brokenness of their sins. And they, they confess that you are Lord. And they

believe that you came, died on a cross and rose again. God, I believe that whole hearted that

you are working and you can work God for many others. We come to that place of surrender.

It's yours, God. I want to listen. Thank you for speaking. Thank you for guiding.

Thank you for protecting. Thank you for correction. I thank you for being active

in our lives. Praise you. We love you. We glorify you in Jesus. Wonderful name.