How You Can Know You Are a Child Of God — John Piper — 2015

before I pray and ask for God's help and before we read the text which is gonna be from Romans 8 if you want to go there already let me tell you where we're going what my aims are why I'm talking about what I'm talking about and then we'll get into it in Romans 8 my goal is to help you who are born of God know that you are children of God know it beyond the shadow of doubt feel it in your bones and thus walk in confidence and boldness I am a child of God to be able to say that to yourself to God and to others with confidence and not say when somebody says you a Christian I hope so that's where we're going I want from the word by the spirit to be an instrument in giving you the assurance of your salvation that's the aim why would you talk about that and I wrote down two reasons this morning about 7:30 one in my experience of 33 years at Bethlehem it probably was the most common thing I prayed with people about after church I would stand at the front for an hour or so after the second service for as long as I could after the first service same thing and Sunday evening Saturday night I mean and that that that would be the people they they would they would be unsure and they wanted to be sure so that's the first reason it's been my experience that that's been the most common thing I've had just wrestle with people about and the second thing is I tried to picture you I grew up in Greenville South Carolina and Southern Baptist Church and it was marked I would say by a vague handling of the Word of God vague in the sense that I felt like mainly I was hearing generalizations about texts rather than specificities about texts not details about texts and what I've come to see is that we're a church is fed on generalizations and non specificities that the pastor kind of hovers over the text and you you never you know kind of land on words and phrases and how they connect this hovering above the text creates uncertainty it creates vague faith it creates a generalized faith it it creates weak faith people talk in generalities you know nothing's ever quite muted we could say there it is there it is beyond the shadow of a doubt it's right there I do not want to do that this morning I don't want to treat this doctrine and this hugely emotional critical at the central issue of am I going to heaven or not with generalizations so my aim is to show you words phrases and logic from the inspired apostle from which you can draw out solid conviction concerning how the Holy Spirit witnesses that you were the child of God so that's another reason now there was my experience in Southern Baptist Church from 40 years ago which may be totally on not true for you is another reason why I am doing what I'm doing here they mainly emphasize getting people saved not helping people know what it means to be saved and not how to appropriate the glorious riches that are here for knowing and feeling and enjoying God that was very sad and I'm so thankful that your pastor and I pray your future pastor didn't do that then in the text if you're confident that you're a child of God you have an inheritance and I want to talk about the inheritance because I think that is included here too to buttress and give incentive to the thrill of being a child of God if children then heirs if children then heirs and I think he wants to open the the inheritance to you so that your confidence and your thrill and your boldness as a child of God would be deepened and heightened and then he adds this is gonna be the last point if you suffer with him in order that you may be glorified with him if you are taught but you haven't been but if you somewhere have been taught that to be a child of God is to have a great inheritance and that you don't have to walk through sufferings to get there you're gonna come into crisis because the text says you only get there through suffering that's what the text says okay now I'm ready are you ready Romans 8 chapter Romans chapter 8 verses 12 through 18 okay these are specific verses with specific words and specific logical connectors then you need to see them let's just read it I don't know pray and then it just a better turn to it from gonna read so then brothers we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh for gives a reason if you live according to the flesh you will die now that death means perish that's more than physical death because everybody does physically this is a special kind of group people that don't put to death the deeds of the body if you live according to the flesh you will die but if you live if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live Knutson that's big live being live with a capital L forever for another argument for all who are led by the spirit are the sons of God that's gonna be the main thing we wrestle with right there for all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God for we must give an account for every because clause in order to profit spiritually from the preciousness of inspired logic for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry Abba Father the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God how does he do that is the question right now could you testify how he does that for you could you talk about that experience what is that did it happen yesterday this morning does it happened in your life or is that just a vague thing this is kind of vague there's no specificity in your life you can't give anything you can't point to anything in your life that corresponds to that you don't know what that's talking about that's the issue right this is glorious my guess is there's hundreds of you in this room that could not right now point to anything your life you sure corresponds to that and I'd like that to be different in 40 minutes or whatever I have we've done it 10 15 at the latest that's what they told me and I will obey verse 16 the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided if we suffer with him no inheritance without suffering none provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him let's pray father the work of the spirit in granting the assurance that we are the children of God is a supernatural work that I cannot make happen but you did not put these verses in the Bible for nothing they are meant to be instruments in the hands of the Holy Spirit to give to this people the sweetness of this experience and I pray that it would the text by the spirit would work assurance for the children of God I ask this in Jesus name Amen verse 16 the Holy Spirit Himself testifies bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God look back at verse 9 you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him so I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that everyone in this room who belongs to Jesus has the holy spirit that's what verse 9 says so I know what I'm talking to I'm um I want to talk to those people now those of you don't have the Holy Spirit that is who do not yet belong to Jesus should listen because the way God saves people and draws them into Christ and puts the Holy Spirit in them is by hearing the gospel faith comes by hearing and so I'm eager for everybody to listen but my aim is to talk to those who have the Holy Spirit and thus belong to Jesus and open for you what he does universe 16 just read again the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God clearly he wants you to know woe to those religions that keep their people off balance to manipulate them with fear he wants you to know a congregation full of people rock-solid and ready to die for Jesus because they know that's what he's doing that's why you have the Holy Spirit the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and my question is how does he do it and I just want you my guess is that the how of the Holy Spirit's working and assuring the children of God that they are his own is richer fuller deeper than we can imagine but my job is not to just imagine my job is to point to the texts answer to how he does it and I see two things in this text that explained how he does it and as I show you those you should be asking are those happening in my life number one is seen in the connection between verses 13 and 14 verse 13 if you if you live according to the flesh if your life is keying off of the non spirit the non God just the impulses that come naturally apart from the Holy Spirit heart from the Word of God just flesh meaning human - God if you live according to the flesh you will die you will perish you will go to hell but alternative way to live if by the spirit not by you alone but by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live just get two halves now you've got the Holy Spirit enabling you to make war on your sinful impulses and if you are making war on them and sending death blows at your sinful impulses by the spirit not legalistically by the spirit and the other half is your gonna live and then he gives a reason there's see the four at the beginning of or teen for all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God now there's there's how the Holy Spirit shows me I'm a child of God it says everybody who's led by the spirit is a child of God okay good now I know how I can know if I'm a child of God am I being led by the spirit if I'm being led by the spirit I'm a child of God that's what it says verse 14 now does it mean being led to marry the right person being led to go to the right school being led to have the right job being led to witness to somebody this afternoon no it doesn't mean that how do I know that because the four at the beginning of the verse connects it to the preceding verse and makes it a ground up if you put to death the deeds of the body by the spirit you will live because if you're led by the spirit to your child of God that's not readily obvious how that works wasn't to me anyway how does that because of that for at the beginning of 14 work to support verse 13 how does that work that's the essence of Bible reading I've say to John night on the way over here I'm thankful for mrs. Adams in the seventh grade all we did was diagram sentences I learned everything I know about the English language in the seventh grade that's an overstatement but I feel deep gratitude that I'm now enjoying the assurance of my salvation partly because of mrs. Adams our sentence diagramming I totally mean that and we'll write a book next February to support it that's the plan anyway because if I don't understand how the four at the beginning of verse 14 works I don't know what it means to be led by the spirit and thus enjoy the assurance that I'm a child God see if I can help you see what I see if you put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit you will live because all who are led by the spirit are the children of God now for that to work as an argument for verse 13 it must mean well the reason you will live is because you're being led and if you're led you're a child of God and the children of God don't die and go to hell they go to heaven they live complicated there's no other way in here without doing this if you put to death the deeds of the body by the spirit you'll live because those who are led by the Spirit are children of God and they don't die they live and therefore what does leading mean it means letting the war with sin you with me I just made a huge conclusion it shaped everything about I understand this let me say it again listen carefully if you put to death the deeds of the body by the spirit by the spirit you will live because those who are led into war on their sin by the spirit our children and children live that's how the logic works so now I know now I know what leading means in verse 14 not about who you marry it's not about like I can know I'm a Christian if I marry the right person that's crazy that's nowhere near the context here the context is if you are led by the spirit to do verse 13 make war very simply let me paraphrase it like this one of the beautiful deep rich wonderful evidences of the work of the Holy Spirit that you were a child of God is that you hate your and make war on it and notice how I'm saying it I am not telling you any particular level of success I checked again in the Greek this morning these are present tenses in verse 13 meaning ongoing continuous action if you live according to the flesh you'll die meaning if you keep on just settle in there make peace with your flesh as if according to devil you're gonna go to hell but if by the spirit you are continually putting to death the deeds of the body you will live forever because those who are led to do that are the children of God that's the argument so my first answer to the question how does the holy spirit testify to you you know what you know what witnessing bear witness in a courtroom what does a witness do it gives evidence he might have been there at the crime scene as I saw it or he might have be some expert in DNA and he's testifying in the courtroom that if this is that and this is that then this is that and the jury is supposed to pull that together well the Holy Spirit is giving evidences that you are the child of God and the first evidence I'm pointing to is you make war on your sin notice I'm not saying you make war on other people's see it like what's happened to America I hate all this liberal stuff is going on in America um and I know I'm a Christian I got my back up about this well not necessarily you better get your back up about your attitude towards your wife you better get you back up about your sloth as a dad you better get your back up about your lust and your pornography and about your lying and about your cheating and you get them you better be your issue the mark of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life showing you're a child of God is the you hate you sin more than you hate other people's sin how are you doing I mean this is not hard John Piper looks in the mirror and I know I'm a sinner praise God I hate that sight please god I hate that sight I'm a Christian in that horrible and wonderful to know you're a Christian you have to know how bad you are and hate it and turn and by the spirit make war on your sin that's evidence or testimony number one the Spirit bears witness that we are the children of God by leading us that's verse 14 into war killing on our sin our own sin verse 13 and thus a clear mark that rises up in my heart and testifies to me you're saved you hate your and are taking steps to kill it sweetness to me of course if you love your sin to have no intention of making more on it you don't have any assurance I'm not I'm not gonna make this easy this is reality we're talking about reality here in a sense that's the easiest thing in the world to know I'm a crappy person sorry about that my wife will scold me now it's it's easy to know how horrible you are if you are willing okay that's number one here's number two the second way the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit now we're in verse 15 for that is if you're led by the Spirit you're the children 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 sons by whom that whom is the spirit by whom we cry Abba Father the Spirit Himself bears witness and I take that cry Abba Father to be what verse 16 is referring to when it says the Spirit Himself bears witness so this is the second thing that verse 16 means first it means that we are shown to be by the spirit the children of God because he leads us and the context shows he leads us into hatred for and killing of our sin and the second is he leads us to cry Abba Father so now I'm gonna ask do you find daily regularly welling up from deep in your soul a cry Abba Father you're a Christian that's the Holy Spirit talking now - which skeptic should respond and I'm one you can program a computer to say up my father kind of evidence is that don't lock the Bible Piper but do ask serious questions if you don't understand it ask and I come to this saying anybody who says all my father's a Christian well no that's not what it says not quite there two clues for me here why it's not that cheap clue number one is the word ABBA don't you think Paul's intention he could have just said father well I put that Aramaic tender intimate sweet daddy like word at the front of the word father why do that because that's what he means for you to know in your heart do you know that in other words is that was coming up daddy and second clue is the word cry he could have said say program the computer say you can't program a computer to cry I think the word cry rods oh my is intended to carry an emotional authenticity and depth and sincerity and earnestness so now I'm asking the question again does their rise up from within you an earnest sincere intense longing expression not just to some vague father figure but to Daddy let's need you I love you help me I pictured this morning you had a say you have a 30 year old son dad is you dad dad you you have 30 year old son who's left the home left faith left everything prodigal like he's dying of cancer in hospital you haven't seen him for 10 years and you're here and you go to see him and you walk in the hospital room that's what we're talking about that's the Holy Spirit that ever happen to you I need a father you through Jesus Christ have opened your heart to me and I am finding everything in me rising up and saying father only Christians experience that here's another another illustration to show you that that's the way Paul's thinking do you know the verse 3 of 1st Corinthians 12 goes like this no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is cursed and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit now that's just another example of the very same kind of witness of the Holy Spirit no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit and you of course a computer can say Jesus Lord and so no one can say earnestly intensely authentically from the heart Jesus is my it's the same as saying I hate my sin join me in law master Jesus so those are my two answers how does the holy spirit verse 16 bear witness in your life that you are the child of God answer number one he leads you all who are led by the Spirit are the children of God contextually what is the leadership referring to it's referring to verse 13 because of the connector for and the thing that is referred to in the spirit in verse 13 is thus by the Spirit we are making war we're putting to death the deeds of the body therefore you can know you're a child of God if you hate your sin to make war on it number two the Spirit testifies with our spirit we're the children of God by welling up and crying Abba Father you're my father I need you I love you I depend on you what would I do without you that's how we know we have the children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ so children of God what are you going to inherit you got a clearer sense of your inheritance let me tell you three things you're going to inherit and as you hear them let them entice you out of sin and out of indifference to the Fatherhood of God into hatred of sin and in the tense cry to God as let them entice you number one you were going to inherit the world Roma's for 13 the promise to Abraham and to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith heir of the world now you say but that's a promise made to Abraham right you've been well taught you know that there are verses in the Bible like this Galatians 3:29 if you are Christ's you are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to the promise this is called putting the pieces together right if you belong to Jesus you are Abraham's offspring because you're united to Christ who is the offspring and therefore you get the inheritance Abraham gets and in the world one of the reasons I don't like the prosperity gospel is because it just gets the timing wrong they say you should get the world now and I say later your best life later suffering now the world at the resurrection listen to this stunning I mean they're all over the place but first Corinthians 3:21 all things belong to you Christians whether Paul or Apollo's or Cephas or the world or life or death the president things to come all things are yours and you are Christ and Christ is God's Christians need to take a deep breath and believe the impossible you you walk through life here in Alabama and everything feels so absolutely ordinary I mean you feel really ordinary and you are but ordinary people indwelt by the spirit and United to Christ are going to be heirs are heirs of everything your own Alabama Russia Australia where would you like to go name it it's yours in just a short time which means you don't need to grassman crave and claw to have and have it have you know that message in this church but know that you would feel the unspeakable wonder of this inheritance because it will make you enjoy being a child of God and it will heighten and deepen your boldness and your readiness to speak and suffer anytime here or anywhere that you need to that's the first meaning world second meaning of the inheritance is God is your inheritance God is your inheritance Romans chapter five verse two we exalt in the hope of the glory of God if you want to have an inheritance that is - all tears - all disease and - all frustrations and - god you're not a Christian God will be in this world making the world what it is and the world will be a means of enjoying God and God will make the world enjoyable without idolatry he's the key to everything and so it says in five - we exult in the hope of the glory of God and if you say well maybe the glory of God and God are different things and so it's really glory and not God that who's our inheritance I just they keep reading down to verse 11 chapter 5 and not only this but we exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ revelation 21:3 behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God Himself will be with them as their God some 70 325 whom have I in heaven but you and there's nothing on earth I desire besides you my flesh and my heart may fail but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever so first aspect of the inheritance with Christ is the the world everything blessed of the meek they will hear at the earth and the second aspect is God Himself will be there as the capstone of all our pleasures I mean you know don't you that even though sin tells you that you find most pleasure in stuff you don't you don't people persons you you are a personal soul and persons and relationships are where you find most deep satisfaction and God is that person for which we are made to enjoy and the third and last thing I'll mention about the inheritance is that you will have as part of your inheritance a glorified body I say that because contextually here I'm looking around Romans for all my answers to this and just a few verses down you read verse 23 not only the creation but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons the redemption of our bodies that's why I'm not a prosperity health wealth and prosperity person I'm waiting for that I'm waiting a 69 years old the waiting gets more intense right you lose and you lose and you lose it's it's just physically downhill from here doesn't doesn't matter how much I jog how far our bike many of these I do I'm not bulking up it's it's downhill and John I read again this morning the body is sown in weakness it is raised in glory power yes I mean visit a nursing home if you're naive alright it's sown in weakness its sown in dishonor catheters everywhere diapers curled up you want to say God you said your children he said I know they're my children and just a few days out glory with a new body a new body that according to Jesus was shined so bright like the Sun we will be tempted to worship those old ladies in the nursing home yes we will they will shine with such queen-like brightness in the kingdom with their new body someday that we will marvel and by the way they will remember your visits and thank you so those are my three descriptions of the inheritance you're gonna get the world you're gonna get God and you're gonna get a body and when I say it's glorified like like it says there in verse 17 that we may be glorified with him I mean that it is made of spiritual body and a glorious body so that God can be fully enjoyed and the world can be fully enjoyed without compromising God being fully enjoyed right now every enjoyment I have on the earth tempts me to be an idolatry right prefer sex over God money over God pizza over God died coke over God everything is a threatening Idol that will be - anymore eat up there's no idolatry in the kingdom not even the slightest temptation toward it every bite you take will be worship but you need a new body for that new brains new eyes new ears new everything you're gonna be remade for that and you will be so those that is the inheritance last question verse 17 and if children then heirs so now we've seen best I can do with what the inheritance of the heirs is heirs of God fellow heirs with Christ provided if we suffer with him what does that mean we read a few passages that you're familiar with Luke 9:23 if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me so if you want to follow Jesus it involves cross bearing 2nd Timothy 3:12 indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted Hebrews 12:6 the Lord disciplines those excuse me those whom he loves and chastises every son that he receives chastises every son that he receives it is for discipline that you have to endure God is treating you his sons first Peter 4:13 to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice here's here's the question I ask so Paul are you saying I got to get some persecution to go to heaven and so I should say now to you when you leave here just make sure you go find somebody to treat you badly and if you get treated badly this afternoon you sleep well tonight because you can know you're a Christian I don't think that's the way Paul's thinking I don't in others I don't think a strategy for assurances to seek out persecution the text might look like that if you suffer with him you will be glorified with him and if the suffering means persecution you've got to get some or you can't be glorified here's why I don't think he's thinking that way because the next verse says for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed so the question is what's that because that's the same suffering is verse 17 right he didn't just start over over again if you provided you suffer with him and verse 17 you'll be glorified because I consider that the sufferings of the present time what are those well to get that answer you just read the paragraphs creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God for the creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because the him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself might be set free from its bondage to decay that's not persecution that's rotten of John Piper's body that's kidney failure that's loss of eyesight that's loss of hearing that's the degradation of the glorious creation because of the fall and then you get to the part about we're groaning in our bodies verse 23 waiting for our adoption the son so my answer is what Paul is saying in verse 17 when he says provided we suffer with him you know that we've a big the emphasis falls on with him because everybody's gonna suffer in other words are you willing to stay with him through all your suffering you're gonna suffer folks period I don't care how rich you are you can't run from it you're going to suffer the question is will you do it with him will all your suffering be sanctified by the conscious confidence this for me is disciplined from my father to knock all the props of self-reliance out from under my life so that I lean wholly on him that was my answer to the question why would he do this why would he make suffering the necessary path to the inheritance and here's the reason because if we fallen people were not brought into trial after trial after trial I would fall ever more deeply in love with the eases and comforts and and prosperity and delights physically of my life and forget God that's why he knows us he's a father he disciplines all of his children he knows a therapy that you need in order to make it to the inheritance and the therapy is different for everybody John Piper's suffering regimen is different from yours I don't like mine but I do not get angry at my god I have a doctor who must break my leg to save me or amputate it because it's got cancer and I love my search I love him because he loves me far more than I love myself so yes if we suffer with him if we don't take our fist in his face and say I'm out of here if this is the way you treat your children I'm out of here if you say that you're gone it's over but if you say father daddy I hate my sin more than I hate losing these pleasures have at me daddy surgeon and daddy then you can know let's pray father in heaven grant I pray that they would fall upon this people a great hatred for their own sin that humbles them deeply and sweden's their experience of the Holy Spirit without which they could not hate their and then grant I pray O God grant that they would rise up within every born-again heart in this room an affectionate cry daddy thank you for Christ thank you for my regimen I love you I need you father and assure us of our inheritance the world yourself a new body and thus establish us for the suffering appointed I pray in Jesus name

Channel: Desiring God

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Keywords: Desiring God, John Piper, God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, Christian Hedonism, Gospel, Bible, Scripture, What is the gospel, How can I be saved, Does God love me, Does Jesus love me, Salvation, Assurance of salvation

Id: In9HQDwQc4U

Length: 49min 0sec (2940 seconds)

Published: Thu May 02 2019