August 28, 2016

I Belong to Him

Pastor: Jeff Bedwell Series: The Great Eight Scripture: Romans 8:14–17

The Great Eight

I Belong To Him

Romans 8:14-17

All true followers of Jesus Christ are a part of God’s family!

(To download and print blank sermon notes to complete while you listen, click HERE.)

Four Evidences of Our Adoption

1. We are Led by the Spirit of God (14)

  • Illumination

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:25–26)

The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and directs us into the Will of God

  • Enabled Obedience

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:24–25)

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,” (2 Peter 1:3)

What God Calls me to do, God Enables me to do

2. God’s love Replaces fear in our lives (15)

  • Intimacy
  • Security
  • Longing for Communion with God

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18)

“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

3. The work of the Holy Spirit is Evident in our lives (16)

  • Internal Assurance
  • Fruit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;” (Galatians 5:22–23)

  • Gifts

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” (1 Corinthians 12:4–6)

  • Sharing Christ

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

4. We share in Christ’s Sufferings (17)

In Jesus Christ, we are heirs to all of the Promises and Provisions of God!

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Three Forms of Suffering

  • Persecution

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20)

  • Purification

“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10)

  • Training

“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ... For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:7 & 11)

“The suffering in this life creates reactions that reflect the genuine condition of the soul.” John MacArthur

Reflecting On These Evidences

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
(2 Corinthians 13:5)

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)

“Do not quench the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Take some time and invite God’s Spirit to help you reflect around these questions:

  • What does the presence or absence of these evidences in my life tell me about the condition of my relationship with God?
  • In what ways might I be inhibiting the work of the Holy Spirit in my life? In what ways can I more fully yield to and cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit in my life?

other sermons in this series

Sep 25

2016

Inseparable & Unconquerable

Pastor: Jeff Bedwell Scripture: Romans 8:31– :39 Series: The Great Eight

Sep 18

2016

Promises with a Purposes

Pastor: Jeff Bedwell Scripture: Romans 8:26–29 Series: The Great Eight

Sep 11

2016

Perspective Matters

Pastor: Jeff Bedwell Scripture: Romans 8:18–25 Series: The Great Eight