ADOPTION
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God - I John 3:1
I desire, my friends, to open up to you shortly the subject of adoption. By nature you are children
of Satan; I would here show you how you may be made sons of God: "Behold, what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God"
First, what is the fountain of adoption? In answer to that, I say, it flows from the love of the
Father: 'Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will' - Ephesians 1:5. Observe that the only reason why
God adopts any one is the good pleasure of His will: 'So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.' - Romans 9:16. I suppose that this
congregation may be divided into two parts: the one are the children of Satan; the other, the
children of God. Who can tell why you were chosen and not another? It was the good pleasure of
His will: 'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God.'
Ah, my friends, this is a humbling doctrine. There is no difference between us and the children of
wrath; some of us were more wicked than they, yet God set His love on us. We were like the
prodigal, yet he put on us the best robe. This should humble us in the dust. If there are any here
that think they have been chosen because they were better than others; ah! if you think that, you
are grossly mistaken.
I would show you a second point, and that is the power by which God brings the children of the
wicked one, and makes us children of God. Can we do it ourselves? No; the answer you will find
in Matthew 3:9; 'And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I
say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.' See also the 4th
chapter of Romans, 17th verse: 'God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be
not as though they were.' See also Romans 11:23: 'And they also, if they abide not still in
unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.' So you see, dear brethren,
that the only power that can bring a child of Satan and make him a child of God, is God himself.
God is able to graff them in again. Ah! dear friends, the power is not in creatures. It is not in the
power of man - it is not in the power given to ministers; they cannot make you children of God.
O my unconverted friends, observe what the power is that can take you out of the family of
nature, and put thee among the children: 'How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee
a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My
father; and shalt not turn away from me.' - Jeremiah 3:19. It is God that must put you among the
children. You that have been brought up in an ungodly family, God alone can bring you into His
family. It is God alone that can do it. There is no power in earth, in heaven, or in hell, that can do
it. Adoption is God's bestowment. Look then to him for it.
Towards the LORD my eyes Continually set, And he it is that shall bring forth My feet out of the net. - Psalm 25:15
Set your eyes on God, then wait upon Him.
Thirdly, let me inquire into the steps by which God brings a child of the devil, to make him a
child of God: 'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God.' There are two steps, regeneration and fath - if indeed, they can be
separated, because the first breath of the new soul is faith; but in speaking of them we may
consider one, and then the other. You will see it very beautifully brought out in the first chapter
of the Gospel of John, 12th and 13th verses:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God.
Now, here you require just to take this passage backward, in order to understand it. The first
thing is:, 'They were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God.' The first thing towards faith is regeneration. The next step is, he 'believes on his name',
and then he is adopted into his family: 'As many as received him, to them gave he power', or, as
in the margin, the right, or privilege, 'to become the sons of God.'
Here you see the exact process. First of all, he is born if God; the soul that was dead is trespasses
and sins is born, 'not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.' God
drops the life of grace into his soul. And then comes the next step - he receives faith; that is, he
believes on his name. And then comes the next step - 'As many as received him, to them gave he
the power to become the sons of God' - that is, he gives them the privilege to become the sons of
God. O my brethren! this is the way in which he is made a child of God. Tell me, are you a child
of God?
Again, are there any of you that think you are the sons of God, though ye have not believed on
his name? It is a lie; for it is only those that receive him that get the power to believe on his
name. Ah! my brethren, will you not be driven from this time ti cry, 'My Father, thou art the
guide of my youth' - Jeremiah 3:4; will you not cry to him?
Fourthly, the blessedness of being a son of God: 'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!' Ah! there are many things to make
it a blessedness beyond compare.
The first thing that makes it a blessedness is that we get the love of the Father. The moment you
become a child, the Father loves you. This is shown in what Christ said to Mary: 'I ascend unto
my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.' - John 20:17. Christ here intimated,
that we have the same love he had. We have not got so much the love of the Father as Christ,
because he has got an infinite capacity; but it is the same love. The sun shines as much upon the
daisy as it does upon the sunflower, though the sunflower is able to contain it more. Christ
plainly shows you that in the 17th chapter of John, where he prays that the same love may be in us
that was in him. O how much better is it, then, to be under the love of God, than under the wrath
of God!
Let me mention to you a second part of the blessedness we get: The Spirit of the Son dwells in us.
You will see this in Galatians 4:6, 'And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' Brethren, when Christ comes, the first thing he does
is to redeem you from under the curse of the law, and then he makes you a son. O it is sweet to
have the smile of Christ! It is sweet to get the love of Christ; but I will tell you what is equally
sweet - that is to receive the spirit of Christ. Has he given you the Spirit? He will do it if you are
a son, that you may be made to cry, 'Abba, Father!'
Let me mention to you a third part of the blessedness of being a son of God. You get the likeness
of the Father. You know this is the case in an adopted family; an adopted child in the course of
time gets the very features of the family. So you get the image of the Father, and you get the love
of the Father. You are taught that in Matthew 5, where Christ says, in His sermon on the Mount,
'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which
is in heaven' (verses 44, 45), that ye may bear the image of the Father. Have you that mark of
adoption? Are you turning like God?
Let me mention a fourth part of the blessedness. Some of you may be surprised at it. We get the
chastisement of the Father. If we have not chastisement, then we are bastards, and not sons, for
what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not (Hebrews 12:7). The world are allowed to get fat;
but it is not so with those that follow God.; if they wander, he puts up a hedge, and if they fall
into it, he puts up a wall.
Let me mention the last part of the blessedness. We receive the inheritance as heirs. Paul says, 'If
sons, the heirs' - Romans 8:17. Every child in a rich family gets something when the father dies;
often he shares his fortune equally among them, and the adopted child is not forgot. If we are
Christ's we get all things with him. If we are Christ's, we share the government of the world with
him. If we are his, we share the crown with him. It is called the inheritance of the saints in light. I
cannot tell the blessings of being an heir of God; but I know that it is better than being an heir of
hell: 'He that overcometh shall inherit all things' - Revelation 21:7, and that for eternity - it
cannot fade away.
O my brethren! will you still remain heirs of hell? If you come to Christ you will be made heirs
of God. Whether is it better to get the pleasure of the world, and hell at the end, or to be made a
child of God, and an heir of Christ?
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains
of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.-Revelation 7:16-17
O that God would make you like Mary, to choose that good part that shall never be taken away
from you! O that God would put life into the dead stones, and rom those stones raise children to
Abraham! Amen.
