Summer of Adoption - Adoption and Spiritual Warfare
Summer of Adoption • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewUnderstanding that our Adoption was won out of warfare.
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RE:ENGAGE VIDEO
GREET EVERYONE-
If I have not had a chance to meet you; My name is Scott and I am a follower of Jesus and have the privilege of serving Him as the Lead Pastor among the people of Stonewater Fellowship.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Small Group leader Training Saturday 19th from 8 till noon. - There is an App for that.
2. Deep Dive begins Here in a few weeks.
There is an app for that
3. OCC Packing Party - Saturday 26th
4. Prayer Sunday - Aug 27
5. Family Vision Sunday
LETS GRAB OUR BIBLES IF YOU HAVE ONE AND
Open it to Matthew Chapter 1: vs 18 today as we continue exposing through the power of the Holy Spirit what Jesus says about Adoption in our Summer teaching series called the Summer of Adoption.
This morning I want us to do something different - We are going to read from parts of three historical narratives in the Scriptures -
Hear a direct command from God to Gods people.
Then were going to look at one of the least talked about players in our salvation
Then how these narratives give us a clear understanding of our adoption by God and his desire to use us to Adopt others.
Scriptures are up on the Screen So lets look together.
TRUTH
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
PRAYER THE MESSAGE
Is that we would realize the severity and the intentions of our enemy as we think about our own Adoption by God to be His children, under the Gospel, through faith in Jesus!
You see lived ones Adoption is the centrality of the Gospel
Adopted is who we are. It is our identity!
We are Adopted Children of God - once orphaned by sin and the world and separated from our Father.
But now Adopted Children of God by grace through faith under the power of the regeneration of the Spirit.
Adoption is our Inheritance - When God regenerates us unto new life by the Power of the Spirit. We receive the Spirit of Adoption from our heavenly Father just like we receive traits for our earthly fathers!
In all of this must also know and realize that Our adoption as children of God and our actively and intentionally adopting others for the sake of the gospel in obedience to Jesus - To labor with them until Christ is formed in them - That intentional activity is and was and will be until Christ Comes back - War against by our enemy who prowls around looking for someone to devour.
Because Adoption is Spiritual Warfare!
ENGAGEMENT
The Adoption journey that Brandi and I have been on is an amazing journey.
We have learned so much about kids - So much about our selves and so much about others.
When you get into adoption especially foster care to adopt - its like the great theologian Forest Gump said - “Life is like a box of Chocolates, you never know what you going to get”
You never know what your parents are going to say -
You never know what your grown kids are going to say -
You never know what your friends are going to say
you never know what your church family will say.
You don’t know what kind of kids you will receive.
You won’t know their Skin color, their cultural background, their language preferences, their trauma level, there emotional instabilities, their intellectual capacities or lack their of.
You won’t know any of that -
Here is what you come to find out.
You learn a lot about yourself as you react to how all of those variables play out -
You learn a lot about others in how they react to the journey your on.
You learn a lot about the kids that come into your home as you navigate and discover all of the variables.
And you will learn a lot about the perfect plans of God as His plans they are unfolded before your eyes in the act of obediently following Him in this journey.
AND in the back of everyone’s head including your own there are voices of opposition to any of the variables that don’t meet the comfort zones of the people involved and that is including yourself.
You see - we like what is like us.
We are comfortable with who is like us.
If we are white collar we like other white collar people - blue collar blue collar.
If we are a certain skin color and cultural background we are comfortable with others of the same.
IF we have certain Educational achievements or certain socio demographics - we like those who are in those same areas -
I have heard it play out in and among church people. “These are the people I can connect with becasue there are the people I have most in common with - I can relate to them and I am most comfortable among them”
Here is where it this comfort level of being with who we have things in common with gets crazy - Of All that I have heard in our Adventure of adopting others in laboring with them until Christ is formed - our own disciple making efforts - pastoring a church into being mobilized for the Gospel - in obedience of Jesus himself.
“I don't have any friends or people that I know that are lost, all my friends go to church and are already Christian’s”
Now just think about that loved ones - If you are not building relationship and friendships with lost people how will you be obedient to Jesus command to Go and make disciples.
Who are you going to share the Gospel with - Who will you adopt and be the instrument that God uses to change?
TENSION
Here is the problem. When we are followers of Jesus and we approach living the life Jesus calls us to live, the abundant life, with the “I have lots in common with them and that is where I am most comfortable, so that’s who I’m gonna surround my self with”
When we take that minds set into our obedience to Jesus.
We will have a tendency over time to limit or erase completely the mission Jesus has placed us on.
Because what happens to our hearts and our soul is we begin to look at our need for comfort, convenience and safety and we then look at those who are not like us as secondary in importance -
and when we go down that slippery slope we begin to think and act in subtle and unintentional way that they are not worth out time and effort.
and then we begin to think at some level - large or small that we are better than them.
This played it self out for me wen I had a relative of mine ask me in the most innocent way if there were any kids of my own ethnic background that needed to be fostered or adopted - I know for sure that there was no offence intended -
But what stuck me was pondering this conversation I began to wonder were they thinking at any level the question or wrestling with the question - Are others of different ethnic background worthy to be adopted?
Our Scriptures this morning are going to contrast a couple of narratives to help us know our own hearts and minds when it comes to us reaching all people groups in our communities and the world with the Gospel for Jesus.
THREE NARRATIVES
EXODUS
Two historical and one prophetic and illustrative
IN the Exodus Narrative what is going on is the the People of Israel - The People of the Promise - The People of the Covenant -
The Chosen people of God - Chosen by God to have relationship with God and to ultimately be the instrument that God uses to bring Gods salvation to the World - with his will and heart to adopt many -
Namely and specifically - The Person of Jesus Christ - The Holy one of Israel - The Only Begotten of the Father - The one in whom the God head rested - God in the Flesh Emanuel
God in Christ Reconciling the World to himslef -
They have been living in the upper parts of Egypt. A place called Hebron -
The most luscious and plentiful land in all of Egypt and this lad was given to them by previous Pharoah that Joseph (one of the 12 sons of Israel) was serving when the land went through a big famine.
However - we are now a couple of hundred years later and the Story of Joseph and his brothers and the saving work of the Hebrew was long from the memory of those in charge.
Here is what happens - Power and kingdoms collide -
Pharoah knows the people have flourished and are many - in fact he says they are too many for us.
So he does two things -
ONE - Let us deal Shrewdly with them - Another words “let us discriminate against them” let us treat them as a different class of human -
So they did by enslaving them - They were different than the Egyptians and they were not Egyptian and so Pharoah said let us deal with them differently Because they are not one of us.
That was the first thing -
but that did not resolve the power/kingdom conflict.
The Second thing - Sacrifice the Children -
You see loved ones - when there is a Power/Kingdom conflict - offspring always are sacrificed.
Two ways He commanded this to be done -
One - while the mommies were still on the birth stool. If a boy - Kill it.
Second - If a boy, who survives birth - throw the baby into the Nile river let it die that way.
Pharoah - King of his own Kingdom - With power and money and a craving for comfort, convenience and safety - wanting to insure the stability of his own family, heritage, and kingdom that He created - became an enemy of God, Hater and oppressor of God’s people and purposefully against the kingdom of God.
Now who is pharoah serving?
Is he serving the God of Abraham, Issac or Jacob?
Is He building the Kingdom of God?
Is he working as an instrument of the advance of the salvation of men?
Is he working to advance the gospel?
Or is he serving the one who is against everything God is for?
Love ones - Hear two things -
The Devil is against everything God is for -
He is the ANTI -
God give life - He is anti life
God calls people - The devil is Anti calling -
Every time and in every way you repent and turn your life over to God there is the devil telling you you don't have to.
Every time the Spirit convicts you of Sin and you set out to mortify sin in your life - there the devil is to say the sin is not that bad.
Every time you step out on faith to share the Gospel - There is the devil telling you thats too radical, risky and rude.
Every time you have a saint stepping out to radically serve Jesus and advance the Gospel. There is Always others with the spirit of the enemy who will do everything they can to take that saint out.
You see every-time and every-place there is an advancement of the Gospel, the advancement of life - There is the attempt to thwart that advancement by the Devil.
Because it is a clash of Kingdoms and of Power -
and the number one way that the Devil attacks is the offspring - The Devil Hates offspring - The Devil hates multiplying.
God says Be fruitful and multiply and the Devil says - No fruit and no offspring is your best bet.
It is interesting that just like many today - The People of God suffered with the same Anti life warfare. With in themselves.
God Tells them, in fact commands them in the Leviticus passage - Not only them but any persons that live among them - Not to sacrifice any offspring to Molech -
You see children - offspring are important to God becasue God is the giver of Life -
Loved ones hear me - Both of physical life and Spiritual Life.
MATTHEW
1500 Years later - The historical Narratives of Jesus’s linage, birth, life, work, sacrificial atoning death and death defeating Resurrection are recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew.
And as Jesus comes into this world - A collision of Kingdoms take place.
This time it is between the kingdom of the very people God had chosen as the instruments that He would use to bring His salvation , His kingdom of Salvation to all of mankind.
You see what had happened over the 1500 years prior to this is the Hebrew people had thought they were to establish their Kingdom - After all God had promised them a kingdom and in that kingdom also came land - but that was not the blessing of God that was promised to Abraham.
and the People had moved away from God to build their own kingdom and at the Top of that Kingdom - Ruling as the King of Judah - Ruling over the kingdom of the Jewish people was a guy Named Herod -
Here in the Second Chapter of Mathew - This King was approached by wise ment from the east.
What these wise men traveled thousands of miles to come and see. This baby that they had heard been born king of the Jews-
Herod was king of the Jews and so when He heard that these guys were looking for this baby - the Text says “he was troubled” and assembled all of the smart people - The Chief Priests and the Scribes and asked about their new problem he now had -
The Problem was the same problem that Pharoah had 1500 years earlier- There was a Power/Kingdom conflict.
God had sent Jesus into the world to Bring the kingdom of God to the heart, souls and lives of people - and this was a threat to Herod and all of the Jewish people for that matter- Why?
Because in God’s kingdom He rules and He reigns. He does so with love and cooperation and strongholds of the kingdoms of this world fall and bow to Him.
This was a threat to Harod and to His power and to His kingdom which was based on his craving of money, of his own comfort, convince, and safety.
And What happens - when there is a power/kingdom conflict. _ the offspring are sacrificed.
VERSE 16
REVELATION
Lastly we look at the book of revelation of Jesus Christ - a prophetic book of things that ha been - are happening and will happen as God in the persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit will bring all things to a conclusion.
we see and hear four main Characters -
A woman -
A Dragon -
A Baby Son
And GOD.
So what’s going on here in this picture -
Part of the understanding of the revelation of Jesus Christ is narrative of the ongoing and ultimate defeat of the enemy of Gods people and thus the enemy of God - namely Satan, The Devil, The Serpent of Old, The accuser of the Brethren, The Liar of Liars.
So if we are looking at this part of Scripture as a linear story line which in this part of Scripture.
Just before chapter 12 begins - The 7th trumpet is blown and God establishes His reign and his rule forever and ever.
God is establishing His kingdom one of the later verses says that “the nations or kingdoms of this earth raged -
There was and is and will be a rage against God by the kingdoms of this earth no matter how large or small.
Every kingdom of Man will always rage against the kingdom of God -
Why? Because man is in desperate need to be redeemed and reconciled and rescued and restored into relationship with God - but for that to happen men must bow the knee to God and we don’t desire that without the work of God.
So Here is what happens - lets answer some questions?
Who is the Woman? Many say the woman is Israel - some say the church - some say the Israel that is truly saved and they are also part of the church -
Israel - The saved Israel - is the people. The instrument that God uses to bring about the Christ Child - The Church is the people God has saved to Himself to bring Jesus to all people.
So lets just think for a moment that the woman is very possibly representing the saved remnant of Israel and the NT church combined.
The Dragon - Red Dragon - Tail knocks down 1/3 of the stars to earth. Powerful - looking to devour the child after it is born.
The dragon is clearly Satan - The Enemy of God and the one who was and is and will be ultimately defeated by the Christ Child - The One who had the largest interest of destroying Jesus and everything about God.
You see we must remember the original and ongoing heart cry of Satan -
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
The Child?
A boy child - one who was caught up to God - One who is to rule the nations with an iron scepter.
This is Jesus - one caught up to God
Then we have God himself - God who caught up the child to his throne - the one who places the women in a place of protection until the time of our nurturing is over and we the reign and rule with Christ as heirs and co heirs with Jesus of his kingdom
But notice - The power/kingdom conflict -
God is establishing His kingdom through an offspring and the devil seeks to devour the offspring -
Loved ones listen to me - in every case of power/kingdom conflict offspring are the ones who are under the biggest threat -
Because Spiritual offspring represent the advancement of the Kingdom of God - but they also represent responsibilities! specifically responsibilities that are given to us from God.
You see these responsibilities that upset and over turn the sense of control and power in our building our kingdoms.
This seems like a burden - Jesus said “come to me all who labor and I will give you rest - For my yolk is easy and my burden is light-
You see loved ones when we look to Jesus and we find rest - we will find rest for our weary souls - and what Jesus has just said - That although the yolk is easy and the burden is light - there is a yolk we must carry and there is a burden that we will experience - That yolk is the fruit bearing yolk that is placed upon us and that burden is the burden for the lost world who is headed to a christless eternity without being adopted - it is the burden of God for people.
MATTHEW JOSEPH
Here is what is interesting - In every one of the Power/Kingdom conflicts that we mentioned there is some one who God sends to Adopt -
In His heart of Adoption God sends the Adopter - The one who says - I will love - I will labor - I will carry - I will nurture and I will form them as the instrument that God uses to form them
IN Jesus case is was a man that we know so little about -
The greatest thing we know an understand about Joseph is that He was faithful to do what God spoke to him to do -
You see Joseph heard and knew the Word of God and He Did what the word told him to do - Adopt this child as your own Joseph. Call him Jesus - Take him here and there to protect him. Provide for him, Teach Him.
Labor with him as he grows -
Pharaohs daughter with the people of Israel as Pharoah was battling God, God used Pharaohs daughter to, through adoption, save God’s people and deliver God’s people from oppression and slavery.
Joseph with Jesus - as Herod was battling God to prevent God from establishing his kingdom here on earth - God calls Joseph to Adopt! and God’ brings salvation to the world.
In the Spiritual rhelm - God himself - Who caught our the child to his throne as the enemy of God and the destroyer of Gods people battled against God and HIs Kingdom in the heavenly place.
STICKY POINT DJ AND PRAYER TEAM
There are Three things that I want to stick to us this morning as we enter back into musical worship. as DJ and his team come to lead us back into musical worship.
1 - if you are here this morning or watching on live steam this morning and you have not been adopted by God through the powerful regeneration of the Holy Spirit - know this - there is a battle for your Soul that is raging in the heavenly places.
The Devil is fighting for His kingdom and does not want you to be an adopted child of God to surrender your life to Jesus,
To be regenerated unto new life, to be saved by grace through faith.
But also know this - God is calling you to turn - God is calling you to new life - God is giving you the gift of trust to step out in faith and be made new by His power and by His grace, through trust in Him.
And the invitation is open to you - Experience the Victory in Jesus - Turn to Jesus - Trust in His finished work on the Cross as the Only work by which your broken relationship with God and your adoption as God’s child can be done, and repent - Begin the steps of Following Jesus, in obedience to Him and rejection of satan and surrender to Jesus. God is calling you to trust Him. God is giving you faith. God is wanting to power of the resurrection of Jesus to bring you to new life. Come and pray with our prayer team that you hear the calling of God over your life and begin the steps of following Jesus and be made new.
2 - Loved ones know this - If you are saved - if you are an adopted child of God - You adoption was won by Christ through the battlefield of spiritual warfare. The Devil had claim on you as an orphan and GOD adopted you and defeated the enemy - for there is victory in Jesus and His victory is ours to have.
Here is the deal though - He sent someone to be used as His instrument to to proclaim the Gospel to you and God used them to save you - To adopt you - To nurture you as a disciple - To labor with you until Christ was formed in you. and they did this in word, in deed and in prayer.
3 - Loved ones we serve and Adopting God - God who loves and desires that all men would come to repentance and be saved - But there is an enemy that has a hatred for God and the plans of God and the people of God and the will of God and the work of God.
This enemy hates with a hatred that we can never understand its severity.
And so loved ones we must put down every preference that we have - We must surrender our cravings of comfort convince and safety - we must go into the world and make disciples by adopting them - Laboring with them - Nurturing them - training them - Praying with them. Praying over them - until Christ is formed - We must do what God has told all of his creation to Do - Be fruitful and multiply - we must engage in the purposeful intention of having spiritual offspring, being the Good Soil that the word of God has fallen upon and produce fruit after our own kind some 30 60 and 100 fold.
Know this also loved ones - There is an enemy that is 100% committed to the destruction of those with whom you might engage with the gospel. There is no lack in His effort - There is no stupidity or carelessness in his strategy - He is 100% committed to the destruction of Gods creation and all that God desires.
Some of us this morning need to review - reevaluate and Re-prioritize which kingdom we are building.
Some of us here this morning and on live stream need to say YES lord I know someone in danger of hell let me be the instrument though adoption that you use to adopt them.
Some of us this morning need to step up Step in and step out in faith to enter into the battle field, as soldiers of Christ to say to others in our midst - God loves you and desires to adopt you as his child - and in doing so thwart the plans of the enemy that would have that person spend eternity in hell.
Let us hear the word’s of God through the Power of his Holy Spirit AMEN!
PRAYER TEAM!