Romans 8:15

THE FAMILY OF GOD

‘For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.’

Romans 8:15

We are learning much at the present time about unity, and yet we must remember that the unity which Christ prayed for was unity of a very solemn kind, a unity which was real, and which would be lasting because it was real. We may unite on a false basis, on an artificial basis, on a basis which will dissolve under the distress of the first storm. But if we believe that this world was designed to be God’s family, if we believe that this conception was damaged by the Fall, and is now further injured by man’s selfishness, let us aim at making real once more the purpose of God. If once we can realise the conception of the family knit together by love of the great Father, unity will come as a matter of course.

I. Let us labour, then, first of all, to restore the sense of God’s Fatherhood in the world.—There never, I suppose, has been a time when man has felt the plenitude of his powers so completely as he does now, but at the same time we cannot but feel that material prosperity may tend, if we are not careful, to make us forget the purpose of God in the adjustment of this world to man as his proper environment. Look, for instance, at the growth of luxury, and the unrestrained accumulation of wealth. Is God’s world being made better, more completely His, by the luxurious selfishness of inglorious ease which turns the things that should have been to our wealth into an occasion of falling? Here, too, we see the desire for unity; it is one of the loudest cries of the time; that there should be a greater unity of distribution as between the wealthy and the poor, if necessary by force. But the purpose of God must come before unity. As we read God’s Word, can we say that this is the purpose for which He placed man in his material environment, that he should find in this world the best possible place, stored with good things in which every one should have an equal share? The rich spirit, which is all that matters, the spirit of possession which heralds the selfishness which dethrones God, can exist just as much with three acres and a cow of an equally distributed materialism, as it can in the fruitless millions of the rich fool. We need to watch anxiously lest we miss the purpose of God in placing us where we are, lest we rob Him of His seat as Father of this world, which He has made for man, to help man on his journey towards the heavenly city, an inn as the old Latin writer tells us, on the pilgrim road for our refreshment, not a dwelling-place for our settled life.

II. The purpose of God assumes a more settled aspect still in the provision which He has made for our souls.—God, as the Father of the prodigal, has devised means to help those whom He knew must needs suffer from the contact of a rough and hostile world. Here God’s purpose seems so clear that we almost wonder that any doubt could exist concerning it. And yet what do we find? From the earliest days men who called themselves His followers have wrangled and fought as to the details of His scheme of salvation. How tempting it is to sacrifice anything and everything to unity! Here is one who objects to episcopacy. Very well, let us by all means cast it away. Let us cast away anything to do with bishops, if that will make for unity. Here is one who objects to the priesthood; very well, by all means let us cast away sacerdotalism. Here is one who objects to the sacramental system; let us cast it away upon the denominational rubbish heap; it is unimportant. If a creed will satisfy you, by all means take it; if the Old Testament is a stumbling-block, remove it. It is not unity that we need so much—that can be secured at any time under the name of absorption; but it is unity in the truth. Unity, that is, which is secured by seeking out the purpose of God and working for its realisation. There are thousands who have tested, by a long life of earnest obedience, the purpose of God in giving them this wonderful and unique privilege; it cannot be given up in sacrifice to a passing sentiment by those who feel that our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask Him, and knowing our needs has left us the Catholic Church.

III. But, after all, this purpose of God touches us more closely, in the realisation of His Fatherhood in our inmost life.—Surely we need here, too, a greater unity, a unity of purpose in carrying out the will of God, not the fitful impulses which are shaken by the gusts of uncontrolled passion, nor the feeble dictates of an irresolute will imperfectly obeyed, nor the glimmers of a reason which sin has obscured, nor the pleadings of the spirit through a dishonoured and vacillating conscience. The child of God who can say ‘Abba, Father,’ is a splendid conception, which, alas! we do but imperfectly realise. The term ‘Father’ is full of tenderness and love, but it is also a term full of seriousness and even severity. ‘Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.’ Can we feel that we correspond to this description of the child of God?

Rev. Canon Newbolt.

Illustration

‘Surely we must feel that a great deal of the alienation which has taken place has arisen from taking things at their worst, or as realised in their corruption, and by condemning by reason of a manifest abuse the real use and purpose of that which is God’s ordinance. The Church, for instance, need not be for ever identified with a privileged Establishment which receives imaginary honour from the State. The Church is an institution which is just as much part of our Lord’s plan as was His Atonement. Certainly let us give up all arrogant pretensions, and rest solely on the privileges of that wonderful position which Christ has given us. But if we believe the Church to be God’s purpose for the salvation of man, we cannot give it up, in the mistaken idea of thus promoting unity. Holy Baptism is no indifferent matter, but closely connected with one of the most pressing problems of life—heredity. Confirmation is not a negligible ceremony, but once more an ordinance which is intimately bound up with the problem of environment; when men and women are failing all around us to realise the ideal of humanity to which they were meant to attain, we cannot think that we are justified in substituting a symbolical ceremony for an effectual sacramental sign. Episcopacy does not mean prelacy, nor the priesthood sacerdotalism, nor sacraments a mechanical religion.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE INDIVIDUAL POWER OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

The influence of Christianity has been enormous. Yet to thousands who are called Christians, Christianity is only an abstract idea, it is not a fact which has changed their lives. There are crowds of people who are living to-day who believe in Christianity, who believe in the teaching of Christ, but who do not believe in the individual power of the Christian life.

I. The fatherhood of God.—We know that every one of the services of our Church is based upon the prayer which our Lord taught His disciples, the Lord’s Prayer; in Latin it is called the Pater Noster—Our Father. All our prayers are directed to God Who, through Christ, is our Father. But again, thousands repeat that prayer, yet they can no more truly pray this prayer than a heathen who has never heard it and who has never heard of Christ.

II. Real sonship.—Do we realise that we are God’s sons? Do we feel that we have that Divine nature in us by which we may call ourselves the sons of God? Real sonship of God lies deeper than realising that God is the Creator, the Father. Yea, it lies even deeper than believing that God sent His Son, and that He was the son of the Eternal Father. The fatherhood of God is the golden thread on which all the precious pearls are strung. Take away that fatherhood from our religion and we feel sure that our whole Christian life becomes disconnected. We feel that it is the one spring by which we are able to change our lives. And so we come to ask ourselves, in what way can we draw nearer to that Father? Does it help us if we begin to realise the brotherhood of mankind? There are many people among us who deny that Christ was the Son of God, and yet they say that if there is a brotherhood of mankind it must be maintained. But a brotherhood without a fatherhood is no help to any one. Let us look at our own lives and ask if we realise the brotherhood of mankind in our own lives. Do we really feel, speak, act, and live as brethren with those whom we meet? Do we love those with whom we come in contact? Strive as we may, we cannot live as sons of God as long as we are alone. But we know that at the redemption which Christ brought He fulfilled His pledge. When He ascended up into heaven and went to sit at the right hand of the Father, He sent His Holy Spirit down upon us. God’s gifts and blessings come to us through the Holy Spirit, and through that Spirit we are made sons of God, and by that Spirit we are taught to say, ‘Abba, Father.’

III. The spirit of adoption.—And so we find that there is indeed a Father above—God our Creator, God Almighty, and we see that there is the Son Jesus Christ; and there is One Who is among us now—the Holy Ghost Who constantly speaks to us, constantly moves us, constantly directs us to Him Who is the Fountain of Life. There are many gifts and blessings which we receive from the Holy Ghost, but there is one which is nearer and dearer than any to those who enjoy it, and that is, that we are able to speak to God above as to our Father. As we receive the Spirit of God we begin to feel the truth of St. Paul’s words, and as we receive that power we are brought to Him, we are brought into the circle of the Divine Family.

St. Paul says that all who believe are the sons of God, and he adds that, although we do not realise it, the Spirit is constantly interceding for us. Shall we not pray for a manifestation of Christ’s Spirit amongst us? We know that He is speaking to-day to many a soul. Do let us open our hearts to Him. All things will become new if we obey the voice of the Spirit. ‘As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,’ and all of us who have received that Spirit are able to cry, ‘Abba, Father.’

Rev. M. M. Vischer.

(THIRD OUTLINE)

THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION

Let me examine what a ‘spirit of adoption’ is. But, first, let us look at what it is not.

I. It is not a spirit of doubt and anxiety; in which many of us are living. It is not like this: ‘Does God really love me? Am I forgiven? Shall I be kept all through this year unto the end? How shall I overcome all my difficulties?’ That is not what a little child ever feels, if he has got an affectionate father. He never asks questions. It is not, ‘Does my father love me? And why does my father love me?’ But that love is a great fact, which lies down silent and at rest in his bosom.

II. It is all hope. It always sees bright futures.—Hence, prayer becomes a very bold thing where there is the ‘spirit of adoption.’ The ‘spirit of adoption’ cries—cries ‘Abba.’ A child does not ask a father as a stranger asks him. He goes as one who has a right—as one who has never been refused all his life, and never can be refused to all eternity. If a son finds his father’s door for a moment closed, see how he knocks. ‘That door must open to me.’ And life grows very earnest in that spirit; and that spirit is all real. ‘I was a stranger once, and now I am a child. My Father’s work must be done, and I am the one to do it. I have got the privilege of doing my Father’s work.’ He does not want wages; but he receives rewards. He does not want them; he works for another motive; and yet, he does not know that he has another motive, for he never stops even to ask what his motive is. ‘Of course I love.’

III. That ‘spirit’ has a present possession in the whole universe.—All creation is his Father’s house, and he can say, ‘Everything in it,—everything that is great and everything that is little—everything that is happy and everything that is unhappy—every cloud and every sun-ray—it is mine, on to death itself.’

IV. The ‘spirit of adoption’ longs to go home.—He knows very well what those ever-present words mean, ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions.’ For, if the love of an unseen Father has been so sweet, what will it be to look in His face?

There is nothing which I desire for you so much as that you should take child-like, loving, trusting views of your Father in heaven. Do you say, ‘But perhaps I am not His child?’ I answer, the act of believing that He is your Father makes you His child. Cherish the Holy Spirit in your heart. Every obeyed impulse of the conscience will confirm and ratify your ‘adoption.’