Transcription
[Music] This morning, the messages from Romans chapter 8. I mean, where else? Where in his series on Romans, and the title of the message is "Congratulations on Your Adoption." Congratulations on your adoption. And what I want to say, just before we jump into the text, there are a few things that reflect the heart of God, the generosity of God, like adoption or foster care. And that's why, when I was studying for the message this week, I've said to Debbie, I said, "You know, it'd be really great if we could have a Cherished Kids booth at each one of our campuses, the South, at the West, at the North, so that people who are hearing the message." Because I know this God is speaking to many of your hearts about being a foster parent or about adopting a child. And this morning, as we're going to see, it's a beautiful picture of God's love for us. And we want to encourage you to check it out, to go to the booth, and to talk to them and learn how you can be a part of making a huge difference in the life of a child. The psalm says this, Psalm chapter 10, it says, "He puts the fatherless in homes." That's the heart of God, to put the fatherless in homes.
Well, Romans chapter 8 this morning, again, we're coming to one of the greatest chapters in all of God's Word. It's a chapter that begins with that really one of the most well-known verses in the Bible: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." And then after that, from Romans chapter 8 and verse 2 on through the end of the chapter, essentially, what Romans chapter 8 is, is a celebration of the Holy Spirit's work in our salvation, in our life. And we're learning about what he does. This, I think, is very, very important for people who are in a Pentecostal church or a Pentecostal background, because oftentimes, as important as the baptism in the Holy Spirit is, oftentimes Pentecostals only think of the Holy Spirit's ministry in terms of that, and not in terms of all the other things he does relative to our salvation. And it's not a matter of either/or, it's a matter of both and. And we've been learning, as we're making our way to Romans chapter 8, about the invaluable, incredible, life-giving ministry of the Holy Spirit in the heart life of every single believer. We saw that the Spirit of God, first of all, changes our thinking. The mind set on the Spirit, it's a different way of thinking. We saw, as well, that the Holy Spirit produces life and peace in us. We saw that the Holy Spirit lives in us at salvation. He dwells in us. He's inside you and I. That's why it's God with us, a powerful, powerful reality. We saw his power is so great that he will resurrect us. Last time, we looked at the fact that he sanctifies us, that he makes us more like Jesus. That the Holy Spirit is working constantly, while you're asleep, when you get up, as you go through your day, at the end of the day, as you're in church, when you're not in church, the Holy Spirit is at work to meet you and I like Jesus. He's transforming us. And yes, we cooperate with him, but it is his work. It is him working in us that produces the fruit of Christ's likeness. And this morning, we learn that the Holy Spirit confirms our adoption. He confirms our adoption.
Let's look at it. Romans chapter 8, verse 14: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons 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 we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." Notice, sons of God, adoption as sons, children of God, children. The theme of these verses, then, is adoption as children of God. We put it in the greater context of Romans chapter 8. "There is therefore now no condemnation." Why? Because we've been adopted. There's no condemnation. Why? Because we're His children. There's no condemnation. Why? Because now God is no longer our judge, He's our Father.
Now, before we look at this, let me just say this: Our salvation is so amazing, so incredible, that literally human words fail to describe the enormity of it, the wonder of it, the generosity of it. So, in order for us to grasp our salvation and what it means, think of salvation, if you would, as a diamond, multifaceted. And there are different things we're learning about it as we make our way through Romans, or indeed, as we read through the Bible. You don't go very far in the Bible before you learn that our salvation is like an ark. Just as the ark kept Noah and his family safe through that judgment time, our salvation is an ark by which we escape judgment. We can listen to the words of Jesus. And Jesus compares our salvation to a celebration. He said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom? It is like a wedding feast." Our salvation can be pictured as a shepherd going after the lost sheep. Jesus said, "For forensically, we could say our salvation in Romans is God, the judge, finding a way to justify us, as He declares us righteous based on what Jesus did." We've learned about sanctification. The Holy Spirit works in our salvation, making us like Jesus. So, there are doctrines and there are pictures of our salvation, each designed to give us insight into what God did. Because, honestly, our salvation is greater than any of us can comprehend, than any of us can imagine. And only after we are in heaven for one second, will we truly begin to grasp the enormity of what God did for us. So, our salvation is great. It is amazing beyond our ability to understand. All I pray that none of us ever lose sight of what God did in saving us. May we never get to a place where we say, "Oh yeah, the salvation. Now, give me, take me to something else." While there may be other things that God does, there will be nothing as great as what He's done in saving not only mankind, but personalized, that's saving you and me.
As we think of pictures of salvation, metaphors, maybe the greatest, the most gripping, the most powerful, the most amazing, is to see our salvation as adoption. Think of this: the God of the universe adopted you. I mean, scripture is filled with this. And I can't help but, but think as soon as I think of that, I think of all the scriptures like John chapter 1, where it says, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." How He adopted us. Paul says this in Ephesians chapter 1: "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world." Before the creation of the world, in eternity past, before time began, God chose you. He said, "I'm going to adopt him. I'm going to adopt her. They're going to be the object of my love, even before they've been born." This is, this is amazing. "In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His special, with His pleasure and His will." The message puts it, "He settled on us as the focus of His love." So, whatever we're going to say about adoption, it's this idea of a focused love on the part of God towards you and toward me. First John chapter 3: "Behold," John says, "stop, timeout, catch this, think about this. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us." You want to know the measure of God's love? You want to know how much God loves you? God said, "I want you as my child, that we should be called the children of God."
So, as we look at this in Romans chapter 8, what I want us to do, and you can tell I'm very, very, very excited, what I want us to do, before we look at what Paul tells us about God's adopting of us, I want us to understand adoption in general, and in particular, relative to Paul's day. Adoption is a legal action by which a person or persons take into their family a child not their own, and gives them all the privileges of their own child. It's interesting to note that in the first century, when Paul was writing the book of Romans, adopted children, in many ways, were more honored than was a natural child. That to be adopted had a special privilege to it. It was literally an honor to be adopted, because you weren't just born into a family, you were chosen by that family. And this again, I remind you, is a picture of salvation. We become children of God by sovereign divine choice. He chose us. The context of Romans chapter 8, then, we more fully understand how, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." We'll never be condemned because He chose us. We'll never be separated. "What shall separate us from the love of Christ?" We'll never be separated because He chose us. "If God be for us, why is God for us?" Because He chose us. Everything in Romans chapter 8 makes much more sense and becomes much more certain because God has chosen us.
Now, let me give you a little background on Roman adoption. One of the foundations of Roman law was a principle that was known as patria potestas, the father's power, is literally what that means. And what it did is it gave the father in the Roman family unit absolute power over his family, absolute power over his children. His children could be killed by his order without any recourse or penalty to him. If the father said, "You live, you live." The father said, "You die, you die." And that absolute power of the father lasted the entire lifetime of the father. So, a child never grew beyond that. It was lifelong. Obviously, that whole principle would make adoption more difficult, unless, of course, the child was an orphan, perhaps was born into slavery, and slaves having no rights, anything could be done with them. If a man saw a son, though, and I want us to think in this way, if a man saw a son that belonged to another father, and he wanted that son as his own. So, you got, you don't, you either have children or you don't have children, but you see another son, and you're saying, "Wow, that's a heads-up son, I want him." Either because he didn't have a son, felt his sons or his son were not worthy of his name, or capable of managing the estate, he would adopt another male as his son. You say, "Did that happen?" It was actually quite common in the Roman Empire. Backed it's a who's who of Roman emperors who were adopted. Julius Caesar adopted Augustus. Caesar's not his son. Augustus Caesar adopted Tiberius. Tiberius was not his son. Trajan was adopted. Hadrian was adopted. Marcus Aurelius was adopted, to name a few. And there is, we could go on and name many more.
The Roman adoption followed two steps. The first step was manus patris. It was the, we get a word emancipation from it. And what would happen, it was a symbolic sale that would be carried out with witnesses to it. And you would bring a scale, and you would have some gold coins or copper coins, and then the father of the child to be adopted would act out selling on the scale his son. Then he would act out buying back his son. Then he would act out selling his son. Then he would act out buying back his son. But on the third time, he sold his son without buying his son back, and his rights were symbolically severed. Which led then to the second step of adoption, called vindicatio. And in vindicatio, what happened is the adopting father then would go to a Roman magistrate and present the case for legal adoption. That adoption would be witnessed by seven people. I mention that because it's very interesting that in the book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit is called the Sevenfold Spirit, or the seven spirits of God. It's a number of completeness.
There were consequences, then, to the adoption. I'll bring them up on the screen for you. First of all, the adopted person lost all rights to his old family and gained all rights in his new family. Second, the adopted person became the full heir to his new father's estate, even if there were other sons. In other words, he didn't just share in the inheritance, he got all of the inheritance. Third, the adopted person's old life was completely wiped out. If there were debts, they were cancelled. If there was a record of crime, it was expunged. It was as if the previous person had never existed before. Incidentally, the adoption didn't necessarily happen with children, although it could. Oftentimes, adults were adopted. Number four, then, in the eyes of Roman law and society, it was as if the adopted person was literally and completely the son of his new father in every sense.
Now, I want you to think of those in terms of God's adopting us. The adopted person lost all rights to his old family, gained all rights in his new family. We, we get all the rights in the new family. We're in the family of God. We have all the rights as if we are God's children by birth. Number two, the adopted person became the full heir to his new father's estate, even if there were other sons. It's all ours. It's all given to us. We are the full heir. We're not half an heir, we're not a partial heir. It's all given to us. Listen to this. Number three, the adopted person's old life was completely wiped out. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, everything's new." Wiped out, gone. It says that the record expunged, the debts paid. It's as if that previous person never existed. And in the eyes of Roman law and society, it was as if the adopted person was literally and completely the son of his new father in every sense. When you become a Christian, it is as if you are completely, in every sense, the child of the Living God. All come on, let's praise the Lord.
Now, with that as a backdrop, we're ready to think about what the Spirit does relative to our adoption. We're going to think in terms of the, he's a witness to our adoption, he's at work in our adoption, as evidenced in three ways. Number one, the Holy Spirit leads us. He leads us. Look at it, Romans 8, verse 14: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." You say, "Why didn't it say children? Why are we using the male?" Because in that day, women could not receive anything, they could not inherit anything. So, while there's neither male nor female in Christ, the imagery of adoption and inheritance requires that whether you're a male, whether you're a female, you're adopted with all rights to the inheritance. It's all yours, implying you get all the inheritance. Notice it says, Romans chapter 8, verse 14: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." That word "led" is very interesting. You could understand it this way: In Luke chapter 1, verse 4, "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit." The Son of God is led by the Spirit of God. The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. Here's, here's a way to understand it. The Spirit, in Mark's Gospel, immediately, same moment in Jesus' life, drove Him into the wilderness. In other words, there's a bit of a paradox in the Spirit's moving. He's a gentleman, He will not force Himself. But there is such a power to who He is that when you and I are being led by Him, it is as if He is moving us, pushing us, guiding us, empowering us, driving us into the will of God, the plan of God, the purpose of God. You're not just figuring it out on your own. Oh, you may think you are, but the Spirit of God is at work because you're a child of God. Because you are His child, He is living in you, and He is working through you, and He is moving you into the will of God. Oh, don't be discouraged if you don't know what to do. If you're praying about something, listen, seek God, yes, but trust the leading of the Holy Spirit, because those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. You could also invert it and you could say, "The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God." The Spirit leads us. He leads us in a variety of ways. He leads us in sanctification, for example. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 13: "But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body." In other words, He's leading and making you more like Christ, as we saw last time. He's prompting, He's leading, He's guiding. He's saying, "Don't do this." He's when you're tempted, saying, "Don't go there." When you're, you know, when you're walking through life, "Do this, this will help you, this will." He prompts you. I believe He prompts you to come to church. You're here not only by your own decision, yes, you say, "I made the decision," but you were energized, you were driven, you were led by the Spirit of God, the power of God working in you. He's leading you to do the things that will build you up in your holy faith, that you might become more like Jesus. He not only works holiness in you, He, He leads us to be more like Jesus. He opens our heart and our mind to the will of God, the way of God. You say, "What do you mean?" Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 17: "This is Paul praying. He says, 'I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you,' watch this, 'the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,' why? 'So that you might know Him better.'" In other words, the Holy Spirit works in our heart that as we're led by Him, we know more about God. We understand, still in a limited fashion, but we understand more about God. Like, I love 1 Corinthians chapter 2: "However, it is as it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.'" Now, a lot of times, that's read at a funeral, or stated at a funeral, and that certainly is true of heaven, but that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about now. But your eye hasn't seen it, your ear hasn't heard it, your mind hasn't conceived it, but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. He takes the will of God, He takes the things of the Spirit, and He makes them known to our spirit. That's how He illuminates us. That's how He enlightens us. That's how He leads us. John 16, Jesus said this, "When the night He was betrayed, but He, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will lead you. He will lead the children of God. He will not speak on His own. He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come." So, He's going to take what is, what He hears the Father and the Son talking about, He's going to be listening to the Father, the will of the Father, the plan of the Father, the design of the Father, and He is going to make that known to us. "He'll tell you what is yet to come. He'll bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you." Do you see that? This is how He leads us. "For all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. For all who are sons of God are led by the Spirit." Do you see that? The Holy Spirit is leading us because we're a son, we're a daughter, we're a child of God. It's part of what happens because you've been adopted. Congratulations on your adoption.
Number two, the Holy Spirit frees us. He frees us. You say, "What is He frees from?" He frees us from fear. He replaces fear with freedom in our relationship with God. You see, because before a person comes to faith in Christ, they are under wrath. They are facing condemnation. They're facing judgment. If you've not given your heart to Jesus, let me be very clear. The reason why you're here today is that you might hear that there is a day of judgment coming, and that you might run to Jesus to be saved from your sin and to flee the coming judgment. Jesus said this, Luke chapter 12 and verse 5: "I'll show you whom you should fear. Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him." Jesus knew the Father well. And Jesus said, "Unless you're born again, be very, very afraid." But once you fear God and you come to Jesus, you don't have to fear God. That if you've not yet been saved, today's the day of salvation. Now is the appointed hour. This is the time for you to give your heart to Jesus and to flee the coming judgment and be freed from everything that you could never free yourself from. We've been adopted by God. Now we're no longer slaves to sin. We've been forgiven. There is now no condemnation. And we don't look at God and run and hide. Remember that the response of sin is, when you are a sinner, unredeemed, to see God in His righteous glory is to run and hide. Adam and Eve did it in the garden. Mankind's been doing it ever since. And you get to the book of Revelation, and when the Son of Man comes in all of His glory, they will hide behind rocks and in caves and in holes of the ground, "Save us from the wrath of the Lamb." You say, "I don't think I will." Oh, you will. You can be sure of that. But when you know Him, when you've been redeemed by Him, you're no longer afraid of Him. You've gone from being afraid to saying, "Our Father, Daddy." This is powerful. Romans chapter 8, verse 15: "Look at this. Everything changes when a person becomes a Christian. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear." When God, when God redeemed you, it changed everything. First and foremost, it rich, it changed your relationship with God. You're no longer under wrath, you're under grace. And look what happens: "You have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" Notice it's the Spirit of adoption, because He is the witness, remember, to our adoption. He's the one who saw our adoption. He was the one who was there at our adoption. He was the one who is the active person in the Godhead, changing us, as it were, into a different person. He saw it. He was there. He was active. Look at it in verse 16: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit." So, here's what happens. The Spirit of God tells somebody when they're a Christian that they are a Christian. This is really, really important. And I just want to say this: At times, I'll hear people say, "Well, you know, I prayed with him, and they said, well, you know, I just don't feel like I'm a Christian. I don't feel like I am." And so, I just told him, "Well, did you pray? Did you do this? Did you do this?" "You just gotta accept it." I disagree with that. Because if somebody doesn't have the witness of the Spirit, then don't you be the witness. I know that's hard for people to understand, because I think, I think by and large, the evangelical church has been poorly taught on this. It doesn't say that if you're unsure, well, then just, you know, think it's so anyway. No, when a person's changed, there is a change. And the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. You read this story, you read the biographies of great men and women. There are some people who go through a season of travail, a season of the Spirit of God doing a work of God in their life that brings them to that place of confirmation in the Spirit. And I don't think it's for you and I to short-circuit the, the work of the Spirit by giving people what may, in fact, be a false assurance of salvation when, in fact, God is working to bring about His transformation. Let Him do it. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." He reminds us who we are. He encourages us not to run from God, but to run to God. He reminds us that, that He is our Father in the most intimate, intimate of terms. Look at it in verse 15 again: "We've received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry." The word in the Greek is krazō. We cry out, "Daddy." That's what Abba. It's the Aramaic, that's the language Jesus spoke. It was the most endearing term. It would be like, "Daddy" or "Papa." I mean, think about it. When you watch a child, when they're in trouble and they have a problem, who is it they want to see? I have yet to see a child say, "Doctor." They don't want a professional counselor. They don't want somebody they don't know. They want Daddy or Mommy, because inside they know that their parents can help them. That's what the Spirit of God does. The Holy Spirit inside you has this internal witness that draws you to God, that tells you, "That's my Father." And if I need help, He's Daddy. He is, He is, He is my Father in the most intimate way possible, the kindest, most loving, most familial and familiar way. The Spirit creates a sentiment, see, with the Father, reminding us regarding children, reminding us that God is not a distant deity. He is our loving Heavenly Father. And He loves us so much. How much He loved us? He said, "I'm going to choose you, and I'm going to do it before this whole thing gets started, because it's just so important to me, and I can't hardly wait." He chose you. He loves you. He cares for you. He chose you because He said, "I want him. I want her to have my name. I think they'll bring honor to my name. I'm choosing them because I want them to manage my estate." He's not choosing you because He thinks you're worthless. He thinks you're worthwhile. He's not choosing you because He thinks you'll fail. He's choosing you because He thinks you'll be faithful. He's not choosing you because you're like some charity hardship case. You, because He says, "I see in them divine purpose. I see in them divine potential. I see in them, by My Spirit working in them, something they don't see in themselves. I've got a future for them. It'll take all eternity to experience." He chose you. I mean, this is so encouraging.
The Spirit leads us. The Spirit frees us. The Spirit confirms us. You say, "What do you mean?" Let's look at it. Verse 16: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we were children of God." So, the first thing He does is He says, "You're a child of God." Second thing He does is He says, "You are an heir. You are an heiress. You are the heir to an amazing fortune." How would you like to get a letter in the mail that says, "You didn't know this, but there is a known call. You've never met, and he's passed away, and we found his will, and this uncle is on Forbes' richest people in the world. In fact, he just happens to be number one, and he's taken all of his wealth, and he has bequeathed it to you. Congratulations, you are the heir of an amazing fortune." Well, when you pick up your Bible, you've got a letter. It came special delivery. It's delivered to you by the Spirit, through the work of the Son, and it's from a Father who says, "I've named you my heir. You are the heir of all things." The Spirit of God, He's the one who delivers that news. He's the one who confirms that. He's the one who tells you, "Listen, you think this world's got something good going on? Wait till you get to heaven. Wait till you see what you inherit." This inheritance is more wonderful than you can possibly imagine. In Galatians chapter 4 and verse 7, it says, "Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child, and since you are His own child, God has made you His heir." He's created a will. It's the mystery of His will. Officials one says that says, "I am bequeathing everything to Dawn and Kordell and Zenia. I'm giving it all to them." That's amazing. Well, Ephesians 1, verse 11: "See if we can get you a little more excited." "Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we've received an inheritance from God." He's given an inheritance. It's got to be pretty big, right? Why did He do it? Well, because He adopted you. He chose you before you were born. He said, "You know what? Before you'd ever done anything good or bad, before you had done one thing, God said, 'You know what? I've settled my heart on her, and I've settled my heart on him, and I want them to be my son. I want them to be my daughter. I want them to be my children, and I am going to give them everything.'" And He makes it all work out in accordance with this plan. Again, I'm not, I'm not saying we don't have a responsibility, but let's get the percentages right. Like, it's 99.5 or 99.9 percent Him, and about 0.1 percent us. And He's at work, and He's moving, and He's leading, and He's confirming, and He's empowering, and He's sanctifying, and He's justifying, and He's glorifying, and He's conforming us to the image of His Son, because He has an inheritance He wants to make sure you get. Bring up the next verse. "And we have a priceless inheritance." I love this. How, what kind of priceless? Wheat and Forbes magazine can't put a you're on it. They don't have a calculator big enough. They don't have a computer powerful enough, but can't they can't adequately estimate it. "For eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man what God has prepared for those who love Him." You just can't do it. An inheritance that's kept in heaven for you, right there, pure, undefiled, beyond the reach of change or decay. I give you one of the world's greatest treasures. I hand it to you and say, "I want you to have it." Guess what? You better guard it with your life. Somebody, you steal it from you. Somebody will pour Oz bleach on it. Something will happen to it, and it's ruined. It's lost. God says, "That's not going to happen." It's a priceless inheritance. It's kept in heaven. It's pure. It's undefiled. It's beyond the reach of anybody who can change anything about it. Say, "So, what really is it?" What do we inherit? That's a great question. He answered that. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2: "God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance." What, what's in the inheritance? Everything. Because remember, in Romans, we're joint heirs with Jesus. Remember, "fellow heirs with Christ." I think the new American has "joint heirs with Jesus." He gave everything to the Son. And when He adopted you, you have all rights as if you are the full heir. It's all yours. Everything. Say, "Everything." Every thing. You're rich beyond your wildest imagination. It's all yours. Everything. And frankly, that's why you can be very, very generous, because it's all yours anyway. But let me add a little caveat in there, a little twist, maybe for you to consider. I think perhaps, and very likely, it's speaking about more than what we'll get in heaven, although we'll get everything. I think it's much, much more. You say, "How could it be more than what we get in heaven?" What if the inheritance He's talking about is not just the gift? What if the inheritance is the Giver Himself? Listen to it in the Psalms: "Whom have I in heaven but You?" You just come in a day when God's going to bring everything under the sun, and the Son will hand it to the Father, and God will be all in all. "And earth has nothing I desire beside You. And my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and He's my portion, He's my inheritance forever." Listen, can I just be honest with you? What makes heaven heaven is not streets of gold, and not pearly gates, and not you swimming in a mountain of gold coins. What will make heaven heaven is the nearness, the closeness, and the proximity of God to His people. In Revelation chapter 21, as we get this brochure of what it's going to be like in heaven, John tells us some things about heaven. And one of the things he tells us in verse 3 is, "He will dwell," that's God, "with them," that's us, "and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God." With them, with them. It's a picture of you and me emerging from a difficult world, filled with trials and pain and difficulty, and we'll fall into the Father's arms, and we'll never get over the closeness of God and His nearness. And Paul is simply saying, the Spirit bears witness of that. The Spirit is, is like a foretaste of that. Every time you feel the presence of God, any time you have that exceptional moment when heaven touches earth, when God is close, and He's so real to you, and stirring around you, and stirring in you, it's just a tiny foretaste, just a small sample of what heaven will be like. And in those moments when your life feels closer to God than ever before, it's the Spirit who makes it possible. And He simply is witnessing. He's bearing witness. Listen, you are a child of God. And you, like this, this is just a very small sliver of what eternity in heaven is going to be like, when God will be with them, and God will be near them, and God will be close to you, and He will hold you, and then He will walk with you as close as you can possibly imagine. His time is no more, and eternity goes on forever. And the Spirit of God leads us, and He frees us, and He confirms to us we're His children. He adopted us, and the inheritance is everything in heaven, but more than that, God Himself, close to us. Congratulations on your adoption. [Applause]