This morning I invite you to turn with me to Romans 8, Romans 8, as we read together the first 17 verses, consider in a particular way verses 16 and 17. Romans 8, 1 through 17, and especially 16 and 17, in connection with our confession in the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 20, if you would turn to page 27. Page 27 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. Moving along in our consideration of what it is we confess with the Apostles' Creed. Turning now to the third section, the third person of the Blessed Trinity. We recite together answer 53. Question 53 asks, What do you believe concerning the Holy Spirit? First, He, as well as the Father and the Son, is eternal God. Second, He has been given to me personally, so that by true faith, He makes me share in Christ and all His blessings, comforts me, and remains with me forever. Romans 8, beginning at verse 1, as we hear now the Word of God. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. and so he condemns sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires The mind of sinful man is death. But the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship, and by Him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings, in order that we may also share in His glory. Well, dear people of God, we believe in God, the triune God. That's what we confess, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe in Him. Maybe you've noticed when we recite the Apostles' Creed together, unless it's become so familiar to you, but we say, I believe in God the Father. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. I believe in the Holy Spirit. We place our faith and trust in God alone. When it comes to the other things that we confess, as we will, connected with this third section, for example, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, we don't say we believe in those things. We don't put our faith in them. We simply say, or we should say, I believe the communion of the saints. I believe the Holy Catholic Church. I believe the forgiveness of sins. In other words, I believe those things are real and true for me. But we place our faith and trust in God alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And of course, we emphasize Holy Spirit because we consider the Holy Spirit this morning in the place that we are at in the catechism, but even more so because of what the catechism says. Because He too, as well as the Father and the Son, He too is eternal God. That's what the Bible teaches. Now boys and girls, maybe you remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament early in the book of Acts. They went like many people and sold property and they came and they said that they brought all the money. They were giving all the money to the church. But they weren't. They were lying. And Peter makes it clear that they lied to the Holy Spirit and then he gets even more specific and says, you lied to God. He is eternal God. Yet sometimes the Holy Spirit is treated, and maybe we as Reformed people are more guilty of this than some, because it's not so much by our Pentecostal brothers and sisters, but especially by us in the Reform camp, the Holy Spirit is oftentimes treated as the lesser of the three persons, as if He is third in importance. But He is not third in importance. Logically, we speak first of all of the Father and our creation, the Son and our redemption, and then third, the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. But that very point, the Holy Spirit and our sanctification, that very point tells us, or it should tell us, that the Holy Spirit is no less important than the Father and the Son, but is every bit as important. Because without the Holy Spirit, beloved, there would be no application of the work of Jesus Christ to you and me. And therefore, without the Holy Spirit, there would be no church because without the Holy Spirit, no one could believe, no one would believe, no one would confess Jesus Christ. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, it is only because of the Holy Spirit. Not by power, my power, not by my might, but only by the work of the Holy Spirit. And the Bible clearly teaches us in many places about the power and the amazing work, the powerful and the amazing work of the Holy Spirit. Paul, in verse 2, speaks of the law of the Spirit of life, pointing to the operative power of the Holy Spirit. His power to regenerate. He unites believers to the risen Christ. He sanctifies. He enlightens. He transforms. He gives God's people, you and me, He gives us exactly what we need to serve God. And so much more the Bible talks about. And all of this then undergirds, supports what Paul teaches in this text. something most wonderful, as Paul teaches, of the Holy Spirit's powerful testimony. And it's a powerful testimony, first of all, of our certainty as children. And in the second place, of our identity as heirs. You see, Paul, after reminding his readers, and you and me even today, in chapters 6 and 7, after reminding us of our sinfulness, And our continual struggle with sin, which we need to know about, which we need to be fully aware of, Paul then in chapter 8, from beginning to end, gives this most awesome sermon of the Christians without a doubt, assurance and hope in Jesus Christ. Because Paul knows that is what is to fill the mind and the heart of the child of God, this without a doubt, assurance and hope in Jesus Christ, an assurance and a hope which He knew and He teaches is worked only one way. And that is by the powerful testimony of the Holy Spirit who testifies again, first of all, of our certainty as children. Verse 16, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. And John in 1 John 3 says, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are. It is so certain, it is so true, that God in His inspired Word says it this way. That is what we are. We are children of the Heavenly Father. And we are His children for Jesus' sake. Paul points out early in chapter 8 because of what Christ did. We couldn't do it, but because of what Christ did. The one who taught us to pray our Father who art in heaven. In Romans chapter 5 verse 8, Paul says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And just a verse or so later, he talks about the fact that we were God's enemies. But because of what Christ has done for us, and that work applied to you and me by the Holy Spirit, we enjoy a new relationship with God. We are no longer His enemies because the reasons for being His enemies has been removed by Christ. And therefore, in regeneration, the Holy Spirit gives new life. He gives new spiritual eyes. He gives a new will. He gives a new direction. We are brought to see and believe the truth of ourselves, as hideous as that may be. But then also we are brought to see the truth of Jesus Christ and what He has done. And then the Holy Spirit, He confirms that in our heart. That we are children of God. And we are His children by adoption. Boys and girls, you probably all know what adoption is. When a child is taken from one family for whatever reason or from no family at all and placed into another family. And that's what happened to believers. That's what the Holy Spirit has done. we no longer belong to the father of lies, Satan. We no longer belong in that atmosphere of the curse. But because we have been delivered by the blood of Jesus, because our sins have been forgiven, and we have been given Christ's righteousness, the Holy Spirit has brought us into a new family, the family of God, and into a new atmosphere, the atmosphere of grace. That's objectively true. Again, that's what John was talking about. And this is what we are. It's what the Bible teaches about us. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are saved, and therefore you are a child of God. But it's also subjectively true. It's not only something that's true about us, but it's something that is true in us, and not just a feeling, but a confidence that you and I are to have. because the Holy Spirit, by the Word of God, inwardly persuades you and me that we belong there. We belong in that family. Not because we deserve it, but because of Jesus Christ. God does not leave us wondering, beloved, if Christ's work is for me. He doesn't leave us hanging on some hopeful possibility that it might be true for me. But the Holy Spirit testifies to the certainty of it. And the effect of this, as Jesus points out in Matthew 12, He says, For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, and therefore because of the testimony of the Holy Spirit to your heart and my heart, the believer confidently cries out, Abba, Father. The same thing Jesus said when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Abba, Father. Mark records this. If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. Abba, Father. With Christ, we call Him our Father. And we may have the comfort that all of His fatherly love and care and protection and provision is for us. And we are called to respond then with the certainty that we are children of the Heavenly Father, Not only of the Heavenly Father, but also for the Heavenly Father. That's what Paul points out too in this portion of Scripture. What we are called to do. You see, evidence of adoption, evidence of being an adopted child of God, is then being led by the Holy Spirit. That's evidence of being an adopted child of God. The Holy Spirit helps believers, as Paul says in verse 13, put to death the misdeeds of the body. That is to be the result of a born-again heart. The Holy Spirit transforms the entire life of the child of God. And we know that His sanctifying work is a work in progress. Each one of us is a work in progress. But He is busy. He is busy making us to be children for the Heavenly Father, renewing our minds. Paul says in chapter 12, verse 2, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. That's our old pattern. That's what we used to want. That's what we used to enjoy. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And the Holy Spirit renews our minds by the study of and meditation upon the Word of God and applying that to us. And as He renews our minds, He also stirs our hearts to hunger and thirst for righteousness, as Jesus says in Matthew 5, that we might find delight in the law of God with love for God above all. That's one of the tests, a major test of whether or not you have the Holy Spirit. How do you answer this question? Do I truly love God? Do I truly love God? Your answer to that is evidence of whether or not you have the Holy Spirit. He renews our minds, He stirs our hearts, and He then directs our will so that we not only delight in the law of God, but it is our very purpose to do it. Paul says in verse 5 of chapter 8, Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. And Paul says in Philippians 2, Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling as He makes us children for the Heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit, renews our minds, He stirs our hearts, He directs our wills so that God's purpose becomes my purpose. And the bottom line, then, is that children of God live for the Heavenly Father. They desire to share in the family resemblance, to imitate our Heavenly Father and our elder brother, and to do so today in this life. Again, we know that that is a work in progress. But part of the Holy Spirit's work of renewing us and stirring us and directing us includes the Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin that I continue to struggle with. He brings me to confess that sin before God, even as he continues to cleanse me by his power. But Paul makes it clear that the Holy Spirit's powerful testimony is also forward-looking. As in the second place, it is a testimony of our identity as heirs. Verse 17, Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings, in order that we may also share in His glory. If, then. If we are children, then we are heirs. The two go together, not to be separated. A child is an heir, an heir. Boys and girls is one who is in line, for an inheritance. Inheritance, for example, that parents might leave to their children. Something passed on from generation to generation. Isaac, you know, was Abraham's heir. Abraham left all of his riches, his earthly riches, to Isaac. Children of God are heirs of God who has an inheritance ready and waiting for his believers. Now, in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul says, No eye has seen, nor ear heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit's powerful testimony points to our identity as heirs and shows us by faith the glory of that inheritance that God has prepared. And we are then co-heirs with Christ who as the God-man obtained that inheritance for us that we might share in it. And we know. We know that that inheritance is secure because, again, of the Holy Spirit Himself. The Bible says, Paul says in two places, that the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. And he clarifies what is to come in Ephesians 1 when he calls it an inheritance. The Holy Spirit is a deposit of that. It's secure. We don't have to worry about that. Yet, Paul needs us to know that there is a unique path for you and me on the way to that inheritance. You see, the mark of being an heir is evidenced by suffering. Suffering is the evidence of being an heir. That's puzzling to the world. It might be puzzling to some of us here, but for sure it is puzzling to the world that claims that that's contrary to Christ's purpose. It doesn't make sense. Didn't He come to save? Didn't He come to deliver? Didn't He come to help? The world would say. Well, suffering doesn't fit with that. That doesn't make sense because all those things point to deliverance from suffering, don't they? And even some evangelists preach a health and wealth gospel that if you are suffering, that is evidence, they say, of no faith or at the very least, it's evidence of a lack of faith. But you see, beloved, our identity, your identity and my identity as an heir of God and a co-heir of Christ is not based on being healthy, wealthy and wise as the psalmist in Psalm 73 found out. If that were the case, there are many an unbeliever out there who would be considered to be heirs and there would be many believers who would have missed the boat. Our identity as heirs is not based on whether you and I are well-liked in this life, whether we are prosperous or anything of this life. But suffering as believers, even though it's puzzling to the world, and even though that suffering is a tool that Satan uses to try to convince you and me that God doesn't love you. Can't you see the evidence? Yet suffering as believers is proof of union with Christ. Now Paul, possibly and most likely intentionally, points to the Roman practice of adoption in order to demonstrate the beauty and the security of what believers have in Christ Jesus. That Roman practice of adoption made all children, even the adopted children, along with the natural children, made them equal heirs, no distinction. And therefore, even the adopted children, along with the natural, were entitled not only to the rights and privileges, they were entitled to those, but also to the burdens. As co-heirs with Christ, we are entitled indeed to the rights and privileges of sons of God. But also we are entitled to the burdens. The path to glory involves a cross. It involves suffering. Jesus said, those who would come after me must take up their cross and follow me. But now we need to understand the suffering a little bit. Paul, when he talks about sharing in Christ's sufferings is not saying that we are to go out and find suffering for Jesus' sake. That we are to go out and look for it. That we are to wake up in the morning and think to ourselves, well, I wonder what I'm going to do today that I might suffer. What can I do? We don't have to go out and find it. Because suffering will find one who believes in and lives for Jesus Christ. And Paul is also not talking about all suffering. For example, he's not talking about suffering because of our own sin. The suffering that might come upon us because of our sin. Peter says, it is better if it is God's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. And when Peter talks about sharing in Christ's suffering, he is also not talking about suffering as Jesus suffered. His suffering was one of a kind. It was unique. It was for a particular purpose. It was to satisfy God's wrath against sin. Yours and mine. Something only He could do. Our suffering doesn't even begin to compare. When Paul talks about sharing in Christ's sufferings, he is talking about suffering for Jesus' sake. Suffering because of your and my testimony to the truth of Jesus Christ. And the Bible is clear that it will happen. It's guaranteed to happen. Jesus said in John chapter 16, in this world you will have trouble. Paul in 2 Timothy 3 says, in fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Jesus Christ will be persecuted. We will suffer with Him. 2 Corinthians 1.5 The sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives. Again, Jesus, John 15, If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. Peter again, 1 Peter 4. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ. And again, Jesus suffered as the truth. He suffered as the perfectly sinless and righteous and holy One. And therefore, those who identify with Jesus by putting on Christ, by desiring to please Him, by striving to live according to God's Word and His law of love, they will be hated by the world because all of that completely contradicts the world and the pattern of the world and the things that the world holds dear. Yet those who suffer for Jesus' sake are blessed. That's what Jesus says in Matthew 5. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. He says, blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. And it's clear that the apostles especially understood that blessing. They counted it a blessing. In Acts chapter 5, we read that the apostles rejoiced because they were counted worthy of suffering, disgrace for the name. Of suffering because they were identified with Jesus Christ. They counted it a wonderful thing. And the Bible, we know, is full of examples of suffering for Jesus. Peter and John were jailed. Stephen was killed. Paul, you name it. He endured it all, even to the point of death. And beyond the biblical record, we think of those in church history. Polycarp, the student of the Apostle John. John Huss, the reformer. Guido de Bray, the author of the Belgic Confession. And many today, believe it or not, martyred, put to death because of their faith in Jesus Christ. I receive a magazine, Voice of the Martyrs, and some of the stories in there are really horrendous. People today, our brothers and sisters in Christ, even today in some parts of the world, are being brutally tortured and raped and even put to death. Because of their testimony for Jesus Christ. And you know what? They rejoice in it. They rejoice because they are counted worthy of suffering for the sake of Jesus. How about us? If you're like me, as I've struggled with this sermon, I've felt a bit guilty. Number one, I don't like to suffer. And number two, as far as I know, my life has never been on the line. For the sake of my faith, my head has never been on a chopping block an instant from death unless I would renounce my testimony for Jesus Christ. And in so many other ways, I don't feel like I suffer. Someone has said, it's not suffering that you ought to worry about as a Christian. But if you claim to be a Christian and you are not suffering for Jesus' sake in some way, that's what we ought to worry about. And the truth is, beloved, here for us in this day and age, we don't suffer, not nearly like those in the early church and those in Reformation history. God has not called upon us to do that. We ought to be thankful for that. But God's people do suffer. There are those who have lost their jobs because they were not willing to give up the Lord's Day of Worship to go to work. There are those who are ridiculed because they say no to participating in crooked business deals or because they refuse to marry an unbeliever. God's people often get the eyes of the world rolled at them in various situations because believers stand up for the truth. They strive to live honestly for Jesus' sake and do what is right. Boys and girls, people will laugh at you if the clerk gives you too much money back from the cash register and you turn around and say, No, this is too much. I'll give it back. Some would laugh at you and say, That's crazy. It was their mistake. not yours? Christians are judged by the very fact that they call themselves Christians. And we know, too, especially in our day, that Christians face the pressures of conforming to the world's standards with regard to homosexuality and abortion and animal rights and adultery and all kinds of things like that. Things that are totally against the Word of God. And what strikes me, especially in these days, is the viciousness. The viciousness of those who have no use for Christian values and their viciousness against those who are trying to uphold Christian values. I've heard it on interviews on the radio. You see it on their face on TV. You can see the hatred in their face. You can hear it in their rhetoric, in their words, in the expletives they use. They rarely say anything intelligent. But it's all just spitting forth hatred. It reminds me of Stephen when he was killed. Those who put him to death, we read, that they were furious. They gnashed their teeth at him. And the idea is like animals with rabies. They were snapping. Made no sense. But just snapping hatred at him. But when we do suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ, beloved, how do we respond? Do we rejoice? Do we consider it an honor? or do we try to get away from it and put an end to it? One thing we do know, beloved, is that when God's people are called upon to suffer for Jesus' sake, the Holy Spirit is given to us to strengthen and comfort you and me. Isaiah 43, there the Lord says, when you pass through the rivers and through the waters, and when you walk through the fire, and no doubt that's talking about more than suffering, specifically for Jesus' sake, it's talking about suffering as well because of sin in the world, but when you face these things, you're going to be fine, the Lord says. You're going to be fine. Trust me. Because I will be with you. You are mine. You belong to me because Christ has purchased you. That's all we need. Indeed, we enjoy promises for this life. We enjoy the Holy Spirit who is with us in trouble, who provides inner peace in times of turmoil and who ministers comfort to you and me when we are in distress. That Spirit who will never leave us. He's been given to us as a deposit. The point is that you and I may not escape trouble. We might not. We might not escape suffering, but we will be given grace to get through it. And we know too that whatever suffering we might be called upon to bear, it serves the purpose of refining the child, the heir of God. As Peter says, to prove that one's faith is genuine. And it is the path. that the believer will travel by which the believer will take hold of that glory earned by Christ for me. Our identity as heirs, beloved, is evidenced by suffering, but it is also, Paul makes clear, guaranteed with glory. The fact that we are heirs, we have that confidence because it's guaranteed with glory. Verse 17 again, Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. That too is the testimony of Scripture just as much as the testimony that we will suffer for Jesus' sake. Some of those very same verses that we quoted that talk about that include this guarantee of glory. For example, when Jesus in Matthew 5 says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake and those who suffer because of my sake. He says, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And he says, great is your reward in heaven. And when Peter says, but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, he adds, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. In the very next verse in Romans 8, which we did not read, Paul says, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Paul should have known. I would imagine he suffered about as bad or worse than anybody else ever suffered. And he is saying there, no matter how bad that suffering may be, no matter how much it might hurt, no matter how troubling it is for you, don't worry. Because what is coming, what God has prepared for you and me, what Jesus Christ has earned for you and me, it doesn't even compare with that because that is so wonderful. All that inheritance. We know that we look forward to it in all of its fullness one day in glory. It's an inheritance that will never perish, spoil, or fade. It is eternal. yet we enjoy it already today. It is ours by the very fact that the Holy Spirit is ours and He comforts us and He leads us. But we look forward to the full possession of it and that inheritance, beloved, includes that we will be glorified body and soul, made like unto Christ's glorified body. It includes a heavenly home, especially for them, then, who are made like Christ. It includes a heavenly banquet, again, something we can't even begin to imagine, but that marriage feast of the Lamb. It includes ruling with Christ, and most of all, it includes heavenly fellowship with God Himself. And that inheritance, beloved, is fully satisfying. The psalmist in Psalm 16.6 says, The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. Earthly inheritance often tears families apart. Maybe some of you have been affected by that. As sons and daughters argue and bicker and fight and begin to hate each other over the things that mom and dad left behind, forgetting about the fact that there's a good reason they left them behind. Because you can't take it with you. But that heavenly inheritance draws the family of God together. And God's people desire all their brothers and sisters to share together in it. Oh, beloved, we have full confidence in the truth of being children of God, of being heirs of God, and of sharing in the suffering and the glory of Jesus Christ, all because the Holy Spirit of God makes our heart His home, His temple. He opens our heart and eyes to see and believe the truth of the only Savior, Jesus Christ, and He confirms that I belong to Him. that you and I are in that family. And he therefore then gives courage to suffer for Christ, and he gives unexplainable joy in suffering for Jesus. God's children are given the confidence that we share in Christ and all his blessings, that he is with me forever. That is the comfort of those who are brought into the family of God by faith. Indeed, the Holy Spirit of God is somewhat mysterious, yet we must confess, yet He is so real. How do we know? Well, on the one hand, the existence of the true church is proof of that, but even more, if you believe in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, that is particular proof for you that He has been given to you personally so that by true faith He makes you share in Christ and all His blessings comforts you and remains with you forever. I praise God for the gift of the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus Christ and His salvation real and true for me too. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise Your name for pouring out upon us Your Holy Spirit as our Lord Jesus Christ promised, that He would come to be our Comforter. to lead your people into all truth, to prepare your people for the day of Christ Jesus, to build your church. And Father, we know that we are not worthy of having the blessing of the Holy Spirit, yet we thank you and praise you that you have given him to us to lead us and guide us. And we pray, Holy Spirit of God, that you would continue your sanctifying work that more and more day by day you would mold us and shape us after your will we thank you for the certainty that is ours that we are children of God that we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus Christ something that will not end when we take our last breath in this life but something that is ours forever and ever we praise your most holy name our God the great triune God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in whose name we pray, Amen.