Beloved radio, friends, we greet you in the ever-precious and the worthy name of our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We welcome you again to the Bible study, and particularly the subject we are now considering in relation to the family of God. May I make it very distinctly clear, as we make reference to the family of God, we are speaking of God's redeemed children. those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus those who have put their trust and faith in the finished work of Christ those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit these are the children of God for we are all the children of God through faith which is in Christ Jesus wrote the Apostle Paul in Galatians three verse twenty six at this particular time we're considering From the first epistle of Peter, chapter one, verses thirteen down through verse twenty-one, we are considering the Father's government, all in another word, the Father's discipline in relation to his family. My radio listener, if you were a Christian, have you ever considered that as a child of God You are under the disciplinary action of your Father who is in heaven, and so am I. And we have a Father who will never fail to discipline his own. We go then immediately to our Scripture portion and refer to what we have touched upon in the preceding message in verse thirteen through sixteen very quickly. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation or the appearing of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, all manner of living, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Here we have the call to holy living. God the Father requiring His children to be like Him in the character and the conduct of their lives. Beloved, may I remind you, this is our responsibility. We shall never be sinlessly perfect in this scene, and though I am aware that some of my listening friends may believe in what is called sinless perfection, while in this present body, to which I must disagree, not believing the Scriptures teach it. For if there were such a thing as being sinlessly perfect, may I raise the question, then why would it ever be necessary for the Father to discipline his own? The only time the Father needs to discipline and chasten as its children is when we are disobedient. And there would be no need for the Father to exhort us to be obedient children. And I'm sure that every one of us who knows something a family life, and particularly if we are parents, do we not have to encourage, exhort, as well as admonish our children in the flesh, to be obedient, and thus to seek to live and fulfill their responsibilities? If they were perfect, we never would have to do that. Now likewise in the family of God. God knows that his child will not reach the perfection of sinlessness until the Lord Jesus comes and takes that child of his from the earth and brings that one redeemed by his grace into everlasting glory. Then we shall be perfectly in the character holy and without blame before the Father in love. But while here upon the earth, the Father has to keep exhorting us to be obedient, to be obedient. Let me repeat it. I too need the admonition from God's word constantly, the words of my Father, the words of his beloved Son, the words of his beloved Holy Spirit, to remind me I should be obedient, and that I should seek to confirm my character and my conduct after the character of my Father who is holy. Now we go on to verse seventeen today. We would like to read this seventeen verse very carefully and analyze it. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons, meaning without partiality, He judges according to every man's word. Then pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Now as you please note these words, they are addressed to those who call on the Father. And may I again remind my listeners, unless you are a child of God, you cannot address God as your Father. The so-called Lord's Prayer, which we value, beginning with those words that the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to say, Our Father, who art in heaven. The most important words in that prayer are the first two. And particularly the first pronoun beginning the prayer, Our Father. God is not the Father of all men in that relationship as Father to children. God is only the Father of those who have believed upon his Son. God is only the Father of those who have been born into his family by the new birth. And therefore, those of us who call upon him and have the privilege, the right, as well as the authority to address him as our Father, we are reminded, we who call upon him as such, we are reminded, without any partiality, the Father judges us. judging every man's word. Now, may I emphasize, this is not a future judgment to which the beloved Apostle Peter is referring. It is a present judgment. It is not future. It is a continuous judgment. For the Father, watching carefully, watching minutely, watching constantly, is ever concerned about the conduct of his children, May I repeat, for my own blessing and health and admonition, as well as for yours, my beloved Christian friend, you and I are always under the constant watching and care of our Father in heaven above. And He is watching, He is discerning, He is judging what we are, He is judging what we do. And it is a righteous judgment, and it is a judgment wherein he shows no partiality at all, without respect of persons. It matters not who his child might be, but only because he is his child. And the basis of that judgment is not according to who we may be, but really what we are doing. Note the words, he judgeth according to every man's word. Now let me present three facts, repeating as I may what we have already said briefly. It is the Father's judgment upon our conduct. And it is a present judgment, not a future one, a constant present judgment that the Father discerns the manner of life which we are living. And it is a righteous judgment without any partiality to any child of God. And the basis of that judgment according to every man's work, implying according to the work of each. My beloved Christian friend, and I speak directly to my fellow believers in Christ, every word that you say and that I say, every thought that you think and which I may do, every deed that you perform and which I may, every motive Of your heart and life and my heart of life, the Father is discerning. May I quote the words that are found in Hebrews chapter four, verse twelve and thirteen. For the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divining asunder of the soul and the spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Now note the next words in Hebrews four thirteen. For all things are open and naked to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. My beloved fellow Christian, I say not these words to any unbeliever particularly, though it is true of men, but particularly to the children of God. Everything that you and I say and think and do as well as the motive behind it all, in our hearts and in our lives, the Father judges and he discerns. And thus we may certainly recognize the admonition, fitting admonition at the end of verse seventeen, his words of warning, encouragement, and exhortation to all the children in the family. Because we call him Father, And because he constantly is watching our conduct and governing our behavior, noting what it is, Peter writes, by the Spirit, past the time of your sojourning here in fear. Now note these words. Now please, may I state immediately, this is not suggesting, no suggestion at all is it, that we should be afraid of our Father. But this is a godly fear. This is in godly reverence that we are commanded to pass the time of our life down here. Fear of what? Fear of grieving the great heart of our beloved Father above who loves us. Fear that springs from the very fact we are conscious our Father is holy. I heard, to my joy, of a young man who was invited by his companions to perform or to share with them in some deed of wrongdoing and when he refused to go along with them in it he was asked by his companions why not and he answered and to which I praise God he had the courage to do so I am afraid of displeasing my father I reverence my father and I know my father and I love him, and I know my father would not want me to participate in what you are going to do. My beloved, is not that true for the children of God to realize? May God grant we shall, and thus remember, we should fear to grieve him. Father, we pray, in the name of the Lord Jesus, the truth we have covered will be sanctified for the glory of the Lord and the blessing of his people. Amen.