and particularly the emphasis that seems to be increasing these days on the need of many saints who are taken with illness and many other problems of health. One cannot help but remember when the Lord Jesus came the first time to the earth, only to the land of Israel, there was a multiplied existence of diseases, sicknesses, sorrows, and even the power of Satan through demons. When he came the first time, I sometimes believe that today the increasing number of sicknesses, and I mean directly among the saints, is an indication of the coming of the Lord Jesus the second time. From the words of Malachi chapter four, We read that when he shall come, he will be the son of righteousness with healing in his wings. There is the prophecy in Isaiah chapter thirty-three and twenty-four, which declares very emphatically that when the Lord Jesus comes back, there is a statement that is very precious. the inhabitant in that day when it is upon the earth shall not say I am sick and there will not only be physical healing there will be spiritual healing as well so beloved let's be patient wait upon the Lord and pray for one another and for the saints that are suffering in these days that we might do so for the glory of God waiting for the coming of our Savior tonight will you turn in your Bible to John chapter eleven I would like to read first of all a short section in this eleven chapter of the Gospel according to John in connection with our subject we began last week and may I repeat some of the facts that we understood from the word of God on the last occasion together regarding the revelation of God may I humbly but very earnestly say the revelation of God is a wonderful truth that he reveals himself one well wrote the words in the past century to know this mighty being is the noblest aim of under human understanding and there is no question of doubt to know God is the greatest education any man, woman, boy and girl could ever possess but as we noted last week the revelation of God in the Old Testament was progressive there were certain revelations of himself from age to age and time to time but we emphasize particularly there never was a revelation of God in the Old Testament as it is now revealed in the New Testament emphasizing the particular fact quoting the words of John chapter one and verse eighteen no man has seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he has declared him then quoting also in Matthew eleven and verse twenty seven we learn from the lips of the Lord Jesus himself no man knoweth the Son but the Father then he added neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him so that we are indeed upon safe ground from the Holy Scriptures to declare God who is not and was not known in the Old Testament as Father in that intimate relationship which is now revealed in the New Testament. Let me repeat again. We found there were particularly only five to six occasions in the Old Testament the reference to God as Father. Every one of them I believe in relation to his creatorial power as the creator of men and women. But in the New Testament, tis the revelation of his heart as Father and revealed only by the coming of the Son of God into this world. And we thank God as we saw. You recalled it in John chapter fourteen. The joy we have in knowing that the Lord Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh under the Father but by me. And we found in the New Testament, or we mentioned in the New Testament, and let me repeat it, for the sake of emphasis, there are two hundred and fifty-seven times the Father is mentioned by that title. forty-three times in the Gospel of Matthew five times in the Gospel of Luke or Mark rather twenty-three times in the Gospel of Luke or sixteen times in the Gospel of Luke and one hundred and fourteen times in the Gospel of Matthew of John and seventy-nine in the rest of the New Testament totaling two hundred and fifty-seven times Father Now why is there such a revelation? What was in the heart of the Father that he should be thus revealed with that intimate relationship, Father, to those of this present age? Let me read with you in John's Gospel chapter eleven, very briefly, a short portion beginning at verse forty-seven. Where there is an occasion, just before the Lord Jesus was taken prisoner, when the Sanhedrin gathered together to plot his death, the raiding of Lazarus from the dead angered the rulers in a great way. They believed that the Roman government, if the people followed this Messiah, as he was so called, this prophet from Nazareth, that the Roman government would take their nation away and destroy them entirely but now we read and note carefully then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council and said what do we for this man doeth many miracles if we let him thus alone all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the nation or for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. Now note the next words carefully. As John writes, this spake he not of or from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation. Let me please make it very evident, as this man bitter as he was in his soul, rascal as he was in his character, plodding as he was, the death of the Son of God, was speaking in official capacity, which John recognized and acknowledged being the official high priest in that year for the nation. So that he was making a prophecy, though he knew it not, regarding the death of Jesus. But now note verse fifty-two particularly. Now these are the words that John adds. Kaiaphas never spoke these words, but John by the Spirit adds, saying, Not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Take the words in, by the Holy Spirit written, that dolde occasion was a damaging one in relation of the Blessed Lord Jesus. Yet the words of the high priest were a prophecy far greater than he realized that God had the desire of gathering together children for himself from all over the earth. Now go with me to the Ephesian Epistle Chapter One, if you please, in your Bibles. the first chapter of the Ephesian epistle and let us see the mind and the heart of God relative to this wonderful fact Ephesians chapter one for I'm sure we can safely say and let it repeat it with emphasis as well as with joy the desire of the heart of God was to do something that had never been done before in human history gather a family of children for himself who could address him and know him in the intimacy of father now let me pause for just a moment before reading in chapter one of Ephesians going back to the text of John chapter one and verse eighteen no man has seen God at any time the only begotten Son and forget not John alone writes concerning that title concerning the Son of God as being the only begotten Son of God but the only begotten Son who is an eternal fact in the bosom of the Father He has declared him or made him known. Now let me point out very carefully, I trust you will take him in. It's very difficult to take it in. How long was the Son in the bosom of the Father before he came to the earth? You cannot name it. It was an eternal existence. For he had no beginning. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning. That dateless beginning, a time in eternity passed, you and I cannot fathom. And he was in the bosom, listening, enjoying, fellowshiping, in all things, with his father's heart. And yet here we have the joy of reading. The Father wanted his family of children to be increased. Let's go to chapter one then of Ephesians and Epistle. Let me begin reading at verse three. And reading down only if I may through the end of verse six. Paul by the Spirit declaring, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who? have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According is he have chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestinated or predetermined us onto the place or the adoption of a place of sonship which be the better translation by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace. And accepted, thank God, therein he hath made us, and therein he hath made us, wherein he hath made us, accepted in the beloved. Now let us pause for a few moments together. reflecting upon the desire of the Father's heart to have children note first of all beginning in verse four particularly after the benediction that Paul writes he speaks of that blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ saying according as he has chosen us in him that is in Christ when before the world began, who have chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Beloved, will you travel with me in your mind and heart and soul to where the Spirit of God takes us before the foundation of the world? And beloved, recognize There's no one but God could ever tell you anything about that. What took place before the foundation of the world. No human intellect and human science and human knowledge could ever in a factual way tell us what existed before the foundation of the world. But here you have the thought. The Father. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whom Paul eulogizes. Choosing. You and me, my beloved fellow believer. You and I. Before the foundation of the world. And choosing us where? In Christ. In Christ. Hold the divine purpose. To have it with him. in Christ please let me state again recognize you don't have this in the Old Testament only in your New Testament only in relation to the age of the church if you please in Christ chosen before the foundation of the world my beloved Apply it personally. The Father was thinking of you. He was thinking of me. Wanting us to be in Christ before him. But now read on in that same verse please. Go further and realize what he has furthermore to say. According as he hath chosen as in him before the foundation of the world. And note that we should be wholly and without blame. Pause for a moment. What kind of children did he desire? What kind of children did he intend to have? In the same character with his son, holy and without blame before him. my beloved what a joy it is to be able to say may I be reminded with you how did we become his children we think of the words of John in chapter one verse twelve and thirteen but to as many as received him that is Christ to then gave he the authority the power the right the privilege to be called the sons or the children of God even to them that believe on his name. And that everyone who has done so will be holy and without blame before him. May I pause again and reflect in the fact that everyone that he desired, intended to receive would be holy and without blame before him. into purity and holiness of character he desired. You do not wonder that you read in First Peter chapter one as well as the quotation from the Old Testament. But in First Peter relative to the family of God, be as obedient children. Be ye holy for I am holy, saith the Lord. But here's the divine purpose. To be before him. In that day when we shall be before him forever and with him forever. Holy without blame. But then will you please also notice the last two words in that one verse. Holy without blame before him. How? In love. Pause for a moment. God wants you and me. each one of his children and intends in that day of glory when he receives his family holy and without blame before him in love now may I raise the question what do you know about the love of God what do I know about but may I be careful and emphasize this fact. There's a distinction between God's love for the world and God's love for his family. God's love for his family is the Father's love. Deeper, richer, more glorious, more precious than his love for the world. But did the Lord Jesus say in chapter sixteen of John I think it's in verse twenty-seven. The Father himself loveth you. He did say God so loved her, wouldn't you? He said, now he loves you as the Father. My beloved, think it. You may rejoice in lightly thinking and say, God loves me. So look, if you're his child, you've got a Father's love. Is that deeper? Is that richer? Is that more glorious and precious? The Father himself loveth you. Because you have loved me, said the Lord Jesus, and believed that he sent me. Beloved, I submit to your heart and to mine own. It's not just the love of God, precious as that is. It's the love of a Father. Now let me ask a question. Can you tell how much the father loves his son? But such is his love to you and me. As one well wrote, So near, so very near to God, that nearer I cannot be. For in the person of his son I am as near as he. So dear, so very dear to God, more dear I cannot be. The love wherewith he loves his son. Such is his love to me. Beloved, can I say it again? It's not just the love of God. It's better. It's greater. It's more intimate. The love of a father. You and I who are earthly fathers can understand that. You and I who are earthly mothers. The love that we have for our own. And who can measure the love of God? Now, please let me be reminded with you about this statement. You know what John wrote in I John four, I believe, verse eight. He said, God is what? Love. And my beloved, when you and I came to the Father, we got in a notion of love. So deep. So broad. Exhaustness. Soundness. We came under the love of the Father. Now let me quote first John three, verse one, how appropriate. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons or the children of God. What manner of love? Let me say again. Let me quote the verse. I'll re-quote it again and note the difference. Behold what manner of love God hath bestowed upon? No. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of the children of God. Now go back to our scripture in Ephesians one and go further. as we find ourselves in that love of the Father forever? No, verse nine. Having predestined, verse five rather, having predestinated us or predetermined. And don't worry about the word predestination. Never will I forget that he goes back sixty years, I believe. Listening to AC Gabeline, a good Bible teacher, one of the best of his day. Speaking from this very scripture, if I recall correctly, he had a lady come to him on this asking about the teaching of predestination she was troubled about its meaning and there are many today that are not knowing the meaning of it but he said to her lady predestination is none of your business your business is to believe on the logics of Christ and be designated the right way and whenever you read a predestination It's got nothing to do with the unsaved. It's all as relationship to the saved people. There are future blessings. That which belongs to the believer. Having predestinated them. And note these words. Onto the adoption of children. Now may I correct the rendering again from the Greek text. Onto the sonship. Onto the place of sonship. My beloved look. to make us like Christ. Sons. Not servants merely. Not angels. And may I say again, you don't find it in the Old Testament that the saints became sons of God. And beloved, it should make your heart and my heart bow in worship. Adoration and perhaps in shame that we don't realize the glorious calling to be made sons. Now don't bother with the word adoption. It doesn't mean being adopted. We're more than adopted. We're born in the family. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. my beloved please let me say you've got it in John one verse twelve thirteen and fourteen as the apostle wrote there being born not of the will of the flesh of the will of man but of God not of the human blood born of God and Peter corroborating in first Peter chapter one verse twenty three born of interoperable seed by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever My beloved, let me humbly say, I need it to humble my known heart and bow me in worship and appreciation more for what the Father has done. May be a son. So that we can say with John, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons or the children of God. and notice he goes on further to the adoption of a place of sonship by Jesus Christ oh my beloved you could get to the Father without him and we didn't by Jesus Christ he's the way the truth and the life no man cometh under the Father but exclusively by me oh What a purpose. Do you wonder that he sent the Son into the world? It's the only way he could do it. Well, read on, we find that out as you read and go on to say. And note, to not only by Jesus Christ, to bring us where? To himself. To himself. Beloved. You remember the words of the Lord Jesus in John fourteen three? when he said I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also but oh the whole purpose is this he's going to bring us to the Father in John in Hebrews rather chapter two you have the quotation from the Old Testament in Hebrews chapter two saying and it will happen physically And practically, in a coming day when the Lord Jesus gathers us to himself, he'll bring us to the Father and say, Behold, I am the children whom thou has given me. Read John XVII all the way through at the end of the prayer particular. He's praying for us to be with the Father and share the glory that he has with the Father and the Father has given him and so on. And here you have it, to bring us to himself. My beloved Lord. Let me go back to John one, eighteen again. No man has seen God at any time. But here, you and I in this age of grace, every redeemed and born again person is going to be brought to himself. Oh, beloved, what a joy it is. And please go on to read, according to the good pleasure of Israel. Now you may ask the question, why? Well, none of your business. I wanted you. I wanted you. I long for you. I say again, please talk about a earthly father wanting children. Look at the heavenly father. wanting us and the amazing thing where he wants to gather us from out of a world of sin is lost and yet to bring us to himself through his beloved and blessed son what a father let me pause again I wish we could fathom more than we do The persons of the Godhead. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. Please may I say lovingly. They are persons. The Father is a person. The Son is a person. And the Holy Spirit is a person. As you may well know from your Bible. And they have a relationship one with another. in the garden and in unity and co-equal and co-eternal and there is a bond of eternal love and yet here we read the father wanted us and you go on to read the rest of the chapter down to verse twelve you find the son redeemed us and the holy spirit sealed us when we believed so that you can recognize god wanted us according to the good pleasure of Not your will, his will. That's all you can say. I often wonder at the words in the Old Testament when God said through Moses to the people of Israel, I have loved you because I've loved you. Have you ever had your children, if you had children, and they come up to you and bless you? And they put their arms around you, say, I love you, daddy, I love your mama. Did you ever ask them, why do you love me? I've done it. And you know the answer I got? Cause. Cause I love you. That's what God says. I can't explain why he loves me. He's just, why not? Look, God is what? Love. It's one of his attributes. No man, woman that gets to hell, I hope, and one fears for those who are going there, but not one of them will be able to say, God never loved me. God, not one's love, is part of his nature, an attribute of his person. And yet, beloved, look, behold, one man of love, the Father has bestowed upon us a special people, his children. that we should be called the sons or the children of God. But let's read on to the end of this next verse as we read on in verse six. To the praise of his glory. To the praise. Can you imagine it? God gets glory. The Father gets glory because I begot his child. My beloved. To the praise You read about what the Son does. You find the same expression to the praise of His glory. And you read what the Spirit does. And it's to the praise of His glory. Oh, belovedly, let me say, as the hymn writer wrote, All hail to the Father. All hail to the Son. All hail to the Spirit. Bless three in one. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. To the praise of His glory. Now you may not believe it, you better though. God's going to get more glory out of it than you will. Oh, yes he will. I think of a dear old brother, not with the Lord, dear old saint. Every time the saint began to sing that hymn, that will be glory for me when they got to the chorus. He said, change that chorus, will you? Sing it. That will be glory for him. Now let me please repeat it. No matter how much you and I may enjoy that glory, he's going to get more glory out of it. To the praise of his glory. And then read on in the closing of that verse how precious it is to realize wherein he has made us accepted where? In the beloved. In the beloved. My beloved, this is the dearest name the Father gives to his Son. You know that. From Matthew chapter three, from Matthew chapter seventeen, at the baptism of Jesus in Jordan, on the Mount of Transfiguration, God said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am wealthy. And may I say again, That name of that word, beloved, is the dearest name the Father uses in relation to his Son. And yet you and I have received and accepted. Welcome in the beloved. As the hymn writer well wrote, in the beloved, accepted I am. Again, may I quote the words, so dear to the very dear to God? More dear I cannot be. The love where we be loves the Son. Such is his love to me. You know, I'm glad I'm saved. Boy, if I want to hurry up and get saved. Look, the father wanted a family. And I hope it won't take long. Well, maybe he gave you the thought. In my father's house are many mansions. And so on. You know those words. Do you remember the parable the Lord told in Luke chapter fourteen? The parable of the great sufferer. And at the end of that when he found that many would not come to him, he sent a servant out into the highways, the byways and the cities and the streets and the lanes and the countryside. Bring them in. What for? That my house may be what? Filled. all that I don't know what family you belong to I'm not going to ask you but I hope you all belong to family of God the Father oh what a family and what a joy to be in that family and the Father confessing me as his child and when the day of glory comes he's going to see me when the Lord brings us to the presence of the Father behold I are the children whom thou hast given me and every why they all look like my son let me quote the words of first John three verse two in closing quote verse one beloved now are we the sons of verse two rather beloved now are we the sons of the children of God and it does not appear what we shall be but we know when he shall appear We shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. What a wonderful transformation. What a wonderful father. And what a wonderful savior. Shall we pray? Oh father. We bow in worship. Adoration and praise. We take our shoes from our feet. to acknowledge the riches of thy grace. According to thy will, thy known perfect good will, you wanted us as children. Oh, Father, granted, we may say to thee, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according if He has chosen us in Christ. Before the foundation of the world. Father, here we are in nineteen hundred and ninety-four AD. But we can't even go back to what it means before the foundation of the world. It's beyond our thinking. But Lord, Father, how gracious it is. Way back in that bygone eternity. You wanted us, even us dear folks that are here tonight in Florence. Father, we know this. The world doesn't want us. Well, did John write saying, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of the children of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not. Neither knoweth him. Blessed Father, thank you. We know thee. We can say, Our Father. Abba, Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And thou hast sent the Spirit of thy Son and made every one of us children of God, O glorious calling. Surely his grace will keep us from falling. We bless thee, Father. And we say, Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the precious name of our Saviour. Amen.