And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.”And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
5 sermons cite this verse
… I will be your father and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Heaven knows you need a father. Perhaps your earthly dad met every criterion of that title. Odds are he fell short. And it's quite possible that your earthly dad was absent, taken by death or divorce or abandonment. Our experience with our earthly dads may vary, but our experience with our heavenly father, you can count on this. You can count on his presence. He said, never will I leave you. never will I forsake you. The Bible written in the Greek language here uses five negatives. Literally it reads, I will not not leave you, neither will I not not forsake you. He's making a point. He's always going to be with us. Isn't that what a good dad does? when I was 13 years of age, I played in a summer baseball league. You know, baseball is a big deal to a kid, right? Especially a 13-year-old boy. Even though it's been nigh on half a century, I can still remember what my uniform looked like, the color of my baseball hat. …
… Then I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. First thing to notice here is that Paul says God has called his people to be different from society around them. Radically different. Offensively different. Literally verse 17, come out from among them and be separate. The authentic Christian life is hard. You hear me? It's hard because it is counter-cultural. The historian Larry Hurtado in his book, Destroyer of the Gods, explains that despite being fiercely persecuted, the early church grew rapidly in the first two centuries. And that was because he said they were completely distinct from Roman society in five major ways. Ways which both infuriated, that's the persecution, and attracted, that's the growth, other citizens of the Roman empire. First, he says they were doggedly committed to the poor and the marginalized. In fact, one Roman emperor I've told you about, Julian the Apostate, complained in a letter to a friend that he could not stop the growth of the Christians because he said, the followers of that wretched Galilean take care not only of their own poor, but ours also. …
… What's the salvation status of this person you are considering marrying? Now I'll read 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 14 through 18. is the passage. I'm going to read that because this is, again, a very significant passage. Do not be unequally yoked, verse 14, with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness and what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Bilal? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols. For you are the temple of the living God and God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. That's a powerful passage because it's saying don't get entangled, don't be hanging out, don't be coupled, don't be joined to a person that doesn't believe like you believe. …
… the most needed thing God could possibly have said, he said it right then. He said, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord God. Now, here's what he's saying. If you walk faithfully before me, and you live a clean life, you may have to walk away from some friends. You may have to walk away from some people who want you to indulge in, who want you to go with them, so and so, and if you don't, what do they do? They turn away. That's why he said this. This is so precious. Listen, he said, I'll welcome you. So remember this, whoever turns away from you, listen, you're walking one direction and you have to turn away from them. When you turn around, you know what you're going to do? You're going to walk right into the arms of Jesus. He's the best friend you'll ever have. He'll meet every single needs you'll ever possibly have. He's that kind of God. So sometimes it means you have to walk away. What he's stating here is this. Here's the general principle. The general principle is this, because we have a new nature, because we're sons and daughters of God, and because we're walking in one direction, the world's going in another. …
… I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean. And I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Chapter seven, verse one. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now, the question is, how do we live clean in a dirty world? And I don't have to tell you and wouldn't spend time talking about how dirty it is. We all know that. But how do we live godly? How do we live holy? How do we live clean in a dirty world? Well, Paul gives us, I believe, three steps here, three principles, three things that are so very, very important. And I want you to jot them down. I'm going to ask you about them in a few moments. But the first one is this. When we ask the question, how do we live clean in a dirty world? The basic foundation truth is this, and that is that we as believers must recognize that our true nature is different from that of the world. We don't have the same nature that the world has. That is the society in which we live. It's different. When you're not trusted, Jesus Christ is our personal savior. Christ came …