For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Romans 8:15).
What is the Spirit that we have received? Is it the Spirit of adoption (into Gods family) or the spirit of bondage? The spirit of bondage is trying to recapture people. Paul (in the above passage) is fighting to release these people from their bondage. Somehow, we like some bondage. Somewhere some bondage takes hold of us. The bondage of fear is a very common thing and our fertile imaginations multiply our fears. So we keep on imagining thingsthings which do not exist. That is the spirit of bondage. The Spirit of adoption makes us focus on the throne of God. We are told in the Bible that we are joint-heirs with Christ. The Spirit bears witness that we are joint-heirs with Christ. This Spirit of adoption makes us cry, Abba, Father.
And He [Jesus] went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt (Mark: 14:35-36). This was in the garden of Gethsemane (the night before His crucifixion), and there Jesus cried, Abba, Father. This cry appears to be an undefined expression of a strong relationshipsomething which you will tell only to a father in great confidence, confiding to him, Abba, Father, what can I do now? Here Jesus faced the cup of mans sin. What a moment, the sinless Son of God, faced with this cup of sin! So this heart cry, this sigh, comes from the heart of Jesus. Those who do not carry the cross will never have such a heart cry. We do not like humbling and owning up to our sins. Of course, we will not take the sins of the nation upon ourselves. We shut our eyes to the crying need of the nations today.
We are very busy with our own work and have no real burden for the world around us. Our Lord Jesus could have been very busy with His service. Organizational work has this great danger. It depends upon your work, so you have to work harder and it is not God at work. This is human regeneration; it has no Abba, Father in it. It has no cross, and no blood drops as great sweat drops. No, it is a physical exertion and zeal. Is that what we see? Are those the steps that Jesus teaches us? The burdens for souls and for the sins of others are what you should have. If that cry Abba, Father goes away, there is a big vacuum, and anything can come into that vacuum. Your thoughts, fears, evil inclinations and lusts, those old habits of speaking lies and half-truths, will flood your heart.
But what is the spirit which Jesus gives His children? He says, I have brought you out of bondage. So your spirit of bondage is gone. Now you have the Spirit of adoption. Is there not the cry, Abba, Father in our hearts? What kind of spirit has taken hold of us? The spirit of the world is at enmity with God. It makes you think, How can I get rich quickly? Where is Gethsemane there? Where is the cry, Not my will, but yours be done there? Have we lost that cry? We have got to be honest before God and speak no half-truths.
The Spirit of truth is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of adoption is the package of the Spirit of truth. It is terrible if you do not want to face the truth. Truth does not spare anybody. But is truth good for you? To know the truth, you should undergo some tests and the truth is not palatable to anybody. Unless a Fellowship has revival ever so frequently, at least every five or ten years, that Fellowship will become dead. In ten years little children become teenagers, and if they do not know revival, if they do not walk in the truth, they have no chance. The fifteen-year-old teenager becomes a new entrant into the job market. When he enters the job market, and money comes into his pocket, he never learnt how to put first the Kingdom of God and he never cried, "Abba, Father," and he is like a sitting duck to the world. Do you see the need for revival? Your heart needs to get that cry for revival. You cannot force it, and you cannot work it up.
Charles Finney spoke of a businessman. He would come from his business and immediately he would enter into the Spirit of prayer of the prayer meeting. Mr. Finney said, This man is such a busy man and has got such responsibility. But how does he maintain the Spirit of prayer? He happened to be the guest in his house and so one night, when Finney's child needed milk or something, he came down from his bedroom at about three in the morning and he found this man lost in prayer and waiting on God. He said, Now I know the secret, how this man has this Spirit of prayer. The man said, The only way in which I can keep in close communion with God is to rise in the middle of the night, to spend time with God. You know the discipline that it takes.
You can understand that such people have the cry Abba, Father. They may be in the world but not of the world; the world never seems to get into them. The Lord Jesus said twice that His disciples are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. That gives me a knockout blow. Be ye
perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.
We are really like immature little children when it comes to any crunch or crisis. We speak what we like, give vent to our fears, and just say, I want my will. But the Spirit of adoption makes you cry, Thy will and not my will. It may be hard and wearisome; it may even kill you. But the Spirit of adoption gives you a firm entrenchment in, and an unbending commitment to, the will of God.
God has got a fixed deposit for us. What is that? Heirs to God! Are we running to get it? Have we got the Spirit of adoption? The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of His Son, is sent into us crying, Abba, Father. Is that cry coming out of us? When you have that cry, all other cries and compulsions are excluded, because you are a son and your place is with Jesus. Your cry becomes the cry of the heart of Jesus. After receiving so much light, we ought to be walking in the heavenlies, walking with God. May God help us!
from: http://lefi.org
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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
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