In this sermon, the speaker discusses the concept of adoption as it relates to believers in Jesus Christ. He emphasizes the importance of being part of the family of God and the peace and rest that comes with it. The speaker also highlights the contrast between the bondage of sin and the freedom found in adoption. He explains that through adoption, believers receive the spirit of adoption and are no longer slaves to their old ways of life. The sermon concludes with the reminder that adoption into the family of God is a transformative experience that brings about a new mindset and a close relationship with God.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. I've never preached on this subject before. I've never heard a message on this subject. Very simple subject that's in the Scripture, and I want you to go to Galatians, the fourth chapter, and we'll see if there are Galatians, the fourth chapter. I want to read verses three to seven. Let's begin with verse three. Galatians, fourth chapter. Continue to pray for Pastor Carter and his wife, my associate. They still have three or four more weeks to go. We're giving a six-week leave of absence so they can just rest and come back refreshed, and Lord, pray for them, please. Verse three, beginning to read, So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of the Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. I want to talk to you about adoption. Adoption. I've been adopted. I don't know about you, but when I gave my heart to Jesus, I was adopted. And if you're a child of Jesus, if you love Him, you have been adopted into the family of God. I want to try to explain to you what that means, what it means to be an adopted child of the King. Heavenly Father, I pray for a special anointing. I want you, Lord, to take the words that you have given to me and multiply them. Holy Spirit, sanctify my body, my mind, my voice, everything I say and do in this platform. Lord, I have sought your face this week, and I come with the word that you gave me. Now, Lord Jesus, there are many hearing me right now in this building and in the annex and in the overflow rooms. Lord, they simply have not yet come into the security of their faith. They still have doubts and fears about their position and their place in you. Lord, I'm asking you to take that out of their hearts, pluck it out today, that there will be a new sense of assurance that we may walk in this knowledge and wisdom of being a child of God, adopted into the family of the Lord, translated out of the family of darkness into the family of light. Thank you, Father, for your anointing. Thank you for the word. We love your word in this house, O God, and we seek it with all of our hearts. Now, Lord, put words in my mouth that will bring people to victory, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. I don't know if you've ever heard a message in your lifetime on this matter of adoption, but for the past week, this is in fact almost two weeks, it's really been bearing on my heart. And for the first time in many, many years of preaching, I felt I needed to step out and find out what this means. Now, the word itself to adopt means to take into one's family through legal means and raise that child as his own. In other words, a man goes, a husband, a wife, perhaps adopts a child. You take it as your own, raise it as your own with all the legal rights, even to inheritance. Everything is to bring into a new relationship with all the privileges and advantages of a son or daughter. Now, when we talk about son of God, that includes women as well. Do you understand that? Like when the Bible says that we're called to be sons, that that's manhood that includes women. And so don't get offended, ladies, if I don't keep saying women in the process of our message today. One of the most important things that we can know is the security that we have in Christ. I'm not talking about the preaching of eternal security. I'm talking about Christians who are claimed to have the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Christians have been walking God even for years, though they've been adopted in the family of God and may err of all things and belong to God himself who chose to adopt them. Yet they live in fear, having all the resources and all the inheritance of the heavenly father. They still live in bondage. They live in fear. There are thousands of Christians like this. I was born and raised in Pentecost. My father was a Pentecostal preacher, my grandfather and my great grandfather was a preacher. But my parents were Pentecostal preachers and godly people. Some of the godliest people and wonderful Christians in my dad's churches. And I love that they were old fashioned Pentecostal people who had a passion for the Lord. But they never very few of them came into the security of knowing who they were in Christ, knowing their position in the Lord and their adoption by the heavenly father. Many of them lived in constant fear, so much so that I was raised in an atmosphere that honestly, I was told that if I would ever slip away and this is how my my parents tried to keep me from the world through fear. If I ever slipped away and saw a movie and went in that movie house, Jesus would come and I'd be left behind. If I said a curse word, Jesus would come. I'd be under judgment. And if Jesus came, I'd be left behind. So every time I came home to school, mom wasn't there. I thought Jesus had come and I had panic all the time. Kids come home from a ball game and some kids take us out to win a blow trumpet night. Tune in attention. The Lord was coming and I had said a bad word and I talked against my mother or something and I wasn't ready to go. That's not what the scripture says at all. And many of them were not ready to die. In the 70s and 80s, when I counseled them, many, many. Now, that's not all. Not indebting the whole generation, but many never did come in. They got saved and resaved, dedicated and rededicated and not coming into that fullness. Always wondering if the Lord was pleased with them. Folks, you and I have got to come into our sonship. We have got to understand and know who we are and not let the devil move you from that position. Never let him die to you ever. Now, let me try to explain to you this matter of adoption. There are five things I see when I think of adoption that take place in the process of adoption. Number one, you have to come from another family. First of all, you can't be a part of the family's adopting. That's simple and clear. You have to be of another family. And this is what adoption is about. The scripture says that before Jesus, before God the Father adopted you, you were of another family. And that family was the devil's family. He was the father. And the Bible said you were a child of wrath. That's exactly what he says. Now, the only two families in the world, in the universe. God's family, the family of God, and the family of Satan. Jesus himself said to the Pharisees, he said, you're the father of the devil. You're the children of wrath. You're the children of disobedience. In fact, he said, you are darkness itself. You see, we are aliens, the scripture said, without Christ, without hope in the world. That's where Jesus found you. He found you in another family with another father. You say, well, I don't think I was that way. I was a pretty good person. I didn't smoke. I didn't drink. I didn't curse. I didn't do drugs. I was pretty good. You couldn't call me a child of wrath, a child of disobedience. I obeyed my parents. My parents were godly. Now, I really wasn't a child of Jesus. I didn't surrender my heart. But I want you to know, I was pretty good. I call them goodniks. And the goodniks think that they're going to get to heaven because of their good works. They can do all these bad things we talk about. The Bible said, all your good works without Christ is filthy rags in the sight of God. They're not worthy to be burned. Christ is filthy rags. You're still a child of Satan, the scripture says. You're translated out of that kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. You are still a child of the devil, the enemy. Satan is your father, the scripture says. You say, oh, that's a terrible thing to say about me. I'm never coming back to this church again. I went there and he called me a child of the devil. No, I didn't. The Bible did. The Bible calls you a child of the enemy, aliens. That's exactly what it says. Nor that it may redeem you from the law and from the power of Satan to receive the adoption as sons. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, Colossians 1.3. He said, you were by nature the children of wrath. You were born that way. When Adam sinned, he brought the curse upon all mankind. You were born with the Adam nature, leaning toward disobedience. This was the nature that you were born with. It's not the nature of God. Your nature has to be changed. And that comes through adoption, the scripture says. The only inheritance you had when you were walking with devil was death, curse, wrath, and hell, the Bible said. You couldn't escape. When you were in the world, you who are Christians now, and you were in the world, you couldn't escape into your own power. You couldn't get out of the grasp of your father. You couldn't do it on your own strength. How many times you tried? How many times you ran from that household? And you thought after 30 days, I'm free, I'm free. The Bible says that the devil is a strong man armed. He's a strong man armed and he keeps his children with a strong arm. And you thought you got out of it. You thought by making promises to yourself, he's, I won't do it again. You finally, after 30 days, 60 days, everything seemed so good. And then suddenly here came the enemy, pulled you right back because he said, you're still a child of wrath. You, Jesus said, John 8, 4, 44. Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lust of your fathers, you will do. Paul said, when you were in that all demon powered family. He talks about people who have a foul mouth, fornicators, filthy, unclean, covetous, deceived. It were, he said, you were a child of disobedience. Paul said, Ephesians chapter verses three to eight. Now, when Jesus said, you're of your father, the devil, who was he talking to? He was talking to Pharisees. He was talking to people. He was talking to those who didn't do all these bad things we hear about. These men prided themselves in their strict legalism and their walk. They prayed many times a day before the people. They paid their tithe. They were faithful in attendance in the synagogue. And yet the Lord said to these self-righteous people who never did. They didn't murder. They didn't cheat. They didn't kill and all these things. But they were robbing widows' houses. And he said, inside you're full of dead man's bones. He said, outside you look nice. You look like a believer, but you're really not. He said, you're full of dead man's bones. I'm not going to press that any further. Just trying to convince you, you're of another family. And to be adopted, you have to acknowledge, I have been in the wrong family. I want to be in the family of God. Now, number two, there has to be another family to which you have no legal right to belong. There's another family. You're not associated with that family. You have no legal right. You can't just go up and knock on somebody's door and say, adopt me. I see you have a nice house. You have a nice car. I'd like to inherit that. If you're a poor mother and you're struggling and you've got three or four kids, you can't handle them. You can't send one of your little babies up there and knock on the door. Please, my mom is out there. She can't take care of me. But she said, if I come, you'll adopt me. And the mother's got an idea that if you adopt them, then I'll be taken care of the rest of my life. Now, that's a sweet idea. Very charming. But that's not how it works. To be adopted, you have to be another family with no legal rights. You have to acknowledge that. You have no legal right to belong to the family of God when you're in the power of the enemy. And you're not a Christian. You're not a believer in Jesus Christ. You have no rights, legal rights, to inherit anything of the kingdom of God. Paul the apostle said, I bow my knee to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family of God in heaven and earth is named. He said, I belonged to a family before, and I thought it was a family of God, but I was a child of darkness. And he said, I saw the light. And he said, I bow my knee now because I've been brought into the family of God. I was in the other family, and now I've been translated into the family of God. He said, I bow my knee for that purpose. I thank God that he found me. I see this other family, the rages of it. For years, I preached on the street, and I still love doing that. I haven't had much time lately, but for many, many years on this street, and the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and around the world, preaching to drug addicts and alcoholics and saying to them, you're the wrong family. And I was always, and I still do, and we do it, the street rallies. We did it last night. There is a family. There is a family that sleeps at night with peace. There is a family that's been forgiven all of their sins and their iniquities. There's a family who are no longer slaves to disobedience. They're no longer slaves to their father the devil. They have been adopted. There is a family. That's what evangelism is all about, saying there is a family, there's a place of peace and rest in Jesus Christ. And I've seen, when I go out, the ravages of that other family. When you see drug addicts end up in Central Park, so stoned out of their minds, laying on the ground, banging their head against the curb until it bleeds. Seeing the men and women walking these streets, babbling like lunatics, out of their minds. You walk up, I've mentioned this last night, up to the children's shelter. I've been, a number of years ago, on my visit there, near Christmas time, and saw all those children looking out the windows, to all the people and the parents with their children, and the sadness in their eyes. And I was there when they brought a three-year-old little girl in. A mother had taken her to a busy street and just let her hand go. She didn't want her anymore, and there was no way of finding out the parents. And this child was absolutely abandoned. Three years old. And I'll never forget the look of terror and hopelessness in the eyes of these children. Many of them waiting adoption. Some of you listening to me now, you know what that's all about. You've known the terror of sin. You've known the emptiness. You've known that feeling of facing the wrath of God, and knowing that you were bound by sin and you can't get out of it. You've tried everything. You've made a thousand promises to yourself, but you've been in bondage. You are, the Bible has said, a child of disobedience. And you can't break that chain by yourself. This family here is the family of God. But you see, this sinner has no right to it, to any good works. Not through anything that you can do in your own strength can you make yourself a member of this family of God. The Bible said when we were without Christ, with no legal rights, Jesus came down and took on our form and became our elder brother, so to speak. And He was given the inheritance of the Father. Everything that God has was invested in His Son. And Jesus came down to share our pain and to live in our skin, to live in our flesh. To sense what you go through and I go through. And to bear the burden of sin. And He came down so that He could be the messenger of adoption. That you could come into the same family that He belonged to, with the same Father and all the rights that He had. And when you're adopted, everything that Jesus inherited is yours and it's mine. That's what the Scripture says. And He said, you were aliens, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. You were by nature the children of wrath, born into sin with no rights. Folks, God's family is a big family, I want you to know this. It's all over the world. God has a lot of adopted sons. And He's going to adopt a few in this church here this morning. This is going to be an adoption service. I'm going to have an adoption ceremony here. It's called an altar call. Thirdly, there has to be a legal process by which an authority makes it legal. The Lord doesn't adopt anybody like some people do today. I got a letter this week, an email rather, from somebody from an Arab country. Christians from an Arab country. And they said, please, Brother David, can you find us a child we could adopt? The cheapest price is $20,000, and we can't find it legal. We're willing to pay the money they inferred, but they wanted a legal adoption. Because what happens, and many of you have heard of this. I used an illustration last night of a teenage girl. She was an illegitimate child of a famous singer. And he died and left a lot of money. She proved through DNA that she was his real child. And she was ruled by the court that she had every right to her portion of the inheritance. And this is about inheritance. It's about eternal life. It's about your eternal future. You can go to some other nation, for example, because it can't be done here legally. You can find a child. You find children all over the world in poor, slum areas. You walk any slum, and they come up to you down in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, in Chinatown. You can do it in Mexico. You go to the garbage dumps there, and you'll find children picking through there with their parents. And you come there, and they see you're an American. They'll hand you your child. Please take us out. This is exactly what our brother did from Alabama who speaks for us. He got his beautiful little daughter there in the garbage heap down there. But he's struggling. He's making it legal. But suppose that mother gives you her child, and you bring that child. You raise it, and you spend 12 years investing in that child, all your resources. And those parents trail you down, and they know that you have money, and they're going to come after you. And even after any amount of time, they can take that child back because you had no papers. There was nothing legal about it. Nothing legal. Had to be signed papers. I don't just marry people because they look nice. I don't do it just because I love them. I've got to make it legal. And they march down this aisle, and they stand here. And I just can't just mumble-jumble a bunch of words and say, I now pronounce you man and wife, and say, Go in peace. No, I've been given legal authority by the state of New York. And when they stand before me, I say, Now I pronounce you man and wife, husband and wife. Because I have, I sign a little piece of paper. It's a document, a marriage certificate. And I give it to them, and it's legal. Some of you living here right now with somebody, And you don't have the paper, you're illegal in the sight of God as well as the law. And it's not going to get by. I don't care how long you've been living together. You better get your papers. You better get it right with God. Yeah, I like the couple who came and said, Well, the Lord brought us together. And we are so in love, and love is all you need. No, you've got to be legal. So with the adoption. You have to be legal. Folks, more and more I'm seeing the necessity of binding the devil through legality. Not just through whooping and wailing and saying, I'll bind you. People are going everywhere binding the devil. You bind him by the law. You're getting married, and you had a boyfriend before, And you engaged him, and you broke the engagement. When you are legally married, You are binding that engaged guy that he has no legal right to come to you. He can't touch you. He can't claim anything. He has no more rights. It's all over. You can look at him and say, Buddy, you can make all the noise you want, But this is my husband. I am married now. It's legal. Look at the paper. He can go to the law. He can make no noise. He can touch you. You're free. As many as received him, he gave power to become the sons of God. And that power is not in emotion. That power is in knowing I have in my pocket the legal papers. I have in my heart locked up here. I know where I stand legally with my Heavenly Father. I'm a legal adopted son, daughter of the Lord. Giving thanks unto the Father who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who has delivered us from the power of darkness, translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. And when it says He's made us meet, He's made us legal. That's exactly what it means. He's made us legal children with all the rights to the inheritance we share with Christ. All the rights to the inheritance we share with Christ. Now, let me tell you how this legal process takes place. How does God make His adoption legal? If you get this... Now, you can't get it unless you ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you. I'll try to make it as simple as I know. Because you see, He has to deal with all the questions. He has to settle it. And here's how the Heavenly Father makes it legal. I'll tell you what, before I do that... No, let me get right in it. First of all, when you come to Jesus Christ, He announces it to all the angels in heaven. The Bible said, when a sinner repents, all the angels in heaven rejoice. The moment you give your heart to Christ and it's a full acceptance of Christ as Lord, something happens in heaven. You know, when you got saved, you thought only you and a few were there. Maybe 100 people, 200 people. You thought that was a little isolated thing that happened somewhere. You've made the time and the place. And you knew the pastor. Maybe you got saved by yourself and nobody was there. You thought, oh, no, no, no. Folks, all the angels of heaven were watching. All the inhabitants of the glory were watching. And when you fully gave your name to the Lord, the angels witnessed your name being written in the book of life. Your name. You were given a new name. And you were given a white stone, the Bible says. And in that white stone, I don't have the full meaning of it, but I know it's something he's doing in the heart and he's doing it in heaven. And we won't know. We're going to have a name there. We're going to have a special name. My name isn't going to be David Wilkerson over there. I'm tired of this name anyhow. I want his name. I've lived with him for 69 years. I'm ready to change. We got a new name in glory. And the angels of heaven were there. What does Jesus say? You confess me before men, and I will confess you before my father and all the angels of heaven. I've confessed you as my adopted son. And somehow, someway, when you came to Christ in fullness, he made a proclamation in glory, named your name and said, This now is my adopted son, my daughter. Let us rejoice. Legal. From that day on. In heaven. So you don't sneak into heaven illegally. You go in legal. You go in the front door. There's no back door. Oh, hallelujah. Under the principalities and powers and heavenly places shall be made known by the church. The manifold wisdom of God are not these angels ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs. Aren't the angels ministering spirits? You see, the moment you give your heart to Jesus, an angel or more was signed to you. And the moment you were made legal, there was no question about it. It was revealed to the angels that you are now one to be enchanted around about. And you were made. How do I know I'm legal? Because I've got an angel walking with me. I'll tell you when you get to heaven, you're going to you're going to have your angel. You're going to meet your angel. I don't know how this angel is going to tell you how many times you were delivered. You didn't know it. I mean, the enemy tried to come a thousand times here and there and everywhere. You won't know it till you get there. Hallelujah. I don't know about you, but I haven't seen my angel. One lady wrote, said she'd seen her. He was 90 feet tall. Another said mine was eight feet tall. Couldn't get in the backseat of my car. He had his head down. Well, I don't know where that came from, but I don't I haven't seen mine. But the angel of the Lord is there to minister to those who are going to be heirs of the inheritance. The Bible says. Now, the second way he makes it legal. He announces it in hell. Oh, you better believe it. He looks at devil right in the eye. The spirit of almighty God. Every demon power that says you may be a strong man armed to your kingdom, to your people. But I've invaded your kingdom and not found. I found David Wilkerson. I found Gwen Wilson. I found your name. Put it in there. I found this one. And I've redeemed him and I have taken him out of your family. He's now in my family. He's now in my house. You have no rights. You have lost all your rights. You have no legal right now to touch him. You have no law. You have no legal right to tempt him. No legal right to seduce him. Every temptation, every seduction is illegal. You don't have to put up with it. It's illegal. If you'll stand up against it by the word of God and said, I have been adopted. To Jesus Christ. And I've been taken into the family of God. I belong to him. Oh, God, when that hits your heart. Neither shall any man pluck you out of my hand. My father, which gave them to me, is greater than them all. No man is able to pluck you out of the father's hand. No demon, no devil, pluck you out of his hand. I've heard people say, well, you can jump out of his hand. Who'd want to do that? Number four and five. These things happen in adoption. First of all, the adopted child is freed from any obligation and loyalties to the family he left. This is the end of side one. You may. No more obligation. As soon as the authority says the adoption is final. It closes the door completely to the old family and the old father. And you now have the right to embrace your father and call him Abba, mine. He's my father now. In the moment, the moment you give your heart to Christ, that is a legal transaction. And God declares you adoption is final. Devil, I've taken him into my hand. The hand is his power and his place. I'm in his place. I'm in his power. I'm identified with that power. And that's power over the dominion of sin. That's power over everything. The enemy would come against me with. And I have got to believe that before it's made real to my heart. And number five, the adopted child is now invested with all the rights, advantages and title to be a child of the king or the father and to claim his inheritance. Now, folks, inheritance is eternal life in Christ. Jesus Christ himself is our inheritance that we get to abide with him forever, that we are taken into him as his body and we are to live with him as his body all through eternity. And that eternal life is our inheritance in Christ. But he said, we're giving the moment you come to Christ. As soon as you're adopted, he gives you. I don't like the term, but I know a piece of the action, so to speak. He gives you a taste of what's coming. You see, when we get there, you understand. He said that you're going to have peace. Can you imagine a world where there's no sin? There's no chance of you fail. You're beyond the reach of the devil once and for all. You're beyond everything legal or illegal. You're beyond all of these things. Boy, you believe in peace. That is going to be peace. But he said, I'm going to give you some of that peace. Now, he said, my peace, I leave with you. Jesus said, my peace, not the world's peace, but I give you peace. The peace with God. That piece that you have right now. That comes from Heavenly Father. That comes from being a child of God. That's a sign of your adoption. Peace with God. The joy of the Holy Ghost. Conscience that is clear before man and God. These are the things the Holy Spirit does in us. These are all parts of our inheritance. This is a taste, foretaste of our inheritance in him. Now, you say, how can I get adopted? How do I get into this family of God? Ephesians 1.5, having predestined us to the adoption of children by Christ Jesus himself. Ephesians 1.5. Now, look at me. God predetermined when he made man with the ability or the potential to sin and turn against him. He made plans before the world was made, before man was created. He made this plan. And Jesus Christ agreed with the eternal purposes of God. That he would come down and he would open the door to adoption. That we would be adopted through and in him. Not through anything we've done, but through him. This was the eternal plan. And that's why he says, that's the predestination. We were predestined to be adopted. Having predestined us unto adoption of children by Christ Jesus unto himself. God said, I'm going to adopt you to myself through Christ, my son. He will pay the price. He will purchase you. And he will pay the price with his own blood. So that the devil and the kingdom of darkness no longer has any right to you. Any claim. And you have broken off any obligation to them. Ask the Holy Spirit to begin to make that clear to you. You are no longer any obligation whatsoever to the devil. You say, well, I came to Jesus because I got sick of sin. That's all. I just got weary and sick of sin. And I decided to get up one day and come to Jesus. That's what the Bible says. The Bible says, I've chosen you. Jesus said, I came to you when you were darkness. He told this, I found you when you were in blood, dying in the wilderness. I came after you. I chose you not because of any good thing in you. Not because you were a great nation. I chose you out of love and nothing else. I chose you to myself. He came to you when you were unworthy. Ugly. Bound in sin. Filthy rags. And the Spirit of God began to make you miserable. The Holy Spirit of God began to talk to you. You couldn't sleep at night. You felt the wrath of God breathing down your back. That was all the work of the Holy Ghost. Preparing you for adoption. Trying to get you sin sick. Trying to get you ready to take the trip from this house to this house. Why do you think God allowed the children of Israel, just before deliverance, to take on making bricks without straw? That's what you've been doing. If you're not where you should be in Christ, you've been making bricks without straw. The Lord has taken away all your comforts. He's making it difficult in your life. He's breathing, not because He's mad at you. Because He's after you to adopt you into the kingdom of God. You sit here now. You say, well, I'm living in sin. I can assure you the Bible said you're living a miserable life. You can put on a front here in church. You can smile. You're all by yourself. And all alone. That's when it begins to dawn on you. There's an emptiness. I read the story of a movie star. Made over a hundred million dollars. Bought a yacht. He said, I've got to find peace. He gave up his mansion. He gave up all of his beautiful starlets, girlfriends. And he said, I've got to find peace. And he chased all over the Pacific. He bought an island in the Pacific to get all alone by himself on a Pacific island. And he couldn't find it. Came near suicide. I don't know the end of it, but I just read the story up to that point where he said, I don't believe there's any place on earth I can find peace of mind. A hundred million dollars. Beautiful women. Yachts. Cars. Everything that's supposed to satisfy the human flesh. Yet miserable. At the point of suicide and nothing. And that's the story of the world. The Holy Ghost brings that despair. I call him Holy Ghost of Miserables. And he can make you so miserable. Oh, the Holy Ghost can make you so miserable. Especially if you try to walk away from him. All the misery that he causes. But it's a love misery. It's a love call. It's the Holy Spirit saying, come on. I want to adopt you. Hallelujah. So it wasn't your choosing. It was his choosing. But he says that when you come to him now. Let me give you the advantages. First of all, I'm going to go very quickly. The first advantage is that when you are adopted, he gives you the spirit of adoption. Let me read it to you. This is Romans 8, 15 and 16. We've not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. But you've received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. And the spirit itself bears witness with your spirit that you are the child of God. What happens? With this I'm going to close in just a few minutes. Listen closely, please. This is probably the most important part of my message. When you come out of sin and you come into the kingdom of God and the family of God. You bring with you your old mindset. You bring with you that bondage, the scripture said. The bondage to the flesh. The bondage to lust. The bondage to the old ways of life. You bring that in. Folks, you just don't come to Jesus and suddenly everything. Just like our youth pastor testified recently after he got saved. He was still cursing. He had one of the foulest mouths he's had around. And God took some time to get rid of that foul mouth. He had to get the spirit of adoption. He had to get rid of that spirit of bondage out of him. He had to quit talking trash talk of the devil. But you see, there's a mindset. There's something that happens by the Holy Spirit. He says, you have to start thinking like the child of a king. You have to start thinking of the riches that I have. You have to start thinking about your security, thinking about safety. You've got to change your mind and you've got to believe the Holy Ghost will do that in you. So that you don't fear falling. I preached last night to 250 some drug addicts and alcoholics. And many the numbers are graduating every month. And I talked to some of these guys. And the greatest fear was that when I go back and I'm walking the streets again to the same old friends. And I have to walk that way even to go to work. I'm afraid when I'm not around my Christian brothers. I'm afraid when I'm on my own. The enemy is going to come and tempt me and I'm going to go down again. I'm going to go back to my old ways. One young man last night took me by the hand and he said, I'm leaving this week and I'm scared to death. This was before I preached this message to him. He was changed before he left. Because he understood his adoption. But he said, I'm scared to death. And the reason that boy was going. Every time a preacher came up and got saved and resaved, he was scared to death. He had no sense of who he was. You have got to have this imprinted by the Holy Ghost in your spiritual mind and in your heart. I have been adopted when I came to Jesus. I have been legally adopted and it's been signed in blood. The papers are signed in the blood of Jesus Christ. I have no obligation to the devil and he has no rights toward me. And I ask you, God, to give me the spirit of knowledge and wisdom in this. That I am secure in Christ. I am secure in him. I'm an adopted child of the King. First of all, you get that spirit of adoption. He said, you've received the spirit of adoption, the spirit of love and power in a sound mind. He said, the creature itself, that's you and it's me. Shall be delivered from the bondage or the slavery of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. What a liberty it is to walk around saying, I'm free. What a liberty to walk without fear, without guilt and condemnation. I'm a free man. No matter how I feel. No matter how the devil accuses me and my conscience screams, I'm a free man in Christ Jesus. I'm a free man. And he's freed me so I can walk in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of my life. And secondly, he engraves you in the palm of his hand. You hold, I've graven you in the palms of my hand. That means to cut. Now, God's the spirit. Don't try to image some great big, huge God, the flesh, the spirit. You can't see him. You can't feel him. God's the spirit. But the palm of his hand is the palm of his power. And I don't know how this happens or what it means. But it does mean that I am now identified with all the power of heaven. All the power that God has against Satan is mine now. And I can call on that power. I can believe God for that power. And I'm going to walk in the spirit of that. You know what God tells me before I close? Every time I pray, I hear it every time I go to the Lord. And when I, after I'm done worshiping and making my needs known to him and ministering to him, then I sit still and every day I hear it. I heard it before I came to this pulpit. When I went backstage to get a drink, I heard it again. I was pleading God, touch me, help me to get this message through to the people. And the Holy Spirit keeps saying, you're enveloped in my hand. You're enveloped. Every time the enemy comes against me, Holy Ghost says you're enveloped. Picture a cloud, a cloud, invisible cloud. You're walking in a protection of that visible cloud. Everywhere you go, that cloud goes with you. He never leaves you. He never forsakes you because you're adopted. He said, now that you're adopted, I've engraved you in the palms of my hand. These mighty universal hands of God mightily everywhere you go. I'm under this cloud of protection. I'm under this invisible cloud. I sense that cloud right now while I'm preaching. And you can have this. That's the spirit, the spirit of adoption. I'm under this cloud. And everywhere I move, he moves with me. And he instructs me. He directs me. Where's the demon in hell? Where's the devil to get through that cloud? Where is anybody can touch that cloud of his presence? They get near that presence and they flee because that's the presence of Emmanuel. Hallelujah. And finally, now the last thing, the advantages. You have absolute free access to the father at any time, at any place. For through him, we have access to him. We both have access by one spirit to the father. And who also we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith in him. Confidence, access with confidence. What did the Lord say? Come timidly. Come with guilt, fear, come boldly. Stand against the enemy. Stand up and say, I am adopted devil and all the demons of hell. Everything is right against me. I am his child. I'm a child of God. I've been adopted into the family of God. Hallelujah. Now, this is my last word. It's been said that when you go to the father, you should just worship him for who he is. Don't, don't. We hear said, you've asked too many things. You keep asking family and personal things. We should just go into his presence. The Lord rebuked me for thinking that way. He said, that's not what you think. You're a father. You've got four children, 11 grandchildren. You don't want to have you totally ignorant of their problems and their needs. No, no, no. The father has a heart that says, I want to hear everything in your heart. I want to know how I can help you in every area of your life. Go to him at any time and plead with him. Lord, I need this. I need that. But I believe you. I love you. I worship you. Yes. Worship and praising him. But folks, it's a sign that you believe that he has the resources. When you ask for them, you're believing his resources. You're trusting him for what he has. You see that? Let that, somebody say amen. I see it. He's got everything I need. Why shouldn't I ask? I've got no other place to go. I'm going to him. Every little thing. I go to him when my bowels are aching. I go to him when I've got a heart flutter and they'll try to tell me I've got a heart attack. I just say, Jesus, come on. I'm calling on you, my heavenly father. Sickness, financial need, children, grandchildren, whatever it is you'd like, go to the father. He says, I care. Cast all your care upon me. I care. I've got everything that you need. Will you stand, please? Hallelujah. Heavenly father, I thank you for that adoption day. Lord, we should be so thankful this morning that we've been given the spirit of adoption. That we know that we know that we know that we're in the family of God. That we have all that we need to see us through till we are home, embraced in father's arms. Hallelujah. Lord, I pray for those in this building this morning, here in the main auditorium and in the annex. Lord, that are not sure, they don't have this spirit of adoption. This knowledge, this confidence. Access to the father. Lord, they feel like they've done something that so grieved you that they can't get back. And all you're saying is, return to me. Return to me with all your heart. Return, come. And Lord, by your spirit, you're calling a number of people right now. Lord, you sent them here. You brought them here to this church this morning for one reason. And that's to lovingly call them to your family. Lord, how sick there are, so many are of that family that they've been living in. The harassment of the devil. The bondage of sin. The awful pits of despair. Oh, God, bring them out to a large place in you this morning. Bring them out. Up in the balcony, here in the main floor. Now, I know the Holy Spirit's here. I had to step out and get miked when the visitors stood. So, I don't know how many of you are visitors or where you sit, where you're at in the annex and here in the auditorium. But the Lord made it clear to me, I was going to preach this message primarily just to the drug addicts. But the Lord told me to preach this this morning. He said, and I'll tell you why when you give the invitation. And right now, all over this house, I'm going to ask you, the moment the Holy Spirit deals with you, Brother David, I've been harassed by the enemy. And I have been slipping. I've been growing cold in my heart toward the Lord. Or maybe you don't even know Jesus. I want you to get out of your seat. That's the Spirit of God dealing with you. Husbands, wives, singles, whoever you may be. Up in the balcony, go to the stairs on either side and come down. Any island here in the Mediterranean. The moment the Holy Ghost is dealing with you, don't resist the Holy Spirit. That's your call. That's the Holy Spirit saying, today is your day. I want to change everything. I'm going to translate you once and for all out of that darkness. I want to take that darkness out. Take that despair out of you. Change your life. And in the annex, move forward. Can we have someone in the annex, please? Move forward between the screens. Please don't block the screens. Go right between the screens, if you will. And we want to minister to you and praise for you as you come. As they sing, you feel the Holy Spirit tugging at you. Don't come unless the Spirit is drawing you. Come because you say, I know this is what I need. Something that was said in this message this morning was meant just for me. Is that why the Lord sent you? Is that why you're here this morning? Up in the balcony, main auditorium. Obey the Holy Spirit as He calls. That's it. We'll wait for it for just a moment. Hallelujah. Holy Spirit, finish the work that you've begun. Find everyone in this building that's been in despair. Find everyone, Lord, that needs this miracle of healing in their spirit. Oh, Holy Spirit, how patient you are. How wonderful you are. Folks, hold steady for just a minute. I feel the tugging of the Holy Spirit. Especially so strong in the balcony. Wherever you may be, if the Lord's dealing with you. We're singing. Let's go over this two times and give you a little opportunity to come. Now, we're not trying to stretch this out, but God doesn't want anybody to walk out of here with what you brought in if you need a change. This is your day. It's going to be a wonderful day. Okay? Come. There are people who don't believe in altar calls, as stated. Bringing people forward, they say you have to be trained. Yes, I know that. We have new believers classes we recommend to you. If you're here, in the city especially, you need to go in the new believers classes. Three weeks introduction, three weeks intermediate, three weeks of adult, a deeper life. And we give you 12 weeks of training and growth in Christ. But there has to be a beginning. When somebody goes fishing and there's a bite on that hook, you've got to reel that fish in. You're not going to cut it off and say, well, no, you're not prepared, you're not ready. You take it in and then you filet it and you cook it and so forth. But first of all, you've got to reel it in. And this is really reeling you in right now, so to speak, to get closer to his heart. And I want you to pray this prayer with me. Now, this prayer won't do anything unless it comes from your heart. But I want you to pray this to a loving Father. He's not mad at you. The Holy Spirit's calm at you. If you've been miserable, if you've had these sleepless nights, you've been uneasy, that emptiness of the world, that's the Holy Spirit dealing with you now. Thank him for that. I pray this prayer with me right now. Jesus, thank you for sending the Holy Ghost and dealing with me in love. Oh, Jesus, I need your peace. And Heavenly Father, I need to be sure that I'm adopted, that I'm translated out of the kingdom of the devil and darkness in the kingdom of light into the family of God. Lord Jesus, I confess my sins. Now, believe in my heart that you are the Savior of the world. And, Father, that you love me and that you came after me by your Holy Spirit. And I am saved by the work of the Holy Spirit. He has knocked on my heart's door. And I have answered. And I open the door of my heart. Come, Lord Jesus. Be the Lord of my life. I'm coming home. Now, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord, I believe I'm adopted into the family of God. I am adopted. Now, give me the spirit of adoption, the knowledge, the knowing, the believing that I am that child. I'm not a child of the devil or of darkness. I'm a child of God, a child of the light. Now, let me pray for you. Heavenly Father, only your spirit can make this known and understood. Only the Holy Spirit going with these that have come forward in the annex and here in the main house. Only as the Holy Spirit quickens the word to their heart. Now, Lord, the good work that you've begun, Holy Spirit, you said you'll finish until the day of the Lord. Finish this good work. Don't let any of them walk out of here confused. Let everyone walk out of this church this morning said, I am a child of God. I've been adopted into his family. The devil has no rights to me anymore. Hallelujah. I am legally a child of God. Will you say this with me? I am legally a child of God. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. If you know and you are sure of your adoption, would you raise your hand and just wave it at me all over the house and in the annex? I can't see you there, but the Holy Ghost can. All right. I want you to say it with me right out loud, two times as loud as you can. I'm adopted. Here we go. I am adopted. Once more. I am adopted. Now, tell that to the devil next time. You say, I am adopted. I'm adopted child of the king. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the message.