We are the sons of God. In Romans the eighth chapter the sixteenth and
seventeenth verses we read, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together." To this truth he will
say amen. A careful study of the Scriptures will reveal the fact that,
1. We are heirs. If therefore this be true we have but to claim our
birthright privilege, and there is no weakness in our lives but may be
offset by the strength of his. Whatever Christ has received as the
head of the church he has received in trust for the body and we may
have our possession in him if we but appropriate it.
A man in England died the other day in the poorhouse. He had a little
English farm upon which he could raise no grain and he let it go to
waste and died a pauper. His heirs discovered that on this little
English possession there was a copper mine and they are living in
luxury to-day in the possession of that which belonged to their
ancester [Transcriber's note: ancestor?] all the time but was not
appropriated and used by him.
2. Being sons of God, we are not free from trial; but there is this one
thing to say about our Christian experience: "Our light afflictions
which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory," and God's presence with us in trial is infinitely
better than his absence from us in the time of prosperity. Our trials
are but the discipline through which we must pass in order that we may
one day be prepared to stand in his presence and do his bidding
throughout eternity.
3. Being sons of God, we are sure one day of glory. The song which has
been singing its way around the world in the Torrey-Alexander meetings
presents this thought to us beautifully.
"When all my labors and trials are o'er
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore
Will thro' the ages be glory for me.
"When by the gift of his infinite grace
I am accorded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and look on his face
Will thro' the ages be glory for me.
"Friends will be there I have loved long ago;
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know,
Will thro' the ages be glory for me.
_Chorus._
"Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by his grace I shall look on his face,
That will be glory, be glory for me."
Whatever may be our limitations here, they shall be gone there;
whatever may be our weakness here, it shall be lost there.
Dr. Charles Hodge in his "Lectures on Theology" has given us an
imaginary picture of Laura Bridgman, the famous deaf-mute. The
celebrated theologian has described her standing in the presence of
Christ in that great day when we shall all be before Him, when Christ
shall touch her eyes and say, "Daughter, see," and there shall sweep
through her vision all the glories of the sky; when He shall touch her
ears, which have been so long closed, and say, "Daughter, hear," and
into her soul shall come all the harmonies of heaven; when he shall
touch her lips, which on earth have never spoken a human word, and say,
"Daughter, speak," and with all the angel choir she will burst into the
new song. What Dr. Hodge has said concerning Laura Bridgman will be
true of us. Our day of limitations will be past, the experiences of
weakness be gone, and we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is.
This, therefore, is a good outline of a creed for us to-day. We
believe the Bible is the Word of God, we believe that Jesus is the Son
of God, we believe that the Church is the body of Christ, we believe
that we are by regeneration the sons of God, and making such a
statement we have a right to stop and listen and I am sure we shall
hear as from the skies, "Amen, saith the spirit."