Who’s Your Daddy?
Three of every 10 births in the U. S. were to unwed mothers, according to a new report to Congress commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services. Out-of-wedlock childbearing is on the rise for adults as well as teenagers, and for women of all races. One social scientists stated, “Economic and social circumstances have made marriage less attractive, less necessary, or less feasible for many Americans.” The majority of unwed mothers are not teenagers, nor are they minorities, even though nonmarital childbearing rates are disproportionately high among these populations. Most women bearing children out-of-wedlock are not teenagers. Teenagers account for 30 percent of all births outside of marriage. Women ages 20-24 and women ages 25 and older each account for 35 percent of nonmarital births. While black women experienced a high rate of nonmarital births, 60 percent of all births outside of marriage were to white women. And this rate is increasing among white women.
In a welfare debate, President Clinton himself stated that “the real source of the problem is the inordinate number of out-of-wedlock births in this country.” He also conceded that “there is question that ending welfare for unwed mothers would work. The question is ‘Is it morally right?’”
[INTRODUCE TOPIC & PRAY]
You know what Church, it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, if you are black or white, live in urban, suburban, or rural America, if you are on welfare or not, the fact of the matter is that we have an illegitimacy problem in this country. We can begin to say well it’s the young people, but statistics show that young people aren’t the only ones fornicating and producing illegitimate children. Sin knows no bounds. Rich, black, white, poor, welfare, it doesn’t matter; fornication and adultery is responsible for illegitimacy in this country.
When you look at what is going on in the world, you have to ask yourself “What is the Church of God doing?” Shocking as it may seem, but did you know that the Church is having an illegitimacy problem as well? Not just socially, I’m talking about spiritual and moral illegitimacy. You know not having a father. Did you know that you could be counted illegitimate spiritually? Well this morning I would like to talk to you about how we can become legitimately the sons and daughters of God.
In the book of John, we find that Christ was being confronted on the legitimacy of his birth. In chapter 8, we see the Pharisees again looking for some way to thwart the belief among the people that Jesus was the Christ, and show him out to be an impostor, a false Messiah. And in John 8 we will look at the aspects of spiritual illegitimacy and how we can become legally and uncontestably God’s children.
First turn with me into your Bibles to John 8 starting at verse 12-19, we know the record of Christ’s birth. We know that a virgin conceived Jesus. But here we see a very heated discussion on the roots of Christ. Jesus has just declared himself the Light of the world, and this was a prophetical acclaim of his Messiahship all too familiar with the leaders of the Jewish nation.
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Isaiah 42:6, 7
They were determined not to accept it but chose to say Jesus’ testimony wasn’t true because he gave it of himself. But Jesus had given them the proof of who he was by declaring that he did not only bear record of himself but pointed out in the Jewish law that the testimony of two men is true. So he declared the authentication of his Sonship by saying God had beared record of him as well.
Supposing Jesus was talking about an earthly father the Jews ask, “Where is thy Father? “ They were in denial on the full account of Jesus’ birth and began to mock him by asking where is thy Father? Jesus was now being looked upon as one without a father. The Jews declared him illegitimate.
When I was a child, we couldn’t use words like lie, bastard, heifer, of damn. We had to say, "You are telling stories!" instead of saying "That’s a lie," and we had no substitute for "bastard" so we couldn’t use the word at all, and "cow" for "heifer," and "darn" or "dag" for "damn." Even now I feel a little awkward just saying those words. But the word of God points our what bastards are. In Hebrews 12:4-10, God disciplines all of His children so that we don’t behave as those who are without fathers. There are a whole lot of bastards in the House of God today. But God said that we can all join Him through the process of adoption.
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Galatians 4:4, 5
With Jesus the Jews didn’t know where he was from nor did they know who his father was, or for that matter, they just flat out exclaimed that they didn’t know who Christ was. It is a dangerous thing not to know who Christ is. Little did they know that they were talking to the God of their fathers.
The same God, who had delivered their forefathers from Egypt, was now confronting the offspring. Jesus had told them in verses 23-28 twice that he was the "I AM." The word "he" is in italics. That is a supplied word or a gloss it is not in the original. So in verses 24, and 28, he is stating the claim to the one who spoke to Moses at the burning bush. But yet they were bent on showing to the people that Christ was an impostor. That he was illegitimate and they even began to tell Christ that their need of him to deliver them was insufficient because Abraham was their father and they were never in bondage to any man.
It is the same thing today that some in the Church feel that there is no need really to accept Jesus because they have confidence in the faith their parents have established. Some people in the church hide behind the faith and works of their parents. They say “well I’m a third, fourth, fifth generation Adventist,” or they may even say “my mother is a God-fearing women.” They ease the pressure of their minds by relying on the relationship their parents had with God. Little do they know that a mere biological connection to the faith is not going to get it.
You can’t be born physically into the faith. Remember the words of Jesus to Nichodemus:
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. John 3:5-7
A mere lineal descent is of no value. Salvation is an individual ordeal. We cannot think because our parents, or grandparents were saved that we are going to be saved. You aren’t an Adventist because you were born into an Adventist home. The Scriptures state that we are accountable to God for our own actions.
What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right…Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgements, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord. If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things…Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? He shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. Ezekiel 18:2-5, 9, 13
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12
And God told the children of Israel, that no longer would he account the righteousness of their fathers to them. Turn with me to Ezekiel 14:13-20 [READ]. Noah built the ark. Shem, Ham, and Japheth get credit for walking into the ark. Daniel had to stay in the lions’ den, and his brothers Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego don’t get credit for that because prior to this they had to pass their own test on the plain of Dura. Job, who the Bible stated was a perfect and upright man, prayed and sacrificed daily for his children and himself. However while at the elder brother’s house having a party, the whirlwind came and killed them all.
Essentially brothers and sisters of mine what God is saying is that you are on your own. Momma and daddy can pray for you but that can’t save you and neither can they of themselves save you. We all have to stand before the judgement bar of Heaven. And you better make sure that you are legit. The Church may be the mother of the faithful, but anybody can profess to be a Christian, but can they prove that they have their Fathers blood. Not only that but they have got to show some resemblance to their father. That is to say that they have to show forth the character of their father. Our mother can’t really say who our daddy is. We don’t know how you got in here or what made you join the church. All we know is that the devil could have planted you in here. I mean lets face it men come in and out of this house every weekend, we just can’t tell who you belong to unless we see some fruit. Everybody in here isn’t a child of God or for that matter an Adventist Christian. You were not birth by the Spirit of God therefore that makes you spiritually fatherless.
The Pharisees held firm to the claim that Abraham is their Father. They couldn’t understand that they were slaves to the flesh that they had become the servants of sin and once again needed to be delivered from the bondage of their wicked hearts. It is too often that in an out-of-wedlock birth that the mother has a hard time distinguishing whom the father is. The Jews told Jesus that they know who their father is and that he was born of fornication. They were calling Jesus illegitimate. But Jesus wasn’t questioning the physical nature of their birth but was trying to open their eyes to the evil that was in them. He wanted them to understand that if Abraham was their Father then they would do the works of Abraham in verse 39.
When I looked up the works of Abraham I discovered some very key principles about the works of Abraham.
1. He believed in God. Genesis 12:4
2. He obeyed God. Genesis 26:5
3. He trusted in God. (tithe & Isaac) Genesis 14:18-20 & 22:11-14
The Pharisees had declared themselves the children of Abraham. Jesus told them that this claim could be established only by doing the works of Abraham. The true children of Abraham would live, as he did, a life of obedience to God. They would not try to kill One who was speaking the truth that was given Him from God. In plotting against Christ, the rabbis were not doing the works of Abraham…Without a spiritual connection with him, which would be manifested in possessing the same spirit, and doing the same works, they were not his children. Desire of Ages, pages 466-67
So when Jesus told the Pharisees that “this did not Abraham.” He was showing them that Abraham was not their father. So now they are arguing over whom is whose daddy!
The Pharisees didn’t like that. They fired back by again attacking Jesus’ birth and claiming God as their Father. Jesus again denied this claim because they were thinking about killing him for no reason and this we all know God does not do. In verse 42 we read. It is the same today, many nominal Christians claiming Lord, Lord, but they do not the works of God.
“Why callest thou me Lord, Lord and doest not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46
Have we forgotten Matthew 7:21-24:
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Hosea had the same problem with Gomer. Hosea was told by God to marry a harlot to show His love toward Israel. Hosea 3:1 Israel and Judah both transgressed against the commandments of God. Hosea 1:6-10 [READ] It is good to know that I don’t have to be fatherless. It is good to know that God cares for those without fathers. It is even the job of the church to care for the fatherless and the widows. James 1:27:
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
But Jesus knew who their father was and he told them in verse 44. [READ] I John 3:7-10 & Hosea 5:7, 7:8-10. [READ]
They persistently accused Jesus of being a fake, and told him that he had a devil. They called Jesus a Samaritan. Samaria is a symbol of falsehood. Hosea 7:1 They were a mixed race of people Jews and heathens. And hence they said Jesus was a fake and not only was he a fake but he hath a devil. [Continue reading 49-51] Things were starting to get heated. Nobody likes to be called illegitimate! The Pharisees were steady looking for ways to trap Jesus in what he was saying. They readily jumped on Abraham’s bandwagon again and Christ had to finally tell them who and what he really is. In verses 56-59 we read. [READ]
I want you to understand what Jesus was saying here. It had been promised that God would send his son to redeem Israel and in the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham saw God’s holy plan when the ram was caught in the thicket to take Isaac’s place for a sacrifice. It is further noted that in Exodus, let’s go there. Exodus 3:6-8,13-15. [READ]
Israel was crying out for freedom from the iron clads of Rome, and once again the Lord answered their cry but Israel didn’t know that it was the I AM that had come to deliver them once again from the Rome of sin in their hearts. He came to claim them as his own children once again after they had been servants to sin. So what is spiritual illegitimacy? It is taking the name of the Lord God in vain.
The angels of heaven hallow this name, by the inhabitants of unfallen worlds. When you pray "Hallowed be Thy name, “ you ask that it may be hallowed in this world, hallowed in you. God has acknowledged you before men and angels as His child; pray that you may do no dishonor to the “worthy name by which ye are called.” God sends you into the world as His representative. In every act of life you are to make manifest the name of God. This petition calls upon you to possess His character. You cannot hallow His name; you cannot represent Him to the world, unless in life and character you represent the very life and character of God. This you can do only through the acceptance of the grace and righteousness of Christ. Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings pg. 107
How do I become a legitimate son or daughter of God? You have to have three things. First you got to have God’s blood. You have to be cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb. You must not despise the chastening of the Lord. [Hebrews 12:3-10 & Proverb 3:11] You have to give witness to the world who your Father is, and finally, your name has to be on the birth certificate call the Lamb’s book of life. You have to repent and be converted said the apostle Peter. Then you have to show some blood [Revelation 12:11]. All of us aren’t his and the only way we can determine who your father is, is by the blood type. It can’t be type ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘AB’, or ‘O’, it has to be type ‘J.’ Type ‘J’ for Jesus!!!
But some of us still don’t know who our father is. I know who my daddy is: He is the Alpha, and Almighty, He is the Bread of Life and Bishop of my soul, He is the Christ and the Captain of this ship, and He is the Deliverer and Daystar that brings joy in the morning, He is Emmanuel and the Eternal One, He is the Father of all and a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, He is God and the Good Shepherd, He is the Holy One and the Horn of Salvation, He is the great I AM and Invisible God, He is Jesus and Jehovah, He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, He is the Man of sorrows and Manna that fell from Heaven, He is Nazareth’s Son, He is the Omnipotent God, Prince of Peace, Righteous Judge, Son of God and Savior of the world, He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life, Unseen Hand that’s providing when you’re not lookin’, He is the Voice of the Lord that speaks his sweet Words of life to me, He is Wonderful, and He is mysterious, He is YHWH and finally He is Zion’s King. Do you know your father? Well He wants you to stop acting like you are illegitimate and become His son or daughter.
[PRAY]
