Fullest kinds, the heavenly needs, the word of
God.
Let me encourage, not only come yourself, bring
others and invite them, at least give them
an invitation to come and hear his word.
We read tonight in 1 Peter, beginning at
verse 14, Peter writing by the Spirit, as
obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the
form of lust in your ignorance, but as
he which hath called you, if holy, so
be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
Because it is written, be ye holy, for
I am holy.
And if ye call on the Father, who
without respect of person judges according to every
man's work, pass the time of your sojourning
here in fear.
For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you who
by him do believe in God that raised
him up from the dead and gave him
glory, that your faith and hope might be
in God.
May God's Spirit bless the reading of his
word, may the same blessed Spirit give the
ministry of the word for every conscience and
for every heart.
There are two things that we always need.
We need the word of God to spur
the conscience, and we need the word of
God to cheer and to encourage the heart.
May the Spirit of God do that.
We've had the privilege of noting from the
word of God the revelation of God as
Father came only through and by the person
of his Son.
We rejoice in the fullness of the revelation
that by the words, the works, the life,
and the death of the Lord Jesus, the
Father has been fully redeemed.
We've had the privilege of noting that he
is obtaining his children out of this world,
and through the Savior, and the chastity work
of that blessed shepherd who died for us
seeking the love, that blessed one not only
redeemed the Father to mankind, but he is
bringing the family home to the Father.
We rejoice for every one that he finds.
We think of the parable that he told
of the lost sheep, which when he has
found it, he places it upon his shoulders
and carries it home rejoicing.
We trust that everyone in our audience is
upon his shoulders being carried home to the
Father's glory above, where the family will ultimately
be.
We've had also the privilege of seeing the
divine divisions of the family.
I would not waste my time talking about
the human divisions of the family, which we
regret, but we rejoice that the family is
one.
Every born-again child of God is in
his family, and he alone has given the
divisions of the family, as we saw last
evening, that threefold division, grading them according to
their spiritual development as being father, or young
men, or as little children.
I commend to your heart and conscience, as
well as to my own, the deep exercise
to ask God, and in his presence search
your heart to say, Father, where do I
belong in the family growth?
Am I just a child, an infant in
the faith?
Have I grown and developed in the spiritual
faith of God?
Am I a young man in that spiritual
attainment that there is spiritual strength, the word
of God abides within me?
The overcoming of the evil one is being
enjoyed, or have I recently a father in
the family, having gone on, pressed on, occupying
with Christ and growing in his knowledge to
reach that mature attainment of being called by
the Father, one of the Fathers within his
family?
Tonight, we'd like to speak upon the subject
relating to the Father and his family of
the Father's government over the family.
The Father's government of his family, for it
is an important principle that Scripture teaches that
the Father governs and deals with every member
of his family in his own governmental way.
The need of discipline in relation to the
believer should always be recognized.
Though today it is little appreciated, as well
as very little practiced, but the word of
God speaks of various forms of discipline.
First of all, let me mention briefly there
is what could be called, and is in
the word of God suggested, as being self
-discipline, the discipline of one's self.
You may recall, some of you, that writing
to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 11,
the beloved apostle said in verse 31, if
we should or would judge ourselves, then we
would not need to be judged.
It is the principle of the believer disciplining
himself and herself, searching his and her own
heart and life to maintain his and her
fellowship with God properly.
And self-discipline will avoid the discipline that
must come from God when we are disobedient.
Then there is taught in Corinthians, the same
epistle, chapter 5, what we call church discipline,
something very little known in practice today, but
which is of great importance in relation to
the church.
Where in the assembled company of the believers,
every believer should realize he and she is
under the disciplinary action of that local church
authorized as such by the Holy Scripture.
And this is a neglected ministry, for each
believer should realize he and she is to
be subject to this in order to maintain
the holiness of God's house.
Now, we shall see, but let me emphasize
it at this point.
We shall see that the whole purpose of
discipline, as we shall see it tonight, over
the family, is to produce holiness in the
child of God.
The purpose of assembly or church discipline is
to produce holiness in the house of God.
But, whether we fail in self-discipline, whether
we may come short in assembly or church
discipline, I can assure you the father over
every one of his children will never fail
in his fatherly discipline.
There is not one of his children that
the father will fail in respect to his
governmental authority over his children to deal with
them when needful.
The father is faithful to thus recognize the
need of his children, and never to fail
as a father over the family to deal
with each one.
We may fail, you and I may fail
in parental authority in the realm of our
own family relationships, but the father above will
never fail in his governmental relationship and responsibility
to every one of his children.
Now, may I point out to you that
the twofold purpose for the disciplinary action of
the father over the children.
First of all, to correct the children, to
chasten or to correct when his children may
be in need of correction and discipline because
of their disobedience.
But, we sometimes miss the other purpose.
The father is not only ready, willing, as
well as faithful to discipline and chasten when
necessary, but he is just as faithful to
reward his child.
For, though disobedience may meet the discipline of
the father, obedience will always receive the commendation
and the blessing of the father.
So, when you realize the governmental authority of
the father over the family, let us recognize
one purpose is to correct his children, and
the second to reward them for their obedience.
There are two factors that are involved in
the action of the father toward his children
in this discipline.
First of all, the honor of the father
is involved.
His own honor, the honor of the father
himself is involved.
For, the father desires to maintain the true
character of holiness in his child.
Can I repeat that?
No apology for the repetition.
Truth that is well worth repeating should be
repeated.
The discipline of the father over his children
is to maintain his own honor, that his
own character of holiness may be maintained in
the lives of his children.
And then, not only is the father's honor
involved, but the happiness, the joy, and the
blessing of his children is involved.
For, he desires the happiness of his beloved
children.
You know, it's a strange fact.
The parent knows, and should know, more than
the child.
And, many a time, disciplinary action in an
earthly family may not be understood by the
child, but the interest, and the loving interest,
and the thankful interest of the parent is
concerned for the happiness and for the joy
of his own child.
The child may not realize it, but the
parent that properly disciplines has the child's welfare
at heart.
So does the father in heaven.
Now, look at our scriptures tonight as we
go to Peter.
For, Peter, as well as other apostles, mentions
the relationship of the father in the family,
and in this particular portion brings before them
the governmental discipline of the father.
But, first of all, let's see the principle
of his government, and the claims of the
father in this section.
Verse 14, 15 and 16.
The father calls his children to obedience.
As obedient children, not passioning yourselves according to
the former lusts in your ignorance, but as
he which hath called you is holy, so
be ye holy in all manner of conversation
or living, because it is written, be ye
holy for I am holy.
The father calls his children to obedience.
May I insert right here some truth that
we haven't time to cover in detail from
the epistle of John, but may I insert
some facts regarding what the father wants, what
he should have from his children that embodies
the obedience required.
You will find in 1st John chapter 2,
or chapter 3 rather, in verse 9, that
one characteristic that father desires to see in
his child is this.
John says, we do not practice sin.
We do not practice sin, and that is
one characteristic that should feature every child of
God.
He also says in 1st John 2 and
29, the positive side of that fact, we
practice righteousness.
We do righteous things.
We practice righteousness, and that is a feature
that the father desires to see in every
one of his children.
Not practicing sin, but practicing right living.
My beloved, you and I have no right
to live any way we wish.
When we are the children of God, the
father's desire is to see his own likeness
in us.
Do not practice sin, practice righteousness.
Right living, practical righteousness.
And then, if I recall correctly, in 1st
John chapter 3 verse 14, John declares, hereby
we know that we have passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren.
And, in the context, John is describing the
fact that one of the evidences that the
children of God is, they love one another.
And, my beloved, to love one another as
the children of God is one of the
features of the father himself, for God is
love.
And, we should lay down our life for
our brethren.
That's the standard of that love that the
father requires.
I think we read also, in the fifth
chapter of that epistle, briefly telling it, that
we should overcome the world.
He that is born of God overcomes the
world, and who is he that overcometh the
world but he that believeth that Jesus is
the son of God.
And, one can recognize these are the few
but important responsibilities to produce the characteristic features
of the father, his likeness in his children.
You know, one of the greatest joys is
when your children may look like you, I
hope, but that is one great joy of
an earthly parent.
The likeness and the features of the parent,
the family resemblance.
And, my beloved, the family likeness of the
father in his character.
He wants to see in you and me,
and his obedient children.
Peter says, not passioning yourselves according to your
former lusts as you once did in your
ignorance, but as he which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all
manner of living, for it is written, be
ye holy for I am holy.
The father's desire is obedience.
The father's pattern is his holiness, and I
cannot minimize that standard.
I dare not.
You may say it's unattainable.
Perhaps, but you better seek to go after
that same pattern, though, and grow in grace,
and seek to develop practical sanctification of life,
holiness of living, and the responsibility is given
to us.
So be ye holy.
Now, I know I'll never reach perfection down
here, never.
Dear friend wrote me many years ago.
He had retired and gone to California for
the days of his retirement, and became dissatisfied
with California, and he wrote me and said,
John, can you tell me where the best
assembly is in Florida?
Where the best climate is in Florida?
Where the best place would be to stay
in Florida?
And I wrote back and said, Jim, what
you're looking for is heaven, and we realize
we do not, we cannot, we shall not
reach the perfection that shall be ours when
we are changed in that moment we see
the Lord Jesus at his coming.
But, my beloved, be ye holy as I
am holy, saith the Lord.
Holiness of life should be developed.
Now, note with me, then, in verse 17
of our chapter, that this responsibility comes under
the discipline of the judgment of the Father.
And if ye call on the Father, who
without respect a person judges according to every
man's work, hast the time of your soul
journeying here in fear.
Now, beloved, you and I, you were saying
we call upon the Father.
The Lord Jesus said to his own, as
we have seen, you have come to the
Father, you know the Father, you've seen the
Father, you've seen me, therefore you've seen the
Father.
And we call on the Father, and what
a joy it is to call in Abba
Father.
If ye call on the Father, will you
know what follows?
The Father without respect a person judges according
to every man's work.
Now, I want to be very careful to
make clear the distinction of the Father being
the judge.
I know that it is written in John
5 22, the words of the Lord Jesus
say, the Father judges no man but has
committed all judgment unto the Son.
And, as you continue on in John 5,
the Lord Jesus speaks of that coming day
of judgment when he as judge will be
the judge of all mankind in that future
day.
That what Peter is writing about is not
a future judgment.
Peter is writing a present day judgment by
the Father of his children.
What would you think of a father that
paid no attention to his children?
The Father in heaven is distinctly concerned about
the conduct of his children.
My beloved, I say this to my soul,
to my conscience, what I have been today,
what I have done today, my father has
been interested in, and noted for his observance
of the believer and of his children, his
conscience.
And my father packs a daily judgment on
what I do, and upon what I am,
as well as upon what I said.
So, with regard, we realize it is a
present judgment, and day by day, and moment
by moment, the Father is watching his children.
You know, we like to think he watches
over me day and night, but I wonder
if we realize he not only watches over
us for caring, and preserving, and protecting, but
he's watching what we are, and what we
do, and what we say.
It's a present judgment, continuing moment by moment
in the family of God.
Then, I want you to note, it's not
only a present judgment, it is a righteous
judgment.
Now, you note this 17th verse.
If he call on the Father, who, without
respect to persons, there's no partiality in his
judgment.
And, may I say, my beloved brother and
sister, the Father doesn't show any partiality to
thee above you, and vice versa.
No partiality to his children.
It is a righteous judgment.
Now, this affects us daily.
This affects us in our present life, and
then you know the third thing.
Note the basis of his judgment in the
same verse.
He judges according to every man's worth, according
to every man's worth, or according to the
work of each one.
Oh my beloved, what a responsibility is his!
How many children does he have?
I don't know.
I know they're numberless as far as human
computation, but the children of God who are
in the family, every one of them, are
daily being discerned by him and judged by
him according to the work of each.
Now, listen brother and sister, this is not
a future judgment.
This is a present one.
When we stand before the judgment seat of
Christ, it will not be the Father, it's
going to be Christ himself who'll be the
judge.
When the dead shall be laid at the
last judgment before the great white throne, Christ
himself will be the judge.
But, this is the disciplinary judgment, and discernment,
and the righteous discernment of the Father over
his children in the present time.
Every word, every thought, every deed, every motion
of the heart and life, he discerns.
May I insert a fact that comes to
my soul and my mind at this moment?
Look, many times, and likely, we bring before
the hearts of God's people the coming day
of the judgment seat of Christ.
We take the holy scriptures concerning that day
when the saints shall stand before him, and
their life will be brought before him in
review, and the gold, and the silver, and
the precious stone, and the wood, and the
hay, and the stubble will be manifested, and
every man's work, his and her testimony for
their Christian life, will be thus reviewed, rewarded,
or the loss of reward will be involved.
My beloved, may I say, if you and
I as children of God were more deeply
conscious that the Father is judging us every
day, we shall fare better at the judgment
seat of Christ.
Thus to the obedient children, and thus to
let every word, every thought, even today, every
deed, every motive of the heart and life
be under his discerning eye, and the consciousness
that I'm responsible to my Father for what
I am, and what I do.
You see, how am I going to be
able to do that?
Well, let me give you the words of
the Hebrew writer in chapter 4 and verse
12 and 13.
When the apostle wrote, saying, for the word
of God is living, and effective, powerful, and
effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of the soul,
and of the spirit, and the joints, and
the marrow, and is as external as the
thoughts, and the intense of the heart.
For all things are naked and open to
the eyes of him with whom we have
to do.
My beloved, this is what God suggests.
If you and I will submit ourselves in
obedience to his word, and to the authority
and the searching power of this word, it
will search the motives of our hearts.
It will discern not only the motives of
the heart, but it will also discern the
thoughts of the mind.
And all things will be naked and open
to the eyes of him with whom we
have to do.
And you and I will be walking in
this present scene as his children, who, in
obedience to his word, would seek to be
faithful, in knowing the Father watches, the Father
discerns, the Father is just.
You know there's one thing about that Father
there, in the glory.
You may have to tell him sometimes what
you've done, but if you never tell him,
he knows it.
There may be things you may fail to
tell him, he knows them.
There's no one of privilege to see if
only the heart, and the soul, and the
life of his child has lived in the
light of the Father's conscious, conscious presence, and
authority, and government over him.
I remember years ago, my good brother and
friend Alfred Loisio and I were talking together,
as often we did when in his home
together.
We chatted for hours over the word of
God again and again, and I recall we
were talking together concerning some subject of this
character, and he looked at me on one
occasion that morning, and he said, Brother Van
Horne, he said, there are some things that
I would be afraid to do, because I'm
afraid my father would smack me down.
Let's read on.
Look in this chapter, look in this verse.
You know what the beloved apostle says at
the end of the verse.
Did he call on the Father, who, without
respect to person, judges according to every man's
work, cast the time of your sojourning here
in fear?
You say afraid of the Father?
No.
Then what is the fear?
My beloved, the fear of grieving his heart,
the fear of grieving that great heart of
love, fear that springs from the consciousness my
father is holy, and to recognize that character
of my father, and I'm his son, I'm
his child.
How necessary, then, to spend the time of
my pilgrimage on the earth in fear.
Now, don't be afraid of that word.
Reverential fear.
Not the terror of the heart and the
mind.
Afraid of that, for God forbid.
The Lord Jesus said, I go to my
father and your father.
My father is now your father, and the
spirit of his son has been sent into
our hearts, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
My beloved child of God, may I encourage
you, as well as my own heart, never
hesitate to come to the Father, no matter
what you've done.
The sooner you come to him, the better,
if you've done something wrong.
Cast the time of your sojourning in your
pilgrimage here in fear.
Oh my beloved, I'm so glad I have
a father like that.
I'm so grateful.
Here is a father whose character, holiness indeed,
commends the responsibility of his child to be
his obedient one.
My, how many parents would love to have
obedient children?
You know it's a strange thing when you
get a bunch of children together and seek
to talk with them, as I've done in
the past.
It's a strange thing.
I've often asked the question of them, how
many of you know how to be naughty?
And every hand goes up, every hand goes
up.
My beloved, what a joy it is to
realize the Father desires you and I to
be his obedient children.
When we walk with the Lord in the
light of his word, what a glory he
sheds on our way while we do his
good will.
He abides with us still, and with all
who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust
and obey.
Oh beloved, look with me at verse 18
through 21 in the closing moment.
I wanted to see why the Father claims
this, for his claims are an honesty, and
the claim of the Father is based upon
the infinite redemption, and that infinite price of
our redemption that was given.
For as much as ye know that you
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation by tradition
from your fathers.
Now beloved, note negatively.
Peter says, you know you were never redeemed
with silver and gold.
All the silver and gold in the world
could not redeem you and me, and redemption
for the children, redemption for the people of
God, could never be bought at the cost
of material wealth.
All that the world contained could never buy
the redemption of the soul.
And we have been bought with an infinite
price, as he goes on to say, but
with the precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb without blemish, and without strife.
Now, may I point out, verse 18 says,
nothing on earth ever bought your redemption.
Verse 19 says, heaven brought it for you.
Heaven brought the redemption of your soul and
mind.
The redemptive price came down from heaven in
the person of the Lamb of God, and
by the precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb without blemish and without strife, you
and I have been redeemed.
And then, note in verse 20, it was
God's eternal purpose that determined he wanted you
and me to be his children.
As you'll read, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you.
You know, one of the greatest truths that
blesses my soul beyond expression is when I
read that he wanted me before the foundation
of the world.
What a God!
Hallelujah!
I want him, but I know I have
a God like that.
Before the foundation of the world, that blessed
Lamb was foreordained, and then manifested, and died
upon the cross to bring us to the
Father.
Oh beloved, don't you say the Father can't
claim what he asks?
He can claim it.
For that redemption that heaven has provided, verse
21 tells that you and I appropriated it.
Who by him do believe in God that
raised him up from the dead, and gave
him glory that your faith and hope might
be in God?
And, beloved, certainly we can recognize the Father
deserves the obedience of his children, and his
discipline is upon them and over them to
correct or to reward according to the work
of each one.
May I say just a word in closing,
and commend only the reading, if you wish,
at your own convenience of the twelfth chapter
of the book of Hebrews, whom the Lord
loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth.
And, when you read that chapter, you will
find that the purpose of the Father's chastening
of his child is always to make him
or her partakers of his own holiness.
Nevertheless, now no chastening for the present seems
to be joyous, but rather grievous.
Nevertheless, afterward his workers, the peaceable fruit of
righteousness, to them that are exercised thereby.
And, beloved, may I say earnestly, I thank
God for his chastening hand.
My beloved, may I encourage, though the Father
may chasten you in whatever way he chooses,
submit to it.
There are three things you could do.
You can resist it, or you can run
away from it, but if you endure it,
you'll get through it quicker and better, and
the Father's purpose will be accomplished to produce
his own character in your life.
Oh, beloved, I'm sure in this audience, many,
if not all of us, know something of
the chastening of the Father in our lives,
and we are grateful to him for it.
It may not be as it is in
an earthly sense, but, oh beloved, it is
profitable, and the Father's discipline each day you
and I should be aware of, and conscious
that we are subject to it, and it
will maintain the holiness of our testimony better,
if we are.
May God help us to remember the Father
would say to his children, behave yourselves, and
what our own parents often said, don't forget
whose children you are, as you and I
know we belong to him.
Shall we pray?
Blessed Father, we thank thee for thyself.
We're amazed that we even can call thee
Father, and rejoice with joy unspeakable that is
through thy grace alone, and the mercy that's
been shown in, and by, and through the
person of thy dear son, and his meritorious
work on Calvary's cause.
And we thank thee, Father, every child of
thine is the object of thy constant care
and watchfulness.
Blessed Father, we'd like to acknowledge that sometimes
we are disobedient, we humbly confess it, and
that with shame.
And Father, we regret you've got so many
disobedient children, and we would humbly bow before
thee tonight, and ask thee to make thy
likeness to be seen more and more in
of thy children.
Blessed Father, we love thee, and we thank
thee for bringing us to thyself through thy
beloved son.
Tonight, as we bow together, we would say
make us more like thyself, to be obedient
children, and give thee the joy thou dost
desire, to see thy children walking in the
truth.
We close with those precious words of John
as he wrote them in one of his
epistles, I have no greater joy than that
my children walk in the truth.
We pray, Father, this will be ours tonight,
and in the days we may have left
for our earthly pilgrimage, to thus show the
Father's likeness in our daily walk.
We ask it, Father, for thy glory, and
Father, we know it is done, we shall
be as well as obedient children.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of our Father God, and the
fellowship, indeed, and the conviction of the Spirit
be upon us, in our Savior's name.
Amen.