When did we become the children of God? At our baptism. Shew that from Scripture. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Gal. iii, 26, 27. What do you mean in this text by putting on Christ? Putting on or receiving His Holy Spirit. Who does this text say have put on Christ? As many as have been baptized. Shew from Scripture that we are God's children by adoption. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the children of God. Rom. viii, 15, 16. What is this Spirit of adoption which St. Paul here declares all Christians to have received? The Holy Spirit. What are we enabled to call God, seeing that at our baptism we received the Spirit of adoption? Our Father. Are little children after they are baptized allowed to call God their Father? Yes. Do little children and all Christians ever call God their Father? Yes, in the Lord's Prayer. Can unbaptized persons rightly call God their Father? No, because being born in sin, they are, until they have been baptized, the children of the Evil One. INHERITOR OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. What else are we made at our baptism besides members of Christ and children of God? Inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. What do you mean by the word inheritor ? An heir.. What is an heir? One who expects the enjoyment of some future possession. How is it that at our baptism we are made heirs or inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. Because we are then the children of God, and being children are become heirs? Shew from Scripture that because we are the children of God therefore we are heirs. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and jointheirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Rom. viii, 17. What is that future possession of which you have been made heirs at your baptism? The kingdom of heaven. What do you mean by the kingdom of heaven? Where is the Church triumphant? In heaven. What has the Church in heaven triumphed over ? Sin. But is there not a part of the Church on earth? Yes. What is that part of the Church which is on earth called? Militant. What do you mean by the word militant? Fighting. What is the Church on earth fighting with? Sin. Are there then two Churches, one in heaven and one on earth? No, they are parts of the same. How do you know that the Church in heaven and the Church on earth are one and the same? Because Christ is the head of both, and if we are good we shall be members of both. But are we not members of both parts of the Church now? No. What part are we members of now? The Church Militant here on earth. Why are we not members of the Church triumphant in heaven? sin. Because we have not yet triumphed over What are we then with respect to the Church triumphant in heaven? Heirs or inheritors. When did you say we were made so ? At our baptism. Are we sure of our inheritance ? No. What will keep us out of it? Sin. Can sin enter the Church in Heaven? No. Shew that from Scripture. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Rev. xxi, 27. Shew from Scripture that the Church triumphant in heaven is called a kingdom, and that the good are to inherit it. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. St. Matt. XXV, 34. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. St. Luke, xii, 32. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me. St. Luke, xxii, 29. But is not the Church on earth also called in Scripture the kingdom of heaven? Yes. Shew that from Scripture. Repent ye for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. St. Matt. iii, 2. Whose words are these? They are the words of St. John the Baptist. What did he mean by these words? That Christ was coming to set up his Church on earth. Did our Saviour ever call His Church on earth the kingdom of heaven? Yes, often. Shew this from Scripture. In the parable of the wheat and tares. St. Matt. xiii, 24. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, Col. i, 13. What do you mean by the power of darkness in this text? The kingdom of the devil. When were we in that kingdom? When we were born. What do you mean by the kingdom of his dear Son ? The Church or kingdom of Christ. |