Who We Welcome and Why - 2

                                                           Who We Welcome and Why - 2

Subject – Welcoming the Father into Life Church and Our Lives

By Rick Welborne

John 14:23-26 (NKJV)
²³  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
²⁴  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
²⁵  "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
²⁶  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 

--Last week we looked at how important it is to welcome Jesus, the living Son of God into our church and into our lives. Truly, without Jesus we can do nothing. 

--Think about this, the first miracle that happened in the life of Jesus and at the beginning of His ministry was simply because He was invited to the event.

--Jesus and His disciples were invited to a wedding celebration and because of that a miracle was in the house. Jesus says He is standing at the door knocking trying to get back into His church.

--It is truly sad that the One Who said that He would build His church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it has to knock on the door to get into what He built. Let’s welcome Him to His own house.

--Today we will look at welcoming God the Father into our lives and into His church. Pastor, you just said it is Jesus’s church, is it His church or the Father’s church and the answer is yes.

--You cannot separate God the Father, Jesus the Son, or Holy Spirit because they are One. All of them were and are vitally involved in the building of the church and all should be welcomed. 

--Notice the unity and cooperation of the Trinity in our text today and how each One compliments the other. Jesus said if you love Me and keep My Word My Father will love you. Awesome!

--Jesus goes on to say if you love Me and keep My Commandments My Father and I will come and make our home with you. Mind blowing!

--They are so unified that Jesus says if you don’t love Me or keep My words, you are actually rejecting the Father because they are His Words anyway. 

--Verse 26 should get us all excited because the unity is so magnified between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things.

--The Godhead is showing us, His church, His people, His sheep, His disciples how important it is for all of us to be One like they are One. Listen to Jesus beautiful prayer about unity.

John 17:20-23 (NKJV)
²⁰  "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
²¹  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
²²  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
²³  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

--Obviously, the reason I am sharing this with you today is to let you know that when we welcome Jesus, Father, and Holy Spirit, they come as a package deal. They are One. Let’s look at why we welcome the Father.

1. We Welcome the Father Because He Always Exalts the Son

Matthew 3:13-17 (NIV)
¹³  Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
¹⁴  But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
¹⁵  Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
¹⁶  As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
¹⁷  And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 

--Again we see Father, Son, and Holy Spirit coming as a package deal and all of them are represented in these verses. They are always complimenting each other. We should do the same.

--A little over a hundred years ago when Holy Spirit was being poured out and the A/G were being established, three main groups came out of that move of God.

--One was a shepherding movement, another was a Oneness movement, and the other was the A/G. In Covington, La. A pastor from one of these organizations liked to argue. You figure which group.

--He interrupted a lunch where I was trying to lead some folks to Christ so he could argue. I kindly told him to go away. He waited and we practiced Christian apologetics. We argued!

--He said you show me one place in the Bible where all three are there and I will shut up. I took him to Mat. 3. Who was in the water? Jesus. One. Who descended like a dove? Holy Spirit. Two. 

--The voice from Heaven saying this is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased? Unless Jesus was a ventriloquist it was Father. Three. So please shut up and don’t disturb me when I am witnessing. 

--The Father always exalts the Son. "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We always want to welcome the Father because He exalts and magnifies the Son.

2. We Welcome the Father Because Our Prayers Are Directed to Him

John 15:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

--What a privilege to pray to our Heavenly Father and what a privilege pray in His Son’s Name…Jesus. Our Heavenly Father wants us to cry out to Him and trust Him. Several verses about praying to our Father.

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread.
¹²  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 

--We welcome Him and we pray to Him because He can fill gaps not even family can fill. My family is so dysfunctional and messed up. I need a father figure in my life. 

Psalm 27:7-10 (NKJV)
⁷  Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸  When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."
⁹  Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
¹⁰  When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me. 

Psalm 68:5-6 (NLT2)
⁵  Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
⁶  God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. 

--Welcome God the Father, welcome God your Father into your lives and into Life Church. He is a good good Father! Again look at how Holy Spirit and the Father live and operate in perfect harmony as we pray

Romans 8:26-27 (NKJV)
²⁶  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
²⁷  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

3. We Welcome the Father and We Direct Our Worship to Him

--Watch these verses showing us to be dependent on Holy Spirit, directing our ministry we perform toward the Lord Jesus Christ, and giving thanks (worship) to the Father. We must worship and welcome our loving Father.

Ephesians 5:18-20 (NLT2)
¹⁸  Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
¹⁹  singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
²⁰  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

--Listen to these verses explaining why we welcome the Father and why we worship Him.

Psalm 89:21-26 (NLT2)
²¹  I will steady him with my hand; with my powerful arm I will make him strong.
²²  His enemies will not defeat him, nor will the wicked overpower him.
²³  I will beat down his adversaries before him and destroy those who hate him.
²⁴  My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him, and by my authority he will grow in power.
²⁵  I will extend his rule over the sea, his dominion over the rivers.
²⁶  And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ 

--Welcome Him, worship Him and be thankful for Him. Our heavenly Father deserves our total devotion.

Colossians 3:16-17 (NKJV)
¹⁶  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
¹⁷  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.