“You have the Right”
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
PRELUDE:- As I look back over the past few months and think about how life has changed and yet how so many things have stayed the same. I am perplexed at the times we find ourselves living in. The Coronavirus came and changed the way we live in dramatic ways, social distancing has become a new way of living, wearing mask is now regulation, traveling was brought to a halt, homes became classrooms, offices, and places of solitude. People were awakened to the reality that systemic racism is real and were shocked into actuality when they watched in total amazement as George Floyd was literally killed on national T.V., then shortly thereafter see Rayshard Brooks gunned down in a Wendy’s parking lot. Protesters were treated like terrorist shot with rubber bullets, gassed with tear gas, and herded by the national guard like cattle for the opportunity to take a picture in front of a church while holding a Bible. Then after a summer of hopeful unification and understanding we are shaken again by the senseless and brutal shooting of Jacob Brooks, not once but seven times. When protesters take a stand against the ridiculous and inhumane actions of the police they are faced by a supremist militia where 2 people are killed and 1 seriously injured by a 17 year old delinquent with a rap sheet as long as my arm who was literally from another town and was yet brought there by his mother who needs to be charged with accessory to murder, as an act of heroism and patriotism . We are living literally in a time when the inalienable rights of people are non-existent. However; I am here today to let you know “You Have the Right”.
PRAYER: -
SCRIPTURES:- Galatians 4:1-7 says “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 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. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”.
What a powerful scripture. When you get the revelation of this scripture it releases something down on the inside of you that does like the old Sunday school song said – “It’s a bubbling, it’s a bubbling, it’s a bubbling down in my soul – I’m singing, I’m shouting since Jesus has made me whole” .
OPENING: - If you have ever watched a television show where there is a police officer and a criminal you have heard from time and time again the police officer read the suspect his or her Miranda Rights. After placing the suspect under arrest, the officer will say something like, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” The Miranda Rights were created in 1966 as a result of the United States Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona. The Miranda rights are a warning intended to protect a person’s Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer and avoid self-incriminating questions.
The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials can place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights and assembly rights as we have witnesses recently when they interfere with a governmental photo-op.
It is extremely important to understand your rights, the main reason why it is so important to know your rights is to protect yourself. People that know nothing about their rights will get in trouble or be faced with a situation and find themselves unable to protect themselves or stand up for themselves because they do not understand their rights or if they have the right to do so or not. It’s important and always good to know what your rights are, if you don’t know them, then you cannot stand up and fight for them.
The NRA and other gun carrying individuals protest, stand-up, and speak out against any action to try to stop them from being able to carry their guns because they understand they have the right to bear arms.
Sadly, too many Christians are not aware of the rights that they have through Jesus Christ. They fail to understand the rights God has given them as His sons and daughters and as a result are being bombarded by the devil because they are unaware of the rights they have.
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT!
FOUNDATION: - I need to build this today - Understand the mission of Christ is presented in the phrase – God sent forth His Son. The words sent forth are from the Hebrew word Shalach or the Greek word Apostello (Apostle) meaning to send on a mission. Jesus Christ was officially sent with the full authority of the Father on a mission of redemption. He was sent to the earth as a Son. He was God made man.
The phrase born of a woman gives a hint of the virgin birth. Jesus was not born of a human father. Although Joseph – WATCH THIS – assumed the responsibility to train the human aspect of Him – he is not is father. The word born means to become. He came into a new state of being. Before the incarnation He was God, but after His birth He was God-Man – Theanthropos. The birth of Jesus Christ was not a beginning but a becoming. On earth Jesus Christ was an Israelite subject to the laws of Moses’ – He was born under the law. He said on the Sermon on Mount, Matthew 5:17 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them”. He was perfectly obedient to the law. He was submissive to the law. He demonstrated His moral capacity to be a perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world.
The purpose of His incarnation is clearly stated – to redeem those who were under the law. To redeem means to buy out of the marketplace and to pay the full price for. The debt is satisfied by the purchaser. Everything is paid in full. Our Lord Jesus paid the full price of redemption for our sin. The price was death that was the penalty due us because of our sin. He took our penalty of hell’s damnation upon himself so that we might be reconciled to the Father and have the promises of Heaven. The word redeem means that Jesus literally paid the price once for all. The old saying says “He paid a price He did not owe I owe a price I could not pay”, He did it for you and for me.
WATCH THIS: - The purpose and the right of our redemption is so that we might receive adoption of sons. Because God’s work of adopting us as His sons is so important to our understanding of the rights, He has given us, we need to understand the meaning of the act of adoption.
WATCH THIS: - To adopt a child means to choose a child not naturally in the family and make him legally one of the family. However, adoption in Bible times was different then what we know of adoption today. The Greek word (huiothesia) is translated adoption of sons, which literally means son-placing, it is a technical word referring to the time when a teenage son received his “toga virilis”, which is the toga of manhood assumed by boys of ancient Rome at age 15 . The act does not refer to the adoption of infants. It means induction into the rights of adulthood because they have reached the age of maturity.
Because the adult is an heir, he has certain rights that are bestowed upon him because of maturity. Understand a child as stated in verse 1 is “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father”. Sure, they may be lord over all based upon inheritable rights, but they do not have access to those things inherited because of the lack of maturity. WATCH THIS:- You can take a child to McDonald’s and they will play on the playground climbing all over the place and you can take that same child to Chihuly glass garden and they will try to climb over everything just like they did at McDonalds because they lack maturity. With maturity comes understanding.
When we accepted Christ as Savior, we received rights and privileges we did not have when we were sons of disobedience and the children of wrath, but we must come into a level of maturity in order to understand and appreciate those rights. Ephesians 2:2-3 says “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others”.
Outside of Christ we are the Children of Wrath. Many people are under the impression that everyone are God’s children! That is true to a certain degree - Adam and all his descendants are indeed God’s children, but only from the perspective of creation. In a spiritual sense, however, it is a different matter. John 8:42 says “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me”. Jesus was stating the fact that God was not their father spiritually. This is further expanded upon in verse 44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do…..”. So, everyone is not a child of God and everyone has not been adopted as a son of God.
In the ancient times, the son after adoption became his own master, he was no longer a servant – there is now a level of maturity. In Christianity God’s son becomes an independent executor of his spiritual estate that’s the meaning of Philippians 2:2 “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”. Paul is saying you have matured to the point where you don’t need me to supervise you and are now able to work out your own salvation. Let me explain it like this when you were a child you needed your mother or father or older sibling to make your breakfast, but when you got a little older and maturity developed you could make your own breakfast.
UNDERSTANDING: - The Bible says in all your getting get understanding; therefore, before I go any further, I need to establish a few things.
SIDEBAR: - Let me add this for clarity. When the scripture talks about becoming the Sons of God and we are understanding being adopted as sons, but what exactly does it mean to be the Sons of God. We live in an Era where people try to be politically correct and not so gender specific, and in so doing we fail to grasp the meaning and the glorious attributes that it is saying.
WATCH THIS: - A son is a male, now when we are adopted and become the sons of God – spiritually all are males because males in the Natural carry the seed. It is the male of a species that impregnates a female, which is called REPRODUCTION.
The definition of reproduction is:- the action or process of making a copy of something, the production of offspring by a sexual or asexual process, the act or process of reproducing; specifically: the process by which plants and animals give rise to offspring and which fundamentally consists of the segregation of a portion of the parental body by a sexual or an asexual process and its subsequent growth and differentiation into a new individual.
The Great Commission Matthew 28:18-20 says “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen”. 2 Corinthians 5:18 says “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”. This is the command and the gift of reproduction which is only done by males or the Sons of God. So, ladies you are ladies you are feminine, but in the spiritual you are Sons of God because you have been given the ability to reproduce other disciples of Christ.
As a Child of God – You have the Right!
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental standardizing rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. Rights are of essential importance in such disciplines as law and ethics, especially theories of justice and deontology (Obligation or Duty). Rights are often considered fundamental to civilization, for they are regarded as established pillars of society and culture, and the history of social conflicts can be found in the history of each right and its development. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "rights structure the form of governments, the content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived".
There are many different types of rights:- A right to life, a right to choose; a right to vote, to work, to strike; a right to one phone call, right to asylum, right to equal treatment before the law, right to feel proud of what one has done; a right to exist, right to breathe, right to be treated with RESPECT, right to KNEEL in protest, right to carry a concealed weapon, a right to your opinion, there are natural rights, moral rights, legal rights, inalienable rights, civil rights, political rights, economic rights, contractual rights.
Rights are to be exercised by the people for their development which really means their development in society by the promotion of social good. Rights can never be exercised against social good - A social good is something that benefits the largest number of people in the largest possible way, such as clean air, clean water, healthcare, literacy, liberty and the pursuit of hppiness.
You have the Right:- No longer should we have an attitude of fear of God. We serve Him in love. Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” We have the right to assurance. Assurance characterize those who know their standing and relationship before God. I can go to my Mother and Father’s house walk in the front door, open the refrigerator grab a Pepsi (unless it is the last one) without fear because I have the assurance it is ok because of relationship. In Christ, because we have been adopted, we have assurance. Blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine.
WATCH THIS: - The fundamental basis of our appeal to God is not our spirituality, it’s not based upon how religious we are, how often we attend a service, or how many tithes you pay. It is our position in Christ and our relationship with Him because of His Righteousness. God hears us, not because we are spiritual, but because we are legally and spiritually right before Him in Christ.
As sons and daughters we have conferred upon us an unlimited resource, God said He would supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory, regardless of how many come to Him, He has resources that have yet to be touched.
I am reminded of a song we used to sing that says, “There’s room at the cross, though many have come there’s still room for one, there’s room at the cross for you”.
You Have the Right:- We have unlimited freedom, because He said whom the son has set free is free indeed, and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, we have authority over the devil and this world, for all power in heaven and earth is in His hands and we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
We have the right and the ability to demand that the devil be bound and that the spirit of God be released in our lives, that is the authority that we have if we ask in His name because we have been adopted as sons. It is our prerogative rather or not to come under the subjection of satanic influences in our lives.
Sin does not have dominion over us we have dominion over sin. The Bible says in Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Therefore, since we have dominion over sin, when the devil tries to attack us with things contrary to the will of God, we have the authority and right to bind it from coming into fruition.
Depression is subject to us, sickness is subject to us, financial ruin, bankruptcy, marital destruction, and family dysfunction is subject to us. Not because we are of any importance, but because we have been adopted as Sons of God.
There is no reason why we must walk through this life or even go through a day being depressed, feeling defeated, emotionally destitute, psychologically frustrated, or spiritually imprisoned. Because of the adoption process.
We have the right to be more than conquerors.
I am reminded of a commercial that I heard on the radio, I cannot remember which brand it was for, but it was about some type of aspirin, the commercial goes something like this: The doorbell rings and a lady answers the door, the man’s voice say Hell-o I’m headache and I want to spend the day with you today, the lady replies no I don’t think so and closes the door on the headache, soon the phone rings, she answers it and the voice says, it’s me headache again, I was wondering could I come by about lunch time, the lady replies no, the voice said well what are you doing about 3:00, the lady says I’m going to pick up the kids from school, the headache says, can I come along for the ride, the lady says I don’t want to be bothered, the headache shows up at the house again at dinner time and says to the lady how about now, the lady says not today because I have taken this aspirin. Even-though it is a commercial we can learn from it and apply the concept to our spiritual life, when the devil tries to place something upon us all we must do is say NO. We have that prerogative. We have been given dominion over these things.
Dominion means absolute ownership, supreme authority. Understand that we either have dominion over circumstances or they have dominion over us, there is no middle ground, we are either their playthings or they are our subjects.
You have the right to tell the devil to get that hell out of your life. We are Sons and Daughters of the King, (KINGS KIDS) and when you are the king’s kid you have superior rights, when someone infringes on those right’s they literally have offended the King Himself. In history, if the King didn’t invite you into their presence you could not appear before them or else it was death that you faced. When the devil infringes upon you, he has done so without permission from the King and therefore must be put to death. You have the RIGHT to put that devil to death in your life because you are the KINGS KID the SONS OF GOD.
SUMMARY: - You have the right:
1. You have the right to have life and life more abundantly.
2. You have the right to Praise the Lord. – I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
3. You have the right to be Healed. – by His stripes we are healed.
4. You have the right to be delivered.
5. You have the right to eternal life. – whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have ever lasting life
6. You have the right to be more than conquerors.
7. You have the right to be called the Sons & Daughters of God. – we cry Abba father
8. You have the right to be FREE. Whom the Son hath set free is free indeed - We are set free from this condemnation and slavery when we receive the Holy Spirit
9. You have the right to Security
10. You have the right to Authority - Just as children can be adopted into an earthly family, we are adopted into a heavenly family Romans 8:14-16 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God
11. You have the right to Intimacy - A study of John 17 reveals that before going to the cross Jesus prayed for us to receive His Word, His Joy, His mission, His glory, His love, His presence, His peace, and eternal life. All the promises of God are given to us in Jesus.
12. You have the right to Assurance – Blessed Assurance Jesus is mine Rejoice in the assurance that God is our Father and we are His children. His love is stead-fast and our destinies are secure.
13. You have a right to Inheritance - As a son and an heir of God, you inherit all the blessings of God which Jesus died to give you, including salvation, healing, provision, wholeness, favor, intimacy with God and answered prayers. And Jesus rose from the dead to make sure that what
14. You have a right Discipline – Who He loves He chasten
15. Family likeness – I wanna be more like you Jesus
16. You have the right to provision - What is provision when you are an heir of God? He owns every beast in the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills Psalm 50:10 “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills”. All the diamonds and gold came from Him. What is healing when you are an heir of God? He is your Creator and the very breath of your life.
You have the Right to Positional Standing and Promises Received. It means that all Christ has in the Father, we also have.
We don’t have to earn God’s favor; we already have God’s favor. We have the same status as Jesus Christ before our Heavenly Father. His rights are our rights. We have legal title to the rights of the Son of God. These rights are not merited by us. They were obtained by the judicial proceedings of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You Have the Right to be the Sons of God.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
