Sermon Notes

"Heir to the Promise"

By Jesse Rairdon

Febuary 16^th, 2014

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            Continue standing as we open in prayer.  Heavenly father, You’ve been with us all morning.  You’ve been with us throughout worship.  Lord, I pray that you would bless your servant, me, today, because I am a man of unclean lips,, and I am a sinner saved by grace.  So, touch my lips, and anoint them today with Your Holy touch, Lord, that Your people might hear Your Word, and, Lord, that we all might come up higher and grow in You.  Lord, some today need salvation.  Lord, some today need a healing.  Lord, some today need an answer from You.  Lord, let us take step back, and let You have full control, that Your Word would accomplish what You sent it out to do.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

            You may be seated.  Thank you, musicians, worship leaders.  Awesome, awesome worship time.  How many of you have really been enjoying this series, “Heir to the Promise?”  It’s a powerful, powerful, series.  I tell you what, you know, I think about so many different things in this life that we could have, and nothing compares to what we have.  You know? Nothing!  Our main Scripture for this series is:

Galatians 4:7  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

            In the first week of this series, Parrish talked about how God has made us an heir, and an heir means to inherit.  He talked about how we get to be an heir; by letting God lead you.  He talked about the journey of an heir.  In the second week of the series, Brother Chris Ulrich shared about Heaven is our main goal, and there are no short-cuts to get there.  we receive blessings or cursings based on our choices.  We’re still an heir, but we choose what we receive.  We are bought with a price; we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:20), so our testimonies and our lives should reflect what we are heir to.  The last point that Chris made—which I thought was really good—is that God is patient, and we need to be patient. 

            Today, we’re going to talk about our inheritance.  There are four points that I want to cover:  The first one is, “Someone has to die to get an inheritance.”  “Someone has to die to get an inheritance.”  The second point is, “How important is this inheritance?”  “How important is this inheritance?”  The third point is going to be, “Can I lose this inheritance?”  “Can I lose this inheritance?”  The fourth point is, “What do we really have?”  “What do we really have with this inheritance?” 

Someone Has To Die To Get An Inheritance

            When I was preparing this message, this whole first point wasn’t even in the message until this morning.  God hit me like a ton of bricks and said, “You’ve got to have this point.” 

John 12:24-25            Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

            Amen.  Someone has to die.  Someone had to die for you to get this inheritance.  Jesus was talking of Himself right there.  Someone had to die for you to gain Heaven.  That’s not a light thing.  That’s not something easy He had to go through.  We talk about the Old Rugged Cross—we sang that this morning—what did he really have to go through for us to get this inheritance?  He had to die!  What’s our part in that?

Romans 6:1-6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

            So, this is where we die, to become part of the inheritance in baptism.  You want an inheritance?  You can’t get it any other way.  Chris mentioned the other week, you can’t come up any other way; you’re a thief and a robber, Jesus said.  You’ve got to go the way the Scriptures say.  You’ve got to be buried with Him.  Not some other way; not some other name, in His name. 

            I was watching a documentary, well, an interview with the Gates—they founded Microsoft—and they were talking about their inheritance, and their many foundations, and the many things that they were going to give to people, but they were going to give very little of that, in comparison, to their children, less then ten percent.  Now, don’t get me wrong, ten percent of billions of dollars is still a lot more than a lot of people in the world, but it’s nothing compared to what God has for us.  God’s not going to short-change our inheritance.  He’s not going to give us just a portion of it, but all we want. Not only in the life to come, but the life here.  We get some of it here.  We get a taste of Heaven right here, if we want to; if we choose to.

            Which brings me to the next scripture.  Someone has to die.  First it was Jesus, now it’s me.  Do I only die once?  What did Paul say?

1 Corinthians 15:31   I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

            So, you don’t just once get buried with Him; it’s every day you die.  Every single dy.  There’s a Scripture that says at the end of the day, your works are going to be tried by fire.  Part of it’s going to be precious jewels, or part of it’s going to be wood, hay, and stubble.  At the end of the day, you’re still going to be saved even if all you have is wood, hay, and stubble tried by the fire, which is the Holy Ghost.  So, do you to God at the end of the day and say, “God, show me what I did for the inheritance.  Show me what I need to keep for that inheritance.  I need to die to myself.”?  I tell you what, people, naturally, we’re selfish.  We think about ourselves.  Anybody that tells you otherwise is probably lying.  Tell you what, I’m selfish naturally, but I have to die to myself; I have to think about others.  Someone has to die for the inheritance.

How Important Is Our Inheritance?

Matthew 13:17            For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

            Imagine what some of these people went through, and they haven’t even seen or heard the things that we see and hear.  You read how they were stoned.  Yu read how they were basically killed for the Lord.   Just doing what the Lord said.  “Go over here and talk to this person.”  How many people really appreciate that skit that the military did.  Give the Lord a praise for that.  I’ll tell you what when I was a young man and I was on the Navy base some young men met me and invited me out to church, and I said, “Forget that,” you know?  Then they taught me how to go on the base and talk to people and encourage people.  When I went overseas, like Andy said, I was over there talking to people and baptizing people.  That’s how we start, but, I tell you what, without people with a burden to share that inheritance, we’re not going to grow.  We’re going to be right where we’re at; the same people, twenty years from now.  The church that I grew up in has maybe five people left in it, and all of them are over fifty.  There was a lot of young people like myself in there at one time, but they just didn’t grow.  That doesn’t mean—I don’t want to get into their doctrine, or stuff like that—the point is, we’re going to keep the same size, unless we get out there and share with people about our inheritance.  So, how important is your inheritance to you?  So these guys are out there, Tuesday through Saturday, talking to people, sharing with people, encouraging them about things in the Navy that could be useful for them.  How many people around here are doing that?  Not too many.  So I really appreciate you guys doing that.   Jesus said “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added,” you can look that up later if you want (Matthew 6:31).  It’s in the bible.  Sometimes we get so involved in the things of life that we forget about what’s really more important.  Life weighs us down.  We talked about it earlier; there’s going to be no more bills, no more things we have to worry about.  Those things weigh us down, but we’ve got to keep perspective:  Seek ye first your inheritance in the Kingdom of God and all those other things are going to get taken care of.  I tell you what, tough, if Jesus came back right now, that thing that you’re so worried about, would it really matter?  Would it really matter?  Why are you losing so much sleep over that?  Why are you so worried about that?  You’ve got an inheritance that is so much better than that; so much better than what the Gates could even offer.  Amen?

Matthew 6:19-20        Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

            Andy works at a place where they set up alarm systems for homes and businesses and stuff.  We want to protect what’s in our homes—which is correct—we want a bank account that is secure,  You don’t want a bank that might not protect your money.  God’s got a great plan for our inheritance.  Nobody can touch what God has got for us.  Nobody can take it; it’s not going to grow old or get eaten up by worms and cankers and all that kind of stuff.  What the best, most precious thing that you’ve ever received?  Just think about that, it’s not even going to compare with it, and nobody’s going to be able to take it from you, because that’s your inheritance.  God gave us that inheritance, because someone had to die.  It’s important that we understand. 

Can We Lose Our Inheritance?

            You know, there’s a lot of people out there that teach once you get saved, then you’re always saved.  Nobody can take your salvation from you, but I think that you can leave your inheritance.  I think you can walk away from it.  I think you can spend it foolishly, like the prodigal son.  You can let it run out, like the five virgins that are foolish. 

            We’re going to answer this question, can you lose your inheritance, this greet gift of this inheritance that God has given us.  Sonia was sharing, when she was up here, that we’ve got to really be thankful for the blessings that God has given us.  We’ve got to really be thankful, you know?

Hebrews 4:1    Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

            You know, I’ve been watching a lot of the Olympics, and sometimes, it’s just a tenth of a second, and they’re out of a medal, or they’re out of the gold, you know?  You do not want to come short in your inheritance of what God has promised you.  You do not want to come short.  We’re going to talk a little bit about a gentleman in the Old Testament who had an inheritance, and he got short-sighted in his inheritance; he forgot how important it was. 

Genesis 25:28-34        And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

            Isn’t that just like brothers?  A little bit of a competition.  Birthright was a big thing back then.  If you were the first born, in Israel then, in the house, you basically got most everything.  The second born, even if was just a few minutes, in this case it was, because they were twins in the womb, you were left with little or nothing—whatever blessing’s left.  So, his brother’s always going about trying to get that birthright.  It’s important to Jacob; not so much to Esau, because he was ready to give it up, basically for a piece of bread and a bowl of soup.  How important is your birthright to you?  How much do you cherish what you’ve got from God?  Maybe you just don’t have it yet, and you’re just kind of seeking it, and you just don’t understand how important that is today.  I challenge you today, to really seek God with a whole heart, because there God has an inheritance for you, and He has it for each and every one of us.  Don’t leave here today without making that decision to become part of that Kingdom.

            Let’s go in the New Testament, and see what it says about the same story:

Hebrews 12:14-17      Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

            I’ve seen bitterness take people out of the inheritance quicker than anything.  We all have disagreements--we’re all human; we all make mistakes—but don’t let a root of bitterness get in there and just dig into your life.  That will not only destroy you, but it will destroy others, too.  Bitterness is a very, very, very—and he compares this bitterness to selling your birthright.  Esau, for one morsel of meat, sold his birthright.  Let’s consider this inheritance that he would have had:  what did Jacob’s name change to?  Israel.  What is Israel known for? the children of God.  Consider that blessing that he gave up for a temporary convenience because he was hungry.  What are we giving up our blessing for?  A temporary pleasure?  A temporary distraction?  A temporary—it might even be seemingly harmless, like video games.  Who likes to play video games?  I like to play a few video games here and there, but, if I’m playing video games more than I’m seeking God, and I’m in the Word, that’s where my importance is, and then I’m losing track and I’m giving up what I really have—more of what I really have.    “Buy the truth sell it not,” is a proverb  (Proverbs 23:23).

            Our final point:

What Do We Really Have?

Matthew 13:44-46      Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

            How important—this is a parable; Jesus is telling hat the Kingdom of Heaven is like.  It’s like a merchant, on a journey, trying to seek good pearls.  When he finds one pearl of great price, he sold everything that he had, all his possessions.  Nothing else was more important than that one pearl.  The man that, when he found it, hid it—you know, it talks about that in the Bible, it says, I found Thy Word, and I have hid it in my heart that I might not sin against You (Proverbs 119:11).  How important is that precious jewel, that thing that you’ve got?  He took and sold all that he had, and took and bought the field.  What’s the field? the field is where we labor, hoping to produce more fruit, hoping to see other people come to the knowledge of what we have as an inheritance.  When we first got saved, we were all happy and excited, and, you know, it’s like that precious jewel that—you ever see someone that just got an engagement ring?  It’s like bling; it’s like it’s right there, always in front of you.  No matter what they do, it’s like there.  My wife was the same way when I got her a ring, of course.  She—you know, everybody’s like, “Ooh, let e see that ring!”  It’s precious.  After a while, is it kind of fading?  Kind of dim?  Maybe you haven’t gotten it cleaned up for a while, maybe it’s kind of got some rust on it.  Maybe you don’t even care to put it on sometimes; it’s not as precious.  How is that ting of God—do we put it on fresh every day?  Are we that excited to where people are like, “What have you got?  I see it in your life; that’s beautiful, that’s wonderful, that’s precious.”  Or, is it something that, you know, we haven’t thought about it in a while, and we’ve kind of got our hands in our pockets; we’re kind of hiding it, you know?  We don’t really want to show it, you know?  We’ve been kind of down in the dumps lately, we’ve been in a lot of battles and…  It talks about in Revelation, get back to your first love (Revelation 2:4-5).  The most important thing in your life should be that inheritance—what God has for you.

            Your heart knows it’s true; you can claim it by faith.

Revelations 21:1-7      And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.  And he said unto me, It is done.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

            All things; not earthly things, but heavenly things.  I tell you what, like Parrish was sharing earlier, there’s something about just being with God forever, wiping away those tears.  How many have had some pain in this life; some sorrows, some disappointments?  Even from some of our closest friends and family.  That’s all going to be wiped away.  Imagine that.  All the former things are going to be forgotten.  Nothing shall be compared with the joy that’s going to be revealed in us, the scripture says (Romans 8:18).  I know when a woman is pregnant, she goes through a lot of suffering over time, and through that time and that process, it’s a lot of pain and suffering.  When she looks into that baby’s eyes, it’s all forgotten, and what joy she beholds.  Give the Lord a praise.

                           Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd