Turn with me back to Mark chapter
10. I'd like to talk to you today
about estate planning. Not investments in the stock
market, not Roth IRA, but God's estate planning. This young man that we read about
here in this chapter I find it interesting that he used the
term, what must I do to inherit eternal life? He could have said,
what must I do to earn eternal life? What must I do to acquire? What must I do to attain eternal
life? But he said, what must I do to
inherit eternal life? And that caught my eye. We aren't told in the Gospels
what this young man's name was. speculate that it was a young
solitarsis, and it very well may have been. Our pastor used
to tell us we don't need to speculate about what's not revealed in
God's Word. We are told his name, but one
thing we know for sure, he was one of God's chosen, he was one
of God's elect. And you say, how do you know
that? Because in verse 21, we read, then Jesus, beholding him,
loved him. And we know for certain that
Christ never loved a man that was not one of his elect. He
never loved a man that later perished. So we know that he
was one of God's elect. This word inherit has several
meanings, and each one can be applied in some sense to our
inheritance from God the Father. Number one, to receive money,
property, or a title as an heir at the time of death of the previous
owner. Number two, to come into possession
of things belonging to someone else. Number three, to come into
possession of something as a right. Number four, to derive a quality
or characteristic from one's parents or ancestors. And all
four of these definitions can apply to some degree to our inheritance
from God the Father. Now, in order to inherit anything,
one must be an heir of the one who is a previous holder or the
owner of the things that are to be inherited. And we know
there are two ways to become an heir. One, of course, is to
be a natural-born child of one from whom you are inheriting
things. The other is to be legally adopted as a child of the one
from whom you are inheriting something. We know that God only
has one child who was born, not naturally, but supernaturally,
Him, of course, being the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures
tell us that He is the only begotten Son of God. Turn with me to John,
John chapter 3. We're thoroughly familiar with
these verses, but I'd like you to read them. John chapter 3. Verse 16, of course. For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Verse
18. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. First John 4, 9 reads, in this
was manifest the love of God toward us, because God sent his
only begotten son into the world that we might live through him.
And as the scriptures tell us that God only has one begotten
son, it also tells us that he has an untold number of adopted
sons and daughters. Now, in order for an adoption
to be legal and to allow heir to inherit the good of the previous
owner. This is important. The demands of the law must be
met. Nearly every country in the world
has laws, strict laws, concerning inheritance and concerning adoption.
The heir cannot simply tell the court, yeah, he adopted me, and
the court say, oh, OK, that's fine. It has to be proven. It has to meet the demands of
the law. And God, our God, saw to it that the demands of the
law were indeed met. Galatians 4, 4 and 5 tells us,
but when the fullness of 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. So why would God choose to adopt
a bunch of wretched sinners, simply because it pleased Him
to do so. Ephesians chapter 1 verses 4 and 5 tell us, according as
He has chosen us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him,
in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. And why did He do that? according
to the good pleasure of His will. Turn with me please to Romans
8. We're going to be reading quite a few scriptures. Some
I'll just quote, some I'll ask you to turn to. Romans 8, verse
21. Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body. We see then that the scripture,
or from the scriptures, that adoption did indeed take place
in eternity past, and that adoption and that planning, the state
planning, happened long before we were ever born. Happened long
before the world was ever created. And it takes place in time when
we believe on Christ after God has given us the gift of faith.
does not make the adoption happen. God makes the adoption ours. Let me try to illustrate this.
It's a poor illustration, but suppose that there is a young
child living in Squalor in one of the worst slums in the world. He has no family. He has no home. He's living in a cardboard shack. He is sick and living in utter
misery, but he hears about the richest man in the world. maybe
sees a newspaper blowing by and reads the article. So he decides
that he's going to contact this man and tell him that he has
decided to let him adopt him. Well, needless to say, that letter,
or however he would contact him, wouldn't get very far. The man
doesn't know the child has no interest in adopting him. But
let's imagine another scenario. This man is a humanitarian, being
filthy rich, and he's touring the slum that this little boy
lives in, part of, say, a UN delegation. And he sees this
little child in all his misery, and he's moved with compassion.
So he inquires about the circumstances of this child, finds he has no
family, has no home, and decides he's going to adopt him, and
he's going to make him his heir. This is how it works with God. A wretched sinner has nothing
to offer God. It's the height of absurdity.
The Armenians believe, yeah, we're going to let God save us. We're going to do Him a favor.
But the choosing is done by God, not by the sinner. We know this
from a multitude of scriptures. But it is just as absurd for
us to imagine a little boy having this rich man giving him permission
to adopt him, as it is for the Armenians to say that we're going
to let God make us one of his. We have nothing to offer. God
has no reason, based on our merits, to adopt us. Now, when the adoption
takes place, the one who is adopted becomes an heir of the one who
adopts him or her. There are numerous scriptures
Let us look at just a few. I'll just read these rather than
have you turn to them. In Galatians 4, 7, this is speaking
of heirs again. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God. And here's the important part,
through Christ. Romans 8, 17 reads, and if children,
then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so
be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Titus 3.7 tells us that being
justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the
hope of eternal life. Galatians 3.29 says, and if you
be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. So we've seen thus far that there
is an inheritance to be had. That inheritance is eternal life
and all the blessings that God gives in this life and that which
is to come. We've seen that in order to receive
the inheritance, we must be adopted by God and that he is the one
who does the adopting. We have nothing, nothing to do
with it. We have seen that the adoption
must be according to the law. The demands of the law must be
met. And we have seen that since we have been adopted, we are,
and I chose these words carefully, we are legally entitled to an
inheritance. But what is that inheritance
and how is it obtained? The word inheritance is mentioned
203 times in the King James Bible. A large part of those times when
the word is mentioned, it is having to do with God's law to
Israel, its instructions on how an inheritance is to be distributed
and so forth. But there are also many uses
of the word in the New Testament. I'm going to read you seven verses
where this word inheritance is used. There's many more, but
I want to read these. 1 Peter 1.4 tells us that we
are heirs, quote, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Colossians 1.12,
giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet or made
us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light. Ephesians 1.11, speaking of Christ,
in whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to
the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel
of his own will. Colossians 3.24, knowing that
of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance
for you serve the Lord Christ. Acts 20.32 says, and now brethren,
I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able
to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them
which are sanctified. Ephesians 1.18 tells us, the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that we may know
what is the hope of his calling and what is the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints. And lastly, Hebrews 9.15
says, and for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament,
that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the First Testament, They which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. Now, the thing about an inheritance
is that the one who receives it does nothing to contribute
to that inheritance. He or she receives the benefits
of the work and the accumulated wealth that was all done by another. The work was done well before
the inheritance was ever bestowed on the heir. And as it is in
the natural world, so much more it is in the spiritual. The inheritance
that we receive was planned by the triune God in eternity and
finalized by Christ when He was made sin on our behalf. He did
it without any help. We did nothing to contribute
to our eternal inheritance. Nothing. Let me read you While
I'm reading this first one, turn with me to Isaiah 63. Psalm 22 tells us, this is the
messianic psalm, speaking of our Lord's sacrifice and suffering,
it says, Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there
is none to help. Isaiah 63, are you there? Verses 1 through 3. says, who is this that cometh
from Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This it is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art
thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth
in the wine fat. I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me. Christ did
this alone. Hebrews 1.3 speaking of Christ
says, "...who being the brightness of His glory, and the expressed
image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His
power, when He had, with our help, purged our sins." And that's
not what it says, is it? Upholding all things by the word
of His power when He had by Himself. by Himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. And we know
our Lord had no help from the Father either, as He cried out
from the cross, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? But what is our inheritance?
What is this that we're heirs to? Before I read the will, so
to speak, I think it would be good for us to remember what
our eternal state would have been had the triune God not chosen
us in Christ and adopted us to be joint heirs with Christ. Ours
would have been in eternal misery and suffering. It is beyond the
human mind to comprehend. I try not to think on hell very
much. Many people that I love, that
unless the Lord does something for them, they will indeed perish. And
what I'm about to read is hard to read, it's hard to hear, but
I am reading it so that we might understand what our lot would
have been outside of Christ. And as I read it, as terrible
as it is, keep in mind that it is only the wrath of man. The
wrath of an angry god is unimaginably worse. This is an account of
the death of Colonel William Crawford at the hand of the Shawnee
in 1782. They believed Crawford was responsible
for the death of a group of Indians, even though he wasn't. Crawford was tied to a pole by
a rawhide strap around his neck. All of the warriors, and at least
half the squads, rushed up until the closest were within a few
feet of Crawford. All of them carried flintlock
rifles. In the barrels, they poured extra quantities of gunpowder
with no balls, and now they shot him in turn. The grains of powder,
salt peters, still burning, peppered his skin, some of it puncturing
and continuing to burn just beneath the skin. Crawford screamed until
he was hoarse, and then only a whimper grunt issued from him. More than 70 charges had struck
him everywhere from feet to neck. Chief Pipe, who was the chief
of that band of Shawnees, stepped up to Crawford, and with two
swift movements cut off his ears. The blood ran down both sides
of Crawford's head, bathing his shoulders, back, and his chest.
Now came the squalls with flaming brands, and they lighted the
kindling all the way around the circle, igniting the material
every foot or so until the entire circle was ablaze. The poles
quickly caught fire at their tips, and the heat became intense,
causing the spectators to fall back. A peculiar, hair-raising
sound now erupted from Crawford. He ran around the pole in a frenzy.
finally falling to the ground and wrapping his body around
the stake. After the better part of an hour, the fire died down,
leaving behind a fanned-out ring of long poles, each with one
end of a glowing spike. Crawford's back, buttocks, and
skin on the back of his thighs were blistered and burst and
curled into little charred crisps. The animal sounds from him grew
fainter. In groups of four, the Indians
now began taking turns at a new torture. Each of the four would
select a pole and jab the glowing end into Crawford's skin, where
they thought it would cause the most pain. Most thought Crawford
near death, but were amazed to see the officer scramble to his
feet and begin stumbling around the stake, attempting to avoid
the glowing ends which hissed and smoked wherever they touched
him. One of the glowing points was
thrust at his face and as he jerked to avoid it, ran into
another which contacted an open eye socket and a fearful shriek
erupted from him. When the poles had all been used
up and tossed into a pile on one side, some of the squaws
came up with broad boards and scooped up piles of glowing embers
to throw at him until soon he had nothing to walk on but coals
of fire and hot ashes. Finally, he stopped and raised
his head, and his voice came out surprisingly loud and clear.
Almighty God, be with me now. Have mercy upon me. I pray you
to end this suffering, and I might be with you where there is no
pain and suffering. Oh God, dear God, help me. Once more, he began a shuffling
walk. Fully two hours after he'd been prodded with the glowing
poles, he fell on his stomach and lay silent. Once again, Chief
Pipe stepped over the ring of ashes and cut a deep circle around
the top of Crawford's head with a knife, wrapped the long hair
around his hand and yanked hard. The pop, as the scalp pulled
off, was clearly audible. Chief Pipe then issued some more
commands and a bevy of squaws scurried away in return with
an armload of fresh kindling. These were tossed into a pile
a dozen yards from the stake and lighting. The hickory poles
were thrown atop the new fire. When the fire reached its peak,
two warriors cut the rawhide cord of the bound but still shuffling
Crawford, and one on each side led him shuffling toward the
fire. When the heat became too intense
for them to advance closer, they thrust him from them and he sprawled
onto the blaze. His legs jerked a few times and
one arm flailed out, but then, as skin and flesh blackened,
living motion stopped, and all that remained was a gradual drawing
of arms and legs close to the body and the posture characteristic
of persons burned to death. So ended the life of Cardinal
William Crawford. Now imagine that this would be
your fate Every day, forever, for eternity. That would be horrible
enough. But my friends, imagine a thousand,
a million times worse. Because we cannot imagine the
things that God has prepared for them that love Him. And so
much more, we cannot imagine The human mind cannot grasp what
God has prepared for the damned in hell. Christ warned us in
Luke 12, verses 4 and 5, and He said, I say unto you, my friends,
be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have
no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom
you shall fear. Fear Him. which after he hath
killed have power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear
him. But Christ suffered that punishment
that was rightfully ours when he was made sin for us. It occurred
to me one day that our blessed Lord and the damned in hell have
something in common. They both know, firsthand, they both know what
it is to suffer the undiluted, furious wrath of an angry God.
And Isaiah 53 tells us that Christ not only poured out His blood
on our behalf, but that His very soul was made an offering for
sin. And I can't begin to understand
what that means. I've thought on that text a lot,
and I can't begin to imagine what that entails. But I do know
this, because His soul was made an offering for sin, ours will
never be. Because all of God's furious
wrath toward His people's sins were extinguished on His Son
when He was made sin for us. So then what is it exactly that
our inheritance consists of? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
3, verses 21-23, Therefore, let no man glory in men, for all
things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the
world, or life or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, and ye are Christ's,
and Christ is God's. But some would ask, what do you
mean all things are? I don't have a big house, I don't
have a new car, I don't have a big boat, I don't have any
of those things. And I'm afraid to say that if that's the way
you interpret that scripture, you know nothing of the grace
of God. Christ supplies us with those
things that would bring Him honor and have us walk the path that
He has set out for us. I'm not going to speculate what
our inheritance in heaven is because it would be purely that,
speculation. But I can tell you a few things
about our inheritance in this life. Thomas Brooks, one of the
old Puritans, described our inheritance this way. He said, God hath in
himself all power to defend you. All wisdom to direct you, all
mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness
to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness
to crown you. These are the things that are
the inheritance that God has provided for us. Let me go through
those one at a time and give you a scripture. that proves
what Brooks said. First he says, God hath all power
to defend you. In Matthew 28.18, our Lord tells
us, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. I remember
Don once quoting this scripture and said something extremely
simple but extremely profound. He said, if Christ has all power,
That means nobody else had any error. I thought that was good.
All power is given unto me. And in verse 20 he tells us,
And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Brooks tells us that God has all wisdom to direct you. Turn
with me to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. God has all power or all wisdom
to direct you. We'll read verses 18 through
31, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which is saved it
is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent, Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where
is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified under the Jews, a stumbling block, and under
the Greeks, foolishness. But under them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. and base things of the world,
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh
should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
of whom or who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Verses 24 and 30
tell us that Christ is the wisdom of God. Therefore, if you have
Christ, you have the wisdom of God to direct your steps in this
life. Colossians 1.9 tells us this
very thing. For this cause also, since the
day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire
that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Our Father gives us the knowledge
of His will so that we may walk according to the way that He
would have us to go. Thomas tells us God has all mercy
to pardon you. Psalm 145 verse 8 reads, The
Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and
of great mercy. Great mercy. Psalm 108 verse
4 tells us, For thy mercy is great above the heavens. Micah
7 verse 18 tells us that the Lord delighteth in mercy. If we can use human language
to describe God, and that's all that we have to describe Him.
This means that God gets great joy. It makes Him happy to show
mercy. It gives Him pleasure. And Isaiah
53 verse 10 tells us that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper
in Christ's hand. And since God showed His Son
no mercy when our sin was found on Him, He's now free to show
us great mercy because of the finished work of Christ. In Ephesians
2, verse 4, we read that God is rich in mercy. He has abundant
amounts of it and He delights to disperse it. 1 Peter tells us, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy have begotten us again into a lively hope.
How did He do that? By the resurrection of Christ
from the dead. It's all Christ. Thomas Brooks tells us, God hath
all grace to enrich you. And that grace comes through
us through the Savior. 1. Verse 14 tells us, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. And verse 17 tells us that grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 4 says
much the same thing. Paul says, I thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is given to you
by Jesus Christ. It is the grace of God which
justifies us, according to Romans 3.24. It reads, being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. And Ephesians 2.5 tells us that
we're, of course, saved by grace. By grace are you saved. Galatians
1.6 tells us that we are called by grace. Grace, grace, grace. Salvation is, by grace, from
eternity past to eternity future. Thomas Brooke tells us, God has
all righteousness to clothe you. And where is that righteousness
to be found? In Christ, of course. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, But
of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. And those familiar verses in
Romans 5, verses 17 through 19 says, for if by one man's offense
death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus
Christ. Therefore, if by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men under
justification of life. For if by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Thomas Brooks tells us that God
hath all goodness to supply you. Ephesians 34.6 reads, And the
Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and
truth. Psalms 23 verse 6 says, Goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 33.5
tells us that the earth is full, of the goodness of the Lord.
In Romans 2.4, For despiseth thou the riches of his goodness,
and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness
of God leadeth thee to repentance. And lastly, Thomas Brooke tells
us that God has all happiness to crown you. Psalm 144.15 tells
us, is that people whose God is the
Lord. Peter tells us that there is
even happiness in suffering and reproach. In 1 Peter 3.14 he
tells us, But, and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy
are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. And in chapter 4, verse 14, Peter
tells us, if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy
are ye. For the spirit of glory and of
God resteth upon you. And on their part he is evil
spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. So there it is,
folks. God hath done an estate planning
like no other estate planning. All things are ours. both in
this life and the life which is to come. We're heirs to an
inheritance that cannot be imagined by a human mind. And all of it
is ours because of the work of another, the work of our blessed
Lord. If you're here and you do not
know Christ, you've never bowed to His Lordship. to do it today. As our pastor
used to say, come to Christ, but don't move a muscle. Coming
to Christ is not a physical thing. It is a work of the heart. Beseech Him for mercy. He delights to show mercy. So I would encourage you, if
you don't know Him, to beseech Him for mercy. Jimmy, come lead
us in a song.