If you wish to follow along I
will try to be brief this morning Because we are going to partake
Lord willing of the table, but I cannot promise you anything
Turn to numbers chapter 27 Numbers chapter 27 As I have been prone to do throughout
this series of from Genesis and we've made our way now to chapter
27 in numbers I Sometimes I've read a text, others
I have not, but I will not read the whole chapter by any means. But this is my title and that
which I want to try to speak about this morning. Inheritance
by Grace, Not Law. Inheritance by Grace, Not Law. illustrated in our chapter, in
Numbers chapter 27. I say it is illustrated. I know
there are some that would disagree with me, and I'll hope to let
you know what I mean by that here in a moment. I know there
are some that would disagree with that, that this was just
illustration. Now it was real for these Jews,
don't misunderstand me. But this was to teach us today
a lesson about Christ and his grace. That's what this was about.
There are those who would disagree with me on that, but they can
be wrong if they wish. Again, let me point out this
to you, and I will do it in a slightly different way. I realize that
most people really think that these Jews were just practicing
all these ceremonies and rituals, and they were ceremonies and
rituals. Let's not try to make that to
be what it's not. They were ceremonies and rituals.
But most people think that these Jews practiced these things and
rested in these things and these things only. That is true. For those who were not given
faith. See, when you ask or think before
you speak, Joe just told you that. For those that God Almighty had
given faith to, they seemed beyond these things. They worshiped
God in these things, but they were not worshiping these things. They were worshiping God under
the economy in which God had placed them at that time. But
not all of them did. For many of them, it was just
rituals and ceremonies. And I use to illustrate that
Jacob. And remember, Jacob was about 400 and some years before
these folks here. And Jacob in blessing his sons,
when he got to Judah, what did he say? Now I am going to tell
you what he said, but I won't use the same word. He said, the
Christ is coming out of you. Till Shiloh comes. And to him, Shiloh, peace. Him who is peace shall the gathering
of all the people be. There shall not depart a lawgiver. And a scepter will be there till
Shiloh comes. And he knew that without the
scriptures. He knew that without the scriptures.
God taught him that back then. Moses was the first one to ever
write a scripture. first one to ever write a scripture.
And someone might say, well, that's the way God taught me.
I will not argue that with you if what you say God taught you
fits what's in this word. But most that I've heard, and
I've not heard everyone, of course, most that I have heard when they
say, well, God didn't teach me through the Bible, God revealed
this to me, however, they deny what's in this word. And anything
God taught men from Adam on up to Moses, without scripture,
is the same truth that Moses began to teach in the scripture. And all other prophets and apostles
since. So I would not try to put God
in a box. But let me tell you something, his truth is in a
box. And you will either bow to his truth or you've not bowed
to God. Now having said that, let's get
to chapter 27. Israel is poised to enter the
land. The inheritance. Zelophehad's daughter's dilemma
is settled. And if y'all got, you know, those
of you who did get my text, you should have read that. You'll
see, Zelophehad's daughter's had a dilemma, the dilemma is
settled. Moses is clearly informed, you
will die outside of the inheritance. But God let him see it. Yes,
sir. Didn't he? Yeah. But God still
let him see it. Amen. I thought about this. Oh,
what a glory. I'm talking about literally what
those Jews were about to go through. Oh, what a glory to be able to
see it, Joe, but not have to suffer through the middle of
it. Amen. Chew on that for a while. Moses
is told unequivocally, you will die outside the inheritance.
Joshua is to succeed Moses. But even more, even the high
priest Eleazar. Joshua is to succeed as Israel's
shepherd. This illustrates the true inheritance. I'm not gonna take time to read
it. Hebrews 11, 13 through 16. Abraham was called out of the
Ur of the Chaldees to go to a land that God would give him. But
Abraham understood this land ain't the true it. He looked
for a city with chaff foundations whose builder and maker was God. And he never really seen that.
He seen the land. It was his. And I've got no problem
with staying at seal his, but he ain't worried about that land
now. He's in glory with the inheritance. With the inheritance. And if
you want to see that, Hebrews 11, 13 through 16 teaches us
this fact. But somebody says, but preacher,
that's promise. That's not inheritance. Ah, I
don't beg your pardon. I say you're wrong. Galatians
3, 16, 17, 18, Paul is clear that the inheritance, whether
you refer to the physical land or to the true inheritance, Jesus
Christ, the inheritance was given by what? P-R-O-M-I-S-E. And not by law. And not by law. Sum up quickly, why did Israel
not stay in the land in perpetuity? Because Joshua wasn't Jesus. Because Joshua wasn't Jesus,
and because Israel was in the land, had to operate in absolute
obedience to the law while in the land, which they could not. And they never have been able
to, and never will. until a new heaven, a new earth,
and a new Jerusalem is brought down from God out of heaven,
and then and then only will we truly live in the land in full
obedience to God. Not even in the thousand years.
Not even in the thousand years. After the thousand years are
finished, what does it say? Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison for a short season, and he will deceive men and women,
and they will revolt against God. that were vote against God. Somebody says, well, again, that's
promise, not inheritance. The inheritance is given by God
by promise. And you know, when God promised,
he also swore. He swore. And he swore not by
man, because that wouldn't have done anybody any good. He swore
by himself. See, to get caught up on the
property, the piece of land, for them or us, either one, to
get caught up on the property is the same as to get caught
up on the beasts and the offerings. It's the same thing. I'm not
throwing off on the property. Bless God, one day we're gonna
live in a new heaven, a new earth, and there's gonna be a new Jerusalem.
Is that what the book says or not? Somebody says, well, you're
a literalist. Not all the time. When it says
that God shall gather us under his feathers, I don't believe
he's a chicken. But I believe when God makes
promise, Unless his word gives me a direct statement to see
that as something else, I have to take God as exactly what he
says. This is what I have to do. If I'm to be honest with my own
soul and your souls, I must preach this way as well, even though
I know not everyone may agree with me, but I've been living
with that since I've been alive. When I was lost, not everybody
agreed with me, and after God saved me, I found out more disagreed
with me than I thought did. Again, to get caught up on the
property, the piece of land, is the same as to get caught
up with the beast for an offering. But I'm not throwing off on any
of that. Because those beasts had their place in that day.
And you refused those offerings, you were refusing God's way,
because you were refusing God's Christ. You see, neither of these are
the true inheritance. The beast, Circumcision, the
land, they're not the true inheritance. Where, what is, not where, what
is the true inheritance? Turn to Psalm, the 16th Psalm. Psalm 16, I'm gonna give you
time to get there if you're following along, Psalm 16, let's look at
verse five. The Lord, Yahweh. The Lord is
the portion of mine inheritance. There it is. The Lord is the
portion of mine inheritance. And of my cup, thou maintainest
my what? That little portion, that little
piece, that lot. that God gave me just like he
gave those Israelites back then in Numbers chapter 27 as we see
it unfold. The Lord is my inheritance. Now
I know that the reward mongers would say that's all. Right? But I work my fingers
to the bone for the Lord. I need some kind of better inheritance
than just the Lord. Then they evidently don't know
the Lord. because what he's taught me about
himself thus far is so grand and glorious, and that I have
a right by his grace and mercy to consider him as my inheritance,
my lot, and my portion, and Joe, he's just scratched the surface.
I mean, we see through a glass darkly. You know, I sometimes
think I really know who God is, and then I read his word a little
further, and he opens my eyes a little more, and I said, boy,
I missed that one by a long shot. You ever been there? Oh, I know, the worksmongers, the
rewardists, this, you know, I want my mansion in glory. I need Christ. I want to see what it's like
for him to be the light of that world. just like in the beginning. And God said, let there be light.
That wasn't the sun and the moon and the stars. They weren't created
till days later. That was the glorious effulgency
of Jesus Christ, the pre-incarnate son. He was the light of the
universe. Joe, I want to get a little glimpse
of that, don't you? Just that boggles my mind. There's the true inheritance,
and if you wanna look at it some more, I'm not gonna read them,
Psalm 76, 73 verse 26, Psalm 142 verse five. This way, in
other words, think of it this way. God is ours by promise. By promise. And you're right,
Joe, he let me. He enabled me. He, by grace and
mercy and compassion, let me touch him by faith. and I deserve the midst and the
darkness and the blackness of hell. But he let me touch him
by faith. Joe, if I never got anything
else, that's good enough. Now, I don't want it to stop
there. But if he never gives me anything
else, Ellen, that's enough. Why? Because the Lord is the
portion of my inheritance. But there's something a little
deeper here, too. Look at Deuteronomy 32. And God willing, if we're
all alive long enough and the Lord doesn't return before then,
we'll get there. But look at Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32, verse nine. Now whose land was Canaan? Whose land was it? Think don't
go just answer whose land was it it wasn't the Canaanites It
wasn't the Israelites whose land is that land even today God's
God's the inheritance was whose God's He still owns that piece
of property right now Joe Look verse 9 for the Lord's portion For the Lord's portion is his
people. Jacob, and he don't even say
Israel, why? Because Joe, he remembers our
frame that were dust. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. So not only is God ours by promise,
all the elect are Christ by inheritance. And folks, he made us. He's the one that brought us
into this world, not our mommy and daddy. He used them to make
it happen. He's the one that gave them life, whether it be
in the seed of the man or of the woman, either way. He's the
one that brought us into this world. He's the one that birthed
us into his son. He's the one that sent his son
to die for our sins. And he looks upon us as his. inheritance. Some would put it
this way, and I like the phrase, we are trophies of his grace. One day he'll show us off to
the world and say, see, I told you I bought them by my son.
You wouldn't listen to me. Had you bowed to my son like
they bowed to my son, I would have received you too, but you
would not. Therefore I will laugh, I will
mock when your calamity cometh. That's God. You can see the New Testament
inspired confirmation of this true inheritance. I'm not gonna
read it. Peter gives it to us, 1 Peter 1, 4, 1 Peter 3, 9. James gives it to us in James
2 and verse 5. And Paul, so there's three witnesses.
and even the law says you got two or three. It's established. Paul calls it this, eternal inheritance. There was a time when that piece
of land didn't exist, but only in the mind and purpose of God.
But God, the Lord, even in the sun, has always existed. He calls it eternal inheritance.
He calls it the inheritance of the saints in light. He calls
it obtained and inheritance. He calls it the earnest of our
inheritance. He calls it the inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ and of God. So which is vital? Beasts,
property, or Christ? And like a good old Arminian,
I'll say take your pick. But there really is no choice.
When you pick the beast in the property, you pick the wrong
thing. Yeah, just like when, who was
it said, choose you this day, who you shall serve, was it Elijah?
Or Elisha, who was it, Moses? No, anyway, choose you this day,
whom you shall serve. They didn't really have a choice.
You gonna serve Baal? I'll go down the path against
free will if I start going down that. Let's see the inheritance
illustrated. As with Zelophehad's daughters,
I want you to see the true. And you know this. I've got no
new message for you. Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter three. Let
me find my spot. Galatians three, 27. for sake
of time. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Another way of saying
that is every one of you. That's what he's saying. There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female, and we see that typified, greatly
illustrated in Zelophehad's daughters, right? They were not males. The
practice of that day was not to give inheritance to women,
but to the sons, was it not? But they had a dilemma. Their
daddy was dead. Not through rebellion with Korah,
but through his own sin. But they could acknowledge that. God said to Moses, they've spoken
right, you give them inheritance in the land. Neither male nor
female, For you're all, what? One in Christ Jesus. You see,
your gender, your state in this life, the color of your skin,
your upbringing or lack thereof, gives you no merit nor demerit
before God. Because he saves the people that
he chose by free reigning grace. I know, I know. Now come on,
women. You like to think, well, these men, these men, boy, they're
just, they're just evil, wicked. And you know what? You are right.
We are. But so are you. It ain't sugar
and spice and everything nice as opposed to snails and puppy
dog tails. That's a lie. Now we teach our
kids these things. We laugh when we sing them to
them, if we sing them to them. I probably wouldn't be accused
of doing that, but I did a whole lot of other stuff. Let me tell
you something. You know why we're all one in
Christ? Because we're all equally, absolutely, totally depraved. And us men get so upset because
women are upset at us, but we give them reason to be upset
with us. Do we not? Come on now, not a one of us
husbands that's really, as it ought to be done, loved our wives
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Not a one
of us have. We desire it, we may strive for
it at times. Sometimes we just, I'm not messing
with that commandment today. How about you men? But what about you women? You
gonna reverence your husband? Not today. Now I guess I could
quit preaching right there, and it'd be enough said. But you
see, the inheritance, it ain't about who you are, because who
we are in ourselves, it's damnation before God. We're all equally,
absolutely, totally depraved. Here's another one, as with Moses,
see the true, Galatians 3, verse 18, for if the inheritance be
of law, it is no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by
promise. And we preachers say, well, Moses
represented the law, and he did, and the law does not want to
bring God's people into the inheritance, and it don't. But why was Moses
told he couldn't go into the promised land? Because he represented
the law? No, because he sinned against
God. And the law, all it's intended
for is to show me what sin is, thus what I am. And Moses was barred from entering
the inheritance. Why? Because of sin. And you
know something? That's the only thing that can
bar you from an inheritance in God. The sin. But I have some
good news. Christ took care of that for
some people. Absolutely, completely, and justly. Moses, Moses is an
illustration of that. See what about Joshua, Galatians
chapter three again. Look at it, let's go on, Galatians
chapter three, verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one, and to thy seed, and then Paul's clear,
which is Christ. And I say, and this I say, that
the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
law which was 430 years after, cannot disannul that it should
make the promise of none effect. All the law did was show Israel
how bad they needed God's mercy and grace. Because at every turn,
they were rebelling against God. And that included Moses, and
Aaron, and Miriam, and the people of Israel. And let me tell you
something. Joshua and Caleb were not sinlessly
perfect either. But an amazing thing is their
imperfections are never exposed to us. Think about that one for a while.
Don't you wanna be a Joshua or a Caleb? to not have your imperfections,
your sins exposed to everybody else. Why? Because perfect love
will cover up a multitude of sins. The same thing with, look at,
but go on, I got sidetracked there. For if the inheritance
be of the law, it's no more of promise. but God gave it to Abraham
by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law.
It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to
whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. It had its purpose,
and it has and is fulfilling its purpose. God forbid, for
if there had been a law given, which could have given, here's
the thing, life first. Life first. Fairly, righteousness
should have been by the law. But we are all what, dead in
trespasses and in sins. But it's not just that. Not even
with the Levitical priesthood, we see that. Eleazar wasn't chosen
to be the shepherd, was he? I'm not gonna read that one,
and I know you're aware of it. Go back and read Hebrews 7, verses
11 through 19. Paul says there is a necessity
of a change in the law. Can you imagine how those old
Jews, when they read that in their unregenerate state, what
they thought? And you say, well, I really don't
know. Well, go out and tell an Arminian about free grace, you'll find
out. Yeah, you go down here to the First Free Will Baptist Church,
you go in there and preach free grace to them, you'll find out
how them Jews acted toward Paul. But he says this, our Lord Jesus
Christ was not of the tribe of Levi, was he? But he's of a higher
order of priesthood, even high priesthood. So even Eleazar was
not the lead man when they went into the inheritance, was it?
The actual high priest was. Jesus. Joshua, physically, in
that day. And you know, when you're out,
once I get to Deuteronomy, if we live that long, we'll stop
and we'll go back to preaching from certain passages. But you
look at the, read the book of Joshua. When a battle is won,
it says Joshua. Joshua. Joshua. Joshua won the battle. And you
know, Joshua also said, you can read it, Joshua 21, 43, 44, 45,
and Joshua 23, one through verse 16, lets us know when it come
to the physical land, God had fulfilled everything he promised
to them. He says that. And then he says
this one thing, because you don't obey God, God will drive you
out of this land. Now there's Israel in the inheritance
by law. law. If I were to sum this up, let
me sum it up this way. Do we hang on to any remnant
of a, and this is what Paul calls it, a faulty covenant? Right? Now the problem was not the faultiness
of the covenant was not in the covenant itself, but in mankind. in men for finding fault with
them, the writer of Hebrews says. But here, do we hang on to any
remnant of a faulty covenant, whether it be law, land, ritualistic
worship or works, or do we hang on to Jesus Christ and him only?
That's where we hang. And if God lets me live in Jerusalem
one day, that'll be okay with me. I don't care. But if he creates a new Princeton,
that's fine with me too. Isn't that the fact? If he's
there. I had a guy come in one morning
at work. Somehow the subject of religion
came up and I think he brought it up. I usually don't try not
to bring up religion when I'm doing my job. They don't pay
me to preach and they pay me to do my job. But on the other
hand, he said, boy, isn't heaven gonna be glorious one day, brother?
Of course, he knows I've seen it on TV. I said, well, it will
be if Jesus Christ is there. And boy, he just liked that so
well. I hope he does. Because folks,
Jesus Christ the Lord is our portion. One day we'll get to
touch God. Maybe Mason bowed down and really
kissed his feet. just maybe one day. And by His
grace and mercy, bless God we shall. Joe, Paul, would y'all
take the covering off of that? We're going to partake of the
Lord's table. Before we do partake, I'm gonna turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 11. I will give you a few things here
First Corinthians chapter 11, I want to give us the main reason
why we partake of this. First Corinthians 11 verse 23. For I have received of the Lord
that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the
same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given
thanks, he break it and said, take eat, this is my body which
is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. Don't be thinking about your
sins, you won't be able to think about Him. Because you got too
many of them to deal with. This ain't about, well, am I
really in line with the Lord? No, you're not. Except in Him,
it's to remember Him. After the same matter also, he
took the cup when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament
in my blood. This do ye, as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of me. You see it? So that's the main
reason why we partake. Remembrance, remembrance, remembrance. And he goes on to say, ye do
show the Lord's death till he comes. That's the reason we partake. Now, the main reason not to partake,
verse 27. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat
this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, and that
means irreverently. That's what it means. And irreverently
doesn't mean you're all austere and can't smile while you take
the Lord's table and I gotta look down and barely turn my
head when I drink the wine. That ain't what it's talking
about. To reverence God is to realize God Almighty is all.
and that is specifically manifested in the scripture. It's in his
son. That's why we're taught remember him, remember him. Look, unworthy shall be guilty
of the body and blood of the Lord, but let a man examine himself
and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. What is
my reason for taking this? I want to remember him. I want
to show his death till he come, period. So having said that,
and I say to our visitors here that if you want to remember
him and you want to show his death till he come, you are welcome,
because this is his table, it ain't mine. This is his table,
it ain't Sovereign Grace Chapel's table. So Paul, would you come? And according to Matthew's account,
the first thing he did, he took the bread. So would you pass
out the bread to whoever desires it? Mm-hmm. Again, Matthew records these
words, Matthew 26, verse 26, and as they were eating, Jesus
took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to his disciples
and said, take eat, this is my body. Joe, would you pass out the wine,
please? And after that Matthew records
this and he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them
saying drink ye all of it And then I will read what Matthew
continues with is where our Lord's words Well, this is my blood
of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission
of sins and I say they're remitted That's what this book teaches.
They're gone, folks. We see them, but God don't. They're dealt
with justly. Then look at this. But I say
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, and
thank God for that next, until. Until the day when I drink it
new with you in my Father's kingdom. Can you imagine that day? So
as I told you, The reason to partake of this is remembrance,
remembrance, remembrance, and to show the Lord's death till
he come. The main reason not to partake
is to do so irreverently. To partake for any other reason
than to remember Christ and to show his death till he come is
heresy. It's rebellion against God. But
you know what I say? Even so come, Lord Jesus. All
right, we're dismissed.