I like whosoever will. You know what I want, what I
will, what I desire? I desire to be found in Christ. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. Verse 13, But to which of the angels said
he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits, speaking of the angels, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation. Now we read of two kinds of people
in our text. Enemies and heirs of salvation. An enemy is somebody who hates
you. and wishes you ill. You ever had an enemy? I'm sure
you have. Somebody who hates you and actually wishes ill upon
you. That person is your enemy. Now, all unbelievers are enemies
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate him and they wish him
ill. And if you or I, if I'm not a
believer, I am an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a very
sobering, scary thought. Really, all of us were born into
this world enemies. Enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we all know what an heir
is. Aubrey is my heir. All that I have goes to her. And I've determined this. This
is my will for everything that I have to go to her. Now I could will it to somebody
else if I wanted to. I could will it to whoever I
wanted to. It's up to me. But this is what I want. It all
goes to her. Now you don't work for an inheritance. You're given an inheritance because
somebody willed for you to have it. Isn't that why you have an
inheritance? Not because you've earned it. It's because somebody
willed for you to have it. Now all men can be divided into
one of these two groups. Enemies. of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a bad place to be,
obviously. Or heirs of salvation. I love the thought of this. Heirs
of the living God. Joint heirs with the Lord Jesus
Christ. And let's talk just for a few
minutes about enemies of Christ. He said, sit thou on my right
hand till I make thy enemies. thy footstool. Turn with me to
Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 6. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Now there's the carnal mind and
there's the spiritual mind. The carnal mind is what I am
by nature. It's what I was born with. It's
a fleshly mind. It's death. But a spiritual mind,
a mind given by the Holy Spirit. You know, Paul said we have the
mind of Christ. Every believer, that's the spiritual
mind he's speaking of. The spiritual mind is life and
peace. Now go on reading verse 7, because
the carnal mind, the fleshly mind, the mind that we have by
nature is enmity. It's enmity itself. It's hatred. That's what the word means. It's
hatred itself. The carnal mind, the fleshly
mind, is enmity against God, for it's not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Now, the carnal mind is a...
This sounds awful, but it so is a God-hater. That's strong
language, I realize that, but that's the truth. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. Somebody says, but how can somebody
hate Christ if they've never heard of him? Well, tell them
about him as he's revealed in the scriptures, and you'll find
out right quick. You'll find out right quick. If you tell
them who the Lord Jesus Christ is, you'll find out. You see,
nobody hates the false Jesus that's preached. You know, Barnard
preached a message once, he entitled, The God Nobody Is Mad At. And there is a Christ, there
is a God that nobody is mad at, nobody is afraid of Him. The
God that wants to do things but He can't unless we let Him. The
God who wants to save everybody but Salvation is not in his hand,
it's up to you as to whether or not you'll be saved. You know,
nobody's really mad at that God because nobody's really afraid
of that God. He's not a God to be feared. But the God of the
Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy God, the sovereign God,
where salvation is in his hands, it's totally up to him as to
whether or not you or I will be saved. We're in his sovereign
hands. Now that God, that Christ is
the one who men say will not have this man to reign over us,
but he will reign because he does reign. I think it's kind
of interesting. Men will say, will not have this
man reign over us. Oh, but you have no choice. He
does reign. And you know, believers like
that. Aren't you glad he reigns? I love his reign. I love his
sovereignty. But the natural man does not
have any love for that Christ. Now, what will God do to all
of the enemies of his son? Well, the scripture tells us
that he will put them under his feet and make them his footstool
to crush. Now, if I am an enemy of Christ,
God is an enemy to me. Now, if God's my enemy, I'm in
real trouble. What God thinks of us is directly
related to what we think of His Son. If you want to know what
God thinks of you, what do you think of Christ? Do you think
of Christ highly? God thinks highly of you. Do you have low views of the
Lord Jesus Christ? God has low views of you. You see, God has an agenda and
that is the glory of His Son. And if you or I are opposed to
this agenda of the glory and the exaltation of His Son, God
counts us His enemies. His enemies. And if I'm God's
enemy, oh my. He said vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. God always pays his debts. I sure don't want him to be my
enemy. What does the scripture say in
Hebrews 1? Back to our text. Verse 13, but to which of the
angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand. That's what
he says to his son, the place of power, the place of authority,
the place of glory. Sit at my right hand until I
make thine enemies thy footstool. Are they not all, speaking of
the angels, ministering spirits? sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation. Now, here's something I like
to think about being an heir, an heir of salvation. Everybody
in here, humanly speaking, you've got problems, you've got debts,
you've got troubles. But if you're an heir of salvation, all those things just seem to
dissipate, don't they? They're not that big a deal.
You have an inheritance that is beyond description, heirs
of salvation. Now, men try and muddy the waters
regarding this thing of being an heir. Look in Luke chapter
10. Luke chapter 10. Verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? You don't do anything. to inherit eternal life. And this is what the natural
man does. He tries to cloud this issue of grace and works. What
shall I do to inherit eternal life? Look in Luke 18. Rich young
ruler says the same thing. Verse 18, And a certain ruler
asked him, saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life? Now this inheritance, this thing
of being an heir of salvation, this inheritance is not something
that's earned. Let me show you that in scripture.
Turn with me to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one. Verse 11. In whom in the Lord Jesus also
We have obtained an inheritance being predestinated. There's that word predestination. You know I love that word. I
love the word predestination. It glorifies my Heavenly Father.
You believe in predestination? Of course I do. It's a biblical
word. He predetermined. That's what
it means. He predestined. having obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will." Now, why does
a believer have an inheritance? Because God purposed it. He predestinated it before they
were ever born. He determined They're going to
have this inheritance. And you know, I like this. Let
me give you, there's a lot of reasons I like it. I like it
because it glorifies God. It says God is God. But if the
Lord had to wait for something in my life to find a reason to
give me an inheritance, I would never got one. But thank God,
He purposed it. And that's why it's so sure.
If God purposed me to have an inheritance, you know what? I'm
going to have whatever inheritance He purposed for me to have. He's
God. I love this kind of inheritance. It's given as a sovereign gift. You inherit by being a child. And this inheritance is all together
by grace. Turn back to Romans chapter 4. Verse 13. For the promise Romans
4.13, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world. Now, that's a big inheritance,
isn't it? The heir of the world. And that's what every believer
is, an heir of the world. All things are yours in Christ
Jesus. Now, for the promise that he should be the heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law. It
wasn't I'm going to give you this inheritance if you do this,
and if you do that, if you keep this, and if you refrain from
that. Not at all. It wasn't through the law, but
through the righteousness of faith. I love the righteousness
of faith. In Jesus Christ, I am righteous. I have His very righteousness. And this righteousness is not
just some kind of legal standing. I mean, I'm righteous all the
way through. That's how every believer is. Righteous. The very
righteousness of God. The righteousness of faith. This
is why this inheritance is given to me. I'm united to Christ.
I'm one with Christ. Everything that Christ has coming
to Him, I've got coming to me. I'm a joint heir with the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's not given to me because
of some personal obedience on my part. It's given to me because
I'm united to the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness, which
is a faith that makes me truly righteous. Now, I can talk about
my sinfulness. And that's a depressing subject,
but it's true, isn't it? I could talk about my sinfulness
and I couldn't overstate it. You know, somebody read back
in the back, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
The truth is not in us. If we say we've not sinned, we
make him a liar. At no time can I say in my experience, in myself,
that I don't sin. While I'm preaching right now,
because I'm the one saying it, there's sin there. I mean, because
of me. If it has anything to do with
me, I realize there's sin there. That being said, it's equally
true. Hey, it's more true. It's more
true because this sinful state is not going to continue. I'm
the very righteousness of God. And I have this inheritance coming
to me through the righteousness of faith. Go on reading. For they, verse 14, For if they
which are of the law be heirs, if you're made an heir because
of your obedience to the Ten Commandments, faith is made void,
and the promise made of none effect, because the law worketh
right. For where there's no law, there's no transgression. Therefore,
it, the inheritance, is a faith that it might be by grace to
the end that the promise might be sure. to all the seed, not
to that only which is of the law, but to that which is through
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. This inheritance
is given completely by the grace of God. Turn with me for a moment
to Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter one. Verse 12, giving thanks unto the father,
which hath made us meet fit to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints. in light. Now, one thing I want
you to notice about that verse of scripture right off the bat,
it doesn't say he will make us fit, does it? It says he hath
made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. Now, I like to think about the inheritance of the
saints in light. Now, we're worshiping here. I'm worshiping the Lord
here. I'll tell you what, can you imagine
what's going on up there right now? in the very presence of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the inheritance of the saints in life. They have
no sin, they have no unbelief, they have no fear. God's wiped
away every tear from their eyes. They're in the very presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, perfectly conformed to his image. What
a, the inheritance of the saints in life. Oh, what a glorious
future we have. Yet Paul tells us that he hath
made us fit meet for the inheritance of the saints and life. Right
now, I have everything they have. Now, this is hard to get hold
of. It's hard to get hold of, I realize that. As a matter of
fact, the only way you can believe this is by faith. But right now,
I am perfectly fit for heaven itself. Now, my sinful flesh
is going to be dropped. I realize that. I'm going to
get rid of that. But all I need for heaven, I have right now. I need righteousness. I've got
it. I am righteous in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I need holiness. I am holy in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made unto me sanctification.
I'm fit for fellowship with God. You know, we read back in 1 John
chapter 1 about fellowship with the Father. I'm fit, every believer,
and you don't feel very fit, I realize that, but every believer
is fit for communion with God. You see, He's made unto us wisdom
and God counts every believer fit for fellowship with Him,
communion with Him. he's made us fit he's made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light i'm right
there with him and you know this this gives us some idea as to
how heavy the flesh is because when
we the only way we can understand this is by faith we can't understand
it by experience Oh, this flesh is going to be dropped fit for
the inheritance of the saints in light. Now, what is the proof
of this? It's one thing to say that I'm
fit. It's another thing to be fit. Turn to Ephesians chapter
one. Verse 13. Let's begin in verse 12, that
we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in
Christ. Who first trusted in Christ? His Father. The Father entrusted
the salvation of His people to the Lord Jesus Christ. He entrusted
me to His Son. He's the one who first trusted
Christ. And we should be to the praise of His glory who first
trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted. We trust the same
one the Father trusts, the Lord Jesus Christ. After that, you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. in
whom also, after that ye believed, or having believed, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest,
the guarantee of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased
possession." Now, what is the proof of this? Having the Holy
Spirit. Well, how do you know you have
the Holy Spirit? You believe the gospel. If you believe the
gospel, you have got the Holy Spirit. And the only way you
would believe is by having got the Holy Spirit. And He is the
earnest. He is the guarantee of our inheritance. Everybody that believes your
inheritance is secure. And this inheritance is something
that can be verified. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
25. Matthew 25, verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory. Don't you look forward to seeing
that? Well, I do. What a sight that
will be to see Him sit on the throne of His glory. And before him shall be gathered
all nations. And he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divided the sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
his left. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
This kingdom that you're inheriting was given to you before time
began." Now that blows my mind to think about this. I mean,
God determined for me to have this inheritance. It doesn't have a beginning.
I mean, there wasn't a time when He began. It's always been that
way. But let's go on reading. He said,
you've got this inheritance from the foundation of the world,
but there is verifiable evidence that this is so. He says in verse
35, 4, I was hungry, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty,
and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited
me. I was in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying, Lord, I love this name, the righteous. Then shall the righteous answer,
Lord, when saw we thee in hunger, or fed thee, or thirsty, and
gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in, and naked, and clothed thee? When saw we
thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? The fact of the
matter is the righteous don't believe they've done anything
like that. They can't see works that they say, well, I must be
saved. Look, I've got these works. No, they say, we don't even know
what you're talking about. When did this take place? I don't
see works that prove I'm a believer. I tell you what, if you do, you're
in trouble. You're in trouble. Any assurance
that is not Christ is a false assurance. Hey, when did we see
any of this? Now look what our Lord said.
Verse 40, and the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily
I say unto you, inasmuch as you've done it unto one of the least
of these, my brethren, you've done it to me." That is how real
union with the Lord Jesus Christ is. He said, you've done it to
me. Look back to that scripture we
opened with in 1 Peter 1. Verse 3, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now, here's my living hope. Here's
my lively hope. When Christ was raised from the
dead, I was too. And my salvation was accomplished. Verse four, to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved
in heaven. for you. Now, how much fighting
goes on over inheritances? I mean, somebody makes a will
and people contest it and people fight over it. And the guy's
dead, there's nothing to be done. I mean, everybody's fighting,
who knows? And there's people who've had wills and their will's
not carried out. But the Lord Jesus Christ, his
will's always gonna be carried out because he lives to make
sure it does. This will is reserved. I love that word reserved. Reserved
in heaven for you. Who? You who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed
at that last time. Bill Gates, children are paupers
compared to every believer. And notice in our text, he says
these angels are ministering spirits sent forth to them who
shall be heirs of salvation. Heirs of salvation. That's a big word. heirs of salvation. Now, as God's
heirs, our inheritance is so certain that we already possess
it. It's not something I'm going
to have, it's something I do have. You see, when God wills
something, it becomes past tense, historical,
history actually having happened before it ever takes place. That's
how supreme God's will is. If He wills my salvation, if
He wills my inheritance, I've already got it. It can't be changed. Scripture says we're actually
already glorified, doesn't it? In Romans 8, 30. Whom he did
foreknow, then he also did predestinate. Whom he did predestinate, then
he also called. Whom he called, then he also justified. Whom
he justified, then he also glorified. Complete heirs of salvation. Now what does the Bible mean
by salvation? Now, before we answer that question, this salvation
is called the common salvation by Jude. Now, the salvation I
have is the salvation that you have, and the salvation that
you have is the salvation that I have. I mean, it's what every
believer shares in. One doesn't have more of it than
the other. God loves all His children equally, and they all
have the same thing. They all have Christ. What could
you have more than that? You know, He is our inheritance.
What could you have less than that? It's called in Hebrews 5.9, an
eternal salvation. It's a salvation that had no
starting point and it has no ending point. And it's called
in Ephesians 1.13, the gospel of your salvation. Now, what
is salvation, heirs of salvation? Well, let's go to a very familiar
passage of scripture, Matthew chapter 1. Verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph
before they came together, she was found with a child of the
Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away privately. He didn't realize that she was
with child of the Holy Ghost. He thought that she had conceived
illegitimately. What else could he think? But
while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus." Savior. It's the Greek word for the Old
Testament word, Joshua. Savior. What a name for our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Savior. Moses couldn't bring Him into
the Promised Land. Joshua, the Savior, did. Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins. And the first thing that comes
to my mind when I think of that passage of Scripture is this
little phrase, their sins. Their sins. What I need saved
from. is my sin and my sins. That's what I need to say from
my open transgression of God's law, my secret sins that nobody
else knows about, my sins that I don't even know about, which
is probably what most of them are, sins that I don't even know
about. My sin of not loving him as I
ought, my sin of unbelief, my sin of not seeing my sin. You
know, sin's a little word. Yes, I am. It's a little word.
What's the biggest word in it? What's the biggest letter in
it? I. I. My sin. That's what I need saved from.
I can't save myself. Yet this blessed promise is thou
shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people. Every believer, all of God's
elect, he shall save his people from their sins. You'll save
them. I love that passage of scripture
in second Timothy one nine. He saved us. And he called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. And here's what I like thinking
about. He saved us and he called us. Which came first, the saving
or the calling? What came first? He saved us. He saved me outside. of my personal subjective experience. He saved me, and if He saved
me, I'm saved. He saved me, and then He called
me with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. He shall save His people. from their sin. Now, I'm saved
from the penalty of sin, I'm justified, and that means I don't
have any sin for which to have to be punished. That's what justification
means. I don't have any sin for which
to be punished. That's why there's no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Those folks in Christ Jesus don't
have any sin. I'm saved from the penalty of
sin. I'm saved from the power of sin. I'm saved from the power
of sin right now because I'm believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
There was a time when I didn't have the power to do it, but
I do now. I love him. I've been saved from the power
of sin, and I have been saved from the presence of sin. Now,
that's only known by faith. Because I don't feel saved from
the presence of sin, but I believe I am. Because whom he justified,
then he also what? Glorified. That is historical. It's not prophetic. It's not
talking about something that shall be. It's talking about
something that already is. And that's where faith comes
in. I believe that I've been saved from the very presence
of sin. Reckon yourselves, Paul said
in Romans 6.11, to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn to Isaiah 54. This is
the last scripture we'll look at. Isaiah 54. You know, there's
a lot of people who could accuse me of a lot of different things. And you know the same is true
of you. The same is true of you. You know the devil is called
in Revelation chapter 12 the accuser of the brethren. And you reckon he's got some
dirt on you? You reckon if he accused you, he would be speaking
accurately? You know he would. But look at
this, Isaiah chapter 54 verse 17. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. Now, this is the
heritage. This is the inheritance of the
servants of the Lord and their righteousness, their personal
righteousness. is of me, saith the Lord." Now as we prepare to take the
Lord's table, we're doing this rejoicing. I rejoice in the broken body, not that
I rejoice that his body was broke, but I do rejoice in the broken
body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice
in it for two reasons. First, because it glorifies God. Every attribute of God is completely
glorified in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and I rejoice
that it glorifies God and I also rejoice that He saved me. So
as we partake of the Lord's table, the bread and the wine, doing
it in remembrance of him. Remember, this is a celebration. Who is to take the Lord's table? Everybody who believes the gospel. Now, somebody says, I don't think
I'm ready to take the Lord's table. Well, you shouldn't take
the Lord's table if you don't discern His body. You shouldn't. Paul said you drink damnation
to yourself, condemnation to yourself in doing so. It's a
horrible thing to take the Lord's table unworthily. And when I
take the Lord's table unworthily, here's what I do. I think I'm
worthy to take it. That's what it is to take it
unworthily, to think there's something about you that, well,
I've had a good week or I've kept sin down. No, you take the
Lord's table because you find in the shed blood and the broken
body of the Lord Jesus Christ all your salvation. Now, everybody
who believes the gospel, they are to take the Lord's table.