I left home last Friday afternoon. Didn't get back until Friday
afternoon. But from the moment that I kissed
Shelby and those two grandchildren goodbye at the airport until
I returned, I had one thing that was on my mind all the time I
was gone. Soon I'll be coming home. My body was 2,000 miles away,
but all the while my heart was at home. I was supposed to get
back Thursday night late. I got to Atlanta at about 1030
Thursday night. I found out I wasn't coming home
until Friday. What a disappointment. But it's all right. I'm going
home in the morning. Soon I'll be going home. As a
believer, It is that thought that sustains, cheers, and invigorates
my soul every day while I live in this world. I'm going home
soon. Home just might be the sweetest
word in the English language. What a blessed thought. We're
going home soon. and what a home awaits us. Soon
we shall return to our home in glory, there to abide with Christ
forever. A home prepared for us before
the worlds were made. A home in which our Savior says
there are many matches. A home at the throne of God. in the very heart of God. A home where peace shall never
be broken, where brightness shall never be overcast with the slightest
cloud, where joy shall never be disturbed, a home in which
there shall never be any misunderstandings, any sorrow or any pain, of any
kind, a home unmolested by fear or care or death, a home into
which darkness and death can never come, because it is a home
where the former things are all passed away and there shall be
no more sin. How comforting to my weary soul
to think of this resting place so near, my Father's home where
I shall never hunger nor thirst anymore, where the sun of adversity
will never scorch me, where my burning lust will be at an end
and will never molest me again, a home where Satan shall never
again stand at my right hand to accuse me. A home where the
Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed me and
lead me to living fountains of waters, and God himself shall
wipe away all tears from my eyes." Can you enter into what I'm talking
about? We're going home. The time is at hand. All our
conflicts are almost over. Our struggles and sorrows are
nearly done. A few more days, maybe months,
maybe even years, but that at most, and we will either be laid
quietly beneath the cold earth or we will meet our Lord in the
air and forever be with the Lord. A few more deaths and God's elect
will all be knit together as one in the Father's family perfectly. The famous Scottish preacher,
Andrew Bonar, had a son named after him, named Andrew, who
died as a fairly young man. And Bonar used to often say,
I can almost see little Andrew sitting with the saints in glory. Just a good while before Bonar
died, his wife died as well. And the old man in his old age
would often speak of his wife and his son, and anxious to be
gathered with them, with his father's family, in heavenly
glory. And so it shall be with us. A
few more days shall dawn and darken, and then will shine forth
one eternal day. A few more clouds, and then no
more clouds. Soon we shall enter into the
gates of pearl, into the city beautiful, and sit down with
Christ at His throne, and we shall see His face. And when we see Him, we shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We have foretaste
of those things now in the experience of God's grace. Soon we will
possess them fully and forever. And we will be made to see, as
indeed the scriptures declare, when all things are finished,
out of all evil, good shall come. Out of sin, holiness shall shine
forth. Out of darkness, light will shine
brightly. Out of death springs life eternal. Out of weakness strength shall
appear. Out of our rottenness and our
ruin, loveliness and majesty shall be brought forth. Out of
the curse comes the blessed, the incorruptible, the immortal,
the glorious, and the undefiled. Our present portion in the experience
of grace is but the pledge of these things. He, the Spirit
of God, is in our hearts the seal, the pledge, the earnest
of this inheritance. But the inheritance itself, while
we enjoy the prospect of it, we cannot yet possess it, not
until our Redeemer appears and calls us home. Here we see through
a glass dark lamp. and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be." Here we are warfaring men and wayfaring pilgrims passing
through this world below. But soon we will go over Jordan. Soon we will go to our home prepared
for us by our God. And it is this hope, the hope
of going home, that sustains, invigorates, comforts and inspires
God's people in this world. The joy of believing is great
and it is enough to sustain us until we find the joy of seeing
and then faith shall be turned to sight and hope to glad fruition. Jane Bonar had some comprehension
of this. She watched her husband, Horatius
Bonar, brother to Andrew Bonar, dying of consumption. And she
would wash his brow and knew he was dying soon. And late one
evening after she had washed his brow, she went into the parlor,
they called it in those days, and sat down and wrote these
words. Fade, fade, each earthly joy. Jesus is mine. Break every tender tie. Jesus is mine. Going home makes everything between
here and there somewhat meaningless. Every bit, every heartache, every
joy, somewhat meaningless. Because these things are temporal. We're going to a world where
all things are eternal. And that's what's described for
us in Ephesians 1, verses 10, 11, and 12. All that God has done for us
in eternal grace, described in verses 3 through 6. All that
Jesus Christ has done for us in redemption, described in verse
7. all that God has done for us
in making known His will, in the saving of our souls and regeneration,
in the revelation of Christ described in verses 8 and 9. Here is given
the consummation of it all. Here everything is brought to
one sum, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, this
is why everything has been done. that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one." It's like you'd
go out and rake up things off the floor, just pull it all up
together, pull it all together and put it in one huge basket.
"...might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." in
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Heavenly glory is
the inheritance The happiness of which is a sufficient portion
for our immortal souls, and nothing else can be. The Apostle Paul wrote, If in
this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable. If we have dangled out before
us this hope of heavenly glory, As it is set forth throughout
the Word of God, immortality, everlasting perfection, sinlessness
forever, holy, unblameable, with God, with Christ, accepted, perfect,
one with Him. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, and none of that exists, we are of all men most
miserable. For these things can never fully
satisfied. Tell me, I ask you, I ask any
eternity bound man or woman who hears this message in any way
at any time, is there anything, anyone, any relationship, any
experience you have ever found in this world that satisfied
you? Not one. Not one. There's something lacking about
all things in time. Oh, but in Christ, nothing lacking. And the inheritance that we have
obtained in Christ is that which alone can satisfy our souls. And yet the Holy Spirit here
tells us that we have already obtained this inheritance. We've
already obtained it and have a present right to possess it.
because we have actually obtained it and actually do possess it,
not personally, but representatively. Jesus Christ, our mediator, our
head, our representative, has for us as a forerunner entered
into and taken possession of heavenly glory in our name, in
our room, and in our stead. Now, let's see what the Holy
Spirit tells us in these three verses about this inheritance.
In verse 10, he first speaks of our being gathered unto the
inheritance, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, that
is, when the times are full and the set season comes, all the
mystery of God's will toward his elect, all his eternal purpose
of grace, he will openly manifest to the whole world. God will
visibly gather together in one, under one head, and in that one
head, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which
are on earth. And then, as we read in Revelation
10, 7, the mystery of God will be finished. All that God purposed
in his secret decrees from eternity will be finished when all things
are gathered together in one in Christ. But it's not yet finished. The great potter's work. You
remember when the prophet Ezekiel, or Jeremiah, I believe it was,
in Jeremiah chapter 17, was commanded to go down to the potter's house
to see a vision of God's work, and he saw the potter working
with clay on his wheels? Well, this is the picture we
have throughout the ages of time. The potter's work is still on
his wheel, and God still has a work yet that he is doing until
the mystery of God is finished. There are elect sinners yet to
be called by his grace, redeemed ones who must yet be fetched
to Christ. There are still some of God's
elect who must be hewn from the rock quarry and the pits of this
world before the temple of God is finished in all its glory
and in all its brilliance. The mystery of God's will. This
is that which is made known to chosen redeemed sinners personally
and experimentally in the gathering of our souls in the new birth.
Regeneration, effectual calling, is Christ gathering together
all things in the earth. God's elect scattered to the
four corners of the earth, he gathers. And oh, how wonderful
it is to watch him do so. We watch God's providence. He raises up nations and tears
down nations and he establishes them for only one reason. Would
to God we could learn this. The only reason this nation came
into existence and is maintained in existence. It's not so that
we can have a better lifestyle than the rest of the world. It's
not so that we can have and spread democracy. The only reason this
nation came into existence and is maintained in existence. And
the only reason any other nation exists, no matter what that nation
is, is that by the rise and fall of nations and the rule and disposing
of nations, God our Father gathers together His elect, makes a way
for the preaching of the gospel, and He calls His elect to faith
in Jesus Christ. And that's what He's doing in
all the prophets. And then, Our Savior will come
and gather together all his elect in one in heavenly glory. Oh, how we long for that day
when the mystery of God is finished. This is how Paul puts it in Titus.
Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for us. Jude says we are looking for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And this is
the hope we have in Christ, whom heaven must receive until the
times of restitution of all things which God has spoken by the mouth
of all his holy prophets since the world began, that in the
ages to come he might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Listen to this,
often I wonder Why I must journey over a road so rugged and steep? Why all the darkness? Why all
the heartache? God, why must your chosen so
often weep? Farther along, we'll know more
about it. Farther along, we'll understand
why. Cheer up, believer. Trust your
great Savior. We'll understand it all by and
by. We will see soon how God Almighty
has done all things for the saving of His people and the glory of
His name. Now watch this. In whom? In whom
we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. I love the way Paul blends the
doctrine of grace with the experience of grace. Here he brings the
doctrine of verse 10, brings it to bear upon the believer's
personal knowledge, experience, and possession of heavenly things.
Doctrinal theory is meaningless. until you experience it. And
Paul is here talking about the believer's experience of grace.
In whom? Again and again and again and
again, he keeps telling us that all God's blessings, all the
blessings of grace, all of life and salvation is in Christ. And calling our attention to
our union with Christ, this blessed oneness the believer has with
God's Son. In whom we have obtained an inheritance. Those words might literally be
put this way, in whom we have by lot an inheritance, or in
whom we have been allotted an inheritance, in whom we have
been chosen to and apportioned unto an inheritance by lot. But all of the meaning of the
word has the idea of a lot. You remember how Israel, when
they were brought into the land of Canaan, we're told in Joshua
14, the land of Canaan was divided to the tribes of Israel by lot. But don't imagine that somehow
that was haphazard. For the lot is cast into the
lap, and the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And what
Paul is telling us here by the Spirit of God is that we have
an allotted portion, an allotted inheritance that is ours in and
with and by Jesus Christ our Lord. In fact, he's telling us
three things about his inheritance. Number one, Christ in all his
glorious fullness is the portion and the inheritance of his people.
You remember how the Prophet Jeremiah said in Lamentations
3, as he looked over his painful, bitter experiences, he said,
God, you've treated me like an enemy. He said, you've given
me wormwood and gall. You've given me gravel stones
to eat. You've put me in chains and irons
and affliction. And he murmured and murmured
and complained and complained until at last he's way, way,
way, way back. This I recall to my mind. Therefore,
I will hope in him. What was he
recalled to his mind? The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. The Lord is my portion. The Lord, not part of my portion. The Lord is my portion. We often
will hear someone say, well, that's just his lot. That's his
lot in life. That's what he has to live with. That's the idea. The Lord is
my lot. The Lord is my portion. The Lord
is what I have. all I have." The psalmist said,
the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou
maintainest my lot. Turn back to the book of Joshua,
Joshua chapter 13. Let me show you something. Stay
here in Ephesians 1, but turn to Joshua 13. You remember when Israel inherited
the land of Canaan? had all the tribes had their
portion in the land of Canaan except for one. The Levites didn't
have a portion. The Levites didn't have a lot. The Levites were given nothing.
They had no inheritance. Now some folks would have you
to believe that's because the Levites were typical of preachers
and ministers of the gospel and I guess in some sense that's
certainly true. But that's not the meaning of them not having
an inheritance. They had no inheritance because
the Levites were typical of God's saints, who are priests under
God. Men and women offering spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. Look here in
verse 33, Joshua 13. But under the tribe of Levi,
Moses gave not any inheritance. The Lord God of Israel was their
inheritance, as he said unto them. Now that's a picture of
the peculiar relationship that exists between Christ and his
people. Let's see if I can illustrate
it for you. And I hope I don't embarrass my wife, but I'll use
personal illustration. I am convinced, we've been married
for 37 years, I am convinced, after 37 years, that as far as
she is concerned, her earthly portion is the fellow talking
to you. As far as she's concerned. Whether
that's best or not, that's the way it is. That loving woman
looks upon her husband as her all in an earthly sense. My love
for her is her delight. Tender caresses, an affectionate
word, an approving smile, faithful care, counsel, all those things. She looks at in me as her portion
in this world. So much so that she looks at
me as one she owns as her life. Indeed, Those are the very words
she often uses. You're my life. And that's the
way it is in the kind of relationship God has graciously given us.
So that she looks at me as her portion, her lot in this world. And you know what? That's more
valuable to her than if her father had left her the whole farm down
in Floyd County. More valuable to her than any
pile of money that might be put in a bank anywhere that she could
lose at any whim. She looks upon this man, her
husband, as her lot. Now, what a poor comparison,
but a comparison it is. What an inheritance Jesus Christ
is to our souls. Oh, the Lord is my portion. He is the portion of my lot. Our manifest union with the Son
of God, our Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, our sweet communion
arising from that union causes our souls to look upon Him with
joy and say in every circumstance and in every trial, in every
prospect of time and eternity, my Beloved is mine and I am His. To have Christ Himself. For our
inheritance is to have all. For Christ is all. You remember
when Jacob came to meet his brother Esau? And Jacob sent herds of
cattle and oxen and sheep before him and sent his servants before
him. And finally when Esau met Jacob and he said, What are all
these things? And Esau said to Jacob, I have
enough. He said, I've got everything
I want, and that's exactly how the word ought to be translated.
And Esau and Jacob talked a little while, and finally Jacob said
to Esau, he said, you said to me a little while ago, I have
all I want. Jacob said, I have enough. Same words in the English. Jacob
said, I have everything. I don't have all I want, I have
everything. I have all. Did you hear me?
I have everything. Everything. For Christ is all. Ye are Christ and Christ is all. Therefore the apostle said, you
have all things. All I want, all I need, all I
desire. I had the privilege of season
and opportunity sometime back. I was sitting in a group of folks
and some fellow looked at me and said, did you ever see anybody
in the world who didn't want anything other than what they
have? I said, yes, sir. He said, well, who was that? I said, well,
I looked in the mirror this morning. He said, you don't want anything?
I said, I don't want anything. No more wealth? No. No more property? No. Nothing! He said, I don't
believe you. I said, I'm not surprised that
you don't. But I have everything, for I have Christ. Do you understand that? Christ
is all. He is our inheritance. Now, turn
to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32. That's good, and this is good,
and I'm hard-pressed to think which might be better. Deuteronomy
32, verse 9. As we have obtained an inheritance
in Christ, Christ has obtained an inheritance in us. Look at
this, Deuteronomy 32, 9. For the Lord's portion is his
people. Jacob! I'm so glad he used Jacob's
name there. Not Israel, Jacob, that scoundrel,
that wretch, that worm, that deceitful, cunning, conniving,
fallen man whom I made Israel. Jacob, watch this, is the lot
of his inheritance. What does that mean? It means
exactly the same thing as when we say the Lord is my portion. You are all he wants, all he desires, his lot, his
inheritance. You, the object of his love. You, the object of his desire. He said, the Father to the Son,
ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. Now, go back to Ephesians 1.
Look at verse 18. And if this isn't astonishing,
I don't know what would be. In the last line of Ephesians
1 18, we're told that as redemption through his blood and the forgiveness
of sins, you remember that in Ephesians 1 7, are according
to the riches of his grace. Now watch this, Ephesians 1 18,
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may
know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Somehow, I don't know how, the
riches of his glory, the riches of his glory, the riches of his
glory is so wrapped up with you and me. His chosen, His redeemed,
His called ones, believing sinners, so wrapped up with us that we're
told in verse 23, we are the fullness, the completion of Him
that fills all in all. We're the fullness of Him. What's your portion? What is
it that fills your heart? What is it that fills your life? What is it that fills your soul
to satisfaction? That's your fullness. That's
your fullness. Now listen. What is it that fills
his heart? Fills his soul to satisfaction? You. God's people. Oh. Now, he tells us the third
thing. As Christ is our inheritance
and we are his inheritance, We have obtained an inheritance
in Christ and with Christ our head, our representative and
mediator. You and I, every chosen sinner,
every believing sinner, every called sinner, are heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ. Now, my folks, mother and dad,
didn't own anything when mother died and own less now since my
dad's alive and remarried and don't own anything. But let's
just suppose, let's just suppose that mom and dad were rich folks
and they owned all kinds of acreage and had lots of money in the
bank. Do you know I've got three sisters and all three of the
sisters have got husbands and they've all got children more
than I do. And if we were all named as co-heirs to the vast
fortune, there might be plenty there for all of us to share,
but none of us would possess it all. Co-heirs, not the same
thing as joint heirs. All that Jesus Christ possesses. all that he has bought with his
blood and earned by his obedience, we are joint heirs with Christ. Equal possessors with him of
it all. Now that's mind-boggling. But
this is what he said, the glory that thou hast given me, I have
given them. And so when Paul says, We're
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. When I think
about this, this is the conclusion I must
come to. The sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be put in the same set of scales with
the glory that shall be revealed in us. Heirs of God and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. a hereditary possession. No,
no, no. This is not something that's
an estate passed along by the mere will of a man. No, no. It's
that, but it's much more. This is an inheritance of grace,
bought by blood. It is ours in Jesus Christ and
with him. He purchased it with his blood.
His righteousness gives us title to it. And his grace makes us
right now meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life. And our Savior sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high and took possession of all
of it as our forerunner and wrote our names on the inheritance
of glory. And the psalmist says, the Lord
will give grace and glory. He will give grace and glory. Well, what is this inheritance? Turn to Revelation chapter 21
again. Revelation 21. It's described more often in
the Scriptures in negative terms than in positive terms, because
we don't know much about it yet. But there are some things revealed.
Revelation 21, verse 3, 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. Eternal life in God, immediately with us. in the person of his dearest
son, ceaselessly. We're told that they shall see
his face, and seeing him we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is. I have now for almost forty years
had three burning desires. I want them so much. I want so much to be like Christ. I want so much to be totally
conformed to Him. Totally committed to Him. And
enjoy total communion with Him. And the more I desire these things
and seek these things, the farther away from me they appear to be. But soon, I shall be with Him, and like Him, and committed to
Him, and in total communion with Him. You know? Verse 4, And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying. And there shall be, neither shall
there be any more pain for the former things. The former things. Everything
back yonder. The former things are passed
away. And he sat on the throne and
said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Right?
For these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me,
It is done. Verse 7. he that overcometh. We have overcome more than conquerors
through Christ. We are overcoming for greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world and we shall
overcome and he that overcometh shall inherit all things and
I will be his God and he shall be my son. Now I ask you Have
we any part or lot in this inheritance? Answer this question and you
have the answer to that. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. I turn to one more passage. And
let me show you what awaits you who believe on the Son of God. I bid you now believe Him. Believe Him. Trust Him. Come to Christ now where you
are. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection, that is, he that believeth on
the Son of God, being born of God. On such the second death
hath no power. Turn to Zephaniah chapter 3 and
learn something about the bliss of eternity. These many mansions
where Christ dwells, this blessed, blessed, blessed union that is
ours with Christ, accomplished by God's purpose and God's grace.
Knowing as I do my own miserable helplessness and sinking under
the pressure of constant weakness, I look to God in all His grace
and strength, mercy and truth, through the blood and righteousness
of Christ alone, to bring me into this inheritance. And at
last, oh, what a day that shall be. Zephaniah chapter three,
verse fourteen. Seeing old saints of God in Danville,
Kentucky, shout Oh, Don Fortner, thou shalt
be glad and rejoice with all the heart, you who believe. The
Lord hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy.
The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee.
Thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said
to Jerusalem, It shall be said to you, the chosen of God, fear
thou not, and to Zion, let not thine hands be slack. For the
Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will say,"
watch this, "'He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest
in his love. He will joy over thee with singing.'" He says in verse 19, "'I will
undo all that afflict thee. He says, I'll get them praise
and faith. And in verse 20 he says, I will
make you a name and a praise among the people of the earth
when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. When he says up here in verse
17, he will rest in his love, he will joy over they will sing
him. The word might be Translated
like this, he will be silent in his love. I think I told you
this, but I like to tell the story so you just have to listen
again and I hope you enjoy it. Shelby and I were engaged the
whole year I was in school in Springfield, Missouri in 1968. We were getting married June
1st. I got home last week of May.
That whole year I saw that girl two times. I had a picture of
her sitting on my desk, looked at it all the time, wrote to
her every day and called her every day, but only saw her two
times. And I had made up my mind when
I got home, there were so many things I wanted to say, so many
things I wanted to say. And we met, got home and got
away from the family and went outside and sat down in front
porch of a friend's house and hugged her. kissed her, and just
sat and looked at her. Couldn't say a thing, and didn't
really want to say anything, and didn't need to say anything. That's what awaits us. Our Redeemer will embrace us. and joy over us with singing,
and rest in his love, and be silent in his love. Then shall
he be satisfied, having the joy set before him. As for me, I
will be satisfied when I awake in thy light. May God make this inheritance
yours by His grace. Amen.