Turn with me, if you will, to
the eighth chapter of Romans. The eighth chapter of Romans
is like the Garden of Eden. I realize that all scriptures
given by inspiration of God and all scriptures profitable, doctrine
for correction, for rebuke, for reproof, for instruction, And
no scriptures have any private interpretation. But the scripture
interprets the scripture. The scripture is interpreted
in the light of scripture. But there are certain portions
of God's Word where a man can stay for a long, long time and
never exhaust all the riches and the treasures that are in
that particular place. I say this, if a man were to
be shut up to preach for the rest of his life, the rest of
his life, however long that may be, from the 8th chapter of Romans,
he would never lack for a good word for his hearers. The 8th
chapter of Romans, every line, every line in this entire chapter
of 39 verses could serve for a text. But I've selected two
verses and it was confirmed This message was confirmed to my heart
by the scripture that Brother Herman Pruitt read back in the
study a moment ago, and I'll share it with you. It's in Isaiah
40. Isaiah 40. Just a few verses
that I was a little uneasy about my message for the night, not
quite sure or certain. And he read this 40th chapter
of Isaiah, and it began this way, comfort my people. Comfort
my people. Speak to their hearts. That's
what he's saying in verse two. Speak ye comfortably, speak to
their hearts. Comfort them. Comfort them. And then down here in the beginning
with verse six, we have the threefold message of God's messenger, God's
servant. The boy said, cry. Cry, cry,
cry. When you comfort my people, cry.
And he came back and said, what, shall I cry? Tell me what to
say, tell me what to preach. And the Lord God personally gave
to this servant his message, which is threefold. He said,
say, first of all, verse six, all flesh is Christ. There's
nothing in the flesh, there's nothing in man, there's nothing
in us by nature, all flesh is Christ. The preacher's flesh,
the elder's flesh, The song leader's flesh, everybody, all flesh is
grass. Everything in us and about us
and of us is flesh. Read on. And all the goodliness
and the glory thereof of the flesh is nothing but like a flower
of the field. The grass witherth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth on it. And all
the people, surely, are grass. The grass witherth, and the flower
fadeth. Here's the second word. But, tell them this. The Word
of the Lord can do it forever. The Word of the Lord. What I
have here, you say, this church makes more of the Word of God
than any church I've ever been in. Thank God. Thank God. Paul Edwards came up to me tonight
and handed me a poem. I've been trying to find this
a long time. And it was written by Martin
Luther. I've quoted the first two lines,
but I've never been able to go on because I didn't know what
it was. But here it is. And this is the reason why I
major on the Word, read the Word, preach the Word, instruct in
the Word. In our Sunday School classes,
the Word, feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God
and nothing else is worth believing. Though all my heart should feel
condemned, for want of some sweet token. Isn't that us? We're always
wanting a sign. Show us a sign. Give me a dream. Give me a vision. Give me a feeling.
Give me some assurance. Though all my heart should feel
condemned for want of some sweet token, I know one greater than
my heart whose word cannot be broken. His word. So I'll trust in God's unchanging
word. till soul and body sever, the
words of men will pass away. God's word abides forever." You
say, why is Martin Luther so great as his great instructor? Why'd God use him so much? That's
why God used him. Why'd God bless him so much?
That's why God blessed him. That is the soul of the man right
there. This is it. This is it. That's worth a whole lot right
there. And I've selected these verses, just a portion out of
his Word here. Verse 16 says this, "...the Spirit
himself," Romans 8, 16, "...beareth witness with my spirit," your
spirit, our spirit, "...that we are the children of God."
You say, why would a man doubt it? I'll give you two reasons.
You see, the Holy Spirit of God, by His power and His presence
and through this Word, constantly encourages me. I need this encouragement. I need the encouragement of the
Holy Spirit. I need the witness of the Holy Spirit, because I
have a tendency for two reasons to doubt my part in this glorious
kingdom. There are two reasons for that,
and basically only two reasons. For a real child of God, having
any question about his relationship with God. Here they are. One
of them is the greatness of the blessing. The greatness of the
blessing. David said, Who am I and what
is my house that you should show such mercies to me? Indescribable,
innumerable mercies. Do you know what this being a
child of God is? You want me to be a child of
God? I'm not talking about a member of the Baptist Church. I'm talking
about a child of God. You know what that means? And
that's the thing that overwhelmed me. It's what God has in store
for them that love Him. He said, I have not seen, ear
has not heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man the
things that God has bestowed upon them that love Him, has
reserved for them that love Him. You know the second reason why
we entertain these doubts? You'll be honest. The greatness
of the blessing and the sinfulness and unworthiness of the recipient. There it is up there. There it
is up there. Two reasons why we entertain
this uncertainty. I've heard people say, well,
I don't doubt him. No, I don't either. I don't doubt
his sufficiency or ability or power, whatever. But oh, when
I consider When I think about standing in God's presence, robed
in the righteousness of Christ, conformed to His image, entering
into a kingdom, I shall never die, I shall never sin, I shall
never know pain or suffering, I shall never perish, I shall
reign with Christ forever, that's too great for me to comprehend.
And especially the one that's trying to comprehend it. I know
one thing, in my state I don't belong in that atmosphere. I'm
not worthy of such blessing. But thank God it doesn't depend
on our worthiness. Thank God it doesn't. Because
he says down here in the next verse, the Holy Spirit bears
witness with our spirit that we're sons of God, children of
God, and if you're a child, you're there. If you're a child, you're
there. If you're a child, you're there.
Because we're children of God, we're heirs of this great, magnificent blessing. You see,
now watch this. This is so important. Justification
is union with Christ in His death. Our justification is union with
Christ in His death. Sanctification is union with
Christ in His holiness. I'm justified because I'm in
Christ. I'm holy because I'm in Christ,
and he's holy. My sonship, my adoption, my adoption
is union with Christ in his sonship. He's a son, and therefore I'm
a son. That's right, I'm a son. Now, two words are prominent
in this text, verse 16, 17. Two words, children and heirs. Children, I want you to catch
this now, I think this is so important. He said, I'll read
the verses again, the Spirit himself beareth witness with
our spirit that we are children of God. And if we're children,
if you're a child of God, not if you're a religious person,
not if you're a church member, if you're a child of God, you're
an heir, you're an heir of God, and you're a joint heir with
Jesus Christ. Now there are two prominent words
in these two verses, the word children and the word heir. Now
what is the inheritance of a child? The inheritance of a son or a
daughter. What is the inheritance of a
son or a daughter? Well, the pay of a servant is
not inheritance. That's not inheritance. If you
pay someone who is your servant, that's not considered an inheritance.
Secondly, the fee of someone who has served you, like a lawyer,
that's not an inheritance. Thirdly, the profit of a merchant
is not an inheritance. The medals or reward given to
a soldier is not inheritance. What an inheritance is, is this. When a loving father dies, and
that father has accumulated great wealth, that father has accumulated
great possession, and when he dies, that loving father freely
bestows upon that child all that he has and all that he owns and
all that he has put together freely. And you know something? That that inheritance is so free
and so unmerited that it may be the property of a small child
that can't even talk. That's exactly right. For example,
a great wealthy man, great wealthy man, he and his wife have one
son. And that son is lying in his cradle six months old. He
can't walk. He can't talk. He can't express
himself. He doesn't have any idea of the
wealth of his father. He doesn't have any conception
of the power and wealth of his father. And his father dies,
leaving to that six-month-old son lying in the cradle all that
he labored for and all that he accumulated And all that he has,
he freely bestows it on that child. That's our inheritance. It's just that free. That's what
I'm talking about. It's just that free. And I'll tell you, he lives,
he lives to make sure that his heirs receive it. You see, what
happens now, I'll give you an example. I was sitting in the
study one time several years ago. I was on television. I'd been on television four or
five years then. We've been on thirteen now, but
this was several years ago. I was sitting there in the study,
and the door opened, and a big man stood in the door, and he
said, Are you Reverend Mahan? I said, Yes, sir. He said, May
I come in? I said, Yes. So he came in. He had a briefcase,
real businesslike, and sat down in the chair, and he said, I
have a matter of business to discuss with you. I said, All
right. He said, I'm a lawyer. I'm from Columbus, Ohio. He told
me his name. He said, a woman in Columbus
who's been watching your television program has died. And she left
the will. And she left all her property.
She has stock, I found out later, in GM, IBM, AT&T, you just name
it. Blue chip, first class, gold-braided
stock. And she says she's left all that
she has to you, Jimmy Swigert, E.J. Daniels, and the Church
of Christ. She watches all four of you on television, and she's
left it all to you. Well, I think, went through my
mind, you know, here we, our troubles are over, you know.
But, he said, there's one problem. I said, what's that? He said,
she had no children, her husband's dead, but she said her mothers
and sisters and brothers all live, her mother's in a rest
home, and her sisters and brothers live in the Ohio area, And they're
going to take you to court and contest the will. So you see, though she died with
the intention of leaving me, probably a fairly wealthy person,
going to a television program and all, but nevertheless comfortably
taken care of, she was dead. And there was nothing she could
do to secure what she wanted done. And I said to the lawyer, I said,
no way. I'm not going to court. I don't
care how much she left. I'm not going to court. The first
place, scriptures are against that. Second place, it ruined
my ministry. I'd be out of the ministry. Go
to court and fight an old lady and rest home over her daughter's
inheritance. You know, that'd make good reason, you know. I
told him that. I said, that'd make good reason
around here, wouldn't it? Put a man in court fighting some old lady
over a few dollars. I said, forget it. He said, well,
you have to sign it away. I signed it away. So there goes
my inheritance. But this one, this inheritance,
and it's just that free. I didn't know this woman. I'd
never heard of her. And suddenly in her will, there
she mentions my name, and everything's free. I didn't do anything for
it in any shape, form, or fashion. My Heavenly Father has left me
as His child, and I'm going to show you what that inheritance
is in a minute. But I'll tell you this, no court's going to
take it away from me, because my Lord, the testator, died and
rose again, and he sits at the right hand of God to make sure
that everybody who's in this world gets what he gave to them. That's the security of it. You
see that? That's my inheritance. Now, let me just give you four
things here quickly. First of all, and this comforts
me, this means so much, it's free. It's praise, just like
that little baby lying there in the cradle. His daddy loved
him, his daddy left everything to him, and though he doesn't,
he can't fathom it or understand it or even spend it, it's still
here. And nobody will ever take it
away from him. And this is the ground of our inheritance. He
says here in verse 17, look, if children, then heirs. It doesn't say if creatures,
it says if children. It doesn't say, if you're a child
of Abraham, it says, if you're a child of God. It doesn't say,
if you're a servant and work real hard and do your best, it
says, if you're a child, you're an heir. It doesn't say, if you're
circumcised or baptized or canonized or catechized or confirmed, it
says, if you're children, you're heirs. Heirs of God. We're heirs of God who've been
born of God. We're heirs of God who have the
Spirit of God. We're heirs of God who have believed
on Christ. Now, watch this. Second thing.
The universality of this inheritance. It says if you're children, then
you're heirs. And if you're children, then you're heirs. And this is
something that goes through our mind all the time. Listen to
this. It doesn't say anything about seniority. It says if you're
children. How long have you been a child
of God? Five years? Six years? I've been
a child of God 35 years. Did I got seniority? Oh, no.
If you're a child, you're an heir. Somebody here been a child
of God six months? You're an heir. There's no priority. There's no seniority. The elder,
the young, you ladies, little girls, if you're a child of God,
then you're an heir. Oh, I'm not as important as you
preachers. I tell you this, all are equally heirs of God. It
doesn't say, if old children. It says, if children. It doesn't
say, if diligent children. It says, children. And it doesn't
say, if obedient children. It says, children. It's children. You see, the love of God is the
same to all His children. I get a little upset when I hear
these premillennial fundamental preachers, and it'll upset you
now, but I'm telling you, They bother me when they talk about
degrees of reward and degrees of glory. There's something missing
in their understanding of the love of God. There's something
missing. Now, I'm just a human father.
And so human, it's like, my Lord said this, said, if your child
asked bread, would you give him a stone? If he asked meat, would
you give him a certain? Well, if you being evil know
how to give good things to your children, how much vast more
But I have several children and grandchildren, and I can frankly,
personally say that I love them the same. There are no degrees
of affection. As far as my children, you've
got two children, you love them the same. Would you put one in
a penthouse and one in a ghetto? Well, think of God. I don't know
how to love compared to God. I don't even understand love
like God is love. I don't even have the capability
of loving Paul and Becky like God loves me. And yet I show
no partiality. Can you think of God showing
partiality to His children? Yeah, but this child helps you
more. That has nothing to do with it.
There's a heart affection. There's a heart relationship.
But one child is mischievous and one's obedient. Does that
have anything to do with you? You love them. You love them.
I heard a preacher on that television this afternoon, and
he said, the way he runs his home, he said, he said, one of
my children, he said, I've been a good father and a good provider,
set a good example. And he said, if one of them leaves,
he can stay gone. I'm glad God ain't like that.
Oh, aren't you glad God ain't like that? You can leave, you
can stay gone. That's grace, isn't it? That's what I've been
trying to tell you. These folks don't know anything
about grace. Now, if you leave, like the prodigal son's father,
I'll be waiting to kiss you when you come back, if I know God.
Waiting to kiss you when you come back. He kissed him. He
didn't just shake hands with him and say, I'm glad you came
home, you little rascal. He kissed him. Kissed him. That's my father. Christ is the
firstborn among many brethren. Many brethren. He's the firstborn
among many brethren. And they love the same, they're
blessed the same. You see, Christ is our reward. All are not prophets,
all are not apostles, all are not missionaries, all are not
preachers, but all are heirs. If children, then heirs. And
one man said about this, how does God treat his son? Well,
all his sheep are found. And all who are found are forgiven.
And all who are forgiven are adopted. And all who are adopted
are children. And all who are children are
kings, and all kings are crowned. All right, here's the third thing,
the inheritance itself. It says, if you're children,
then you're heirs. Can I get you to do a little running through
the Scripture? First of all, we're heirs of God Himself. Now
turn to 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians 3. This is our
inheritance. He said, Preacher, what is my
inheritance as a child of God? Oh, let me show you what it is.
Let me show you what it is. In 1 Corinthians 3, verse 21,
listen. Therefore let no man glory in
me, for all things are yours. All things are yours, whether
Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death. for things present, but things
to come, they're all yours. And you're Christ, and Christ
is God. That's my inheritance. All right,
secondly, turn to Titus 3, 7. I was talking about heirs. We're
talking about our inheritance. In Titus, chapter 3, verse 7,
it tells us that we're heirs of eternal life. If children,
then heirs. Christ has purchased it. In Titus
3, 7 it says this, listen, that being justified by His grace, let's look back here at verse
5, not by righteousness, not by works of righteousness which
we've done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed
on us abundantly, richly through Christ Jesus. that being justified
by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. Heirs of eternal life. And then
Hebrews 1 verse 4 says the angels, right across the page there,
Hebrews 1 verse 14 says that the angels of ministering spirit
sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. Look at Hebrews 6 verse 17. It
says here, God, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show
unto the heirs of promise, heirs of promise, His promise, the
immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by note. And then
Hebrews 11, just turn on over a couple of pages, Hebrews 11
verse 7, it says, By faith knoweth, Being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, Hebrews 11, 7, moved with fear, prepared
an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
An heir of righteousness. Turn on over to James, just a
few pages over, James 2, 5. Listen to this. Hearken, my beloved
brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich
in faith Heirs of the kingdom, heirs of that kingdom which he
promised to them that love him. Now we're to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3 verse 7. Likewise ye husbands, dwell with
your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife as unto
the weaker vessel. and as being heirs together of
the grace of life. That's our inheritance. Heirs
of God himself, heirs of all things, eternal life, salvation,
promises, righteousness, the kingdom, the grace of life. If
children, then we're heirs. And here's, in closing, here's
the key. Look back at Romans 8 again. Let me give you this
key to the whole thing. This is the key to the whole
thing. In verse 17 of Romans 8, "...and
if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ." In other words, the chief heir is the Son, and we
are heirs with the Son, through the Son, and in the Son. And His taking us in as our servants,
when He became our servant, that secured the inheritance. And
when he took our flesh and became flesh, his taking our flesh and
obeying God's law and giving us a righteousness made us worthy
of it. In Christ we're worthy of the
inheritance. And his intercession and exaltation at the right hand
of God protects our inheritance. And his going to glory prepares
our inheritance. He said, I'm going to prepare
a place for you. And he is coming again. will bring that ahead.