Family Blessings Pt. 5 :: Given an Inheritance

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Thanks for joining us today as you listen to a portion of the message recorded at Vine Life Church in Boulder, Colorado. If you'd like to connect with us further, you can visit us online at www.vinelife.com.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Gentleness was so strong, I just could hardly do anything. I just laid on my face before him. And so um, you know, I'm an eight in the Enneagram. And for those that don't know what the Enneagram is, um it's just like a personality, it's an ancient personality test like Briggs Meyer, but it's it's very insightful. Oh my gosh. So an eight is more blunt, kind of up front, just telling it rather have everything, no nuance, just let's talk about what's really true. And so um, I just think the Lord is trying to help me. Uh so I have I have a lot of scripture. We're gonna stand for these first two passages of scripture, and um there's a lot of a praise to his glory, and I don't want your eyes to glaze over. I want you to stay present. So I know this is kind of hard, but we're gonna put those first two scriptures. First scripture is that we are talking about the family of God and the blessings of God, and we're in Ephesians 1, and we're gonna read through that again. Uh so would you all stand as we read? Um, and you can read with me. Let's let's do that. Read with me. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ Himself, according to the kind intention of his will, to the praise of his glory, grace, which he made us accepted in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, tea of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Therefore, so half the Lord Jesus and love for all the saints do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of your in my prayers, that the God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his might. Okay. So there are two parts of Ephesians, and we went through both of them, and that's just fine. That's just fine. I just want to say before you sit down that I don't believe there's anyone walking the earth right now that fully understands what we just read, that fully grasps the heart of the Father and what he has done in his son for each one of us. And so as Paul was one who had all knowledge concerning the law, a Pharisee of Pharisees, very looked up to in the religious sectors, as he had to be knocked off his horse and made blind and given a revelation of what is true. So are we. And so I believe what the Father wants to release by the power of the Holy Spirit this morning is new eyes. That we would be blind to the mechanisms that have formed our insights and be open to see what the Father has done for us. That you can be seated. So Paul uses that word. Lord, I pray that the eyes of our heart would be opened. Because, see, Paul's eyes of his heart were opened. So I'm going to be talking about inheritance this morning. We've been going through the family blessings we've been going through, that we have been given redemption through the blood of Jesus, forgiveness, that we are adopted as sons, and that God has shown the mystery, the secrets of his will to us. And today we're going to focus on the inheritance. And so when I got this part, I just was studying about all the Israelites and their inheritance. They got to go and possess their inheritance in the land. The land was their inheritance. They each got a portion, their inheritance. A lot of things come up when we talk about inheritance. Mostly it's I'm going to get the house, or I'm going to sell the house and get the money, or I'm going to get the bank account, or I'm going to get the car, or I'm going to get the assets from my parents. And I think that, yeah, those those are those are earthly, those are earthly. And a lot of times we can be discouraged if we don't have rich parents or there is no inheritance in the earth. But I just want to say right now that no matter whether you have wealth in your family or you have nothing in your family, God is just, and he has poured out his inheritance on each and every one of us. And we're going to look at that. So the first thing I just want to say, and this is in uh 1 Peter, and we're going to go with blessed be the God again. So please stay with me present. We're just going to go through this. 1 Peter 1, 3 through 9. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again in a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice now, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I want you to see that the inheritance that we have been given in Christ Jesus is incorruptible. It is not defilable and it does not fade away. It is incorruptible, meaning that it is not going to die. It will not be touched by death. It is undefiled, meaning that it is not going to be touched by anything of the enemy. It can't be thwarted or tainted. And it does not fade away, meaning time does not touch this inheritance. I have a grandfather who died when I was five. And he he was pretty wealthy. He had started grocery stores, okay stores, at about the same time as Albertsons began to come. They were kind of competitors. But he would let me into the store. I have memories, probably three, four years old. And he would say to us kids, you know, run through the store, pick out whatever you want. And so, of course, we would go right to the candy aisle or the little toy section and pick out candy necklace or a doll. But just the the feeling of that, go, go get whatever you want, was awesome as a little kid. My father, my grandfather, uh he also um he also hid hid his assets, hid his money. He actually buried his money in the ground and made these cryptic maps that no one could read except himself. And he would hide the money in cinder blocks. And why would he do this? To avoid taxes. And uh so when he died, my grandmother didn't know any of this, but she found these maps to which she could not follow through with where anything was, and she found out later that he had hidden uh quite a lot in cinder blocks. And she has a memory of the couple days after he died of going into one of the stores in the back, and the employees were busting cinder blocks. She thought that was odd, but she was grieving, and so she didn't think a thing of it until she found out, oh my goodness. And she had this car that had two cinder blocks in the trunk of the car, and she sold the car with the cinder blocks, and then later found out, oh my goodness. So um my grandmother inherited a lot with the stores, um, but those assets were gone. Now, God surely blessed people with those assets. Whoever got that car, if they happen to have dropped the cinder block, oh my goodness. I mean, it's I don't I have no idea, or the cinder block is in some dumpyard, and that money is we we don't have an inheritance like that. Okay. Um when we think of these things, inheritance. As I said, we're thinking of assets, we're thinking of things like that. Like, what did my grandfather leave me? Um, but is that all that we are going to inherit? I do think that we are going to inherit that because um of the rich young ruler story. So the rich young ruler comes to the Lord and he says, How do I inherit eternal life? And the Lord goes through the law because they're under the law as this story is unfolding. And uh he says, I've done all that, Lord, I've done all that. He says, This one thing you haven't done, sell all and come follow me. And then the rich ruler says it's he was gloomy. He was gloomy because he had a lot of wealth. And he walked away, the Lord loved him so much, but he walked away sad. And then Peter, the Lord said, You know, it's really hard for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. And Peter said, Well, who can be saved if the wealthy can't make it? And the Lord said, With men, it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible. And Peter said, Well, we have sold everything and followed you. And the Lord says this to Peter. He says in Mark 10, 29, so Jesus answered and said, Surely I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands. In in uh in the New American it says farms. So we could say businesses. For my sake and the gospels, who shall not receive hundredfold now, in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, farms, lands, businesses, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life. So we do inherit those things in this life. But that is just such a small piece, and we're talking about inheritance. This couple past weeks I watched a Smithsonian special, and this was on the treasuries of America's icons, and in there they had the ruby red slippers that Dorothy wear in The Wizard of Oz. They had Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves. They had just all different items that um have stories behind them. And the curator said, you know, it's not these items that make it so valuable. It's the story and the relationship that these items represent. There is the value. And so our inheritance is in the story and our walk with God as we move through these various trials with him, as he's letting the things that would block him, that would keep him from us, move away. And you know, we don't know what those things are. Adam was put to sleep, and God pulled stuff out and made Eve. And Adam had no idea Eve was in there, but God took what was in him and pulled something out, and there is everything that pertains to godliness in us right now, but we don't know it. We don't know what's in us, and as we move through these trials, which are very hard, they're the suffering that we experience with Jesus. That God pulls things out that we do not know are even in there. All right. Let me just see where I am here. So that's what it says in Romans 8. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but it says that we have not received a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption with whom we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, for the earnest expectation of creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. We are heirs with God the Father, and joint heirs with his son. And again, I don't think that we can perceive all that that means, but his nature, his divine nature, the things that we sang about this morning, his might, his power, his inscrutable past finding out nature that has been given to us in our spirit. So it is with God and it is in Christ. When Christ died on the cross, he redeemed us as a possession back to the Father. We are God's redeemed possession that Jesus gave us back. And as we identify with Jesus on the cross and move through the death experiences that He has us go through, those experiences bring forth the resurrection life of the Son that moves through us and in us. And we don't know how, we don't know how it happens. We don't know how it happens. Song of Songs, which I love. If you haven't uh studied Song of Songs, you should study Song of Songs. It's kind of hard to study because it's kind of embarrassing, and um, you know, a lot of people say that it is like the married love uh chapter that would teach you how to be intimate, and that's true. Um, but the song of songs at the core is really about the bride and her awakening to the love of the king. And uh the first four chapters are really about her understanding that she has an inheritance in the king, and it blows her mind. The inheritance that she's been given in the king, but the last four chapters are about her awakening to the that she is the inheritance of the king. See, we are the inheritance of Jesus. Jesus died with the view of what he'd be given. And that's us. So let's look at Romans wherever it is. Eight. No, no, no, no, it's not Romans. Sorry. Okay, let me go back here. Okay, yes, this is Ephesians 1. This is what we already read. But I wanted to read it again. For this reason, I too, this is Ephesians 1, 15 through 19. For this reason, I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers. That the God of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Now, those words just come off so easily, but I'm just asking right now that the Holy Spirit would come with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus. And I pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. And they are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might. You see, that God, Jesus has incredible glory and riches in us, in each one of us. In the latter part of this Song of Songs, the Shulamite bride realizes that her love for the king is so alive and vivid. And he beckons her, Come, come, come in the night. And she says, Well, you know, I've already washed my feet and I've put away things and I'm in bed. But, you know, she arises and she follows him, and the doorknob is dripping with frankincense myrrh. The death. And then he lifts his presence. But she can't perceive him. And she's walking through the death experience. She doesn't perceive him. And she goes to the daughters and she says, Where is he that I might find him? And she said, and the daughters say, Well, who is he? And she says, Well, he's more glorious than anything. He's worth everything. And if you find him, tell him that I love him. Tell him that my heart is longing for him. See, that's our walk. That we would know him and know his love for us. And the amazing revelation of the knowledge of what he's done. Because he's after us. Now, as I was praying last night and praying yesterday, I just felt like the Lord was saying, those who are going through a death experience, those who may not be able to perceive him like you used to perceive him, or you don't even know what happened. All of a sudden you find yourself and you're not, you're not alive in the pursuit of him anymore. You're not feeling his presence. There's something that Lord is pulling out of you that you don't even know is there. There's something that he's working in you that only he can do. There is a stirring of desire that the void of his presence amplifies. Because the bottom line is there's nothing we can do except pursue him. There's nothing we can do except make him number one in our lives. Um, and I just want us to have a moment and just reflect. If we're really honest, and we're not gonna share with anyone else for this, if we're really honest, what's number one in our life right now? And this doesn't have to be shared with anyone. But I just want you to take a moment, I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit to come our time on most what do we spend our finances on? Where does our heart juggle passion? So for some who are don't really know where they they found themselves, but they don't perceive and they're going through a death experience, I just felt the Lord say, You are so beautiful to me. And I've never left you, and I'm here, but I'm working much like much afraid. I'm working in your heart. I'm working. I'm washing, I'm bringing you into what I created you to do. Hebrews 1 says that the angels, ministering angels, are assigned to everyone who will inherit salvation. And that each one of us have ministering angels assigned to us who are there to attend to us, to help us, to move into full surrender, move into this is what I have, and I give it to you. No matter what that is, I give it to you. So those of you that just got bored with spending time with God, I spend time, but he never comes around. I don't really see that he's even answering my prayers. It just seems laborious to sit and be with him. I don't really get much out of it. I just want to say to you that Jesus is aching for you to return to him, to bring your whole heart just as it is before him. And come. He has an inheritance in us. And so when you begin to tell your soul, it begins to say, there's nothing really in this for me in it, it doesn't feel alive. I just want to remind you that it isn't really for us in those places. It's because he has an inheritance in us, and we don't walk by sight or feelings, but we walk by faith. So I just want to encourage you. I can feel Jesus say, return to me with your whole heart. And let's reset. Because I have things that I have prepared before the foundation of the earth for you specifically to walk in. I am so late.

unknown 31:18

You'll have to think about it.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Um, so I just want to end uh with this, and I didn't even get to our discussion, but um, it's okay. Uh Anna Roundtree in her book, Heaven Awaits the Bride. If you haven't read it, oh my goodness, you should read it. But it's in her encounter of uh the bride. And Jesus said to her, you know what? If you want to take things back for the kingdom of God that have been stolen, you have to follow me. You have to listen and do what I say. And you can't get distracted, you have to listen and do what I tell her. So they find themselves in a corridor, and Jesus is going to go down this corridor, and he says, follow me. And she starts to go down the corridor. And all of a sudden it's harder to walk, and she realizes that there are snakes. Like she's walking over snakes, and Jesus is getting slightly ahead of her, and he's the only thing that's bringing light. Everything else is dark, but light is emanating from Jesus. And so she she tries to keep up with him, and she's looking at the snakes, but she's trying to keep up, and then she hears, she hears her dog yelping. And her dog begins to yelp, and she she she recognizes that he's in pain and he's in need, and then she hears the sound of a car crashing, and her dog gives out a huge yelp. And then she hears her mother say, Anna, Anna, come help us. She remembers that Anna is her pen name and not her real name. And her mother would not call her Anna. So she recognizes that this is the enemy, distracting her from what Jesus said. So she runs and catches up with him. And they go in a trophy room that is guarded by Lilith, a winged demonic thing. And the trophy room has David's helmet, many things that have a plaque that have been restored already. But just like the Smithsonian, they have they have harps that were used for worship. They have uh all different things, but they had come that day for the mantle of the new man. This is in 1995, you guys. When I first read this book back then, I didn't even know what the new man was. And do you know why? Because it had been stunned. The new man is very well and alive today because it has been restored. And there are things that the enemy has taken that each one of us are called to restore and to bring from heaven to earth. But the process looks like suffering and death, and not exactly what you wanted. You see, Jesus emptied himself of everything that was him so that the Father could flow through him out to us. And then he invites us to empty ourselves of that which he's already taken care of on the cross. So there's nothing but him that flows out to everyone else. This is our inheritance in Christ. That we would be like him, that we would know him, that we would be known in how he fashioned us, how he created us. And Holy Spirit, you know, every one of us, I was so convicted in reading and studying this myself. As our friend Graham Cook would say, there are upgrades all over the room, and especially here. For the things that God has asked us to do, and we've put them off because we don't want to do them. For the things that we're afraid, like much afraid, we're afraid. So, Holy Spirit, would you just come as we close and you would remind us of the places we have been afraid to walk, or the places that we feel we just don't have it. It's just not, it's not us. And yet the Lord would say, It is exactly who I made you. And if you don't walk through this death place, you're not going to possess the things on this earth that I had you to possess. So, Holy Spirit, I ask you to come and we're gonna sit again for a moment. Lord, I ask that you would reset us. I ask that you would bring our hearts again fully to you. We don't have to do a thing except bring our hearts. And the things that you've asked that are not our will, Lord. Lord, you grant us the grace to be like Jesus, to say, not my will, but what your will is. And Lord, even though I'm trembling and afraid, I'm gonna I'm gonna walk and follow you. Because I want to I want to know you in this place. I want to know you in the place that you are leading. We won't fear no evil, for God is with us. The grace that is over our lives. We don't have to get into any kind of works or any kind of performance here. It is about our hearts. Lord, would you come and create in us a clean heart? Stir up the passion in our hearts to hold you in our gaze, that you'd be the focus, you'd be the number one place. By your grace, by your mercy, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.