The Rock And The Hard Place Part 8
The Heir and Faith
Scriptures: Matthew 17:20; Romans 10:17; Matthew 17:16; Galatians 2:14, 16; 3:23-25;
4:1-7; John 6:19
Introduction:
This message is part eight of my series “The Rock and the Hard Place.” If you recall from last week, I asked you if God was waiting on you. Waiting on you to make a decision; to make a move; to decide if you truly were going to believe what His word says. The reason for that question is that I am trying to get us out of our comfort zone as it relates to how we are evaluating our faith walk. We must move beyond the notion that God is controlling everything and we are just going through life without any control over what happens to us.
This morning I want to take this notion one step further by helping us understand what it means to be an heir and the authority that comes with being an heir. When my father was sick, there were certain responsibilities that he gave to us (his children) to execute on his behalf, both while he was alive and also after he was dead. It was our responsibility to understand what his wishes were and to carry them out according. Because we were heirs, when he died we had the right to make certain business transactions in his name. The banks and other businesses had to honor his requests (made through us) because we were heirs and now had the legal authority to make decisions in his absence. Well, in case you did not realize it, we are heirs as it relates to being children of God and Christ’s brothers and sisters. Therefore, there are certain things that we have the responsibility for and the authority to execute on their behalf.
Because we are heirs, we have an inheritance that God has left for us. It is waiting on us to step up and receive it, but it requires faith. Let me give you an example. If I left home under dreadful circumstances and did not communicate with my father after I left, I would have had no relationship with him. When he died, I may or may not have known about it unless I was still in contact with other family members. Now, because of the situation in which I left home, I would have a hard time believing that my father would have left me an inheritance. I would not be concerned about it and living my life without it. Even if someone told me about it, I would have to choose to go home and claim it, which I may not do because of the relationship that I did not have with him. My inheritance could go unclaimed for years based on my decision not to step forward and claim it. My other family members could not get it because it was mine and as long as I lived, it would remain mine. If I died, my inheritance from my father would then past to my children if I had any. Then and only then could my other family members obtain my inheritance, if I died and I had no heirs of my own. This is the same with our relationship with God. He has given us an inheritance, but it requires faith to receive it. Why? Because first we must believe that it is ours and then we must take the steps necessary to receive it. It is our faith that’s the key to receiving the inheritance that our Father has laid up for us. I want to emphasize this: the inheritance is already there. It’s waiting for us to tap into it, to access it. So, why aren’t we taping into our inheritance?
I. Because Of Our Unbelief
We have spent a lot of time in Matthew 17:14-21. We have read the first part of verse 20 several times and we’re going to do it once again this morning. When the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the devil he answered, “…Because of your unbelief” (or as the Amplified Bible says “Because of the littleness of your faith”): for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed …”
Mustard seed faith is not talking about the size of your faith but the potential of your faith. The seed contains the image of what it is supposed to be when it is grown. Let me say that again. The seed contains the image of what it is supposed to be when it is grown. As long as the seed stays a seed you will never see what it can truly be. The seed has to change and grow in order to show its capabilities. How does a seed change and grow? You have to put it in the proper environment – moist, rich soil and plenty of sunshine – and then feed it what it needs to grow (water). Our faith is like that seed. It needs to have the right environment and the right food. When we said “yes” to Jesus, we received a new nature. It’s what He described to Nicodemus as being “born again.” When that happened, we received the right environment for our faith – God’s life and nature. But nothing will happen to make our faith grow until we feed it. What is the most nutritious food we can give to our faith? The word of God. Romans 10:17 says “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Let me give you another example. Nikki has a garden and she is currently growing some tomatoes. Now imagine her surprise if she had gone to the store, purchased tomato seeds but did not know that someone at the packaging plant had put in cucumber seeds in the tomato seeds package by mistake. Nikki plants what she thinks are tomato seeds and when it’s time for her to have tomatoes on the vine she finds cucumbers instead. She was not planning for cucumbers but that is what she got. Who does she blame? It’s too late to take the seeds back to the store so now she has to accept that she will be eating cucumbers versus tomatoes. What caused this was a mistake from the beginning. Someone put the wrong seeds in the bag. The wrong seeds were planted in good soil and they produced fruit according to their type, but it was still not the right fruit/crop which she was expecting. Spiritually we do the same thing. We take our faith seeds, plant them in people versus God, and then we get mad at God when those seeds produce the wrong fruit. When man fails to produce for us based on the seeds we’re sowing into them we blame God as if it is His fault. We should invest our seeds in the good soil and then we will receive the crop for which those seeds are supposed to produce. We control the seed because it’s about our personal faith.
In Matthew 17 a father had brought his son, who was possessed by devil, to the disciples to cast him out. I want to focus on one verse in this passage, verse 16. The father is talking to Jesus: “And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.” The father, not seeing Jesus but seeing his disciples, did the only thing he could do. He brought his son to the men that he knew walked with Jesus. “I have seen them with Jesus,” he thought. “Surely, they can cure my son too.” The father looked to the disciples – now listen to me – he looked to the disciples to do the same thing Jesus would have done if he had been there. The father expected the disciples to be able to do the same things that Jesus did. Let that sink in. I want to read this verse again in today’s terms. The father tells Jesus: “And I brought him to Thy CHURCH, and they could not cure him.” Most Christian today are where the disciples were 2000 years ago. The disciples thought they had enough faith to cast out the devil until Jesus made it clear that they didn’t. Most Christians, including us, believe they are walking in faith but our lives do not mirror what Jesus said in John 14:12 – “Verily, verily I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also …” And yet we say we are walking by faith. If we are living by faith, doesn’t it stand to reason that we would be doing the works of Jesus? Then, why aren’t we? Why aren’t we giving sight to the blind or healing lame legs or healing the sick? I know these are tough questions, but again, I am in the boat with you. I am asking these same questions of myself and getting the same answers you are – because of the littleness of my faith. Now let me make this very clear, do not accept your faith level based on where I am with my faith or those around you. This is very personal and only each person can know individually where they are with their faith. Measure yourself against God’s desire and plan for you and what you are accepting from Him in your own life.
Going back to the question of why we’re not doing the works that Jesus said we should be doing, let’s consider what Paul wrote to the Galatians. Galatians was written to Gentiles who had been born again. They were being taught by Jewish Christians or Judaizers that, in addition to living by grace, they also needed to obey the law. The teaching came to a head when the Apostle Paul called out the Apostle Peter. Peter had been eating with the Gentile believers the type of food a Jew would not eat and when Jewish believing Christians came to Galatia, Peter stopped eating Gentile food and only ate food Jews would eat. Paul was furious.
II. The Heir
In Galatians 2:14-16 we read: "But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?’ We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified."
From this point on, the Apostle Paul had to re-teach why the Gentile Christians didn‘t have to serve the law. He takes them back to Abraham and how the covenant, the promise, which he had with God came before the law. In chapter 3, in verses 18 through 22, Paul argues that if the inheritance, the promise, came by the law then it really isn’t a promise at all. He says the only reason the Jews were given the law was because it showed them they were sinners and needed a savior. So until Jesus came and died, the law was used to remind man that he was a sinner and that the only way out of that condition was to put your faith in Jesus. Now look at verses 23 through 25.
“But before faith came (before Jesus was born, crucified and raised from the dead), we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” In other words, as long as they kept the law – did what it told them to do – the people received the blessings of God.
Verse 24: “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” In the Hebrew culture, the master’s most trusted slave was the heir’s schoolmaster. The schoolmaster raised the heir. He was responsible for walking him to school and back home safely. From the time the heir was 3 or 4 years old, the slave taught him about his father, about his father’s business and about living in his father’s house. The schoolmaster taught the heir the do’s and don’ts of living in his father’s house. He also helped the child understand that one day he would be different from the slave children who were his playmates. As children they were equals, but when the heir was grown and received his inheritance the relationship would change. What we see in verse 24 is the schoolmaster getting the heir ready to assume his role in the family and to receive the inheritance – the promise – that his father has laid up for him. This is important.
We also see the role the law played in our lives until Jesus came on the scene. The law was the schoolmaster that prepared the people to receive the promise that God had made with Abraham and his seed. So, just like the trusted slave that prepared the heir to take his rightful place in the family, the law prepared us for our rightful place as sons and daughters of God by bringing us to Jesus so that we could be justified by faith and not by the works of the law. Now look at verse 25. “But after that faith (Jesus) is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” The law no longer leads us in our relationship with God – Jesus does! Okay pastor, how does all of this tie into this series? What does this have to do with our being between a rock and a hard place and whether or not we’re satisfied with our faith? Let’s look at a few verses from chapter four beginning at verse one.
Galatians 4:1 says, “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything.” Notice that the heir and the slave have the same standing in the family as long as the heir is a child. This is important. As a child, the heir is not ready to handle the responsibilities of stewarding his inheritance. So he has to grow into that responsibility. Also notice that the heir, even though he is a child, is lord of all. As a child he has standing as a member of the family, but he doesn’t have the power and authority that a fully mature member has. He doesn’t have his inheritance. I want to make sure you understand this. Even though he is a member of the family, his father knows he is not ready to access his inheritance. Understand; the father is not holding back the son’s inheritance but the son’s inheritance is waiting for him to grow up. The inheritance is there, but the son is not ready to receive it. Who determines when the son has grown up enough to access his inheritance? Let’s look at verse two. “But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.” It is the father who determines when that time arrives. Okay, then aren’t you saying God is in control? Doesn’t that mean we can’t get access to our inheritance until He says so? And, if that’s true, what does faith have to do with any of this? I am so glad you asked. Let’s go back to job of the schoolmaster.
The schoolmaster was responsible for raising the heir for the day he would be presented to his father. When he reached the age of 13 or 14, the schoolmaster took the heir to meet his father, in some cases, for the very first time. The father would examine him – physically and mentally. Does he have the look and demeanor of one who is to be in authority? Does his appearance command respect? Do his words command respect? Will he properly represent the family? However, the true measure of the heir’s readiness to receive his inheritance would be determined by his interaction, his conversation, with his father. How will he treat the servants, the ones who loved him and depended on him? How would he spend the family’s resources? How would he determine where to spend it? What does the son value above all things? What would be the son’s guiding standard in life? These would be the type of questions the father would ask to determine if the son was ready – mature enough – to handle his inheritance. Are you seeing the picture? The son had to demonstrate his ability, his maturity, his readiness to properly steward the inheritance his father has for him. The father had to assess his son’s knowledge, ability and willingness to steward the inheritance just like he would steward it. The father had to know that his son would do the same thing in a given situation that he would do. He had to know that his son’s heart beat with his heart. Now you should see the picture clearly.
We are just like the heir in Galatians. We have to come to an understanding of who our Father is and how we are to live in his kingdom. We have to come to an understanding of who we are in the kingdom and what is expected of us. And we know that one of the things expected of us is our desire to please our Father. Galatians 4:3-7 says “So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law. So that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” We are heirs of God and we know according to Hebrews 11:6 that the one thing that pleases our Father is our faith. And the only way our faith will be pleasing to our Father is when He knows that we would use our inheritance the very same way He would use it if He were here. One additional point here, the inheritance that God has reserved for you is yours. If you do not claim it, it will not go to your next of kin, it is yours and yours only. If you do not claim it before your death it will go unclaimed and wasted. Please stop letting your inheritance sit unclaimed!
Conclusion
Let’s close with Jesus’ perspective on all of this. John 5:19 says “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
Jesus had healed a man at the pool of Bethesda. This man had been ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus healed him on the Sabbath day which the Jews took issue with. The Jews were persecuting Jesus for “working” on the Sabbath and healing someone was considered to be “work.” According to the Jewish leaders Jesus should have said something like this: “Hey, it’s the Sabbath, come find me tomorrow and I will heal you.” Jesus told the Jewish leaders that His Father worked on the Sabbath and He was doing what His Father did. So on the Sabbath and any other day, Jesus opened blind eyes because that’s what the Father would have done. Jesus healed lame legs because that’s what the Father would have done. Jesus healed sickness and disease because that’s what the Father would have done. Jesus healed deaf ears because that’s what the Father would have done. Jesus pleased His father. He spent His time doing what His Father did.
So, are we doing the same? Are we pleasing our Father? Is our life a reflection of the life our Father would live if He were here? As our faith grows so does our Father’s pleasure. Right now, I’m not fully pleasing my Father as it relates to my faith and I am thankful that He is patient with me. It is my desire that the level of pleasure my Father feels about me and my faith grows more and more each day. What about you?
As I close this morning I want to express to each of you that I understand that we are all in different places with our faith walk. It is not about a comparison. It’s not about what one person has or does not have. It is only about what you know in your heart. You know where you are in your faith walk. You know what you believe. The question we need to answer individually is “Do I believe I am an heir and if I do what do I need to do now to receive and walk in my full inheritance?” Because you have accepted Christ, you have received a part of your inheritance. For some that is enough. Is it enough for you?
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
