“Claiming Our Inheritance”
(Eph 1:13-14 NIV) And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, {14} who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
(Eph 1:18 NIV) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
I. Paul speaks here of an inheritance
A. Did you know that when Jesus died on the cross, He left you in His will?
1. Did you know that as God’s child, you have bequeathed to you certain possessions which are rightfully yours
2. As a matter of fact, the Holy Spirit was given as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance
B. This inheritance is so profound, that Paul prays for the saints in Ephesus that God would open the eyes of their understanding in order to see the riches of his glorious inheritance
1. And the reason he prays this prayer is because too often people don’t realize what God has given them
2. So many folks are living far below their God potential
II. If we only understood what God has for us as His children
A. God has an inheritance that He wants you to receive
1. It’s a place of deeper fulfillment than you have ever known before
2. It’s a place of greater intimacy with the Lord
3. It’s a place of prosperity in your spirit, in your soul and in your body
4. In many ways it is like the Promised Land that God had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…
5. God had given the children of Israel the land,… but in between the promised inheritance there was a 400 year captivity, 40 years of wilderness, and obstacles to overcome in order to live it out
6. The children of Israel were delivered from their Egyptian bondage by the awesome power of God
7. They were led through the wilderness by God’s divine presence in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night
8. And now, they stood at the threshold of their promised inheritance
B. God told His people…
(Deu 1:8) "'See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers; to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to give to them and their descendants after them.'"
C. I believe, just like the children of Israel… there is a promised inheritance for each of you individually… for your family… and for our church
1. Some folks have been in a wilderness for a long time… and you are now on the threshold … the borders of your promised inheritance
D. This is certainly true of our church…
1. We have come to a border…
2. We are at the Jordan river… and God is saying go in and possess the land
3. We are at the bottom of the mountain, and God is saying go up and take the mountain
4. The challenge is great…
5. In our own strength we will utterly fail
6. However God is with us and He is able to do what we cannot do
7. I believe God is saying to you individually, to your family, to our church, “go in and possess the land”
E. God has an inheritance for all of us to go in and possess
1. an inheritance in our relationship with Him
2. a fruitful place in our marriages
3. a prosperous place in our business
4. peace in our souls
5. freedom from sin’s bondage’s
6. wholeness in every arena of our lives
F. Just like the children of Israel who stood that day on the threshold of their inheritance, there are some who will go in and possess it, and there are others who will not
1. Some will rise up, and determine that they want all God has for them and their families, and the community…
2. They will persevere to overcome every obstacle that would attempt to hinder
3. Others will walk back and wander in the wilderness…
4. What is it that makes some go in and possess the land… and others be driven back to wander in the wilderness?
G. This morning I want to look at someone who understood what it meant to have a promised inheritance… and to have obstacles in between himself and his inheritance..
H. God had told the children of Israel that He had given the land to them, and there was one man who believed and went for it… His name was Caleb
(Josh 14:12-14 NIV) Now give me this hill country (this mountain – NKJV) that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” {13} Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. {14} So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.
1. Caleb was one of the twelve spies who went in to spy out the promised land when the children of Israel first stood at the Jordan river some 45 years earlier
2. His inheritance was on top of the mountain, and he had to take the mountain in order to claim his inheritance
3. Back then the Children of Israel had just come out of their Egyptian captivity
4. They were told by God to go in and possess their inheritance, but they failed to do so…
5. Now it’s 45 years later, and Caleb knows his destiny was on top of that mountain
6. Now he was in position to claim his inheritance
7. there would be tremendous opposition to claim his inheritance
8. the terrain was rugged
9. the enemies were strong and many
10. Yet, Caleb stood up and demanded an opportunity to go in and attempt great things for God!
I. God has an inheritance waiting for us on top of or on the other side of that mountain!
1. the mountain is anything that stands between you and your inheritance
2. It may be a sin issue
3. It may be an area of your life that you have not surrendered
4. it may be a relationship issue with your spouse or children…
5. it may be an attitude
6. I don’t know what mountain stands before you today, but I am sure there is one there.
7. And it is the Lord who will lead you to that mountain
J. What was it about Caleb?
1. what did Caleb possess that others did not?
2. what qualities did he have that caused him to stand in the face of insurmountable odds and press on?
3. What are you and I going to need in order for us to go up and claim our inheritance
4. What will we need as a church that will help us go in to possess our Promised Land?
III. #1. Cable had a different spirit
A. There was something different about Caleb than all the rest
1. it was an internal quality that was reflected in his actions and disposition
2. The heart of Caleb was not like the heart of the others
3. and because his spirit was different, he claimed all his inheritance.. and lived long enough to enjoy it.
B. Caleb was on the same journey as the 2.5 - 3 million people who left Egypt, however, he was one of only two people from His generation that went into the promised land to claim his inheritance
1. the spirit of those who did not claim their inheritance can easily be seen in how they reacted to the challenge set before them.
2. The same spirit works in the minds and hearts of all of us today to keep us from our inheritance
3. If we allow the spirit that worked in the children of Israel to work in us, then we, like them, will be driven back into the wilderness.
C. Lets look at 5 spirits that will keep you from your inheritance.
(Num 13:2 NIV) “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
(Num 13:26-28 NIV) They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. {27} They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. {28} But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
(Num 13:31 NIV) But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
IV. #1. A spirit of doubt will keep you from your inheritance
A. God told the children of Israel that He was giving them the land!
1. the spies came back and said that they were not able to go up against the people for they are stronger…
2. The spies looked at the circumstances and basically said that God is not able to give us the land…
3. the circumstances are too difficult, even for God!
4. The people doubted God’s ability
5. They did not believe that what God had promised, He would fulfill
6. Is the spirit of doubt keeping you from your inheritance in God?
7. Have the seeds of doubt been firmly planted in your mind …
8. do you hear that voice in you saying… you will never succeed
9. it may work for others, but not for you
10. others may get their healing, but you have incurable cancer, your doomed!
11. others may prosper, but your going under…
12. others marriages can be happy and fulfilling, but your marriage is too far gone, not even God can change this situation!
B. Caleb saw the same giants and the same city… how did he react
(Num 13:30 NIV) Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
1. Caleb remembered something that the others did not… it doesn’t make a difference what size the obstacle…
2. it doesn’t make a difference how many times you may have failed in the past…
(Rom 8:31 NIV) What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
3. Caleb had a different spirit
C. Caleb had a spirit of Faith
1. He had faith, not in his own ability, but rather in God’s ability
2. He said… the Lord is with us…
3. Caleb remembered all that God had done for the children of Israel on their way out of Egypt…
4. Caleb remembered the faithfulness of God
5. When you remember the faithfulness of God you will be able to have faith in God!
6. The spirit of doubt will keep you from your inheritance
7. If you continue to doubt God’s ability to change your circumstances
8. If you continue to question God’s ability to intervene… you will be driven back into a wilderness
9. But if you would just remember what God has already done…
10. A spirit of Faith will rise up in your heart… and you will claim your inheritance
V. #2. The Spirit of Fear
(Num 13:32 NIV) And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.
A. Once doubt has set in firmly…
1. Once they lost sight of their awesome God who was with them…
2. Fear would grip their hearts
3. Their imaginations would now take over
4. not only were there a few big giants in the land.. but now everyone in the land was a giant…
5. that wasn’t the only problem… the land itself would devour them
B. Once someone looses sight in God and His ability, the problems begin to grow in size and magnitude
1. the challenges grow and multiply until you cannot see anything but doom
C. Caleb thought differently, and because he thought differently he had a spirit of courage
(Num 14:9 NIV) Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
1. Caleb saw the same things in the land that the others saw,
2. He probably even thought some of the same things they did, however…
(2 Cor 10:3-5 NIV) For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. {4} The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. {5} We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
3. One of the keys to receiving your inheritance is thinking right
4. When you realize that God is with you…
5. that you are on His side in the battle
6. When you cast down the thoughts of fear and the imaginations that try and exaggerate the problems…
7. When you stop focusing on what you feel and focus on “thus saith the Lord… you can find a spirit of courage
8. a spirit of fear will keep you from ever attempting anything for God
9. a spirit of doubt will tell you things will never change, there is no hope…
10. Caleb had a spirit of faith that said, God is bigger than this mountain, and a spirit of Courage that said In God, we are able!…
11. the third spirit that will keep you from your inheritance and drive you back into the wilderness…
VI. #3. The spirit of self - pity
(Num 14:1 NIV) That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
A. Once the situation looks hopeless long enough, the next step is self pity…
1. woe is me
2. look how bad it is…
3. no one understands,
4. no one really cares
5. “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrows…”
B. Self-pity is an unrelenting concentration on all the problems and hardships coupled with a continued rehearsing those problems with anyone who will listen.
C. One typical reaction to self pity is to isolate oneself
1. “ I don’t want to go out of the house, I don’t wan to go to church…”
2. I just want to stay here and be by myself and die!”
3. and that’s just what the devil is hoping you will do… curl up an die
4. If he can’t have your spirit then he hopes to get you so self focused that you miss all that God has destined for you.
D. Another typical reaction to self-pity is “escapism”
1. let me out of here!
2. we try to run from the problems or the challenges instead of facing them head on
3. we run out of one bad relationship into another bad relationship
4. we run to bars and night clubs, or we run to church every night and serve here and there, and don’t stand still long enough to look at the problems
5. and while you run, you miss out on the destiny God created you for…
E. Caleb rehearsed things differently… The words out of his mouth were different
(Num 14:7 NIV) and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
1. Caleb had a spirit of blessing
2. instead of talking all about the problems, he focused on the good
3. Caleb could see through the giants and the hardships and knew in the middle of it all God had something good for them
(Rom 8:28 NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
4. another key to having the kind of spirit that will cause you to possess your inheritance is to start talking differently.
5. I don’t mean to hyper spiritualize everything and get into some kind of excess that fears any negative word: “don’t confess it “
6. But what I do mean is to begin to focus on the fact that somehow, out of the ashes of your difficulty God is going to do something good… talk about that
7. i.e. … yes, I am going through some difficult times, but my God is faithful and we are going to get on the other side of this trial! I am thankful for His goodness and faithfulness.
8. Caleb had a spirit of blessing!
9. The fourth spirit that will hinder you from possessing your inheritance is…
VII. A spirit of murmuring/ complaining
(Num 14:2 NIV) All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!
A. Now that you have so focused on your problems, you go from feeling bad about your situation and self pity to complaining
1. “it’s just not fair”…
2. I don’t deserve this…
3. If we would have stayed in Egypt we wouldn’t have these problems… if we would have stayed up north, we wouldn’t be going through this right now…
4. It’s all your fault!
B. Now we start the finger pointing!
1. we refuse to accept personal responsibility for any failure…
2. and as long as we are pointing a finger at everyone else for our problems, we won’t ever grow and learn how they can become the key to greater victory in the Lord.
3. You won’t ever conquer a mountain, and possess your inheritance in God as long as you complain about the mountain or challenge that is set before you.
C. Caleb faced the same mountain and instead of complaining he encourage others
(Num 14:8 NIV) If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
1. Caleb had a different spirit - he had a spirit of encouragement
2. in spite of the difficulties, he always attempted to keep a positive attitude and help others look on the positive
3. Yes there are giants in the land…
4. but there is also milk and honey… and look at those grapes!
D. One of the reasons that Caleb received his full inheritance was because he stayed encouraged and rallied others around the positives in the situation.
1. How do you stay positive and encouraged in a bad situation?… stay in the Word of God and prayer!
2. The word always has something good to say about you, your future and your present circumstances
3. if you want to be a mountain climber, try staying encouraged by staying in the word and prayer and encouraging others.
4. you need to see all of your circumstances through real “son glasses”
5. Finally, the fifth spirit that will hinder you possessing your inheritance…
VIII. #5. A spirit of rebellion
(Num 14:4 NIV) And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
A. now that you have allowed the spirit of murmuring and complaining to have it’s way… anger usually follows and it is usually directed at leadership.
1. Let’s choose a new captain and go back to Egypt
2. One of the most dangerous things anyone can do in their spiritual life is rebel against God’s authority
3. Walking away from God won’t solve your problems, it will only prolong them
4. The married couple who refuse to “submit to one another in the fear of God” will not find true happiness and fulfillment
5. The child who walks in a path of rebellion from their parent will know trouble in their lives, instead of freedom - they are headed toward bondage.
6. The employee who walks in disobedience to their “master” walks out from under the spiritual covering.
B. Once you walk out from under the covering you become vulnerable to all kinds of enemy attacks.
1. You cannot ever receive your inheritance or conquer any mountain while you are in rebellion to God ordained leadership
C. Caleb had a different spirit - he had a spirit of faithfulness
1. Caleb was faithful
2. He was faithful to God, He was loyal to Moses
3. You could count on Caleb
4. you knew He was dependable, and loyal
5. loyalty and faithfulness are lost qualities in many people these days…
6. maybe that’s why we have so many folks living below their potential in God, simply because they would not be faithful.
D. Caleb had a different Spirit
1. a spirit of faith - that came from believing God was able, and in Him, he would be able
2. a spirit of courage - courage that fought the battle in the mind, casting down thoughts that were contrary to God and His word
3. a spirit of blessing - looking on the good, counting gains instead of losses
4. a spirit of encouragement - through prayer and meditation in the word of God, he kept himself encouraged - “counting those things that are not, as thought they were” - he encouraged others
5. a spirit of faithfulness - faithful to God, submissive to God’s authority and those God places over him.
IX. There was one other thing about Caleb that caused Him to possess his inheritance…
(Num 14:24 NIV) But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
A. The quality of wholly following God can be seen in being where God is…
1. Moving when God moves…
2. Being totally surrendered to His plan and purposes..
3. Unreservedly surrendering our will to His will
4. Fulfilling His desires, His dreams..
5. God wants to do great things in us and through us…
6. He wants to bring you to a deeper place in Him
7. He wants to show you the mountain in front of you, and cause you to conquer it in Him
8. What will it take…
9. A different spirit…
10. and wholly following God.
