OBTAINING GOD’S INHERITANCE
Psalms 37:3-9, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth."
TRUST is a wonderful thing. It’s such a blessing to know that you can trust someone. For those who have trust in your spouse, that trust is the very foundation upon which you can build a life together that is so rewarding and so fulfilling. Just knowing that, no matter what happens, you have someone who will stand by you, support you and always be on your team is a comforting thought.
Lack of trust is a hard thing to bear. Once that trust is broken, it takes a long period of time and a lot of hard work to regain that trust, and in many cases, the trust never returns.
An unfaithful wife, or husband, who have had affairs with other people will throw away a lifetime of trust and happiness, and their very soul, for a few moments of physical pleasure. I have seen marriage ripped apart by an unfaithful spouse and even though some of them manage to patch things up and remain married, the trust that was once there is no more. There is always that suspicion that it may be happening again. Very few of these couples manage to stay together for very long even if they do try to make their marriage work.
Trust on the job, trust in your family, trust in your pastor and your elected officials are all so very important and yet we live in a society where trust in any of these people who affect our lives is almost non-existent.
In a few days we will elect new local and statewide officials and the comment that I hear most often is that it really doesn’t matter who is elected, they will all be the same in the end and you can’t trust any politician. One of the saddest comments I’ve heard, and one that is true, is that we don’t want to elect Christians to political office because if they are, they won’t be Christians for long. The pressures and temptations of being a public official are so great that most eventually yield to them and begin to take advantage of the power and position that they hold.
How many people have been wounded so very deeply by an unfaithful pastor or minister? You can walk out the front doors of this church and within a mile of this building there are literally thousands of people who refuse to attend church anymore because of the “hypocrites” in the church. I dare say that all of us have had our trust in ministers shattered at one time or another. Sometimes it’s hard to force yourself to get back into church and become involved because we don’t want to get hurt again. There will be multitudes of former Christians who will end up in the flames because of an unfaithful minister who drove them from God’s House.
Those who find themselves in that state will not be able to use the excuse that they were hurt and didn’t want anything to do with the church anymore because God never told them to trust in the preacher or the church in the first place. And God will also bring into judgment those preachers who have led so many astray and caused so many to run from the church. I pity those preachers in that day for their end will be the greatest punishment of all.
Our trust is not to be placed in men, who are dying like the green grass and tender plants.
1 Peter 1:24-25, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."
The power of sin in this world affects all of us and there are no infallible people. So, if you place your trust in people, no matter who they are, then get ready to have that trust violated. The best you can hope for is that those in whom you have placed your trust will be as faithful to you as you are to them.
You can’t place your trust in wealth or riches because these things are fleeting. One day you may be sitting on a pile of money and the next day you could be drowning in it’s power to control your life as you do everything you can to gain it and keep it but it just keeps slipping away between your fingers.
Your trust must be placed in Jesus and He alone. Only Jesus never changes. Only Jesus is always faithful. Only Jesus stays closer to you than a brother. Only Jesus can hear your heart’s cry. Only Jesus has the power to heal the inner hurts and the wounded spirit.
If you are going to put you trust in Jesus then he must become the “Delight of your life”.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
What is it that we want most out of life? Is it really wealth? Is it really power and influence? Is it really any of the glitz and glamour that the devil throws before us?
I believe that we all really want out of life are things that cannot be bought with money, cannot be controlled by power and influence of men, and are not seen in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood or Las Vegas night clubs.
What we all really want most in life is true happiness, true fulfillment, true purpose, true love, health and good relationships and strong families. We want to look back over our lives and know that we have lived the best life we could and that we have taken from life all of the best that it can offer and that we have given back all that we could give. That’s what we really want, don’t we?
But there are so many who don’t get happiness, are not fulfilled, don’t seem to have any real reason for living or a real purpose in their lives; the love that they had is no really love but lust or infatuation; or perhaps the true love that they had for someone has been trampled into the dust through that unfaithfulness and untrustworthiness that we talked about.
It’s good to be delighted in your spouse, your children and all of the things that God has blessed you with, but the greatest delight of your life had better be in Jesus Christ and in living for Him or all of those other blessings just might end up being taken from your life because Jesus won’t take second place.
Luke 12:30-32, "For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Too many people are afraid that if they make Jesus the first and most important thing in their life, or if they stay at church too much, or if they have to give up their own desires that they will be left with nothing to enjoy and that God will fail to give them what they want in life. They run from God to seek their own way only to realize when it’s too late that they couldn’t find what they wanted in life and lost it all anyway.
If we would only learn to delight in Jesus, delight in His Word, delight in serving the Lord in church, and delight ourselves in living as the Holy Spirit leads, we would not only save ourselves a lot of hurt and pain, but we would get all that we really desired out of life as God adds them to us in his time and in his way.
Jesus said out of his own mouth to not be afraid that God will fail you. Don’t be concerned that you can’t understand how God will do what he says he will do. God is faithful and he will do what he says he will do. Jesus also said that it was the Father’s pleasure to give you what you need and desire. Your Father in Heaven knows what you need and what you desire even more than you do and he wants you to have those things but they are not always what you think that they are. God sees on a different plane than you or I and he knows what is best for us and what will make us happiest of all, and that’s what he gives to us.
There is not one of us who have children who would not give to them all that we can give. We want our kids to have a better life, a better home, a better car, a better education, a better family life, a better job, more money, and all of those things. What parents would not give way beyond their means to give to help a son or daughter in need? How many of us have “spoiled” our children by giving them too much? How many of us have had to come to the place where we stopped giving them so much because we have come to realize that by giving them everything we were actually hurting them and not helping them?
If we continually give, then they come to expect it and to appreciate it less. If we give them everything then they will become lazy and expect you to do it for them. If we give everything away then where does that leave us in the end? You can give all that you have, your time, your money, your very life, and if your children are like so many in the world today, they won’t appreciate what you do and they won’t give you anything in return but a hard time. In the end you have hurt them and you have hurt yourself, all in the name of love for kids.
Thank God that our Father in Heaven is smarter than we are in dealing with his children. He does not give to us to the point where we are unwilling to work for what we need. He is not overly concerned with us having everything we want because he knows that what we want isn’t always what’s best for us. We can place our trust in God because we know that he will always give us what we need, when we need it and he will give to us only good things and things that will lead us into a better, happier, more fulfilled life.
James 1:16-17, "Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Trusting Jesus and delighting in Him means that we must go a step farther than just thinking about how good Jesus is and being thankful for what He has done for us. It means that we must COMMIT TO JESUS with all that we are.
When people come to Jesus and receive him as their Lord and Savior, it means that we make a commitment to him to become his disciple and follow in his ways as a way of life. That’s what real salvation and real repentance is all about, isn’t it? What kind of repentance is it when we say that we will allow Jesus to be the Lord of our lives and then we go do what we have always done and refuse to commit our whole life to Jesus? It’s no repentance at all and God knows it, and we do too.
If there is no full commitment to following Jesus, casting aside all of our own desires, our old life, our old sinful ways, our old sinful friends, our old past, then there is no salvation at all. It’s only a smoke screen and a façade that are not real and God sees through it even if men can’t for while. After a short time though, everyone can see through it and we all know that there has been no real change and no real commitment.
Too many people think that committing their ways to the Lord and committing their lives to Jesus means that we talk about Jesus, go to church on Sunday, pray about 10 minutes a week as we are falling to sleep and learning to quote John 3:16 or John 11:35 (Jesus Wept).
That is just a surface commitment, not a heart commitment!
How would you like it if your spouse only committed to being with you one day a week? How would you like it if your spouse only talked to you 10 minutes a week? (Some of you men might be tempted to say yes to that question, but you really wouldn’t mean it.)
How would you like it if your spouse only memorized your name, your address, phone number, social security number and checking account number but didn’t really care to know you much more than that? Wow, what a commitment you would have in your marriage?
But, for most Christians, that’s the kind of commitment that we want to make to Jesus or to his church. We don’t want to get too involved, it might actually take me away from my family for a night or two a week. After all, we have to have our quality time together as a family in front to the TV while we watch a half-naked, sin-ridden bunch of misfits, try to manipulate their way into being the last of the Survivors. We can really get into that but don’t ask us to be at prayer meetings, revivals, fellowship meetings, youth rallies, or even a gospel singing.
It’s no wonder that we don’t find the rest in Christ that he promises to all those who will trust him, delight in him and commit their way to Him!
Rest – I love the sound of that word! Rest is something that few people get enough of anymore with all the demands that life places upon us, and the demands that we place upon ourselves.
How many people do you know who feel guilty if they actually sit still for one evening? It’s as though we have place upon ourselves such great expectations and such a desire to perform that we can’t sit still and enjoy the time that we have. It’s as though we are rushing through life trying to accomplish some great thing and forgetting that we are spending that life one minute at a time and losing it’s real value.
Hebrews 4:1, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."
Hebrews 4:9-11, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."
We all desire to enter into the rest that Jesus offers. It’s a rest where we are at peace no matter what is going on in the world. It’s a rest where we can be calm in the midst of great challenges and turmoil in life. It’s a rest that is unshakeable, unmovable and one that the world with all its wealth and power cannot offer.
It’s a rest that only comes in knowing God, trusting God, delighting in the Lord, committing ourselves totally to his will and casting off everything else for the sake of serving Jesus! There is no other way to enter into the rest that God offers.
“…fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth."
Resting means not fretting about anything! How can you be at rest and still be wringing your hands in worry, shaking in fear, trembling in agony and worried sick about your family and your future?
We worry that we don’t have what everyone else has. We worry because our checking accounts are not carrying 6 or 7 digit balances in the black. We worry because our kids, our we ourselves, are still driving a 10 year old car while everyone else drives a new car each year. We are upset because our house is 20 or 30 years old or because our homes don’t look like the pictures in the magazines and our clothes are a little worn and don’t have the label of a well known designer upon them. Why God, does it seem that sinners in the world are more well off than your own kids? Don’t you care enough about us to give us the best?
Now hear the word of the Lord! Quit worrying and fretting over those who seem to be doing better than you are.
Quit worrying and fretting that you don’t have the latest, the best, the biggest, the nicest and all that other “stuff”.
Quit shaking your fist at God and blaming him for all your troubles!
Quit asking why no me God!
Quit getting mad at God because he won’t give you want you want when you want it! Quit getting upset with the church, upset with the preacher, and walking out of the House of God because nothing seems to be going the way that you thought it should!
Quit trying to think of ways to make it happen!
Quit trying to figure out God!
Quit trying to outwit sin and get around being rebellious in appearance!
Quit all that and just commit to Jesus, trust in Him, delight in Him, rest in His love for you and let God do the rest. If we would just learn to do that, how much better would life be?
The end of all those who refuse to trust Jesus, commit their ways to Him completely, delight in serving Him, and never enter into His rest is the same, whether they claim to be Christians or not. Their end is destruction. Their end is eternal punishment for unbelief and rebellion. Their end is not one to be envied but to be pitied and avoided at all costs.
Those whose entire lives are spent in chasing their own tails through life in search of what only God can truly give are destined for an eternal hell.
“…but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth”
If we will trust in the Lord, delight in Jesus, commit our whole life and all that we are, all that we have to Him, rest in his promises alone then we will inherit God’s inheritance for his children.
We will inherit a new Heaven and a new earth. We will not only have the best that this life can offer to keep us happy and fulfilled, but we will also inherit eternal life and eternal rewards in Glory.
I want to end this message with a line from the Book of Malachi, found in a familiar portion of scripture that is often used in speaking about tithing. I’m not talking about tithing today but there is one statement in these verses that I think it would help us to remember at this point.
Malachi 3:10, "…prove me now … saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
How much do you trust God to give you the best that life and Heaven have to offer?
How much do you delight in serving Jesus?
How much will you commit to Christ, all or part of your life?
Have you entered into that rest that only Jesus offers?
Don’t you think that it’s about time that we “proved God” and trusted Him to do what he says that he will do?
I want to inherit what God has for me more than anything else and I believe that you do too. Let’s not give up what we want most of all for what we think we want right now.
Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
