Series:
Ephesians
Title:
His Inheritance in the Saints
Text:
Ephesians 1: 18
Date:
June 2, 2013
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
The Apostle
prays that the Father of glory would give the Ephesian believers “the spirit of
wisdom and revelation. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened.” (Eph
1: 18) To know three things more fully.
Ephesians 1: 18 “that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints, 19: And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who
believe…”
It is
the second “what” that we will focus on this morning.
Ephesians 1: 18: and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, that you may know what
the greatness and the glory of his inheritance is, of which believers have an
interest, and for which we have grounds to hope.
Proposition: For those found believing in Christ Jesus, not having
our own righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by
the faithful obedience of Christ Jesus, we shall be given a rich and glorious
inheritance when we depart this life.
Title: His
Inheritance in the Saints.
Divisions:
I. THE DESCRIPTION GIVEN OF THE INHERITANCE—riches and glory II. WHO
ARE THE RECEIPENTS OF THIS INHERITANCE—his
inheritance and the saints; III.
WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO US TO KNOW THIS MORE FULLY?
FIRST, WE HAVE THE DESCRIPTION GIVEN OF THE
INHERITANCE—riches and glory
I. RICHES--In
Revelation 21, God describes the riches of heavenly Jerusalem.
This is
a picture of the church of God in her eternal, heavenly glory. But it is also a
description of the church’s present glory in Christ. By virtue of our union
with Christ, the church of God and every member of it is perfectly and
eternally complete (Col. 2:10).
Revelation 21: 9:…Come hither, I will shew thee the
bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10 And he
carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11: Having
the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like
a jasper stone, clear as crystal;…18: And the building of the wall of it was of
JASPER: and THE CITY WAS PURE GOLD, like unto clear glass. 19: And the foundations
of the wall of the city were garnished with ALL MANNER OF PRECIOUS STONES. [he
lists various precious stones: JASPER; SAPPHIRE; EMERALD;etc…] 21 And the twelve gates were TWELVE PEARLS;
every several gate was of ONE PEARL: and the street of the city was PURE GOLD,
as it were transparent glass.
We are
told what these riches represent.
Ephesians 2: 7: That
in the ages to come HE MIGHT SHEW the EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE in his
KINDNESS toward us THROUGH CHRIST JESUS.
That
rich description gives us an idea of the unsearchable riches by which God has
adorned his church, you and I in particular. We shall spend eternity rejoicing
in the riches of his grace in his kindness toward us. How
did we come to have these riches? Through
Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 8: 9: For ye know the grace of our Lord
Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor that ye
through his poverty might be made rich.
Though Christ was Rich
Our
Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, is God. All things were made by him and for him—and
he owns all things.
Psalm 50: 10: For every beast of the forest is
mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11: I know all the fowls of
the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12: If I were
hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness
thereof.
Psalm 104:24: O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in
wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of THY RICHES.
Deuteronomy 10:14: Behold, the heaven and the heaven of
heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
Haggai 2:8: The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,
saith the LORD of hosts.
Yet,
our rich Savior would not have all to himself. He would have the elect, chosen
of the Father to be joint-heirs with him. So though he was rich,
Yet For Your Sakes
Us,
poor, bankrupt, sinners, living in the gutter of our depravity, feeding in the
pig trough of this world who could never give our Savior one thing. You and me
who despised him, who rejected him, you and me who broke his law, who sinned
against him, you and me who blasphemed his name, who hated his gospel, who
cursed his people, who could never cease breaking his law, who could do no good
and who were no good, dead in trespasses and in sins.
He Became Poor
For
your sake, he left the riches of heavenly glory and was born in a cow stable to
poor parents—a root out of a dry ground. (Is 53: 2) For your sake, he went
through life with nowhere to lay his head. (Mt 8: 20) For your sake, he traded
glory where he was the choice Son of heaven to dwell among sinners, “despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:, we esteemed
him not” (Is 53: 3) For your sake, he traded the life he had, to endure the shame
of the cross. (Heb 12: 2) “He hath made him sin FOR US, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor 5: 21) For the sake of his elect, “the LORD hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Is 53: 6) For your sake, “his own self
bore our sins in his own body on the tree,” (1 Pet 2: 24) He was “made a curse
FOR US” (Gal 3: 13) For your sake, he said my soul is in an agony even unto
death, the oppression was so great that blood squeezed from his pores like
sweat. He was mocked, shamed, spit upon, and scourged. For your sake, “his visage
was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:” (Is
52: 14) For your sake, “he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God.” (Rev 19: 15) For your sake, he bore Satan and his hellish
host unleashing every power which the power of darkness could inflict upon him.
(Luke 22: 53) For your sake, he bore it alone: his disciples fled; His Father
in holy justice withdrew from him leaving him to suffer the separation of divine
wrath in complete darkness. For your sake, at last, he body was buried in a
borrowed tomb. (Mark 6: 29) Why?
That Through His Poverty We Might Be Made Rich
Isaiah 53:5: he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED. As
the result of the incomparable depths of his poverty, you who he has called to
faith in him are RICH!
How
rich are those chosen of God, redeemed by Christ Jesus and called of the Holy
Spirit? We are justified from all sin. Your
sins are cast behind God’s back never to be remembered again. You have been made the very righteousness of
God in Christ.
Ephesians 1:7: IN WHOM we HAVE redemption through HIS
BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, according to the RICHES of HIS GRACE;
Ephesians 1:11: IN WHOM ALSO we have obtained AN
INHERITANCE, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own WILL:
Application: God’s attributes are described in scripture as riches:
God is said to be rich in mercy, rich in grace, rich in in goodness, rich in
forebearance, rich in longsuffering, rich in power. Brethren, Heaven is having all God's riches
turned into our safety and our comfort and our happiness. The true riches are
riches of his grace, riches of full assurance.
The
reason believers do not join with the crooked ways of worldly men, the reason we
are able to give so freely, is because we have riches this world knows nothing
about! So the Spirit of God tells me as your pastor,
1 Timothy 6:17: Charge them that are rich in this world,
that they be not highminded, nor trust in UNCERTAIN RICHES, but in the LIVING
GOD, who GIVETH US RICHLY ALL THINGS TO ENJOY.
Philippians 4:19: my God shall supply all your need
according to HIS RICHES IN GLORY BY CHRIST JESUS.
II. GLORY—Glory
signifies an excellency of things. For
instance: Matthew 4: 8: Satan showed Christ the kingdoms of the world, “and the glory of them”, that is, the
excellency of them.
Incomparable and Incomprehensible Glory
The
inheritance shall be glorious because it is the workmanship of our triune
God—note in v17—the Father of glory. So his glory which shall be revealed to us is incomparable
and incomprehensible for us right now.
Romans 8: 18: For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us.
There
is nothing in this world to be compared to the glory of our God and his
inheritance. All this earths honor, riches, pleasures, and greatness combined
is worthless vanity compared to his glory, the glory that awaits us. When the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon’s
glory scripture says, “there was no more spirit in her.” (1 Ki 10: 5) And God’s glory immeasurably excels Solomon’s
glory
Excellency of Perfect Salvation
One
aspect of the glory of his inheritance will be the excellency of the way in
which he gives it. The excellency of the glory of his inheritance is that it shall
be given to the perfect number of children that he chose in Christ before the
foundation of the world. The 144,000, the exact numbers from each tribe, in
Revelation 7, do not mean that only that number of saints will be given the inheritance;
it means the number of God’s elect shall be exact and not one shall be lost.
(Rev 7: 4-13)
John 6: 39: And this is the Father’s will which hath sent
me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. 40: And this is the will of him that sent me, that
every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up at the last day.
Excellency of Exact Measure
The excellency
of the glory of his inheritance is that it shall be measured to his saints in
exact perfection and the measure shall be glorious in abundance. The LORD told
the children of Israel, with perfect exactness, where the boundaries of their inheritance
lay in Numbers 34: 1-15. The glory of his heavenly inheritance will be measured
to his children with the same perfect exactness—that is his glory.
Revelation 21: 15: And he that talked with me had a
golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16: And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth:
and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length
and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17: And he measured the wall
thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a
man, that is, of the angel
It
measures out to 1400 miles high, 1400 miles long, and 1400 miles wide in complete
and perfect cemetery. The lesson is it is altogether a perfect measure.
Excellency of Equality
The excellency
of the glory of his inheritance shall be that God will give it in perfect equality
among all his saints. When the LORD commanded the land to be divided among the
children of Israel they were to count the exact number of people in each tribe
so that to a tribe consisting of more and larger families, a greater part of
the land was to be given; while to a smaller tribe, with fewer families and
persons, a lesser share was to be given. (Nu 26: 53-54) It simply shows us that
God shall give his inheritance equally to all his saints.
Excellency of Inclusion
The
glory of his inheritance will be that it shall perfectly include all things. For you who believe, right now, the Spirit of
God declares through the apostle Paul,
1 Corinthians 3: 21: Therefore let no man glory in men.
For ALL THINGS ARE YOURS; 22: Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the
world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; ALL ARE YOURS;
23: And YE ARE CHRIST’S; and Christ IS GOD’S.
Revelation 21: 7: He that overcometh shall inherit ALL
THINGS; and I will be HIS GOD, and he shall be MY SON.
Excellency of God Himself
But
more than anything else the glory of his inheritance will be the very glory God
himself is. His glory will lighten our inheritance.
Revelation 21: 23: And the city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it: for THE GLORY OF GOD DID LIGHTEN IT, and
THE LAMB IS THE LIGHT THEREOF. 24: And the nations of them which are saved
shall walk in the LIGHT OF IT:
Moses
asked to see God’s glory. When God
showed Moses his glory, God put Moses in the cleft of a rock. That Rock was typical of Christ Jesus because
“the LIGHT of the knowledge of the GLORY of God is revealed in the FACE of
JESUS CHRIST” (2 Cor 4: 6)
Now,
God the Holy Spirit has given us eyes to see God’s glory in the face of Christ
Jesus as in a mirror and by that we have been changed into his image from glory
to glory even as by the Spirit of our Lord. (2 Cor 3: 18) But when we see him, we shall be like him.
Psalm 17:15 As for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I
awake, with thy likeness.
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Philippians 3:21
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all
things unto himself.
Then we
shall fully know for he shall…
Romans 9:23:…make known THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY ON the
vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto GLORY,
Application: Brethren, the inheritance of the saints IN LIGHT is the
inheritance of saints who have been made perfect in his Light, conformed to
Christ the Light by Christ the Light. And everything about our eternal
inheritance shall be the richness of royalty, the excellency of God’s glory and
eternal. Therefore, our inheritance is called “a CROWN of GLORY that FADETH NOT AWAY.” (1
Peter 5: 4)
II. WHO ARE THE RECEIPENTS OF THIS
INHERITANCE—his
inheritance in the saints;
Our Inheritance is God Himself
No
doubt, the glory of the LORD—the LORD himself—shall be our inheritance.
Isaiah 28:5: In that day shall the LORD of hosts BE FOR A
CROWN OF GLORY, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
Galatians 4: 7: Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but
a son; and if a son, then an HEIR OF GOD through Christ.
We are
sons in God’s family—“if a son then an heir of God through Christ.” But looked at another way, we are “heirs OF
GOD through Christ”, that is, our inheritance is God himself! So all it shall be our inheritance.
His Inheritance in the Saints
But let
me give you something that gives us great assurance right now. We shall be his
inheritance—his inheritance in the
saints.
Isaiah 62:3: THOU shalt ALSO BE A CROWN OF GLORY IN THE
HAND OF THE LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Deuteronomy 32:9: For the LORD’S portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
Psalm 94:14 For
the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
Application:
Brethren, it is obvious that our inheritance in God is Christ, life,
righteousness, peace, fullness, acceptance, Fatherhood, grace, glory, all
things! But what could possibly be his inheritance in us?
His Workmanship
His
glory shall be manifest in his saints.
2 Thessalonians 1:10: When he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our
testimony among you was believed) in that day.
Romans 8: 17:…heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also GLORIFIED TOGETHER.
[exalted to dignity together, in like manner. His glorification shall be by
what he has made us.] 18: For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY which shall be REVEALED IN US.
[uncovered, manifest before all] 19: For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SONS OF GOD.
Ephesians 3: 10: To the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to
the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
As the
fulness of the earth sets forth the beauty created by the sun, so shall His
vessels of mercy, his monuments of grace, set forth the glory of God. Through
his work in his saints, God will make known to principalities and powers in
heavenly places his manifold wisdom.
God
brings himself great glory by the workmanship which He puts into His people. An
artisan can take a worthless piece of iron and by his workmanship make it a
priceless work of art! The Triune God has by his workmanship made each of his
saints “more precious than the gold of Ophir.” This is why the Spirit calls it
“the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance IN THE SAINTS.”
Illustration: In
our gardens each flower takes in the sun’s rays so that when they bloom each
individual flower is the sun’s workmanship—and together they manifest the
fullness of the light in which they dwell. In that great day when “the Sun of
Righteousness arises with healing in His wings” each individual saint shall
reflect some aspect of His fullness of grace and glory: one his patience,
another his strength, another his fullness, and so on—and all together shall
show forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous
light.
Application: He will not share
his glory with another. And because his saints are his inheritance—the glory of
his workmanship—he will not allow one to be snatched from his hand. And just
think, if God will show how glorious a God he is, by how glorious a creature he
can make, how glorious must those creatures be! Especially when their glory is
an inheritance to the Father of glory! God has a lot of glory to manifest. If
he purposed to manifest his glory in his saints, he will do so like God has the
ability to do.
His Peculiar Treasure
The
sick child saved from the brink of death is a special inheritance to the mother
who nursed it. The prodigal son restored to his father is a special inheritance
to the parent whose joy was turned to sorrow until the lost child was brought
home. Likewise, an ungodly man who by God’s work has been made a justified man,
a dead saint regenerated, is also God’s peculiar treasure. Considered from our
view, it seems he is getting in us a very poor inheritance. We see nothing in
ourselves that could be considered a rich inheritance. But God considers
himself rich and exalted and renowned, in being able to say of His saints,
“They are mine.”, my rich and glorious inheritance.
III. WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO US TO KNOW THIS MORE FULLY?
We are surrounded by the world and because
our old man loves the world, we need for “the eyes of our understanding to be
enlightened” more so our affection, our hearts, are set more and more on things
above. Christ, said, 'Where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye.
If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body
shall be full of darkness.' (Mt 6: 21-23)
Whatever the “eyes of our understanding” are
set on, as our treasure, the light of it will govern our whole body. If our eye is enlightened to behold our life
really is above, hid in Christ with God, then our affection will be set “on
things above, not on things on the earth.” Our whole body will be filled with
the fullness of Christ, governed by the Light of Christ. (Col 3: 3) Then the motive of our heart will
be to glorify God and for the good of our brethren. A true godly walk is the work of God turning
the inward man to Christ above. This is the only way a man truly glorifies God
in his daily walk.
But if our “understanding” is darkened, if
thine eye be evil: set on this world, on false religion, on dead works, then
the whole body will be full of that light, and our whole body will be governed
by our affection for those things: touch not, taste not, handle not;
covetousness, idolatry and so on. That is why Christ said, “If therefore the
light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” That walk is just vain outward morality to
earn God’s favor; it is walking in the lusts of the flesh.
So if the eyes of our understanding have been
enlightened, then brethren, follow Paul’s instruction.
Ephesians
5: 1: Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2: And walk in love,
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3: But fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh
saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor
foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of
thanks. 5: For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor
covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and of God. [we will not be those things there, so do not be those things here]
6: Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh
the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7: Be not ye therefore
partakers with them. 8 For ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children
of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit
is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Amen!