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Save heir conditional

well again it's good to be together on a wednesday night thank you so much for coming i have a few things i want to mention too before i pray with us tonight first of all we mentioned the military bible sticks that we uh give each year and uh as alton has mentioned that there's a gentleman who actually doubles the efforts whatever we give he doubles and uh as of last sunday there was 300 excuse me 3525 dollars given for bible sticks so double that and that's how much we're going to be sending unless there's some others floating out there we haven't received yet so it's a wonderful privilege to be able to minister in this church because there's so many sacrificial people who give you mention missions in this church or outreach to people who need christ if it's bibles books military sticks or whatever and the monies just come in to do this and it's a wonderful thing i mean i've never been part of such a wonderful ministry that does such a wonderful work with missions and so as chris clearly pointed out to you that our desire here is to reach not only locally but throughout the world and one of the basis that we have for that is our country we live in a free country we have a we have no threats on our life we come here tonight there was no threat we go home we can practice our faith with no threats not to say that it's not going to get easy it may get worse as time goes on but this is not the first time the church has lived in the context of a hostile environment and we have yet to really face the hostility that much of the church has faced in history so i want us to continue to lift that up and to pray for that pray for the protection of the church but for tonight what i would like to again pray for is our nation we're really in the midst of a very serious and critical time there are some tragic things that are being done right now some underhanded things a lot of lying and scheming and evil plotting and uh it's just really tragic to see what we have in our country now so we need to be praying that god would expose by his own power the error and the evil and the lies and the deceit and what has happened in our last election because i'm not saying anything that you don't already know because if this continues and is allowed to continue the likelihood of you being not you and i being able to have an election that we are sure of that we can trust is gone and so we need this even if the results don't turn out to be in our favor we need this to be turned around or dealt with in such a very severe way so that it doesn't happen again and with that said before i pray i think of a passage over in amos in fact if you uh if you have some time go back and re-read some of the minor prophets in the old testament because a lot of the major themes of the minor prophets is the lack of justice in the legal proceedings in israel and that their courtrooms if you will were corrupt their justice was corrupt and so god dealt with that and that's one of the things we're seeing today is justice is corrupt and evil is not exposed as it should be and so our country is literally filled with the blood of the lack of justice and we need to be praying that god would bring that so that true genuine repentance and revival can occur in our nation but let me just share what it says in amos chapter 5. just a couple of verses to remind you of this because again this is amos the prophet dealing with the lack of integrity and justice and righteousness in the legal system of israel chapter 5 verse 14 seek good and not evil that you may live so the lord god of host will be with you as you have spoken hate evil love good establish justice in the gate it may be that the lord god of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of israel and that's what i pray tonight as was for israel in those days that god would return us to justice in the gates that the weights and the scales would be just and that it would be given so let's pray for our nation tonight let's pray for the election let's pray for god's righteousness to be brought forth in this okay father we do thank you for tonight and again we thank you for the fact that we do live in a country that we can celebrate our freedom we come together tonight with no threat on our lives we think of so many countries and so many churches that we have actually had involvement with that have been threatened overseas there's been places where churches have been shut down they have been persecuted some of their buildings have been burned pastors have been persecuted and put to death congregants of those churches have also been exiled and left for dead and lord we are in a country that we have the privilege and the freedom to meet together as we will and lord i do pray for our churches tonight that we would take advantage of this that we would take advantage of the freedom you have given to us to be lighthouses and that we would be the springboards of the gospel throughout the world that we would take very careful stewardship of the monies that you give to us and that we would use them for the fathers of the kingdom and that the churches and the missionaries and the means by which we can get bibles in the hands of people in good theology works in the hands of our pastors and to be able to provide the monies to produce the necessary schooling for these men and women what i just pray that you would enable us to do so faithfully lord help our churches in america to take their eyes off themselves and so much off entertaining the saints and be more involved in proclaiming the gospel of christ and sharing the gospel throughout the world and lord with that in mind i would pray lord god that you would be merciful to this country that indeed is deserving of your justice our country is full of blood guilt lord we have had so many millions of babies murdered at the hands of our country we've had injustice in our courtrooms we've had criminals set free we've had those who would abuse children to be released and lord god i just pray that you would be merciful to us but create justice in the gates i pray that the scales of our courtroom would be weighed in the balances and that they would be righteous lord god please would you use this country again in a mighty way to first of all find revival in it but also to be used to further the gospel throughout the world i do lift up our leaders tonight i pray for each one that is in leadership both in the federal level then also even to the state level lord god that you would protect them first of all that you would also save them that you would open their hearts to the truth of the gospel that even donald trump would see the need to trust jesus christ in the midst of this crisis our nation is in i pray that you would give vice president pence the words that you could use to share with him and others around them of the need of christ and him alone we come into a time when we in our country celebrate and even throughout the world many celebrate the birth of christ and lord for so many it it just remains a babe in a manger lord god we realize that it's much more than that that he was god and that he is king of kings and lord of lords and you have exalted the son of god to your right hand and i do pray father that you would help us to acknowledge that and that you would bring true salvation to many of our leaders in this country that we would see those that are so involved in the evil and the debauchery and the legalizing of the perversions that are listed in scripture i pray father that you would turn our country back to your word turn our country back to the truth of scripture i pray father again for this election that you would bring justice to this that you would bring righteousness to this that you would expose the lies and the deceit and lord i would even pray that you would turn this election and that you would enable the electoral college to vote in favor of donald trump and lord god i pray that we would be able to see the at least four years of the stoppage of this parade and this march toward immorality in such a large degree i do pray father for this and ask your blessings on this and lord would you please use our time together tonight in your word i pray that your spirit would teach us and instruct us edify the body of christ through this work and call us and conform us to jesus christ we pray all of this in jesus name amen thank you so much for all of you who come and pray with us on wednesday nights i want to just take our attention now to the book of romans so we're going to have our study in romans again tonight and we turn back to romans chapter 8 and verse 17 and 18 tonight talking about heirs with christ romans chapter 8 verse 17 and 18. now i'm going to begin reading in verse 12 to set the context romans chapter 8 verse 12. we'll read down through verse 18. the apostle paul writes therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh for if you live according to the flesh you will die but if you live by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live for as many as are led by the spirit of god these are the sons of god for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear but you receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out abba father the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of god and if children then heirs heirs of god and join heirs with christ if indeed we suffer with him that we may be also 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 whether consciously or unconsciously every genuine christian desires and looks forward to the glory to come heaven itself one of the struggles i've found here in america particularly in our country is is that for so long we have been so comfortable here that we haven't had a whole lot of longing for heaven but i think if things begin to go the direction that some are forecasting it to go that we may find ourselves longing much more for heaven and less for this earth even perhaps even less for this country i'm reminded of what it says over in first john chapter 3 and verse 2 where john writes these words beloved now we are children of god and it has not appeared yet what we shall be we know that when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is that's a beautiful amazing statement that one day we will see christ as he is and that we will be like him we will not be like we are we will not be in the sinful flesh that we are in we will not struggle with the problems we have here today and we will be released from the bondage of corruption that this earth is in as romans chapter 8 talks about and we will be celebrating with the sons of god and glory for ever and ever and this will go on not for a hundred years not for a thousand years not just for millennia but forever and ever and ever and we will never stop praising god for this and the reason why this is going to happen is because god has graciously adopted us as his children we are legally part of the family of god and we are not just outside of that family we are not just cousins with that family we are part of that family we are sons and daughters of god we have been brought in to that family by god's gracious work of salvation this plan that god had was long ago in fact it even says in ephesians 1 that it was before the foundation of the world that god had chosen to predestine us to become adopted sons so this is a marvelous thing that god has been working on for some time but his plan of adoption is not the end of it he doesn't want to just adopt us and then plan to adopt us and then accomplish that adoption and then leave it there his desire is to take it to the full end of salvation which is that's one of those things that you and i probably have a hard time understanding because when i often think of glory i think of the light and the brilliance around god and the glory of god the brilliance of god often what comes to my mind is the the image that is given to us in revelation chapter one of john's vision of jesus christ and the brilliance of the sun and the glory and the light as even paul told timothy the unapproachable light that god dwells in and even it even talks about the glory of god in the old testament as the shekinah glory as they would call it the very presence of god would descend upon the temple and whenever god's his god's glory would depart as it was indicated in the old testament ichabod was written over the place where god's glory had departed now the glory of god is a hard thing to conceive of isn't it to really understand in theologians have given definitions about the glory of god some have said that what the glory of god is the is the summation of all of his attributes on display that really it is all of god's character summarized in brilliant glorious beautiful light and even though that is true scripture does teach that i think it is even more than that and whenever the bible says that eventually you and i will be glorified i think that has a lot to do with the fact that we will be made perfect in christ that all the hindrances that we have here on this planet to worship him to follow him to love him to celebrate him to praise him will be eliminated and even tonight i know probably many of us are tired it's already been a long week and it's only halfway through but at the same time when we get to heaven you won't experience that tiredness anymore there won't be any of that being wore out from the week you will be able to praise and love and follow and celebrate in the presence of god and glorify him forever and ever with no hindrances whatsoever what would it be like can you just imagine for a second without having a week or a day or an hour without an evil thought without a sinful thought without something that would be hindrance to your relationship with god what would it be like to be totally unhindered in your worship and praise to god that not only would you desire to be there for an hour but you would desire to be there rightly forever in the presence of god worshiping him so whenever we think about this topic here given to us here in romans chapter 8 as he takes us from the adopted sons on into glory this is something that god has planned for a long time and that he will accomplish in fact as we'll see in just a few moments and romans chapter 8 if you'll remember begins by talking about that the reason why we are able to stand in his presence in such a way is because we are no longer condemned and paul has been talking about this for some time he's developed it all the way up to romans chapter 8 that we have been forgiven and justified and the peace of god now is in our lives and we have peace with god according to romans chapter five we're no longer the enemies of god and even as we have been made right with god that we still have sin that resides in us because of our flesh and we still battle with that sin that resides in us but yet we are not condemned because we're made right in christ not in our own flesh we're made right in christ we're righteous in him holy in him and so when he gets to chapter eight he begins to tell us just how much the holy spirit has accomplished this sanctifying work to bring us not only from justification and through sanctification but eventually to the full glorification of the saints of god this is a process that god has in his work of salvation he has according to romans chapter 8 verse 2 and 3 enabled us to fulfill the law he has changed our nature in verses 5 through 11 he has empowered us to have victory over our sin according to verse 12 and 13. he has a current confirmed us to be adopted children of god according to verse 14 through 16 and as we even looked at last time the holy spirit guarantees our ultimate glory he is a he has been he has been given to us as a deposit or as ephesians 1 says an arab on an engagement ring for future glory god has guaranteed it because he gave us his spirit another way of saying that is he gave us himself he's not just saying you know i hope i hope it works out hope you guys can hold true no not only is there the guarantee of it but he enables us to persevere in the faith so that we do end up where god desires us to be he starts it off with the great work of god in predestination then calling then regeneration or as some would call the new birth or being born again then justification sanctification then glorification and by the way you don't find any time in scripture where any of these are separated or if there's some possibility that you could be justified without being glorified there is no possibility of someone being becoming an adopted son and then later on being put out of the family you don't find it it's just not there you would have to read into the text of scripture in fact in romans chapter 8 verse 30 if you remember this just look a few verses ahead in romans 8 30 it says whom he predestined he also called and the ones that he called he justified and the ones that he justified he glorified theologians call that the golden chain and they call it a golden change because it cannot be broken the very ones in eternity past that god predestined and as you could even add to that as ephesians 1 says predestined to be adopted sons he also called in time that's the effectual call of god whereby he draws you to himself through the gospel through preaching through prayer through those great means of salvation and the gospel call and the spirit of god doing that work then he justifies which is a judicial act of god whereby he makes you righteous in christ and the ones that he justifies are the ones that he glorifies and i told you a while back these verbs are erised which simply means that they're already considered done i mean glorification is a future event you would think that it would read that and he will be glorified but it doesn't read that way it reads he is glorified you could even render it was glorified it is already done in the mind of god this is just how sure that plan is that you will be there now one day in the future for some of us sooner than others you're going to be in heaven and you're going to look back at this night and you're going to remember what i told you that god was sure to glorify you and you're going to be up in heaven you're going to say yeah i remember when pastor swann said that that's exactly right and here i am finally fully glorified no sin no rebellion no heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and fully desirous without any hindrance whatsoever to praise and to glorify god forever honestly folks i don't even know what that's like do you that's hard to even imagine i have moments i have moments that i believe are completely unhindered kind of like i shared sunday whenever i tried my first discipline in prayer i ended up falling asleep you know it's one of those things that even sometimes you'll be reading some of the greatest theological works or even reading scripture and going for a few hours reading and what do you find yourself doing daydreaming what is wrong with my mind thinking about the greatest things of god and i'm all thinking about something that has absolutely no matter whatsoever that's where we are and that's the way it is now but it will not always be that way in romans chapter 8 and verse 38 it is sure that it will happen it says in romans 8 38 that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord we've been over this so many times i don't need to repeat it but the point is clear that whenever god starts that great work of regeneration and salvation and justification it will be completed you will be brought to glory as even jesus reminds us in john 6 37 all that the father gives me will come to me shall come to me and the one who comes i will certainly not cast out so if jesus ever cast out any of his sons that he's adopted then this is not true he just says that if you come to me which is clearly clearly an indication that you're an adopted son you're an adopted daughter you're an adopted child of god then you are not going to be cast out jesus says he will not do it he even says in that same text that and this is the will of him who sent me that of all that he that is the father has given to me i will lose nothing and i will raise them up the last day it doesn't matter what happens to your body it doesn't matter if it's burned in cremation it doesn't matter if it's eaten by a shark it doesn't matter if it's buried in the nicest of caskets it doesn't matter the bible tells us that you will be resurrected your body will be brought forth and glorified that corruption that we now reside in will be changed in the twinkling of an eye as the bible teaches us now the bible tells us early on that we were created in the image of god you read that back in genesis but there's something to note that all the way back in genesis when it tells us that we were created in the image of god that was before the fall after the fall you know what the book of genesis says we were all created in the image of adam because now we're no longer in the perfect unmarred image of god but now we're in the image of a fallen man adam it even says in romans 5 as we have mentioned before that we were in adam and in adam we all die and as fallen men we are unable to fully glorify god we did not have the capacity to do that we are fallen away from god as it even states in romans chapter 6 that whenever you and i sin we fall short of what what do we fall short of the glory of god the perfection of god and so it is god's goal in salvation not only to forgive us of our sin and not only to cleanse us from our sin and to restore us into a right relationship with him and to make us righteous through christ but even more than that it is to bring us into that relationship that we had prior to the fall where we're now back if you will created in the image of the glory of god it's an amazing thing to think of that as adam and eve once walked in the garden with god unhindered by sin and were in his image representing the full glory of god that one day we will be returned to that our future is bright we have a tendency to look back at some of the things in our world and even our country and you can lose hope you can can't you this past week i remember i was in the grocery store parking lot and i came out and happened to see someone i i knew and they caught my attention and they don't go to this church but they began to talk to me about where we were in our country and this lady began to weep she was just losing all kinds of hope of where we were going i shared with her a few things that i knew and one of the things i remember her saying is that thank you so much for giving me hope you know if you don't have hope you're miserable and the bible talks about this in romans 8 we're going to get into this in great detail that in our future because of the determined plan of god we have hope no matter what happens to the election no matter what happens to america no matter what happens to anything in our culture or where we live it will not affect the future determined plan of god for glory it cannot as philippians 1 6 says paul wrote these words for i am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of jesus christ martin lloyd jones in his own exposition of this text in romans 8 said that salvation cannot stop at any point short of an entire perfection or it is not salvation i mean think of it like this if if you were drowning in the depths of the sea which is not the absolute best biblical picture of what condition you were in before you were saved because the real biblical picture is you were dead at the bottom of the ocean and unable to respond at all but let's just assume for a moment that god now has regenerated you and he's pulling you out of the depths of the sea he gets you almost out of the water and says just can't finish it and just drops you back what kind of salvation is that would you be able to say hey i was saved no no you weren't saved not at all salvation is more than just saved from your sin in the past and the penalty of sin and hell is saved from the very presence of sin in the future that's the part of the glory of god that he gives to us and this is where paul's going with this this is his point as we get to romans chapter 8 it isn't just that you know we have the spirit of god's power in our life to conquer sin but the spirit of god is actually moving us purposely moving us as adopted sons to the glory of a renewed and re-created creation it's god's whole plan now the lesson tonight really just deals with verse 17 and 18. let me re-read those two verses again paul writes 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 now verse 17 begins by saying and if children picking up on the previous verses if you remember in verse 14 where he tells us that as many as are led by the spirit of god or what sons of god for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again into fear but to receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out abba which i told you was the aramaic for papa a term of endearment toward god closeness intimacy and then he says in verse 16 the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of god the last time we looked at that we noted that the spirit's witness or testifying is through his work in our lives verifying his presence in our lives that we are his children and so paul picks up on that point that we are now we're no longer condemned and we're no longer condemned because now we have been forgiven and made right with god but also by the spirit's work we are adopted we are part of the very family of god we have an intimate close unending relationship with god the father just as you can never become your father son or daughter or you never can eliminate that relationship that is there legally then so it is the case with the legal relationship we have with god the father we are always going to be his children now always and so what does paul say and if children he starts off with that and he says if we're children then we're heirs if you're really part of the family if you're really a son of god then you are an heir you're an heir as he says in this text of god we'll talk about that in a moment so there's five points believe it or not in these two verses five points and they are the reality the resource the relationship the reason and the rationale so here's the first one these come pretty quick it's a very simple passage the first is the reality look at verse 17 again and if children now don't misunderstand the word if to think that he's saying maybe you are maybe you aren't he's not saying it in the sense of condition he's saying since you are children this is fulfilled condition first class conditional you could render it since and since you are children since you are adopted sons and since that is the case and it is true that it is the case then you are heirs the word translated here heirs clay ronamos is a word that has the idea of an allotment or distributing a lot to and so in fact in some cases there was the casting of lots that was to determine the rightful ownership of certain property to the one who was heir to the father or even the king and so in this case he's basically referring to that which is going to that person that would receive something that is distributed to or allotted to rightfully theirs this idea of having an inheritance i don't know if you ever think about your salvation that way but the bible talks about your salvation as an inheritance that you are heir to the kingdom you are going to receive that because you're part of the family of god this is where i think a lot of us go wrong because we don't really think in those concepts what we think of when we think of salvation is i'm forgiven of my sin jesus died for me i'm going to heaven i'm not going to hell and that usually summarizes most of what we think about when it comes to salvation but the bible seems to put the term salvation in the context of being an heir to god or having a future inheritance with god in the future this is something the bible refers to many many times let me just share with you a few of the verses you don't need to turn to them because by the time you get there i'll be gone there's just a number of them in fact i had to stop putting them down because there's so many of them listen to this there's a variety of ways it's stated luke chapter 12 verse 29 and do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink he says nor have an anxious mind for all things the nations of this world seek after and your father knows that you have needed these things but seek the kingdom of god and all these things shall be added to you do not fear little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom there's your inheritance to give you the kingdom acts 26 17. jesus is talking about paul the apostle he says i will deliver you from the jewish people and as well as the gentiles to whom i will send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of satan to god that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me an inheritance galatians 3 29 and if you are christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise galatians 4 4 through 7 but when the fullness of time had come god sent forth a son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who are under the law that they might receive the adoption as sons and because you are sons god hath sent forth the spirit of his son and your heart's crying out abba father sounds like romans right then verse 7 says therefore you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir of god through christ you're an heir of god through christ titus 3 7 that having been justified or made righteous by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life james 2 5 listen my beloved brethren has god not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom first peter 1 3 blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again into a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you ephesians 1 11 in him you also have obtained an inheritance ephesians 1 13 you were sealed by the holy spirit of promise who is the guarantee of our inheritance ephesians 1 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of your calling what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints colossians 1 12 giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints hebrews 9 9 15. and for this reason he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgression under the first covenant that those who are called may receive the promise of the internal eternal inheritance and you have verses like this in matthew 25 31 when the son of man comes in his glory and the holy angels are with him and he will sit on the throne of his glory all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate one from the other the shep as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats and he will set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on the left then the king will say to those on his right hand come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world inherit what the kingdom turn to hebrews 1 for a moment hebrews 1. i was looking at this verse just reading through it and it caught my eye and i just started kind of dissecting it a little bit looking at some of the words that are chosen here and i think it's very interesting the way the writer of hebrews gives us these verses hebrews chapter 1 verse 13 and 14. now in this context he's he's talking about the supremacy and the preeminency of christ and that's the whole book of hebrews in fact that jesus is a better uh priest he's a better king he's a better prophet he's a better sacrifice all of that is about hebrews but hebrews 1 13 he says but to which of the angels has he ever said in other words which of the angels has god the father said sit at my right hand till i make your enemies your footstool no angel that's the that's the answer to that question only only the son only jesus christ that's the only one that that was ever said to and an angel never got that but then he mentions this about angels this is a fascinating verse verse 14 are they that is the angels are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation just glancing through those words there i thought it was interesting to point out the word ministering immediately i thought maybe that was just the form of the word diacona diaconeto to to be a deacon or to serve or to minister but the actual word there is translated from a greek word that we get our word liturgy from and it actually has the idea of religious service that these angels are rendering religious service or another way of saying that is worshipful service this is something they're doing for god to render worship to god in doing this so he says are they not worshiping religiously serving spirits referring to the angels and then the word sent forth is the word we get apostle from in the verb form sent forth to minister that's the word deacon in the verb form so you get all these words right here in this one verse referring to angels but that's not really what caught my attention as i read through in verse 14 it says and they are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation now of course there's a number of ways you could say who will inherit the word will could be just a future tense verb it could be a number of ways it could be said inherit salvation but the one word that is chosen here by the author of hebrews is the greek word mello m-e-l-l-o in the greek it actually has the idea of that which is about to happen or is as thayer's lexicon says that which is sure to happen and one commentator basically referred to it as something that has been destined to happen that it will for sure happen and the point is is that the author here the spirit of god no doubt who wrote the book of hebrews in verse 14 is telling us that these angels listen to this marvelous truth these angels are sent forth to serve those who will for sure inherit salvation now some of your angels are wore out they have been watching over you guys for long enough i remember many years ago now it's been whenever i was driving down i-26 and fell asleep at the wheel at 70 miles an hour with my cruise control on and i decided at that time it probably wasn't a good time for me to drive and be driving when i was falling asleep i ended up in the medium woke up tried to correct my truck as carefully as i could but i ended up sliding sideways not too far down the road and you're taping hit the brush pile or the bushes in the middle flipped over twice landed on the wheels not even a bruise not even my hair was messed up it was amazing thing because i remember as i was flying through the air it's the strangest thing if you've been in a car accident you probably know what i'm talking about everything went into slow motion it was amazing it's like i had an eternity to think about things i was thinking about seeing my father i knew i was about to die it was just a matter of look there's no way you're going to flip it 70 miles an hour and just walk away from it but i thought for sure i was about to die so i was thinking about seeing my dad again it had been too long since he passed away my thoughts were to my family what was going to happen to them i did happen to notice my laptop flying through the air that was kind of interesting too but the amazing thing was you know i ended up through that whole process without being harmed at all even the ems crew that ended up there to try to take me to the hospital were amazed that i had nothing at all wrong with me the truck was totaled and the state trooper when he came over to he looked at me and said are you the man that came out of that truck yes sir i'm it so i look back at it you know and i know god had his hand in that he kept me safe he protected me i remember my mom said boy your angels are working overtime i know they're wore out with you you know it's an amazing thing to think about that god has so much concern to make sure that you will receive the inheritance that he has promised you before time began that he dispenses angels to minister to you that is an amazing thing to consider i think about even daniel you know and i'm off track now for sure with my message but i think about daniel and he's praying for israel and daniel gets held up fighting in the demonic world if you are the angelic world for two weeks coming dance or daniel listen folks there are things happening right now around us that we're not even aware of but god is because he's going to bring us to that point he's going to bring us to glory and the way that the author of hebrews writes these words gives us the absolute assurance that what god has determined to be done will happen even if he has to dispense the angels to make sure it does happen it will happen so that moves us from the reality to the resource look at verse 17 again the resource is found here in verse 17 and if children then heirs and then it says heirs of god heirs of god now it's kind of tough to kind of sort this one out because is it telling us that we're heirs of god in the sense that we are possessed by god that we're owned by god or is god the source of our inheritance how far does this go in fact one commentator says that it could be understood in a subjective way that we're heirs of god in the sense that god has promised this and it will happen because he's promised it some have said that this could be understood eschatologically meaning that this is referring to what god has in the future since we're in god and god's in us that he has life and it is eternal therefore it's in the future also some have said that perhaps this is to be referred to simply as objective meaning that we not only inherit salvation but we inherit god himself i kind of land at the end of that but i believe the idea is not only do we have an inheritance in the future that for many people is like okay streets of gold and all you know i've got my mansion and all this kind of stuff up in heaven it's much much bigger than that i don't think you and i are going to be so fascinated so much with the streets of gold the jewels and the beauty and the amazingness of heaven being around even the angels i think we're going to be totally consumed being in the presence of god that our inheritance which is the most amazing thing about salvation is not that you receive forgiveness of sins only and that you are sent and separated from sin eventually but you have to actually have the future promise that god is yours and you are god's as one author said this in his commentary on this text he said he speaks of being heirs of god a bold piece of imagery found here only in the new testament since god does not die there is no question of inheritance in the strictest sense of the term but the heir is in a position of privilege as a result of the place in the family paul has been speaking of sons and of children and we are privileged in that position because of our membership in the family nonetheless than god in other words all that god has guess what we have now to be sure i don't want you to misunderstand we're not talking about what the faith teachers and the false teachers today talk about that we somehow will possess a deity that we will be deity or we will be god or a god or anything like that no that's not the idea i'm not saying that at all and the bible doesn't even teach that but what i am telling you is that you are an heir of god in the sense that you get all of god i don't know that that sometimes sounds a little scary too to think of you get all of god galatians 4 7 again therefore you are no longer slaves but a son and if a son then an heir of god paul seems to clearly indicate that this is one of the future objection objectives of being an heir it's not just a possession of things or a future place or even the fulfillment of god and salvation being delivered from hell and sin but you actually get all the positive which is god himself another way of saying that is what it sounds uh said over matthew 25 21 at the end of that time whenever you're brought before the lord it says the lord will say to him well done good and faithful servant you are faithful over a few things i will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your lord so you're not just getting joy you're getting the very joy of god you're getting the very peace of god the very holiness of god the righteousness of god god is the only source of that inheritance because he in fact is the inheritance that's what we're getting one author again said god not only is the source of our inheritance but it is himself our inheritance of all the good things in the universe the most precious is the creator of the universe himself the psalmist declared whom have i in heaven but thee and besides thee i desire nothing on the earth jeremiah said in another portion the lord is my portion and my soul therefore i will hope in him and also there was the island of patmos where you find john the apostle there in chapter 21 of revelation and he said behold the tabernacle or the dwelling place of god is among men and he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people and god himself shall be among them that's an amazing reality you know whenever you find yourself kind of just uh whittling that down to a simplistic understanding go back and do a just a simple re-reading of the old testament and get yourself familiar again with that god who delivered the people of israel out of egypt get yourself familiar or give with the same god of mount sinai get yourself familiar with the same god of the prophets both major and minor and then say the same thing that is said over in revelation 21 that you will be with god and god will be with you it's an amazing thing to consider isn't it well there's more to it so let's move on quickly the reality the resource the relationship verse 17 not only are we heirs of god but also in verse 17 the relationship is brought out that we are joint heirs with christ join heirs with christ the translation of the word here joint heirs is the compound word a co-inheritor you have the word clay romanos which is the word inherit or heir and then you have the word soon or with joint heir a participant with you're joined together with christ as jesus christ has made it abundantly clear that whatever he has is yours luke chapter 22 verse 29 and i bestow upon you a kingdom he says just as my father bestowed upon me that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of israel that's jesus talking to his disciples saying that first corinthians 3 21 therefore let no one boast in men for all things are yours he says and you are christ and christ is god's i mean everything that christ has been granted we receive because we're joint heirs with him revelation 3 21 it says to him who overcomes i will grant to sit with me on my throne as i also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne rights and privileges that are granted to the sons and daughters of god because they are joint heirs with christ revelation 21 7 he who overcomes shall inherit all things and i will be his god and he shall be my son now frankly put folks i can't fully understand that and if you're trying to understand it and you find yourself not reaching the bottom of it just join with me on that because it's not possible to know that whatever christ has been given by the father your joint heirs with him and that whatever he has you have it's an amazing reality so you have the reality of this great truth the resource the relationship is through christ and here's the reason look at verse 17 again and if children then heirs heirs of god joiners with christ if indeed we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together now there's two parts of this uh the real reason for all of this is that we would be glorified together but the path to that is the suffering now i think most of us would be willing to say we like the glorify the glorified together thing but we would pass on the suffering part but i want you to also note there in verse 17 that is translated if indeed one word in the greek the idea is if and after all it is true that you are suffering is the idea it is also a fulfilled condition a first class conditional sentence meaning that not assuming that you get to become heirs because you are suffering but because you're an heir you do suffer there's a big difference we're not becoming heirs because we're suffering we are heirs therefore we do suffer and the point is is that this is this is actually taught throughout scripture that as a christian this is commonplace that if you are an heir to god if you're an heir to christ if you're a joint heir with christ then you are going to you're going to experience a lot of the same things that he experienced if you live like he lives and if you talk the way he talked in john 15 18 if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love its own but because you're not of the world and i chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you remember the word that i said to you a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you if they kept my word you will be they will keep your word also in matthew 5 10 blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs and theirs alone is the kingdom of heaven there's your future again inheritance the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you this is the point that if you are an heir to god and heir to christ to join heir with him you will suffer you will now we've referred to this a number of times in our culture we've been blessed not to suffer as much i think the hostility is growing i think the hatred is becoming much more intense and it will over the years to come but the point is is that that is the pathway to the end of it and the end of it is found in verse 17 again that we may also be glorified together glorified together with who with christ that's the whole point of it in acts 14 21 it says and when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples they returned to lystra iconium and antioch strengthening the souls of the disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying we must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of god and by the way you know i know that there's part of this that many of us think about the tribulations and the suffering to refer to physical ailments um cancer whatever it might be deaths in the family and there's no doubt that god uses that and that is definitely part of the process of god working in us to conform us to his image but the primary suffering he's talking about here is the personal hostility against you because you're a christian philippians 1 27 paul said only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of christ so that whether i come or see you or an absent i may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit and have one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them proof of perdition but to you salvation and that from god in other words what is he saying he says whenever you get persecuted and hated for your faith it actually confirms that they're going to be judged but it confirms that you are gods and that you have an inheritance for he says in verse 29 listen to this for to you it has been granted on behalf of christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake and that's the point the suffering brings you into that glory and the confirmation and the fulfillment of salvation paul said it this way in second timothy 2 therefore i endure all things for the sake of the elect that they may obtain salvation which is in christ jesus with eternal glory and he goes on in that same passage and says this this is a faithful saying for if we died with him we also shall live with him if we endure we shall reign with him if we deny him he will deny us philippians 3 9 paul talks about the fact that he does not want to be found in his own righteousness but rather be found in christ in his righteousness and then he takes it a step further in verse 10 and says that he may know him referring to knowing christ and the power of his resurrection and most of us are pretty good up to that point but then he goes on and says i want the whole package i want to know everything there is about christ i want to know him intimately as i possibly can and then he says in verse 10 not only that i would know the power of his resurrection but also the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death that i might attain the resurrection from the dead there's many other verses that testify to this reality look back at verse 17 again he says okay so we're going to be heirs we're heirs of god and joiners with christ since it is proven that we are we are suffering with him we may for the purpose as the purpose clause the word that there could be translated so that or even for the purpose that we may also be glorified with him this idea of being glorified by the way is a um passive verb meaning this is something that is done to you you don't do it god does it to you he glorifies you that's like i rendered earlier in romans chapter 8 verse 28 we know that all things work together for good to those who love god to those who are called according to his purpose and we've talked about this before that that verse has in its mind not only the good things but the bad things that's the primary point of it that even in the context of the life we live in a fallen world with fallen flesh that all things can work together for good for what purpose to eventually conform us to the image of christ which is the fulfillment of all of that to be glorified i think of it with this and i'll close with these two verses actually just one for tonight got a couple more points but second thessalonians listen to this turn with me there just for a second second thessalonians 1 3. this kind of puts it in right perspective he says we are bound to thank god this is second thessalonians 1 3. we are bound to thank god always for you brethren as it is fitting because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you abounds toward each other so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of god for your patience and faith in all your persecutions tribulations that you endure so they're already suffering right and then he says in verse 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of god that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of god there it is he's talking about that whole point of you being an heir of god and being brought into the inheritance and through suffering receiving that inheritance being counted worthy of the kingdom of god for which you suffer the end of verse five now verse six since it is a righteous thing with god to repay the tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the lord jesus is revealed from heaven against with his mighty angels inflaming fire taking vengeance of those who do not know god and of those who do not obey the gospel of our lord jesus christ these shall he these shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power here it comes verse 10 when he comes in that day listen to this to be glorified in his saints it's the same exact idea that we find in our text that we're reading here that we're heirs we're joiners with christ we are suffering and we're being brought to that point where we are glorified together when jesus comes in verse 10 it says he will come and in that day of his judgment he will be glorified in his saints by all of us who admire him according to that text it's also referenced over in revelation 7 9 we don't have time to read that but there's great celebration in heaven whenever these saints are glorified in his presence and one last point and this comes quickly the rationale you have the reality the resource the relationship the reason and now the rationale look at verse 18. i'm just going to allude to this and we'll pick it up more next time verse 18 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 the word translated considers the word logidzimi means it's logical it's reasonable some of your translations may say i reckon it doesn't mean he was from the south it means he actually was logically thinking it through this is a logical conclusion that even though the sufferings we have now in those contexts were bad and they were getting worse and would get much worse in paul's day he says what we have now at the present time are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us and the word translated worthy has the idea of weight a weight that is in the balance of something weighing the worth of something you would put a scale up there and you would put something that was valuable then you'd put a certain amount of weight to it and so the point is here in this context he's saying that these sufferings don't even come close to that weight the weight we use we use a word sometimes in our culture called gravitas and it's the idea of weightiness we even talk about the glory of god in the majesty of god being weighty and when we saw talk about this text he's simply telling us that what we have going on here in this world that we may think is pretty bad doesn't even come close with the tremendous brilliance of glory that you and i will experience whenever we finally find ourselves with christ and by the way that word translated here shall be revealed in us the word shall be that other little word mello again which means it will absolutely happen will absolutely happen it is determined to be done let me re-read one text to you and i'll show you what i mean matthew 5 10 again blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake listen to these words i skipped them last time but now i'm bringing them in rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great mega great is your reward in heaven no matter how bad it gets here the glory and heaven and the inheritance is much much better can it cannot even be compared to