Our Inheritance
"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance among all
them which are sanctified."--Acts 20:32. "And inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in me."--Acts 26:18. "For this is
the will of God, even your sanctification."--1 Thess. 4:3.
"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham,
because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying,
Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men
verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an
end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the
heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an
oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God
to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within
the veil."--Heb. 6:12-19.
"But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not
without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the
people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of
all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet
standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the
service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in
meats and drinks, and divers washings and carnal ordinances, imposed on
them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if
the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance."--Heb. 9:7-15.
"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: ... Above
when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering
for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein which are
offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He
taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all ... For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified."--Heb. 10:5, 8-10, 14.
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but
that it should be holy and without blemish."--Eph. 5:25-27.
"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: ... in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye
believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory."
"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."--Tit.
2:14. "To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his
holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he
would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our
enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before him, all the days of our life."--Luke 1:72-75.
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And
to seeds as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ ...
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise but God
gave it to Abraham by promise." "That the blessing of Abraham might come
on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith." "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."--Gal. 3:16, 18, 14,
29.
The Abrahamic covenant embraced a twofold nature: the promised seed, and
the promised land. Isaac was the literal fulfillment of the promised
seed; Canaan, the literal fulfillment of the promised land. These were
but the foreshadowing of their great and glorious antitype, Christ and
the gospel, which are the spiritual fulfillment of the promises made to
Abraham.
"And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed," which
blessing begins in the regenerate heart, is perfected in the inheritance
of entire sanctification, and consummated in that inheritance "reserved
in heaven for us." That part which is yet reserved in heaven for us will
be realized in due time, when this mortal shall put on immortality and
the redemption of Christ shall be completed for spirit, soul, and body.
We can all rejoice in this "blessed hope" which shall be fully realized
when Jesus the resurrected Redeemer shall come again and fashion our
dying bodies like unto his glorious body. But the object of this chapter
is to point out the scriptures which teach us the blessed truth of the
present-tense gospel inheritance, which in the redemption plan is to be
realized by the people of God in this gospel dispensation, on this side
of the second coming of Christ.
The blessed grace of entire sanctification is scripturally the bequest
of God to his people. It is not simply the will of God in the sense that
he desires us to have this experience, but it is truly a blood-bought
inheritance, provided and willed by our Father through Jesus Christ to
every child of God. This blessed experience of regeneration, or the
divine birth, inducts us into the family of God, making us a scriptural
heir to all the good things of Father's possessions. Father has
perfected every necessary provision for every one of his children to
come into immediate possession of this inheritance. A will or testament
must specify the nature of the inheritance, mention distinctly the names
of the heirs, must have the signature of the testator affixed in the
presence of witnesses, should appoint an executor, and in every respect
it must be perfect or it will not stand legally. Scripturally, this is
equally as true. The New Testament is the will, which distinctly
specifies the nature of the inheritance of the people of God "among them
which are sanctified." The sanctified have entered into their
possessions of this Holy Ghost Canaan, and now every regenerated child
of God who knows his name is written in Father's family record--the Book
of life--soon finds by reading the will that this inheritance is for
him. He knows it as he reads and believes, and more and more the Holy
Spirit leads him to meet all the spiritual conditions requisite to the
coming into possession of this inheritance. He sees also in the will,
the signature of the testator. He sees that the Father has authorized
Jesus Christ to make this will of force. Legally, a will is not of force
until after the death of the testator. Scripturally, this is equally a
fact. The child of God sees that it requires the death of the testator
to make it possible that he could be sanctified. He reads in the will
that Jesus, the testator, suffered without the gate that he might
sanctify his people with his own blood and that this is the will of God,
even your sanctification.
We see in the will that Father has given every necessary instruction to
enable us to meet every condition of entrance into this blessed
possession. His word teaches us that as Abraham with faith and patience
obtained the promise, so we should profit by his example. God has shown
us through his covenant with Abraham that what he promises he is ready
and able to fulfill. He has shown his people, who are the heirs of this
inheritance, the immutability of his counsel by his word and by his
oath, that it is impossible for him to break his word and that we should
come to him with perfect confidence that he will do just what he has
promised.
There is a remarkable certainty in the fulfillment of this wonderful
will. It is as far above any earthly will or testament as the heavens
are higher than the earth. In an earthly will made by man, the very
incident that makes the will of force also makes it liable to become
annulled; for after the death of the testator there frequently is found
a defect in the will, also there are instances where the heirs,
dissatisfied with their portion of the inheritance, proceed by legal
process to annul the entire will and have a new one made according to
their own desires. But no such objections can possibly be brought
against this divine will.
There are three reasons why it is absolutely beyond the power of man or
principality to overthrow this will.
1. It is positively without fault. God had made a will, the old
testament, which was defective. The apostle says, "For if that first
covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second."--Heb. 8:7. In the preceding verse he says, "But now hath he
obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator
of a better covenant [testament or will], which was established upon
better promises." The blood of those animals in the old covenant was
acceptable under that dispensation, but it could not produce the desired
effect in sanctification. It could only sanctify to the purifying of the
flesh; could not reach the spiritual and moral nature of man; for there
was no spiritual nor moral nature in the sacrifice. It was only a
sacrifice of animal life; therefore it could only purify the flesh, or
animal life, of man (Heb. 9:13) in a ceremonial sense. Therefore, the
first will or testament was necessarily defective, and God himself has
annulled it. Heb. 8:13. But Father's last will is vastly different. It
is complete, perfect, and utterly without fault.
2. It is so divinely and infinitely perfect in its power to sanctify and
reach every inmost need of the heart that none of the heirs can possibly
become dissatisfied with their individual portion; for this portion is
the entire inheritance for each individual heir. It is not divided into
certain bounded portions for different heirs, but each is entitled to
the entire inheritance, and can come into the full enjoyment of the
whole possession without diminishing, in the least degree, the privilege
of every heir to enjoy the same. This makes it unspeakably satisfactory.
But what yet adds to it in its power to satisfy, is that, the sacrifice
which was required to bring this will and testament into force was the
precious blood of Christ. The great purpose of God in this judicial
sacrifice was that the sins of the world might be forgiven, that we
might thus become the sons of God and heirs of this inheritance. But, my
dear brother and sister, our Saviour had also another purpose in view in
this stupendous sacrifice. He gave himself for the church, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it. Eph. 5:25, 26 and Heb. 13:12.
Ah, dear reader, do you not see your inheritance in this? His blood can
sanctify wholly our spiritual, moral and physical nature. The blood of
the old will had no spiritual nor moral power in it at all; therefore,
no wonder it could sanctify only to the purifying of the flesh. But, oh,
the matchless, marvelous grace of God to prepare a sacrifice (a
body--Heb. 10:5) pure and spotless spiritually, morally, and physically,
which blood can cleanse our corresponding nature spiritually, morally,
and physically, and reaching every spot of our entire being, make us
clean from the least and last remains of sin. In comparing these
sacrifices no wonder the apostle asks, "How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Truly, when we have obtained this inheritance we can sing with the
inspired poet
"I have found it, Lord, in thee,
An everlasting store,
Of comfort, joy, and bliss to me,
How can I wish for more?"
Praise God for the cleansing which reaches our inmost soul and saves to
the uttermost! It, therefore, readers, is impossible for the heir to
become dissatisfied with the inheritance.
3. To make the inheritance doubly certain, we have already seen that God
has confirmed it by two immutable things; his word, and his oath; but to
add still more to this matter and make it absolutely certain and
impossible for any principality or power to overthrow this will, God has
appointed Jesus Christ to be executor of his own will. From a human
standpoint this would be impossible; for the will could not be of force
at all while the testator was alive, and his death would render him
incapable of any part in it as an executor. But with God these things
are possible; for when the testator died that he might bring this will
into force, he could not be holden by the power of death; but arose
again from the dead, that he might lead captivity captive and give gifts
unto men. Thus he has become the executor of his own will, and now
stands ready to bestow upon every heir the full possession of his
inheritance.
Dear reader, this is the glorious land of promise of which the land of
Canaan was but a type. The children of Israel were the heirs of that
land because they were the children of Abraham. We are heirs to this
Holy Ghost Canaan because we are the children of God through Christ.
This Holy Spirit life can only be obtained through this God-appointed
plan. It is the "inheritance among them which are sanctified." God gave
it to Abraham by promise, and as his faith grasped hold on the promises
he saw beyond the literal seed into the blessings of the gospel of
Christ and this glorious Holy Spirit life. Christ has fulfilled these
promises which Abraham saw and believed; and now the apostle can truly
say in looking over this wonderful plan, that "they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. That the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith."--Gal. 3:9, 14.