Your Inheritance
Our text for this sermon is Acts 20:32, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified”. We’re going to discuss your inheritance today.
When you receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour, there is so much that goes with “getting saved”. You have eternal life right now, you have the fruit of the Spirit right now, you have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to give you understanding in the word of God, you have Jesus’s righteousness inside of you right now, and you have a home in heaven waiting on you right now. There are many other things, as well. These are just a few of them.
In addition to everything you have now, you also have an inheritance waiting for you in heaven. This is your inheritance. Part of it you receive unconditionally because you are saved and part of it you receive conditionally based on how you serve the Lord and suffer for him. The part you receive unconditionally we’ll call your eternal inheritance. The part you receive conditionally we will call your rewarded inheritance.
Eternal Inheritance. Eph 1:11, 14, 18, “obtained an inheritance, earnest of our inheritance, riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”. 1 Pet 1:4 “to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you”. This eternal inheritance includes your glorified body which you will get when Jesus returns for us at the rapture, 1 Thes 4:13-18, and your mansion in heaven, Jn 14:1-6.
Rewarded Inheritance. Col 3:24 “knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ”. Rom 8:17 “we are joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together”.
This is your inheritance that you receive from the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ after we return with him to heaven. When you serve the Lord, you will receive the reward of your inheritance. Likewise, if you do wrong, Col 3:25, you will receive for the wrong that you’ve done. In other words, your inheritance is rewarded to you based on how you serve the Lord and whether you suffer for him.
Knowing that Jesus is returning soon and knowing that we will face him at the judgment seat of Christ were two of my greatest incentives for serving the Lord when I first got going. They are still prevalent in my desire to serve him today.
You need to be reminded about your inheritance and even warned not to forfeit your rewarded part. You could easily lose your inheritance by two common things you see Christians doing. You could lose your inheritance by building a worldly inheritance, instead, or by squandering your inheritance through living in sinful pleasure.
Worldly Inheritance. In 1 Cor 3:13-15, “it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss…”. This passage has to do with how you build on the foundation of Jesus Christ. It gives us a visual understanding of what it would be like to lose our reward at the judgment seat of Christ. It would just go up in smoke.
A perfect illustration of someone who forfeits his rewarded inheritance by building up his worldly inheritance is Lot. He invested everything he had in his ranching operation in the plain of Jordan by Sodom and Gomorrah. When God destroyed those cities, Lot lost everything he had in the fire. He had nothing left.
Solomon said, “Wisdom is good with an inheritance”, Ecc 7:11. You should apply your heart to wisdom and ask yourself if you are building up your worldly or your rewarded inheritance. Don’t leave it all down here.
Squandered Inheritance. The prodigal son squandered his inheritance. He got it all when he asked for it and he blew it all with riotous living. “An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed”, Prov 20:21.
Paul wrote in Eph 5:5, “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”. There are many Christians these days who fit this description. And there’s coming a sad awakening when they get to the judgment seat of Christ. They’re going to walk away from Christ’s throne empty handed from squandering it down here, rather than saving it up there.
Conclusion:
We receive an inheritance with the Lord. We don’t want to take it for granted or squander it. Don’t build it all up or waste it all down here. We should serve the Lord for his glory and receive the reward of our inheritance when we see him in the future.