Legacies of Spiritual Inheritance
Notes
Transcript
Intro; How many here have a written will?
Why do you have a written will? It protects your future and the future of your loved ones. It controls the the fact that you determine what happens to your possessions, instead of the state.
A will says, “I’m not going to be here forever, and I want to put certain things in order for those that I love!”
Why do some people not have wills? Because they’re afraid of them, because they have to come face to face with their mortality. You got to think about death, when you make a Will.
Tonight we are going to look at the importance of “Spiritual Wills’ as we study the “Legacies of Spiritual Inheritance”
Text; Heb. 11:20-22
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
Here are the Patriarchs of faith for the nation of Israel. In Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, we have four generations of faith. These men sometimes failed, but basically they were men of faith. They were not perfect, but they were devoted to God and trusted His Word. By faith, each passes on the Spiritual Inheritance [Spiritual will] they recieved from their father to their heirs.
One is an individual faith, one is a tribal faith and the other is a national faith.
1. Individual Faith of Isaac; 20
1. Individual Faith of Isaac; 20
Individual faith deals with trusting God even when we feel someone has gotten the best of us.
We know the story of Jacob and Esau, and how Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of beans, and then how Jacob deceived his father into giving him the patriarchal blessing of the family when he was the younger son [Gen. 26-27].
The question is, “Where does the faith part of Isaac come into play in this situation?” Isaac didn’t reverse the blessing after he was tricked, he trusted God!
God pronounced in the Rebekah’s womb that Jacob would receive the blessing;
23 And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”
But Isaac favored Esau over Jacob and had intentions of giving the patriarchal blessing to Esau against God’s will. But after he was tricked, he did not reverse the blessing, even at Esau’s begging, because He knew what God had done was according to His will. By faith he trusted God and blessed Jacob over Esau!
There are times in our individual faith that we don’t see eye to eye with God about situations, but by faith we need to trust Him anyway!
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
2. Tribal Faith of Jacob; 21
2. Tribal Faith of Jacob; 21
Jacob’s sons had become the fathers of the twelve tribes that would make up the future nation of Israel. But the son that he loved the most had been taken and sold into slavery, considered mauled by a lion or bear, and Jacob lamented for him. But God had placed Joseph strategically in the palace of Egypt to provide for his family during the coming famine.
Jacob is now in Egypt under the care of Joseph, but is in his last days. As an act of worship, he blessed Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, that they would become part of the great nation of Israel and live in the Promised Land that God had made in covenant with Abraham.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22 Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
The amazing thing about Jacob’s faith and blessing is, that it is a blessing of enduring faith. It would be 430 years before Israel would come to the Promised Land. But he trusted that God is faithful!
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
3. National Faith of Joseph; 22
3. National Faith of Joseph; 22
Other than Abraham, Joseph may have lived the greatest life of faith. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, was accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife, put in prison, forgotten by those whom he helped, but eventually was called to stand before Pharaoh. Because of Joseph’s faithfulness to God, he was promoted to a top-ranking position in Egypt. In all of this Joseph never forgot God’s promise to Abraham.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Joseph’s faith looked forward 400 years to where Israel would become the nation that God promised to Abraham centuries earlier!
As a people of God, we need to never forget what God can do. Just like Israel would go through hard times and trials before they were to come into God’s promise, we must never give up on what God can do even now in our nation.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Close;
All three of these men believed God in the face of death. Their faith had sometimes wavered in life, but it was strong and confident in death. Death is the acid test of faith. A Christian who fears death has a serious weakness in his faith, for to die in Christ is simply to be ushered into the Lord’s presence.
What is true of a physical Will, is also true of a spiritual legacy. In order to give something away in a physical Will, you got to have something. If you don’t have anything, then you can’t leave anything. The same applies to a Spiritual Will, if you don’t have faith in Christ, you won’t pass it to your children either!
What will we leave your kids at our passing, things that will rust or that they will fight over, or a spiritual legacy that will last them throughout this life and the one to come?