[0:00] We welcome you to the media ministry of Bethel Community Church, Knowing Jesus, Making Jesus Known. This morning, we continue our study on the New Testament book of Colossians.
[0:13] Turn to Colossians 3. We're going to look at three verses this morning. So, it's going to be an interesting message.
[0:34] I don't know what interesting means. Let me tell you why. When David originally had the book parted out, and usually he'll ask me, hey, see if you agree with the partitions of it, and if there's anything to change.
[0:53] And we got to this section here in Colossians 3, which he shared on last week, verses 18 of chapter 3 to verse 1 of chapter 4. And I thought, you know what?
[1:05] This would be a good time to do what John was asking on a series on what we do on earth, how it affects heaven when we get there.
[1:21] And so, I was thinking, oh, okay, you know, we're talking about crowns, and how we work here, and what's going to count for eternity. And so, I said, well, that's a good time to do this.
[1:35] And that's why last week, David went all the way to verse 1 of chapter 4, and I'm taking verses 23 to 25 to kind of go over that subject.
[1:46] And I thought, things are going together really well. But I have to tell you, by last night around 9.30, I said, I think I'm going down the wrong trail. I said, Lord, I don't think I'm going the right way here.
[2:10] I think I'm going about it the wrong way. And so, 9.30, we switched, and I pray that we're on the right trail today for you. Because I was thinking rewards, crowns.
[2:25] You know, one day when we're at the Bema seat, where we're going to be judged for what we've done, and all our things are going to be thrown in, as it were, and whatever's burned up is going to be considered loss.
[2:44] And whatever isn't, we're going to get crowns for, rewards. And I'm kind of prepared for that. But I think if I shared that this morning, I think I'd be a little bit out of context.
[2:58] And the title of it was, Which 401k are you investing in? Your earthly one or your heavenly one? But instead, I have to change it to, Which inheritance are you banking on this morning?
[3:10] Which inheritance are you banking on this morning? Raise your hand if you've ever gotten an inheritance here while you've been living. All right. Can I have a loan? It's gone.
[3:24] Okay. Well, let's see. This section here is talking about an inheritance of when we are with the Lord forever.
[3:36] And we want to look at that this morning. And I want to challenge you. I want to encourage you that the earthly, heavenly inheritance is so much greater, so much better than what we could ever imagine here on this earth.
[3:52] I'm a dreamer at times. And I've dreamed of, Oh, Lord, if I could inherit such and such, this is what I would do for you. Man, we could travel the world.
[4:03] We could help out people. We could help encourage Christians. And so I'm a good dreamer at times. And so I'm a good dreamer at that. And the Lord probably is saying, Your dreams are not for now.
[4:18] But this inheritance that we're going to be getting when we die is an incredible inheritance that cannot be matched here on this earth.
[4:28] So, just for quick review, when you go back at the beginning of chapter 3, it says, If you then have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
[4:44] Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on this earth, for you've died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. We are told that our citizenship is in heaven.
[4:55] And yet, you know what? I constantly am caught up with the idea of one day receiving an inheritance on earth and maybe being able to live comfortably. And maybe being able to do whatever so-called I wish to do.
[5:10] But he says, Keep looking above. That's where my citizenship is. And that inheritance, we're going to find out, does not pass away.
[5:24] And it's so much greater than anything we'll ever receive. And many millionaires or billionaires have inherited their money today.
[5:39] That money was worked for by their parents, grandparents, and now they are enjoying those benefits.
[5:54] We have an inheritance that the Lord has provided. And he's waiting to give it to us. Father, this morning as we go through these couple verses, I pray that you will use your servant here.
[6:15] Lord, help me to speak words that are true of you. Help me not to speak words that would be concerning me.
[6:26] Give us light into this passage, I pray. Amen. So last week, as David was sharing, he was talking about family relations.
[6:40] Starting with verse 18. And just a quick review. Verse 18 had to do with wives being subject to their husbands. Verse 19.
[6:51] Husbands loving their wives, taking care of them, being a great husband to them. And yet, today we will see women, there are some women who say, if my husband just loved me, I would respect him.
[7:05] And then on the other hand, we have some husbands who will say, if she would just respect me some, I could show her more love. And yet in Romans 14, 12, it says, so then everyone shall give account of themselves to God.
[7:23] And so we, husbands, we need to be looking at 19 and saying, how can we love our wives better? Women, wives need to be looking at verse 18. How can I be the kind of wife that God wants me to be?
[7:37] Verse 20. We see how the children to their parents to be obedient. Verse 21. It talked about fathers to our children.
[7:51] It says, don't exasperate our children. And fathers, you notice it doesn't even have mothers in it. It's our job. It's our job to take charge.
[8:04] Unfortunately, many men have left that position. And they leave it to the mothers. But my question is, fathers, how are your children doing?
[8:17] Are any of them losing heart in the Lord? Are they growing in the Lord? And then we got to the section from 22 to 4.1, talking about slaves and their masters.
[8:29] And David brought out how we today can bring this to employee-employer relationship. And that's how we can relate to that. And so let's look at those three verses, 23 through 25.
[8:42] And this, for me, the 23 and 24 goes back probably 45 years ago when I first memorized these two verses. And so they have meant a lot throughout the years to me.
[8:59] Verse 23, it says, Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men. Knowing, verse 24, that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.
[9:15] It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. And then 25, for he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done.
[9:27] And that without partiality. So we want to look at this short little section here this morning. And so what I originally thought of was all of our works that we're doing, the rewards we're going to receive.
[9:46] Sometime in the future, I've already got the message 80%, 90% for that. But this here is looking at an inheritance that God has in store for us.
[10:02] An inheritance. I saw several people raise their hand. I don't know if you're part of this average. But it says the average inheritance in the U.S. is $177,000.
[10:15] So I don't know where. And then it says though, one in three people who get those inheritance blow it in less than two years.
[10:28] Ed? Law. Carlos. Good clarification. Right? So we often spend a lot of time and energy, or at least I have, in thinking about an inheritance on this earth.
[10:46] And you know what? A lot of people find out what they thought was going to be an inheritance is gone when their parents pass. Maybe health care took all of it.
[10:58] I think about a lady, a Christian lady at Maplewood Bible Chapel. She lived in the same home for, I think it was 65 or 70 years in U City.
[11:09] And Mark Stevens and I, we were doing things to the house to get ready to sell when she moved into Bethesda Gardens Nursing Care. And so a house that she had for 70 years paid for three years of that nursing home.
[11:28] $180,000 was gone. No inheritance. No inheritance left. I think of, you know, my dad.
[11:44] Let me just make sure I don't say this in a way that you think I'm waiting for my dad to pass, because I'm not. He's doing pretty good, I think, at 86. Divide his inheritance among 11, and no need to dwell on it very long.
[12:04] Really, no need to dwell on it very long. And that's fine with me. Some of us have said, Dad, you do spend it if you want to. If there's nothing left, that's okay.
[12:17] We've made it this far. But we do. We do sometimes think, oh, what's it going to be like?
[12:28] And maybe we're afraid to even say what is in our mind, what we're hoping for might happen. Let me ask you this.
[12:41] Of all the money that you'll get, how much will you take with you when you die? Zero. Zero.
[12:51] Whatever house you may get, cars you may get, money, savings account, whatever. If you're two out of the three and you save it, or you invest it, or you spend a little bit of it, it doesn't matter what you have left.
[13:06] We will leave this world, go on to be with the Lord. Remember, everything's going to be left here. Even the clothes. None of that will go with us.
[13:20] We came into this world with nothing, and we will leave with nothing materially. As far as I can see in Scripture, the only thing we will leave with is what is going to go ahead of us, and that is the works that we've done for the Lord.
[13:36] And that He's going to give rewards for there. I remember reading about a man who was a Pittsburgh Steeler fan. I mean, avid. And at his funeral, he was buried with a Pittsburgh Steeler uniform on and a helmet.
[13:53] I mean, in the coffin. And they had, the theme was, everything was Pittsburgh Steeler. You know what? If we open that casket today, all that would be in that coffin still.
[14:08] Because none of it went with them. There are right now in the United States about 540 billionaires. Not millionaires. 500 billionaires.
[14:21] You know what? When they die, they will be zero-nares. I think that's a new term, but that's what it is. They will not take one penny of those billions.
[14:33] It will be an inheritance for somebody else or the government or some organization. Zero. So we think of the richest people here.
[14:44] They will go to heaven just like you and me in the same way. Everything stays. We're the only ones that leave. Wow.
[14:57] So money, inheritance here on this earth, can buy nothing for eternity. It's only what we have done with the Lord Jesus Christ.
[15:07] If he is our savior, if we put our trust in what he has done for our sins, the wages that we deserve, that's the only thing that will take care of our eternal destiny into heaven.
[15:27] So those billionaires, they may have all the money, but if they don't have Christ, when they die, they're zero-nares, and they're fortunately headed to the lake of fire. They had it here, but they won't have it there.
[15:42] And so, again, for a study for another day is, what you do on this earth is going to affect positions. It's going to affect what you have to give back to the Lord, the crowns that he's going to give.
[15:58] I think, personally, it may affect when we're before the Lord, why there may be tears. And it says he'll wipe away our tears.
[16:09] There'll be no more crying. I'm not going to stand on that, but to think, wow, I lived all those years, and this is all I have to show?
[16:22] This is all I did for you? But this inheritance is different. It's waiting for us. What will it look like? And to those of you who might not, right now may be thinking, but Kevin, come on, are you downing money?
[16:41] Are you downing that I'm saving? Are you downing that I'm thinking about inheritance? Let me encourage you with this, with these couple of verses from 1 Timothy. Just so you know that I am not.
[16:53] And if you feel convicted about getting an inheritance, you can sign it over to me. I'll take it. But in 1 Timothy 6, verses 17 to 19, it says, Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
[17:18] Notice he says, all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
[17:33] And again, that's more on these crowns, how we've lived our life. So, look at verse 23. It says, Whatever you do.
[17:48] All our actions are important to God. They really are. Whatever you do. Don't think of any action as not very important. Or don't think of any action as too important.
[18:02] God says, Whatever they are, they are important. And he thinks of them. And let me just take this for a second. Ladies, especially those of you with young children, maybe you think that your work is mundane.
[18:22] Maybe you're a stay-at-home mom. And you've got little ones running around. And you think every day, all I'm doing is changing diapers. And nobody appreciates what I do.
[18:33] Let me tell you. Set your affections on things above. Because God cares how you feel. God cares how you're raising your young ones.
[18:47] God cares what you're instilling in them. God cares on who is the one taking the hearts of the children. And he wants the family.
[18:59] He wants the father and the wife to do that. Your work may feel mundane, but it's important. And it's important to God. And he sees it. Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord.
[19:17] And maybe you wake up and you say, Today, I really don't feel like I can do this heartily as to the Lord. I'm just going to go through the motions. I think we've all been there. But if we realize, You know what?
[19:29] Lord, it's for you. It's for you. Give me a new outlook. Help me to change my focus here today. I'm doing this for people. But I need to do it for you.
[19:42] You're the one. You're the one who takes notice. And then he says, So whatever you do, Do it heartily as to the Lord, Not to men. And I don't know about you, But that changes my mind focus all the time.
[19:58] Because every time I try to please men, I seem to get upset. I seem to come to a point where I say, You don't appreciate what I do.
[20:11] You don't realize how much I put into that. And that's why he says, Do it as unto the Lord. Because no task will be too little.
[20:24] And this is probably where the verse has, It touched me, In an area that, About 40 plus years ago, After I had it memorized.
[20:37] Now this may seem like a really trivial thing to you, But to me, I've been able to share it year after, Many times. Kurt and I were, We would mow for a guy named John, Down in, Down near my dad's, Down in the industrial park.
[20:54] And we got five bucks an hour, We thought that was good. And, One day Kurt couldn't work, So, He said, Do you got any other brothers that can work?
[21:05] And I said, Do I got any other brothers? How many of you want? So, The next one was Keith. Keith, Who has passed away. He said, Sure.
[21:16] How old is he? And he was, I think, Keith was two years younger than Kurt. And he goes, Oh, Seventh grade, You know. I can only pay him four bucks an hour.
[21:27] And I just remember saying to him, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. He may be a couple years younger, But he can have, He'll have the same output. You, You have to pay him five. Because that's what we get paid.
[21:40] And I remember what, We're mauling that day, And I'm just grumbling. Somebody asked earlier, Grumbling is a sin. I was grumbling. I was complaining. Oh, Man, Look at him.
[21:52] He gets the right on the zero turn. We're pushing all the time. It's hot out here. I'm only getting five an hour. And I'm telling you, It hit, I had to stop in my tracks, Because all of a sudden, I was going over memory verse, Caution 3, 23, 24, Whatsoever you do, Do it heartily as unto the, And I'm telling you, It's still as clear as that day that it happened.
[22:15] I was like, Lord, I'm wrong. First off, I agreed to five dollars an hour. First, Second, I agreed to work for him. And third, You say, Do it as unto you, And not to him.
[22:28] Instead of thinking of all the so-called unfairness. It's fair. We agreed to this. And my, My mindset, Just did a total 180 right there.
[22:40] And you may say, That was a, Really? But that was a powerful one for me. Because I needed to do it as unto the Lord, And not to men.
[22:53] You know what? Our hearts, My heart can deceive me very easily. We may think our motives on how we're doing things are right. And then we see, You know what?
[23:05] My motives actually are wrong. I'm doing it because I'm thinking of what I'm going to get from them. We need to examine our heart at times. And, And so look at this here now.
[23:18] Whatever you do, Do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for me. Notice, The, The, The context of this. It's slaves. Notice what they probably might be thinking here.
[23:30] We're slaves. We work hard every day. Whatever we do. Whatever we do.
[23:41] I work and I work and I work and I work. I'm a slave. I can't get my way out of this. The slave, I get meager wages, If any.
[23:53] You say, Do it heartily? You just don't understand my boss, My master. He's taking advantage of us.
[24:05] He's not fair. And so you can imagine how this is hitting the slaves there. But then now, Look at, Verse 24.
[24:16] Knowing that from the Lord, You will receive the reward of the inheritance. Now this had to have particular impact on those slaves, Because slaves weren't going to get an earthly inheritance.
[24:33] And when their master died, Even if they worked for him for 20, 30 years, It was going to the master's family. You might have been a faithful slave for 20, 30 years, But don't expect to be getting any land.
[24:47] Because a slave didn't get to own land. And so I work and I work, And it's all for him. His family. What do I get out of this?
[24:59] And so we have these verses here. And the Lord, They're being reassured that, You know what? You can't think about your earthly inheritance.
[25:10] Because you've got a heavenly inheritance. Look what it says. The reward of the inheritance, It is the Lord Christ, Whom you serve.
[25:22] It's the Lord Christ. What inheritance? Wow, I'm a Christian. I might be a slave, But I'm a son of the living God. I've got an inheritance.
[25:34] My citizenship is in heaven. The Lord has an eternal inheritance, That isn't going to be spent in a couple years.
[25:48] Isn't going to be anything compared to what we have here. It's something to be able to look forward to. Let's look at just a couple verses here, About this inheritance. In Acts 20, verse 32, It says, And now I commend you to God, And to the word of his grace, Which is able to build you up, And to give you the inheritance, Among all those who are sanctified.
[26:19] So we get to share an inheritance, That is for all believers. Those that the Lord has saved. Look at Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians 1.
[26:44] And it's mentioned several times. Verse 11. Also we have obtained an inheritance. We've obtained. Did you know if you're a believer, You've obtained an inheritance.
[26:57] And it's given by God. It's given by Lot, Like it was the land of Canaan, Was given to the Israelites. It was allotted to them.
[27:09] You get this. If you go into numbers, I think the most times, That the word inheritance is used. They gave it a little to them. You got this. You got this many cities. Go and claim it.
[27:20] And so it's been allotted to us. We have not worked for it. This inheritance. Verse, Look at 13 and 14.
[27:33] In him, Christ, You also, After listening to the message of truth, The gospel of your salvation, Having also believed, You were sealed in him With the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, With a view to the redemption of God's own possession, To the praise of his glory.
[27:53] So the Holy Spirit is the one who is guaranteeing, As he dwells us, He's guaranteeing us all the way to that inheritance. It's a sure thing.
[28:07] Healthcare will not take it away. The government can't take it away. It's a sure thing. And then look at verse 18. It says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, So that you may know what is the hope of his calling.
[28:22] What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. He said, This is a wonderful, This is a glorious inheritance. This is one that can't be compared to.
[28:34] We will have our Savior, Jesus Christ, That we will get to behold. And so even though we won't be able to describe it fully here, It will take an eternity to realize the inheritance that he's given to us.
[28:51] And then in the book that we've been studying, Colossians 1.12, It says, Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints, In life.
[29:03] You know, And I think of it in the Olympics. You work to qualify. You run different heats in different track events. And there might be two qualifying events.
[29:16] And you have to get into maybe the top four to move on. To get into the finals. But look at this. Here. God's qualified us.
[29:29] Through his son. He's qualified you and I for that inheritance. It's there. It's there. Look at 1 Peter 1.
[29:41] I'm going to look at a couple verses here that describe this inheritance. 1 Peter 1 verses 3 and 4. How's Peter describe this?
[29:56] 1 Peter 1 verses 3 and 4. It says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to his great mercy, Has caused us to be born again to a living hope, Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
[30:10] To obtain an inheritance, Which is imperishable, Undefiled, Will not fade away, Reserved in heaven for you.
[30:20] So there's a couple things that Peter hits upon there. For our inheritance. The first thing, It's incorruptible. You know, It's not liable to corruption.
[30:34] Or to decay. In other words, It's imperishable. It's going to last forever. It's going to last forever. Again, Going back, One out of three, They spend it within two years.
[30:48] This inheritance, It's going to last forever. And it's incorruptible. I think of the other day, I was at my dad's, And I saw some strawberries.
[31:00] Nice red strawberries. They were big. And I thought, Huh. I'll take one or two. And I go to pick it up. And then on the underside, You know when you have them there too long, And you need to shave it and stuff, Because it's got all the fuzz on it.
[31:18] And, All of a sudden, I put it down, Because it had decayed. I wasn't going to eat that mold on there. But that's not the soul with our inheritance.
[31:30] It's imperishable. It's incorruptible. It will last forever. What's it say next? It says it's undefiled.
[31:41] That means it's pure. We're not obtaining this by some dishonesty that Christ did. I think about my son-in-law, John, How he works in a state law.
[31:57] And people come to him to get their wills made. And a couple weeks ago, He had a couple trials that he had to go to before the judge and jury. Not jury. Before the judge.
[32:08] And there was one where a girl Was spending her mother's inheritance After she died.
[32:20] She had been thrown out of the will. She had no inheritance By her mom. And then, When her mom was near death, She had, She couldn't think.
[32:32] And, And so, Her daughter came back Into her life. And she manipulated the situation. She got her brother taken off. And her in control of it all.
[32:43] And so, He can imagine the mess. He can imagine the mess. That was defiled. That was not pure.
[32:55] That was raw. And they had to go to court with it. And I think about how There have been many inheritances That have destroyed families.
[33:08] Literally have destroyed families. How, All of a sudden, Somebody hears about somebody's death. And all of a sudden, They're, People come out of the woodwork That nobody even knew existed.
[33:20] I remember Jill's great aunt. When she died, Everybody's thinking, Ooh, Yes. Rich aunt. Found out she gave $20,000 Or $10,000 to the banker.
[33:33] Another to the, One who brought her mail. Left a whole bunch of money For her cats. But then all of a sudden, Her parents and her uncle's down Cleaning out the house.
[33:44] And who shows up? Two nieces That they, No one has seen for 30, 40 years at that time. And they're like, We've come for an inheritance.
[33:59] So, Imagine Jill's mom and dad Cleaning the house. And they show up Wanting their inheritance. And so, My father-in-law, He's good. He takes the broom. Alright, Start working.
[34:11] And, All of a sudden, They saw the will. And there's like, Nothing in it for them. There's nothing in it. It was given to other people.
[34:23] A lot of times, It just divides, Here on this earth.
[34:34] It's not going to, It's not going to divide in heaven. It's not, It's going to be an inheritance. Think about, How some people have changed After they got an inheritance. Maybe it changed their life Dramatically.
[34:46] They had so much money. And now they're not the same person. It means that this inheritance in heaven, We will not be any different Millions of years later, Because we've got so much Glorious inheritance in heaven.
[35:03] It's such a pure inheritance. We will enjoy it Throughout eternity. It would not take our focus Off the Lord. It says it will not fade away.
[35:15] You know those streets of gold? Years and years down the road, They will not be gold one bit. They'll still be wonderful streets of gold. That house, That the Lord says in John 14, That he's preparing for you and I.
[35:32] You know what? You won't have to, After 200 years, Tear it down and build a new one. I counted nine houses Within an eighth of a mile of our house That have been torn down And rebuilt Just in the last couple years.
[35:50] Small little ones To big ones rebuilt. No, they won't. The plumbing's not going to go bad. And you know what? You're not going to have to pay Real estate tax.
[36:03] Isn't that going to be nice? No real estate tax. And then look what he said, The last part it says, It's reserved Reserved In heaven for you.
[36:14] It's reserved. Isn't it nice to have a reserved seat? We went to a couple movies, I can only imagine, And the girls volleyball Miracle season.
[36:27] And we got reserved seats. Because They were popular. And the seats were being taken. And isn't it nice to be able to know, Hey, I've got These seats right here.
[36:42] And I don't have to go looking for one. I won't have one Where I can't see the movie very well. But they've been paid for. They're yours. You get to have them. And he says, There's an inheritance For all the believers.
[36:54] It's reserved in heaven. You know, Can you imagine now The slaves? They're mine. I may have a Wicked master.
[37:07] I may have an unfair master. I may have one Who's just Incredibly hard on me. But I'm working As unto the Lord Because I've got an inheritance In heaven. I may have no freedom here.
[37:18] I may never be allowed To own any property here. But I've got an inheritance Reserved in heaven. And my master here on earth Cannot take it away. And it's undefiled. It's incorruptible.
[37:30] And it's going to be mine. And I can only imagine What that man's Is going to look like That I get to live in. And I can think about it But I'm sure it's going to be So totally different Than what's on my mind.
[37:45] And just briefly On verse 25 there It says It says Proxim 325 For he who does wrong Will receive the consequences Of the wrong Which he has done And that without partiality.
[38:07] You know what This could go I believe Two ways. It could be talking to Both the master And the slave It could be talking To just The slave Or just the master.
[38:22] Reason why I say It could be talking Just to the master Is because A slave's not going to be Thinking about partiality As far as When it says He The consequences Which he has done That without partiality.
[38:34] He already knows I'm a slave I'm a nothing. Master may be thinking Hey I'm the master So I'm not going to have What's What's going to happen To a slave.
[38:48] But I also think There's good reason That it's for both Because God Does not take partiality. He warns us against that. And he says You know what If you wrong your master I'll take note of it.
[39:07] And if you don't take care Of your slave I'll take note of it. I'll take note of it. Because I do it Without partiality. So as the Magicians come here And we get to sing Some praise And worship the Lord.
[39:27] My exhortation will be That this week We would work Heartily for the Lord Because our inheritance Is in heaven. It's in heaven.