I do not think Josh knew this, but this is one of my favorite choruses because of the words. Can you pull it down just a second?
I love this because, in so few words, this brother says so much:
We are but a moment; He is forever.
He is the God of the ages, before time.
We are a vapor, but He is eternal.
He is love everlasting, and His love is reigning on high.
Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.
Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain.
Highest praise, honor, and glory be to Your name.
We are the broken, but He is the Healer.
Jesus, Redeemer, mighty to save.
You are the love song that we will sing forever,
Bowing before You, blessing Your name.
I am always touched, particularly by that chorus. So let us begin this morning with a word of prayer.
Lord, we come to Thee this morning. You are our love song. Lord Jesus, how we come back to Thee this morning, our Redeemer.
Lord, it is marvelous to have a song in our heart, this love song of Him. Lord, it is my prayer this morning that You will give us vision, give us wisdom, give us revelation in being able to see our Lord Jesus Christ this morning.
Open our eyes to see Him, Who is so valuable, Who is so worthy. Lord, then we will be satisfied. Lord, we pray that as we share from Your word this day, You can just open up our hearts, Lord, to really see what You see; Lord, to draw us to Yourself.
That, Lord, we might be encouraged today to complete the race, to finish our course, Lord, to come to the destiny that You have chosen for us. We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We ask, Lord, that You would anoint this time, both to be able to share Your word and, Lord, to be able to hear and see. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Well, I have quite a challenge this morning. I want us, as I am finishing up this series on sonship, to see the larger picture. Last week I shared on bringing many sons to glory. They actually made it to glory, as we saw in Revelation 14.
This week I thought, “Well, Lord, let us sum it up. Let us see if we can see the big picture of what You are really after.” The whole thing is kind of summed up, particularly the last two messages that dealt with the kingdom age, the kingdom of God, and then, finally, an encouragement to complete the course, to finish the race, to be obedient to the heavenly vision, and to be faithful to the Lord unto the end.
Because we live in desperate days. Our enemy is very desperate, and he desires to take us all off course. He does not want anyone to finish the race. He wants us all to fail, because the longer he can delay, the longer he can stay.
So may the Lord give us mercy this morning. Let us begin by reading a number of Scriptures.
Let us begin with Romans 8:19. If you have a Bible, please look at these verses. I think often it really helps us to get that photograph into our mind and heart of the Lord’s words.
For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.
Other versions say that the creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Revelation 12:5:
And she was delivered of a son, a man-child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto His throne.
Some versions say “the man-child.”
Now Revelation 12:11:
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
Revelation 14:1:
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having His name, and the name of His Father, written on their foreheads.
Revelation 14:4:
These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.
These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
These were purchased from among men, to be the first fruits unto God and unto the Lamb.
Revelation 14:15:
And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Send forth Thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is over-ripe.
And Revelation 14:19:
And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great winepress, of the wrath of God.
And the winepress was trodden without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
Notice in that chapter three specific groups: one called the first fruits, the other the harvest that is dried, and then the harvest of the grapes.
Revelation 21:1-2:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Ephesians 1:10:
Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in Him, I say, in Whom also we were made a heritage.
Some say, “to sum up all things in Jesus.” But, for the administration of the fullness of times, to head up all things in Christ—Christ being the Head—He will head up all things: the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth.
Finally, Psalm 19:1-5:
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament showeth His handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night showeth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.
You know, it was on my heart this morning that we see something of the big picture of what God is after. Psalm 19:1-5 really is a prelude. It is like, you know, in the movies today, when you go to the movies, they have what they call trailers, which are really previews of what the movie is.
Well, I think this psalm is just that. What the Lord really says is, “Look. My creation—if you will just look at My creation, if you will listen for the voice, the voice that is not spoken, but if you are sensitive to it—you will see what I am after. For the creation itself reveals My purpose. It reveals what I am after.”
He says there is a voice, but it is not a voice that you hear outwardly. He says there is no sound, and the creation itself speaks of the glory to come.
Now, what is this glory? Well, in this psalm, the glory is the sun—S-U-N. It is the sun. And what is the sun doing? He says it comes out of his chamber as a bridegroom. In other words, he is seeking the bride.
It says he runs as a strong man to run the race. And the sun, as we know, encircles the earth, and its heat touches every part of the earth. Nothing of the earth is not touched by the heat of the sun.
These Scriptures are like a preview to what is on the Lord’s heart for His creation, for His purpose in creation. And what do we see? We see the sun looking across the earth as a bridegroom—in other words, searching for a bride.
Brothers and sisters, God has it on His heart to have a bride, as we see in Revelation 21, for His Son. So we see the creation itself. If men could just see what God has done in His creation, if they would just smell the roses, so to speak, even the creation speaks of what God is after. And He is after a bride for His Son.
Brothers and sisters, when Christ came to this earth the first time, He was searching the earth for His bride. But He could not find His bride—nothing of His life.
You remember the story of Adam. God had Adam name all the animals because God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. He needs a helpmeet. He is not complete. Yes, I have made man, but he is still not complete as to what I want him to be.”
Adam looked at all these animals and named them. I do not know what he did when the alligator came up. He said, “She might be a little snappy to be a wife, you know?” Or the giraffe: “You know, it is nice, nice, but the neck is a little bit too long.” I do not know.
But God had a purpose in bringing all the animals before Adam, because Adam had to realize within himself that there was something still missing in his life, something that needed to be completed.
Thank the Lord, the Lord did create Eve and brought her to Adam. And what was his reaction?
This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:
She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Something of his life, something of his character. Well, brothers and sisters, the Lord came seeking for His bride, and He did not find her. He could not find one with a like nature and character as Himself.
Yes, indeed, Adam and Eve were created in the likeness and image of God. But that had been marred. Their nature had been fundamentally changed because they fell. They fell into sin, and sin altered their nature. They no longer carried the likeness and image of God.
We need to understand that. So when Christ came the first time for His bride, she was not here. Yes, there were plenty of animals, plenty of men, plenty of women, but their nature was not like His. Sin had spoiled God’s desire for a bride for His Son.
But thank the Lord, God always sees that His purposes are fulfilled. So on Calvary’s cross, God put His own Son to sleep—to death.
You remember Adam was put to sleep as well. This story of Adam and Eve is also a trailer, like a preview of what God has on His heart. He put Adam to sleep, and remember, He took something out of Adam’s side. Most think it was a rib. From that, Eve was made. She was not created in the same way Adam was created; the Lord made Eve out of the side of Adam.
Well, when the Lord was put to sleep by God on Calvary’s cross, in that work of death on the cross, the Lord redeemed mankind. How did He do that? He paid the penalty of sin. He paid for our sins, the full price, that we might be put back into a condition in which we might become like Him in nature and image.
Not only did He do that, brothers and sisters, but through the Holy Spirit, we have actually received the life of Christ into us. We have the life of Christ that dwells within our spirit.
He had His new creation. On Calvary’s cross, through that work, God created a new creation. You know, the Word says that Christ was the last Adam and the second Man. So God said, “Okay, I have no bride for My Son, so I will create one out of the side of My Son.”
Now, this redemptive life that we have—the life that we have in Christ—God was not just looking for one individual to be the bride of His Son. It would be many, and these many would have to become one, one together in Christ.
That was done at Pentecost, when one hundred and twenty were baptized in the Holy Spirit into one body. That is 1 Corinthians 12, I think. They were baptized into one body, and everyone who accepts Jesus Christ is baptized into the body of Christ, that, brothers and sisters, one day we might become that bride of Christ.
How do we know what I just said is really true? If you look at Ephesians 5:25—you do not have to look there—but speaking of the relationship between a married man and woman, He says, “This is a great mystery,” but it speaks of Christ and His church.
It goes on to say that Christ loved the church, His future bride, and He died for her. He nourishes her; He is sanctifying and purifying her, washing her with the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having any spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.
When God put His Son to death on the cross, that work redeemed man. Those who accept that redeeming work in their lives, those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, will be born again—a new birth, born of the Spirit, a new creation, as the Word says.
Now we have something that is out of Christ, of His likeness and of His image. That life dwells in us, and that life is the material from which God will build the church, the bride of Christ—just like God took something out of the side of Adam, and from that He built the woman. Actually, the word is really built—built the woman.
When the Lord was put on the cross, we know that He said, “It is finished,” and then it says He gave up the spirit. But, brothers and sisters, the redemptive work had been completed, yet the work needed for the bride to come forth had not yet been completed.
Now, in Calvary—the total work of Calvary—it is. But there was something else that happened on Calvary’s cross that sometimes we just see as another incident. It is tremendously important because it is a part of the work of Calvary.
A soldier pierced the side of our Lord Jesus, and it says out came blood and water. John was very emphatic. He says, “I want you to know that I saw this.” What I saw was that blood and water came out of His side.
Blood is for redemption, and water is for the pouring out of the life of the Lord Jesus. In other words, the bride is built by these two things. One is the blood. We need the blood because we are not yet pure; we are not yet completed. There is still some old stuff there.
The old man has to be dealt with, and it was dealt with on the cross. But in a very practical way, all these things have to be dealt with in our life, and it is done through the blood.
So, in order for the bride to mature, there has to be the negative part, the taking away through the blood of the Lamb; then the positive part is the maturing of the life of Christ that we have in us. That is the life that is His likeness and His image.
Today we live in the church age, and the church is being washed by the word. You know, there was the age of innocence—that was before Adam and Eve fell. Then the age of the patriarchs: great individuals, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Enoch, Abel, all of these great patriarchs.
Then there was the age of the law, which Moses brought in. Then what we call the age of grace, when our Lord Jesus died on the cross. He said we are no longer under the law, but under grace. It is also the church age. This age of grace is the church age.
Brothers and sisters, before eternity comes, most people think, “Okay, we go from the church age to eternity.” But there is another age called the kingdom age. It is one thousand years long. It is called the millennium. It is called the marriage supper of the Lamb. There is a kingdom age yet to come, and it will come soon.
Today, during this age, God is doing the preparation work. But, brothers and sisters, when we look at the church as a whole, we realize that we have failed to carry the testimony of Jesus Christ. We have failed in many ways. The church is extremely weak today.
We have not matured. Yes, the church, in a sense, has been progressing in her revelation of Jesus Christ and Who He is down through the ages. But overall, because of all the divisions and disunity, we have to say, “We have failed.”
But God has not failed. He has provided the age of the kingdom, the kingdom age, and during that age He will sum it up. We are getting there, but we are not there. In the kingdom age He will sum up everything.
It is an important age because it is an age in which all things will be reconciled unto God. It is an age in which Christ will realize His inheritance in the saints. We have an inheritance in Christ, but Christ has an inheritance in the saints, and it will be realized during that age.
The Word says that all things are subjected to Him, yet we do not see all things subject to Him. We see Jesus. In other words, because He has ascended the throne, all things are subject to Him. But as we look at reality in our lives, we know that even our own lives are not totally subject to Him yet.
It says, “But we see Jesus.” Because we see Jesus, and He is on the throne, we know there will come a day when everything will be completely subject to Him. That is the kingdom age.
All the nations that make it into the kingdom age, this one-thousand-year period, will be subject to Him. He will reign and rule over them with a rod of iron, and that rod is righteousness. Everything will be righteous.
It will be what men have been looking for through the ages—the utopia that we have been looking for. No, everything will be right. Every decision made by the government, of which the Lord is the Head, will be absolutely right.
The nation of Israel will be restored fully, not only politically, as it is today, but it will be restored spiritually. It will be the nation on this earth through which God will carry out His testimony to the remaining nations during that one-thousand-year period.
During that time, all the promises that God has made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be fulfilled—every promise that He has made to Israel. So He is reconciling the nations. He is reconciling the nation of Israel. Even the creation, as we shared in these last messages, will be reconciled to Him.
There will be peace on this earth. The lion will lie down with the lamb. It says the weapons of war will be turned into plowshares. That is during the kingdom age.
The sons of God, the first fruits that we saw on Mount Zion in Revelation 14, will reign and rule with Jesus Christ. They will carry out the administration of the fullness of times. In other words, Christ will be the Head, and they will assist the Head in carrying out the administration of that age.
How will all of this be ushered in? It is important to know this because we are right at the door—or should I say, the Lord is right at the door? We are close, brothers and sisters. I have no doubt in my heart.
How will this age of the kingdom be ushered in? In Romans 8:17-19, as we read this morning, it says that the whole creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. We know that these sons of God are going to be joint-heirs with Jesus during the kingdom age. In other words, they will reign and rule with Him.
Christ will use them to usher in the kingdom age. In Revelation 12, when we shared on that a few weeks ago, we saw that there was a man-child in the woman. We saw the woman and the man-child, and Satan was looking at the woman. But he was concerned not about the woman, but about the man-child. He was ready to devour it as soon as it came forth.
But the Word says that as soon as the man-child came forth, he was caught up to the throne. It is interesting that Satan was not that interested in the woman. The woman is the church. The man-child are these sons of God that we see in Revelation 14. They have been raptured.
These are the ones who were faithful, who are faithful to the Lord, who are responsible sons. It is one thing to be a child of God, to be a child born again of God, but another to be a son—to be a son in the Father’s business.
I have shared a lot on that recently, so I will not say much about it, other than that we are called to be sons in the Father’s business. That means we have to be responsible with the gifts, the talents, and the life of Christ within us that has been given to us.
We cannot be lackadaisical. Boy, I do not know how I got that one out. We cannot be passive, brothers and sisters, because it is serious business. The Lord is raising us up to be responsible sons in His business.
He wants us to be those who will gain the inheritance of the kingdom and reign and rule with Him during that one thousand years. They are the ones who carry the testimony of Jesus.
Their manifestation, as we saw in Revelation 12, is that they are caught up to the throne. This will initiate the events that will start the Lord’s return.
Matthew 24 says there will be two in a field and two at the mill grinding. I think it is in Luke that it adds two asleep. One will be taken and one will be left. Two is the number of the church—where two or three are gathered together.
Brothers and sisters, it says that they will suddenly disappear. There will be no trumpet. It does not speak of a trumpet. In fact, it says that He will come as a thief in the night.
Now, a thief does not blow a trumpet. He does not shout an assembling shout. He comes to get the best of what is in the house. Usually it is the jewels and the stuff of value that he can sell.
When this rapture occurs, it is the rapture of the first fruits. You know, I shared this last time. Let me share it quickly. When there is a harvest, particularly wheat—and Christians are wheat—there is always some wheat in the field that is fully dried out first and ready to harvest.
In the Old Testament, they would take this to the temple and offer it to God. Then they could take it and eat it. In other words, it was offered to God; it was taken to the temple.
Here we see the first fruits. They are dried first. They have gone the way of the cross. They followed the Lamb whithersoever He goes, and they are right and ready. They are taken to the throne, and they are the first fruits. They are offered to God at the throne.
This will initiate some real events called the parousia.
Then, if you go back and keep reading Revelation 12 and 14, you will see that when they get to the throne, what has happened is—we know that the atmosphere is where the enemy resides. This is his territory, the atmosphere around this earth, he and a third of the angels that have fallen.
They will break through that force because they have been overcoming. Because their life has that strong life of Christ in them, they are able to break through to the throne.
When they do that, the air is cleared—or, well, it is not totally clear, but a pathway has been made for the Lord to descend from the throne to the cloud.
At that point, Michael the archangel and other angels will go to war with Satan and his angels in this atmosphere, and they will be cast to the earth. This will start Jacob’s trouble, or the great tribulation, for Christians. Jacob’s trouble is for the nation of Israel, but it is the same period.
Christ will then descend from the throne to the cloud. This is the event that will initiate the bringing in of the kingdom.
While He is there on the cloud, you have to then go to 1 Thessalonians 4:16, where it says there will be the sound of the trumpet. The seventh trumpet sounds, and there will be the assembling shout.
There will be the rapture—the rest of the harvest. As in Revelation 14:15, the first fruits have gone; now comes the harvest of the rest. This is toward the end of the tribulation period.
Because the seventh trumpet sounds, the seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out. So that would be near the end of the tribulation. Anyway, there is this rapture to the throne. It says the dead in Christ first, and then the Christians who remain.
Those who remain are the Christians who were not part of that first fruits. They will be caught up. Then will be the judgment seat of Christ.
All the saints down through the church age will come to the judgment, so they will be there. The sons—those who have entered into sonship, responsible, faithful sons about the Lord’s business—will, brothers and sisters, be rewarded with an inheritance. They will be joint-heirs with Christ during the kingdom age.
What will be their inheritance? Brothers and sisters, it is really the birthright. When we accept our Lord Jesus Christ, we have a birthright. The birthright is to be able to participate in the kingdom age.
That is our birthright. The birthright always had a blessing attached to it. What is the blessing? The blessing is to be able to reign and rule with Christ. So our birthright is the kingdom age, and the blessing is the reigning and ruling with Christ.
We do not have time to look at it, but Psalm 16:11 makes this very clear. Let me read this:
Thou wilt show me the path of life:
In Thy presence is fulness of joy;
In Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
We know this speaks of our Lord. Today, we see through a glass dimly. We only taste some of the joy of the Lord’s presence, perhaps getting a glimpse of the countenance of the Lord.
Today, we can enjoy the pleasure of serving Him, but it is like through a glass dimly. In that day, brothers and sisters, we can see Him face to face. He will be on the throne. His countenance is fullness of joy.
I have a very, very poor analogy to that. But if there has been some member of your family away for a long time—I know we have some members in our midst whose sons and daughters are actually in Iraq now—can you imagine the joy they will experience when they see their face again?
Brothers and sisters, that is nothing compared to what it will be when we see the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. It says it will be fullness of joy. I have never experienced fullness of joy, so I cannot tell you what it is like. But I have glimpsed it. I have had a taste, and that taste is marvelous.
We will be able to serve Him at His right hand. It says, “Pleasures for evermore.” That pleasure is not the things that we will have; it is the pleasure of being able to serve under His government and administration, as those assisting Him in the Father’s business.
This is our birthright. But, brothers and sisters, do not be like Esau. That is my concern for myself and all my brothers and sisters.
I want to explain this. Esau—you have to remember—it says God loved Jacob and hated Esau, so we always kind of put Esau in the outcast, unsaved position. Well, he is an outcast, but Esau was part of the family. You need to realize that.
Esau had a birthright. He had the birthright; he had the blessing. Remember how he came in and Jacob tricked him? For a little bowl of soup, basically, Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of soup.
Then, when he went to get the blessing, he knew he should have had the blessing, but he could not receive it because he had given up the birthright. So he could not have the blessing.
It says, brothers and sisters, in Hebrews 12, that he sought repentance with tears but could not find a place for it. In other words, it was too late.
He was heartbroken. This hard man was in tears, weeping because of what he had lost. He finally saw what he had lost, brothers and sisters, and he was weeping. He had given up his birthright.
In Matthew 25, the Lord is speaking of His return, and He gives a parable, the parable of the talents. If you read through that, He says to the faithful servants, “Enter into the joy of the Lord. I will set you over many things. You have been faithful in a few things, and I am going to set you over many things.”
To the unfaithful servant—remember, it says bondservant; he is still a servant, not a lost person—this is a servant of the Lord who has failed to exercise his talent, failed to mature in the life of Christ, failed to take up his cross and follow the Lord.
He says to him, “You are a wicked and slothful servant.” He took the talent from him. He said He put him into outer darkness, and He said there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, does that not sound like Esau?
When you put these Scriptures together—Psalm 16, Hebrews 12, and Matthew 25—you see there are two types of bondmen, or servants. One is the unfaithful one. He loses his inheritance. He loses his birthright, and he is put into outer darkness.
Now, there are a lot of thoughts about this outer darkness, depending on your background. I can only share with you what I personally believe. I do not believe this outer darkness is hell. But I do believe it is darkness because they will not be able to behold the countenance of the Lord.
They will not be able to be a part of that kingdom age. So they cannot enjoy—or, in other words, they will not experience—the joy, the fullness of the Lord. That is darkness, brothers and sisters: a period of darkness for them. It will be outside of the Lord’s countenance.
Remember, on the Mount of Transfiguration His countenance shined and the glory came out. They will not be able to experience His countenance. They will not be able to enter into the joy of the Lord, and that joy is being able to see the Lord face to face.
It says they will be weeping, and I think that is because they will see the blessing. They have lost the blessing. They have lost that blessing.
We are His children, and because you have been born again, you have a birthright. That birthright is the kingdom. You have a future blessing, and that blessing will be to serve and reign and rule—not only serve, but reign and rule as kings with Him over the nations during that one-thousand-year millennium period.
But we can lose, we can give up, our birthright by how we live today. Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know something: God is a merciful God, and He never gives up. He never gives up.
In the New Jerusalem, everybody—Old Testament saints, all the saints out of the church—we see them in the New Jerusalem. No one will be missing. We will all be a part of that New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, because God is faithful.
So during that thousand years, not only is the Lord meeting all His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He is reigning over the nations, ruling with a rod of righteousness, and the first fruits—those who follow the Lamb—are with Him, reigning and ruling. Everything will be, so to speak, summed up during that age.
Those who are not a part of the kingdom—I am not talking about lost people now, but His servants, His sons, His children who are not able to make it into the kingdom age—I believe, because the Lord is always faithful and we know we are all in the New Jerusalem, that everything will be glorious.
The reason I know that is because she will be without spot or wrinkle. I need to say that. It says she will be without spot or wrinkle or any blemish. So we know we will all be there unblemished.
It is because during that thousand years, the work that He has not completed in those ones will be completed. They will be under discipline.
In that day it will be a little different. Today, if the Lord begins to discipline us, we can run from His discipline. But during that one-thousand-year period, you will not be able to run from His discipline. You will go through it by His grace, and so it will be His grace that brings us through that period.
So I do not want anyone to think I am saying that there are some who will not reach heaven or make eternity, because all who have believed in Jesus will.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord desires that we all experience our birthright. The Lord desires that no one miss the birthright. The Lord desires that no one give it up.
He wants us all to be a part of that blessing. In Ephesians 1:1-8—I will give you that as a reference—He says He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He has chosen us in Him. He has adopted us. He has redeemed us. He has forgiven us. He has given us all wisdom, that in the fullness of times He might head up all things in Christ.
In other words, the Lord is saying in Ephesians 1:1-8 that He has made all the provision that we will be able to obtain the birthright. But we have the responsibility, brothers and sisters, of responding to the provision that God has given us and using it.
Now I have a number of concerns. One of them is that Esau did not realize the value of the birthright until it was too late.
One concern is for those of us who are counting the cost, but have not yet really seen the value. What do I mean by that? Stephen shared a number of weeks ago and admonished us to count the cost.
The Lord commanded it. He says, “Count the cost. Before you become My disciple, you need to count the cost.” Because, brothers and sisters, it is going to cost you everything. It is going to cost you your life—your soul life, basically. You have to give it up for the Lord.
You are not going to really be able to live for yourself. If you do, then you will lose. What you will lose is the kingdom.
So I am concerned that in counting the cost, we might get overwhelmed because we have not seen the value.
In Mark 14:3—you can look it up later—Mary, I think it was Mary of Bethany, though it says a woman in Mark, came with an alabaster vessel of expensive ointment called nard.
It says it was worth about one year’s salary. She would have had to break the neck off the alabaster box, the vessel, and then she poured it on our Lord Jesus’ head.
The disciples rebuked her—not just one, but it says the disciples. So it was not just one disciple; we would expect that of Judas. What was their question? They said, “Why this waste?”
In other words, “This is not necessary. This is too high a price to pay to show that you love the Lord. You do not need to pay that high a price to show that you love the Lord. It would have been better if you had just given it to us and we could have sold it. Then we could have given that money to the poor, and it would have had some value to it. Your sacrifice would have had some real value.”
But you see, they missed it, brothers and sisters. They did not see the value of our Lord Jesus. Mary did. It did not matter to her that it was a year’s worth of salary.
She loved the Lord, and she just poured it out on Him. She did not consider the cost. The cost did not mean that much to her. It was the Lord that meant everything to her, and she just poured it out on Him as a love offering.
That nard is our life, brothers and sisters. That nard needs to be poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a love offering.
Some say that was her dowry. In those days, women would have a dowry before getting married, and they would give it to the future husband’s family. In other words, if that is true, she was giving up her entire future—what most women would have considered their entire future—for the Lord.
Are you willing to give up your future for the Lord?
Brothers and sisters, we can count the cost. We should count the cost. But I hope we see the value. I would pray that the Lord would be gracious to us and say, “Lord, show us, show us. Give us a glimpse of Your value,” because we can miss it.
The rich young ruler was challenged by the Lord. The rich young ruler said, “What must I do to enter the kingdom?” The Lord said, “Sell all you have, give it to the poor, and follow Me.” And he went away sadly.
Zacchaeus, when he saw the Lord up in the tree, said, “Come to my house.” I think he said, “I will give half of what I own,” something like that. It was a lot of what he had. He just gave it. It was love. He saw the Lord, and he loved the Lord. He saw the Lord’s value.
The rich young ruler could not see the Lord’s value because his eyes were on the cost. I hope we see the value of the Lord and this birthright.
I saw something—it was actually a movie. I think it was You’ve Got Mail. Some of you might remember this scene. This woman, the actress, owned a little bookstore which she loved. She was a lover of books, and she obviously had a passion for what was in the books and everything.
Tom Hanks was the guy who owned Fox Books. He had these big stores like Barnes & Noble, and he was just trying to make money off all these books. He was basically putting this woman out of business because he was going to put a big store right next to hers.
He went into the shop, her not knowing him, and he was looking around. The clerk was helping him look around, and Tom Hanks pulled out a book, looked at it, and saw the price on it. He said, “Wow, this is expensive.” I cannot remember the price, but it was in the hundreds of dollars.
He looked through the book and asked the clerk, “What is so special about this book?” The clerk said, “Well, look here. It is an original. It is one of the first copies, and it is signed by the author.”
Tom Hanks said, “Well, now I understand why it is so expensive, why it costs so much.” The young clerk looked at him and said, “No. That is why it is worth so much.”
Brothers and sisters, do you see the difference? In the story, Tom Hanks is concerned about the cost. The little clerk sees the value. May the Lord be gracious to us, brothers and sisters, and show us the value.
If you read this incident in the Bible, it is immediately followed by Judas selling Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. That should tell us something. If we miss the value of the Lord, we may give up the Lord.
Now, we cannot give up the Lord in the sense of losing our eternal salvation. No, we can give up the birthright for just a few coins. So never be mistaken, brothers and sisters, in counting the cost. Ask the Lord to show you the value.
I am also concerned for those of us who want to press on and finish the race, and to be faithful to the Lord to the end. As Paul said, he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
In Luke 21:34, the Lord warns us. He says, “Be careful, lest your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly.”
Brothers and sisters, what concerns me is the cares of this life. I know because I have experienced it. It is overwhelming.
With our children, we have soccer class, dancing school, music lessons. We have to take care of a dog—I have one now—and we have to take care of him. We have to have a job and take care of our wives, and our wives have all this work to do. We are running here and there.
Brothers and sisters, the cares of this life are consuming us. It is taking attention away from the Lord. It is taking our time from the Lord. It is taking your service from the Lord. It is taking your heart from the Lord.
Is this not kind of like giving up your birthright for a bowl of soup? Now, these things are important. Everything I just shared—the things with our children, our family life—these are all extremely important. But I think it only shows that we have to be careful.
The Lord made a strange statement. He said, “Since John the Baptist, the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.” Boy, you say, “Well, I need to get out my gloves. I mean, what is going on here?”
What the Lord was saying is that, concerning the kingdom, you have to be violent with yourself. You have to be violent with yourself, or you will let the kingdom slip away. That was what He was saying.
Brothers and sisters, I can see it today. The enemy uses the cares of life as a tremendous weapon against us, and we are often deceived. So I would only encourage us all: keep it simple. Whatever that means to you personally before the Lord, keep it simple.
Third, I am concerned for those who have accepted their current spiritual condition and have basically already given up and said, “I am not going to run the race. I will never make it. I just love the world too much. I am into this. I mean, I just cannot. I have just given up.”
That concerns me deeply. In Revelation 12, it says they overcame by the blood of the Lamb. Brothers and sisters, this needs to tell you something: it is not the perfect who make it in.
If these brothers and sisters in Revelation 12 overcame by the blood of the Lamb, if they were perfect, they would not need the blood. But they are not perfect. They are like you and me. They fail.
I think the real issue here is our heart, because we will fail at times. But, brothers and sisters, I hope the Lord will show you the value of His blood. Any sin can be put under the blood. If it is confessed, it is under the blood and it is gone.
It will not come up at the judgment seat of Christ because it is gone—gone forever. As far as east is from the west, even God forgets it, which is amazing to me.
So, brothers and sisters, it is not the perfect. If we have fallen, let us confess. Let us go ahead and confess. Let us not live in our drudgery and feel like we have to beat ourselves for another week or two years, or whatever it is, before we can get back to the Lord.
The Lord never intended that. That is the enemy working on you, saying, “Hey, you know, you will never be worthy.” Of course not. But you have the blood, brothers and sisters. You need to take advantage of the blood.
It goes on to say that they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life unto death.
Now, brothers and sisters, I believe if we will just say, “Lord, what is my life all about? I cannot just go about serving myself all my life and just loving me. I need to love You, and I need to give myself up to You, Lord, in love. Your grace will take care of me.”
In doing that, brothers and sisters, the life of the Lord will flourish in you. Then you will have a testimony. You will have the word of a testimony.
So, brothers and sisters, all this is saying is that those who overcame were just normal Christians. They were not super-spiritual Christians who had all this knowledge and everything else. They were just normal Christians.
But they believed that when Christ said, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world,” it was true. If you are struggling with that, they believed it: “Lord, I am struggling with the things of the world, but there is something in me greater than this world.”
When He says, “The good work I have started in you, I will finish,” do you believe that? We want to say, “Lord, finish it quickly. I want to be ready. I want to be prepared for the kingdom.”
But He says it, brothers and sisters. He said He will finish it. So do not think it cannot be finished.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Do we believe that? I mean, when we really come up against something in our lives, and it is impossible, do we believe that He can strengthen us and that we can actually overcome? It might be some sin that grabs us, whatever. I do not know.
But the Lord says that His grace is sufficient through all trials, through all temptations. We just need to look to Him. You know, the Christian life in some ways is very simple: it is keeping our eyes on Him.
I am concerned also about those who are living a distant life with the Lord, kind of out of touch, kind of living your own way. The best way I know to say it is that your affection for the Lord is dim.
Yes, you are the Lord’s. You love the Lord, but the affection for the Lord is not hot and burning in your life.
It says in 2 Corinthians 5:13-17 that the love of Christ constraineth us. Do you not hear the constraining love of the Lord on your life, even this morning? Is the Lord not constraining you and trying to encourage you to give up everything else and follow Him, to love Him?
Just depend on Him. We love Him because He first loved us.
Often it is just a simple matter, brothers and sisters, of turning around and facing the Lord. We are walking this way, away from Him. We just turn around and face the Lord.
You know, the maiden in the Song of Songs says, “Look not upon me, because I am black; because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; they made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
“My life is a mess. I have not kept my own vineyard. Lord, I am not worthy. I am just dark, black. I am just not worthy.”
But she had prayed a prayer. Do you know what that prayer was?
Draw me; we will run after Thee.
In other words, she realized that her affections were not there. But she said, “Lord, draw me.” The constraining love of the Lord was on her, and she said, “Lord, draw me, and I will run after Thee.” In fact, it says, “We will run after Thee.” Draw me, and others will see it and run also.
The encouraging part is in Song of Songs 2:8. It says:
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh,
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
Well, brothers and sisters, are the mountains in your life keeping you from the Lord? It says here He comes, skipping on the mountains and leaping on the hills—perhaps lesser problems—but He is there. He loves you.
May the Lord show us His value. May He impress upon us the value of the kingdom age. May He give us vision, brothers and sisters.
I believe the bottom line is that we need a revelation of Him to see His value. If we can just see His value, I believe all the rest will be taken care of. But, Lord, we are brothers and sisters; we are so busy about many things.
Remember, if you can go outside tonight—or go out this afternoon, or go out at night—look at the stars. Let the creation speak to you. He reveals Himself in the creation.
You know, He says no man is without excuse. I mean, no man has an excuse, because even the creation speaks.
So, brothers and sisters, I do pray that we will spend some time with the Lord, just be before Him, and begin to allow Him to show you His worth and His value.
Then we will cast ourselves upon Him and be faithful sons, and enter the kingdom, securing our birthright in Christ.
Lord, we come today. I really pray that this time that we have had together this morning will be an encouragement to us all to respond to Your love and Your faithfulness and Your mercy.
Lord, that we will not give up our birthright for the things of this world or for our own self.
Lord, I am reminded Jacob certainly was not a perfect guy—far from perfect—but he obtained the birthright because, Lord, he wanted You, and he wanted the birthright. He gave himself to that.
Lord, You had to touch him deeply. You touched that thigh, and Lord, he limped. In his old age, he leaned on that staff and worshiped the Lord.
Lord, may we be found leaning on our staff, worshiping Thee when You return. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.