Dr. Michael Youssef: Back yonder, Jesus came into my life.
Jesus assured me that he has a plan for my life.
Jesus promised me that I will reign and rule with him forever.
And therefore, no matter what I go through right now, no matter
how dark it appears right now, no matter how difficult things
are right now, no matter how tough my circumstances may
appear, my boundaries have fallen, for me,
in a pleasant place.
[music]
Dr. Youssef: I know you know that there are so many powerful
voices inside and outside of the church that are basically saying
to us that you can have it all, here and now.
You can have it all.
The amazing thing about this is that the Bible tells us that
those who are Bible-believing Christians are gonna get it all.
Did you believe that?
All right, but the difference between their all and our all is
like day and night.
Their all is material and present things; our all is
spiritual and supernatural.
Their all would be lost at death; our all will last
for all of eternity.
Now, please understand, before I get to the message, I am not
against leaving an inheritance.
The book of Proverbs says it's good for a person to leave
inheritance to their children's children, so I'm not against
inheritance.
Don't misunderstand me, okay?
But let me tell you a few things about our real inheritance.
You can never lose it in the stock market.
It can never be destroyed by fire.
It cannot be taken away by Uncle Sam, or anybody else
for that matter.
You cannot leave it behind, you take it with you.
It is far greater than all of the trillions of dollars that
this world could ever give.
Psalm 16 prophesied regarding our inheritance.
The psalmist looked through the eyes of faith, 1,000 years
down the road, and he saw the indescribable inheritance
that's in Christ.
And so, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David
discovered how believers in Jesus are gonna get it all.
They're getting it all.
So, if you would turn with me, Psalm 16, as we've been going
through this series of select Psalms.
Mostly it's to do with the Messianic Psalms.
Verses 1 to 4, David tells us about the condition of our
inheritance.
In verses 5 and 6, he tells us about the content of that
inheritance.
And then, in verses 7 to 11, he tells us about the culmination
of our inheritance.
Look with me please at first the condition of our inheritance.
Now, God's word said those who have an inheritance in Christ
and with Christ, they are totally under his
sovereign control.
They are totally owned and operated by his sovereign plan.
They are conscious of the fact that their very breath is in
his hand.
They know that they can persevere and they are preserved
in Christ.
They know that they are totally engulfed by his
everlasting arms.
In fact, David's prophecy here in these four verses, that's the
first four verses, he mentioned three different names of God
just in four verses: El, Yahweh, Adonai.
He mentions them all in the Hebrew language.
Now, we saw in the last message, those of you who were here, "El"
describes the omnipotence of God.
"El" describes the all-powerful God, the almighty God.
"El" describes the all-sovereign God.
We also saw that "Yahweh" has represent different character
of God.
He is the covenant making God.
He is the covenant keeping God.
"Adonai" is a Hebrew word which means he is the Lord, my Lord.
He is the King, my King.
And here, he puts 'em all together, all three completed
meaning of who God is.
El, Yahweh, Adonai.
Say it with me.
El, Yahweh, Adonai.
And he gives us the full picture of God in the first four verses
of this psalm.
He is saying, "He is not only my Maker, he's my Mediator,
and he's my Master.
And because he is all of that to me, therefore no fear will
ever haunt me.
No worry will ever possess me.
No anxiety will be my companion.
No foe that can daunt me."
Why?
Because the condition of my inheritance is being guaranteed
by him.
The condition of my inheritance is protected by him because
the condition of my inheritance is my complete preservation
in his hands.
But the psalmist really saying something even stronger
than that.
He's saying, "El, Yahweh, Adonai means much more to me than that.
Besides him, nothing and no one will ever mean to me
more than him."
But he's also giving us a very subtle test to know if you meet
the conditions of that inheritance and if I meet the
condition of that inheritance.
A very subtle test.
What's that test?
Look at it with me.
Ask yourself the question, do I seek the companionship of
the Lord more than anybody else in life?
Do I seek the companion of those who seek his companionship more
than anybody else in life?
Do I feel uncomfortable in the company of those who openly sin?
Do I find that the values of the godless trouble me?
Does the lifestyle of the godless repulse me?
That's the test he gives us here.
IT's a very subtle test, but it's here.
That's the test by which I can know if I'm meeting the
conditions for that inheritance.
Some of you watching or you're here, you will know where
you are.
Nobody else does except you and God.
If you are like Peter, finding yourself warming your hands
at the fire of those who are hostile to Christ, be very
careful, because denial of Christ is around the corner.
Are you with me?
So first, the condition of the inheritance.
Secondly, the content of the inheritance.
I hear and read about people who go to a public hearing of a will
and they can't wait to go and hear.
And there are all kinds of stories about that but I'm not
gonna get there.
It's a temptation for me.
We know what it is.
We don't have to wait for the public hearing.
We have it.
Verse 5, "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup."
Let me put this psalm in its historic context, because
without understanding why David, at that particular point in his
life, write those words, you would think that he had written
them when he was a powerful king, sitting on the throne
of Israel.
And you'd say, "Yeah, of course.
I mean, he has made it."
No, you have to understand when he wrote this psalm, and that
should be a comfort and encouragement to every single
person who's at the sound of my voice.
Most theologians agree that David wrote this psalm when he
was a fugitive from King Saul.
King Saul was chasing David all over the countryside of Israel,
the land of Israel.
And when David being chased and running from cave to cave, he
was deprived of his inheritance.
You see, most of us know that when Joshua led the people of
God into the land of promise, they divided the land and each
tribe got a certain inheritance, except for the Levites.
They didn't get one.
That inheritance passed from generation, to generation, to
generation of the people of God.
David's share of that inheritance was in the fields
and the farms of Bethlehem, because that's where he
came from.
That's his origin.
That's why Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
You see, as long as Saul was on the throne of Israel, David
was deprived of his inheritance.
As long as Saul hunting David from place, to place, to place,
he was deprived of his inheritance.
Even his parents--if you read the Scripture, you see very
clearly, his parents become fugitives too and they joined
him in the land of Moab.
Here's a lesson for all of us.
When you find yourself in David's place, when you find
yourself in tough circumstances as David found himself, instead
of crying the blues, instead of feeling sorry for himself,
instead of saying, "Woe me," instead of becoming bitter
and angry, he said, "Forget about my earthly inheritance.
I have a far greater one.
The Lord himself is my inheritance," amen?
Look at verse 6.
David said, "The lines have fallen to me in
pleasant places."
Yay, I have godly inheritance.
I'm sure there are some here who would want to ask David some
questions, especially if you're going through a tough time.
I know because I'm not a stranger to tough times
and difficult times.
I'm sure you wanna ask David, "David, my buddy, get real here.
David, you're a fugitive.
You're going from cave to cave.
David, you are running from rock to rock.
David, you have a stone for a pillow at night when you go
to sleep.
David, you are hunted like a rabbit.
David, you have nowhere to lay your head.
David, you have nowhere to rest."
Oh, but David would say, "The boundaries,
the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant
places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."
In the middle of this.
Beloved, those of us who live by sight and not by faith, and we
all have those moments when we cease to live by faith and live
by sight, those of us who want David to get real and be
realistic, I can hear David to be saying, "You see, you don't
understand.
You don't understand.
This is a life of faith.
This is seeing the unseen.
This is the life that is complete in El Yahweh Adonai.
El Yahweh Adonai is my inheritance and that's
everything."
No wonder God honored David.
Listen, we all know about his failures.
We all know about his foibles.
We all know about his problems.
We all know that, but God still honored him because of
David's faith.
David says, "You want to place your trust in your material
possessions?
Good luck with that.
Do you wanna trust your statement of net worth?
That's your choice.
As for me, I am placing my trust in the glorious, eternal
inheritance," amen.
You know, every statistic I read, it says that
the Baby Boomers in our culture are bored
out of their minds because all of their focus is on this life.
The younger generation who have unrealistic expectations,
they're frustrated, they're restless, and they're depressed
because the focus on earthly inheritance, not eternal
inheritance, always makes your problems worse.
So many people look at others and they compare themselves with
others, and then they get depressed.
David would say to all of us, "That's not me.
That's not me.
Regardless of my current circumstances, I know that
I have a fantastic future.
I am going to get it all.
You might want it all now, but I'm gonna get it all.
And I'm gonna get it and it's gonna stay with me."
You say, "David, how come?
How come?" David would say to you, "Because
I remember back yonder in my father Jesse's home, there was
an old prophet by the name of Samuel.
He came over there and he poured oil on me and oil on my head,
and he told me that God has a plan for my life.
He told me that I have an incorruptible inheritance.
I have an inheritance that no one can steal from me,
inheritance that no one can take away from me, inheritance that
no one can deprive me of, inheritance that no one can
exclude me from, an inheritance that can never, never, never be
lost," amen.
Beloved, listen.
You may be going through your own private Gethsemane right
now.
I don't know, you do.
You might be going through unspeakable pain that only you
and God know.
Like David, you can say, "Back yonder, Jesus came into my life.
Jesus promised eternal life to me.
Jesus forgave me all of my sins.
Jesus saved me eternally.
Jesus promised me an inheritance with him.
Jesus assured me that he has a plan for my life.
Jesus promised me that I will reign and rule with him forever.
And therefore, no matter what I go through right now, no matter
how dark it appears right now, no matter how difficult things
are right now, no matter how tough my circumstances may
appear, my boundaries have fallen, for me, in a pleasant
place."
Amen, amen.
The condition of our inheritance, the content of our
inheritance, thirdly, the culmination of our inheritance.
Look with me please at verses 7, all the way to the end.
What is he saying here?
He's saying that in this life, my life is guided by
El Yahweh Adonai, not Dr. Phil.
I have nothing against the man, but be careful where you get
your advice.
In this life, I am guarded by El Yahweh Adonai, not by
a government program.
In this life, I am gladdened by God, not how much I have
or don't have.
Not only that, but in eternity, I'm gonna inherit the whole
universe.
Psalm 16, verse 10, look at it carefully.
Underline it if you have your own Bible.
It's a very important verse because it's quoted by both
Peter and Paul in the New Testament, verse 10.
And the New Testament writers have made it very clear that
this verse is fulfilled in Jesus Christ
at the Resurrection.
Therefore, this 1,000-year-old prophecy,
it says that, "You will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay."
And see, that's why the body of Jesus was in the grave only
three days.
It did not see decay.
The reason our own resurrection is sure is because Jesus's
resurrection is sure.
Because of Jesus's resurrection, I shall never die.
I shall never die.
It's like Moody used to say, "When you hear D.L. Moody
died, don't believe them.
I'll be more alive than I've ever lived."
Because of Jesus's resurrection, I shall live forever.
Because of Jesus's resurrection, I shall reign and rule with him
for all of eternity.
Because of Jesus's resurrection, I share Jesus's own inheritance.
Question, how much is that inheritance?
How much of that you gonna inherit?
I remember the days I was living in California when Howard Hughes
died, who was supposedly, at the time, a rich man.
And now there are a lot of people richer than him now, but
back then, the media was running around asking the lawyers,
"How much did he leave?
How much did he leave?" and the lawyer said,
"All of it."
How much of that inheritance are we gonna have, are we gonna
inherit?
Well, it's not measured by millions, or billions,
or trillions.
No, it's measured by the billions of galaxies.
That's how it's measured.
In comparison to what our inheritance is in the universe,
this planet earth is a drop in a big bucket.
Verse 11, "In your presence there is fullness of joy."
You know, I was reading about Henrietta Guinness, the heiress
to the Guinness fortune.
She took her own life at the age of 35.
With all that money, with all that wealth,
she took her own life.
And she said, "I would give it all for a moment of joy."
Think about this.
And yet, we will have joy, not for a moment, but forever more.
Not just for a short period of time, but forever.
One day, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to stand at the forum
of the universe, and he will take yours and my human body,
and he will give us heavenly bodies, glorified bodies,
supernatural bodies, and he will declare to every creature
and every created being, "You are a joint heir with me."
[applauding]
Now, my beloved friends, this is an inheritance worth singing
about.
This is an inheritance worth waiting for.
This is an inheritance worthy of the name "inheritance."
Do you have it?
Well, if you don't, you can ask.
Come to him in humility and repentance,
confessing your sins.
And the Bible says, that moment, in literal moment, your life'll
be transformed from death to life.
And you can do it now.
Those who know they have it, the question I have for you is this,
why are you living as if you don't have it?
Why are you living as if you don't have that inheritance?
Why are you living in defeat, and in sorrow, and in
desperation, and not trusting in the God of your inheritance?
Why?
Ask that question and don't rest until you answer it.
Because I believe with all my heart it is the will of
the Father for us to live in the power of the Son, amen.
Will you bow your heads with me please?
[music]
Dr. Youssef: I want you to celebrate with me and with us at
"Leading the Way" this milestone, 30 years of
faithful ministry.
We brought the gospel to many a living room, and to many cars,
and radio, television around the world and here in
the United States.
It is my privilege and my honor and great joy to know that we
have been ministering to you faithfully.
As you know, I receive no compensation from
"Leading the Way."
It has been for 30 years my labor of love.
So, I want you to join with me as we celebrate this great
milestone in the life of this ministry.
Dr. Youssef: By his crucifixion, he pardoned
and forgave-- Bryan Long: I started
listening to Dr. Youssef through "Leading the Way" approximately
17 years ago.
He is the most passionate preacher I've ever heard preach.
Not only is he in the Word, but he informed.
He understands cultures.
I mean, he's not afraid to say what needs to be said.
He is absolutely preaching uncompromising truth.
I own a land surveying company here in Atlanta.
I pretty much have been a land surveyor my whole life.
The main thing I wanted to do is reach my employees.
And you can invite someone to church, but they don't go.
So, what's the best thing you can do after that?
You've gotta bring church to them.
I prepare my Bible study every Wednesday by going to
leadingtheway.org and going to the "Listening" section.
Bryan: Dr. Youssef talked about that too.
What happens to Christians-- Bryan: I like to use all
types of ways of teaching the Word, and one of them is
videos off leadingtheway.org.
One of them is the sermons off leadingtheway.org.
Dr. Youssef: Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ,
forgive me all of my sins.
Bryan: What I love about "Leading the Way" is they're not
just satisfied with one venue or one outlet to convey the truth.
People give money to charities all the time, but what is
the most important thing?
Bringing people to know Christ, hearing the gospel.
How do we get the gospel to people?
And that's what "Leading the Way" does.
Dr. Youssef: God's mission is still the world, and God's
method is still the proclamation of the gospel.
<i>announcer: Through your</i> <i>partnership, "Leading the Way"</i>
<i>is on the air at crucial moments</i> <i>for listeners and viewers who</i>
<i>need to hear uncompromising</i> <i>biblical truth.</i>
<i>Consider a generous gift today.</i>
<i>You can call or visit us online</i> <i>at LTW.org.</i>
[music]
Dr. Youssef: I personally think that we are coming toward
the end of time.
And Satan senses that, and therefore he is unleashing his
venom against the believers all across the world.
And that is why this is the time, more than any other time
in history, I want the believers to know that he who is in us is
greater than he who's in the world.
<i>announcer: Experience the</i> <i>victory that is yours in Christ</i>
<i>with "Conquer," the book by</i> <i>Dr. Michael Youssef.</i>
Dr. Youssef: I wrote the book, "Conquer," simply because
I have watched so many believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who are
defeated and discouraged, and they don't know how to respond
to the harassing of the enemy of their soul.
I am convinced, personally, that it's just a matter of
understanding the Word of God, and understanding that the enemy
is a defeated foe, and that on the cross Jesus outwitted him
and defeated him.
And every believer needs to know that and needs to know how to be
equipped to live in victory all the time.
But Satan also knows that, and that's why he works doubly hard
on the believers, to make us weak and ineffective.
I have no doubt that the person who's gonna get this book
will no longer be defeated all the time, discouraged
and disappointed, because this is a how-to book.
It's a book that is going to show you how to have victory.
I pray that everybody will be able to say that, that I have
more victory today than I did before I read the book.
<i>announcer: Right now, you can</i> <i>receive your own copy of</i>
<i>"Conquer," when you give a gift</i> <i>of any amount to</i>
<i>Leading the Way.</i>
<i>Call or visit us online at</i> <i>LTW.org to request your</i>
<i>copy today.</i>
[music]
<i>announcer: Passionately</i> <i>proclaiming uncompromising</i>
<i>truth.</i>
<i>"Leading the Way"</i> <i>with Dr. Michael Youssef</i>
<i>thanks you for your</i> <i>faithful support through your</i>
<i>continued prayers and gifts.</i>
Dr. Youssef: If you're ever in Atlanta on a Sunday, it would
be a great opportunity for you to come and worship with us.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét