Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
From a conversation with Preacher Clark in the late 1970’s
“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Hebrews 6:12
“For you have need of patience that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.”
Hebrews 10:36
There is a difference between being in the kingdom of God and inheriting the kingdom of God. Every person who is born again is in the kingdom right now, but some of God’s children will be cast out of the kingdom and will never receive their inheritance.
Because they felt close to my father, the family of a deceased physician asked him to come with them to their lawyer’s office to be a witness when the attorney opened and read the doctor’s Last Will and Testament. He agreed, and so they all gathered on a certain day in the attorney’s office. Each person, in his turn, was to be allotted his portion of the estate, and there was some anticipation in the room, along with the sadness that attended the family’s loss. The lawyer opened the will and began to read aloud the deceased doctor’s directions as to how to distribute his assets to each family member. At last, it was his youngest son’s turn to hear what his father had bequeathed to him. The young man had been an unruly, self-centered, and unthankful son; still, he expected an equal share in the inheritance with his siblings.
The lawyer called his name, as he had also called the names of other family members when he read what their allotted portions would be. Then, after he called the young man’s name, he soberly read aloud, “One dollar!” The foolish young man was humiliated; he had been disinherited by his father! He fell into a rage, but his threats and furious curses meant nothing. It was done. He had been cut out of his father’s will.
Years before, on the day the young man was born, his father had no doubt been thrilled and excited about all the wonderful blessings he hoped to bring into his son’s life. The future held much promise for the infant, especially for having such a father as he had. But with the passing of the years, the son had grown self-indulgent, stubborn, and proud, and he had caused his father and mother so much shame and heartache that, at the last, he lost his inheritance.
This can happen, and will happen, in God’s kingdom as well. We who are in the kingdom of God must not so displease our heavenly Father that in the end He disinherits us, as the deceased doctor disinherited his son. Jesus straitly warned us that some of his servants would be “given their portion with the sinners and hypocrites.” It is a coming reality for many unsuspecting children of God who have assumed for years now that they were getting by with their sin. May God help us not be among them.