The Conqueror's Inheritance 2
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II. Now the promise is absolute—"He who overcomes shall inherit all things." Let me ask you two questions to bring matters to a nearer compass. Have you ever had any enemies to encounter? Does your soul know the difficulties, the exercises, and the perplexities of a conflict? "It does," answer you. "I do know," says the living soul, "what it is to have, more or less, a daily, and sometimes an hourly, conflict with sin, corruption, temptation, and the world." Good. Let me ask you another question—"Do you ever overcome in this battle? You say that you are fighting. Is it all defeat? Is there never any victory? Is there never any success? Is corruption never mortified? Does temper always overcome you, or lust always cast you down? Pride, peevishness, impatience, unbelief, hypocrisy— do these always bear the sway in your heart? Surely you are deceived if you think you have a conflict, and find yourself always overcome."
Is there a promise merely to the fighter? It is true we must fight, but does the promise belong merely to the battle? Does not the promise belong to "him who overcomes"? Read the Lord's own testimony in the second and third chapters of the Revelation. Is the promise made to the fighter, or is the promise made to the conqueror? "But," you say, and that justly, "I am often overcome." But do your defeats lead to victories? What is the effect when sin overcomes you? When temper, when pride, when lust, when hypocrisy, when corruption, in its various shapes and forms, overcome you, are you cut? are you grieved? are you distressed? are you troubled? Do the eyes overflow with tears of sorrow? Does the bosom heave with convulsive sobs of penitence and remorse? "Yes," say you, "it does." Then you are not overcome. That is the secret of victory. These things show that there is an internal principle in your bosom that flies out of self, to lay hold of the strength of Jesus.
I will tell you when a man is overcome—when he sins and feels no sorrow; when his lusts captivate him, and he is never filled with shame before God; when his pride, his ill-temper, his unbelief, his covetousness, exercise unchecked sway over him. There is no conflict then; no tear from his eye, no sob from his heart, no groan from his conscience.
But to be sorrowing and mourning, sighing, groaning and panting after the Lord; these are so many victories. They may come to us as defeats, but actually they are so many victories, because they lead us on to conquest. They purge us of self, they overcome our self-righteousness, they empty us of that leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy, and they prepare the heart, by meekening the spirit and softening the soul, to receive a glorious and precious Jesus in all His fullness.
Now, the promise runs to such—"He who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son." Let us look at these two promises.
1. "He shall inherit all things." When? In eternity? Yes. But only in eternity? Oh no! In time also. There is a twofold inheritance, though one and the same—one in time, another in eternity; one the first-fruits, the other the harvest; one the pledge, the other the full sum. There is an inheriting here below, and an inheriting above; and he who never receives any portion of his inheritance below will never receive an inheritance above. Now, just in proportion as we overcome are we put in possession of this inheritance. What are we to inherit? Riches, glory, honor, power, praise? These are worldly things—let the world enjoy them. In inheriting "all things," we are to inherit the things of God—the favor of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the glory of God; all that a covenant God gives in giving Himself; peace here, glory hereafter; pardon below, salvation above; the beginning of rest on earth, the fullness of rest in heaven.
Now, while we are overcome, there is no being put into possession of this eternal inheritance. Does sin overcome us? Do we inherit pardon in being overcome? No! we inherit shame and confusion, guilt, fear, and wrath. When we cultivate our own temper, our own spirit, our own pride, our own worldliness, our own profit, do we inherit the image of Christ, the meekness of Jesus, the favor of God, the dew of the Spirit, the compassion of Jehovah? No! we feed upon ashes; the clusters are the clusters of Sodom, and grapes of gall. Let us have our pride gratified; does it put us into possession of a heavenly inheritance? Sorrow, shame, confusion follow. Are we overcome by our lusts? Do we gratify them? Do we fill our carnal heart with the enjoyment of them? What do we inherit? Love, pardon, peace, salvation, bliss? No! distress, shame, remorse, confusion, trouble, fear, doubt, despondency, the wrath of God in the conscience. Do we seek the exaltation of self in its various forms, that dear self may be honored, admired, gratified, fed? Do we then inherit all things? the favor of God, the testimony of mercy, the consolations of the Spirit, the dew of heaven? No! we inherit nothing but the inheritance of fools, which is shame and folly.
But do we overcome in God's strength, in God's name, in God's righteousness? We begin, the moment that we overcome, to be put into possession of the inheritance. What is the inheritance? Is it not peace and pardon, the image of Christ, the "rivers of pleasure, which are at His right hand for evermore"? Is not this inheritance the goodly land flowing with brooks of honey, milk, and wine? Do we not, just in proportion as we overcome, drink into a portion of the inheritance?
Do I overcome the world? Am I separate in spirit from it? Is its love cast out? Are its allurements opened up to me in their true colors? Do I overcome it by believing on the name of the Son of God? Directly as I overcome it, I begin to drink into the eternal inheritance, into the kingdom of heaven, which is opposed to and incompatible with the kingdom of earth. I must be brought out of the world in heart, in spirit, in affection, that I may enter into the kingdom of heaven, and partake of the inheritance reserved for the saints.
Do I overcome myself? Is self mortified, crucified, subdued, put off? No sooner do I put off self than I put on Christ; I must put off the old man to put on the new. When I put off self, I put on Jesus; and in putting on Jesus, I put on the pledge of an eternal inheritance, which is Jesus in His almighty, glorious fullness.
Do I overcome my temper, my pride, my hypocrisy, the inward workings of self in all its hateful forms? Do I return good for evil? Do I turn the left cheek when the right is smitten? Do I humble myself under the mighty hand of God? Do I seek to know His will, and when known to do it? Am I contrite, brokenhearted, tender, softened, looking to the Lord, and to the Lord only? Do I sometimes thus overcome self? The moment that I overcome self, I begin to enter into the inheritance. The inheritance is the image of Jesus, for to that image we are predestinated to be conformed. Then no sooner do I overcome self than I put on the image of Christ; and in putting on the image of Christ I enter into the inheritance.
Does sin overcome me, or do I overcome sin? If I overcome sin, it is not in my own strength, or by my own resolutions. I am lost there. But do I ever overcome sin by the fear of God in my soul, as Joseph did? Do I ever overcome sin by looking to the Lord of life and glory to sprinkle His blood upon my conscience? Do I ever overcome sin by the leadings and teachings of the Spirit in my heart? No sooner do I thus overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of His testimony, than I enter into the inheritance. So that there is a connection, a beautiful, an experimental connection, between overcoming here below, and inheriting here below.
But in order to enter into this inheritance, we must be perpetually reminded that we have no strength of our own. And thus our sins, our slips, our falls, our backslidings, our frailties (though we would not, dare not justify them), are mercifully overruled among the "all things" that work together for our good. They teach us our weakness, and by teaching us our weakness, lead us up to Christ's strength—and by leading us up to Christ's strength, to "inherit all things"—for in inheriting Him, we inherit all that He is to God's people.
Those who know nothing of their own heart, of their own infirmities, of their own frailties, of their own inward or outward slips and backslidings, know nothing of the secret of superabounding grace, nothing of the secret of atoning blood, nothing of the secret of the Spirit's inward testimony. They cannot. Only in proportion as we are emptied of self in all its various forms are we filled out of the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Now you, perhaps, (I address myself personally to some poor tempted child of God, that in touching one, I may touch others) are a poor tempted creature, and your daily sorrow, your continual trouble, is that you are so soon overcome; that your temper, your lusts, your pride, your worldliness, your carnal corrupt heart, are perpetually getting the mastery. And from this you sometimes draw bitter conclusions. You say in the depth of your heart, "Can I be a child of God, and be thus? What mark and testimony have I of being in favor with God when I am so easily, so continually overcome?" Now I want you to look to the end. What is the outcome of these defeats? Remember, it is a solemn truth, and one that we learn very slowly, that we must be overcome in order to overcome. There is no setting out with a stock of strength, daily adding to it, weekly increasing it, and then gaining the victory by our own resolutions, our own innate strength. Such feigned holiness may come under a gospel garb, may wear a fair appearance; but it only more hides the rottenness of the flesh.
Then, remember this, that in order to gain the victory, we must know our weakness; and we can only know our weakness by its being experimentally opened up in our consciences. We cannot learn it from others; we must learn it in our own souls, and that often in a very painful manner. But these painful sensations in a tender conscience lead a man more humbly, more feelingly, more believingly, to the Lord of life and glory, to receive out of His fullness. Thus every defeat only leads to and ensures victory at the last. Says the Apostle, "In all these things we are more than conquerors." How? Through our resolutions, through our wisdom? No. "Through Him who loved us." There is no other way, then, to overcome, but by the "strength of Jesus made perfect in our weakness."
Now, in "inheriting all things," we inherit the pardon of sin. But what can we know of the pardon of sin, unless we know what sin is by the rankling of it in our conscience? In "inheriting all things," we inherit the favor and love of God. But do not the favor and love of God flow through the channel of Immanuel's sufferings and obedience? And were not Immanuel's sufferings and obedience for transgressors? for "He was numbered with the transgressors" (Isa. 53:12); and it is a faithful saying, that "He came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10)—"to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15). Then, if we are to know the favor and love of God, we must know it as sinners. It is a painful way. We would desire to inherit the favor of God as 'saints', as holy people, as truly religious characters, as having a form of godliness, as being what is called 'decidedly pious Christians'. But to inherit favor through shame, through sorrow, trouble, perplexity, remorse and penitence—that it is not the path that nature loves to walk in. Yet God's favor and forgiving mercy, through the blood and obedience of Jesus, can flow, and do flow, only into a guilty sinner's conscience.
2. But we pass on to consider the next promise connected with overcoming—"I will be his God, and he shall be My son." What a promise! That the God of heaven and earth will be our God, our Father, our Benefactor, our eternal almighty Friend—and that we in overcoming shall receive the adoption of sons, shall be manifested as the "sons and daughters" of the Almighty, and receive the inheritance reserved for the children of God! The promise runs in connection with "him who overcomes." If we do not overcome, the promise is not for us. The promise of sonship is connected with overcoming in the same manner as that of "inheritance" is connected with it. Do I want to receive into my heart the Spirit of adoption? Do I want to feel the love of God the Father shed abroad in my soul? Do I want to establish a blessed title to the inheritance that He gives to His children? How am I to get it? How is it to be obtained? By making myself religious, becoming holy, subduing my lusts in my own strength? This sets me farther from God than I was before! This makes me a god to myself! If I am saved by my own holiness, by my own strength, by my own righteousness, I worship myself, and in worshiping myself I become my own god. This is idolatry, damnable idolatry; so that he who lives and dies in the worship of self will live and die under the wrath of God as an idolater.
Then how am I to receive adoption? By overcoming—not in my own strength, but in the strength of the Lord of life and glory. No sooner do I thus overcome than I become manifestly a child of God. How are you to be known as children of God? By base lusts, by pride, by covetousness, hypocrisy, conformity to the world lying in wickedness? Are these the marks, the stamps upon God's sheep? No! honest conscience bears witness. How are you manifested as God's children, as lights in a crooked generation? By wearing the image of Christ. What was the image of Christ—blow for blow, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, revenge for revenge, evil for evil? No! that is not the mind of Christ, that is not the image of Christ. What was the mind of Christ? How did He act? "He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;" He obeyed the will of the Father in all things; He gave Himself up wholly and solely into the hands of God, that His will might be done in and by Him. If, then, there is this image of Christ in your soul, if you are a child of God, your pride (and you will have pride to your dying day), your hypocrisy (and you will never be free from it), and your worldly-mindedness, will be your heaviest burdens. Corruptions do not prove that you are a child of God.
But the faith of God's implanting, the hope of God's giving, the love of God's communicating; the meekness, quietness, humility, brokenness, resignation, tender conscience, godly fear, separation of heart and spirit from the world; communion with the Lord of life and glory, tasting His love and feeling His presence—these are the marks of sonship—and as we overcome, we enter upon it.
If I am shut up in self, I inherit self—nothing more. If I inherit the world, I have no more than the world. If I inherit sin, I inherit death, which is the wages of sin. Nothing more. But if I overcome, if weak, helpless and defenseless, I yield myself up to the hands of the Lord, as clay in the hands of the Potter; not seeking my own will, but looking to the Lord to make known His will in my conscience, and to work in me that which is well-pleasing in His sight. If I have this, I have an evidence of sonship; and where that evidence is, there will be a further evidence of it in the Spirit of adoption, enabling the soul to call God "Father." And he who calls God "Father" here below, will call God "Father" above, where he will enter into the full enjoyment of it, and bathe in the consolations of Father, Son, and Spirit to all eternity.
Now there are two characters, perhaps more, here. There are those who are fighting in their own strength, and perhaps secretly congratulating themselves they are not as other men. No! they are wise, they are strong, they are righteous, they are holy. Now, be assured that this is not the way to overcome. Your victories are only defeats, and you will find one day, to your sorrow, that all your gain in self will end in shame and confusion of face.
There are others here, poor, tried, exercised children of God, who are daily and hourly plagued with the body of sin and death; corruption and sin, carnality and guilt perpetually lurking and working in their heart. You are on the high road to victory; you cannot overcome in any other way. Depend upon it, we shall find out, if we are the children of God, sooner or later, that we cannot overcome in our own strength, or our own righteousness. Happy are we, if we have learned this lesson, though by painful experience, through a humbling sense of our own helplessness and nothingness. Every feeling groan and cry, under a sense of our own nothingness and worthlessness, to a living and loving Lord, that He would be our "sun and shield"; every tender feeling of affection, and every submissive yielding up of the soul and spirit into His hands and keeping, is a sure pledge and foretaste of certain victory. We shall never be allowed to conquer in any other way; but if we are the Lord's, we shall conquer, we shall overcome; for the promise is made to such—but then, we shall never overcome but in His own way.
May God, in mercy, beat out of our hands every weapon but His own. May God, in mercy, bring us to that spot where He works in the broken heart and tender conscience. We are safe there. We may doubt, we may fear, we may be exercised and distressed in our mind; we may not see the chariot of the Almighty coming to our relief. But we are in a much safer, in a much surer, in a much better spot than when standing upon the pinnacle of victory in our own strength and wisdom.
Do look at the words. The Lord lay it upon our hearts—"He who overcomes." There is no promise to anyone else—"He who overcomes shall inherit all things." Not one good thing shall fail; heaven here, and heaven hereafter—peace below, and peace above—the image of Christ now in his soul, and the image of Christ hereafter in soul and body. All the love of God, all the bliss of the saints, and all the happiness reserved at the right hand of God, where there are pleasures for evermore—all are summed up in that promise, shall "inherit all things." Present sonship, and future enjoyment of it, are also contained in the promise. All are limited to, and belong to, that one character—and that one character, sooner or later, comprehends every ransomed soul—"He who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son."
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