Inheritance Privileges by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Why should I be grateful? I don't have a job

1. You have life

   Ecclesiastes 9:4

   You are alive. That is a very powerful reason to thank God

   Psalm 150:6

   The Bible didn't say let everything that has a wife, a husband, a child or a job. It says let everything that has breath. Your breath is your qualification for praise

   Maybe by October your plan was to be in Canada for your masters and your visa was denied. If you are still alive, Canada is not the end.

   There is no limit to the possibility of someone who is still alive

   Life is a gift. The breath in your nostril is a gift

   Psalm 3:5

   Some people cannot sleep without drugs. It is not your alarm clock that woke you up. The moment you sleep you have lost the power to wake yourself up, because God woke you up

   October is the month depression starts for many people. People begin to introspect on how the year has been.

   It is the 10th month and before you know it people sink into depression. We must attack it before Satan starts

   Some of us don't ask for God's protection until we are about to fly. To go out in this country and come back alive is a testimony

   Poor governance has killed more people than the devil. As poor as the governance is, you are still here. None of us did anything to wake up this morning

2. You have health

   Every breath, every heartbeat, the air in your lungs, the strength in your bones. Health is underrated

   All the money you have saved, one sickness can wipe it off

   Some people are not grateful because they broke up in September, or thought they would be married by now and are not.

   You don't even care that your kidneys are working. Do you know what it means to go through dialysis?

3. You have family

   A church family is a gift. Some of us may never have had friends if not for church. People have died out of loneliness

   You have friends you can talk to and people you can relate with. However bad it is, by Sunday you know you have a place to go

   Whether it is your immediate family or your church family, we are grateful for a place to belong

I'm grateful for forgiveness of my sins. God is not just a God of a second chance but a God of another chance. I serve a God that does not give up on me

I'm grateful for the work I have, something bringing income into my hands. It may not be my dream work, but I have something

I'm grateful for the shelter over my head

If you are thoughtful enough, you will be thankful. Sometimes we become ungrateful because we forgot Psalm 103:2

Psalm 124:1 to Psalm 124:3

Satan wanted you to die. That was his intention for you. Do you know how many things God has saved you from?

I may not have rope lights, but I'm not in ropes. I'm free

Some of the people you compare yourself with are living a fake life. They rent a small apartment, carry 10 clothes there, change 10 times and snap 20 pictures.

Some go to a restaurant with a bag, change there and pose

Even if you live in a small rented place, you have your own house. You have somewhere you can enter and lock the door. That is your house

Whatever God has done for them, He has done for them. What is your own is your own. You may have a big mansion but this bungalow is mine

Stop comparing yourself. Comparison is the thief of joy. If you look well you will always find someone with finer clothes, a finer chair, a finer house.

Your mates are in prison. Your mates are in the cemetery. But you are here. Be grateful

Anyone who can break up with you is not deserving of you in the first place. You don't know what God is saving you from

Some of you are begging people to marry you. Jesus Christ died for you and you are begging. Sometimes God is saving you from a future crisis but we don't understand

We have obtained an inheritance

Ephesians 1:11

The theme for the month is inheritance and privileges, the kingdom inheritance

We have been predestined according to His purpose

Ephesians 1:14

We have an inheritance until redemption. Our redemption is not where the inheritance starts. We have an inheritance before redemption. You have an inheritance on earth

Ephesians 1:17 to Ephesians 1:18

There is a spirit of wisdom, wise choices, and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Every day our eyes are being enlightened by His word

Not only do we have an inheritance in Christ, Christ also has an inheritance in us. My emphasis is more on what we have in Christ

You belong to Jesus. He bought you with His blood Acts 20:28. You are not your own

We are His inheritance

Deuteronomy 32:9

Jacob is His inheritance. You are the apple of His eye. That is why He will not allow any evil before you. But we need to know it

Psalm 33:12

The nation whose God is the Lord is not Nigeria. It is the church. 1 Peter 2:9

The church of Jesus in every nation is that nation

Beyond that, we have an inheritance in Christ. That is my emphasis for October

Knowing the things freely given to us

1 Corinthians 2:11 to 1 Corinthians 2:12

There are things freely given to us by God, and we receive the Spirit so that we might know them

The Bible calls them things. Religious people quickly put "spiritual" before things. Things are things. A good house is a thing. A good car is a thing

John 8:32

The existence of truth does not set you free. In the existence of truth some people are still in bondage. It is the knowledge of that truth that sets them free

Romans 8:32

"Also" means in addition. Apart from Christ there are other things God gave us.

Some people's whole emphasis is Christ and it is not bad, but in addition to Christ there are things God gave us

2 Peter 1:3 to 2 Peter 1:4

We receive these things through knowledge

An ignorant believer will suffer. Satan will cause suffering just because of ignorance

Illustration: the house

If someone told you now that a six-bedroom duplex has been given to you with your name on it, would you wait until after service? You would go and see it

If you were told Elon Musk is your father and you have always had an American passport, you would be ready to travel this evening. It is ignorance that makes people suffer

Illustration: the courtroom

When I practiced law I saw it many times. You are in court and you see the lawyer spoiling the case but you cannot put in your mouth.

Even the judge cannot. The strength of your argument will determine the weight of your reward. If you don't know, you suffer

Joint heirs with Christ

Romans 8:16 to Romans 8:17

We are children of God right now. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ

Joint heirs are joint owners. Whatever Christ has belongs to us. Christ cannot sell His own. It belongs to us together

If I tell my children this car belongs to all of you, they cannot divide it. That is joint ownership.

Co-ownership is when I am given a land 100 by 100 and I can divide my own 50 by 100 and sell it

We will share in all God has promised and share in the glory

Don't touch the glory of God. It was Christ who gave you His glory John 17:22

I will list a few of our inheritance now. We lay the foundation at the beginning of the month and dissect it through the Sundays of the month

What is our inheritance?

1. Christ Himself

   Christ Himself is my inheritance. I have a name above every other name. Death is subdued by that name

   There are many names across the world but only one name through which people can be saved and healed, the name of Jesus

   To the house of Levi it was said the Lord is your portion Numbers 18:20. They shared land among the other tribes and gave God to Levi.

   God is my inheritance. That is my first inheritance

   When I preached in my early days, I would start a conversation about anything, and then use it to drive toward the name above every name. Your salvation is not in this government

   My father was serving idols. I was supposed to serve the idols with him. I picked Jesus and Jesus yanked me from the hands of the devil

   I sat my two daughters down and told them the story of my salvation. There were tears in my eyes and in theirs.

   I said tell your children to tell their children that this family belongs to Jesus. We don't ever serve Satan. Nobody must go back to the devil.

   This family serves Jesus till He comes

   Colossians 1:27

   Christ in me is the hope of glory. The hope that I will not die. Even if you leave this earth you are eternally saved.

   There is another life after this one, and I inherited it by inheriting Christ

   Galatians 2:20

   1 Corinthians 1:30

   Philippians 3:8

   Your PhD certificate, every other thing. Nothing measures to Christ. If you have Christ you have everything you could ever need

2. Eternal life

   The life of God in you. I inherited it John 3:16

   Your clothes cannot last forever but you have a life that lasts forever

   There is no power in death. Every believer that dies in Christ has gone to heaven. Heaven is better than Nigeria

   Some of us have lost loved ones and that is why we are not grateful today. Your mom is with Jesus. She doesn't want to come back

   Illustration: the old plane

   I was on a very old overland plane once. When it started cranking I told my wife this plane is very old. Satan said this is the end.

   I said me? I turned off my phone and said I will sleep now and wake up when we land. It was the landing that woke me up.

   I have eternal life

   I have eternal life 1 Corinthians 15:54

   1 John 5:11 to 1 John 5:12, John 10:28

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   Eternal life is not just the length of days. It is the very life of God, the quality of life God has

   Illustration: the man who preached his own funeral

   One man knew he was going to die. He warned that nobody must cry. He wrote a note by his own hand and put it on his corpse.

   It said stop crying, this is not me, I'm with Jesus. He had already worn his burial suit to see that it fit him.

   He wanted to look good as he was going down. He has gotten eternal life

3. Salvation and righteousness, freely given

   2 Corinthians 5:21

   Jesus did not become a sinner. He never committed any sin. He became sin personified

   We did not become righteousness. We did not do righteousness. We were made

   We did not qualify. God counted me worthy. He didn't say found me worthy 1 Timothy 1:12

   Jacob wore the clothes of his elder brother and knelt before Isaac. Isaac said the voice is like the voice of Jacob Genesis 27

   I have worn the clothes of my elder brother. I can now approach the everlasting Father and receive the gift of the firstborn

   Why was Isaac blind? Abraham was not blind. Jacob was not blind. David was not blind. Nobody was blind in that family before or after.

   It was an illustration of how God will be blind to our sins. He cannot tell whether it is you or Jesus. You are dressed in the garment of Jesus

   He has taken off my filthy garments and cloaked me with His garment of righteousness

   It is a gift. Nobody earned it. By being born I inherited the sin of Adam. By being born again I inherited the righteousness of Jesus. I did not do anything either time

   Nobody in this place can qualify for heaven by their own power.

   Sometimes when I see pastors brag about their righteousness, I say this "once saved, forever safe" had better be true, because people will go to hell

   Some people can pray for 12 hours and keep malice. They cover the malice with their hand.

   There are people in this church who don't greet each other and they pray to God for 12 hours.

   You talk to a God you cannot see and refuse to talk to a man you can see

   We think it is only sexual immorality. Satan did not fornicate. Satan is a virgin. The sin that took Satan to hell is pride. Some are proud that they have not fornicated. That is pride

   Some carry a Louis Vuitton bag and think they are better than others. Some video call every day to show off their house and clothes. That is pride and arrogance

   Isaiah 64:6

   Nobody can make it without Jesus

   I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't womanize. I have one body count, my wife.

   And in all of this I still can't make it to heaven by my power. All have sinned and fall short of God's glory Romans 3:23.

   Paul called himself the worst of sinners 1 Timothy 1:15

   The Bible calls it a gift. If you have to work for it, it is not a gift

   Am I saying go on committing sin? No. If that is what you think I am saying, you are an idiot.

   What I am saying is that in spite of all we do, we still lean on the righteousness of Christ

   Jesus does not love you more because you pray 6 hours. It is you that loves Jesus more. He already loves you eternally

   If He loved me unconditionally before I got saved, He loves me unconditionally after. He loved me when I was smoking. I had not opened one page of the Bible when He loved me

   Romans 5:7 to Romans 5:8

   Your parents can't buy you a bicycle if you don't come first in class. But while I was useless, Christ died with no strings attached

   He didn't wait for me to clean up before He died for me. He died for me dirty as I was

4. Forgiveness of sins

   Ephesians 1:7

   Not according to our repentance. Not according to our soberness. Not according to our regrets

   Jesus forgave us according to His own grace, not according to our willingness to even repent

   I stole from my mom's pot. I jumped the fence in school. I did everything possible to be destroyed. But Jesus forgave me

   I wanted to be a rough boy. I had charms in my waist as far back as junior secondary school. I used charms to collect people's things in class.

   I did not go to class, I went straight to the game house. I stole money from the idol.

   When my father found out he was shivering and took me to the Benin Republic to beg the priests. I was going on the fast lane to hell

   Jesus picked me like a chicken. It was a storybook cartoon that made me give my life to Christ.

   The next day in school the news went round that I had become born again. One guy slapped me to be sure. I did not slap him back.

   I said I'm born again. Jesus forgave me

   Some people have nothing in their past. They are so perfect, so clean. Don't marry them. If you see the skeleton in their cupboard you will be shocked.

   A person who says he never did anything wrong, Jesus is not his savior. He is just a friend, because He didn't save him from anything

   Human beings cannot forgive the way Jesus forgives. Human beings are wicked.

   When God said to David choose between falling in My hands or the hands of your enemy, David said let me fall in Your hands, You will have mercy 1 Chronicles 21:13.

   It is God that is merciful

   Illustration: the handsome suitor

   A young woman in our church loved a man. When I heard his name, something said he was not the one. My wife said you must at least meet him first

   He was tall, handsome and well spoken. He said he had read Kenneth Copeland and many books. As he spoke, something said he is not the one.

   It was like washing my feet with my socks on

   When he went to change his SIM card, she picked his phone and found nude pictures from different sisters.

   He had slept with three sisters from the church that same week, and he was the youth pastor

   She copied what she could. When he couldn't reach her he came to my house. I told him go outside, let the rain wash away your sins

   He tried to twist it and said it was his weakness. I said fornication cannot be your weakness. You don't have a weakness of overspending or giving too much.

   Your weakness is sleeping with people all over the place. Useless weakness

   I said you are a wolf in sheep's clothing Matthew 7:15. If I feel like this about you, only God knows how God feels. Go and meet Jesus.

   He is the one who can forgive your sins

   Those who go out with someone like that, who offends them and twists it so they are the one apologizing, are in a relationship that is not love

   Only Jesus can forgive. In Jesus we have inherited forgiveness

Where would you have been without Jesus? What kind of life would you have been living if not for Jesus?

No one else was dragged on the streets of Jerusalem. No one else was nailed on the cross. No one else bled and died.

No one else went down to hell. No one else died for me but Jesus