Michael Youssef - You Will Get It All
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". 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?