Chosen for Eternity

We now come to the last part of the verses from Psa. 106. 4, 5: 'Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people. O visit me with thy salvation; that I may sec the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that 1 may glory with thy inheritance.' We want to leave this study with these words deeply engraved on our hearts. Our prayer is that the experience of these verses may be the experience of each one, and that whatever has been expressed in human limitation may be made clear to you by the Holy Spirit.

Note the deep longing of the psalmist in these verses, and, with him, make the last part of verse 5 your own—'that I may glory with thine inheritance.' When we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we become partakers of the great eternal inheritance, just like a child who is born into a wealthy family. Even though the child may he without qualifications, yet he has all the privileges of his father's property.

One of my relatives was a very wealthy man. When he died he left behind a great inheritance in property and cash. He had much land and houses in different places. The inheritance fell to his two sons, the eldest of which is very clever and the younger rather stupid. When the father died these two brothers got together to divide the family property. The elder one said to the younger: 'It will be a great bother to you to collect the bills for rent and for the use of the land, etc. You have no strength and not much education. Now I will give you a portion in cash, and you can give me the power of attorney.' The younger brother said: 'How much will you give me ?' 'I will give you Rs. 5,000/- and you must give me in writing that you have received your portion.' But the younger brother said: 'Even though I am stupid, I know that half the property is my share; so you take half and give me half. Even though 1 myself cannot calculate, I can employ an accountant to help me. Give me the books., please, and we will get an accountant to tell us our portion." The elder brother said: 'This is a private family matter. Why do you want an outsider to know our secret? Let us agree peaceably. If you are not satisfied with Rs. 5,000;-, then I will give you Rs. 10,000/-. That is nothing to be referred to an accountant. Rs. 10,0,00/- will last for your whole life-time; why should you bother with an accountant? ' The younger brother insisted: 'Though I am stupid, 1 want my half-portion. It may be one thousand or three thousand or more, but I will be satisfied only with my rightful portion. You bring the books, and I will bring the accountant! Again the elder brother said: 'Why should an outsider know our secrets? I will give you Rs. 15,000/-.'

'No! no! I want only my portion, even if it is only four or five thousand. Please bring the books.' 'You don't want to go outside,' repeated his brother. 'I will give you Rs: 25,000/-; that is a quarter lakh, your rightful share.' And so it went on till he got more than a lakh! Why? Because he had the inward assurance that his father had left him half the property. Even though he was a stupid, simple and foolish boy, yet he wanted his full portion.

It does not require worldly knowledge or education to demand an earthly portion. But for us as believers sometimes it takes many years to learn the value of our heavenly inheritance. Let us learn it now. The Word of God is 80 clear and plain that when we receive our Lord as our personal Saviour, we are given the right and authority to become the sons of God. We are God's sons for eternity, because of His everlasting love, which we have received by faith. We have a share in the inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't require to know Hebrew or Greek to know that truth, but have the inward assurance of the Holy Spirit. The enjoyment of the inheritance depends upon your faith. Rom. 8. 17, 18: 'And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.' These things go together. If you can say: I am a child of God', then automatically you can say also: I am the heir of God, and fellow-heir with the Lord Jesus Christ.'

We cannot understand now the full meaning of that inheritance, but we know a day is coming when we shall know all about it. A small boy knows that his father possesses property and wealth. But if you question him as to how much land, property and wealth the father has, he will say: I don't know!' He is too young to know now, but when he becomes mature he will be able to understand the full extent of his father's possessions. So, while we cannot understand now how great is our inheritance, when we see our Lord face to face, and when the work of grace is perfected, we shall know everything.

You must believe that you are called and chosen for a great and everlasting inheritance. By receiving Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord we enter into a full spiritual partnership. First of all we become partakers of the divine nature: 2 Pet. 1. 4. Secondly, we are partakers of the Holy Spirit; Heb. 6. 4. Thirdly, we are partakers of the heavenly calling; Heb. 3. 1. Fourthly, we are partakers of God's holiness; Heb. 12. 12. Fifthly, we are partakers of the glory to be revealed; 1 Pet. 5: 11. Sixthly, we are partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; Col. 1.12. Seventhly, we arc partakers of the Lord Himself; Heb. 3. 14.

How wonderful to be partakers of God's heavenly inheritance. Our loving God has chosen us to bring us into that spiritual, incorruptible and glorious inheritance which He wants us to enjoy. You must believe that you have a share in that inheritance. There are so many believers who think only of salvation in terms of going to heaven. They think that God is merciful and forgives sins so that they can go to heaven, and it does not matter whether they are given even only a small corner, so long as they are there. It is like travelling by the How rah express! That train is usually crowded and often there is not even standing room. The whistle goes off as you arrive on the platform. You want to get inside somehow, for you must go by that train, so by the help of the coolies you get inside and stand in some corner. You say: 'Anyway I have found a corner. Nothing matters so long as I am on the train!' Is your conception of heaven so limited that it does not matter what old corner you have there? You may say: 'We do not want to be like preachers or sadhus or sanyasis. We have to be in the world, we have to earn money, and we have to live among earthly people, so how can we give up everything ?' That is how the enemy deceives you and deprives you of your share in the heavenly inheritance. You have to claim your share and enjoy it by living an overcoming life. The Lord Himself says in Rev. 21. 7: 'He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.'

If you question a child: 'Who is this man ?' or 'Who is that woman ?' the child, who is holding the hand of his father or mother, will answer: 'He is my dad', or 'She is my mother'. He knows his inheritance. Even if you inherit all the things of the new creation, you will have no greater claim than that over your Lord. You will be able to say: 'He is my Lord, my own God; I can go to Him at any time, and anywhere.' In this way we are given a foretaste of heaven upon this earth.

In the early days of your new life, as you kneel to pray, you may think of prayer in terms of earthly things. A small child on hoard a ship would go out every morning with her doll and play with the captain. One day the doll fell into the sea, and she pleaded with him to stop the ship. The captain asked why. She said: 'My doll has fallen into the sea, and I want it.' The captain said: 'How can I stop such a big ship for the sake of one small doll? If a man falls into the sea I can stop it, but not for the sake of a small doll.' The child turned away from the captain and said: 'You are a bad man! a very bad man!' Presently the ship came into a port, and the child and her parents went to a hotel. It happened that the captain went to the same place, and when he saw the child he went to a shop and bought a very large and beautiful doll, and took it back to the hotel. There he put it on the table and called the child. 'Come, my child, and see what I have brought you,' he said. Again the child turned away her face and said: 'You are a very bad man!' Then the captain slowly untied the box, removed the lid and showed her the doll. The child saw it and cried: 'Is it for me? for me? You are a very good man!' and she hugged the captain and thanked him.

It is the same with us. We ask God only for earthly things. If God answers our prayer we say: 'He is a very good God!' We go to every meeting, and take part in many activities. But when troubles, trials and sorrows come, or someone dies in the family, then we ask: 'Where is G o d? where is He? I am not going to the meeting any more, and 1 am not going to give Him any more money. Look at Him! I have done so many good deeds and yet the Lord has laid upon me so many trials. He has forsaken me and forgotten me.' Is that true? You are His child. His ways are higher than your ways. He has called you to a glorious heavenly inheritance, and the enjoyment of the inheritance depends upon your ability- to overcome. In Rom. 8. 18, we read that it does not matter how great and painful our sufferings are, for they are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed in and through us. We must believe from our hearts that God has called us to His glorious kingdom; I Thess. 2.12. I believe God has called me to His glorious kingdom; and if we believe that truth, we shall walk worthy of His calling.

I have five brothers, and the one younger to me became a high officer some years ago. One day, as we were travelling together, he told mc: 'Now I can no longer travel in the third class.' I said: 'All these years you have travelled in the third class!' but he answered: 'I am now a magistrate, and it is beneath my dignity. Even if 1 have to borrow the money I must go first class to keep up the dignity of my position.' That is a very poor illustration, of a great truth. If you believe that you have been called by your God for His kingdom and glory, then you will seek to walk worthy of your calling. You are a child of God, His partner and vessel, and a king, a prince and a priest. Walk worthy of Him.

We have to be prepared for that glorious heavenly calling through manifold trials and temptations, hardships and difficulties, and we have no right to tell Him how to train us. When you go to any College or University you cannot say to the professor: 'Mr. Professor, I am a graduate; I come from a wealthy family, and so I can tell you how to teach!' You have no right to speak in that way. You have to learn what he teaches, as he knows what is best for you. God only knows what is best for us. God only knows how to train us, and His chastening, rebuke and trial are for some purpose- There is one thing more about an inheritance. An inheritance is something which we obtain through our parents. For example, I have inherited my father's nature or character. If you were to see me, together with my father, grandfather, and the rest of the family, you would say: 'You people have a strong family resemblance!' My father has a habit of putting his hand up, and I also have that habit, so those who have seen both me and my father are apt to say: 'How like your father you are!'

Some young men are very clever, and you might say: 'He cannot be a Punjabi, he is far too clever. Maybe he is from Andhra.' No! no! he is far too clever, perhaps he is a Bengali. 'No! he is too clever even for a Bengali.' Then what is he? a Malayan"? 'That is possible! He is so clever, he must be a Malayali.' There is also an inheritance bound up with the nationality which we receive from our parents. In the same way, as God's children, the character of our Heavenly Father, and the traits of our heavenly nationality must be manifest in us. As sinners we are full of sins, shame and defilement, but after conversion we find some divine virtues in evidence. These are not from family or generation, nor from earthly nationality, but from our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord's qualities and virtues arc being transferred to us—kindness, gentleness, love, long-suffering, patience and forbearance. This is our heavenly inheritance, which we have not received from our parents or teachers or preachers or professors, but from the life of God in us. However, there must be a willingness on our part for these virtues to be manifested in our lives.

If a child is born in a royal family, from the day of birth he is a prince, and everybody knows it. Maybe the child is very black, with thick lips, long ears and a bald head, but still he is a prince. As children of God we have become kings and priests. That is our privilege: Rev. I:6. Do not think these words are meant only for apostles, martyrs and prophets. They are for everyone. All those who are washed, cleansed and purged by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ are born into the heavenly family, and are made princes and priests unto God.

In the olden days in India there was a special royal college for the princes of India, where they were taught to read and write, and also how to reign and behave as kings. So also in God's College of Life we are taught how to reign in life, and to behave as the sons of the Heavenly King.

In these days men find it hard to get a seat in any college. They go from college to college and town to town, trying to get a seat. God's way of training is very different. Take the life of David as an example. David fled before his enemies, and had to hide in the dark cave of Adullam. He may have felt that God had forsaken him, a man supposed to be a king, in every way a man of ability, and a man after God's own heart. Why did God allow him to wander in the wilderness, and caves and desert places? Why did He allow Saul to pursue him for eight long years? That was God's University and Training College for David, where he learned many great divine truths, where he composed many new songs, and where God gave him mighty men as coworkers. Years later, when he had passed every test, one day God Himself appeared to him and gave him a heavenly pattern. David was given the plan of the temple as he says in I Chron. 28. 19: 'All this... the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.' I believe that was the happiest day in David's life, when the Lord's hand was upon him, and he obeyed the heavenly plan. But God could not give him that honour in the beginning. He had to go through all those trials in order to be prepared. This is the divine way in which, perhaps, God is now training and preparing you. A day will come in your life when you will see clearly the heavenly plan of God.

Again, by inheritance you have also a future. If you are born into God's royal family you know that one day you will have to reign in His kingdom for ever and ever, and you are being prepare_d for that. When Queen Victoria was a small girl she did not know chat she was going to be a queen. She was very fond of playing with dolls, and instructions were given to those in the family not to tell her that she was going to be Queen one day. At last she discovered that she was heir to the throne. 'Is it true? is it true ?' she asked everybody in the palace. 'Is it true that I am going to be Queen of England ?' From that day she stopped playing with dolls. She became serious, and said: '1 have to reign a very vast kingdom: 1 must be very serious.' Now we, too, must learn how to reign. By inheritance we are given all the power of God, but we must learn how to use it, and are being trained for that purpose.

Similarly, if you inherit a wealthy property, you have to learn how to administer that property. There are some princes in India who keep their wealth in strong houses. They are satisfied and say: 'I have so much wealth—diamonds, gold, precious stones and silver', but it only remains there and is admired. Heavenly wealth, however, has to be made use of, and we are being trained how to use it.

The knowledge of a profession is sometimes acquired by inheritance. If from childhood you learn a trade, at an early age you become a carpenter or a goldsmith. Others will take years to learn the same trade, but those who are born in the family of a goldsmith will very quickly learn the profession. In the same way you share God's wisdom from the time of your new birth, and become a co-worker of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, we are chosen to be the inheritance of God Himself. When parents divide their property, all the children get a portion, but, at the same time, parents will feel very happy if they receive something from their children. Parents long to give their love to their children. Our Heavenly Father loves us with an everlasting love. That is our heavenly inheritance. Let us enjoy His love in its fulness, the love of the Heavenly Father, Friend and Bridegroom. But He also longs to be satisfied in us. How much do we love H i m? Alas! how often we arc ashamed of our heavenly inheritance and our Heavenly Father.

When I was in our hostel at school, my father once came to see me. He was an old-fashioned man with a very big turban, and a long vashti and wearing country shoes. He had come to see me, and brought me ghee and sweets and gave me cash. Then one of my friends saw him, so he called me outside and asked: 'Who is that man ?' I replied that he was an old man from rny village. You may laugh at my folly, but it is quite true. I took my father's money and everything he brought, but was ashamed to confess him as my father. He had also brought me an English suit, and yet I was such a proud young man as to disown him.

Alas! there are many believers who are ashamed to own the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. When they go among friends and neighbours they are ashamed of Him, and yet when they are in trouble they cry: 'O Lord, help me; help me; I want your help!' The Lord readily helps,- but that does not satisfy His heart. He wants us to be perfectly one with Him, to be fully possessed by Him, to be to Him as the Bride to the Bridegroom. That is our eternal heavenly inheritance, and His. May the Lord give us a deeper longing for that glorious inheritance, and a true understanding of all it means.

Let us read again Psa. 106. 4, 5, and seek that these words may be true in our lives. May our hearts long increasingly after these three things: to see and enjoy the good of God's chosen, to rejoice in the gladness of His nation, and to glory with His inheritance, that He and we may joy in that inheritance together for all eternity. Amen.