Positioned For Inheritance

And let's pick our bibles up, wave them around, make Jesus glad, devil mad.

Let's say this together Savvaly Father, I'm here by divine appointment.

I'm not here because I have to be, but because I wanna be.

I'm hungry for the Word of God, I'm hungry for revelation.

Faith cometh by hearing and hearing.

Some of this word tonight will be seed and some of it will be water, and all of it is gonna be for my benefit, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen, that's right, it's for your benefit.

Let's look at a couple of places here.

Romans, chapter eight.

We'll start.

That is a power packed chapter.

You know there's some chapters that just got a lot of things in it.

Romans eight's one of them.

And then Acts, chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

And we'll start with Romans, chapter eight and verse 16.

The Spirit itself, or Himself, bears witness, with our spirit, that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs or equal heirs or co-heirs with Christ.

If so, be that we suffer with him.

Now, how many of you know?

He's not talking about suffering, sickness and disease, he's talking about persecution.

If we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

That's a powerful verse there.

All right.

And then Acts, chapter 20, verse 25.

Acts 20:25

And Paul is talking to the elders at the church of Ephesus, and the elders, not just an old man, an elder is a minister.

So these are five old ministers, probably a lot more like pastors, and he called them together and he's talking to them.

And now he says, in verse 25, and now behold, I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.

Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God which he had purchased with his own blood.

For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock, also of your own selves, shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.

Therefore, watch and remember that, by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone, night and day, with tears.

And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

So tonight I wanted to share a message entitled position for inheritance.

Position for inheritance.

You know, we're all by virtue of the fact that we're born again.

The Bible says that we have an inheritance, and my job description is to escort you and give you the tools and the Bible, knowledge and the agreement for you to possess what belongs to you Inheritance.

And so you know we talked all about inheritance when we got that word, you know, back last September about this, the greatest year yet it's all about dispossessing those that have occupied our inheritance.

You know, much like the children of Israel, they didn't just march in and take up residence in the Promised Land, they had to dispossess the poachers, the trespassers.

Amen, and God basically had to declare that they were no longer able to stay there and the children of Israel were gonna take over.

And so everybody say inheritance.

So you know we're not just talking about heaven, obviously, when you get saved, that's one thing, but I believe that there are inheritances down here that God wants to give the church.

You know, I think they consist of special anointings, special gifts, spiritual things.

I believe they're miracles of supply, financial supply, miracles of association Some people in here looking, you know, to be married, or somebody here wanting to see their family blessed, and so forth.

There are certain inheritances, you know, in Hebrews 11.6, it said, you know, that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

You know there are rewards it's kind of separate from inheritances but rewards are things special over and above and they're not equal.

You know they're not equal because not everybody has equal diligence, not everybody has equal.

We don't just get rewarded for participation.

You know, rewards are given to those who diligently seek Him.

And I believe we're all gonna be surprised.

Some of the crowns we see in heaven, people that we never, you know, people nobody ever heard of, but they used to lay on their face for hours at a time, interceding in prayer I mean the prayer warriors are gonna get some special crowns.

And but what I'm talking about tonight is not talking about heaven, I'm talking about right here and now, because the church has inheritances that it needs to possess.

Here, in Acts, chapter 20, he's sharing an intimate moment.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

He's about to leave, he knows where he's headed, he knows he's not coming back.

They're kind of sad, just like the disciples were sad when Jesus left.

It's kind of like an Elijah and Elijah moment right there, because these are Paul's sons, in the faith he had poured into them.

He said at least three years he'd been warning them with tears.

Man, that's gotta be kind of uncomfortable.

I mean, some of those meetings I've you know, brother Joseph, I think some of those meetings about have been a little bit uncomfortable.

Warning them for three years, a night and day, with tears, I mean that's not a lot of fun.

That's not a hoop and holler run around the church meeting, that's kind of heavy.

Some of you are not going to be watching and wolves are going to come in and steal the sheep and Others of you are gonna, are gonna, speak a bunch of dumb things and get off in your doctrine and you're gonna, you're gonna carry away disciples after your own selves.

Man, it's pretty heavy.

And so you know, here he's telling them and let's, let's keep this.

Look, look, in verse 36, when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all and they all wept sore and Fell on Paul's neck and kissed him soaring.

Now, look, look, here's a key soaring.

Most of all, which the words that he spake.

What words did they saw over that they weren't gonna do their jobs.

Here they are supposed to watch after the flock and they let wolves in.

Here they are Overseers that holy ghost and set over the flock of God.

And here they are.

Some of them are gonna rise up with false messages, perverse speaking.

Perverse means twisted, perverse things, unscriptural things, that some of them gonna turn into false ministers.

You would think they would be weeping over that.

Old Paul, please pray for me.

I don't want that.

I repent right now.

Whatever you see in me, whatever you've known me this length of time, you must see something in me that I'm not aware of.

Please cast the devil out of me, do whatever.

I know they were sore because they're not gonna see him again.

That's a shallow bunch of people there.

Here is, here's the guy that wrote three quarters of the New Testament, and these are his disciples.

I mean, you know, I think he knew what Jesus felt like.

He had some real Lulu's too.

They weren't in the right position.

Are you with me now Talking about position for inheritance?

They had an inheritance from this great man of God that they all failed to receive.

I Don't want to see anybody in here failed to receive Everything you've got coming.

Amen.

That's my job, that's my main job description is seeing to it that this flock and you're not my flock, you're God's flock I'm the watch over you and I'm to run wolves off.

I've done it and I'll do it again.

They're not gonna get, they're not gonna stay here, and I'm here to watch over your souls as one that gives an account, inform your thinking and so.

So, instead of these people being like Elijah and Elisha, you know, elisha said listen, you're not gonna be able to lose me.

You're gonna go to Gilgall, I'm going with you, you're gonna.

You're going here, I'm gonna be there, you're going here.

And Then, finally, elijah said well, why don't you ask me what?

What do you want?

He said I, I want, master, I want a double portion of that.

Then, not one of them, not one of them asked.

Not one of them said please lay hands on me and give me get.

I don't want to.

I don't want to wind up on the scrap People, I don't want my sheep to wind up.

Compromise.

Not one of them.

Not one of them received, not one of them was in position.

Everybody say position and so they all skipped another level of the inheritance that they could have had.

And I presume that that had happened just the way Paul said.

I mean it had to be that three years.

I mean he, he must have had some real challenges there.

So tonight I want to talk about To position yourself.

Or you're in here, how many of you want to be in position?

Remember, other Larry, we used to talk about those P words, how part you know how powerful those P words are.

So we got some words, some P words.

You know, the earlier this year when we got that word from God, we had, we had the perspective, power, prominence.

You know those P words are powerful.

So tonight we've got position To position yourself.

See, god's not gonna position you.

You have to do something.

You have to position yourself.

Or another word for position is commit.

You know, here Paul said in verse 32 now, brethren, I commend you to God.

On his side, he commended them, or committed them.

In other words he said God, I've taken them as far as I can take them.

Now You're there, your problem, I'm Guilty, I'm guiltless.

I warned them, I did everything I could to change them.

They didn't listen, and so I commend them to you.

You're still able to do something with them, but my work is over.

He just took his hand off.

He had to take his hand off of him.

No longer is he responsible for them, and so we need to position ourselves for our inheritance.

You know the word commit, see, when I use the word position, it also means to commit, and the word commit means to place alongside, to set before and to present yourself.

And I've got three things where you need to commit To place yourself alongside, to set yourself before or to present yourself.

None of these preachers did that.

Brother Osteen had an interesting definition of the word commit.

Commit is a decision from which there is no retreat, a decision from which there is no retreat.

That's commit.

I'm going to commit and I'm going to do it, and the only one that can release me from my commitment is the one I'm committing to.

In my case, that was Brother Osteen.

No way I was leaving to start this church without his full blessing, and it wasn't instant.

It took a few weeks.

Those were the longest weeks of my life, because I first had to kill this vision.

I had to kill it dead, just like Abraham and Isaac.

I stuck a knife in glorious way church.

I killed it dead and gave up on it.

I said no, I'm not leaving.

No, I didn't mean that, john.

Well, that's the deal I have with God.

It's either go or no go.

You know it's yeah or nay.

You're saying wait, I can't wait.

I either have to go or no go.

So I'm no go.

So that's my commitment.

Brother Osteen did anything to do with my commitment.

I committed and he couldn't.

I couldn't get out of my commitment by saying later are you with me now?

So position yourself for your inheritance, to commit yourself.

So the first thing you do is you commit yourself to God, position yourself to God.

What do I mean by that way?

You spend time in prayer.

A lot of Christians don't pray.

Well, they're busy.

Well, okay, you're busy, but you got to make time for God.

If you don't make time for God, you're not making time for your inheritance.

I know I sound like a broken record.

I need to pray more.

I need to pray more.

What do I need to pray?

How about praying?

Don't even say more?

How about praying?

Some people don't pray at all.

I mean just oh, god bless me.

Well, that's not really praying.

He's already blessed you.

So spend time in prayer, spend time praising and worshiping God.

I mean that was so powerful tonight.

The reason it is because every one of them up there are worshipers.

They worship God in between.

They worship God every day.

They worship.

You can tell they're worshipers because when they get to worship and we get to worship with them and manage as the heavens open and we ascend and we go up higher and the anointing falls and babies fall out under the power, thank you, oh, she's gone, but anyway, praise God.

That was so.

If you could have seen what I saw, I mean that was amazing.

He was awake, he's looking around and all went.

You know, be faithful to God, be zealous for God.

We're zealous about everything under the sun.

Let's be zealous for him.

You know, I'm tired of the Houston Texans.

I'm tired of rooting for them.

I'm going to turn off the TV, disgusting Neal for the anthem.

Where in the world could they earn millions of dollars for doing stuff they love to do?

Don't get me started, all right.

John Wesley I like what he said one time.

John Wesley he was.

He and his brother were instrumental in starting the Methodist church.

And that was back when Methodism.

I mean, they were on fire, they had to shout Methodist and they had manifestations of the Spirit.

They had miracles in the Methodist church.

Believe it or not, it was different than it is today.

And if your Methodist, I'm sorry but that's true, all right.

So John Wesley said you know, I start every day with two hours of prayer, unless I'm going to have a real busy day.

If I'm going to have a real busy day, then I pray three hours.

How dare you make my day busy?

I fix your, I fix your wagon.

I'll just pray an extra hour.

But he was one who depended on prayer.

He, he committed himself to God.

You know my message to ministers all over the world.

I've preached it all over the world.

I've preached it in India, I've preached it in the Philippines, I've preached it in Canada, I've preached it in Mexico, I've preached it everywhere.

My message to ministers don't get so busy working for God that you don't spend any time with God.

A lot of the mess we have in churches today is because the pastors are so carnal.

They've got time for golf, they got time for programs, they got time for everything under the sun meetings and there's a lot of good things.

But good is the enemy of best, and you can't get better than God's presence.

I mean there's there's no substitute.

I said there's no substitute.

Well, pastor, I'm not a minister.

Oh, yes, you are.

You're.

You've got a believer's ministry.

Every one of us are ministers.

This harvest will not be reaped by preachers.

It's going to be reaped by the believers.

Better get your sickle out.

Time to start swinging Amen Position or commit yourself to God.

So that's what he said.

He said now, I commend you to God, I commend you, I commit you.

And when he aside, he's saying okay, I've done all I can do for them.

That's up to them.

They're going to have to make a commitment.

See what I'm saying.

So we're picking up on what Paul said Commit, number two position, or commit yourself to God's kingdom.

God's kingdom, god's deal, god's thing, god's ministry.

God, commit yourself to the kingdom.

Let's look at Hebrews, chapter six.

How many of you are interested in receiving your inheritance?

Well, as you know, there's ways to do it, and this, this is the way to get it.

Hebrews six, verse 10.

God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister, and we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope and, to the end, that you be not slothful, but followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises of the Lord.

What's the context?

Well, one thing about it if you're going to commit yourself to God, then one of the ways that he knows you have is that you've committed yourself to helping His church, to helping His kingdom, to helping the saints to be involved in church, to be involved in ministry like that.

There's a lot of lone rangers, a lot of people that have their own agenda.

I've seen a lot of people come and they just kind of want to use this as a stepping stone or a springboard into their thing.

Well, you know what that's not really scriptural.

Jesus said in Luke 16-12,.

It's really worth going back there for this one.

Just run back to Luke 16.

I got ahold of this long time ago.

Verse 12.

And if you this is Jesus talking if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

I knew I had a call to pastor, but I just put it all on God and I concentrated on helping anybody that was above me.

I certainly didn't start out serving brother Osteen.

He didn't know who I was, but I served whoever was ahead of the department that I was in.

I mean, you know, we were amazed to be selected, as back then they called them counselors, later on they called them prayer partners, but Allen Nell Webb were head of the counselors.

So I submitted myself to Allen Nell.

I went to all those meetings and I go early.

I'd go out there to those.

Remember those old barracks?

You know Lisa Jedrick's dad built all those barracks out there, those buildings, and donated the lumber.

He was one of brother Osteen's helpers back in the early days and we'd go.

I'd go out there for the service.

We got church so early.

I'd go out there and pray and walk up and down.

I remember praying with brother Webb, and who was that other guy?

I can't remember his name.

He was always there too, kind of a dark, had dark hairs, combed it back like that, but anyway there were just three or four of us.

And brother Webb says you know, let's pray for that billboard over there on 610.

We need that billboard and I mean we prayed over that billboard for months.

Lakewood finally got it.

I mean it takes a while to get a billboard.

They got that billboard right at the exit office 610 and Mayside.

But I'm talking about commit yourself to God's kingdom.

God's thing, somebody else's ministry, somebody else's is in charge.

You're just a cog in a wheel.

Humble humility.

You build his kingdom, not yours.

First, corinthians 16, 15,.

The house of Stefanus is addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.

I mean they were busy about helping the saints.

That was how they committed themselves to the kingdom.

And so commit, or to submit, or to position yourself under people like that, that's the key to getting your inheritance.

When you help others, jesus said, you'll have your own.

What your own?

Your own inheritance.

You're helping them with their inheritance and you're going to get one.

You're going to get, get your own.

You might even be promoted and be be somebody that will take in others and be their leader and someone to advise them.

Amen.

Here in Hebrew six it says God is not unrighteous to forget your work in labor of love.

In other words, I like to say it this way he keeps the books.

So Paul didn't look it the three years that he spent warning those preachers day and night with tears, as a waste of his time.

He looked at it like God keeps the books.

He's not responsible for the success of the other people, merely his attitude and his labor of love toward them.

He even knew how they were gonna turn out and they'll dealt down with them and prayed over him anyway.

Are you with me now?

Jesus did the same thing at the last supper.

He knew that somebody was gonna betray.

Lord, is it I, is it I?

You ever think about that?

Every one of those disciples said Lord, is it I?

Is it me?

At least they said that.

Why didn't these guys do that?

Why didn't these guys?

Lord, brother, paul, is it me?

Do you see that in me?

You think I'm gonna be a false ministry?

You think I'm gonna let the wolves in?

Oh, no, please.

Now God keeps the books.

Paul could leave knowing that he'd done his job.

Are you with me now, positioning yourself for your inheritance?

So you position yourself to God, commit yourself to God, place yourself alongside Him, set yourself before Him, present yourself before Him.

Do the same thing to God's kingdom.

Put it first on the list.

Put your kingdom or your concerns down the list.

I mean, I had my own business all the years that I was at Lakewood and had my own.

You know, I was my own boss, so to speak, and I chose to lay a lot of by personal stuff aside so I could be available, especially when I got promoted to the place where I was traveling with Brother Osteen and being depended on to be close to Him.

I tried to just stay loose, I tried to stay available.

Are you with me now?

So the third one, the last one.

It says in verse 32, you're to position or to commit yourself to the Word of His grace.

Well, well, wait a minute.

You said position yourself to God and now you're saying position to the Word.

Well, one has to do with prayer.

It has to do with just worshiping Him.

The other one has to do with reading your Bible.

I mean, it means that you know there's no substitute.

Faith cometh by hearing and not having heard.

I mean, a lot of people have already read.

I don't know how many times I've read through the Bible.

It's quite a lot.

I've just now started Genesis again, so that lets me know I've read through the whole of Old Testament in about a year, because I just kinda I kinda knock it down.

You know a chapter or two every day.

If I don't do one chapter, do three chapters.

Sometimes I'll just spend more time and do a bunch of chapters.

But it takes me about a year to get through the Old Testament and I get through the New Testament about three times in a year and that's the guide for me, to let me know that I'm reading the Bible and that way it's continually coming into me.

I'm continually using it to check up on myself.

I like to see if I'm really living in what I'm reading.

Are you with me?

Commit yourself a decision from which there is no retreat, to the Word of His grace.

The word grace there means God's ability.

I mean when you've got the Word of God abiding in you.

In fact, john 15.7 says you know, abided me in my Word.

If you abided me in my words, abide in you.

Well, when you get saved, you abide in Him.

That's the moment you're saved and you're born again.

The Holy Spirit baptizes you into the body of Christ.

So every believer is in Christ.

So abide in Him, abide with that knowledge, live with the knowledge that you're in Him and my word or my words, plural abide in you and His Word abides in you to the degree that you are a doer of the Word, that you do what the Word says.

You're an obedience to the Word.

I mean, it doesn't abide in you if you're not obedient to it, if you ignore walking in love, if you ignore things like forgiveness, you ignore things like what God is putting in your heart to do for Him.

And so the Word of God abides in us to the degree or the measure that they govern our lives, or that we act on the Word.

And so he said then you can ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.

The Word of ask is not prayer.

The Word of ask is make a demand.

We taught on that for several weeks.

Make a demand because of the covenant.

A lot of times our demands go unmet because we're not abiding in Him to that degree and we're not letting the Word abide in us.

We're a little bit sloppy in that area.

I'm just talking about getting yourself positioned so that you get your inheritance.

I'm, as it were, escorting you up on the second floor.

Remember that dream that my prophet friend had in my house?

I talked about it months ago.

I used to spend a lot of time with a friend of mine.

He was a prophet.

I mean, he prophesied over everything that moved and if it wasn't moving he'd kick it.

He prophesied to the waiter.

He prophesied to the shoe salesman.

I mean, here's the shoe salesman we're going to buy shoes.

He's looking for shoes for an hour and a half.

Couldn't make up his mind.

You like this one or you like this one?

Which one do you like?

I said, I don't care which one, what about you?

What do you want, anyway?

And so we sat down and the guys you know, putting the shoe on it, and he starts prophesying.

So he was a little bit different than us, but he was a true prophet.

I mean, he heard from God.

He had a dream while he was in my house, and the dream was that he was in a big department store with a group of people and there was an escalator and someone said you know, there's a whole bunch of merchandise up on the second floor.

You ought to check it out.

And so, yeah, let's all go.

So he was escorting this group of people that he was with to the second floor and, sure enough, it was stacked to the ceiling.

Everything you could imagine was up there, and I mean, just stacked up and everybody was marveling and here comes this guy with a little uniform on.

He says what are you doing up here?

You can't be up here, this is off limits.

And he said, oh no, they told us up here that we could come up and look at the merchandise.

Oh no, you don't belong up here, you'll have to leave.

And he said, well, no, I mean, you know we belong up here, we can be up here.

And so it's kind of arguing with this little guy, you know, and he was all excited and he kept looking behind him and my friend in the dream he looked and he saw these guard towers and they had glass and there were men inside looking and watching what was going on.

They were guarding that merchandise, enforcing the rules, and so they were going back and forth.

And finally my friend just got incensed, he got angry in the dream and he said we certainly can be up here, we have every right to be here.

I have an attorney, and he was a big guy and had a real deep voice.

So when he said that, it just rattled my windows in my house where he was going through all of this.

And so this little guy, he starts running toward one of the guard towers.

Looking over his shoulder, he was concerned that my friend was going to come after him.

And then he woke up.

And so the meaning, what's the meaning of the dream?

The second floor is the second heaven, where demonic powers have held up your inheritance.

They've held up the things that God has in store for you, that are on their way, and my job as a minister, as a pastor, is to escort you up on that floor and give you the abilities and the teaching and the knowledge to possess and to disarm all those guard shacks, dispossess the enemy out of your land.

Amen, that's what Joshua did.

God said you know, you're going to cause us people to gain their inheritance.

You know, be strong and have a good courage, joshua, and you're going to cause this people to gain their inheritance.

So that's what God told Joshua, not the death of Moses.

So in that way, just as you read your Bible, faith comes by hearing, and hearing it starts to impact your words.

I mean, the more you read your Bible, the more you're going to talk like the Bible, the more you're going to talk like God.

Be imitators of God as dear children walk in love, but also be imitators.

The way God operates.

He calls the things that be, not as though they were.

I mean let's banish words like I can't or I won't or I don't or I might or I could or I would or I should.

Banish words like might and perhaps all of those are mush.

Learn to talk like God talks.

He never talks confusion, he never talks doubt.

Jesus never talked down.

And it's going to be more than just a few weeks and a few months.

I mean it takes sometimes a lifetime for us to learn how to talk and to position ourselves with our words, because we've spent time in the world.

Amen, hallelujah, come on, lift your hands right now.

Glory to God.

Acts 19-20 says and the Word of God grew and mightily prevailed.

That's what's going to happen to you when you start reading your Bible.

Just reading your Bible, I mean I changed in just months when I first got to say I didn't know anything.

There had been times in my life when I'd tried to read the Bible and I just started reading in the book of Genesis About the time I got to Leviticus, I just laid, I laid the Bible aside.

I mean I said I give up, I can't, I can't read this.

This is incomprehensible, and I'm a college educated person but I just could not.

Well, I wasn't born of God.

I wasn't born again.

I mean, he wasn't my father yet.

All I had was dead religion.

It didn't make any sense to me.

But, man, when I got saved and I learned how to read the Bible, I started in the Gospels.

I read the book of John about 10 times.

Thank God for brotherhoods today.

He taught me how to read the Bible.

And I started in the book of John, why?

Because there's so many miracles there.

And then I started reading the Gospels.

I spent time in the Gospels first, before I get over into the higher level stuff.

You're in the first grade.

You don't study trigonometry, you don't study geology in the first grade.

You have to start in the basics, right?

Hallelujah, the Word of God grew and mightily prevailed in you and for you.

And remember, god doesn't commit himself to talent, but he commits himself to faithfulness and character.

Amen.

And then you are positioned for inheritance.

Come on, lift your hand and receive tonight.

Praise God, I'm positioning myself.

Everybody say I'm positioning myself to receive what is belongs to me.

In Jesus name, amen.