HEIRS WANTED
By
D. M. PANTON
THE HEIRS
The
law regards a child as the continuation of the personality of his father, and
so as the legal possessor of his property after his death: therefore, "if children, then heirs" (Romans 8: 17). So it is with God. Not if men, then
heirs; nor, if Jews, then heirs; nor, if moral and upright, then heirs; we must become partakers of the Divine
nature before we can become heirs of the Divine inheritance: "if children, then heirs." Property descends
because father and son are of one stock, one life: so "as many as received
Christ, to them gave He the right to become children of God: which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"
(John 1: 12). But the Birth carries
with it the inheritance. All are not apostles; all are not shining or
eminent; all are not even spiritual or separated: but all [the regenerate] are heirs;
- "if children, then heirs."
THE WILL
A
son does not inherit his father's life - he already has that; he inherits his
father's property: Here then is an inventory of the Will. "All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos,
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things
present, or things to come; all are yours" (1 Cor. 3: 21). Have you yet
seen all things? The cattle on the thousand hills; the gold in all mines,
the pearls in all oceans; the wealth and beauty of the Father's home: "all are yours." Moreover the Will
bequeaths, not on leasehold, but in perpetuity; and this for two reasons.
Heirs on earth often outlive, or squander, their inheritance; inheritances
constantly outlive their heirs: but an inheritance "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away" (1 Pet. 1: 4) must be
in perpetuity for heirs who never die. "If ye have not been faithful in that which is another's"
- all present wealth is a stewardship only - "who
will give you that which is your own?" (Luke
16: 12): the true riches are personal and held for ever. So the Will bequeaths 'all things': it bequeaths it to all children: and it bequeaths it
to them for ever.
A CODICIL
The
Will is unconditioned: in it is a Codicil, however, to which a condition is
attached. "Heirs of God indeed"
(men) - no condition, save regeneration - :"but
(de)
joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer" - 'in case we suffer as He did' (Olshausen);
'provided that we suffer' (Alford) -
"with Him, that we may be also glorified with
Him." (Si
autem filii, et heredes: heredes
quidem Dei, coheredes
autem Christi: sitamen
compatimur, ut et
conglorificemur: Vulgate). Both heirships involve eternal life: but
the Codicil, which bequeaths joint-heirship with Messiah in His millennial
Reign, and bequeathes it on the same condition on
which our Lord receives it (Phil. 2: 9;
Heb. 1: 9; Isa. 53: 12),
antedates the Will by a thousand years: it is "the reward of the inheritance" (Col. 3: 24), a legacy which entitles to an 'abundant entrance' into the Eternal Kingdom (2
Pet. 1: 11). Both heirships
are offered to all: both Will and Codicil depend for their validity on the
death of the Testator: but without the fulfilment of its condition, the
Codicil is inoperative. "The suffering with
Him must imply a pain due to our union" (Moule): "if we suffer, we shall also
reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2: 12):
the Will is the unconditional bequest of free grace, the Codicil is a
glory conditioned on identity of experience with Christ.
THE TESTATOR
A
legal proverb says, - "Living men have no heirs":
the State requires proof of death before an estate can be inherited under a
will. "For where a testament is, there must
also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is out of force after men
are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all" - it is not
valid - "while the testator liveth" (Heb. 9: 16). But this is God's last
will and testament: when, then, did that death occur? The
inheritance had become alienated from man by sin: a 'fugitive
and a wanderer' from the gate of Eden, man became a disinherited soul:
but God, in the Person of His Son "buyeth that field," so as to will it to whom He
would; and He wills it to 'the called of the
inheritance.' But what makes the Will valid? The death of the Testator. Jesus is now
presenting the Blood to the Father, in proof of the Testator's death:
the Will is therefore now operative: the Estate has been bought, and made over:
the Title-deeds He has put into our hands: and at any moment we may enter on
the Inheritance.
THE ADVERTISEMENT
But the most amazing fact of all remains. Something like forty million
sterling lies to-day in Chancery, unclaimed, for want
of heirs: and 'heirs wanted' is a commonplace
advertisement for these vast inheritances. The Gospel is such an advertisement.
Through all the world God is sending an amazing cry of 'heirs of all things' wanted; it is the offer of untold wealth (1 Cor. 2: 9); and in the
advertisement is to be found a careful description of the missing heirs.
What is that identifying description? "Their
throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues
they have used deceit: the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed
blood" (Rom. 3: 13). The
heir of the Tichborne estates was known to
have been careless, slovenly, ill-educated; and to
prove his inheritance the claimant established his own careless,
slovenliness, and ignorance. So only could he hope to obtain the inheritance. Is your name in God's Will? If you
are a sinner, it is. We are not saved
although we are sinners: we are saved because we are sinners. My sin is
my sole identifying plea for a sin-bearing Saviour's merit, and the life which that merit brings: if you are a sinner, rejoice! your name is in the Will. "I
came not to call the righteous, BUT SINNERS" (Mark 2: 17): "The Son
of man came to seek and to save that which was LOST" (Luke 19: 10).
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