Psalm 37 (Part 10) – Psa 37:18 – The Inheritance of the Upright Shall Be Forever

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Psa 37:18 – “The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.”

1. The LORD knows the days of the upright.
2. The Lord knows them that are His (2Ti 2:19).
3. God knows the way of the righteous (Psa 1:6; Job 23:10).

iii.    God knows everything that’s going on in our lives (Psa 139:1-4).

1. God knows our frailty (Psa 103:14).
2. God knows our vain thoughts (Psa 94:11; 1Co 3:20).
3. Jesus knows our temptations (Heb 2:17-18).

vii.  God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations (2Pe 2:9).

viii.God knows when we have need of things (Mat 6:31-32).

1. Their inheritance shall be forever.
2. God’s children have an everlasting inheritance that begins here in this life and extends into eternity.
3. Our eternal inheritance
4. Our eternal inheritance is by grace alone and is not in any way dependent on our works.

(i)     God’s elect obtain this eternal inheritance through predestination (Eph 1:11).

(ii)   The called (the elect – Rom 8:28-29) have received the promise of eternal inheritance by the death of Christ for their sins (Heb 9:15).

(iii) This eternal inheritance will be fully realized when our bodies are resurrected and enter into the eternal state of glory (Rom 8:11,23).

(iv) This inheritance is our heavenly inheritance (Joh 14:1-3).

1. According to 1Pe 1:4 our heavenly inheritance is:
2. Incorruptible

(i)     Incorruptible adj. – 1. Incapable of undergoing physical corruption; that cannot decay or perish; everlasting, eternal.

(ii)   It will never corrupt, decay, or perish.

1. Undefiled

(i)     Undefiled adj. – 1. Not rendered morally foul or impure; unpolluted, untainted.

(ii)   No sinners are allowed there (Rev 21:27).

1. It fadeth not away

(i)     Fade v. – 1. intr. Of a flower, plant, etc.: To lose freshness and vigour; to droop, wither. 3. trans. To weaken; to deprive of freshness or vigour; to corrupt, taint. 6. a. intr. To pass away or disappear gradually; vanish, die out. Also with away.

(ii)   It is an eternal inheritance (Heb 9:15).

1. It is reserved for the elect

(i)     Reserved ppl. – 5. a. Set or kept apart; specially retained for some person or purpose, etc. (See the verb.)

(ii)   Reserve v. – 1. a. trans. To keep for future use or enjoyment; to store up for (†to) some time or occasion; to refrain from using or enjoying at once.  3. a. To set apart, keep (†to or) for another.

(iii) They obtained their inheritance by predestination (Eph 1:11).

iii.    Our temporal inheritance

1. There is also an earthly, temporal aspect of the inheritance which obedient believers possess.
2. This temporal inheritance is the inheritance in the kingdom of God (Eph 5:5) (which can be lost due to sin which Eph 5:5 is addressing), which one enters by baptism (Luk 7:29-30 c/w Mat 21:31-32).
3. The kingdom of God, in which a baptized believer obtains an inheritance, is the local church (Luk 22:29-30 c/w Heb 12:28).
4. This temporal inheritance begins when one believes the gospel and is baptized, whereby they are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14).
5. At baptism, one receives the gift of the Holy Spirit when he is added to the local church wherein He dwells (Act 2:38,41-42 c/w 1Co 12:13).
6. It is at baptism that one is sealed with the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:16-17 c/w Joh 6:27).
7. This sealing of the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our eternal inheritance until the redemption of our body (the purchased possession) which was purchased by Christ (Eph 1:13-14 c/w 1Co 6:19-20).

(i)     Seal v. – I. To attest by a seal. 1. a. trans. To place a seal upon (a document) as evidence of genuineness, or as a mark of authoritative ratification or approval.

(ii)   Earnest n. – 1. Money, or a sum of money, paid as an installment, esp. for the purpose of securing a bargain or contract. Also fig. A foretaste, installment, pledge, of anything afterwards to be received in greater abundance.

(iii) We are sealed (given a foretaste) with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Eph 4:30).

1. This temporal inheritance can be increased and enhanced as the Christian continues following God through His word (Act 20:32).

(i)     In Act 20:32, Paul was addressing ordained elders and overseers of the church in Ephesus (Act 20:17,28) who obviously already had an eternal inheritance.

(ii)   Therefore, he was not telling them how to acquire an eternal inheritance.

1. This inheritance is experienced among them which are sanctified (Act 26:18; Act 20:32), which is a good description of a local church.