Today we are going to be meditating together, we want to consider not a question but something that is of interest to us. On Sunday, at the Leadership Fellowship, we considered: Kingdon Curriculum: The Word of Life. And so, this meeting is going to be extending it on an aspect. We want to look at: How to Inherit Eternal Life. A question was asked by somebody and that question was directed at Jesus. If the question was important when Jesus was in Israel, the question is important for us too. If a person, a man who was religious, who had attained some level of height in the church for us now, but in the synagogue, in Judaism at that time, if somebody at that time could ask that question, could probe Jesus, it is important that we also prepare to probe the Spirit for an answer.
How Can I Inherit Eternal Life? But we are not directing it at us as individuals, we are looking at it as a subject matter. So, let's quickly go to the book of Luke chapter 18, we will read from verse 18-23. See what the Bible says: “Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher [I perceive this piece will be a teaching to us], what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Now, if you look at that question, you will understand the hunger and thirst of this man. Very soon, some of us may find him to be somebody who has a very funny character, but at this moment, if we look at his question at the face value, we can conclude that he had a hunger, he had a thirst.
There was something that was troubling him, there was something that was missing in his life. He felt he had so much, but he needed something else. What did he need? He needed eternal life. If you remember at this point what apostle Peter and the other disciples said to Jesus. When Jesus looked at them and said: are you also going? They said: to whom shall we go? You are the one that has the word of eternal life. Indirectly indicating that Jesus had in Him the eternal life that they needed and if they could stay enough with Him, they could also inherit what He had. Now, when you use the word ‘inherit’, which also later forms ‘inheritance’, you inherit what somebody has and the person is going or transiting and he leaves them behind for you. Now in this context, the person does not need to die before you inherit their things. As long as the person has moved on to another, either at a higher level or a newer one, the person could leave the older for you, that means you have inherited it. Do we understand?
Imagine my wife using for a season of the life of the article, the cloth, maybe a sweater, she has used it for like a year plus and she felt she needed to step-up. And so, she buys something else that is more feminine, and the one she was using before was unisex, she decided to say “my husband, you can start to use this”, what has happened is that I have inherited it. You can inherit people’s phones, somebody has been using a phone for a while and such person decides to step up to a new phone, and says “take this phone”, what is happening is that the person is not dead, the person is giving it up in the hope that he will gain something else. That is inheritance for you.
So, when the Bible talks about inheriting eternal life, we are looking at something that someone owns, someone has and he or she is willing to hand over to you in the hope that the person would attain a higher one. Now, for us that understand the life of Christ Jesus, we know that the things He acquired, He didn’t acquire them for Himself alone. He acquired and experience the, He possessed them so that He can leave it as an inheritance for us. You know it has been said that “nobody can give what he or she does not have”, so, if you must give to another, you must first have it. So, there must be a time in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ that He had certain things and He now decides to step up and then hand them over to us.
So, Jesus didn’t need to die for us to inherit the things He had. As long as He has stepped up, we can step in. Did we see that? As long as Jesus had step up, you can step in. So, you're not stepping into a dead man’s shoe, you are stepping into the Son of God shoe. He is living, you live with it. Let me tell us a little bit why I am emphasizing on stepping up, He is living. If I have used something, and I am no more, and then I give it to you, you could have to figure out how you will use it. How many rich men left their wealth with their children without leaving their wisdom? And so, the children take the wealth, and then they squander it. Look at the prodigal son. He said to his father: out of your wealth, whatever is mine, give it to me, I want to have mine. And the Bible says he took everything that belonged to him and went on a prodigal living. It was because the father was not with him, that why he was able to go on a prodigal living. If he was with the father, he must by virtue of necessity use the wealth by the wisdom of the father.
That is why the father said to the elder brother: “all that I have are yours.” I have been using my wisdom to preserve this wealth for you. It is because you have had me that you still have my wealth with you. Your younger brother who took my wealth without me has actually squander it. He didn’t know how to manage what I gave to him because I didn’t follow him there. So, when you inherit and you inherit away from the presence Him who has given to you, there is a tendency to destroy, for you to squander what you inherit. But if the person is around, the same way the person has used it, he could also teach you how to use it. That is why the Holy Spirit has been given to us to teach us. Jesus said there is so much I want to share with you, howbeit, you cannot receive it now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truths, He will take what is mine and give to you.
So, if there was something you receive from me, you would need the Holy Spirit to teach you how to use that thing. So, if you want to inherit eternal life, you need to also come to the teacher. Haven receive the eternal life, you must be taught the life, the mannerism of the life, you must be taught the character, the spirit, the attitude of the life. Some time ago, Dr. Myles Munroe wrote a book, The Spirit of Leadership. And before many people take it too far, he called the spirit also, The Character. There is a character of leadership and character for leaders. And so, if you must key in to your leadership destiny, you must key in to your character of the leadership.
There is a man, a woman that you must be for you to do or lead other people to certain things that you are doing. And so, there is the receiving of a gift called eternal life. There is the aspect of it that is the teaching of that gift, how to use it. You see, by the Spirit you can be given eternal life. The Lord Jesus can look at you and give you eternal life. But you must be established in it by the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. That is why it is possible for you to become born again, and you had known nothing, and so, haven been born again, you could then be exposed to how to live in this new life that you have been born into. So, you will say “but in those days, I didn’t know all these”, now you know because the Spirit does not leave you ignorant. He teaches you.
With this understanding, let us go back to Luke 18:18 where the Bible says: “Now a certain ruler asked Him…” the person in this picture is a ruler, not the one who is ruled. This man obviously was one of the leaders. “Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher…” I have been leading your people for so long, I have been made a ruler. But I know what I am, I know what I have. I know my struggles; I know my fears. I know the things that I have, I know the things I want. “Good Teacher, what shall I do…” This is somebody that is desperate to do something. If only he could know what else to do in addition to what he has been doing, he would do it. Imagine somebody saying to you, “name your prize, I will pay.” You know one would be shocked when the prize is named and one now says it is too expensive.
So, this is like a man that said: Lord Jesus, name the prize, I will pay for eternal life. I need it, I lack it. I need it in my life. And Jesus responded to something immediately: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but one, that is, God.” Now let me answer your question. “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ [if you are married, do not sleep around with other married women or unmarried women] ‘Do not murder,’ [don’t kill another because you want to live, don’t take another man’s life because you want to have your own] ‘Do not steal [don’t claim what is not yours as if it is yours, with bold face],’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ [don’t tell lies, you weren’t there, don’t say you were there] ‘Honour your father and your mother [this is important].’ ” And he said: all these things…this is why you must fear this man, that is why I believed that he was desperate. He needed it. He said all these things I have kept from my youth…since I was a boy.
But in spite of his answer, see what Jesus said to him: “So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him…” meaning Jesus listened to him speak, Jesus saw that he also needed what was requesting for; “You still lack one thing.” Even though you said you have all these things, you have been religious, you have been going up and down for crusade and retreats, fellowship meetings and all that, but Jesus said you still lack one thing. Jesus said: “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Now, assuming this is where the Bible stops, we would say wealth or money was the biggest problem of this guy. But it is beyond that too.
Jesus said this is one thing you must do, all that you have, because we must know that the things that we have sometimes have us. I don’t want to say most times have us. The things we think we possess most times, they possess us. To give the man a fresh start, so that his priorities, his tastes and preferences would be altered, Jesus told him to give them all up. So, have a fresh start. You have been possessing things, and they have been possessing you. you have been making friends based on your possessions or your would-be possessions. “Haa, Master, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” And Jesus said: beware of covetousness for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses.
So, it means that towards eternal life, or inheriting eternal life, your life is not defined by the things you necessarily possess because while seeking for possession, you can end up being possessed. That is the issue. Of course, you can say you need money, but while looking for money, the money may start looking for you. And so, you get the money and the money got you. The last time you were in control was before you got the money. Since the money came, the money has been controlling you. there is nothing we desire or want, if we are not careful, those things can possess us. And so, Jesus said; sell all, disengage from them, separate yourself from the things that have been possessing you. Haven sold them, distribute the resources to those who are in need. And Jesus didn’t stop here.
Inheriting eternal life is not just about buying and selling. It is not by possession and dispossession. Let us read our Bibles. Verse 22: and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” If he stops at having treasures in haven, is He done? That is it! These are two important things that we must not pick one and dump the rest. You have been possessed hitherto by different things: your mind, your heart, is preoccupied. There are many things you want, there are many things that want you. haven separated yourself from that, the action will keep a treasure for you in heaven. Now, but this is what you must now do. Come and follow me.
You know we have said, you cannot have something except somebody gives it to you, right? And you cannot give what you don't have. Jesus is the embodiment of the eternal life of God. Because they asked Jesus, okay, that place they said, they said, Lord, how can we do the works of the Father? How can we do the things that the Father wants us to do? You would expect that Jesus would say, okay, go and do this, go, do this, go and do this. Jesus simply responded: by believing in the One whom the Father has sent. So, you would the works of the Father by believing in Jesus Christ, believing in what He has brought for you. What has He brought? He has brought eternal life. In John 3:16: for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…that is the embodiment, that is the carrier of eternal life, the one that God us to bring it down, that whosever believes in Him…that is doing the work of the Father. Do we still remember? How can we do the works of the Father? Whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life/eternal life.
Can we see? And the Bible says he who does not believe in Him the person is not spared. It is not like: I can choose and I may not choose. You choose to believe; you have eternal life. You have a life that begins from here and terminate in eternity. A life that is beyond APC/PDP, beyond Nigeria, beyond the Democrat party or Republican party, beyond racism, that is the life we are talking about. And the person that does not believe in Him is the person that does not believe in the work of God and does not do it. And it says the person is condemned already. The condemnation comes by disbelieving Jesus as the Christ, the one that God has sent to bring eternal life to us.
So, haven understood that, it is then important that we come to Him. He said: come to me all you that labor and are heavy laden; you are busy, but you are guilty, I will give you rest. I will give you rest because I have it. Take my yoke, He says come and learn of me. So, when Jesus said: sell all that you have, it is not to make him poor. Distribute to the poor. Do you know those who give, they are on top? They say: “givers never lack.” So, by given to the poor, he has invested to the poor and so, there must be returns from God. You think God would leave Him poor? The Bible even talked about Jesus; the Bible says He was rich but He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich. So, as we are rich, is Jesus poor? Do we understand?
So, he distributed. He was told to distribute. And if he could do that, then he will be qualified for the next. They are joined together like Siamese twins. You don't do one and not do the other. But it starts with the first obedience. distribute all that you have, haven sold them to the poor. Be light. You are so heavy, like, trim down, shed weights. Do we still remember in Hebrews? The weights and sins that easily besets us. Let us run! You know I can run now because I am not heavy loaded or heavy laden. But if I carry a lot of things now, I might have to be walking. There are things I can carry and wouldn’t be able to walk because the load overwhelms. And Jesus said: lest you find it difficult to move, shed the weights. The relationships that you are in that you know are ungodly, shed the weights. The ambitions of your heart, you want to become this and that and you know, it is for your own selfish interest, it has nothing to do about God or the people of God in your generation, shed it off, cut yourself off, like be lean so to say.
Haven become lean, now follow me. You won’t follow God complaining. Jesus said to certain people: follow me and one of them said I just got married, I need to be with my wife. One said I just bought a land. You see, these are the things that prevent us from following, we are so heavy. We are attached. We are encumbered with the affairs of this world. Can we then become soldiers? Jesus said if you must be a soldier now, if you must be a follower, then you need to let go. Do we know who Elisha was before he followed Elijah? He was a business man, an agriculturist. When the mantle came upon him, the word came upon him, you must replace this man, and he knew that was like eternal life, he must learn it. You don’t suddenly become a prophet in Israel, you have been a business man, the word of the Lord is God needs you and that he wants to use you in ministry, you don’t just suddenly come into the ministry. There is a learning process, there is a shedding of weights. That is why, even though you have been wealthy and God calls you into the ministry, you may be shocked you may not enter that ministry with the wealth. You have to shed the weights.
So, God says sell them off, give the money to the poor, be light, get to a point where I can ask you to come, I can send you to a place. Didn’t we see the disciples of Jesus? None of them was unemployed. Jesus didn’t catch them unemployed. Peter was a business man, Matthew was a tax collector, you can call him a custom officer and Jesus found him when he was collecting money and counting it, he was diligent at it. So, Jesus didn’t go around looking for wishy-washy, brainless, useless people, no. He sought for the best, He sought for people who didn’t understand the gravity of ministry but understood the values of work. And so, He taught them ministry. There was a time He said “receive the Holy Spirit”, He imparted the Spirit into them. He prepared them over the period, there was a time He sent them out two by two.
Jesus said to this man: "Everything you have, sell it off." You are too bogged down by these things, distribute to the poor so that you will have treasure in heaven. It is like his name is going to be registered in heaven, God wants to start a new company with you, the registration form is that you give to the poor. Every time you give to the poor, your organization is established. Haven establish your organization in heaven, now start learning it, how to run it by following me. You remember in Hebrews where it says you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the first born who are registered in heaven. So, why the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria can register a NGO, a church, it is God that registers His ministers. That’s why if you are called by God, there is no government that can stop your calling. It is not possible. They can’t legislate what God has already stamped. They can only confirm. And if they choose not to confirm, what happens to the likes of Elisha and Elijah and the rest? You cannot stop them.
So, do we see it? The first thing is register it. Haven registered your life, your ministry in heaven, now come and follow me, come and learn the life. This eternal life must be taught. There was a time the disciples said: "Jesus, these people did not receive you. Do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them like Elijah did?" Jesus rebuked them. That is teaching them eternal life. What did He say? He said you did not know the manner of Spirit that you are of. Do we understand? So, please don’t feel bad if you still behave in a way that you think is not right. As long as you follow God and submit to the teachings of the Holy Spirit, as long as you stay with Jesus, you will keep growing daily.
These apostles that we read about them today, they didn’t become perfect overnight. There was a time they got angry and wanted to call down fire. You wouldn’t go to John later on and John would get angry with you and call down fire. He became an apostle of love. He was in love with God and in love with the people of God. Do we understand? But at the beginning it was not so. He was strong. He didn’t have too much patience for mediocrity. But later, haven sat with the Holy Spirit, the same one that was on the Island of Patmos, he became a different man. We know Moses, when God dealt with Moses, he became the meekest man.
It has not yet been revealed what we shall be. Some people that knew us when we were in secondary school, University and all those seasons are always surprised what we have become today, preaching at the Centre for New Dimension Leadership. So, if you think now ‘who am I’, forget about who you are and follow the Holy Spirit. Let Jesus teach you with the Holy Spirit. You will become a different being, a different creation, the life of God would be taught in you and then you produce it, you produce the fruit of righteousness. We have been born again. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to teach us. He said come and follow me. Jesus said “I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I will send the Spirit.” I will send the Spirit, the promise of the Father.
Hallelujah!
