Transcript: Episode 0067

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<v SPEAKER_2>Welcome to the Stone Choir Podcast.

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<v SPEAKER_2>I am Corey J.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Mahler.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And I'm still Woe.

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<v SPEAKER_1>On today's Stone Choir, we're going to be discussing the subject of inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_1>As we began this many two-part series last week discussing jealousy and zealousness, we are continuing now with notions of how God and how man deals with subject of inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_1>What does it mean to inherit something?

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<v SPEAKER_1>What are the systems by which that operates?

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<v SPEAKER_1>Why do we do it?

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<v SPEAKER_1>Why does God do it?

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<v SPEAKER_1>When and where does that occur?

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<v SPEAKER_1>Before we get into it properly, just a brief update on the challenge coins.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Corey has pictures of the samples.

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<v SPEAKER_1>The physical samples are en route to his house.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Should be getting them hopefully by the end of this week.

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<v SPEAKER_1>As soon as we get those, we'll post some pictures online so everyone can see them.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Probably making a couple tiny tweaks and then placing that order.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So thank you to everyone for your patience.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Also, I've noticed in the download stats in the last 10 days, we have a ton of new listeners.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I honestly have no idea from where.

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<v SPEAKER_1>We didn't see any bump in any of the places that we would expect to find incoming traffic from.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So if you're a new listener, joined recently.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Thank you very much for joining.

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<v SPEAKER_1>We're happy to have you.

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<v SPEAKER_1>As we routinely say, if you're enjoying these shows, we highly recommend that you go back to the beginning and start with all of them.

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<v SPEAKER_1>We don't really do timely episodes as much as possible.

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<v SPEAKER_1>We're trying to create a catalog here.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So it's worth listening to an episode from a year or so ago because it's still going to be fresh because, you know, it's not current events as much as we can help it.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And even when we do tackle current events, it's because those are examples of broader issues that are affecting all of us.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So if you're enjoying it, random episodes, highly recommend you listen to order.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It works better that way.

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<v SPEAKER_1>There are a lot of foundational concepts that we rely on from PAP episodes.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So just something to keep in mind and welcome.

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<v SPEAKER_1>If you're listening, please leave a five-star review on Spotify or Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It helps with discoverability and it also helps to overwhelm the hate listeners who like to leave one-star reviews just because they hate us so much.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It's pretty comical how mad people get when they don't agree.

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<v SPEAKER_1>On the subject of inheritance, to begin with, I want to distinguish between when we're talking about what we think of as manmade customs and we're talking about things that are from God, that are godly, or that are biblical commandments in some cases, because this subject really kind of overlaps all of that.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And I think it's important for us, whenever we're approaching really any subject in human life, is to consider that God created us, He created man in His image.

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<v SPEAKER_1>We have the fallen image of God now that is restored through sanctification.

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<v SPEAKER_1>As creatures made in God's image, there are things that we do because we are like Him.

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<v SPEAKER_1>There are certain things that are typological that naturally occur to man, that we simply do it because this is how God does things.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And inheritance is one of the examples of that.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So we make the case today for why inheritance is interesting and important.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I wanna distinguish between things that we think of as manmade human procedures or customs or laws and things that we do because God established them.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And so when we look at the passages about inheritance in scripture, it's clear that God establishes inheritance just as He establishes the legal system, which is to be clear, there's not synonymous with the Levitical law.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I'm not saying God has given us a list of laws.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I'm saying that God invented the concept of laws.

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<v SPEAKER_1>God invented the concept of a judge, of evidence, of witnesses.

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<v SPEAKER_1>These are all things that God baked into creation.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And so when humans do those things, it's not because we made them up ourselves.

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<v SPEAKER_1>This is a lie that comes from the secular humanist camp where really I think kind of beginning with guys like Jung and then there are acolytes down the road in history.

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<v SPEAKER_1>The secular humanists want everyone to think that the reason that all these various cultures all around the world have things like a flood narrative or have various types of legal systems or have some sort of patriarchy or matriarchy, if it's an evil society.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Secular humanists want you to think that man invented all of these things as an upwelling of our own spirit.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And there's no supernatural connection to any of it.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It's all just entirely man and there's no God.

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<v SPEAKER_1>That's their goal for talking about things in that way.

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<v SPEAKER_1>As Christians, we have to understand that all the things that we do, we do because God made us to do them, or we do because we're rebelling against the way God made us to do things.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Both of those happen, but it's always one or the other.

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<v SPEAKER_1>When God is your creator, either you're doing what He created you to do, or you're rebelling against the purpose for what you were created.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And in our fallen sinful nature, it's always rebelling against the purpose which God created us, which is why things like judicial systems and all these other things always have serious problems.

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<v SPEAKER_1>But they don't have problems because they're manmade.

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<v SPEAKER_1>They have problems because sinners are using the tool.

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<v SPEAKER_1>But the tool itself, whether it's the legal system or even something like poetry, there's lots of poetry in scripture, and men naturally create poetry and other art.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And I think when we read the Bible and we recognize that there are different genres of literature in the Bible, we think that that's because that's God talking to us in our language.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I think it makes a lot more sense to recognize that that is us recognizing God speaking his own language.

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<v SPEAKER_1>There are times when God has facts and figures and entire chapters that are nothing but numbers, basically a spreadsheet.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And then there are times where there's poetry.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And we also see this in creation.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You know, if you see a beautiful mountain vista or you see a sunset, the ephemeral beauty of that sort of thing can't be captured in a spreadsheet.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You can't capture it quantitatively.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And even to try to describe it in clinical terms really does a great violence to the beauty of what you're seeing.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And so things like poetry are how we, like a God, communicate certain types of beauty that you can't capture any other way.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It's not, part of the beauty of a sunset is that it's passing.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Its beauty is that you are witnessing something beautiful even as you're losing it.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You're watching this beautiful moment slip away.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And then when the sun goes beneath the horizon, it's over, that's it.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And the beauty is in the passage and the loss of that thing.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So when we as humans appreciate or engage in all these things, you know, whether it's poetry or inheritance or anything, we're doing something because it's typologically what God has given us to do.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Now, it's not always 100% the case, but I think that when you think in those terms and you look in scripture and you find these same sorts of things, it's not just guys living, men living together in societies and coming up with rules.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You know, as I was looking at some of the history of things like inheritance and dowry, once again, Babylon came up, you know, 4,000 years ago, when you look at things like the Code of Habarabi, there are very similar rules and processes that pagan society was using, that you also find in believing societies throughout time.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And the rules vary and the details vary.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And as we talk about inheritance today, I want to make clear upfront, we're not giving a prescription for, here are exactly what we must do with inheritance and our own families.

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<v SPEAKER_1>We're going to give some examples, and I'll point out specifically what I mean then, but we want to appreciate God's creation and giving us these tools, because God not only talks about the blessings of material wealth and temporal things that are given to us for our benefit and our aid, but our salvation is also an inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It's the most important one, but it's not the only one.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And so there are times where, when we're looking at this subject in particular, we have to recognize that, as God is operating in these terms, it's for our benefit, and it's not something we came up with.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And so as we discuss inheritance today, don't get plugged into the legal thinking about it, even though we discuss some of those things.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Just keep in mind that this is fundamentally God giving us something and showing us how his world works.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And so when we're participating in the concept of inheritance and of property and of jealously possessing our property and having zeal for those property rights, it's not greed, it's not mind, mind, mind.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It is properly ordered.

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<v SPEAKER_1>It is a stewardship of that which God has blessed us with.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And inheritance is a means by which those blessings propagate through generations.

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<v SPEAKER_2>As we pointed out last week, inheritance ties in intricately and extensively to the idea of jealousy.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And that is why we did the jealousy episode first, and why this is really sort of a two-part episode.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Fundamentally, that is how God has structured things.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Because the things of which you are jealous, in large part, are the things that you have inherited.

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<v SPEAKER_2>They are the things that constitute your inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And in fact, the things that God gives you, then become part of the inheritance that you pass forward.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And we see this concern in many places in Scripture.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And obviously, children are mentioned many times in Scripture as being a blessing.

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<v SPEAKER_2>But part of the reason that children are that blessing is that children are what enable you to pass forward the inheritance that God has given you.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so, of course, as those children who have received that inheritance from our forefathers, we are to be jealous of that because God has given that to us.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It is a blessing from God.

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<v SPEAKER_2>One of the examples in Scripture that should very clearly come to mind is, of course, Abraham, called Abram at the time of this particular instance in Scripture, but we'll just use Abraham, except when I'm reading it, because that's easier to understand and remember.

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<v SPEAKER_2>But from Genesis 15, After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, your reward shall be very great.

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<v SPEAKER_2>But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless in the heir of my house as Eleazar of Damascus.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And behold, the word of the Lord came to him.

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<v SPEAKER_2>This man shall not be your heir, your very own son shall be your heir.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We can see here one of the fundamental aspects of inheritance, as I just mentioned, is this giving forward of what God has given to us to those who come after us.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And obviously that means first and foremost to children.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, there are others to whom an inheritance can be given.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Obviously it benefits the larger family as well.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Your cousins and others are going to benefit if you leave behind a large inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_2>But first and foremost, it is a matter of what you are giving to your children.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And there are some specifics about this in Scripture and in human custom.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We'll get into those later in the episode.

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<v SPEAKER_2>But fundamentally, this needs to be borne in mind.

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<v SPEAKER_2>An inheritance belongs to your children.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It is something that you are holding in trust, after a fashion, for those children.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so we like to think in the modern context, particularly living under the sort of political and economic systems we do, that this is mine and I can do whatever I want with it.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And that's simply not true.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That's not the reality of the situation.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Because the things that you have, by and large, were inherited, you inherited them from previous generations.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You didn't necessarily earn them, so to speak, and they are not really yours.

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<v SPEAKER_2>They will be carried forward, they will be given, they will be bequeathed to the next generation as part of the inheritance you leave behind.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It's that unbroken chain all the way down through history.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And of course, it has to be an unbroken chain, because if there's any break in that chain, there's nothing to carry forward.

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<v SPEAKER_2>This is most clear when it comes to children, when it comes to biological descent.

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<v SPEAKER_2>All of us can trace our ancestry directly back to Noah, and then from Noah back to Adam, of course.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That is an unbroken chain, because a break in the chain would mean someone did not have children.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You wouldn't exist.

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<v SPEAKER_2>If any one of your ancestors were removed from that chain, you would not exist.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so think about that if you are thinking about the scope of inheritance, because inheritance is not just property.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We like to think that, oh, inheritance is the real estate that our parents passed to us or the bank account they passed to us or any of these material possessions, as it were.

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<v SPEAKER_2>But first and foremost, your first possession really is your body.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It is who and what you are.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And that is also an inheritance, because that is something that was given to you by your parents.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It is something they received from their parents, and their parents from their grandparents, and so on and so forth, again, all the way back to Noah and Adam.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And we see this also in Scripture, because Scripture speaks of the fact that the Levites, who were still in the loins of their ancestor in Abraham, tithe to Melchizedek.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Well, that's because they are part of that inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_2>They are what Abraham passed forward genetically, biologically in this case.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so it's not just material possessions that constitute the inheritance one receives and one transmits.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It is also all of these other and, quite frankly, more important things.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so in a very real sense, your nation is an inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, it is something of which you should be jealous, as we discussed in last week's episode, but it is also part of your inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And of course, that is part of the reason you should be jealous of it.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It is yours.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It belongs to you and to your fellow members of your nation, because it was given to you by your ancestors, because it was given to them by God.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so we're not saying that you have your genetic makeup and it's yours and you possess it, and it's...

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<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, that's true, but on a higher and more important level, that is true because it was given to you by God.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And that is why, as we went over in last week's episode, it is something of which you should be jealous, because it is rightfully yours, because it was given to you by God as a blessing, and you should be protective of that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You should be jealous of that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You should be proud of that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That's something given you by God.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so when someone tells you that you can't be proud of, say, your ancestry, and this is one of the best examples, because we hear this all the time in the modern world, that's simply wrong.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That's telling you to be ashamed of something God gave you.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It's telling you to denigrate one of God's good gifts.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That's not something that a Christian does.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That's something the modern world does.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That's something the people who argue for the blank slate do.

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<v SPEAKER_2>There's no blank slate.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You are not a blank slate, because you received an inheritance biologically, genetically, and yes, also culturally in all these other ways.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So you are not a blank slate, because all of those things were there from the beginning, because that is how God designed humanity.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That is how God designed you.

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<v SPEAKER_2>As Scripture says, He knew you in the womb when He knitted you together.

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<v SPEAKER_2>God intended you to be who and what you are, and in large part, that is a function of inheritance.

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<v SPEAKER_1>The single most obvious example in Scripture of an inheritance that we all share is original sin.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You can go back to, I think, Episode 2.

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<v SPEAKER_1>We talk about election in view of headship.

00:18:01.872 --> 00:18:12.832
<v SPEAKER_1>We discuss the nature of inherited sin, and this is something that different denominations treat somewhat differently, and it's really important to get it right.

00:18:12.912 --> 00:18:40.632
<v SPEAKER_1>And although we're not going to talk about it here today, once you understand that you die, as Scripture says, because you inherit Adam's sin, you must understand that there are generational curses and generational blessings, that the post-enlightenment notion that we are atomized individuals, and when you're born, you're basically starting from scratch, and you live your best life, and then you vanish, and you try to zero your bank account on the day you die.

00:18:41.232 --> 00:18:44.972
<v SPEAKER_1>That's kind of the boomer ethos today, but it's not human.

00:18:45.492 --> 00:18:46.892
<v SPEAKER_1>It's certainly not Christian.

00:18:47.652 --> 00:18:54.512
<v SPEAKER_1>It's never been true, and it doesn't work, but it doesn't work because it's contrary to God's design for the universe.

00:18:55.892 --> 00:19:02.532
<v SPEAKER_1>So when you're looking at inheritance in any sense, you have to acknowledge that it's a real thing.

00:19:03.092 --> 00:19:11.772
<v SPEAKER_1>If you deny that inheritance is real and substantial, at some point you're going to say something that forces you to deny original sin.

00:19:12.752 --> 00:19:37.292
<v SPEAKER_1>And the useful thing about speaking honestly and directly and precisely about these matters is that when you treat each of the individual little details, like inheritance law or the proper structure of things, and you order it according to the way God says these things should operate, you're never going to fall into the trap of saying, well, there's no such thing as a generational curse because there are no generations, because there's no inheritance.

00:19:37.712 --> 00:19:47.112
<v SPEAKER_1>Well, as Corey just said, the man who denies race is also going to eventually have to deny original sin.

00:19:47.512 --> 00:20:07.092
<v SPEAKER_1>He's going to have to deny his creator at some point, because as you work back through the generations, you find that all sorts of things are passed on from one generation to the next, but they don't necessarily, genetically speaking, they don't necessarily go down, you know, five, ten generations, they may fade away.

00:20:07.532 --> 00:20:21.512
<v SPEAKER_1>But when you're talking about something that is not material, something that's spiritual, particularly something like original sin, yes, it propagates until the last man is born, because that is the way the world is designed.

00:20:22.012 --> 00:20:28.252
<v SPEAKER_1>Now, God didn't design man to inherit sin, God designed man to inherit the image of God.

00:20:28.892 --> 00:20:35.552
<v SPEAKER_1>Adam was made in the perfect image of God, and Adam destroyed it by listening to his wife and disobeying God.

00:20:36.172 --> 00:20:42.972
<v SPEAKER_1>And that sin is the reason that I die and you die, and everyone we've ever known and loved has or will die.

00:20:43.812 --> 00:20:48.932
<v SPEAKER_1>And there's something I said a week or two ago that as I was re-listening to the episode, I wanted to clarify.

00:20:49.612 --> 00:20:52.392
<v SPEAKER_1>First, let me give you just a couple of passages from Proverbs.

00:20:52.792 --> 00:21:00.412
<v SPEAKER_1>Proverbs 13, 22 says, A good man leaves inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

00:21:01.372 --> 00:21:06.532
<v SPEAKER_1>So I looked that up, you know, that's obviously just directly to material wealth, which is a good thing.

00:21:06.552 --> 00:21:07.792
<v SPEAKER_1>It's a blessing from God.

00:21:08.692 --> 00:21:14.172
<v SPEAKER_1>Two verses later, it says, Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

00:21:14.892 --> 00:21:20.012
<v SPEAKER_1>And so a week or two ago, I said that it is good news that we die.

00:21:20.032 --> 00:21:23.752
<v SPEAKER_1>I think I basically called our death, in essence, the gospel.

00:21:24.292 --> 00:21:27.692
<v SPEAKER_1>I realized I was listening to that, that there was a lot of thought behind it that I didn't explain at the time.

00:21:27.952 --> 00:21:29.832
<v SPEAKER_1>That probably sounded weird if you're paying attention.

00:21:30.012 --> 00:21:31.412
<v SPEAKER_1>It may have sounded blasphemous to you.

00:21:32.072 --> 00:21:32.692
<v SPEAKER_1>It's not.

00:21:32.832 --> 00:21:35.152
<v SPEAKER_1>What I was talking about is what we're talking about here today.

00:21:36.952 --> 00:21:39.732
<v SPEAKER_1>The fact that we die is because we inherit Adam's sin.

00:21:41.212 --> 00:21:42.892
<v SPEAKER_1>And that is a bad thing.

00:21:42.912 --> 00:21:44.912
<v SPEAKER_1>I'm not saying it's a good thing that we die.

00:21:45.512 --> 00:21:49.692
<v SPEAKER_1>But I am saying it's also a good thing that we die.

00:21:49.712 --> 00:22:02.592
<v SPEAKER_1>And it's one of the really difficult parts for people to wrap their heads around in Christianity is that there are certain times and places where God is operating in creation where both and applies.

00:22:02.952 --> 00:22:15.792
<v SPEAKER_1>Where two contrary things, not even seemingly contrary, but actually explicitly mutually exclusive things are simultaneously true, as we did in the episode on the Eucharist on communion.

00:22:16.172 --> 00:22:26.232
<v SPEAKER_1>If you agree with the Lutheran conception of what scripture says about communion, it is simultaneously bread and his body, it's blood and it's wine.

00:22:26.452 --> 00:22:28.432
<v SPEAKER_1>It's both of those things at the same time.

00:22:28.912 --> 00:22:30.832
<v SPEAKER_1>The Calvinists say it can only be one or the other.

00:22:30.852 --> 00:22:32.912
<v SPEAKER_1>The Chroma Catholics say it can only be one or the other.

00:22:33.152 --> 00:22:35.752
<v SPEAKER_1>And they disagree about which one it has to be.

00:22:36.632 --> 00:22:40.072
<v SPEAKER_1>When you look at the passages and scriptures we went over in that episode, it's clearly both.

00:22:40.292 --> 00:22:42.412
<v SPEAKER_1>Even though it's contradictory, it doesn't make sense.

00:22:42.712 --> 00:22:45.072
<v SPEAKER_1>You look at it like, I can't reconcile that.

00:22:45.872 --> 00:22:51.792
<v SPEAKER_1>Which is why it's important to, as a predicate to any of these discussions, trusting in God.

00:22:52.112 --> 00:22:58.572
<v SPEAKER_1>And when you clearly look at God's Word and He says it's one thing and it's the other at the same time, you have to believe Him.

00:22:59.212 --> 00:23:06.532
<v SPEAKER_1>Because the God who spoke the universe into existence, when He says something is true, it is true, even when our brains can't handle it.

00:23:07.012 --> 00:23:18.852
<v SPEAKER_1>Now, we've said this before, you have to be careful of that sort of sales pitch, because any manner of garbage could be fed to someone, say, oh yeah, don't worry about the fact that it seems insane and doesn't make any sense.

00:23:19.252 --> 00:23:23.712
<v SPEAKER_1>That's potentially a setup for you to digest all manner of wicked teachings.

00:23:24.352 --> 00:23:27.032
<v SPEAKER_1>So, Scripture is the judge.

00:23:27.532 --> 00:23:32.692
<v SPEAKER_1>When Scripture says it's one thing and it's another thing and they contradict each other, Scripture is still right.

00:23:33.112 --> 00:23:37.152
<v SPEAKER_1>Because God is not contradicting himself, He's giving us a hard teaching.

00:23:37.692 --> 00:23:39.232
<v SPEAKER_1>And that is the case with death.

00:23:39.912 --> 00:23:46.932
<v SPEAKER_1>Death is our punishment for Adam's sin and for our sin, because Adam's sin, as we inherit it, is our sin.

00:23:47.192 --> 00:23:50.252
<v SPEAKER_1>We're guilty of our own sin because we're Adam's sons.

00:23:50.712 --> 00:23:56.632
<v SPEAKER_1>And on top of that inherited guilt, we pile on a lifetime of brand new sins that we add to the pile.

00:23:57.412 --> 00:24:07.372
<v SPEAKER_1>As we're recording this, this is just after Holy Week, which culminated in Good Friday and Easter, God paid the price for all those sins on the cross.

00:24:07.872 --> 00:24:14.592
<v SPEAKER_1>And He paid the price for our sins, loving us before we were created, knowing that we were going to commit those sins.

00:24:15.232 --> 00:24:22.512
<v SPEAKER_1>So, as we said in a recent episode, when you point to the cross, it is simultaneously the law and the gospel.

00:24:22.992 --> 00:24:28.672
<v SPEAKER_1>You point to Christ's crucified body on Good Friday, the law is that my sins did that.

00:24:29.172 --> 00:24:30.692
<v SPEAKER_1>My sins killed God.

00:24:31.492 --> 00:24:35.912
<v SPEAKER_1>And you point to that very same body hanging on the cross and say, this is the gospel.

00:24:36.252 --> 00:24:40.212
<v SPEAKER_1>God loved me so much that while I was His enemy, He died for me.

00:24:40.652 --> 00:24:41.972
<v SPEAKER_1>That is the love that He had.

00:24:42.232 --> 00:24:45.932
<v SPEAKER_1>And He died to cancel out my sin, so that it's wiped away forever.

00:24:46.872 --> 00:24:48.692
<v SPEAKER_1>It's both of those things at the same time.

00:24:48.912 --> 00:24:51.092
<v SPEAKER_1>So is the crucifixion a good thing or a bad thing?

00:24:51.632 --> 00:24:58.052
<v SPEAKER_1>It's the worst, most evil crime ever committed in history, and it's the greatest act of love ever committed in history, too.

00:24:58.652 --> 00:25:00.092
<v SPEAKER_1>It's both at the same time.

00:25:00.512 --> 00:25:16.192
<v SPEAKER_1>So while Adam was cast out of the garden because he sinned against God, the specific reason he was removed, because God says very clearly in Genesis, if he was still able to eat from the tree of life, he wouldn't die.

00:25:16.872 --> 00:25:18.112
<v SPEAKER_1>And then what would happen to him?

00:25:18.352 --> 00:25:20.172
<v SPEAKER_1>He would be God's enemy forever.

00:25:20.672 --> 00:25:24.632
<v SPEAKER_1>An immortal, fallen Adam is a horrendous curse.

00:25:24.652 --> 00:25:26.092
<v SPEAKER_1>It's an unimaginable curse.

00:25:26.592 --> 00:25:29.012
<v SPEAKER_1>It's worse than any transhumanist fantasy.

00:25:29.452 --> 00:25:36.812
<v SPEAKER_1>The idea that we would live in enmity with God for eternity without dying, I can't think of anything more horrible than that.

00:25:37.472 --> 00:26:02.452
<v SPEAKER_1>And so it's simultaneously true that Adam's death was a blessing from God because in death, the Christian death, where we have already been baptized into Christ, where we go into the water with him and we die and we arise a new man, the new regenerate man, when his death occurs, his bodily death, it is an entry into eternal life.

00:26:03.232 --> 00:26:04.572
<v SPEAKER_1>Again, that's a thing that's contradictory.

00:26:04.592 --> 00:26:07.632
<v SPEAKER_1>You're talking about temporal death and eternal life.

00:26:07.652 --> 00:26:10.912
<v SPEAKER_1>These are, you know, these are, it's like yin and yang stuff.

00:26:10.932 --> 00:26:15.532
<v SPEAKER_1>It's polar opposites, and yet it's true at the same time because God says so.

00:26:15.812 --> 00:26:20.412
<v SPEAKER_1>So if Adam had never died, that would have been a horrible curse, which is why I said it's good news that you die.

00:26:20.932 --> 00:26:23.452
<v SPEAKER_1>It's good news when God disciplines you.

00:26:23.652 --> 00:26:29.332
<v SPEAKER_1>It's good news when God doesn't spare the rod, but when He loves you and He's diligent and disciplining you.

00:26:29.872 --> 00:26:31.932
<v SPEAKER_1>And that ultimate discipline is our death.

00:26:32.672 --> 00:26:48.732
<v SPEAKER_1>But our death, our inheritance of Adam's death, while it is a temporal punishment for our sin, the Christian hope is that God has earned our salvation on the cross and gives it to us freely in faith.

00:26:49.232 --> 00:26:58.332
<v SPEAKER_1>And so when we die, as terrible and tragic as that day is for all of our friends and family, when you lose a loved one, you're mostly feeling sorrow usually.

00:26:58.812 --> 00:27:07.052
<v SPEAKER_1>But especially if it's a believer who's had strong faith and you have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that they're in heaven, you can still be joyful.

00:27:07.052 --> 00:27:08.412
<v SPEAKER_1>Simultaneously it hurts.

00:27:08.832 --> 00:27:15.192
<v SPEAKER_1>It hurts to have that loss, but there's joy in that death because you know that they are now perfected in Christ.

00:27:15.812 --> 00:27:18.112
<v SPEAKER_1>That's the greatest hope that any of us can have.

00:27:18.352 --> 00:27:22.012
<v SPEAKER_1>And as I've said before, hope is not hopeful.

00:27:22.212 --> 00:27:23.792
<v SPEAKER_1>It's not a probabilistic thing.

00:27:24.292 --> 00:27:28.172
<v SPEAKER_1>Our hope in God is certainty because it's a certainty in His promises.

00:27:28.892 --> 00:27:36.872
<v SPEAKER_1>And so when God talks about us inheriting Adam's death, what's the offset?

00:27:37.212 --> 00:27:38.332
<v SPEAKER_1>We inherit Adam's death.

00:27:38.412 --> 00:27:40.752
<v SPEAKER_1>That's one part of our spiritual inheritance.

00:27:41.212 --> 00:27:44.812
<v SPEAKER_1>And then as Christians, what does God say?

00:27:45.052 --> 00:27:50.552
<v SPEAKER_1>We are adopted as sons of God, which makes us coheirs with Christ of eternal life.

00:27:50.572 --> 00:27:52.252
<v SPEAKER_1>You can go read Romans 8.

00:27:53.212 --> 00:28:00.272
<v SPEAKER_1>Paul goes on at some length talking about the heirship that we have with Christ in the eternal life, which He won on the cross.

00:28:00.932 --> 00:28:15.052
<v SPEAKER_1>And so while death is our inheritance, according to our fallen sinful nature, eternal life is our inheritance, according to God's perfect will and His perfect grace to save us, despite not deserving anything.

00:28:15.612 --> 00:28:21.692
<v SPEAKER_1>I think that's another aspect of all this inheritance that really, especially in modern years, rubs us the wrong way.

00:28:22.032 --> 00:28:24.552
<v SPEAKER_1>Because we think about everything in terms of deserving.

00:28:24.952 --> 00:28:29.252
<v SPEAKER_1>I don't deserve to die because Adam listened to his wife and ate the wrong piece of fruit.

00:28:29.272 --> 00:28:29.872
<v SPEAKER_1>That's not fair.

00:28:30.472 --> 00:28:30.852
<v SPEAKER_1>It isn't.

00:28:30.912 --> 00:28:31.712
<v SPEAKER_1>That's not fair at all.

00:28:31.932 --> 00:28:33.852
<v SPEAKER_1>Some other guy did something and I get punished for it.

00:28:33.872 --> 00:28:34.932
<v SPEAKER_1>It's totally unfair.

00:28:35.192 --> 00:28:36.792
<v SPEAKER_1>And that's exactly how it works.

00:28:38.132 --> 00:28:38.492
<v SPEAKER_1>Why?

00:28:38.512 --> 00:28:39.852
<v SPEAKER_1>Because it's what God says.

00:28:40.112 --> 00:28:41.472
<v SPEAKER_1>And we don't get to argue.

00:28:41.732 --> 00:28:45.692
<v SPEAKER_1>And the only response that we should have is Lord have mercy, I believe.

00:28:46.152 --> 00:28:49.232
<v SPEAKER_1>There's no back talk to the Creator.

00:28:50.352 --> 00:28:53.972
<v SPEAKER_1>As we again said many times, go read Job, see what happens when you back talk God.

00:28:54.252 --> 00:28:55.632
<v SPEAKER_1>And you start at Job 38.

00:28:56.072 --> 00:28:58.232
<v SPEAKER_1>God puts him in his place in a hurry.

00:28:58.672 --> 00:29:00.492
<v SPEAKER_1>And Job wasn't even that bad.

00:29:00.692 --> 00:29:03.732
<v SPEAKER_1>Certainly not nearly as bad as much of the unbelief that we have today.

00:29:05.312 --> 00:29:11.332
<v SPEAKER_1>The manner in which we are given eternal life is inheritance, but it's one that's not deserved.

00:29:11.852 --> 00:29:27.892
<v SPEAKER_1>And that's, it's a distinct part of this, because when we look at what is deserved and undeserved, in a sense, you don't deserve to have your parents' stuff when they die, but in another sense, you do, because it's your inheritance.

00:29:28.132 --> 00:29:30.032
<v SPEAKER_1>Do you deserve it because you're a good person?

00:29:30.732 --> 00:29:34.572
<v SPEAKER_1>No, that's not really how it works, but you're their son or their daughter.

00:29:34.752 --> 00:29:35.812
<v SPEAKER_1>We'll get to that in a minute.

00:29:35.832 --> 00:29:52.652
<v SPEAKER_1>But to inherit something temporal, something material from an older generation is a blessing from God, and it's something we don't necessarily deserve, yet at the same time, we recognize that it is rightly ours.

00:29:53.912 --> 00:30:00.172
<v SPEAKER_1>And eternal life, our inheritance of eternal life is equally true of that.

00:30:00.512 --> 00:30:02.812
<v SPEAKER_1>You don't inherit eternal life because you deserve it.

00:30:03.632 --> 00:30:12.952
<v SPEAKER_1>And even when eternal life is promised to us and is given to us, and even when we are jealous of our inheritance of eternal life, which every Christian should be, what do you do?

00:30:13.332 --> 00:30:17.792
<v SPEAKER_1>You zealously guard your promise of eternal life by living a Christian life.

00:30:18.172 --> 00:30:23.372
<v SPEAKER_1>When you're adopted as a son of God and co-heir with Christ, what kind of life are you going to lead after that?

00:30:23.852 --> 00:30:30.672
<v SPEAKER_1>Are you going to continue in the waves that you realize once you find Christ, are the reason he was nailed to the cross in the first place?

00:30:30.972 --> 00:30:31.972
<v SPEAKER_1>Or do you try to cut it out?

00:30:32.472 --> 00:30:35.372
<v SPEAKER_1>Do you try to not do the things that you know you shouldn't have been doing?

00:30:35.792 --> 00:30:40.212
<v SPEAKER_1>And either in your willful evil or simply in your ignorance, you persisted.

00:30:40.712 --> 00:30:45.912
<v SPEAKER_1>Once you know, you realize, I'm God's son now, I've been adopted.

00:30:46.372 --> 00:30:52.172
<v SPEAKER_1>And as God's son, as an adopted son of God and co-heir with Christ, I'm going to stop messing around.

00:30:52.552 --> 00:30:53.952
<v SPEAKER_1>I'm not going to break the rules.

00:30:53.972 --> 00:31:06.912
<v SPEAKER_1>I'm going to try to do those things which bring God honor, not because it's going to make me deserve my inheritance, but because I wish to be an honorable participant in it and to receive it with gratitude.

00:31:07.292 --> 00:31:08.452
<v SPEAKER_1>And it's still imperfect.

00:31:09.072 --> 00:31:12.272
<v SPEAKER_1>That's where the original sin continues to lag behind.

00:31:13.152 --> 00:31:15.712
<v SPEAKER_1>We don't lose our original sin in baptism.

00:31:16.092 --> 00:31:18.312
<v SPEAKER_1>We still bear that guilt, which is why we die.

00:31:18.672 --> 00:31:21.912
<v SPEAKER_1>Our death is a proof that our original sin remains with us.

00:31:23.432 --> 00:31:28.352
<v SPEAKER_1>But the inheritance of eternal life comes at death, so it is actually good news that God kills us.

00:31:28.812 --> 00:31:34.612
<v SPEAKER_1>If he were an absentee father that didn't care at all, he'd let us live forever, as eternal enemies.

00:31:35.312 --> 00:31:40.952
<v SPEAKER_1>And that frankly seems like a worse description of hell than anything that could actually be there.

00:31:41.372 --> 00:31:51.732
<v SPEAKER_1>So we should be thankful for all of these inheritances, and particularly in the Christian life, that the inheritance of eternal life, which is totally undeserved, is given freely.

00:31:52.432 --> 00:32:07.032
<v SPEAKER_1>And then he tells us, he goes out of his way, he gives us the Bible, he gives us faithful preaching, and we hear, hopefully every week, the good news proclaimed that despite deserving nothing, our inheritance is an eternal life that's waiting for us when we die.

00:32:07.052 --> 00:32:09.392
<v SPEAKER_1>Does that make your death a good thing or a bad thing?

00:32:10.392 --> 00:32:12.272
<v SPEAKER_1>It kind of makes it both, and that's okay.

00:32:12.612 --> 00:32:14.032
<v SPEAKER_1>It can be both at the same time.

00:32:15.952 --> 00:32:21.152
<v SPEAKER_2>One of the most important things that we inherit is, in fact, the Church.

00:32:22.412 --> 00:32:27.052
<v SPEAKER_2>We went over this, as Will mentioned, in Episode 4, Election in View of Headship.

00:32:28.652 --> 00:32:35.772
<v SPEAKER_2>So I won't repeat all of that here, but I do want to emphasize the fact that the Church is an inheritance.

00:32:38.292 --> 00:32:43.532
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, I want to explain that, because some will maybe push back against that.

00:32:45.292 --> 00:32:49.272
<v SPEAKER_2>First off, it is important to note that God acts in time via means.

00:32:49.292 --> 00:32:56.892
<v SPEAKER_2>We went over this to some extent in the aforementioned episode, so I recommend you go and listen to that or re-listen to that if necessary.

00:32:58.652 --> 00:33:05.512
<v SPEAKER_2>But it is fundamentally important to understand that God does not simply zap someone and give him belief.

00:33:06.852 --> 00:33:07.892
<v SPEAKER_2>That's not how it works.

00:33:08.532 --> 00:33:11.932
<v SPEAKER_2>God has decided he is going to act via means.

00:33:12.652 --> 00:33:24.512
<v SPEAKER_2>And that typically means his word, whether it is preached or read, however you happen to encounter the word, however you experience the word and understand it.

00:33:25.732 --> 00:33:29.692
<v SPEAKER_2>The word is the means that God uses to transmit that faith forward.

00:33:30.872 --> 00:33:32.612
<v SPEAKER_2>Well, how do you receive the word?

00:33:33.152 --> 00:33:38.372
<v SPEAKER_2>There are verses that should come to mind, of course, but quite simply, it's very straightforward.

00:33:39.552 --> 00:33:41.792
<v SPEAKER_2>Someone has to present it to you.

00:33:43.512 --> 00:33:45.732
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, you may think, well, I could read it.

00:33:46.072 --> 00:33:53.412
<v SPEAKER_2>Well, that's true, but someone had to create the book, that actual physical artifact, the printed version of the Bible.

00:33:54.032 --> 00:34:00.732
<v SPEAKER_2>Because if you are the one picking it up and reading it, particularly if it's for the first time, you most certainly did not create it.

00:34:02.012 --> 00:34:07.112
<v SPEAKER_2>When you hear the word for the first time, you are not the one doing the speaking.

00:34:07.372 --> 00:34:08.912
<v SPEAKER_2>Someone else is doing that.

00:34:09.872 --> 00:34:18.132
<v SPEAKER_2>That had to have been transmitted down through the generations over a course of millennia in order for you to hear that truth.

00:34:18.612 --> 00:34:29.592
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, yes, God has ensured, because He has promised, that His word will remain, and that we will be able to have that word and to read, to hear it, etc.

00:34:30.152 --> 00:34:34.132
<v SPEAKER_2>However, that is a general promise.

00:34:34.752 --> 00:34:39.092
<v SPEAKER_2>It is not given to any one specific person or group of people.

00:34:40.472 --> 00:34:54.172
<v SPEAKER_2>In order for you to have heard the word, it is necessary that you had faithful ancestors or that someone else had faithful ancestors who then sent a missionary for your people to hear that word.

00:34:55.192 --> 00:34:57.052
<v SPEAKER_2>And so the church is an inheritance.

00:34:57.732 --> 00:35:08.352
<v SPEAKER_2>Thankfully, the church, unlike most inheritance, because typically most inheritance, you inherit something and it gets split among the children.

00:35:08.372 --> 00:35:14.292
<v SPEAKER_2>We will go into some of the details on that in a little bit, but typically it is split among the children.

00:35:14.312 --> 00:35:18.852
<v SPEAKER_2>And so the inheritance is, to an extent, diminished as it is split.

00:35:19.312 --> 00:35:25.672
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, you can then use that inheritance to grow your own inheritance to pass on to your own children as it is supposed to work.

00:35:25.692 --> 00:35:27.192
<v SPEAKER_2>You aren't simply supposed to sit on it.

00:35:27.872 --> 00:35:30.392
<v SPEAKER_2>That makes you the wicked servant who buried his talent.

00:35:31.912 --> 00:35:34.352
<v SPEAKER_2>However, that division does take place.

00:35:34.372 --> 00:35:35.832
<v SPEAKER_2>That's not the case with the faith.

00:35:36.832 --> 00:35:45.652
<v SPEAKER_2>The faith can be transmitted with no loss, which is to say that each new believer adds to the inheritance and does not detract from it.

00:35:45.672 --> 00:35:56.552
<v SPEAKER_2>There's no division in the same sense as, say, if you took a bank account with $100,000 in it and you divided it among two children, they would each get $50,000, assuming you did it evenly.

00:35:58.752 --> 00:36:00.052
<v SPEAKER_2>That's not the case with the faith.

00:36:00.612 --> 00:36:07.552
<v SPEAKER_2>If I tell you about Christ and you believe because what I told you, there are now two believers, and we both have the faith.

00:36:07.872 --> 00:36:09.172
<v SPEAKER_2>There's no diminishment there.

00:36:12.292 --> 00:36:15.432
<v SPEAKER_2>However, that transmission was necessary.

00:36:16.212 --> 00:36:27.972
<v SPEAKER_2>And so the church herself is fundamentally a matter of inheritance, and that is the way in which nations, peoples, eras even, can be faithful.

00:36:27.992 --> 00:36:34.992
<v SPEAKER_2>A faithful nation is going to transmit forward that inheritance of the truth to future generations.

00:36:36.092 --> 00:36:38.452
<v SPEAKER_2>And that is, of course, what makes that nation faithful.

00:36:39.732 --> 00:36:51.892
<v SPEAKER_2>If at some point some generation, some certain link in the chain is faithless and does not transmit the faith forward, the next generation will not have faith.

00:36:52.772 --> 00:36:54.052
<v SPEAKER_2>It doesn't just come out of nowhere.

00:36:54.392 --> 00:36:56.692
<v SPEAKER_2>Again, God doesn't just zap you and give you faith.

00:36:57.132 --> 00:36:58.352
<v SPEAKER_2>He works via means.

00:36:58.912 --> 00:37:01.992
<v SPEAKER_2>This is something that has to be transmitted forward.

00:37:02.072 --> 00:37:03.372
<v SPEAKER_2>It is an inheritance.

00:37:04.152 --> 00:37:08.652
<v SPEAKER_2>And if you do not receive it as an inheritance, you simply will not receive it.

00:37:10.212 --> 00:37:20.832
<v SPEAKER_2>And so that is why it is so fundamentally important for the older generations to transmit this faith forward to future generations to pass on this inheritance.

00:37:21.432 --> 00:37:23.692
<v SPEAKER_2>They received it from those who came before them.

00:37:23.952 --> 00:37:26.652
<v SPEAKER_2>They are supposed to pass it to those who come after them.

00:37:27.312 --> 00:37:31.112
<v SPEAKER_2>That is one of the most important parts of the Christian life.

00:37:32.012 --> 00:37:34.712
<v SPEAKER_2>Old men are supposed to teach young men the faith.

00:37:35.212 --> 00:37:50.672
<v SPEAKER_2>You are supposed to grow in your faith over the course of your life, so that you are able to teach younger men, particularly if you are a father, so you are able to teach your sons, and then your grandsons and your great-grandsons, if you are so lucky that God keeps you alive long enough to see them.

00:37:51.672 --> 00:37:54.252
<v SPEAKER_2>That is part of your duty as a Christian.

00:37:55.952 --> 00:37:57.312
<v SPEAKER_2>It is a matter of inheritance.

00:37:57.332 --> 00:38:00.072
<v SPEAKER_2>You are passing forward that inheritance.

00:38:00.092 --> 00:38:02.892
<v SPEAKER_2>It's not, again, it is not just material.

00:38:03.632 --> 00:38:09.772
<v SPEAKER_2>It's not just money, it's not just real estate, it's not your collection of whatever you happen to collect.

00:38:10.652 --> 00:38:18.572
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, those things are also an inheritance that you pass forward, but the most important inheritance is the church.

00:38:20.432 --> 00:38:27.972
<v SPEAKER_2>The church has to be maintained generationally, because as Woe just explained, and as we all know, we die.

00:38:30.372 --> 00:38:44.492
<v SPEAKER_2>You cannot have a church maintained by mortal human beings who die, who have finite lifespans if it is not passed on to their children, if that inheritance is not carried forward.

00:38:45.272 --> 00:38:51.292
<v SPEAKER_2>If you know something, and you tell no one about it, and then you die, that knowledge dies with you.

00:38:52.712 --> 00:39:01.712
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, as we have explained a number of times in previous episodes and elsewhere, the Christian faith is a matter of knowledge.

00:39:02.592 --> 00:39:11.492
<v SPEAKER_2>Not just knowledge, also faith, also belief, but you have to have the knowledge, because otherwise, in what are you believing?

00:39:12.152 --> 00:39:24.152
<v SPEAKER_2>If you just have some sort of, as if this were even possible, but if you just had some sort of nebulous faith, it would not be the Christian faith, because the Christian faith is in a concrete set of tenets.

00:39:25.512 --> 00:39:28.072
<v SPEAKER_2>We enumerate those, you can just look at the creeds.

00:39:29.232 --> 00:39:34.972
<v SPEAKER_2>We know what the Christian faith teaches, what you have to believe to be a Christian.

00:39:36.072 --> 00:39:39.512
<v SPEAKER_2>And this is the three forms of knowledge, as it were.

00:39:39.532 --> 00:39:43.852
<v SPEAKER_2>We've gone over many times, notitia, ascensus and fiducia.

00:39:44.432 --> 00:39:54.832
<v SPEAKER_2>Those first two are essentially purely a matter of what we are discussing in this episode, inheritance, passing forward the knowledge that is the Christian faith.

00:39:55.892 --> 00:39:58.772
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, those to whom it is passed must believe.

00:39:58.792 --> 00:40:00.152
<v SPEAKER_2>That's the third, fiducia.

00:40:00.652 --> 00:40:11.452
<v SPEAKER_2>If they do not have that faith, they are not Christians, but they have to have the content of the faith first in order to believe in it, because that is the means through which the Spirit works.

00:40:11.472 --> 00:40:12.772
<v SPEAKER_2>That is what Scripture tells us.

00:40:14.412 --> 00:40:20.452
<v SPEAKER_2>And so when we think of inheritance, we shouldn't just think in the secular terms, as it were.

00:40:21.472 --> 00:40:27.152
<v SPEAKER_2>We need to think about the fullness of what God gives us and what we are passing forward to future generations.

00:40:28.012 --> 00:40:33.452
<v SPEAKER_2>And first and foremost, it is the Christian faith that is an inheritance.

00:40:34.312 --> 00:40:43.512
<v SPEAKER_2>And Scripture speaks of not just the Christian faith as an inheritance, but also what you receive with the Christian faith, eternal life and all these other things.

00:40:44.152 --> 00:40:49.412
<v SPEAKER_2>As an inheritance, we inherit with Christ because we are made sons of God.

00:40:49.952 --> 00:40:55.772
<v SPEAKER_2>We are restored to that right relationship with God through the blood of Christ.

00:40:57.712 --> 00:41:01.932
<v SPEAKER_2>And yes, it is sons, as we've gone over in previous episodes, but I will go over again.

00:41:02.332 --> 00:41:14.852
<v SPEAKER_2>The reason it says sons is because historically, traditionally, as Scripture says, and quite frankly, rightfully, it is sons who inherit and not daughters.

00:41:16.112 --> 00:41:33.392
<v SPEAKER_2>And that is why Scripture is explicit in saying sons, because every Christian, whether male or female, man or woman, inherits as a son of God, because we all inherit eternal life equally.

00:41:33.412 --> 00:41:34.472
<v SPEAKER_2>There's no distinction there.

00:41:34.492 --> 00:41:36.992
<v SPEAKER_2>This is where Galatians 3.28 comes in.

00:41:37.012 --> 00:41:44.792
<v SPEAKER_2>We have gone over that in an episode entitled Galatians 3.28, and I generally just recommend listening to that one again.

00:41:45.892 --> 00:41:51.672
<v SPEAKER_2>But that is why it says that we are sons of God, because even women inherit as sons.

00:41:53.232 --> 00:42:04.152
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, yes, in Scripture, there are cases where a daughter does inherit, but the general rule is that inheritance goes to the sons.

00:42:04.812 --> 00:42:10.912
<v SPEAKER_2>The reason for this is a distinction in the way that marriage works for a man versus a woman.

00:42:12.492 --> 00:42:15.012
<v SPEAKER_2>For a man, he takes a wife.

00:42:16.192 --> 00:42:19.292
<v SPEAKER_2>She becomes part of his family.

00:42:19.312 --> 00:42:22.092
<v SPEAKER_2>They are forming a new link in that chain.

00:42:22.672 --> 00:42:24.172
<v SPEAKER_2>She is joining a family.

00:42:24.592 --> 00:42:25.472
<v SPEAKER_2>He is the head.

00:42:26.052 --> 00:42:27.112
<v SPEAKER_2>She is not the head.

00:42:27.512 --> 00:42:28.772
<v SPEAKER_2>The head is in control.

00:42:28.792 --> 00:42:34.032
<v SPEAKER_2>The head is in the position of authority, and so she joins under him in his family.

00:42:34.772 --> 00:42:39.052
<v SPEAKER_2>For the woman, as I just said, she is joining another family.

00:42:39.572 --> 00:42:40.592
<v SPEAKER_2>She is not the head.

00:42:41.112 --> 00:42:54.492
<v SPEAKER_2>And so that is why traditionally, she did one of the reasons that traditionally, the woman does not inherit, because she is no longer in the same way part of her original birth family.

00:42:54.512 --> 00:42:56.732
<v SPEAKER_2>She has become part of her husband's family.

00:42:57.052 --> 00:43:02.072
<v SPEAKER_2>She has created a new link in that chain, and that is what she is helping to carry forward.

00:43:02.612 --> 00:43:09.132
<v SPEAKER_2>And so she has that inheritance from that family, which will be then passed on to her children.

00:43:10.172 --> 00:43:21.152
<v SPEAKER_2>So there's a fundamental difference in the way that marriage and all of these things work for men versus women, and that's one of the reasons that daughters traditionally do not inherit.

00:43:22.092 --> 00:43:31.012
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, of course, the big exception is when a man has no sons, then he has no son to whom to pass the inheritance.

00:43:31.532 --> 00:43:35.812
<v SPEAKER_2>And so scripture in a couple places addresses this explicitly, actually.

00:43:36.512 --> 00:43:41.272
<v SPEAKER_2>The daughters then would inherit, and that is how it is functioned in many societies.

00:43:41.852 --> 00:43:45.212
<v SPEAKER_2>Some have passed it to the nearest male relative.

00:43:46.152 --> 00:43:49.872
<v SPEAKER_2>This is not something that scripture says you must absolutely do it this way.

00:43:50.672 --> 00:43:56.672
<v SPEAKER_2>It is not a matter where the moral law speaks to us explicitly in detail, as it were.

00:43:56.692 --> 00:43:58.592
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, there are general recommendations.

00:43:58.872 --> 00:44:13.912
<v SPEAKER_2>There's no set of rules, which is to say that society is free, the godly prince is free, in light of what scripture says, to draft rules for inheritance, for how these things work in reality, because that is the civil law.

00:44:14.732 --> 00:44:33.572
<v SPEAKER_2>And the civil law, yes, there's civil law in scripture, but the civil law is not binding on us in the same way and to the same extent as the moral law, because as mentioned many times, the moral law flows from the nature of God and is therefore unchanging, and man has no say in it, as it were.

00:44:34.152 --> 00:44:40.492
<v SPEAKER_2>We are required to follow the moral law exactly as it has been passed to us or revealed to us by God.

00:44:41.112 --> 00:44:42.492
<v SPEAKER_2>There are no exceptions to it.

00:44:42.512 --> 00:44:44.472
<v SPEAKER_2>There's no, well, I would like to do.

00:44:44.912 --> 00:44:45.172
<v SPEAKER_2>No.

00:44:45.992 --> 00:44:48.392
<v SPEAKER_2>The moral law says X, you do X.

00:44:48.872 --> 00:44:51.772
<v SPEAKER_2>If the moral law says do not do X, you do not do X.

00:44:52.752 --> 00:44:58.792
<v SPEAKER_2>The civil law is by and large left up to human wisdom with the guidance of Scripture.

00:45:00.652 --> 00:45:19.392
<v SPEAKER_1>If you happen to be a fellow Crusader Kings 3 player, you're probably familiar with some of the elaborate permutations of inheritance that exist historically in the West and as well as in other cultures dealing with which sons receive which portions, are there preferences for male versus female.

00:45:20.272 --> 00:45:22.132
<v SPEAKER_1>It's very elaborate and it varied by culture.

00:45:22.152 --> 00:45:27.152
<v SPEAKER_1>And as Corey said, there's not an explicit law from God saying it must be this way.

00:45:27.812 --> 00:45:34.752
<v SPEAKER_1>And I want to make an explicit note here because Stone Choir listeners want to try to be God and do what God says.

00:45:35.212 --> 00:45:37.812
<v SPEAKER_1>We are absolutely not saying, write your daughters out of your will.

00:45:38.132 --> 00:45:38.952
<v SPEAKER_1>Please don't do that.

00:45:40.532 --> 00:45:48.432
<v SPEAKER_1>What we are saying is that when a society is godly, generally, there's no need for daughters to be in the will.

00:45:48.932 --> 00:45:53.072
<v SPEAKER_1>Because as Corey said, when a daughter marries, she's marrying into a family.

00:45:53.472 --> 00:45:57.372
<v SPEAKER_1>So it's just marrying for love, just marrying because the guy is really cute.

00:45:57.872 --> 00:45:58.492
<v SPEAKER_1>Not enough.

00:45:59.052 --> 00:46:00.972
<v SPEAKER_1>Not really the right barometer.

00:46:01.412 --> 00:46:04.272
<v SPEAKER_1>You know, absolutely for both of those, those should be there.

00:46:04.772 --> 00:46:06.992
<v SPEAKER_1>But you are marrying into a family.

00:46:07.532 --> 00:46:08.672
<v SPEAKER_1>It's a package deal.

00:46:09.432 --> 00:46:11.512
<v SPEAKER_1>And that's why she takes his name.

00:46:11.872 --> 00:46:20.292
<v SPEAKER_1>That's why the father gives her hand to her groom in marriage as a transfer, saying she is now your principal problem.

00:46:21.872 --> 00:46:41.492
<v SPEAKER_1>The interesting thing when you look at the history of things like inheritance, there is also historically going back all the way to antiquity, the notion of dowries, which is basically a form of inheritance for the female that doesn't occur at the death of the parents, but it occurs upon marriage.

00:46:41.952 --> 00:46:47.492
<v SPEAKER_1>It is in effect a portion of her inheritance, but it's received at the moment when she needs it the most.

00:46:48.152 --> 00:46:52.392
<v SPEAKER_1>And historically, dowries are given primarily for two overlapping purposes.

00:46:53.092 --> 00:47:07.792
<v SPEAKER_1>One, so that at the moment when the new husband and wife, the newly formed bond of marriage is created, they can hit the ground running having kids, and they will have the means to care for the kids.

00:47:08.232 --> 00:47:27.112
<v SPEAKER_1>Because while the father of the bride might not care about the welfare of her new husband, not directly or necessarily implicitly, he certainly still has an invested interest in his daughter's children, because those are just as much his grandchildren as his heirs on the male side.

00:47:27.612 --> 00:47:42.552
<v SPEAKER_1>And so what dowry has historically done is for parents to be able to transfer a portion of their wealth to their daughters upon their marriage so that in the moment when they're forming a family, that family formation can go as optimally as possible.

00:47:43.092 --> 00:47:56.732
<v SPEAKER_1>And the other purpose of dowries was to ensure even if the husband turned out to be a bad husband or if the husband dies, the dowry was there in part to ensure that the wife and any of her offspring would be cared for materially.

00:47:57.272 --> 00:47:59.792
<v SPEAKER_1>And so it was there to provide security for her.

00:47:59.812 --> 00:48:10.372
<v SPEAKER_1>And often in various cultures, when the dowry was given to the wife, she would have legal rights to it that the husband would not have over that portion of the dowry.

00:48:10.892 --> 00:48:15.772
<v SPEAKER_1>We'll link in the show notes the Wikipedia article so you can just see again some of the variations there.

00:48:15.792 --> 00:48:26.612
<v SPEAKER_1>So there's not necessarily a right answer for any of this, but it's interesting just to pay attention to the fact that historically, these considerations have always been a part of human experience.

00:48:27.112 --> 00:48:30.392
<v SPEAKER_1>And again, because we're atomized today, we have no notion of this.

00:48:30.412 --> 00:48:39.912
<v SPEAKER_1>We have no notion in the West of favoring family formation and sacrificing now for the sake of future generations.

00:48:40.292 --> 00:48:42.632
<v SPEAKER_1>It's basically unthinkable to most people today.

00:48:43.172 --> 00:48:46.572
<v SPEAKER_1>What's interesting is that it absolutely exists today in other cultures.

00:48:47.052 --> 00:48:55.312
<v SPEAKER_1>When I lived in the Bay Area, it was the norm among East Asian, Southeast Asian and Indian families.

00:48:55.792 --> 00:49:01.932
<v SPEAKER_1>Generally, they would have a number of family members, a lot of family members, all in the same general area, even if they're around the country.

00:49:02.412 --> 00:49:04.752
<v SPEAKER_1>When a couple would get married, you know what they'd do?

00:49:05.072 --> 00:49:07.152
<v SPEAKER_1>They'd buy them a house, pay cash.

00:49:07.852 --> 00:49:09.112
<v SPEAKER_1>The house would be paid for.

00:49:09.132 --> 00:49:13.192
<v SPEAKER_1>The new couple, when they got married, would be handed the keys without a mortgage.

00:49:14.072 --> 00:49:16.812
<v SPEAKER_1>And this is the Bay Area, you know, 15 years ago or so.

00:49:17.112 --> 00:49:19.812
<v SPEAKER_1>We're talking about 500, 800 million dollar houses.

00:49:20.652 --> 00:49:22.012
<v SPEAKER_1>Not a small investment.

00:49:22.032 --> 00:49:27.272
<v SPEAKER_1>These families were doing well for themselves, but they were also putting their money where their mouth was.

00:49:27.292 --> 00:49:37.872
<v SPEAKER_1>Because, you know, there are probably a dozen families chipping in for, you know, easily five or six figures to ensure that that new couple could get off on the best possible foot.

00:49:38.292 --> 00:49:42.612
<v SPEAKER_1>And then the expectation is that everyone in the community continues to pay it forward.

00:49:42.912 --> 00:49:53.592
<v SPEAKER_1>So later on, when that couple has had a bunch of kids on our chores, and they've done even better for themselves financially, they will help to buy other people's kids' houses.

00:49:53.892 --> 00:49:57.252
<v SPEAKER_1>And they'll buy their own kids' houses when they get old enough for the same purpose.

00:49:57.852 --> 00:50:01.092
<v SPEAKER_1>So it's not exactly a dowry, but you can see the principles the same.

00:50:01.592 --> 00:50:07.532
<v SPEAKER_1>There is a natural, godly impulse for every people to want to see their kids do well now.

00:50:08.232 --> 00:50:13.292
<v SPEAKER_1>And I think it's one of the things that's, in some cases, it's almost gone again from the boomer ethos.

00:50:13.812 --> 00:50:17.772
<v SPEAKER_1>If you're new and you haven't heard us talk much about boomers, we did an entire episode.

00:50:17.792 --> 00:50:19.592
<v SPEAKER_1>We've done a couple of episodes about generations.

00:50:20.012 --> 00:50:26.292
<v SPEAKER_1>And the one particular in the generational divide, we talk about when we say this, we're not trying to be hateful or spiteful.

00:50:26.912 --> 00:50:39.092
<v SPEAKER_1>We describe there how there is a particular set of beliefs and behaviors in the generation, particular to the boomers and the older Xers, that isn't even present for the silent generation, their own parents.

00:50:40.972 --> 00:50:48.072
<v SPEAKER_1>And one of the problems that we have is that there's this notion, like I said earlier, you make sure that the last check you write bounces.

00:50:48.492 --> 00:50:49.512
<v SPEAKER_1>That's a boomer joke.

00:50:49.972 --> 00:50:57.672
<v SPEAKER_1>The idea that I'm going to run everything to zero, maybe I'll run up credit card debt, and so the day I die, all the bills come due and I'm gone.

00:50:57.692 --> 00:50:58.612
<v SPEAKER_1>It's not my problem.

00:50:58.972 --> 00:50:59.752
<v SPEAKER_1>What are they doing?

00:51:00.452 --> 00:51:02.512
<v SPEAKER_1>They joke about it, and it's not a joke either.

00:51:02.972 --> 00:51:10.792
<v SPEAKER_1>They have the incentive in their own moral compass to not leave an inheritance to their children, let alone their children's children.

00:51:11.652 --> 00:51:17.632
<v SPEAKER_1>It's the opposite of the notion particularly manifest in the dowry to see your children do well in your life.

00:51:18.092 --> 00:51:24.012
<v SPEAKER_1>And then certainly for your male heirs, when you die, or again, as I said, for your daughters as well.

00:51:24.692 --> 00:51:26.992
<v SPEAKER_1>Don't write your daughters out of your will because you heard this episode.

00:51:28.452 --> 00:51:29.272
<v SPEAKER_1>Act in wisdom.

00:51:29.492 --> 00:51:38.132
<v SPEAKER_1>If we solved about 30 or 40 other problems, maybe someday we'll get to the point where we can go back to having proper dowries and proper inheritances.

00:51:38.652 --> 00:51:41.592
<v SPEAKER_1>But we don't first solve the problem of cutting kids out of wills.

00:51:41.612 --> 00:51:42.152
<v SPEAKER_1>Don't do that.

00:51:42.652 --> 00:51:45.812
<v SPEAKER_1>Let's try to build a society where this stuff just works the way it used to.

00:51:46.152 --> 00:51:49.412
<v SPEAKER_1>Because for thousands of years, this stuff was basically sorted out.

00:51:49.672 --> 00:51:50.592
<v SPEAKER_1>It was never perfect.

00:51:50.852 --> 00:51:51.932
<v SPEAKER_1>There are sinners involved.

00:51:52.172 --> 00:51:54.752
<v SPEAKER_1>There's jealousy and foolishness and rivalries.

00:51:55.552 --> 00:51:56.032
<v SPEAKER_1>Guess what?

00:51:56.052 --> 00:51:56.772
<v SPEAKER_1>That's human life.

00:51:57.452 --> 00:51:58.872
<v SPEAKER_1>You can't solve that with a law.

00:51:59.172 --> 00:52:01.932
<v SPEAKER_1>You can only solve that with God's love.

00:52:02.372 --> 00:52:04.912
<v SPEAKER_1>And with people actually believing and wanting to obey God.

00:52:05.952 --> 00:52:30.272
<v SPEAKER_1>But when you think about structuring society, when inheritance is taken from the children, one of the things that we're seeing in our own church today, the LCMS, is making a very concerted grab against the trusts and the inheritances of the boomers as they're dying to divert that transfer of intergenerational wealth away from their children, if they have any, into the church.

00:52:30.292 --> 00:52:32.212
<v SPEAKER_1>Because they say, no, no, no, your kids are going to be fine.

00:52:32.232 --> 00:52:33.392
<v SPEAKER_1>You don't want them to be spoiled.

00:52:33.572 --> 00:52:34.152
<v SPEAKER_1>You know what?

00:52:34.532 --> 00:52:36.272
<v SPEAKER_1>Let's just give that to the LCMS.

00:52:36.292 --> 00:52:37.352
<v SPEAKER_1>We're going to use it for missions.

00:52:37.572 --> 00:52:39.012
<v SPEAKER_1>We have all these foreigners coming here.

00:52:39.292 --> 00:52:40.392
<v SPEAKER_1>We're going to tell them about Jesus.

00:52:40.512 --> 00:52:41.252
<v SPEAKER_1>It's going to be great.

00:52:41.552 --> 00:52:46.932
<v SPEAKER_1>You should give most of what you have, give it to God, and just make the checkout to the LCMS Corporation.

00:52:47.672 --> 00:53:07.452
<v SPEAKER_1>That's typical in a lot of churches today, to try to drain that intergenerational wealth, to be envious of it, to covet that which is rightly being passed from fathers and grandfathers to children and grandchildren, and put it into something that is outside of the typical way these things are treated.

00:53:07.712 --> 00:53:12.832
<v SPEAKER_1>Now, a lot of these matters are going to be a function of how wealthy you are personally.

00:53:13.352 --> 00:53:27.912
<v SPEAKER_1>I'd imagine that there are probably not many of our listeners because it's just there aren't that many people in the world who actually have to worry about intergenerational estate management and setting up trust because there's so much there that there's plenty to spread around.

00:53:28.552 --> 00:53:30.172
<v SPEAKER_1>And that's a reasonable consideration.

00:53:30.652 --> 00:53:39.112
<v SPEAKER_1>If you have $100 million, it's perfectly fine as a matter of wisdom to say, I'm not going to give my son $100 million.

00:53:39.532 --> 00:53:42.552
<v SPEAKER_1>Or if, you know, maybe you have enough kids and grandkids, you can spread it evenly.

00:53:43.292 --> 00:53:44.652
<v SPEAKER_1>It's up for grabs.

00:53:44.812 --> 00:53:50.372
<v SPEAKER_1>There's no moral dicta that says you must give this percentage to this and not this.

00:53:51.292 --> 00:53:59.932
<v SPEAKER_1>For many people, it's absolutely a laudable thing to give some money to a worthwhile charity, including a worthwhile church program.

00:54:00.572 --> 00:54:01.452
<v SPEAKER_1>That's a good thing.

00:54:01.912 --> 00:54:07.632
<v SPEAKER_1>But the consideration is how much is there to go around.

00:54:08.012 --> 00:54:22.592
<v SPEAKER_1>And what we see is that in most families, in the typical American family, like right now, somebody who's, you know, 15, 20 years younger than me will probably never be able to afford a house, which is kind of bonkers because their parents probably own homes.

00:54:23.072 --> 00:54:25.252
<v SPEAKER_1>Will they be given those homes as an inheritance?

00:54:25.972 --> 00:54:27.012
<v SPEAKER_1>In some cases, yes.

00:54:27.032 --> 00:54:27.932
<v SPEAKER_1>In some cases, no.

00:54:27.952 --> 00:54:35.272
<v SPEAKER_1>You know, in some cases, the house has to be sold and liquidated to settle the estate, to divide it up among various children.

00:54:36.272 --> 00:54:43.872
<v SPEAKER_1>That winnowing function that occurs when things are diluted, it's an opportunity to decide as individuals what makes sense.

00:54:44.312 --> 00:54:54.612
<v SPEAKER_1>You know, there are entirely permissible cases where maybe a child does need to be removed from a will, or maybe they don't need to be removed, but they can't really be trusted in their own judgment.

00:54:55.072 --> 00:55:08.432
<v SPEAKER_1>And so anything that's given to them needs to be put in a managed trust so that they can have access to what they need, but they won't have access to, you know, do drugs or whatever damaging thing makes their judgment suspect.

00:55:08.712 --> 00:55:13.412
<v SPEAKER_1>You know, if you give this kid $100,000, he's probably gonna be dead in a week.

00:55:14.112 --> 00:55:15.072
<v SPEAKER_1>There are people like that.

00:55:15.152 --> 00:55:21.072
<v SPEAKER_1>There's absolutely no moral or scriptural argument to say, you gotta give somebody a loaded gun.

00:55:21.532 --> 00:55:22.172
<v SPEAKER_1>Absolutely not.

00:55:22.512 --> 00:55:24.032
<v SPEAKER_1>These are all matters of wisdom.

00:55:24.472 --> 00:55:31.332
<v SPEAKER_1>But the moral necessity is that, you know, Proverbs 13, a good man leaves inheritance to his children's children.

00:55:32.172 --> 00:55:45.812
<v SPEAKER_1>Now, as we said earlier, one of the fundamental things to understand about all inheritance is that this intergenerational transfer is never deserved by any generation.

00:55:46.212 --> 00:55:50.432
<v SPEAKER_1>It's God pouring out his blessings on us generation after generation.

00:55:50.772 --> 00:55:53.992
<v SPEAKER_1>So if your parents did really well in life, guess what?

00:55:54.272 --> 00:55:55.092
<v SPEAKER_1>God bless them.

00:55:55.532 --> 00:56:00.192
<v SPEAKER_1>And so for them to remember you in their will is God blessing you.

00:56:00.832 --> 00:56:12.152
<v SPEAKER_1>And if unfortunately, because so many of these things have been completely lost from society and culture and especially inside the church, but just in general, no one thinks about this anymore.

00:56:12.172 --> 00:56:22.192
<v SPEAKER_1>I mean, more frankly, the pattern that has emerged in the last couple decades, really some of the richest people on earth, I think, began really heavily pushing it.

00:56:22.752 --> 00:56:38.392
<v SPEAKER_1>The idea, I'm not going to leave my kids anything because they're going to be spoiled because, you know, guys like Buffett have accumulated so much wealth in evil ways, even assuming that it's entirely possible to accumulate wealth in a morally illicit fashion.

00:56:38.672 --> 00:56:39.272
<v SPEAKER_1>It happens.

00:56:39.332 --> 00:56:40.792
<v SPEAKER_1>It's a blessing from God.

00:56:41.112 --> 00:56:44.072
<v SPEAKER_1>Again, if somebody has more money than you, don't assume they're a crook.

00:56:44.492 --> 00:56:48.232
<v SPEAKER_1>Assume for the sake of charity that God has blessed them and be thankful for them.

00:56:48.532 --> 00:56:51.072
<v SPEAKER_1>Don't covet it and don't envy them that they have it.

00:56:53.052 --> 00:57:05.572
<v SPEAKER_1>But the thing that has happened at the richest echelons of Western culture and has trickled down and been normalized really throughout all boomer and younger culture today is that I'm not going to leave my kids anything.

00:57:05.592 --> 00:57:06.552
<v SPEAKER_1>They're spoiled brats.

00:57:06.572 --> 00:57:07.592
<v SPEAKER_1>We don't really get along.

00:57:07.832 --> 00:57:08.872
<v SPEAKER_1>I'm not going to give them anything.

00:57:09.092 --> 00:57:10.072
<v SPEAKER_1>They don't deserve it.

00:57:10.392 --> 00:57:11.392
<v SPEAKER_1>I don't owe it to them.

00:57:11.952 --> 00:57:13.072
<v SPEAKER_1>They get nothing.

00:57:13.272 --> 00:57:17.392
<v SPEAKER_1>Or they get a pittance, and I'm going to give it to a dog shelter or to my church or whatever.

00:57:18.992 --> 00:57:31.172
<v SPEAKER_1>At some point, those things cease to be matters of wisdom and actually do become matters of sin because there is a rightful expectation that children will receive their parents' inheritance.

00:57:31.852 --> 00:57:36.272
<v SPEAKER_1>As we were saying the last few minutes, house divided up is entirely a matter of wisdom.

00:57:37.152 --> 00:57:45.272
<v SPEAKER_1>In a perfect society, probably your girls wouldn't get anything when you die, but you would have given them a large check, the best you're able, when they got married.

00:57:45.572 --> 00:57:47.752
<v SPEAKER_1>So it's never about leaving anyone out in the cold.

00:57:48.032 --> 00:57:49.392
<v SPEAKER_1>It's precisely the opposite.

00:57:49.712 --> 00:57:57.872
<v SPEAKER_1>It's about taking care of everyone intergenerationally as good stewards of the blessings from God, which is really the other crucial aspect of this.

00:57:58.092 --> 00:58:00.792
<v SPEAKER_1>When we're talking about the material, it's stewardship.

00:58:01.352 --> 00:58:03.992
<v SPEAKER_1>It's again not, as I said last week, it's not mine, mine, mine.

00:58:04.472 --> 00:58:06.952
<v SPEAKER_1>It's not I'm jealous of this, I'm hoarding, and I'm gonna keep it all.

00:58:07.272 --> 00:58:21.192
<v SPEAKER_1>It's I'm going to be zealous for the gifts of God and make sure that those gifts as best as possible can be perpetuated to my heirs, to my future generations, not to random people all around the world.

00:58:21.792 --> 00:58:28.272
<v SPEAKER_1>If someone loves the stranger 6,000 miles away more than they love their own kids, they're evil.

00:58:28.952 --> 00:58:30.132
<v SPEAKER_1>They're straight up evil.

00:58:30.312 --> 00:58:31.812
<v SPEAKER_1>That is not godly.

00:58:32.292 --> 00:58:33.972
<v SPEAKER_1>Even pagans do better than that.

00:58:34.292 --> 00:58:40.752
<v SPEAKER_1>And scripture often contrasts pagans who behave better than Christians who are not behaving like Christians at all.

00:58:41.132 --> 00:58:43.152
<v SPEAKER_1>We should take those passages a lot more seriously.

00:58:43.612 --> 00:58:49.292
<v SPEAKER_1>God is very clear that there are a lot of pagans that live more godly lives than the people who claim his name.

00:58:49.612 --> 00:58:50.872
<v SPEAKER_1>No, it doesn't save them.

00:58:51.372 --> 00:58:57.392
<v SPEAKER_1>If they don't know and confess Christ, if they don't acknowledge his sacrifice for their sins, they're not saved.

00:58:57.752 --> 00:59:06.152
<v SPEAKER_1>But in this life, they will behave in a more godly manner and they will confess a more godly system of behavior for whatever reason.

00:59:06.172 --> 00:59:13.952
<v SPEAKER_1>You know, they were just raised right or they have an instinctive heart towards doing that, which is ordered towards godly things, which is also possible.

00:59:14.492 --> 00:59:18.932
<v SPEAKER_1>God's law is written on every man's heart, and we reject it by varying degrees.

00:59:19.552 --> 00:59:33.232
<v SPEAKER_1>But the fact that we have Christians in the church who are leaving their kids with nothing or next to nothing out of spite, out of just really contempt, is wickedness.

00:59:33.792 --> 00:59:44.692
<v SPEAKER_1>And unfortunately, many of us now are becoming victims of that sort of wickedness, and particularly because it's your parents, but just in general, because you are a Christian, you have to forgive them.

00:59:44.712 --> 00:59:51.152
<v SPEAKER_1>You know, when we pray, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, this is a part of that.

00:59:52.972 --> 01:00:02.932
<v SPEAKER_1>To the extent that the inheritance from your parents is a debt owed to you, if you don't receive it, if you are cheated out of it, you have to forgive it.

01:00:03.172 --> 01:00:04.432
<v SPEAKER_1>You can't hate them for it.

01:00:05.032 --> 01:00:13.472
<v SPEAKER_1>You lament that they lack the wisdom and the godliness to do what was right, but you cannot hate family, especially your own parents.

01:00:14.012 --> 01:00:16.452
<v SPEAKER_1>You must love them even when they do wicked things.

01:00:16.872 --> 01:00:21.092
<v SPEAKER_1>Now, that doesn't mean you have to be in their lives as though nothing is wrong.

01:00:21.512 --> 01:00:22.552
<v SPEAKER_1>There are absolute cases.

01:00:22.572 --> 01:00:25.972
<v SPEAKER_1>I think we talked about this in the generational divide episode.

01:00:26.492 --> 01:00:31.912
<v SPEAKER_1>Maybe the most loving thing you can do with your parents is to have them out of your lives, especially if they're harming your children.

01:00:32.492 --> 01:00:35.072
<v SPEAKER_1>But you can't hate them.

01:00:35.172 --> 01:00:36.152
<v SPEAKER_1>You have to forgive them.

01:00:36.692 --> 01:00:42.852
<v SPEAKER_1>So when we talk about these things, obviously these are real life subjects in many people's lives, and they will be for others.

01:00:44.332 --> 01:00:45.972
<v SPEAKER_1>You're going to hear some things, many of you.

01:00:45.992 --> 01:00:52.932
<v SPEAKER_1>They're like, yeah, either I've done this wrong or my parents did me wrong or my grandparents or, you know, sin is all around us.

01:00:53.012 --> 01:00:56.512
<v SPEAKER_1>Newsflash means you're alive, means you're a human being on Earth.

01:00:57.872 --> 01:01:06.272
<v SPEAKER_1>Remember that everything that we do in the Christian life is predicated on our ability, our gift from God, to forgive sins in God's name.

01:01:06.292 --> 01:01:09.072
<v SPEAKER_1>And when you forgive someone's sins, they are forgiven.

01:01:09.212 --> 01:01:14.952
<v SPEAKER_1>When someone sins against you, and you ask God to forgive them, it's done.

01:01:15.892 --> 01:01:19.792
<v SPEAKER_1>To the extent that they owe you a debt, that debt is forgiven, and God won't hold it against them.

01:01:20.212 --> 01:01:26.132
<v SPEAKER_1>And at the very end of Job, God tells him, basically, your friends have been foolish.

01:01:26.152 --> 01:01:26.972
<v SPEAKER_1>They've been wicked.

01:01:28.172 --> 01:01:31.972
<v SPEAKER_1>Offer a sacrifice to intercede for them, and I will forgive them for your sake.

01:01:32.472 --> 01:01:38.172
<v SPEAKER_1>That is intercessory prayer, and that is forgiveness of sins with man as a proximate cause.

01:01:38.412 --> 01:01:45.732
<v SPEAKER_1>Not because we have the power to forgive sins, but because God has given us, as Christians, the authority to forgive those who sin against us.

01:01:46.752 --> 01:01:56.852
<v SPEAKER_1>And when we talk about these matters, some of which are moral, some of which are matters of wisdom, there are always going to be cases where someone is like, man, this hits me close to home.

01:01:57.472 --> 01:01:58.132
<v SPEAKER_1>Remember that.

01:01:58.132 --> 01:01:59.652
<v SPEAKER_1>As a Christian, you must forgive.

01:02:00.152 --> 01:02:11.832
<v SPEAKER_1>And maybe it's going to take you a couple days or weeks to work through it and to deal with the injury and the pain and the suffering that has been done to you or perhaps that you have caused.

01:02:12.072 --> 01:02:19.792
<v SPEAKER_1>If you've done something, listen to the Repents episode, repent, reverse course, turn away from the thing you did and do the thing that was right.

01:02:20.432 --> 01:02:30.512
<v SPEAKER_1>In more often cases, and certainly in the case of inheritance because we're talking about intergenerational stuff, you're more likely as a listener to have been on the receiving end of a bad deal.

01:02:31.232 --> 01:02:32.772
<v SPEAKER_1>And you have to forgive that too.

01:02:33.312 --> 01:02:41.332
<v SPEAKER_1>And it's okay to be sorrowfully acknowledging and recognizing that these things have happened, but don't let it be a source of bitterness.

01:02:42.052 --> 01:02:43.992
<v SPEAKER_1>That's the exact wrong response.

01:02:44.532 --> 01:02:53.852
<v SPEAKER_1>When we see that other generations have made a mess and have hurt us or have hurt others, that is all the more incentive to do better for the next generation.

01:02:54.632 --> 01:02:59.752
<v SPEAKER_1>Ultimately, as Cory was saying earlier, that is the most important inheritance that we pass along.

01:03:00.032 --> 01:03:04.612
<v SPEAKER_1>Not the money, not the stuff, but the faith and a pattern of godly living.

01:03:05.212 --> 01:03:20.672
<v SPEAKER_1>And so if the story in your family from your parents or grandparents was that they did you wrong and they were greedy and selfish and profligate or whatever, make sure that your kids understand how to do things the right way and show them how to do things the right way.

01:03:21.332 --> 01:03:28.532
<v SPEAKER_1>When we have these intergenerational curses through wickedness being propagated, all we can do is break the cycle.

01:03:28.892 --> 01:03:33.992
<v SPEAKER_1>If you have a godly parent and your inheritance is godly living and godly belief, thank God.

01:03:34.012 --> 01:03:36.672
<v SPEAKER_1>Like I say, you won the lottery.

01:03:36.752 --> 01:03:37.172
<v SPEAKER_1>You didn't.

01:03:37.192 --> 01:03:37.912
<v SPEAKER_1>You were blessed.

01:03:38.292 --> 01:03:39.732
<v SPEAKER_1>You were tremendously blessed.

01:03:40.272 --> 01:03:46.712
<v SPEAKER_1>But if you inherited a raw deal and your parents were idiots and they were sinful and they treated you poorly, forgive them and do better.

01:03:48.292 --> 01:03:48.692
<v SPEAKER_1>That's it.

01:03:48.952 --> 01:03:52.192
<v SPEAKER_1>The Christian life is forgiving others and doing better in our own lives.

01:03:52.732 --> 01:04:08.012
<v SPEAKER_1>And when we look at the society we live in today, on fire, with all these things going wrong in so many different ways, sometimes the best we can do is just to start saying, I repent, I forgive, I'm going to do better, I'm going to set a better example.

01:04:08.392 --> 01:04:22.352
<v SPEAKER_1>Knowing that you can't perfect any of this in your lifetime, but if you can teach your kids to do these things well, if you have young daughters, Planei has not caught them out of your will, but you do want to teach them that you're marrying into a family.

01:04:22.632 --> 01:04:30.292
<v SPEAKER_1>You're not just marrying a cute guy, you're not just marrying someone who is going to even take care of you, you're going to marry into someone, into his family.

01:04:30.732 --> 01:04:33.372
<v SPEAKER_1>And this adoption, in effect, is kind of what that is.

01:04:33.712 --> 01:04:34.952
<v SPEAKER_1>That's why she takes his name.

01:04:35.492 --> 01:04:39.232
<v SPEAKER_1>That sort of transfer into another family does have implications.

01:04:39.692 --> 01:04:46.192
<v SPEAKER_1>And so if you're in a position where God has blessed you that you can do something like a dowry, like a dowry is not a law.

01:04:46.312 --> 01:04:47.792
<v SPEAKER_1>It's not a stricture.

01:04:48.312 --> 01:04:49.212
<v SPEAKER_1>But you know what?

01:04:49.232 --> 01:04:50.272
<v SPEAKER_1>It's a pretty good idea.

01:04:51.032 --> 01:05:00.812
<v SPEAKER_1>And we certainly see in places like the Bay Area and other places where foreigners to our lands, fewer pagans, those people are overwhelmingly not Christian.

01:05:01.372 --> 01:05:05.412
<v SPEAKER_1>And yet they're doing things that are going to foster family formation for their own.

01:05:05.832 --> 01:05:09.152
<v SPEAKER_1>Why do you think those populations are exploding where ours are declining?

01:05:09.372 --> 01:05:10.272
<v SPEAKER_1>This is part of why.

01:05:10.752 --> 01:05:12.932
<v SPEAKER_1>We're bad at inheritance, where others are good.

01:05:13.272 --> 01:05:23.792
<v SPEAKER_1>We're bad at things like dowries, at bootstrapping healthy, functional families that can take care of their kids and don't have to worry about being able to feed a new mouth.

01:05:24.332 --> 01:05:26.232
<v SPEAKER_1>No one should be worrying about birth control.

01:05:26.632 --> 01:05:30.612
<v SPEAKER_1>They should be worrying about having enough room to add another crib or something.

01:05:30.792 --> 01:05:33.212
<v SPEAKER_1>That's the good worry, not how am I going to feed them.

01:05:33.932 --> 01:05:42.612
<v SPEAKER_1>So, as Christians, we just need to take the approach that this inheritance stuff is not incidental.

01:05:43.332 --> 01:05:46.732
<v SPEAKER_1>Sometimes it's moral, sometimes it is a matter of wisdom.

01:05:47.252 --> 01:05:51.472
<v SPEAKER_1>Sometimes it's just, you know, wisdom just flows into a good functional society.

01:05:51.972 --> 01:05:53.492
<v SPEAKER_1>And you don't have to go tsk tsk.

01:05:53.512 --> 01:05:56.632
<v SPEAKER_1>You don't have to treat these things as matters of right or wrong.

01:05:56.652 --> 01:05:59.192
<v SPEAKER_1>It's just proper systems of dealing with things.

01:05:59.672 --> 01:06:11.612
<v SPEAKER_1>As Corey said earlier, it's entirely appropriate for a godly prince to set laws around these things, say, in this society, for this time to solve these problems, we are going to say that this is the way the rules work.

01:06:12.252 --> 01:06:12.952
<v SPEAKER_1>That's fine.

01:06:13.512 --> 01:06:18.812
<v SPEAKER_1>I wish that our government cared about that sort of thing instead of all the evil that it cares about instead.

01:06:19.232 --> 01:06:23.752
<v SPEAKER_1>If we are blessed with a godly government, these would be some of the conversations that would be happening politically.

01:06:24.212 --> 01:06:26.932
<v SPEAKER_1>Just to help get people pointed back in the right direction.

01:06:27.392 --> 01:06:33.032
<v SPEAKER_1>Because even someone who has not been raised well will still usually follow the law because it tends to be an asshole not to.

01:06:33.752 --> 01:06:41.992
<v SPEAKER_1>So, you can take pagans, you can take ungrateful and foolish parents and grandparents, and still get them to do the right thing according to the law.

01:06:42.592 --> 01:06:43.432
<v SPEAKER_1>And then, you know what?

01:06:43.752 --> 01:06:45.092
<v SPEAKER_1>A law is an inheritance too.

01:06:45.492 --> 01:06:48.952
<v SPEAKER_1>Good laws are an inheritance that's passed down to future generations.

01:06:50.172 --> 01:06:51.612
<v SPEAKER_1>This stuff all works together.

01:06:52.232 --> 01:07:09.292
<v SPEAKER_1>When we have a time horizon that goes beyond the next quarter, or even just our own immediate family, and we're looking at multiple generations, we're looking at multiple, not decades, but multiple centuries, suddenly the way we treat all of these subjects radically changes.

01:07:09.972 --> 01:07:23.012
<v SPEAKER_1>When you have a battle today that we see online in the world, where you have Christian nationalism versus basically making significant portions of Scripture illegal and their confession impermissible in the public space.

01:07:24.992 --> 01:07:29.192
<v SPEAKER_1>If we had an inheritance of a Christian society, none of those things would even be questions.

01:07:29.712 --> 01:07:35.772
<v SPEAKER_1>But at some point along the way, the Christian society that our ancestors inherited, they burned to the ground.

01:07:36.092 --> 01:07:39.452
<v SPEAKER_1>And so our inheritance is an anti-Christian society.

01:07:39.932 --> 01:07:50.872
<v SPEAKER_1>That's a problem we have to fix soon, because as it stands today, our kids are going to inherit an anti-Christian government, an anti-Christian culture in an anti-Christian country.

01:07:51.732 --> 01:07:58.272
<v SPEAKER_1>Those are three distinct things, but they're all currently operating in concert against everything good and godly.

01:08:00.492 --> 01:08:11.512
<v SPEAKER_1>When we think in terms of generations, we think in terms of inheritance, as an obligation to future generations, as a matter of stewardship, suddenly the matters of wisdom get pretty crystal clear.

01:08:12.092 --> 01:08:20.992
<v SPEAKER_1>I got to fix this problem now, so that my kids and grandkids don't have to deal with third world nightmares like we see emerging right now.

01:08:21.692 --> 01:08:30.672
<v SPEAKER_1>We have to get it right, so our kids can have a better life, and their kids can have a better life, at the essence of material inheritance and also spiritual inheritance.

01:08:31.432 --> 01:08:38.312
<v SPEAKER_1>The episode that we did just before Christmas about the liturgical life goes back to what Corey said earlier about inheriting the church.

01:08:38.812 --> 01:08:43.112
<v SPEAKER_1>The liturgical calendar, those traditions, are a salutary inheritance.

01:08:43.732 --> 01:08:47.592
<v SPEAKER_1>All these good things are the proper inheritance.

01:08:47.752 --> 01:09:00.312
<v SPEAKER_1>The problem is if you create a hellscape, if you act evilly as a generation, if you behave evilly and create evil laws and evil morals, false morals in the world, that is also the inheritance.

01:09:00.672 --> 01:09:06.032
<v SPEAKER_1>There's always an inheritance, even if it's nothing, even if it's a negative, even if it's evil.

01:09:06.352 --> 01:09:09.832
<v SPEAKER_1>There's always going to be an intergenerational transfer of something.

01:09:10.352 --> 01:09:27.572
<v SPEAKER_1>And what we as Christians need to focus on is making sure that what's transferred is God's Word, God's will, Godly living, Godly laws, even for those who don't know God so that they may come to know Him through seeing the blessings that obeying God confers to everyone.

01:09:29.372 --> 01:09:39.332
<v SPEAKER_2>Some of our episodes could be summarized by a single verse from Scripture, but of course, there's a reason that we drag it out, as it were, for two hours.

01:09:42.072 --> 01:09:51.412
<v SPEAKER_2>This is one of those episodes, because Proverbs addresses this in one verse, really, not even an entire verse.

01:09:51.432 --> 01:09:53.712
<v SPEAKER_2>Woe mentioned it earlier, but half a verse.

01:09:54.372 --> 01:09:57.952
<v SPEAKER_2>A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.

01:09:59.632 --> 01:10:05.812
<v SPEAKER_2>That verse alone is sufficient for the scriptural teaching on inheritance.

01:10:07.032 --> 01:10:14.572
<v SPEAKER_2>If you are a good man, you will leave an inheritance not just to your children, but to your children's children.

01:10:15.372 --> 01:10:20.892
<v SPEAKER_2>Which really, you can expand that out to the full implication of leaving it perpetually.

01:10:20.992 --> 01:10:26.552
<v SPEAKER_2>It moves forward through the generations as long as the children themselves are also good men.

01:10:28.252 --> 01:10:36.032
<v SPEAKER_2>Which a good man, a good Christian, should of course be raising good men, to be his sons and then grandsons, great-grandsons.

01:10:37.412 --> 01:10:41.352
<v SPEAKER_2>That's the fullness, really, of the scriptural teaching on inheritance.

01:10:41.572 --> 01:10:45.952
<v SPEAKER_2>Everything else is explanatory, which is the reason, of course, that we're doing the episode.

01:10:47.992 --> 01:10:51.972
<v SPEAKER_2>And again, just to reiterate, this is not simply monetary.

01:10:51.992 --> 01:10:57.112
<v SPEAKER_2>This also includes, in fact, it includes first and foremost the Christian faith.

01:10:57.132 --> 01:10:58.412
<v SPEAKER_2>This is Proverbs, of course.

01:10:58.432 --> 01:11:02.092
<v SPEAKER_2>It's a book dealing explicitly with wisdom.

01:11:04.852 --> 01:11:07.332
<v SPEAKER_2>But to shift gears a little bit, as it were.

01:11:08.972 --> 01:11:14.352
<v SPEAKER_2>As a general rule, most men have linguistic quirks.

01:11:14.632 --> 01:11:22.612
<v SPEAKER_2>And I could tie this into inheritance if I were so inclined, because we do tend to pass these things on to our children and others around us.

01:11:24.912 --> 01:11:28.712
<v SPEAKER_2>But certain men favor certain words or set phrases and repeat them.

01:11:29.192 --> 01:11:35.412
<v SPEAKER_2>You may have noticed, and if you haven't noticed, then perhaps I'm sorry for pointing it out, because now you will notice it going forward.

01:11:36.112 --> 01:11:41.092
<v SPEAKER_2>When discussing issues like this, I tend to use the word fundamental fairly often.

01:11:41.112 --> 01:11:52.572
<v SPEAKER_2>And the reason that I do that is it is more or less a short hand for the concept of priors or presuppositions or a number of related things.

01:11:52.592 --> 01:11:54.572
<v SPEAKER_2>That's why I use that term.

01:11:54.592 --> 01:11:55.992
<v SPEAKER_2>That's what I'm implying with it.

01:11:57.732 --> 01:12:06.792
<v SPEAKER_2>On a tangentially related sort of fun note, I had a professor in law school who had a collection of stuffed animals.

01:12:06.812 --> 01:12:09.152
<v SPEAKER_2>Now that sounds weird at first, but there's a reason.

01:12:10.232 --> 01:12:12.012
<v SPEAKER_2>She was the mock trial coach.

01:12:12.632 --> 01:12:17.472
<v SPEAKER_2>And as I just mentioned, most men have linguistic quirks.

01:12:18.332 --> 01:12:21.332
<v SPEAKER_2>Those are not advantageous for public speaking.

01:12:21.612 --> 01:12:29.312
<v SPEAKER_2>And so mock trial being public speaking, one of the goals of a good coach is to make you stop using those.

01:12:30.372 --> 01:12:41.012
<v SPEAKER_2>The primary offender for most men these days, of course, is going to be ah and um and all of those various little sounds that we inject when we're thinking instead of just being silent.

01:12:41.552 --> 01:12:43.492
<v SPEAKER_2>Silence is better than those little sounds.

01:12:44.612 --> 01:12:52.812
<v SPEAKER_2>But she had a particular stuffed animal or little creature for each one of those linguistic quirks.

01:12:54.172 --> 01:12:57.632
<v SPEAKER_2>And if you engaged in that quirk, she would just set it on the desk in front of her.

01:12:57.752 --> 01:13:02.392
<v SPEAKER_2>She was up in the, depending on the room, sitting up front where the judge would sit, essentially.

01:13:03.252 --> 01:13:12.492
<v SPEAKER_2>And so you'd see that and it would remind you, oh, I'm not supposed to say ah, or I'm not supposed to say um, or I'm not supposed to start every sentence with and or but, or whatever it happens to be.

01:13:13.492 --> 01:13:15.432
<v SPEAKER_2>If you said it too many times, she'd probably throw it at you.

01:13:16.272 --> 01:13:27.832
<v SPEAKER_2>I don't remember all of them, but the one in particular I do remember is she had a stuffed sloth, and if you said so too many times, you started too many sentences with so, she would set it on the desk or throw it at you, so I did that intentionally.

01:13:29.632 --> 01:13:35.292
<v SPEAKER_2>But the point is, sometimes the linguistic quirk serves a purpose.

01:13:35.792 --> 01:13:50.272
<v SPEAKER_2>And so when I say fundamental, I want you to think of presuppositions, priors, things that are indeed foundational to the topic or the way we view the topic, the way we understand the topic.

01:13:51.692 --> 01:13:54.312
<v SPEAKER_2>And that leads me into the point that I'm making here.

01:13:55.352 --> 01:13:58.652
<v SPEAKER_2>We've sort of been dancing around it, but we've implied it very heavily.

01:13:59.472 --> 01:14:11.632
<v SPEAKER_2>One of the problems that is fundamental to the modern mind when it comes to inheritance in any of a dozen, several dozen related matters is individualism.

01:14:13.792 --> 01:14:21.612
<v SPEAKER_2>As Woe said, many men today view themselves as atomized individuals, and that is simply false.

01:14:22.612 --> 01:14:25.852
<v SPEAKER_2>As I have mentioned before, you are not an individual.

01:14:26.192 --> 01:14:27.532
<v SPEAKER_2>Look at yourself in the mirror.

01:14:28.132 --> 01:14:29.292
<v SPEAKER_2>That isn't your chin.

01:14:29.412 --> 01:14:30.912
<v SPEAKER_2>That's your grandfather's chin.

01:14:30.932 --> 01:14:32.892
<v SPEAKER_2>Those aren't your eyes, they're your mother's eyes.

01:14:33.232 --> 01:14:34.832
<v SPEAKER_2>And you can go down through the list.

01:14:35.052 --> 01:14:42.432
<v SPEAKER_2>Everything you have was inherited from an ancestor, because that is the way that God designed the system.

01:14:43.292 --> 01:14:45.572
<v SPEAKER_2>Because you are a biological entity.

01:14:45.592 --> 01:14:49.092
<v SPEAKER_2>You are a creature in the proper sense of the term.

01:14:50.712 --> 01:14:54.692
<v SPEAKER_2>Everything you are, everything you have, was inherited.

01:14:54.932 --> 01:14:56.412
<v SPEAKER_2>That's a blessing from God.

01:14:56.852 --> 01:15:02.552
<v SPEAKER_2>He created those attributes and created the system that passed them on to you.

01:15:03.872 --> 01:15:08.432
<v SPEAKER_2>So when you think of yourself as an individual, you are denying the way that God made you.

01:15:09.052 --> 01:15:16.092
<v SPEAKER_2>You are denying creation to a certain extent, and that verges on a number of things that are dangerous or disastrous to say.

01:15:17.792 --> 01:15:39.692
<v SPEAKER_2>But you are fundamentally the way the system works, who and what you are, and what your role is, what your duties are, the way things should be organized, the way you should pursue your life, the way you should organize your affairs, the way you should conduct yourself in the world as a Christian.

01:15:41.472 --> 01:15:59.212
<v SPEAKER_2>One of these issues that arises from this, that flows downstream from this sense of individualism, and I'll get back to a biblical critique of that in a minute here, but one of the things that flows from it is this alien concept of fairness.

01:16:00.512 --> 01:16:01.952
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, Woe mentioned fairness earlier.

01:16:02.152 --> 01:16:13.952
<v SPEAKER_2>He meant it in a specific sense, and scripture does speak of that, because God loves fair scales and a fair balance, and he hates unfair scales and unfair balance.

01:16:14.212 --> 01:16:16.812
<v SPEAKER_2>That is something God abhors, incidentally.

01:16:16.832 --> 01:16:17.792
<v SPEAKER_2>Bear that in mind.

01:16:19.252 --> 01:16:22.992
<v SPEAKER_2>Not specifically for the purposes of this episode, but just for life in general.

01:16:23.672 --> 01:16:34.792
<v SPEAKER_2>But when we speak of fairness to the modern mind, what first arises as the sense of what that term means is totally alien to Scripture.

01:16:36.532 --> 01:16:38.292
<v SPEAKER_2>Because you are not an individual.

01:16:39.272 --> 01:16:55.532
<v SPEAKER_2>And so, to the modern mind, it's not fair that I suffer and die because Adam, a man I never met, a man who died thousands of years before I was even born, he sinned, and so I suffer and die.

01:16:57.412 --> 01:17:00.512
<v SPEAKER_2>Well, to the modern mind, that seems entirely unfair.

01:17:01.672 --> 01:17:03.012
<v SPEAKER_2>But it is in fact fair.

01:17:03.712 --> 01:17:04.972
<v SPEAKER_2>Because you are Adam.

01:17:06.052 --> 01:17:10.092
<v SPEAKER_2>Because you are a direct, lineal descendant of that man.

01:17:10.872 --> 01:17:13.952
<v SPEAKER_2>What he did affects you because what he did, you did.

01:17:14.812 --> 01:17:23.392
<v SPEAKER_2>And so, when Scripture speaks of the Levites tithing because they were in the loins of Abraham when he tithed to Melchizedek, the same thing applies here.

01:17:24.512 --> 01:17:28.812
<v SPEAKER_2>You have to jettison that false idea of individualism.

01:17:31.332 --> 01:17:40.192
<v SPEAKER_2>One of the ways that we see this in Scripture the most clearly, and now that I am going to highlight it for you, you will never be able to unsee it.

01:17:40.452 --> 01:17:44.452
<v SPEAKER_2>You will see it every time, virtually every time you read the Old Testament.

01:17:45.452 --> 01:17:49.692
<v SPEAKER_2>God does not deal with individuals primarily as individuals.

01:17:50.472 --> 01:17:54.172
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, he does to some degree because, of course, he spoke face to face with Moses.

01:17:54.792 --> 01:17:55.972
<v SPEAKER_2>He talked to Moses.

01:17:56.192 --> 01:17:58.992
<v SPEAKER_2>He gave directions, instructions to Moses.

01:17:59.012 --> 01:18:00.432
<v SPEAKER_2>He met with Moses in a tent.

01:18:00.952 --> 01:18:09.152
<v SPEAKER_2>However, what was he doing through Moses, even in that specific case, where he dealt extensively with an individual?

01:18:10.352 --> 01:18:12.412
<v SPEAKER_2>He was dealing with the nation of Israel.

01:18:12.432 --> 01:18:14.912
<v SPEAKER_2>Well, let's think about that name.

01:18:15.652 --> 01:18:17.932
<v SPEAKER_2>Why is Israel called Israel?

01:18:18.492 --> 01:18:24.652
<v SPEAKER_2>As I mentioned in previous episodes, they are called Israel because they are descended from a man named Israel.

01:18:26.152 --> 01:18:31.132
<v SPEAKER_2>In fact, God often addresses Israel as if Israel were a man.

01:18:32.072 --> 01:18:34.612
<v SPEAKER_2>There are places in Scripture, you will very clearly see this.

01:18:35.032 --> 01:18:38.792
<v SPEAKER_2>I invite you to go and look for them, particularly in the Psalms.

01:18:39.632 --> 01:18:43.192
<v SPEAKER_2>There are places, and it's not just references to Christ and all those places.

01:18:43.212 --> 01:18:45.652
<v SPEAKER_2>Sometimes it is referencing the nation as well.

01:18:47.272 --> 01:18:59.492
<v SPEAKER_2>But Israel is spoken of in some parts of Scripture as being almost a singular entity in the sense of being Israel as a he, he is.

01:19:00.992 --> 01:19:02.852
<v SPEAKER_2>Because that is how God views it.

01:19:03.772 --> 01:19:08.272
<v SPEAKER_2>Israel is a nation descended in this sense of Israel, of course.

01:19:08.292 --> 01:19:09.692
<v SPEAKER_2>I'm not speaking about the church.

01:19:10.912 --> 01:19:16.772
<v SPEAKER_2>But Israel in this sense is descended from one man, from Jacob, renamed Israel.

01:19:17.152 --> 01:19:19.432
<v SPEAKER_2>And that is why the nation is called Israel.

01:19:20.152 --> 01:19:30.852
<v SPEAKER_2>And so God is dealing with this very large collection of individuals at this point, this large nation of millions of people, sometimes as if it were one man.

01:19:31.832 --> 01:19:33.652
<v SPEAKER_2>Because in a sense, it is one man.

01:19:34.532 --> 01:19:49.032
<v SPEAKER_2>Because that is Israel, both in the sense of being the man who has passed on this inheritance that God gave him to these many millions, and it is also those many millions.

01:19:52.312 --> 01:20:03.712
<v SPEAKER_2>So we have to change how we think about these things, because the modern world has told us that no, you're an individual, and everything you have is just your personal preferences, and you are whatever you want to be.

01:20:03.732 --> 01:20:06.752
<v SPEAKER_2>You can create yourself, turn yourself into whatever you want.

01:20:06.772 --> 01:20:15.152
<v SPEAKER_2>And that is a lie, because most of the things you have inherited are unalterable.

01:20:16.472 --> 01:20:21.972
<v SPEAKER_2>If you are male, you will be male for eternity, because that is how God made you.

01:20:22.632 --> 01:20:25.112
<v SPEAKER_2>If you're German, you will be German for eternity.

01:20:25.132 --> 01:20:30.532
<v SPEAKER_2>If you're American, you will be American for eternity, or any other nation or ethnicity.

01:20:31.692 --> 01:20:37.792
<v SPEAKER_2>That is how God made you, and he passed those things to you as part of your inheritance.

01:20:38.412 --> 01:20:49.032
<v SPEAKER_2>It is so fundamentally important to God that he designed the systems in such a way that these things are passed forward and given to you, and you cannot change them.

01:20:49.612 --> 01:20:51.272
<v SPEAKER_2>They are unalterable.

01:20:52.752 --> 01:20:55.472
<v SPEAKER_2>That's how important inheritance is to God.

01:20:57.912 --> 01:21:00.732
<v SPEAKER_2>That's true when it comes to biological things.

01:21:02.092 --> 01:21:05.412
<v SPEAKER_2>The material things, of course, are not unalterable.

01:21:06.492 --> 01:21:11.772
<v SPEAKER_2>And for better or worse, neither is the Christian faith when it comes to transmission.

01:21:13.552 --> 01:21:21.552
<v SPEAKER_2>So when it comes to inheriting the Christian faith, we inherit it from our ancestors insofar as they were faithful.

01:21:22.532 --> 01:21:28.812
<v SPEAKER_2>My ancestors don't have to be faithful for me to inherit blonde hair, which I did have when I was a child.

01:21:29.452 --> 01:21:42.172
<v SPEAKER_2>All they had to do was reproduce with other members of their nation, because God designed the system so that is exactly what happens if you do what comes naturally to human beings.

01:21:42.812 --> 01:21:47.572
<v SPEAKER_2>Sometimes the blessing flows naturally from the act itself.

01:21:48.892 --> 01:21:52.172
<v SPEAKER_2>Other times there are things that have to be added to it, such as faith.

01:21:52.792 --> 01:21:57.752
<v SPEAKER_2>When it comes to the Christian religion, it has to be passed forward faithfully.

01:21:58.032 --> 01:21:59.772
<v SPEAKER_2>You have to guard that inheritance.

01:21:59.792 --> 01:22:01.492
<v SPEAKER_2>You have to be jealous of that inheritance.

01:22:01.812 --> 01:22:08.572
<v SPEAKER_2>Now, the same is true, of course, with regard to one's nation, with regard to one's ancestry, all these various things.

01:22:08.592 --> 01:22:17.572
<v SPEAKER_2>Because if you marry unwisely, you will not be passing forward the things that you were given, that were passed to you by your ancestors.

01:22:17.832 --> 01:22:19.152
<v SPEAKER_2>You can break that chain.

01:22:20.092 --> 01:22:22.972
<v SPEAKER_2>You can fail to pass forward those gifts.

01:22:23.392 --> 01:22:24.992
<v SPEAKER_2>That is absolutely possible.

01:22:26.272 --> 01:22:34.112
<v SPEAKER_2>The same is true of the Christian faith, because it can be not the faith itself, of course, but the transmission of it can be corrupted.

01:22:35.652 --> 01:22:59.312
<v SPEAKER_2>And so as there are considerations with regard to material inheritance, how that is passed forward, how is it divided up, that's an issue of wisdom, there are the same sort of issues with regard to biological inheritance, whom you marry, and therefore with whom you produce children, how those things are passed forward, this is also a matter of wisdom.

01:23:00.072 --> 01:23:05.172
<v SPEAKER_2>Now morality, of course, flows through all of this as well, but these are largely matters of wisdom.

01:23:05.932 --> 01:23:12.992
<v SPEAKER_2>The Christian faith also calls for wisdom in how we transmit that faith, how we pass that forward.

01:23:14.072 --> 01:23:18.572
<v SPEAKER_2>The various creeds and confessions we have were crafted using wisdom.

01:23:19.652 --> 01:23:25.272
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, of course, with extensive reference to the scriptures, but that requires wisdom as well.

01:23:25.692 --> 01:23:34.092
<v SPEAKER_2>You need the wisdom to interpret, the wisdom then to draft these things, the wisdom to carry them forward, to teach the next generation to pass them forward to their children.

01:23:34.592 --> 01:23:42.612
<v SPEAKER_2>The same way as scripture instructs us to teach each successive generation so that each successive generation will know God.

01:23:44.232 --> 01:23:54.372
<v SPEAKER_2>If we fail to pass these things forward in a wise fashion, in a way that can be maintained, they're all lost.

01:23:55.332 --> 01:23:58.752
<v SPEAKER_2>You can lose material wealth if you manage it unwisely.

01:23:59.452 --> 01:24:04.112
<v SPEAKER_2>You can lose the gifts that God has given you that are stored essentially in your DNA.

01:24:04.132 --> 01:24:07.932
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, it's more complicated than that, but that's sufficient for our purposes here.

01:24:08.332 --> 01:24:13.692
<v SPEAKER_2>These things that are stored in your DNA, if you reproduce unwisely, you can squander that.

01:24:14.852 --> 01:24:20.432
<v SPEAKER_2>If you fail to teach your children the Christian faith, you can squander that inheritance as well.

01:24:21.772 --> 01:24:30.692
<v SPEAKER_2>There is no form of inheritance that you cannot squander, that you cannot destroy by failing to transmit it faithfully.

01:24:32.092 --> 01:24:35.912
<v SPEAKER_2>And if you do not do that, you are not acting as a faithful steward.

01:24:36.872 --> 01:24:43.972
<v SPEAKER_2>And one of the things that we are, one of the prime roles for humanity in this life, is as steward.

01:24:46.092 --> 01:24:50.892
<v SPEAKER_2>This goes directly to the heart of the false idea that is individualism.

01:24:51.592 --> 01:24:55.432
<v SPEAKER_2>Because you are not just an individual who possesses these things.

01:24:55.792 --> 01:25:00.412
<v SPEAKER_2>It's not, well, this DNA is mine and I can do with it whatever I want.

01:25:00.972 --> 01:25:04.032
<v SPEAKER_2>And it's not just this money is mine and I can do with it whatever I want.

01:25:04.052 --> 01:25:07.192
<v SPEAKER_2>It's not this faith is mine and I can do with it whatever I want.

01:25:08.332 --> 01:25:10.692
<v SPEAKER_2>These are all held in trust.

01:25:11.512 --> 01:25:13.992
<v SPEAKER_2>They do not fundamentally belong to me.

01:25:15.252 --> 01:25:23.312
<v SPEAKER_2>They are mine insofar as they have been given to me by those who came before me, insofar as God blessed them and God has blessed me.

01:25:24.092 --> 01:25:28.052
<v SPEAKER_2>But they are to be used to carry forward these things.

01:25:28.772 --> 01:25:31.772
<v SPEAKER_2>This is right back to the parable of the talents.

01:25:33.032 --> 01:25:35.152
<v SPEAKER_2>The talents aren't just money.

01:25:35.792 --> 01:25:39.832
<v SPEAKER_2>The talents aren't just talents in the English sense of the term.

01:25:40.312 --> 01:25:43.952
<v SPEAKER_2>It's all of the things that God has given us in this life.

01:25:44.732 --> 01:25:46.552
<v SPEAKER_2>We are to use all of them wisely.

01:25:47.252 --> 01:25:50.272
<v SPEAKER_2>That applies to every single form of inheritance.

01:25:51.512 --> 01:25:59.652
<v SPEAKER_2>And in order to do that, in order to have the right view of that, we have to jettison this false idea that is individualism.

01:26:01.232 --> 01:26:04.332
<v SPEAKER_2>Because again, we are not individuals.

01:26:05.072 --> 01:26:07.132
<v SPEAKER_2>You are part of a family.

01:26:07.472 --> 01:26:09.212
<v SPEAKER_2>You are part of a clan.

01:26:09.232 --> 01:26:10.312
<v SPEAKER_2>You are part of a tribe.

01:26:10.332 --> 01:26:11.452
<v SPEAKER_2>You are part of a nation.

01:26:11.772 --> 01:26:16.032
<v SPEAKER_2>You are part of a chain that leads all the way back through all of your ancestors.

01:26:18.912 --> 01:26:23.892
<v SPEAKER_2>You are part of a greater whole, not an atomized individual.

01:26:24.132 --> 01:26:28.532
<v SPEAKER_2>Satan wants you to be an atomized individual because then you are much easier to target.

01:26:29.592 --> 01:26:35.752
<v SPEAKER_2>Because if you are an atomized individual, all he has to do is entice you with whatever sounds good to you.

01:26:36.952 --> 01:26:48.592
<v SPEAKER_2>If you are part of a greater whole, if you recognize that you have duties to those around you and even more so than to those around you to God, it is going to be much more challenging for Satan to lead you astray.

01:26:49.352 --> 01:26:58.612
<v SPEAKER_2>Because then you recognize there are things that you have to do, things that you should do, duties you should fulfill, and not just whatever you prefer.

01:26:59.752 --> 01:27:06.892
<v SPEAKER_2>Satan wants you to follow whatever you prefer, with no regard for those who came before or those who will come after.

01:27:07.292 --> 01:27:08.832
<v SPEAKER_2>And yes, you have duties to both.

01:27:09.832 --> 01:27:13.892
<v SPEAKER_2>There are duties not just to children and grandchildren, but also to ancestors.

01:27:14.752 --> 01:27:16.392
<v SPEAKER_2>That flows in both directions.

01:27:16.852 --> 01:27:20.352
<v SPEAKER_2>They had duties to you, they had duties to those who came before them.

01:27:20.792 --> 01:27:30.172
<v SPEAKER_2>The same is true of every single link in the chain that is faithfully passing forward the inheritance that came from the link before.

01:27:32.072 --> 01:27:34.352
<v SPEAKER_2>Satan wants you to be an atomized individual.

01:27:35.112 --> 01:27:44.612
<v SPEAKER_2>And as a general rule, whatever Satan wants you to be is probably pretty close to the opposite of what you as a Christian should want to be.

01:27:46.192 --> 01:27:54.292
<v SPEAKER_1>We could have very easily doubled the length of this episode if we had just read a few of the passages that reference inheritance and heirs.

01:27:54.992 --> 01:27:56.392
<v SPEAKER_1>We're not going to belabor that point.

01:27:56.412 --> 01:28:01.052
<v SPEAKER_1>We will put some links in the show notes, and I'll mention a couple of interesting passages you should read.

01:28:01.632 --> 01:28:16.092
<v SPEAKER_1>One is Numbers 27, which deals with females inheriting, Luke 12 and Luke 15, which involve some of Jesus' teachings related to both possessions and inheritance and confidence in him.

01:28:17.332 --> 01:28:28.452
<v SPEAKER_1>In particular, there's a portion of Luke 12 that we've quoted many times talking about God taking care of the birds of the air and the beasts of the field and giving them everything they need, so we don't need to worry.

01:28:29.212 --> 01:28:29.832
<v SPEAKER_1>I mentioned that.

01:28:29.852 --> 01:28:30.652
<v SPEAKER_1>I want you to go read it.

01:28:30.672 --> 01:28:45.092
<v SPEAKER_1>We're not going to read it again today, but I can think of someone hearing us saying these things today, at least the portions that had to do with monetary or physical material possessions, and thinking, well, you're not trusting in God.

01:28:45.772 --> 01:28:48.732
<v SPEAKER_1>And so go read specifically Luke 12.

01:28:49.652 --> 01:28:59.932
<v SPEAKER_1>And when that parable ends, I just want to read the very last verse of it because it really refutes the notion that we've said anything that's contrary to scripture here today.

01:29:00.732 --> 01:29:11.052
<v SPEAKER_1>After Jesus gets through saying, oh, you have little faith, at the very end, verse 31 in Luke 12, he says, instead seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

01:29:12.012 --> 01:29:20.392
<v SPEAKER_1>So prior to that in Luke 12, Jesus is going over a discourse talking about possessions and wealth and material.

01:29:20.672 --> 01:29:22.092
<v SPEAKER_1>He's saying, don't worry about that stuff.

01:29:23.452 --> 01:29:35.612
<v SPEAKER_1>I think that the problem that we have today sometimes when we're being lazy listeners, lazy hearers and lazy readers, is that when Jesus says, don't worry about it, we say, well, it's not Christian to think you need that stuff.

01:29:36.232 --> 01:29:37.612
<v SPEAKER_1>Two completely different things.

01:29:38.212 --> 01:29:40.092
<v SPEAKER_1>Jesus doesn't say you don't need food.

01:29:40.512 --> 01:29:42.112
<v SPEAKER_1>Jesus says, of course you need food.

01:29:42.432 --> 01:29:43.712
<v SPEAKER_1>God is going to give it to you.

01:29:43.912 --> 01:29:46.172
<v SPEAKER_1>What you don't need is to worry about it.

01:29:47.032 --> 01:30:00.612
<v SPEAKER_1>So what is condemned in that passage is not needing food or shelter or clothing or any of the human needs that are bodily needs because we're creatures on a planet that has weather.

01:30:00.872 --> 01:30:01.892
<v SPEAKER_1>There's stuff that we need.

01:30:02.292 --> 01:30:03.832
<v SPEAKER_1>We have to have food or we die.

01:30:04.512 --> 01:30:06.772
<v SPEAKER_1>That's how God, I want to say that's how God made it.

01:30:06.792 --> 01:30:08.852
<v SPEAKER_1>We don't know what stuff was like before the fall.

01:30:08.872 --> 01:30:09.712
<v SPEAKER_1>We know we didn't die.

01:30:09.732 --> 01:30:14.472
<v SPEAKER_1>But again, from the beginning, we know that Adam could eat from the tree of life and he stayed alive.

01:30:15.912 --> 01:30:23.012
<v SPEAKER_1>What we have today is not that the Christian no longer needs physical protection or have his physical needs met.

01:30:23.672 --> 01:30:29.772
<v SPEAKER_1>What the Christian has is a confident faith not to have to worry that God won't provide for those things.

01:30:30.512 --> 01:30:39.272
<v SPEAKER_1>And so at the very end, when Jesus says, instead seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you, inheritance of the material is part of that.

01:30:40.312 --> 01:30:48.212
<v SPEAKER_1>God, taking care of your material needs is in part the stewardship of prior generations, passing along every good thing.

01:30:48.752 --> 01:31:00.772
<v SPEAKER_1>First and foremost, our faith, and then secondarily, the material, the possessions, wisdom, every good thing that God gives to one generation, he intends to be passed on to the next.

01:31:02.312 --> 01:31:04.712
<v SPEAKER_1>So I said earlier, we're always inheriting something.

01:31:05.072 --> 01:31:10.552
<v SPEAKER_1>The question is, are we inheriting a world that's on fire, or are we inheriting a world that's in good shape?

01:31:11.072 --> 01:31:20.352
<v SPEAKER_1>And if we're inheriting a world that's on fire, our duty is to put the fire out and try to make sure that our children and our grandchildren inherit a world that's not on fire.

01:31:20.672 --> 01:31:30.172
<v SPEAKER_1>One, it's actually structured so that there's actually a little more leeway to make some errors in judgment because you're not going to immediately go flying off the rails, which is where things stand today.

01:31:30.472 --> 01:31:36.052
<v SPEAKER_1>There's no margin for error for our kids because so many things are right on the cusp.

01:31:36.972 --> 01:31:45.872
<v SPEAKER_1>And what we can do is to give them an inheritance of wisdom, of faith and of as much as possible the material things that we need.

01:31:45.892 --> 01:31:48.432
<v SPEAKER_1>Obviously, that's the least important, but it's also important.

01:31:48.912 --> 01:31:57.472
<v SPEAKER_1>So we'll put links to a couple of those chapters in the show notes along with a link to I think probably Bible Hub, just searching for the word inheritance in air.

01:31:58.272 --> 01:32:00.372
<v SPEAKER_1>Go read some of those passages.

01:32:00.632 --> 01:32:02.912
<v SPEAKER_1>Make sure you read from both the Old and the New Testament.

01:32:03.372 --> 01:32:12.312
<v SPEAKER_1>I say that specifically because most of the New Testament discussion of inheritance is generally all around salvation, which is crucial.

01:32:12.852 --> 01:32:14.912
<v SPEAKER_1>Without salvation, there's no point in any of this.

01:32:16.752 --> 01:32:33.452
<v SPEAKER_1>More of the conversations in the Old Testament deal with the material, but it was material not in the sense of materialism, but in the sense of God reminding Israel and God reminding his people long before Israel that he will bless his people.

01:32:34.012 --> 01:32:39.512
<v SPEAKER_1>In fact, that he blesses everyone with the rain and the sun and everything that's needed for our bodily needs.

01:32:40.012 --> 01:32:43.572
<v SPEAKER_1>Every man's bodily needs are met, not only the believer.

01:32:44.592 --> 01:32:47.132
<v SPEAKER_1>And so read passages throughout Scripture.

01:32:47.152 --> 01:32:49.392
<v SPEAKER_1>You just pick a few and don't just read the verses.

01:32:49.412 --> 01:32:52.572
<v SPEAKER_1>Go drill down and read a few chapters that sound interesting.

01:32:52.792 --> 01:32:54.732
<v SPEAKER_1>Take a look at where God talks about this stuff.

01:32:55.052 --> 01:32:55.872
<v SPEAKER_1>It's everywhere.

01:32:56.212 --> 01:33:01.292
<v SPEAKER_1>If we only read the passages that talk about heirs and inheritance, it probably would have been close to four hours.

01:33:01.592 --> 01:33:05.292
<v SPEAKER_1>Without us adding a word, there's that many references to it.

01:33:05.832 --> 01:33:11.952
<v SPEAKER_1>So we didn't go into a ton of them today, but I hope that you will find that our words here consistent with what's said.

01:33:11.972 --> 01:33:16.652
<v SPEAKER_1>If you think they're not, go find some passages that say something the opposite of what we said.

01:33:17.412 --> 01:33:17.932
<v SPEAKER_1>You won't.

01:33:18.572 --> 01:33:21.292
<v SPEAKER_1>And as I said, I highlighted in Luke 12, there's a specific example.

01:33:21.312 --> 01:33:25.732
<v SPEAKER_1>If you're being a lazy listener, God's not saying you don't need stuff.

01:33:26.072 --> 01:33:27.612
<v SPEAKER_1>He's saying, I'm going to give you the stuff.

01:33:27.632 --> 01:33:28.592
<v SPEAKER_1>Don't worry about it.

01:33:29.272 --> 01:33:35.912
<v SPEAKER_1>That is one of the great inheritance we can give to our children, is a confidence that God will provide for them.

01:33:37.272 --> 01:33:39.352
<v SPEAKER_1>I don't know where it's going to come from, but I trust in God.

01:33:40.332 --> 01:33:47.192
<v SPEAKER_1>When we have that sort of faith, we're a better example for children, for neighbors, for family, for church and community.

01:33:47.832 --> 01:34:05.212
<v SPEAKER_1>When people aren't freaking out, when things are going poorly, they become leaders just because everyone else who is afraid and doesn't know what's going on, when they see that someone has some source of confidence, that they have some sort of foundation and roots, that is someone they're going to naturally listen to.

01:34:05.572 --> 01:34:06.912
<v SPEAKER_1>And guess what?

01:34:06.932 --> 01:34:14.532
<v SPEAKER_1>That may well be one of the prime opportunities for you to share all of God's Word and the Gospel, the wisdom, good advice.

01:34:14.552 --> 01:34:17.772
<v SPEAKER_1>Hey, just do this because it's going to be better for you.

01:34:18.732 --> 01:34:19.892
<v SPEAKER_1>God gives us all these things.

01:34:19.912 --> 01:34:21.232
<v SPEAKER_1>We need to share them with others.

01:34:21.532 --> 01:34:25.692
<v SPEAKER_1>We need to make it our children's inheritance and our nation's inheritance.

01:34:26.092 --> 01:34:33.512
<v SPEAKER_1>So the future generations won't have the sort of problems we have, because we're all seeing right now that we are inheriting problems.

01:34:33.892 --> 01:34:36.112
<v SPEAKER_1>We're inheriting evil circumstances.

01:34:36.592 --> 01:34:39.572
<v SPEAKER_1>That's not the fruit of a Christian nation.

01:34:39.752 --> 01:34:42.552
<v SPEAKER_1>This has clearly not meant a Christian nation for a long time.

01:34:43.552 --> 01:34:44.352
<v SPEAKER_1>It can be again.

01:34:44.992 --> 01:34:45.592
<v SPEAKER_1>It should be.

01:34:46.032 --> 01:34:48.652
<v SPEAKER_1>And it must be our goal to see that it becomes one.

01:34:49.132 --> 01:34:52.132
<v SPEAKER_1>We don't get to check out and say, well, I guess our time is over.

01:34:52.152 --> 01:34:53.772
<v SPEAKER_1>We'll just be replaced by somebody else.

01:34:54.452 --> 01:35:01.932
<v SPEAKER_1>The idea that we can be replaced in our own lives and our own lands is a despising of the inheritance that God has given to us.

01:35:02.212 --> 01:35:03.612
<v SPEAKER_1>That's profoundly wicked.

01:35:04.012 --> 01:35:08.152
<v SPEAKER_1>And anyone who's trying to sell you that is seeking the destruction of your soul.

01:35:08.532 --> 01:35:10.492
<v SPEAKER_1>Even if they're saying some of the other stuff, that's right.

01:35:10.512 --> 01:35:12.252
<v SPEAKER_1>That's a profoundly wicked thing.

01:35:12.812 --> 01:35:16.872
<v SPEAKER_1>What we have inherited is ours to be good stewards of and to pass it on.

01:35:17.152 --> 01:35:19.072
<v SPEAKER_1>We don't get to give it away to strangers.

01:35:19.672 --> 01:35:21.332
<v SPEAKER_1>We must preserve it for our own.

01:35:21.952 --> 01:35:23.992
<v SPEAKER_1>Everyone else has their own too.

01:35:24.312 --> 01:35:29.792
<v SPEAKER_1>And God has given them their things and their places to be dispensed as they see fit.

01:35:31.052 --> 01:35:33.452
<v SPEAKER_1>That's for them and their lands to deal with, not us.

01:35:35.412 --> 01:35:43.512
<v SPEAKER_1>So, as we've looked at inheritance today, I want you to just keep in mind that it's multiple things at the same time.

01:35:43.672 --> 01:35:51.332
<v SPEAKER_1>It's spiritual, it's material, it's the church, it's the nation, which is why we did an episode about it.

01:35:52.012 --> 01:35:57.412
<v SPEAKER_1>You take those four things out of the Christian life and what's left is everything.

01:35:57.852 --> 01:36:09.732
<v SPEAKER_1>In this one context, there's one way of viewing it, but the inheritance in a godly nation is all these things being propagated for the benefit of everyone, the godly and the ungodly alike.

01:36:10.092 --> 01:36:15.912
<v SPEAKER_1>Even someone who's not a believer in a Christian nation benefits from Christian life.

01:36:16.312 --> 01:36:17.452
<v SPEAKER_1>And the opposite is true.

01:36:17.832 --> 01:36:26.092
<v SPEAKER_1>When you have wicked unbelievers coming into your nation, they're going to devour and destroy your inheritance, so that your children can't have it.

01:36:26.352 --> 01:36:35.152
<v SPEAKER_1>And that's something that we have a duty to god to end and to preserve, so that we do the good things that god expects and not the evil that he promises will come to those who abandon him.

01:36:37.132 --> 01:36:53.252
<v SPEAKER_2>So I want to close out this episode by reiterating something that I said earlier and adding a note of comfort, as it were, for particularly the younger members of the audience as it will undoubtedly prove necessary in the years ahead.

01:36:55.232 --> 01:36:59.072
<v SPEAKER_2>God acts in time via means.

01:37:00.612 --> 01:37:03.552
<v SPEAKER_2>This is fundamentally important to remember.

01:37:03.652 --> 01:37:04.752
<v SPEAKER_2>Never forget this.

01:37:05.792 --> 01:37:09.072
<v SPEAKER_2>Again, god does not just zap you and give you faith.

01:37:09.892 --> 01:37:17.072
<v SPEAKER_2>God does not just make a chest of gold fall out of the sky, and therefore you have wealth and material prosperity.

01:37:17.652 --> 01:37:20.172
<v SPEAKER_2>That is not how god works.

01:37:20.552 --> 01:37:21.652
<v SPEAKER_2>Can he work that way?

01:37:22.132 --> 01:37:22.872
<v SPEAKER_2>Absolutely.

01:37:23.292 --> 01:37:29.992
<v SPEAKER_2>If he so chooses, we see the manna in the desert, for instance, would be an option for something falling out of the sky, as it were.

01:37:32.172 --> 01:37:35.652
<v SPEAKER_2>But as a general rule, god acts via means.

01:37:35.952 --> 01:37:42.552
<v SPEAKER_2>And when it comes to inheritance, the means that he uses, well, those are our ancestors.

01:37:43.252 --> 01:37:48.392
<v SPEAKER_2>They are the ones who transmitted the inheritance to us down through the centuries.

01:37:49.912 --> 01:37:59.612
<v SPEAKER_2>Now in the last century or so, we have had many faithless ancestors who have failed to transmit what was given them by those who came before them.

01:38:00.072 --> 01:38:01.492
<v SPEAKER_2>They have squandered the principle.

01:38:01.972 --> 01:38:09.912
<v SPEAKER_2>They have not transmitted forward any of the three things mentioned, the three kinds of inheritance that I distinguished.

01:38:10.932 --> 01:38:15.672
<v SPEAKER_2>In many cases, they have incidentally transmitted forward that biological inheritance.

01:38:15.692 --> 01:38:23.272
<v SPEAKER_2>So at least we have that with which we can work toward establishing something godly to pass on to those who follow us.

01:38:24.152 --> 01:38:30.712
<v SPEAKER_2>They have squandered in large part the material inheritance and the Christian inheritance, the spiritual inheritance.

01:38:31.712 --> 01:38:41.572
<v SPEAKER_2>Thankfully, with regard to the spiritual inheritance, we still have ready access to scripture and the writings of many faithful forefathers.

01:38:42.532 --> 01:38:43.552
<v SPEAKER_2>We can rebuild that.

01:38:44.012 --> 01:38:48.472
<v SPEAKER_2>We can resurrect that, as it were, because in some cases it does not even need to be rebuilt.

01:38:48.492 --> 01:38:54.392
<v SPEAKER_2>It is already there waiting for us to rediscover it, sort of like a scroll in a wall.

01:38:56.872 --> 01:39:03.732
<v SPEAKER_2>But when it comes to the material inheritance, much of that has been squandered, and we will indeed have to rebuild it.

01:39:05.432 --> 01:39:09.432
<v SPEAKER_2>And this is where it may seem mixed, but it is a word of comfort.

01:39:09.452 --> 01:39:11.432
<v SPEAKER_2>It comes into the picture.

01:39:13.732 --> 01:39:25.352
<v SPEAKER_2>Just because you are lacking some of the material or related comforts, does not mean that God has not answered your prayer or that he has answered it with a no.

01:39:26.572 --> 01:39:31.872
<v SPEAKER_2>Rather, it means that the way that God works, again, is in time via means.

01:39:33.232 --> 01:39:40.492
<v SPEAKER_2>And so the faithlessness from which you may very well be suffering may have occurred five generations ago.

01:39:41.452 --> 01:39:46.332
<v SPEAKER_2>That doesn't mean that our case here and today is hopeless.

01:39:47.232 --> 01:39:50.532
<v SPEAKER_2>It just means that we have a challenging road ahead.

01:39:50.552 --> 01:40:02.572
<v SPEAKER_2>We have to rebuild the inheritance that was squandered so that we can pass it forward, so we can be almost not even faithful stewards at this point because there's nothing to steward.

01:40:03.652 --> 01:40:09.552
<v SPEAKER_2>But once built, then we are faithful stewards to pass it forward to future generations.

01:40:11.112 --> 01:40:12.672
<v SPEAKER_2>It doesn't mean it's an easy task.

01:40:13.032 --> 01:40:14.812
<v SPEAKER_2>It's undoubtedly a difficult task.

01:40:15.372 --> 01:40:20.652
<v SPEAKER_2>Rebuilding a civilization, which quite frankly is what we have to do, is not an easy thing.

01:40:22.832 --> 01:40:32.872
<v SPEAKER_2>But just because the road is hard, the task is difficult, and in some cases the rewards are minimal, does not mean that God has abandoned us or there is no hope.

01:40:33.612 --> 01:40:35.012
<v SPEAKER_2>It just means that it's difficult.

01:40:36.192 --> 01:40:40.472
<v SPEAKER_2>Sometimes some things in this fallen world are difficult.

01:40:41.272 --> 01:40:43.212
<v SPEAKER_2>That is the reality of the fallen world.

01:40:43.652 --> 01:40:47.032
<v SPEAKER_2>It is the reality of the situation in which we find ourselves.

01:40:49.732 --> 01:40:54.752
<v SPEAKER_2>But the only thing God requires of us is that we do our duty.

01:40:56.232 --> 01:40:58.172
<v SPEAKER_2>Look at again the parable of the talents.

01:40:59.272 --> 01:41:08.512
<v SPEAKER_2>God recognizes that he does not give out gifts equally as it were, because again, God is not concerned with that modern sense of fairness.

01:41:09.792 --> 01:41:12.032
<v SPEAKER_2>God gives out talents unequally.

01:41:12.472 --> 01:41:16.212
<v SPEAKER_2>Some are richer, some are poorer, some are more intelligent, some are less intelligent.

01:41:17.132 --> 01:41:21.292
<v SPEAKER_2>Some have parents who faithfully transmitted the faith to them.

01:41:21.772 --> 01:41:23.532
<v SPEAKER_2>Some have parents who are apostate.

01:41:24.652 --> 01:41:28.432
<v SPEAKER_2>Different men have different starting conditions, as it were.

01:41:29.152 --> 01:41:32.492
<v SPEAKER_2>It is what we do with what we have been given that matters.

01:41:33.472 --> 01:41:38.272
<v SPEAKER_2>We are to be faithful stewards with regard to our stewardship.

01:41:39.252 --> 01:41:42.212
<v SPEAKER_2>One steward may have a very vast estate.

01:41:42.992 --> 01:41:45.692
<v SPEAKER_2>One may have a much more modest estate.

01:41:46.252 --> 01:41:51.192
<v SPEAKER_2>It is the faithfulness with which you exercise your stewardship that matters.

01:41:52.352 --> 01:41:57.052
<v SPEAKER_2>Look at what Christ says of the widow who puts in the two mites in the donation box.

01:41:58.032 --> 01:42:04.752
<v SPEAKER_2>She gave more than those who gave vast sums of money because it was what she did with what she had been given.

01:42:05.332 --> 01:42:07.272
<v SPEAKER_2>I'm not saying you have to give away all of your wealth.

01:42:07.292 --> 01:42:09.452
<v SPEAKER_2>That's not even the point of what Christ was saying.

01:42:10.472 --> 01:42:14.132
<v SPEAKER_2>The point is how you use what you have been given.

01:42:15.312 --> 01:42:23.632
<v SPEAKER_2>And God has given to each of us various talents to use in this life for the purpose of growing his kingdom.

01:42:25.552 --> 01:42:27.032
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, the material is important.

01:42:27.712 --> 01:42:29.412
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, the biological is important.

01:42:29.812 --> 01:42:31.332
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, the spiritual is important.

01:42:31.352 --> 01:42:33.372
<v SPEAKER_2>We cannot neglect any of them.

01:42:33.972 --> 01:42:37.332
<v SPEAKER_2>That is the mistake of Gnosticism and so many other heresies.

01:42:40.572 --> 01:42:45.192
<v SPEAKER_2>To pay attention to the spiritual and ignore the biological is, again, Gnosticism.

01:42:46.632 --> 01:42:49.592
<v SPEAKER_2>It's to deny the reality of how God created us.

01:42:51.152 --> 01:42:52.312
<v SPEAKER_2>All of these things matter.

01:42:53.172 --> 01:42:55.072
<v SPEAKER_2>All of them are matters of inheritance.

01:42:55.772 --> 01:43:04.212
<v SPEAKER_2>All of them are matters for our stewardship and passing forward what we have and what we have done with it to future generations.

01:43:05.212 --> 01:43:07.592
<v SPEAKER_2>And so there's no place for despair in any of this.

01:43:08.432 --> 01:43:09.672
<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, it may be difficult.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Yes, some of the things we ask of God, we may not get immediately in the near future or in some cases even at all in this life.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That does not mean that God has abandoned us because he promises that he will not do that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It is for us to be faithful, and God will see us through the challenges ahead.