Communion Message
Whoever Receives My Son...Gets It All
December 18, 2005
Pastor Leighton Sheley

There is a story of a very wealthy English baron, Baron Fitzgerald. He had only one son who was understandably the apple of his eye, the center of his affections, the only child, and the focus of this little family was on him. The son grew up and when he was in his early teens the mother died leaving him with his father who grieved over the loss of his wife but devoted himself to fathering their son.

And as the son was getting into his late teens he also became very ill and passed away. In the meantime the Fitzgerald financial holdings had greatly increased and the father had used much of his wealth to acquire art works of the Masters. Eventually, with the passing of more time Fitzgerald himself became ill and died.

Previous to his death he had very carefully prepared his will with explicit instructions as to how his estate would be settled. He had directed that there would be an auction in which his entire collection of art would be sold. Now because of the quantity and the quality of the art works in his collection, which was valued in the millions of English pounds, a huge crowd of prospective buyers gathered. Among them were museum curators and private collectors eager to bid.

The artworks were available for viewing before the auction began, and among them was one painting which received little attention. It was of poor quality. It was done by an unknown local artist, and it happened to be a portrait of Fitzgerald's only son.

Now when the time came for the auction to begin, the auctioneer gaveled the crowd into attention and before the bidding began the attorney read first from the will of Fitzgerald, which instructed that the first painting to be auctioned was the painting of my beloved son. Now the poor quality painting didn't receive any bidders except for one. The only bidder was an old servant who had known the son and loved him and served him, and offered the only bid. And so for less than one English pound he bought this painting.

Now the auctioneer stopped the bidding and asked the attorney to read again from the will. The crowd was hushed because it was quite unusual, and this is what the attorney read: "Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my art collection. The auction is over!" Fitzgerald.

The servant who loved the son received an inheritance of a son. Mankind was created to serve God by having dominion over the earth. We were created to serve God. Not all mankind loves the Son, but for those who love the Son they will receive the inheritance of a Son. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, His Beloved Son, the Son in whom He was well pleased, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have it all, but have everlasting life.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, and the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, and yet His own did not receive Him. And yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name He gave the right to become children of God. To those who believed in His name.

I'm going to invite you, if you are physically able, to join with me now as we kneel in the presence of our Lord and Savior. The Scriptures say at times like this we should examine our self.

Your word says those who receive Him, those who love the Son, will receive the inheritance of a son. You've made us joint heirs with Jesus Christ because of Your great love for us, but we are mere servants. We are not even good servants because so often we don't serve You, we serve ourselves. We serve our own appetites, our own agendas, our own goals - we are not even good servants. We sinned against You, and still You love us.

Your word says if we confess our sin You are faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Forgive us and cleanse us this day we pray in Jesus' name. Let's partake of the bread, and also the cup.

Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord for giving us everything, for every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above. In Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said, amen.