An inalienable possession.
The people were not permitted to sell their allotments, and especial provision was made to prevent the priests from parting with their share of the fruits of the land.
I. THE CHRISTIAN INHERITANCE IS AN INALIENABLE POSSESSION.
1. No enemy can take it away. Christ secures it for his people, so that it is theirs forever. We may lose all earthly things in the shocks and changes of life, but the heavenly treasure abides. So long as we hold it truly, no moth nor rust can corrupt it, no thief can then break through and steal it.
2. The Christian has no right to part with it. He can deny Christ, renounce the gift of God, and abdicate his position as one of the kings and priests of God. But he has no right to act in this way. When once he is called into the kingdom it is with a view of never departing from it. Though left free from external constraints, the bands of conscience forbid his ever giving up his glorious heritage. The vows of Christian fidelity are irrevocable.
II. IT IS A SIN TO ENDANGER THE CHRISTIAN INHERITANCE. AS Christians, we have a charge to keep. Our estate in the kingdom of heaven is entrusted to us. But we may be false to our trust in various ways.
1. By neglecting it. So long as our heritage is faithfully kept no enemy can enter or injure it. But if the hedge is broken down the wild boar from the wood may come through and root up the tender vines (Psalms 80:13). We need to watch over and carefully guard the privileges of the Christian life.
2. By renouncing it for worldly things. The priest might grow tired of his sacred office, and might prefer to have a farm of his own rather than be dependent on the sacrificial offerings of the people, while a lay Israelite, ambitious of the priesthood, might be glad to barter his estate for rank and office in the temple. This was forbidden. The Christian has no right to give up his allegiance to Christ and his inheritance in heavenly things for any earthly consideration. Having put his hand to the plough, he is never to look back.
III. THE INALIENABILITY OF THE CHRISTIAN INHERITANCE RESULTS FROM ITS RELATIONS TO GOD. The portion of the priests was holy, not because they had it, but because it was primarily God's share of the produce of the land. The Christian inheritance has special relations to God.
1. It is purchased by the death of Christ, the Son of God. A possession so acquired must have a profound sanctity attached to it. To throw away lightly a gift that was brought to us by means of the incarnation and crucifixion of our Lord is to despise God's most wonderful condescension, to trample on the love of Christ in his most tremendous self-sacrifice. If he has died to make the inheritance ours, the least we can do is to prize it above all things.
2. It is still rightly owned by God. The priests enjoyed God's portion of the produce. It was still God's while they had it. Christ has called us into his kingdom to be his stewards. All we enjoy really belongs to him, and we shall have to give an account of our stewardship. If we destroy or alienate the vineyard with which we are now entrusted, we shall have no answer to give in the great day of reckoning.