Our Riches in Christ Jesus
The sermon emphasizes the spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus, including justification, sanctification, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
F.B. Meyer emphasizes the profound spiritual riches we possess in Christ Jesus, highlighting our union with Him in justification and the necessity of His presence in our lives for sanctification. He explains that our blessings stem from God's will and flow through Christ, culminating in the ultimate purpose of all things being united in Him. Meyer encourages believers to maintain a conscious oneness with Christ, which empowers them to rise above selfishness and spiritual adversaries. He also notes the importance of the Church in fulfilling Christ's mission, urging believers to seek fullness in Him. Ultimately, he prays for enlightenment to understand the hope and greatness of God's power available to those who believe.
Text
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:3-4).
F. B. Meyer describes these riches we have in Christ. "We are in Christ and He is in us, and any goodness we have is due to our giving room and scope to Him to realize His own ideals. . .
We are in Him so far as justification is concerned--that is our standing; and He is in us for sanctification--that is the source of a holy and useful life. The condition of a blessed life is the conscious maintenance of this oneness.
The source of all we are, and have, and hope to be, so far as salvation is concerned, is the will of God for us; but the stream flows to us through our Lord, and the end to which all things are moving is the summing up of all in Christ. As He was in the Alpha, so He will be the Omega. The sealing of the Holy Spirit is of incalculable advantage, because it means that we are stamped with the likeness of Christ and so kept inviolate among all the vicissitudes of life. . . .
In so far as we yield ourselves to the strength of God's might, He will raise us from the grave of selfishness and cause us to sit with Christ in the place of spiritual life and power.
. . . . The ascending Lord is high over all, and if we claim our right as members of His glorified body, we also shall stand above all our spiritual adversaries; and it is easier to descend on an enemy from above him than to seek to assail him from beneath. Notice that Christ needs the Church as much as the head needs the body, because it is through the Church that He fulfills Himself. Ask Him to fill all of you with all of Him (Through the Bible Day by Day, Vol. VI., p. 179-180).
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (vv. 18-19a).
Sermon Outline
- Our Riches in Christ Jesus
- The Source and End of Salvation
- The Sealing of the Holy Spirit
- Yielding to God's Might
- We are in Christ and He is in us
- Justification: Our Standing
- Sanctification: The Source of a Holy Life
- The Will of God for Us
- The Stream of Salvation Through Christ
- Stamped with the Likeness of Christ
- Raising from the Grave of Selfishness
- Sitting with Christ in Spiritual Life and Power
Key Quotes
“We are in Christ and He is in us, and any goodness we have is due to our giving room and scope to Him to realize His own ideals.” — F.B. Meyer
“The condition of a blessed life is the conscious maintenance of this oneness.” — F.B. Meyer
“Ask Him to fill all of you with all of Him.” — F.B. Meyer
Application Points
- We must yield ourselves to the strength of God's might to experience spiritual growth and power.
- We must maintain our oneness with Christ to live a blessed life.
- We must claim our right as members of Christ's glorified body to overcome spiritual adversaries.