All rights reserved. The word translated preach is literally, to proclaim the good news. It would not be good news to hear that Christ has unfathomable riches to offer, but you must earn them. In some circles, the abundant life Jesus promised His followers has been confused with material wealth. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. The Bible calls us to believe that our spiritual riches in Christ are reality. A few weeks ago, Marla and I went down to the desert and hiked among the beautiful wildflowers that the abundant winter rains produced. Discover Christ in this inspiring book by Dr.Lee C Turner entitled Discover Your Riches In Christ ! Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them. This book has caused me to grow in my Christian walk by broadening my understanding of heaven, correcting my wrong notions and it's given me a whole new level of excitement about Jesus! From pleres; to make replete, i.e. We wrongly start thinking that God owes it to us because of our hard work for Him. So we need to apply verses 10-11 to ourselves! The poor Christian can become proud over how poor he is for the sake of the kingdom, and thus boast in being more spiritual than the rich. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition The Lockman Foundation, Related Topics: Hamartiology (Sin), Soteriology (Salvation), Forgiveness, Grace, Steve served as the pastor of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship from May, 1992 through his retirement in December, 2018. An affair; also occasion, demand, requirement or destitution. But he discovered that it was an arm of the ocean, and so he was confronted by the immeasurable sea (J. H. Jowett, The Passion for Souls, p. 10, cited by Francis Foulkes, Ephesians [IVP/Eerdmans], p. 97). Jesus told the parable of the rich man who decided to build bigger barns to hold more wealth, but God required his soul of him that very night. Why? The psalmist said, I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil (Psalm 37:35), and I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 1991 - 2023 Eternal Perspective MinistriesAll Rights Reserved. If we dont love Him, we dont know Him (1 John 4:8). MultilingualVideo. In Christ, God "has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing" ( Ephesians 1:3 ). All of Christ, "who for our sakes became poor that we. Discover Your Riches in Christ - Kindle edition by Turner, Lee C. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks . First, we gain a personal relationship with the one true Godthe sovereign, omniscient, and omnipresent Lord of all creation. We want our relationships to be rich and to produce the right things, so to achieve this will require a good deal of effort on our parts. Dr. Stanley explains how our heavenly Father desires for us to obey Him. 'Our Riches in Christ' helps Christians understand the liberating, transforming truths that produce lasting joy, unbounded peace, and radiant faith. 28:11; 15:27). Both need to develop the humility that comes from bowing before Gods grace. Job, the most righteous man on earth, repented in dust and ashes when he had his encounter with God (Job 42:6). For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Our life is precious because we can enjoy the Spiritual Riches of God and and the Spiritual Riches of Christ in being our Creator and our Redeemer. To persevere in trials with joy, adopt Gods eternal perspective on poverty and riches. Luke 1:53 states, He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed. The spiritually hungry are sinners who see their need for forgiveness. . He and his money will soon fade away. How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! As John Newton put it (Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken), Solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zions children know.. He allows trials into our lives to drive us to a deeper experience of His all-sufficiency for our needs. Since we did nothing to deserve it, we cant demand it. He is our strength! In the Old Testament, material blessing was given for obedience (Deuteronomy 28:2), yet in the New Testament many of the saints were poor (Matthew 8:20; 2 Corinthians 11:27; James 2:5). Nearly every false doctrine has a true component hidden in it that gets twisted and perverted. I think it is because love for Christ keeps us from loving the world. It is a thorny issue to decide whether the rich man here is a believer or an unbeliever. So I am unusually aware that unless God anoints His Word with power, my feeble words will surely fail. Respecting the Lord by the way they lived, and being encouraged by the Holy Spirit, the group of believers continued to grow. Enabled . Luke 1:53 states, "He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed.". When earth becomes our Heavenwhen we see Gods blessings as being primarily immediate and temporalwe lose sight of who we are, why we are here, and what awaits us beyond the horizons of this world. 6:8). And the list of blessings keeps going: God adopts believers as His children (Eph. He continues. When they grumbled, the owner told them that they had no right to grumble. Privacy Policy. He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., 1976 in Bible exposition) and Califo More, Can conviction of sin and repentance come. Is God also on the side of wealthy cultists, dishonest business executives, and immoral entertainers? Note that love for Christ does not exempt us from trials. Dont assume that God prospers you beyond what you need just to raise your standard of living. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Do you? The closer they are to God, the more they lament their own sinfulness. Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?read more. What good are these spiritual riches to this man?. Grace is always undeserved. Note from Randy Alcorn: If youre new to our website, please ignore this. The famous evangelist, George Whitefield, once told of seeing some criminals riding in a cart on their way to the gallows. As someone has well said, when we share the gospel with others, it is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. Yet the same word is used eleven times in the positive sense, each time referring to spiritual, not material, riches (Romans 11:33; Ephesians 1:18; Philippians 4:19; Colossians 1:27). Philippians 4:19 - Bible Hub The apostle Paul uses this word often, sometimes negatively, but sometimes positively. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him. In Him, Christians are rich in spiritual abundance and the goodness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 8:9). The unfathomable riches of Christ are offered only to sinners. Agree/disagree? Rather, you are a saint who occasionally sins (see, Victory Over the Darkness [Regal Books], pp. As thoughtful Christ-followers, we should never assume that financial abundance is Gods provision for us to live in luxury. In this view, the exhortation in its context views both poverty and wealth as tests of faith (1:12). 104 pages. All of Gods promises are yes in Christ (2 Cor. This soul-level abundance means that poor believers who are living in oppressive circumstances can be far more joyful and satisfied than unbelievers who are living in luxury and popularity. Daily Devotion A Heart of Gratitude Consider the spiritual riches that Jesus died to give youand thank Him today for those blessings. The concept of self-esteem that has flooded the church in the past 35 years, comes from worldly psychology, not from Gods Word. The surpassing riches of His grace. That is the master key to spiritual growth. We no longer go to a priest, because Christ is our high priest, and we ourselves are a believing priesthood. Psalm 130:7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. To pass the test, we must glory in our humiliation. Ephesians Our Spiritual Treasure: Exploring the Inexhaustible Riches of I can't say that I don't fear death at all, but I can honestly say, that after reading The Best is Yet to Come, I'm better equipped . Drawing on the book of Ephesians, Ray Stedman helps today's believers uncover and apply the liberating, transforming truths that produce a sense of lasting joy . A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. They often do not see their need for God, because they trust in their money (Prov. For what does the Scripture say? And yet, when Paul came to Ephesus and preached the unfathomable riches of Christ, so many got saved that it threatened the idol-makers business. 20:1-16) who got hired late in the day. He, she, it, they, them, same. The next 11 verses go on to describe what these great blessings are. But, if he wanted to be generous with what is his, why should they be envious? They are poor and they know that they are without resource. Paul pictures the believer as seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. True happiness is to know God. ``BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. Discover Your Riches in Christ help you to possess your spiritual possessions in Christ. As Paul argues (1 Cor. These Gentiles were about as far from the living and true God as anyone could be. How are they similar and different? To focus on accumulating wealth if we lack it or to expend ourselves in amassing more wealth than we already have, would be rather shortsighted. The way of true riches is 'humility and the fear of the Lord' (v.4a). Persevere (1:12) goes back to the same word in 1:3-4. That parable illustrates Gods grace. According to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus, Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular. Here is where Im in way over my head! But, thank you for reminding me! But if they are not convicted of sin and do not see the absolute righteousness of God and do not fear His impending judgment on their evil thoughts, words, and deeds, then they do not see their need for the Savior. File size. So the rich man must not follow the world by glorying in his riches. But the free gift is not like the transgression. The poor man can be just as greedy and materialistic as the wealthy man. Unless, as Spurgeon put it, they feel the rope around their neck, they will not weep for joy when the Savior cuts it and frees them.
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