April 25th, 1962                           “The Riches of His Glory”                            Late Mr. Daniel

 

Ephesians 3:16-19                     

 

“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.” St. Paul talks of riches in glory. You are standing before an empty grave. In Mecca you will find the grave of Muha­mmad. The great men of this world - yes, you may find their graves on earth. But Jesus' grave does not hold Jesus. I saw the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal - the Taj Mahal. Many come to see this grave. But Jesus’ grave is empty. The glory of His life is the empty grave. His life was such that the grave could not hold Him. First we go to that grave because we believe He died for us. Except for that death you and I have no hope. He was holy but we are unholy. He took our place and died for us. With this faith, when we stand before that grave, a great grace comes and fills us. We are saved freely by grace. Once we feared God and believed we would be blessed if we obeyed His commands. Once we trembled but now we wonder at His love and grace. Out of this grace comes a power that fills our heart. “To be strengthened in the inner man by His Spirit.” You cannot under­stand how you are living a holy life. A power is moving you to live so. You should have died, but Jesus went into the grave in your stead. He released for you the riches in glory.

Eph.4:8. 'Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.' He took capti­vity captive. What a wonderful statement. Suppose an army captured our army and another army came and carried away their conquerors, our army would be free. We were captives of Satan but Jesus defeated Satan and released us. When He took captivity captive He gave gifts - such gifts as made people wonder and know for sure they were given by God, not by man. The priests could not speak anything when they saw the lame man leaping after he was healed in the name of Jesus by the disciples.

Let us go to the grave and believe. The riches in glory are released - a new nature. Jesus was in the centre of God's will. Blessed is the man who will put himself in restraint to stay in God’s will always. He will enter into the abundance of the complete freedom of God. Are you murmuring to be in God's will? Are you sorry thinking that the will of God lays so many restrictions upon you? Are not these restrictions to draw out of you, the great gifts within you put there by God! Who is this person that is above all principality and power now? It was He who denied Himself to the uttermost to be in God’s will. If you also do that; you also will be lifted like that. If you suddenly happen to face a need, suddenly you will see that need met. A spirit of patience will come upon you. A spirit of meekness and of love will come upon you. These are riches in glory. What greater riches can there be. Those who come to the grave and believe and praise God, will see the riches of God opened to them – yea, all the fulness of God. We do not re­ceive, because we do not believe. When you are filled with the unlimited love of God, the whole earth is yours. All men will come to you. When they see the selflessness of Christ and the self-denial of Christ in you and the willingness in you to die for truth and righteousness, the world will come to you. The world wants to see a woman filled with riches of glory, and a man who has measured the depth of God’s love.

There is a great freedom in God's will. Sadhu Sundar Singh in the well with the smell of petrifying corpses choking him and in pain with a broken arm had joy in his heart. A normal man would become mad under those circumstances. Three days he was there and then he cried to God. The cover of the well was lifted and an angel drew him out and healed him. The one who rose from the dead will never leave you. You can never know even imagine or think of what God has for you. It will be according to that power. That power is working in you. God’s plan will be revealed to you. According to your need, gifts will be given to you and these gifts will help you to fulfil His will. As you look and look into that grave believing Christ died for you, more and more riches will come out of it to you!