III. For strength.—In order to this fruitfulness all might is required of body, mind, and spirit, but especially that of the Spirit within. The measure—“according to His glorious power”; so as to suffer patiently the constant trials of the Christian life and exercise all longsuffering towards persecutors and enemies of the truth, and this with joyfulness. It is not what we can do, but what He can do in us, and we through Him.—Preacher’s Magazine.
Ver. 11. Divine Strength—
- Is spiritual strength, the source and sustenance of all might.
- May be realised in increasing measure.
- Arms the soul with invincible power.—Power to endure with patience the trials of life; power to bear with the opposition and cruelty of others.
- Enables the soul to rejoice in the midst of suffering.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 12.
Meetness for Saintly Inheritance.
The epistle has been hitherto occupied with prefatory observations. In this verse the writer enters upon his principal theme relating to the person and redemption of Jesus Christ. He offers thanks to God the Father as the primal source of that grace which constitutes the meetness for the saintly heritage. Observe:—
I. The opulent inheritance provided for the good.—1. It is a present and prospective possession. “The inheritance of the saints in light.” Light is symbolic of knowledge, purity, and joy. The saints even now are called out of darkness into God’s kingdom of marvellous light. “They walk in the light as He is in the light.” They have a measure of knowledge, but it is dimmed by many earthly obscurities; of purity, but it is surrounded with imperfections; of joy, but it is moderated by life’s sorrows. In the prospective heavenly inheritance, of which the earthly portion is a preparation and pledge, knowledge shall be unclouded and complete, purity unsullied, joy uninterrupted. “The life for eternity is already begun: we are at and from the very hour of our regeneration introduced into the spiritual world—a world which, though mysterious and invisible, is as real as the world of sense around us: the Christian’s life of heavenliness is the first stage of heaven itself! There is a power now within the believer in the germ, of which his celestial immortality shall be the proper fruit. The dawn of heaven hath already begun in all who are yet to rejoice in its noontide glory” (Archer Butler).
2. It is a possession provided for the good.—“The saints.” Not for the unholy, the impenitent, the unbelieving, the worldly. It is an inheritance where only the pure in heart can dwell. There is a world of significance in that pithy saying of an old Divine: “Every one will get to heaven who could live there.” Only the saints who have made the Lord their light and their salvation can bear the splendour of His presence.
3. It is a possession freely given.—The legal heir has no need to work for his inheritance; he enters in possession by right of succession or testatorial bequest. The saint enters upon his inheritance of righteousness, not by natural descent or by any self-constituted right, but on the ground of a free, Divine gift. The believer has a title to the inheritance; but it is not earned by his own efforts: it is bestowed by Christ who won the inheritance by suffering and dying. Thus, all idea of merit is excluded; we can do nothing to deserve such a heritage of blessing. The word “inheritance” really means “the parcel of the lot”—an expression borrowed from the Old Testament (Ps. xvi. 5). The promised Canaan suggests an analogy between it and the higher hopes and wealthier possessions of the new dispensation. As each Israelite, through the grace of God, obtained his allotment, so the Christian obtains his portion in the kingdom of God. The present and future possession of the saints infinitely surpasses the earthly inheritance.
II. The special meetness necessary to a participation in the inheritance.—“Hath made us meet to be partakers.”