In Heavenly Places
A Sermon on the Heavenly Places from Ephesians 1:3
Scripture
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Sermon Description
When a person is saved, a profound change occurs and they are taken from one realm to another. The non-Christian only knows the earthly realm. But the Christian knows two realms: earthly and heavenly. In this sermon on Ephesians 1:3 titled “In Heavenly Places,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones expounds the mystery of Paul’s words, showing that in Christ, the Christian has heavenly citizenship. The consequence of this teaching is far-reaching. This makes the Christian an enigma to others and to themselves. They wrestle with sin like others do but do not enjoy it. There are social consequences as well. While the world places its confidence in the perfectibility of humanity and hope for a better future through education, government, and culture, the Christian is engaged in such matters, but their hope is firmly set on the heavenly places, in their afterlife with Christ. Their faith is on the sure ground of the return of Christ and the eternal home where the Savior is, seated in the heavenlies. No one can change their nature; it is only done through faith in God's only Son.
Sermon Breakdown
- The phrase 'heavenly places' is used frequently in Ephesians to refer to the spiritual realm where God and spiritual beings exist.
- Christians have access to the heavenly places through their union with Christ.
- The blessings Christians receive are spiritual blessings from the heavenly places.
- Christ is currently seated in the heavenly places, and Christians are seated there with Him.
- Christians have two natures: an earthly nature and a spiritual nature from the heavenly places. There is tension between these natures.
- Christians live in two worlds: the earthly world and the spiritual world of the heavenly places. They have responsibilities in both worlds.
- Christians have two perspectives: an earthly perspective and a heavenly perspective. The heavenly perspective sees the spiritual roots of earthly problems.
- The earthly solution is to restrain evil through governments and culture. The heavenly solution is the spread of Christ's kingdom through salvation.
- The earthly view sees gradual human progress. The heavenly view sees Christ's return and the establishment of His kingdom.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.