1 Corinthians 3:21-23 - Homilies By J.r. Thomson

"All things are yours."

These are great words; but if they were not so great they would here be out of place. Men are given to boast of their possessions; but the Christian's boast is in this respect larger and grander than any man's beside. Men are wont to glory in belonging to some select society, some great nation, some illustrious king; but the Christian glories in belonging to a greater than the greatest who owes his honour to this world. "All things" are his; and he is "Christ's."

I. OUR PROPERTY IN ALL THINGS . To Christians it may be said—it was said by the inspired apostle:

1. All ministries are yours; the dead and the living, the speaking and the writing, the official and the unrecognized.

2. All circumstances are yours.

3. All times are yours.

II. CHRIST 'S PROPERTY IN US . To Christians it may be said, "Ye are Christ's:"

1. By the purchase of his blood. For, "Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price."

2. By his choice and ours. "I," says he, "have chosen you." And, "We love him because he first loved us."

3. By the inhabiting of his Spirit, whose gracious presence makes us his. It is not a case of mere property, but of spiritual affinity: "The Lord knoweth them that are his."

4. By our grateful and affectionate service. That Christians are his, it is their daily aim to prove, by their delight in his Word, their devotion to his cause, their obedience to his commands.—T.