about the Sacrifice on the Cross for sins, and the great
atonement that was made by it. Those of you, who have listened to me
from Sunday to Sunday, know that I am not to be charged with minimising
or neglecting that truth, but I want to lay upon all your hearts this
earnest conviction, that a gospel which throws into enormous prominence
'Christ for us,' and into very small prominence 'Christ in us,' is lame
of one foot, is lopsided, untrue to the symmetry and proportion of the
Gospel as it is revealed in the New Testament, and will never avail for
the nourishment and maturity of Christian souls. 'Christ for us' by all
means, and for evermore, but 'Christ _in_ us,' or else He will not be
'_for_ us.'

III. Lastly, a Christian may be a saint, and a believer, and in Christ
Jesus, though he is in Ephesus.

Many of you know that probably the words 'in Ephesus' are no part of the
original text of this epistle, which was apparently a circular letter,
in which the designation of the various churches to which it was sent
was left blank, to be filled in with the name of each little community
to which Paul's messenger from Rome carried it. The copy from which our
text was taken had probably been delivered at Ephesus; and, at any rate,
one of the copies would go there. What was Ephesus? Satan's very
headquarters and seat in Asia Minor, a focus of idolatry, superstition,
wealth, luxury springing from commerce, and moral corruption. 'Great is
Diana of the Ephesians.' The books of Ephesus were a synonym for magical
books. Many of us know how rotten to the core the society of that great
city was. And there, on the dunghill, was this little garden of fragrant
and flowering plants. They were 'saints in Christ Jesus,' though they
were 'saints in Ephesus.'

Never mind about surroundings. It is possible for us to keep ourselves
in the love of God, and in the fellowship of His Son wherever we are,
and whatever may lie around us. You and I have too to live in a big,
wicked city, and to work out our religion in a society honeycombed with
corruption, because of commerce and other influences. Do not let us
forget that these people whom Paul called 'saints' and 'faithful' had a
harder fight to wage than we have, with less to hearten and strengthen
them in it. Only remember if the 'saints in Ephesus' are to be 'in
Christ,' they need to keep themselves very straight up. The carbonic
acid gas is heavy and goes down to the bottom of the cave, and i