Ephesians 3:8 To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given… I. IN WHAT DO THE RICHES OF CHRIST CONSIST? Natural to ask this; but a complete answer cannot be expected. Whatever these riches are, in whatever they may consist, they are unsearchable, unspeakable, inconceivable. We can only give a hint, take a glimpse. 1. They are the riches of Christ's glory (John 17:5; 2 Corinthians 8:8). 2. The riches of His merit. The merit of His obedience and sacrifice, His service and His sufferings, as our substitute and surety, in His obedience on earth and His intercession in heaven. 3. The riches of His grace. (1) Grace to pardon. (2) Grace to justify. (3) Grace to purify. (4) Grace to sustain.All the grace we can require, in order to assure us, in the face of a thousand obstacles and perils, of arrival at home, triumph over every foe, and ultimate possession of every enjoyment in the promised land. II. IN WHAT RESPECTS ARE THESE RICHES UNSEARCHABLE? 1. They cannot be discovered. They are beyond the utmost reach of human penetration and sagacity; they defy the most laborious and persevering research. They are alike unknown to the speculations and philosophy and the investigations of science. Yet God has revealed them unto babes. 2. They cannot be fathomed, measured, grasped, calculated. Boundless as infinity, high as heaven, deep as hell. The measure of them is rounder than the earth, and broader than the sea. 3. They cannot be described. That which the mind cannot grasp, the tongue cannot tell, the pen cannot write — our imagination is all too weak to deal with such a theme. They are a hope, and that hope is of immortality; they are a peace, and that peace passeth understanding; they are a joy, but it is unspeakable and full of glory; they are a knowledge, but it is life eternal; they are a well of water, but it is in the man's bosom, springing up to everlasting life. In short, they are riches that fill their possessor with all the fulness of God. 4. They cannot be exhausted, diminished, impaired. What countless millions have they enriched through the long succession of ages that are past, who are now before the throne of God and the Lamb; and they are as ample as at first, and shall continue to be so to the last, though myriads more shall be enriched by them in the ages yet to come. Like the sun that shines so gloriously with a splendour so bright — bright as when the beams of the first morning were shed upon the darkness that brooded over the face of the deep — just like that sun these riches remain in all their plenty. And when that material orb is but a spark of fire, they shall yet remain; they shall survive in all their fulness when that sun is plucked from the firmament, and the universe is wrapped in flame. (T. Raffles, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; |
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