Ephesians 3:8 To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given… I. "THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST." 1. They are riches of heavenly knowledge. 2. Riches of redeeming love. 3. Riches of pardoning mercy. 4. Riches of sanctifying grace. 5. Riches of consolation and hope. 6. Riches of immortality and glory. 7. All of them "riches of Christ"; and all of them "unsearchable." II. AMONG WHOM ARE THEY TO BE PREACHED? 1. Paul's commission, and that of the other apostles, was to "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15); and to bring all nations to the obedience of the faith. 2. St. Paul thoroughly understood that the gospel he preached was emphatically the gospel of the Gentiles. 3. The manner in which St. Paul speaks of the calling of the Gentiles is highly worthy of observation. He calls it a mystery — "the mystery of Christ — revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, etc. III. I PROCEED TO OBSERVE ON THE DIGNIFIED IDEA ST. PAUL HAD OF THE APOSTOLIC MISSION — "Unto me is this grace given." Let us cast our eye — 1. On the labours and sufferings of the mission. 2. On the grounds of St. Paul's triumph. IV. THE FORCIBLE ADMONITION GIVEN TO MINISTERS AND MISSIONARIES, TO THINK HUMBLY AND SOBERLY OF THEMSELVES, AS THEY OUGHT TO THINK. 1. When the Lord will make a man a chosen vessel, eminently serviceable in the Church, it is the method of His grace to humble that man in the dust, and to remove from him every ground of vain-glory. This is necessary to secure all the glory to the Lord, to whom alone it is justly due. 2. That it is impossible a missionary should engage in his work in a better spirit than of that humility of which St. Paul is the example. (J. Burns, 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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