Go with me if you would back
to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians 3. When I study, I
begin searching for a message. I read the word to see how it
grabs me. That's how I begin, I just start
reading. I go to the books that we're currently going through
at that moment in time and I read the next verses in line to see
if they grab me. If they do not immediately cause
me to feel led to speak on them, then I just start going to other
places. I go to the Psalms a lot. That's always a favorite spot. Sometimes my dad will call me
and say, what are you doing? And I'll say, I'm reading cover
to cover. I feel like I've been all over this book, reading and
reading and reading, asking, searching, praying about it,
asking the Lord to lead my heart to what his message would be
for this particular hour. Well, as I was searching this
week for the message this morning, this thought went through my
mind. I got to a place, I was reading and reading and searching
and searching, and this thought came to my mind. I just want
to talk about Christ. That's what I want to do. I don't really feel like talking
about anyone else or anything else. I just want to talk about
Christ. I would love to just stand up
for 30 minutes and just talk about Christ. That'd be okay,
wouldn't it? That was the moment I read this
verse. Ephesians 3 verse 8. who am less than the least of
all saints, is this grace given that I should preach among the
Gentiles, the heathens, the outcasts, the unworthy, the unworthy, the
wretched, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. I could take some real time right
now to try to prove to us what sinners we are, but I really
don't need to do that. I really don't. Sometimes we'll
say, just go into your mind. Just think about the thoughts
that go through the mind. Just go into the heart and think
about the feelings and the emotions that come out of this heart.
All we have to do is take a quick look and we'll know we're sinners. We'll know we are. There are
some wretched thoughts that go through these minds. There are
some wicked feelings that come out of these hearts. If God has
given us eyes to truly see ourselves, if he has given us honest eyes,
then we know we're sinners. We know that we became ruined
by sin. Paul said, that's why he said
right here, unto me, that's the whole reason why he said unto
me, unto me. I'm the chief of sinners unto
me. That's what I say. And that's
what all of God's children say unto me, who in less than the
least, well, that's who I'm talking to this morning. That's specifically
who this is for. This message is for those that
God has caused them to see their utter ruin before God. Not every soul sees that. But
thank God, some do. Some do. And that's who the message
is for. If there are any here that can
honestly say, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. It's just all
ruined emptiness. That's all it is. Ruined emptiness.
There's no value here. There's none good, especially
not this one. I have nothing to offer God. I'm truly poor in spirit before
him, spiritually poor. I need redemption. I need somebody to pay my sin
debt to God because I can't pay it myself. I need somebody to buy me with
a price. Pay my wages in full. Who could
that possibly be? Is there a man that could do
that for me? If that poverty stricken state describes the
state you're in, that state of sin, if you need a redeemer like
I do, then I have a message for us. There is somebody that I
would like to tell us about. And for the rest of this message,
I just want to talk about him. only Him. Oh, the unsearchable
riches of Him. Worldly riches cannot compare
to the riches of Christ. Worldly riches, we're all consumed
by worldly riches. They cannot compare to the riches
of Christ. Worldly riches are uncertain.
They're up, they're down, they're here one minute, they're gone
the next. But oh, the riches of Christ. Peter said his riches,
Christ's riches are reserved in heaven. That's
what he said. They are reserved in heaven and
they will never fade away. Down here we have a federal reserve. And they're trying as hard as
they can to keep money in it. Up there, Christ has an eternal
reserve. And it will never fade away of
all of his fullness and all of his riches. It will never diminish
in value. Never. Paul said the riches of Christ
are unsearchable. They're just unsearchable. The
definition of the word unsearchable is inexhaustible, incomprehensible, something no
mind can conceive. No mind can conceive it. Now
let's remember that as we look at the unsearchable riches of
Christ. Let's remember that definition.
We're going to go through the scriptures and we're going to
start right here in Ephesians 3. Paul is praying on behalf
of God's people and he said here in Ephesians 3 verse 14, he said,
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and in earth is named,
that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory. Let's start with the riches of
His glory. Let's just talk about for a minute the riches of His
glory. What is His glory? We talk about
the glory of God, the glory of Christ. What is His glory? It's His person and His work. His person and His work. Let's
start with His person. Turn with me over to Psalm chapter
50. Psalm 50 verse 1, it says, The
mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken and called the earth from
the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion,
the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come
and shall not keep silence. A fire shall devour before him,
and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call
to the heavens from above and to the earth, that he may judge
his people. Gather my saints together unto
me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the
heavens shall declare His righteousness, for God is Judge Himself." Oh,
the glory of His righteousness, His absolute perfection, the
glory of His holiness, the glory of His judgment. It's something
no mind can comprehend. No mind can comprehend it. Verse
7 says, Hear, O my people, and I will speak. O Israel, and I
will testify against thee. I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy
sacrifices or thy burnt offerings to have been continually before
me. I will take no bullock out of
thy house, nor he goats out of thy fold. For every beast of
the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know
all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field
are mine." He's saying you cannot offer me any of those things
as a sacrifice unto me because they're already mine. Can you
think about that? Think about what he just said. Every beast of the forest is
mine. The cattle upon a thousand hills.
I know all the fowl, all the birds of the mountains and the
wild beasts of the field are mine. It's all mine. The glory
of his sovereignty. Think of the glory of his reign over all things. He said, it's
all mine. Verse 12, he said, if I were
hungry, I would not tell thee. That's one of my favorite lines.
Man wants to, you know, help him. We need to help him. I got
some junk I don't want anymore, so let's have a yard sale to
help him. He said, if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you.
For the world is mine and the fullness thereof. That is just
thrilling to me. The glory of His person. This
is the King of Kings. We forget that sometimes. We
get so worried about our little K King sometimes. He's the King
of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He is
the Master. He is the Owner of all things. That is incomprehensible. Unsearchable. Paul said, my prayer is that
he might reveal to you something of the riches of his glory. His
glory is his person and his glory is his work. Now, what is his
work? Turn with me over to Ephesians
2. Ephesians 2 verse 4 says, but
God who is rich in mercy. Rich in mercy. Moses said, Lord,
show me your glory. The Lord said, I will have mercy. Show me your glory. He said,
I'll have mercy. So glorious. He said, that is
my work, that's my glory. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
his mercy. Every now and then we get a hold
of mercy. Every now and then we get a hold
of true mercy, true forgiveness. true sparing in spite of what
we've done. This verse tells us that that
mercy comes from, it goes on to say in verse four, his great
love wherewith he loved us. God who is rich in mercy for
his great love wherewith he loved us. It's inexhaustible. Great
love. His love for His people is great
love, inexhaustible love. Imagine the riches of this. His
love for His people is inexhaustible. And His love for His people is
what brings mercy to them. His love brings mercy. If His
love is inexhaustible, then that means His mercy is inexhaustible. And that is such good news to
a sinner. That is such good news to a sinner. Every time we get
a hold of our sin, sometimes we get a hold of our sin. And
if his mercy is inexhaustible, then that means it's brand spanking
new every morning, every single morning. Sometimes we just so put out
with ourselves. Every morning, the mercy of God
says that was yesterday and that's covered and you're going to need
it again today. But it starts over brand new.
It's it's inexhaustible. It'll never decrease in amount.
It'll never decrease in value. The riches of his mercy. Stockpiles
and storehouses of mercy. It's brand new every morning
and the reason is because Lamentations 3 says, great is thy faithfulness. Think of the unsearchable riches
of his faithfulness, his faithfulness to remember his mercy, his faithfulness
to remember his covenant of forgiveness. What exactly is he remembering
when he remembers his mercy? What is he remembering when he
remembers his covenant of forgiveness? Hold your place right here and
go with me to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 verse 18. It says, for as much as you know,
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious, precious, costly, indescribably costly
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Oh, the indescribable, incomprehensible value of the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's the most costly substance
in glory. It's the most valuable thing
in glory and God's people have been covered in it. They don't
each receive one drop of the most expensive substance in glory. They're plunged into it. If we want to talk about unsearchable
riches, all we need to talk about is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To have that, you have it all. The sin debt that God
the Father gave to Christ to pay for his people, that sin
debt was so unsearchable. The amount of sin that was laid
on him. So many chosen people, so much
sin. The unsearchable cost, oh the
unsearchable cost that Christ had to pay for all the sin of
all of God's elect. But this is what the scripture
says, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Grace, the freely bestowed gift
of the blood of Jesus Christ, that grace, that gift and the
value of that gift, much more abounded. Flip back to Ephesians
2 with me. The middle of verse 7 says, Oh, the exceeding riches of his
grace. that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace." How much he gave. How much he freely gave. Unsearchable. Inexhaustible. Incomprehensible. Something no mind can conceive. No mind. If you look at Ephesians
1 verse 7 says, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace."
Riches. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ and his glory and his mercy. and his love and his faithfulness
and his blood and his grace. Unsearchable. The scripture mentions
the riches of his wisdom. We need wisdom, don't we? James
said, if any man lacks wisdom, unsearchable riches, the riches
of his knowledge, the scripture mentions. It mentions the riches
of His goodness and the riches of His forbearance,
His patience, His long-suffering. In every way imaginable and unimaginable,
every way conceivable and inconceivable, in every way Christ is unsearchable
riches. All right, now turn with me to
2 Corinthians 8. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. In order to save his ruined bride
from absolute destruction, he gave all of his riches. Would you do that? And we don't
have anything. In order to save his bride from
absolute ruin, he gave it all. He willingly became poor. He
laid aside his throne. He laid aside his majesty and
his honor in the heavens. He left it all. He laid aside His reputation.
Acts chapter 8 says He laid aside His judgment so He could come
down here to the earth and be judged. He laid aside His right
to be the sole heir of all things in order to make His bride to
be a joint heir with Him. He laid aside His union with
His Father. in order to be united with his
people so he could cry on their behalf. For their sake, he could
cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? In order to
take upon himself sin and completely put that sin away, he gave to
his people his righteousness. He gave his blood, he gave his
life, he gave it all. Though he was rich, Yet for your
sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be
rich." Now let's see God the Father's response to that and
let's see our response to that. Here's the Father's. Turn with
me to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2 verse 5 says, Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him." Unsearchably exalted him. We say that God
the Father exalted him. The mind cannot fathom how high
God the Father has exalted him. Verse 9 says, and given him a
name which is above every name, inconceivably above every name. Verse 10 says that at the name
of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things
in earth and things under the earth. and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Oh, the unsearchable Lordship
of Christ. That was God the Father's response
to what the Savior did for His people. He made Him Lord and
Christ. Now here's our response to what
the Savior did for His people. Look with me at Revelation chapter
5. Revelation 5 verse 1 says, And
I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book
written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals. And
I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy
to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man
in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon. And one of the elders said unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God,
sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers
of saints. And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book. and to open the seals thereof,
for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood,
out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast
made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on
the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beast and
the elders. And the number of them was 10,000
times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud
voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing,
and every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under
the earth And such as are in the sea, and all that are in
them, heard I saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb
for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen,
and the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him
that liveth for ever and ever." That's our response to it all.
All things be unto him. All riches unto him. All power
All glory, that's the response to the King of glory. Oh, the
unsearchable everything of Christ. Isn't that what God's people
say? Oh, the unsearchable everything. Riches, absolute riches. Precious,
more precious than gold. Let's all stand together and
sing that song.