Tonight is Ephesians chapter
2 and verse 7 Ephesians chapter 2 verse 7 As God the Holy Ghost enables
me I want to preach to you on the exceeding riches of his grace
Ephesians 2 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. It is obvious from this text
of Scripture, as well as many others, that the Apostle Paul
fully expected the gospel of the grace of God to be preached
in ages to come. He did not expect the world to
come to an end very soon. He knew the gospel of God's grace
must be preached in every corner of the earth. Before Christ comes
again, our Lord tells us this message must be preached among
all nations. The Apostle Paul was fully aware
of that. And Paul was assured that there
could be no possible improvement made upon the gospel. This man
was fully persuaded. that the very same gospel that
Christ preached, the very gospel that turned the world upside
down in the days of the early church would be the gospel that
God would use for the saving of his elect to gather his elect
from the four corners of the earth in all future ages. I think
Paul is also telling us that this gospel has been the means,
the singular means, of God saving sinners throughout the ages. There's never been any other
way of salvation than by Jesus Christ, by the preaching of the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham heard the gospel and
believed God. And that was true of all the
Old Testament saints. It's true of all saints in the
early ages of the church. true of all God's saints throughout
the days that have come and those that are yet to come. Paul is
telling us plainly that this will be the theme of the songs
of God's people in every age, the exceeding riches of God's
grace. Now I stress this because compromise
of the Gospel common among men, common among churches. It was
in the days Paul lived. It was in the churches to which
our Savior wrote those letters in Revelation 3 and 4. It was
in the days immediately following the Gospel Age, when the Gospel
Age began. And it is to this day. Men quickly
find a way to compromise and excuse it. The gospel of God's
grace never changes. It never changes. And I'll assure
you that three things are always involved in every compromise
of the gospel. First, there comes a change in
the music. A change not just in the way
we sing praise, or call it singing praise, but in the songs sung. The music ceases to center on
God and His grace and His glory and His purpose, and rather centers
upon man and his feelings and his desires and his works. Then
there's a compromise in methods. Churches are involved in everything
under the sun except the preaching of the gospel. Church buildings
these days are called activity centers. That's a good name for
them, the church buildings. People compromise methods. They think, well, the gospel's
not getting the job done. Something's wrong. We've got
to do things differently. Never, never. In this place of
worship, for as long as God gives me grace and gives me strength,
for as long as I stand here as your pastor, we will have one
means of worship, no other means of worship. We will engage in
one activity, no other activity, and that's the preaching of the
gospel. As we gather to worship God,
we gather to read his word, call on his name in prayer, offer
praise to him, and proclaim the gospel of his grace. There is
only one purpose for the existence of this local church. There's
only one purpose for the existence of any true gospel church. The local church is but a sounding
board for the gospel. Nothing else. Nothing else. That's
the reason we don't have all the nonsense that goes on in
the name of religion. Most churches are nothing but
a poor man's country club. You can get in, pay no dues,
enjoy yourself, and never be put out. But the church of God
is the sounding board of the gospel. We will not alter our
methods. no matter what anybody else does,
no matter how popular things become, no matter how much pressure
is laid upon us, the methods and the music are not going to
change. And then there's always follows the change of message,
change of message. For the last 20 years, maybe
a little more, I have watched preachers who try to still claim
they believe the gospel of God's free grace, do everything they
possibly can to compromise those things that seem to be the most
offensive points of the gospel of God's grace. God's absolute
sovereignty in divine predestination, God's absolute purpose of grace
in election, God's sovereign eternal love for his elect, the
irresistible grace of God in calling sinners, the sovereign,
absolute, accomplished redemption of Jesus Christ the Lord for
his elect. These are things men quickly
try to find a way to take the rough edges off of them. The
fact is those things that are barbed arrows sticking in the
hearts of rebels, very power of the Gospel of God's grace.
And there can be no alteration of the message without the denial
of the message. Back in the office Mark just
read to us in 1 Corinthians 15 an astounding declaration by
the Apostle Paul. He said if we preach that Christ
is risen from the dead and He's not risen, you remember what
he said? that we're found false witnesses
of God. What a declaration. That's not a compromise of God's
sovereignty. That's not a compromise of election. That's not a compromise of redemption.
That's not a compromise of predestination. That's talking about the resurrection
of the dead. The things revealed in this book
concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ are not things
to be altered by us. but rather declared by us. Eternity
itself will not improve the gospel. When the saints of God are all
gathered in heaven, they'll still sing the wonders of love and
grace revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. As we walk the golden
streets of the celestial city, we'll stand before listening
crowds of angels and principalities and powers and think it our greatest
delight to speak to them of the things God has done for us in
Christ by the exceeding riches of his grace. The gospel of God
is unalterable. Paul didn't anticipate the removal
of this ancient landmark. He knew that false teachers and
false religions would arise to pervert the gospel. But he also
knew that God would preserve his witness throughout the ages. He always has, he always will,
until time shall be no more. The gospel of Christ has the
same power today that it had in Paul's day. The very same
power it had while our Lord Jesus walked upon this earth. It is
still the battering ram of the church against the gates of hell. Our Lord Jesus said to Peter
concerning his church, on this rock, speaking of himself, I
will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. What's he talking about? Gates
are weapons of defense, not weapons of offense. He's not talking
about hell assaulting the church, though that certainly is true.
Rather, he's talking about God's church, by the gospel, assaulting
the very gates of hell. And we don't do it by protesting,
by marches, and we don't do it like the Muslims with the sword.
We assault the gates of hell by the preaching of the gospel
of God's grace. Brother Frank and Eric, Cody,
Walter, and I a few weeks ago down in Mexico were talking about
this very thing. Frank said to me, Brother Don,
do I understand this correctly? If God's called me to preach,
isn't it my responsibility to preach the gospel to as many
people as I possibly can by every means God has given me while
I live. That's exactly our responsibility. To seize every opportunity, to
take on every responsibility, to take the gospel into the world
and assault the very gates of hell by the proclamation of Christ
crucified. God has shown us in ages gone
by and he will show in ages to come that Christ Jesus crucified,
the gospel of God's grace is the power of God under salvation,
the power of God and the wisdom of God. We dare not cease then
to proclaim God's mercy as it's displayed in the sin atoning
work of his dear son. We have an innumerable company
of witnesses from the Church of the Old Testament, from the
Apostolic Age, from the years of this Gospel Age, all of which
testify Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is able to save to the
uttermost all who come to God by Him. These infallible assurances
strengthen our confidence and inflame our hearts. So that we
may say with boldness with the apostle, as much as in me is,
I'm ready to preach the gospel. As much as in me is, I'm ready
today as yesterday. And tomorrow, as much as in me
is, I'm ready to preach the gospel. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for this gospel is the power of God to salvation
to everyone that believeth. What you need is the gospel. What your children need is the
gospel. What your family needs is the
gospel. What the poor and downtrodden
need is the gospel. What the rich and powerful need
is the gospel. One message for sinners everywhere. For sinners everywhere have the
same need. Grace. The exceeding riches of
His grace in Christ Jesus. God has used this gospel to save
multitudes. These multitudes of converts
in days of old are monuments of the free and sovereign grace
of God. And they show us that there is
indeed salvation for sinners. They possess that salvation.
The Gospel declares salvation accomplished by the doing and
dying of the Son of God. And the Gospel declares that
this salvation can be had by sinners. This salvation can be
had by sinners. It can be had by sinners from
every place, in every age. It can be had by sinners on God's
terms. Believe on the Son of God. Believe on the Son of God and
this salvation is yours. Believe on the Son of God and
you have eternal life. Your believing Him is evidence
of the fact that this salvation is yours and that you have this
eternal life. I urge you then, I urge you who
hear my voice, sinners in need of mercy, sinners in need of
God's salvation, come to Christ. He has never rejected any who
come to Him. And He will not reject you if
you come to Him. He won't do it. He won't do it.
Come humble sinner in whose breast a thousand thoughts revolve.
Come with all your guilt and fear oppressed and make this
last resolve. I'll go to Jesus though my sin
hath like a mountain rose. Like mountains round me close,
I know His courts I'll let her in, whatever may oppose. Prostrate
I'll lie before His throne, and there my guilt confess. I'll
tell Him I'm a wretch undone without His sovereign grace.
I'll to the gracious King approach, who set to pardon gives. Perhaps
He may command my touch, and then the sinner lives. Perhaps
He will admit my plea. Perhaps will hear my prayer.
But if I perish, I will pray and perish only there. Oh, sinner,
lay hold on Jesus Christ at the throne of grace and call on Him
for mercy. And if you go to hell, go to
hell, holding to the horns of the altar. I can but perish if
I go. I am resolved to try, for if
I stay away, I know I must forever die. But if I die with mercy
sought, when I the King have tried, this were to die delightful
thought, as sinner never died. I'm here to tell you on authority
of God's Word, believe on the Son of God, and God's salvation
is yours. The God of all grace has saved
to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. Let's look at
our subject. Paul is showing us in this chapter
that God's grace is rich, free, and kind in Christ Jesus for
all who trust Him. I want to show you three things.
First, God's purpose in grace. Second, God's provisions by grace. And then, God's place for grace. First, Paul speaks to us in this
blessed epistle about God's purpose in grace. He spent all of his
efforts in these first two chapters to show us that salvation is
altogether, singularly and alone, the work of God's marvelous free
grace. The work of God's free grace
in Jesus Christ the Lord. He's described for us the rich
blessings of grace, the power of grace, the marvelous condescension
of grace. And he's shown us the marvel
of God's grace in saving us by a spiritual resurrection, by
quickening us together with Christ, raising us up together with Christ,
making us sit together in heavenly places with Christ and in Christ. And the apostle now will show
us why he has spoken so much about God's grace. It is because
God is determined in the ages to come to show the exceeding
riches of His grace toward us. What does that mean? In the ages
to come, in the ages to come, He will show the exceeding riches
of His grace and His kindness toward us. It means for us to
understand that the grace of God, the grace that God has shown
to His people encouragement to sinners. The salvation of these
Ephesians stands as a marvelous encouragement for sinners to
trust the Savior. The Ephesians were a people given
entirely to idolatry. Again, back in the office just
a few minutes ago, you may remember before God saved him, Marcus,
missionary in Africa, and the whole continent given
over to idolatry, given over to idolatry. Idolatry of the
basest kind, but none quite comparable to the idolatry of the Ephesians.
In the temple of the great goddess Diana, fornication, the practice
of fornication, was a part of the common services of the church
in the great temple of the goddess Diana. These were not only idolaters,
these were men and women engaged in every imaginable form of vice. And yet, God found his elect
in Ephesus. He sent his word to Ephesus. He called out his people from
the Ephesians and made of these profligate, vile, idolatrous
men and women saints of God, holy, righteous, and just. The salvation of the earliest
of Christians is a pattern of God's grace, a pattern of God's
grace to encourage sinners in every place call upon God and
worship Him, to trust the Lord Jesus. You read the book of God
and you read about how our Lord saved a cheating publican like
Zacchaeus. There was a woman in John chapter
5 who had five husbands and was living with another man for whom
God had ordained His grace. And he called her at the appointed
time of love. There's a woman in John 8 taken
in the very act of adultery and found in the arms of the Son
of God, embraced by His grace. There was a harlot, Mary Magdalene,
out of whom the Lord cast seven devils. He saved her by His grace. We read in the book of God about
a wild Gadarene. dwelt among the tombs, a wild
man cutting himself and living like a beast in the open field,
to whom the Lord Jesus came, that he might save him by his
grace. We have right before us here this proud, self-righteous
Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, converted by God's grace, made to be a
child of God, and made to be an instrument of grace for God
in writing His Word and proclaiming His Word. God saved sinners even
in Nero's house. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? God saves sinners everywhere.
Surely God will save such as I am. God will save such as you
are on His terms if we would trust Him. Paul speaks of himself
as a pattern, a pattern to show how God saves sinners everywhere. If God saved you, If God saved
me, He did it exactly the same way He saved Saul of Tarsus.
He said, I obtained mercy that in me first, in me preeminently,
Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern
to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting
life. This man guilty of the horrid
crimes of self-righteousness which inspired him to persecute
God's people and yet he obtained mercy. And God saves sinners
everywhere just like he saved Paul. Listen to this you can
find it for yourself in Acts 22 and read it later. He said,
The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know
his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice
of his mouth. That's how God saves sinners
everywhere. If He saves you, He saves you
because He chose you. He saves you because He redeemed
you. He saves you by revealing Christ
in you. Making you to know God's will. That is God's will to save sinners
by His Son. He saves you by the calling of
His Holy Spirit. The grace of God that He has
shown to His people. sets forth His glory in salvation. Turn back to Psalm 106. Psalm
106. This is the primary reason for
all that God does in His gracious dealings with men. That we should
be to the praise of His glory. Three times in the first chapter
He tells us this. Look here in Psalm 106 verse
8. The children of Israel being a pattern of God's grace to us,
exemplifying in type God's grace to His church. Nevertheless,
He saved them. Do you see the reason? For His namesake. Do you remember how Moses pleaded
for the children of Israel in their murmurings and their strivings
and their rebellions? He said, Lord, if they perish
here, What are the nations going to say about you? If these people
you brought out of Egypt perish in this wilderness, what will
the nation say about your name? How will you get glory? Nevertheless,
he saved them for his namesake, that he might make his mighty
power to be known. Brother Rex said to me last Sunday
night going out to the church building, I think you and I have
similar backgrounds, and I suspect we do. And I'm sure he can handle what
I'm about to tell you. When I was a young man, I had
a friend, a bosom buddy. We stayed in trouble all the
time together. Whatever I did, he did. Whatever
he did, I did. We were together all the time,
all the time. Every spare time we had, we weren't
dating somebody, we were together doing something, doing something.
And when I started attending church, because I was wanting
to date a girl attending the church, he went with me just
because I was going. And he heard the same messages
I heard, had the same teaching I had. And as far as I know,
if he's not in hell, he's still on his way to hell. God called
me by His grace that He might make His mighty power to be known. That's why God saves sinners. It's the glory of God to be gracious. The grace of God has been shown
to His people ought to be the singular subject of the pulpit
all the time. We have no other message. We have no other thing of interest. We have nothing else to declare
but the Gospel of God's free grace. But Pastor, doesn't the
Bible talk about the church and talk about prophecy and talk
about how we're to live and talk about our responsibilities and
talk about families and mothers and fathers and husbands and
wives and children? Doesn't the Scripture talk about
civic responsibilities? It talks about all those things.
It talks about all those things. And we deal with all those things.
You bear me witness. You've listened to me preach
for 35 years. I don't hesitate to declare those things exactly
as they're written in the book of God. But that, Lindsay, is
not the message. That's not the message. It is
our business, no matter what subject we're dealing with, as
we deal with it in the context of Holy Scripture, to declare
to men and women the gospel of God's free grace. fully and declare
it constantly. And the grace of God that God
has shown His people will be the theme of His ransomed ones. The theme of His redeemed throughout
the endless ages of eternity. Let's read some Scripture. Turn
to Revelation chapter 1. I've gone through the book of
Revelation again. And it's remarkable. It's remarkable. In each of the visions John gives
us of what transpires in heaven's glory, in each of those visions
he describes what we will be doing in eternity. I don't know
much about that because not much has been revealed, but I know
that there's one thing that's constant, one thing that's never-ending. you find the saints of God spoken
of in heaven, you find them giving praise to God our Savior for
the exceeding riches of His grace. Look at Revelation 1 verse 5,
And from Jesus, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten
of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and
hath made us kings and priests unto God and his father to him
be glory and dominion forever and ever so the book begins with
telling us the theme of the book its redemption by Christ Jesus
chapter 5 verse 9 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 upon the earth. Turn over page to chapter 7,
verse 9. After this I beheld, and lo,
a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in
their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our
God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Now get over
close to the end, chapter 19. Chapter 19, verse 1. After these things I heard a
great voice, much people in heaven. I heard the choirs of God singing,
saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power
unto the Lord our God. Grace tis a charming sound, harmonious
to the ear, heaven with the echo shall resound and all the earth
shall hear. All right, back in our text.
That's God's purpose for grace. The Apostle also speaks here
of the exceeding riches of God's grace because he's been describing
for us God's provision of grace. Now here when Paul speaks of
the exceeding riches of his grace, our English language is very
poor compared to the Greek text. But if you could read the text
in the original language, You would walk away with this sense. Paul is stretching his imagination. He's searching for words with
which to describe the grace of God. The exceeding, superabounding,
incomprehensible riches of His grace. The excessive, overflowing
riches of His grace. We could heap on adjective after
adjective and still not come close to showing how absolutely,
absolutely exceeding the riches of God's grace are in Christ
Jesus. God's grace bestowed upon us
is a rich treasure of grace. A cruise of oil that can never
be emptied. A barrel of meal that can never
be diminished. God's grace is that grace by
which God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. His grace. His electing grace. His grace is seen in giving His
Son to die for us. His grace. is seen in tracing
out His prevenient grace, preserving us unto the day of our calling
by Jesus Christ. His grace is seen in His marvelous
work of regeneration. How can I tell you what God's
done for us since we came to Christ? He received us as His
sons. He speaks pardon and peace to
our hearts. He instructs us in His Word.
He guides us in our ways. He orders our steps day by day. He upholds us. And when we fall,
He restores us. And even the fall is used by
Him to do us good. And all through it all, He preserves
us. Somebody says, well, what has
God done for us? We might better ask, what has
He not done for us? Oh, what a theme. with which
to conclude this year. God's exceeding riches of grace
in his kindness toward us by Christ Jesus. The grace of God
that we've received at his hand had been rich indeed. It is without
measure and without limit. God's grace is rich above all
observation. We've not yet begun to come close
to get started. and understanding God's works
of grace. It has been my delight, my privilege,
my high honor to spend my life, since I was 17 years old, studying
God's grace. And I see more today than I've
ever seen. And I understand that I see so
very little. I haven't yet begun to commence
this thing. understanding the riches of His
grace. God's grace is rich beyond understanding
and far greater than we can imagine. His grace is greater than all
our sins. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Like mountains high, our sins
rose before us. and grace by the blood and righteousness
and gift and mercy of God has swept them away in their entirety
God's grace is greater even than his promises for his promises
are found in his grace God's grace I repeat is rich above
measure higher than our sins for it brings us up to the very
throne of God deeper than our sins, for it reaches the depths
of human depravity and finds jewels for heaven wider than
our sins, for it's removed them from us as far as the east is
from the west. And the length of God's grace
is from everlasting to everlasting. There's no beginning to God's
grace. There's a beginning to our sin,
but no beginning to God's grace, no beginning to His pardoning
love. Before ever there was a sinner, Christ was the Savior. Before
ever a crime was committed, Christ was a Redeemer. Before ever there
was a transgression, there was mercy. Before ever justice was
offended, God was a satisfied justifier by the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Soon, bless God, our sins will
come to an end. But God's grace is everlasting. I've heard men say that we will
Need no more grace in eternity. There will be no more need of
grace, but there will be the everlasting full possession of
grace. Is there a sinner here in need
of mercy? Do you need God's grace? Do you
need God's grace? Come to Christ. Come to Christ
without delay. Right now, right where you are,
come ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore.
Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, joined with power. God's exceeding riches of grace
have been fully manifested to us. His grace is particular,
and He shows it to each of His own particularly. When we resisted
His grace, He resolved to overcome our folly. How I thank God. Oh, how I thank
God. He would not take no for an answer
from this sinner. His grace will never be overcome
by our rebellion. His grace will never be conquered
by our stubborn will. His grace will never bow to the
sinner's will. but rather His grace overcomes
and conquers the sinner's will and He graciously, effectually
forces His own into the arms of their Savior. You mean, Brother
Don, God forces people to be saved against their will? Yeah,
that's how He saves sinners. He forces them against their
will by changing their will, giving them a new will, revealing
Christ in them, the exceeding riches of His grace. are seen
in this fact as well. Grace... I'm not looking for a word. I've
got it. I want you to get it. Grace is unconditional. Unconditional. You do nothing
to get it. You do nothing to obtain it.
You do nothing to win it. and you can do nothing to destroy
it, nothing to overcome it, nothing to remove it. God's grace is
free and unconditional. Grace bestowed on sinners in
Christ before the world was. God never takes from His Son
and never takes from the sinner in Christ Jesus. Grace bestowed
on sinners in time, in the powerful operations of God's salvation
in us, is given to us freely. And nothing done by the sinner,
save by God's grace, will cause God to remove his grace. Oh,
preacher, you can't tell men and women that. That'd make folks
run wild in ungodliness and lasciviousness. I'll tell you who thinks like
that. I'll tell you things like that. Folks who've never known
God's grace. Sinners saved by the grace of
God. Sents themselves head over heels
in debt to God. We owe Him everything. Everything. And our hearts long
to render to Him the debt we owe Him. And all we can render
to Him is the calves of our lips, the praise of His name in faith,
in worship, in adoration, in giving ourselves to Him. Christ
comes to sinners just as you are, in your alienation and in
your enmity, and brings everything you need in His hands. The more
we learn of how His grace works, the richer His grace appears.
He loved us freely. chose us unconditionally, removed
our sins by His blood, sent His Word to heal our souls, gave
us His Spirit, and subdued our hearts by His power. Ever since
our conversion, the Lord God has held on to us by His grace. He loves us perfectly, and He
will never divorce the spouse of His choice. preachers talk a lot about men
persevering. And God's people are folks who
persevere in the faith. You've heard of the patience
of Job, the endurance of Job. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. But let me tell you why you're
sitting here worshiping God. Let me tell you why after many
years in the kingdom of God and in the grace of God, you still
seek to worship Him and still seek His grace. I'll tell you
why. Because God won't let you go. God won't let you go. If He would, David, we would
have let Him a long time ago. We persevere in faith because
God perseveres in grace. We hold Him because He holds
us. Now, the third thing is God's
place for grace. God's place for grace is Jesus
Christ His Son. Oh, what rich grace! The exceeding
riches of His grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. We see in our Savior's precious
blood every blessing of grace he's bestowed upon us. There's
ne'er a gift his hand bestows but calls his heart agrove. His kindness. He's demonstrated
all that He has done for us. Last night I went to bed late,
wired, preparing my messages for today, and I couldn't sleep.
And I told Merle this morning after service, I laid in bed
all night long, just hundreds of things running through my
mind concerning this one thing. Christ, God the Son, became a
man for us. Imagine that. Imagine that. God
became a man for us for this specific purpose that he might
die in our stead bearing our sin in his own body on the tree
enduring all the fury of God's holy wrath against sin as our
substitute that we might never die, but rather that we might
forever live before God and with God in Him. He became all that
we are. Oh, what condescension! He became all that we are. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ? How that though He was rich,
yet for your sakes He became poor? He did it that you, through
His poverty, might be made rich, that we might become all that
He is. Oh, what a wonder of grace. Has He not dealt with us in kindness? He received this sinner in kindness. With all my guilt oppressing
me, with all my sin, pushing down upon me with all my sin
crushing me down to hell. I came to Him, I came to Him
believing Him and He's never spoken a word about my sin, except pardoned, forgiven, taken
away. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. He deals with us, even now, His
sinning people, in kindness. Oh yes, He chastens and corrects
us because He won't let us go. When we would abandon Him, He
sees to it that we can't. And He graciously holds us and
upholds us by His grace. Oh, with what kindness He intercedes
for us and provides for us. With what kindness the Son of
God awaits us in Heaven. And in the ages to come, in Heaven's
eternal endless glory, the triune God will show to wandering worlds
the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. all the riches of covenant grace
and redeeming grace and electing grace and preserving grace, all
the riches of his providential grace, sanctifying grace, even
the riches of that grace with which he presents us faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. What an anticipation. What a
hope. Imagine that. Imagine that. God will take such things as
you and I are and stand us before angels and devils and all the
host of the damned and say, look here, look here, what my grace
has done. We are his workmanship. masterpieces because of the exceeding
riches of his grace. Oh may God give you grace now
to trust his son. Come to Christ and go home living
upon and possessing all the exceeding overflowing, superabounding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Amen.