Ephesians chapter 3 verse 8.
Unto me, Paul says, who am less than the least of all saints. That's not hyperbole. That's
what he really believed. He believed himself to be less
than the least of all saints. He would look at you and say,
you're better dying. That's what Paul would say. And to 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. Now the word unsearchable means
impossible to be comprehended. So I know ahead of time that
in many respects, failures end this message. Because what I'm
going to be saying really is impossible to be comprehended. You can believe it, but as far
as comprehending it, I don't think so. Matter of fact, I know
you won't, and I know I won't. When we have plumbed its depths,
we still haven't skimmed the surface. The only other time this word
is used is in Romans 11, 33, when Paul says, oh, the depths
of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways, here's the word, past finding
out. A God that mere you can comprehend
is not worthy of worship. And there's really just not much
to it. It means you can comprehend it. I love this word to describe
his riches, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Now in verse one, Paul said,
for this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, the
Gentiles. Now let's stop there for just
a moment. He was writing from a Roman prison cell. This is
one of the prison epistles, where he was in prison. Philippians,
Galatians, Colossians, and Philemon are all called the prison epistles. And he says, I'm prisoner of
Jesus Christ. Not the prisoner of Rome, but
I'm the prisoner of Jesus Christ. The reason I'm in this jail cell
is because I am the prisoner Now, I was thinking about this
thing about being a prisoner of Christ. If you can escape,
you're no longer a prisoner, are you? You're only a prisoner when you're
in the jail cell of Jesus Christ. Andy read in the back, he led
captivity captive. I know something about captivity.
Paul knew something about captivity when he said, we know that the
law is spiritual, but I'm carnal. He didn't say I was carnal before
God saved me. He's giving his experience of grace. He said,
for we know the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. And by that, he's saying captive
to my nature. captive to a sinful nature. Now,
if God has saved you, you still have an evil nature that's just
as bad and has the same sinful appetites that it ever had. And
you're captive to that. Does that excuse your sin? No.
Does it make you think it's okay? No. But we're talking about your
and my experience of grace, and it's also what the Bible teaches.
Now, not only though, thank God, not only do I still captive to
this sinful nature. And if you're a believer, you
know you've got the same thing. I don't need to convince you
of this. And this is not any kind of excuse for anything.
It's just the facts. But not only am I captive to
my sinful nature, I'm a captive of Jesus Christ. He led captivity
captive. I'm one of them. And this thing
about being in prison with the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to
be there, don't you? I want to be there. I don't want
to escape. I want to stay right there as his captive. None of his prisoners escape.
And none of them want to. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ,
and this is called Invincible and irresistible grace. He's put his fear in your heart
so that you will not depart from him. I'm the prisoner of Jesus
Christ. Don't you want to stay a prisoner?
That's the greatest freedom I can have is to know I'm stuck in
his jail cell and he won't let me out and I don't want out. You know, I've heard people say
this to me. Somebody said this to me once. I don't have to go
to church here. I thought, well, you won't then.
You won't. It's just a matter of time. You
see, if you're his, you can't leave. You won't leave because
you can't leave. And you can't leave because you
won't leave. A prisoner of Jesus Christ. I think about when the Lord said
to the disciples, when he watched all those people leaving, he
said, will you also go away? What was Peter's answer? To whom should we go? It's not
like we even have an option. There's nowhere else to go. Thou
hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. For this cause,
I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles, if
you've heard of the dispensation or the stewardship of the grace
of God, which was given me to you, how that by revelation he
made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in a few words,
whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ. Now, if you've been around churches
or religion and you hear the word stewardship Sunday, What's
it about? It's about you being a good steward
of the money God has given you. And you pledge, I'm going to
give so much a month. I'm going to be a good steward.
Now, that's not what Paul was talking about when he talked
about being a good steward. He's talking about the stewardship
he was given of the grace of God. The steward is one who's
given responsibility over that which belongs to somebody else.
Now, grace is God's grace, it belongs to Him, and He's the
giver of it. Now understand this about God's
grace. God never offers grace. God gives grace. And if you don't have it, He
never gave it. God's grace is never an offer.
God's grace is sovereign. Now what does that mean? Sovereign
means him giving you grace wasn't his response to you accepting
an offer or you saying you take it or it's just not a response
to you. It's a response to himself. It's
saving grace. The only kind of grace there
is is God's saving grace. It's absolutely free. There's nothing you do to earn
it right now. It's absolutely free. Now that
is the grace Paul said that God had made him a steward over.
It didn't come from him, but Paul was used more than any other
man to expound the gospel. He's been called, and he would
have not liked this, Dr. Grace. He's the one who expounded
grace more than Peter, more than John, more than anybody else.
He expounded the grace of God. He said, I've been given this
stewardship, this sacred trust to preach the gospel of God's
grace. If you've heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God, which was given me to you, and look at
verse three, how that by revelation, he made known unto me the mystery. Now remember this about the scriptural
use of the word mystery. When we use the word mystery,
We use it like this. It's a mystery to me. I don't
know. That's what we mean. I don't
know. Who committed this crime? Well, it's a mystery. We need
to find out. We don't know. That's the way
we use the word mystery, but that's not the way the word mystery
is used in the scripture. Mystery is not truth concealed. Mystery is truth revealed. Truth revealed that we would
never have known had not God in His mercy made it known in
His Word. Now this book is filled with
mystery. And you know the gospel is mysterious,
isn't it? It's mysterious. It's not something that we can
comprehend. It's something we can believe. It's something that
we can declare and preach, and it's very simple in a way. For
instance, election. God chose who'd be saved for
a time again. Well, that's mysterious. No, it's not so. It's easy to
understand, but it's impossible to comprehend, isn't it? It's
impossible to grasp that. Christ dying. What's more impossible
to comprehend that the son of God, Jesus Christ, who is life,
died and raised himself back from the dead. We believe this.
Do we understand it? Not very well. Not very well.
Mystery is truth revealed. Would you have ever known that
God is one God in three distinct persons? God, the Father, God,
the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. That goes way beyond anything
we can comprehend. We just believe it because God
has revealed it in his word. Now, notice Paul says in verse
three, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery. Turn back a few pages to Galatians
chapter one. But I certify you, brethren,
I assure you that the gospel which was preached to me was
not after man. It was not derived by any human
source. This is not something that man
had a hand in or was the author of. It was not after man, for
I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it. I wasn't
taught by Peter. I wasn't taught by John. Now,
he first heard the gospel through a man. He heard the gospel through
Ananias. Remember when God sent Ananias
to them on the road to Damascus? He first heard the gospel through
a man. But after that, the Lord directly taught him. He didn't
have Peter teaching him. He didn't have John teaching
him. He didn't have James teaching him. He was taught directly by
the Lord Jesus Christ. For I neither received it in
a man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. That is how I learned the gospel. For you've heard of my conversation
in times past in the Jews' religion, how beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it and profited in the Jews'
religion above many mine equals in my own nation, being more
exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among
the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Now,
when God taught me this, I didn't need to go up to Peter or John
or any other man to see, is this so, what I've been taught? I
knew this is the very truth of God. And I didn't consult with
any man because Christ Himself had taught me. Turn back another
few pages to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 1. It's not expedient for
me, doubtless to glory, I'll come to visions and revelations
of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above
14 years ago. Who's he talking about? Who is
that man? Himself. Himself. But he's speaking with
such humility at this time, and that's the way he speaks of himself.
I knew a man above 14 years ago, whether in the body, I cannot
tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell. God knoweth. Such
a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man,
whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God
knows, how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable
words, which is not lawful for a man to utter. He was taken
up into the very presence of God. Now he says, I don't know
if this was an in the body vision or whether I was actually up
in heaven, I don't know. But God taught him the gospel. Now Peter didn't have this experience.
John didn't have this experience. Paul was the man that God used
more than anyone else to expound the gospel. Look back at our
text in Ephesians chapter three. He says, whereby verse four,
when I wrote a four in a few words, whereby when you read,
you may understand my knowledge and the mystery of Christ. This
is how I know what I know because God revealed all of this to me
supernaturally. And if you read those first two
chapters of Ephesians, how glorious. How sublime, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us. He
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ and all the things he goes on to say in Ephesians
1 and Ephesians chapter 2. He said, now, if you want to
know how I know this, it is because God has revealed it to me to
preach to you. Now, this Is there, for lack
of a better word, a religion of divine revelation? Well, let's go and read verse
five. Which in other ages, he's talking about Old Testament times,
was not made known unto the sons of men, as it's now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. Now, when Abraham
had Sarah say to him, You go into Hagar, and that's how we'll
have a child. And he went into Hagar, and they
had Ishmael. And then 13 years later, Sarah
has a child. And Sarah says, out with Hagar
and out with Ishmael. Cast out the bondwoman and her
son, for the son of the bondwoman will not be heir with the son
of the free woman. Now, I don't have any doubt that
Abraham did not understand at that time that that entire event
was given to illustrate law and grace. He didn't know that. And we wouldn't either unless
Paul had told us that that's what it illustrates. Galatians
chapter four. I would've never suspected it.
I would've just thought this is one of those strange stories
in the Old Testament. But all it is is law and grace. Sarah says we need to do our
part. Abraham says okay. God's promise
won't come to pass for us to have a child unless we do our
part. Abraham does his part. There's Ishmael. And Paul tells
us that represents law. That represents Mount Sinai. If any of your salvation has
something to do with you doing your part, that's works. That's
the covenant of works. And cast out the bum woman and
her son. God's grace will not allow works. Now, did Abraham understand this?
No. He knew who God was, but you
know, we have more light than he did. When Daniel wrote of
his vision in Daniel 10, 11, and 12, he says at the end of
it, in this vision, he spoke of what was going to happen between
his life and the coming of Christ of almost 400 year period when
we don't have any revelation, no word from God. And then he
takes us all the way to the time of Antichrist and the time of
the resurrection. And you know what he says? He
says, I don't understand any of this. That's the way he ends
up. He couldn't see at that time
from where he was writing that part of this was for one time
and part of it was another time. But we have the blessing of being
able to see now. Now, these things that I'm saying
to you, these Old Testament saints didn't really grasp. Now, they
believe the gospel. I wouldn't say that they didn't
believe the gospel. Of course, I wouldn't say that.
I'm saved same way Abel was. How was Abel saved? Through the
blood. Ask Abel if he knew that. He
knew that this sacrifice points to the coming one who's going
to come and put away the sins of his people. He understood
that, but they were looking towards something that was going to happen
in the future. We're looking at what's already been and already
passed. Now, which in other ages, verse
five was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now
revealed. unto his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit, verse six, that the Gentiles, the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise of Christ
by the gospel. Now, before I go on, it's interesting
that this doesn't amaze us that much. It just doesn't amaze us that
much. I'm a Gentile. But you know, before the coming
of Christ, there was no word of God to the Gentiles. And I
don't think it bothered the Jews too much either. They thought
they ought to be sent to hell and us Jews be saved. But they
didn't see this is so glorious. Well, we don't see it as so glorious
is the problem. And yet when Paul talks about
the mystery of godliness, grave is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen
of angels, preached to the Gentiles. He would have been amazed to
see the gospel being preached to Gentile dogs like me and you. I wish the Lord would give us
more of a sense of the wonderment of that. You know, every one
of us ought to be amazed that the gospel is even preached to
us. You know, there's many people who never hear the gospel. Here
we are hearing the gospel of divine revelation. What a blessing
of God's grace. that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs of the same body and partakers of its promise from Christ by
the gospel. I love it in Acts chapter 10 when Peter's sent
to preach to the Gentiles and the Jews were upset about it.
And he said, Who is I that I could do anything about this? God did
this. Who is I to stop it? I mean, it's like, you know,
if it was up to me, it wouldn't happen, but this is the Lord's
will. The gospel to the Gentiles. Now let's go on reading, verse
seven. Whereof, well, that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs and of the same body. No difference
between Jew and Gentiles. partakers of his promise in Christ
by the gospel. What an incredible blessing.
Whereof, I was made a minister. Who made him a minister? God
did. Only the Lord God can make a
true minister. I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given unto me. Now, the only
way I can be made minister is if God makes me one and if it's
a gift of grace. You know, this thing of preaching is a supernatural thing. It's not according to a man's
natural gifts. You know, there are some very
gifted men, but God didn't call them to preach. This is a supernatural
gift of His grace. If I'm preaching the gospel by
the power of the Holy Spirit, that's completely supernatural.
It's the gift of God to His church to hear the gospel preached.
Now, is there anything special about the preacher? We're going
to go on reading where Paul certainly didn't think so. While he was
given this great grace, he called himself in the very next verse,
less than the least of all the saints. Now, whenever a preacher
makes some kind of difference between him and the people, the
kind of clergy lady kind of stuff, that's evil. That's evil. It's
wrong. I can't stand that kind of stuff. It's opposed to the gospel. Paul
didn't, you know, Paul never called himself the Apostle Paul.
He called himself Paul an apostle, but he didn't use that as a title.
This was a grace given. whereof I was made a minister
according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by
the effectual working of his power. Now, here's an explanation
to this. Paul said to the Thessalonians
in 1 Thessalonians 2.13, when you receive the word of God which
you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men. This
is what Paul thinks. This is what the Todd Road Grace
Church thinks. This is what some other church thinks or some other
pastor. No, you didn't receive it as the word of men, but as
it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually, powerfully
worketh in you. Do you believe the gospel? You've
been the recipient of the effectual working of his mighty power. That's why you believe. You have
been the recipient of the actual working of his mighty power. And you know, if you have faith,
you know that. So don't you, you know, it didn't come from
you, your free will or your intellect. It's his work. Now let's go on
reading verse eight. Paul says unto me, who am less than the least of
all saints. Now this came from his heart.
This is what he really believed about himself. Less than the
least of all the saints. Now, if there's a grace that
is appropriate for me and you, it's humility. Now, let me repeat that. If there
is a grace that's appropriate For me and you, it is humility. We have reason to be humble. Let me give you these two reasons.
Let me give you two powerful reasons for me and you to be
humble. Number one, look how bad you still are. Look how sinful you still are. What if the thoughts of your
heart were made manifest to everybody in this room? You'd run out.
You wouldn't want anyone to see. Is there anything to be proud
about when you think you're just as bad as you ever were as far
as your flesh? It's not got better. Somebody says, mine has. No,
it hadn't. You're deceived. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and it never rises above that. And you and I have
every reason to be humble because of how bad our evil nature still
is. Paul said, O wretched man, that
I am. Present tense. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners of whom I am, present tense,
the chief. Here's the second reason. Men,
you have abundant reason to be humble. Who made you to differ
from another? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? If you do differ, if you are
someone who looks to Christ only, someone who actually loves Him
and loves His salvation and loves His people, who made you differ?
Can you give yourself credit for that? What do you have that
you didn't receive? It was given to you freely by
the grace of God. Now, there is no true preaching,
there is no true believing without this, humbling yourself before
God. God resists the proud. And he
gives grace to the humble. Now, in the chronology of Paul's epistles,
there have been debate as to which one came first. It's either
1 Thessalonians or 1 Corinthians. And nobody knows for sure which
the first one that was written. But at any rate, let's say it
was 1 Corinthians. In that epistle, when he was
not a believer that long, he said, I'm the least of the apostles. And I'm not even worthy to be
called a possible because I persecuted the church of God. And then by
the time he reads, writes Ephesians, it's seven or eight years later
when he's writing from a prison, he's no longer the least of the
apostles. Now he's less than the least.
of all the saints. And then as he matures in grace
even more, he's writing to Timothy. And this is not long before his
death. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of
whom I am the chief. I'm the worst man alive. When he wrote his second epistle
to the Corinthians, he said, I ought to be commended by you
because they were always bringing down, trying to criticize him
and so on. He says, I ought to be commended by you because in
nothing am I behind the very chief apostles, though I be nothing. Paul understood that. Though
I be nothing. Now I am sure of this. The more we grow in grace, the
lower opinion we'll have of ourselves. Amen. That's the truth. When Paul spoke of this great
blessing of preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ He said, and
to me who am less than the least of all the saints is this grace
given that I will preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Now let me say this. What was
his job? To preach. To preach. To preach among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's what He was called to
do, that's what every preacher is called to do, to preach. To
preach. This is how God works. Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel. Now does that mean we're indifferent
about baptism? Of course not. We rejoice to
see people baptized. But our purpose in this generation
is to preach the gospel, to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Now, here we have That term,
the unsearchable riches of Christ, the unfathomable riches of Christ,
the incomprehensible riches of Christ. Now, I'm just going to
say five or six things about the unsearchable, unfathomable,
incomprehensible riches of Christ. And the first thing I think of
when I think of salvation is in Christ. Christ. God's elect have always
been in Christ. Now is there anybody that understands
that? How you were in Christ before the creation of the world?
Christ was your surety. He was your Savior. He was your
brother. He was your husband. He was your
all in all just like He is now. He was before time began. Now you want to talk about riches.
That means that God has always seen every believer in Christ. I've always been accepted in
the beloved. He always says before I formed
thee in the belly I knew thee. Now, nothing's mundane. Christ knows you. What riches
is that? Paul said, now that you've known
Christ or rather are known of Christ. I'll turn you again to these
wicked beggarly elements. And David said in 2 Samuel 23
5, although my house be not so with God yet, have he made with
me an everlasting covenant. Now understand he made that covenant
with Christ. All the promises of God in him
are yea and amen. Christ agreed to bear complete
responsibility for my salvation. What riches. What unsearchable
riches, although my house be not so of God, yet have he made
with me an everlasting covenant. That means it never had a beginning.
It never had a starting point. It's always been ordered in all
things and sure. And this is all my salvation.
and all my desire." Think of the scripture in Romans chapter
8, and we know that all things work together for good. To them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
You are called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow. What a thing to be foreknown
of him. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
What riches are there? Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
then He also called to be called by Christ. Whom He called, then
He also justified. What riches to be just before
God, righteous before God, to have no sin, to have nothing
to feel guilty about, to be perfect in God's sight. Moreover, whom
He justified, then He also glorified. How saved are you? Already glorified. Is that riches? The unsearchable. Can you understand him? No. Do
you believe him? Yes. You think of the glory of
his person, to be in him. Just think how glorious this
person is. Colossians 2, 9 says, in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. Now, there was a time when he
didn't have that body. He's the eternal Son of God,
the creator of the universe. But some 2,000 years ago, He
took upon flesh. And all the fullness of the Godhead,
fullness of holiness, of sovereignty, of love, of grace, of immutability,
of independence, whatever attribute God has, it all dwells in the
body of Jesus Christ. and you are complete. Right now, you feel like you
lack much. I understand that, I do too.
But hear the word of scripture, in him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in him. What unsearchable riches is his righteousness. His righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. Now, how rich is that? His righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. I can't tell you the contempt
I have for that thought of believers being judged. You're justified,
but you're going to be judged according to your works on earth
and you're going to receive either a higher reward or a lower reward.
That's so ungodly. That's so contrary to his righteousness. Oh, the glory of having his righteousness
as my personal righteousness before God. That's why David
said, I made mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. His is the only
one. And what confidence it gives me that I actually have his righteousness. It has nothing to do with my
righteousness. Paul put it this way. I owe that
I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness. I don't have anything to do with
that because I know I don't have any. That's why. I know I don't
have any. But the righteousness, which
is of God by faith. What riches there is in his righteousness. What riches are found in his
precious blood, his sin atoning death. Now let me give you one
scripture for this. Who is he that My conscience condemns me. I'm ashamed of my sin. The devil's got plenty of ammunition,
the accuser of the brethren. Yet we have this glorious simple
question, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Oh, the riches of his sin atoning
death. Now, if I died for you, it'd
be a noble gesture on my part, I suppose. But what good would
it do you? None. If you died for me, I appreciate
your thoughtfulness toward me. But what good would it do me? None. But if he died for you,
you must. You are. You can't be anything
but saved and without condemnation before God. What about the unsearchable
riches of having his spirit? Having a new nature. Having a
new heart, being born of God, having the very nature of God
in you, Christ in you, the hope of glory, Christ in you by his
spirit. What riches there is. What about the riches, the unsearchable
riches of his resurrection? Paul said, Oh, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection. Remember when he was raised from
the dead, what does that mean about you? He was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. Think of the riches of having
him as your intercessor. Peter, Satan had desired to have
you that he may sift you as wheat. And indeed he did. He turned
him inside out, upside down, and every which way but loose.
But I have prayed for you. To think of the Son of God praying
for me. mentioning my name before his
father's throne. He's one of mine. I died for
him. These things write I unto you
that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the father. We had that advocate before the
sin. We had that advocate during the
sin. And we have that advocate after
the sin. And remember this about his advocacy.
He's not saying, oh, let him get by again. All he does is
show the father his hands and his feet and nothing else needs
to be said. What riches. The scripture says
the believer is a joint heir with Christ. That means everything
Christ has coming to him. Every believer has come into
being. We're talking about wealthy.
Make Bill Gates look like a pauper and have nothing. Joint heirs
with the Lord Jesus Christ. What unsearchable riches. You know, we know these things
by faith, but one of these days, one of these days, I'm going
to experience these riches. I'm going to be in his very presence
and see him. and see His face and be just
like Him. Now, can I describe those riches? No, I can't. But this is our
privilege in this generation to preach to the Gentiles, to
the heathen, anybody will hear, the unsearchable riches of Jesus
Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we stand amazed in the
presence of thy son. And thank you for the unsearchable
riches of thy salvation that's in him. Lord, give us the grace
to be like little children, believing thy gospel. And accept our thanksgiving
through him. Lord, we confess that it is only
by him Through him, to him, and for him are all these unsearchable
riches that all thy children possess. We know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became
poor. that we, through his poverty,
might be rich, and we give thanks. Lord, as we face this coming
week, we ask that we would be enabled to rest, to walk with
thy son, to glorify and honor him. In his name we pray, amen.