I want to read two verses from
the book of Ephesians chapter 3. Now we make the mistake of reading
too hurriedly over various parts of the scriptures. Most of the
time we're trying to get to a point that we're trying to make and
we just read hurriedly over these well-known passages. I like the
way Milton reads the scripture. I like the way Jack Shanks reads
the scripture. I like the way Tom reads, and
many of you men here read it carefully and prayerfully and
slowly and try to dwell on each word that God has given to us. Take for example this text. I
imagine you've read this many, many times. Many, many times.
In Ephesians 3, verse 7, Paul says, Well, I was made a minister. I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual
working of his power unto me. Now, if you heard, you've read
this so many times, but suppose you heard this tonight for the
very first time. this verse I'm about to read for the first time.
It's so unlike human nature, it's so unlike human thinking,
that you'd be shocked if you heard a man say this for the
first time. Listen to it. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, pick out any of God's people, the least
one of all, And this man is saying that I'm less than that person. I'm less. I'm less than the least
of all the saints. Is this grace given that I should
preach among the pagans, among the heathen, among the Gentiles,
the unsearchable riches of Christ? Here's a man who says God's put
me in the ministry according to the effectual mighty working
of his power. And he's given me the message
to preach to pagans, heathens, Gentiles. And he's given it to
a man who knows that he's less than the least of every believer.
Less than the least. And what makes this statement
so remarkable, so remarkable and so worthy of our notice and
of our imitation, is to consider the man who wrote this. I looked
at it and I thought, this is the man, the great and notable
Saul of Tarsus who met the Lord on the road to Damascus. This
man had a revelation from heaven and a revelation of the Lord
Jesus Christ before his very eyes. Christ appeared and spoke
to him and called his name. This man saw the Lord and received
his gospel. He said, I didn't get my gospel
from the other apostles. He said, I received it directly
from the Lord himself. That's where I got my gospel.
This man was the leader of the men who turned the world upside
down. There were some men who turned the world upside down,
but this man is their leader. This man is the man who wrote
14 books in the New Testament. This man, whether in the body
or out of the body, he said, I don't know, but he said, I
was taken to the third heaven. And I saw things, heard things,
it's not lawful to utter. This is the man who left a deeper
mark on mankind than any man born of woman except his master
Jesus Christ. He left a deeper mark on mankind
than any man born of woman. except the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I say unto you that such a statement coming from such
a man deserves my undivided attention, and notice, and by God's grace,
my imitation. And the words of this text naturally
fall into three parts. You could divide it yourself.
This is the way I would divide it, verse 8. He says, first of
all, about himself. He talks about himself. He says,
I am less, I am, not I was, but right now I am less than the
least of all the saints. That's contrary to the pride
of this day, isn't it? It's contrary to the arrogance
and haughty spirit of religion in this day. I am less, I'm not
the least of the saints, I'm less than the least of all the
saints. And then notice what he says about his ministry, about
his work, about his contribution to the kingdom of God. He said,
is this grace given? God gave me the grace to do what
I'm doing. My gifts are borrowed. What I
know and what I have and what I do is all by the grace of God.
He talks about his ministry and he talks about his work and his
contribution to God's kingdom. And then thirdly, He talks about
his subject. He said, I preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Now let's look at these divisions.
And I'm going to do a little more talking than preaching.
I want to study this for myself and for you too. First of all,
what Paul says about himself. Now this is the man who said,
I'm not one whit behind the chief apostle. When some folks came
to him and said, you're not an apostle. Nobody has to listen
to you. He said, now you wait a minute.
I'm not one whip behind the chief apostle in defense of his ministry. He said, I know God called me,
and I know God sent me, and I know I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ.
And I'm not one whip behind the chief apostle. No reason for
you to listen to anybody else more than you listen to me. God
sent me, that's what he said. That's confidence, not in himself,
in his Lord. This is the same man who said,
for me to live is Christ. For me to live is Christ. For
me to die is gain, but for me to live is Christ. I labor, whether
present or absent, to be accepted of Him. Christ is my chief glory. He said that unashamedly, positively,
without any fear of question. He said also, I labored more
abundantly than you all. I spend and am spent for the
glory of God. I labored more abundantly than
you all. I've given of myself." He talks about how he'd been
shipwrecked, and how he'd been stoned, and how he'd been in
prison, and how he'd been under the care of the churches, and
how he'd been attacked by false brethren, and all these things.
He said, I labored more abundantly than all of you. Not any of you
that's labored harder or longer than I have. And then he said
this. He said, you say you speak in
tongues, I speak in tongues more than all of you. I speak in languages
more than all of you. And he said, Does any man have
wealth or glory? I'm over. I'm over. Now that's the man I'm talking
about. He wasn't a weak sister. He didn't back down against the
charge of any man. I know whom I have believed,
he said. I know whom I have believed. He said, Shall I come to you
in tenderness or wrath? I'll come either way you want
me to come. And yet, he says here, I am less
than the least of all the saints. To the Philippians, he said,
I'm not perfect, I've not arrived, I've not laid hold upon that
for which I've been laid hold of by Jesus Christ. To Timothy,
he wrote, I'm the chief of sinners. This is a faithful saying. Jesus
Christ came into this world to save sinners, and I'm the chief
of them. He cried out when he wrote to
the Romans, O wretched man that I am! When I would do good, evil
is present with me. That which I would do, I do not,
and that which I would not do, I do. I find a war, a law, a
principle, a war within me. I am less than the least of all
the same. Now men who do not know grace
and who do not know Christ have no understanding of this language.
They have no understanding of this boldness and this humility,
do they? They have no understanding of
this confidence in Christ and this total non-confidence in
himself. The words to the average religionist
are foolishness, because the religionists are always extolling
the flesh. They're always talking of the
dignity of man. And here the Apostle Paul says,
I'm less than the least of all the saints. The reason the religionists
do not understand this kind of language is the same reason a
blind man cannot appreciate the colors of the trees in the fall.
They don't see. The reason the religionists do
not enter into this scripture, into this statement, is because
Like the deaf man cannot appreciate the chirping of a bird, he doesn't
hear it. Or the rippling of a mountain stream, he doesn't hear it. And
the unconverted man, whether he's a religionist or whatever
he is, is blind spiritually and deaf spiritually and dead spiritually.
That's the reason he doesn't understand. I don't understand
what you're saying. I don't understand how you can
say, I know God, but I'm the chief of sinners. I know God, and I love God, and
I believe Christ, and I'm a son of God, and I'm made righteous
in His righteousness, O wretched man that I am." I don't understand
that kind of stuff. Of course you don't. But what Paul wrote with his
pen, he felt in his heart. Did you know that? Paul saw in
his heart of hearts more defects and infirmities than he saw in
anyone else's. As the Holy Spirit revealed to
him more and more of the holiness of God, of the righteousness
and glory of God, the more he saw his own sinfulness in imagination,
in thought, in words, in deeds, how far short he came of that
glory of God. The more you see of the glory
of God, the more you see of your own infirmities. And men who
do not see their infirmities have never seen the glory of
God. You can't see your infirmities as you compare yourselves with
one another. When we compare ourselves, the
scripture says, they who compare themselves with themselves are
not wise. But when you compare yourself
with the holiness of God, and the glory of God, and the perfection
of God, the weaker you seem, and the more sinful you appear. And the more you see of his glory
and his holiness and his majesty, the more you see of your own
infirmities and afflictions. That's the reason saints, as
they grow in grace, do not grow in confidence in themselves. That's the reason that people
who mature in faith and grow in grace and grow spiritually,
as the years go by, they're always exclaiming over how sinful they
are. Because they're getting a greater
glimpse of his glory. They're getting more light from
heaven. And the more you light, the more light you shine on this
flesh, the more wretched it appears. That's right. I don't know. You say, well, why would he say
I'm the chief of sinners? Why would he say that I'm less
than the least of all the saints? Because he knew his heart, but
he didn't know anybody else's. That's the reason. I don't know
your heart. I don't know what you're thinking.
You may be thinking pure and lofty and holy thoughts right
now. I don't know. But I know mine. You don't know other people's
thoughts. You know your own. You do not know the imagination
of other people, but you do know yours. I know my heart. And oh, the pride I find there.
I don't see any pride in your heart at all because I can't
see your heart. That's the reason I say I'm the chief of sinners.
That's the reason I say I'm less than the least of all the saints,
because I cannot read your thoughts and your imaginations. I can
read mine. And I have to come to that conclusion
when I find pride in me. Is murder a greater sin
than pride? Is it? Is lying a greater sin
than pride? Is it? If it is, then why did
God say, six things I hate, and the first one he named was pride?
The very first one. Is adultery a greater sin than
thinking those thoughts? If it is, then why did Christ,
when he said, out of the heart proceeds evil things, and the
first thing he said was evil thoughts? The first thing. Out
of the heart proceeds evil thoughts. Oh, the lust, the jealousy, jealousy,
the covetousness. And this morning I read from
the Scripture that covetousness is idolatry. Being unhappy with
where I am, being unhappy with what I have as a child of God,
being unhappy with what my Heavenly Father has given me is covetousness,
and that's idolatry, the Scripture says. And idolatry is worse than
murder. I'd rather stand before God at
the judgment charged with murder than idolatry. Oh, the selfishness. I told you
one time, and you know this is true, if they take a picture
of a group of people, twenty people, thirty people, forty
people, and we're in the group, and they bring the picture to
us, I bet you a dollar to a hole in a donut who you'll look for
first on that picture. That's human nature. We find
ourselves. And whether it's a good picture
or not depends on whether it's a good picture of us. Everybody
in the picture may be smiling, but I got my eyes closed. Wouldn't
happen. That's sin. God help us. And that's sin. That's sin. When we look into our heart right
now. I said this morning, how can a person, how? I see this.
I know everybody here. I've looked into your eyes a
million times. You've looked into mine. I know
what you're thinking half the time. How can a person come to
God's house on God's day and sit amid the singing and rejoicing
and scripture reading and hold ill feelings and it register
in your face? I see it in your face. How can
we do it? It staggers my imagination in
the presence of a holy God and sing songs that are supposed
to glorify his name. and claim an interest in his
blood, and an interest in his grace, and an interest in his
mercy, and yet refuse to show that same forgiving spirit, mercy,
and grace to the person next to you, it staggers my imagination. It just makes my heart feel like
lead. Like a preacher said one time,
you reckon anybody's heard what we've said. Have we heard it? Yeah, I'm less than the least
of them, aren't you? I'm less than the least. I don't
know whether there's a sinner here other than me, but here's
one. I'm less than the least. And I'll tell you this, Milton
just read it. You don't need to turn to it, because you remember
it. He just read it and commented on it. He who desires to be saved,
I don't mean get religion and learn the doctrines of grace.
and running around telling everybody you're a child of God. I'm talking
about he who desires to be an object of God's mercy and desires
to be saved. Let him know this. Let him know
this, or her, either one, that the first steps toward heaven,
the first steps toward heaven are not down here, are not in
there, are not in the library. The first steps toward heaven
are a deep sense of personal sin and guilt and a low estimate
of ourselves. That's the first step. I haven't commenced to begin
to get started to move toward God until I know what I am by
birth, nature, practice, and imagination. Cast away that foolish thought
of any good in ourselves that may recommend us to God. I tell
you, no grace suits the Son of God like humility. What do we have and what are
we that we should be proud, that we should be arrogant? Isaiah
said we're all unclean things. We all do fade as the leaf. Our
righteousness is a filthy rag. Our Lord said we're dust. He
said that man at his best state is vanity. And any sort of pride
in this human heart is nothing in the world but an ignorance
of God's grace. That's exactly what it is. And
I warn myself first, and I warn you secondly. God won't have
it in his kingdom. He won't have it. The pride God
resisted, the pride he resisted, and gives what? Grace to the
humble. That's what this man is talking
about. Over here in that prayer of Hannah, it says, He says he
kills and makes alive. When does he make alive? After
he's killed you. He bringeth up, but he first
bringeth down. He makes rich, but that first
thing he does is make you poor. In my hands no price I bring.
He'll strip you before he'll clothe you. He'll bring you low
before he'll lift you up. If he ever sets you on the throne
with his son, It'll be a beggar sitting there by the grace of
God. That's right, Paul. I'm telling the truth. And this
thing, Paul's opinion of himself, and you read over this so much,
unto me who am less than the least of all the saints. Less
than the least. His opinion of himself is not
a peculiar characteristic of Paul. You say, did anybody else
talk this way? They all did. They all did. Listen to Job. Oh, Lord, I've heard of you by
the hearing of the ear. Now, man, I see it thee I hate
myself. I abhor myself. I repent in sackcloth
and ashes. David. My sins are ever before
me. Isaiah. I'm cut off. Mine eyes
have seen the Lord. I'm cut off. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I dwell on the dunghill with
people of unclean lips. Daniel, when I saw the Lord,
my beauty melted into corruption. Peter, Lord, depart from me.
You got no business being seen with me, for I am a sinful man. And I'll tell you this, the more
real grace that men have in their hearts, the deeper is their sense
of imperfection. The deeper is their sense of
personal guilt. The deeper is their consciousness
of sin, the more grace. You pray for more grace, I'll
tell you the first thing it'll do for you. It'll bring you off
a low. I need more grace so I'll feel
confident. No. No, you won't feel confident. I need more grace so I can get
up there with more boldness. No, it won't give you any more
boldness. It'll make you wonder why you're up there. Why me? The more spiritual light that
the Holy Ghost pours into a man's soul, the more he sees his infirmity,
his darkness, and defilement. Now, superficial religious professors
talk about perfection. They're always popping off about
perfection. But the great saints talk about mercy. That's right. Like the publican in the temple
who smote on his breast and said, God be propitiated to me, the
sinner. Let thy blood be propitiation
for me on the mercy seat, and be merciful unto me." And here
comes along this giant. Here comes along this man God
had touched, remarkably, amazingly touched. Here comes along this
man, the leader of the leaders. Here comes this man whom God
used so mightily in such a short time, and he says, I'm less than
the least of all the saints. I'm not worthy to be an apostle. If we ever honestly, truthfully,
personally felt that and saw it, God might use us. That's
right, He might. Because then, you know who'd
get the glory if anything was done? He would, if we really
believed it. He healed all that needed healing. He healed all that needed healing.
I tell you, that woman with the issue of blood didn't have the
slightest thought of any ability or capacity in herself is all
Christ. That leper who kneeled at his
feet and worshipped him knew that he was a goner if the Lord
didn't bless him. And if we can ever crawl through
the dust of repentance and ever realize personally, individually,
in our heart of hearts, and know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that
in me dwelleth no good thing, just might some good thing happen.
For He does show mercy to sinners. He likes to show mercy, but it's
got to be mercy! Not a reward. Pure, free mercy. Sovereign mercy! Most folks are
not saved because they ain't never been lost. Most people
have never been healed because they've never been sick. I'm
telling the truth. Most people can't preach because
they ain't got nothing to preach. That's so. You can't tell what
you don't know any more than you can come back from where
you haven't been. Let's hear your testimony. I don't have
one. That's just fact. That old blind man had one. I
was blind, and now I see! He had one, and he did it! Old
Lazarus had one. I was dead, but now I live, and
he did it! Dead, dead! Old boys said, graveyard
dead. Stinking. I was a stinker, and
he raised me. And we talk like that, we'll
have something to say. Well, Lazarus, you cooperated, didn't
you? No, I didn't. Well, how'd you come out of that
grave? I didn't. He brought me out. Well, did
you make a decision? No, sir, he made the decision.
Would you call on him? No, he called me. And I heard
him! I was dead as a hammer, but I
heard him. How'd you hear him? I don't know,
but I heard him. And I walked out. Why are you emphasizing that
so strongly, Preacher? Because it's a starting point. I emphasize this because my Lord
emphasized it. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous. I didn't come to call them. I didn't come to
save them. I came to call sinners. The well have no need of the
physician, but they that are sick. Look at that verse 8, unto
me. Me, Paul said, unto me. And I'm
less, I'm less than the least of all the saints. Unto me. Watch what he says about
his ministry then. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given. Now, everybody running
around talking about grace. Everybody says they preach grace.
Just exactly what is grace? I wrote that down, three words,
when I was thinking about this text. What, well, what unto me
is this grace given? He talks about verse 7, this
gift of the grace of God. What is grace? Grace, grace,
grace. We sing amazing grace, and ninety-nine
and forty-four, one hundred percent of the religious people in this
nation don't believe it, let alone understand it. Grace! What
is grace? Grace is totally unmerited, unsought,
unbought, undeserved, unearned, free, mercy. That's what grace
is. That's grace. We know nothing of the meaning
of grace by nature. We're not gracious by nature.
Our Lord said, you give to them from whom you hope to receive
something in return. You know what He said? You love
them that love you. You lend hoping for something
in return. That's not grace. Sinners do
the same. Pagans do the same. Banks do
the same. I say unto you, love them that
hate you. That's grace. And that's what
God did. We don't know anything about
grace by nature, and we know little of grace spiritually.
Little of it. Even less most of the time. I'm
telling the truth. Is that right? Grace! What am
I going to get out of it? That ain't grace. You find a
total... Now watch this. This came to
me right here. You find a total stranger. Total
stranger. And that's what he said. We were
strangers to the covenant. Outsiders. You find a total stranger. A man of another race. He said
we were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel. You know what he said?
Aliens. You find an avowed enemy. A stranger, man of another race,
who is an avowed enemy. For when we were enemies, God
commended His love toward us. A man who is a stranger, an alien
of another race, an avowed enemy, who is the opposite from you
in character. That's what God found. He's light,
I'm darkness. He's truth, I'm a lie. He's life,
I'm death. He's holiness, I'm evil. A man
opposite from you in character, principle, and purpose. And then
you give your only son to die for him, to redeem him, and make
him your friend, and you know something about grace. Is that
right? That's grace. That's grace. I read this story years ago.
I don't know how much truth in it, but I'll pass it along. This couple never had any children. They decided to adopt a child. This was a long time ago, years
ago, before the government intervened and all the different things
you had to do now to get children. But they decided to give a home
to a child. They decided to adopt a child,
so they went down to the orphan's home. They notified the superintendent
that they were coming down to take a child and raise it. They
went down to the orphan's home, and they got out of their buggy
out in front of the orphan's home. There was lots of children
there. Spurgeon used to have an orphanage. He had many, many
children in his orphanage. There were several of them in
different places. A lot of parents died early in those long, long
ago days. They got out of the horse and
buggy, and there's a mean little freckle-faced kid standing out
there in the walk. First thing he did was call them
a name. And then he picked up a rock
and threw it at the man. And he said, son, don't do that.
And then he told the man to shut his mouth. And they started to
walk in the door, and he went on and kicked the fellow in the
shin, you know. Just a little old snotty-nosed, mean little
devil. Well, he really upset them, you
know. I mean, he made their welcome very bad. And they went on into
the orphan's home and went in the superintendent's office.
He's waiting for them, and he had them sit down, and they said,
uh, what's that little boy's name out there? Oh, that's Fred.
Oh, Fred's the terror of the orphanage. Fred keeps us all
upset, torn up. disturbed, nobody can handle
him. Boy, he's a rounder. Yes, sir,
I tell you. Yes, we'll have him the rest
of his life. Now, folks, I've got a child for you. I've got
a child. And he called one of the nurses
or matrons, and here she brought this little doll. This little
blonde-headed girl, you know, and her hair hung in ringlets,
and she had a pretty bow up here. She had on a frilly dress, you
know, and little patent leather shoes. And she had a dog. She came tripping in the office
there. He said, I want you to look at that child. Of course,
the lady and man looked at her, and she just stole their heart.
He said, I think you'd really enjoy that baby. And the man
said, I know we would. But we talked a little bit after
we got in the hall waiting to see you, and we decided we'll
take Fred. The man said, you don't want
bread. Yes, we want bread. Bread will do nothing but break
your heart. That's all right. That's what we want. We want
bread. That's grace. That's grace. And that's what
God did when he adopted me. He got the worst one of all.
That's what Paul said. I'm less than the least of all
the saints. And he came down in. And I kicked him in the shins,
I nailed him to a cross, spit in his face, and he took me home.
And that's what I've done. Grace. Grace beyond my understanding. Grace beyond my comprehension. Grace beyond human judgment. Grace, unmerited grace, chose
me before the world. Grace gave the Lord Jesus to
die for me. Grace suffered my rebellion,
suffered my false religion. I lied on God from the pulpit.
Grace suffered my ignorance when I thought I knew everything.
Grace lifted me out of darkness. Grace gave me repentance and
faith to believe. Grace shed abroad the love of
God in my heart. Grace keeps me and forgives me. Suffers me. Grace put me in the
ministry, Paul said. Grace put the good news on my
heart. Grace enables me to preach it. That's grace. Grace, it's a charming sound.
Harmonious to the ear of the sinner. Heaven with the echo
shall resound, and all the earth shall hear. Somebody's going
to hear. Grace first inscribed my name in God's eternal book.
Grace gave me to the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Grace taught
my soul to pray. And pardoning love to know, it's
grace that kept me to this day. And His grace of never letting
me go. I wouldn't have you, but I know,
but God, He loves sinners. He'll have me. He'll never give
up on me. Do you know that? He'll never
give up on me. Because he doesn't see me in
myself, he sees me in Christ. And he said of his son, I'm well
pleased. And that's great. Oh, I just look at the last statement.
He said, I'm less than the least of all the saints. I know it,
I feel it, I've seen it in my heart. And nothing I do changes
my mind. In fact, the older I get, the
lower I get. And God gave me grace. God gave
me grace. I'm not paying on it either.
He just gave it to me. And all the grace I need, He
gave me. That I should preach among you heathen, and that's
us Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Now, I don't have any struggle
with this. Some people seem to have a problem with it. But the
Apostle Paul declared, we preach Christ. See, God didn't send
me to baptize, though I do, and have, and recommend it. God didn't
send me to straighten out people's problems, though I'd like to
help them with it. God sent me to preach the gospel. We preach
Christ. When He came to the city of Corinth,
He said, I determine to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And I understand that. You know
why? If a man truly born blind was made to see by the hand of
a great physician and he addressed a group of blind men, who would
he talk about? Now, would he talk about the
man who healed him? Sure he would. Would he praise
him and exalt him and recommend that others go to him? Sure he
would. If a leper We don't have lepers
sitting there like they did then, but when the skin's falling off,
where life is just dropping from the fingertips in crusty corruption,
if a leper had been made spotlessly whole and clean like a baby's
skin by a certain man's words, who would he talk about? What
would be his subject if he went to the leper colony to preach?
He'd talk about the man who's eating him. If a man hopelessly in debt,
beyond any comprehension, facing life in prison because he cannot
meet his responsibilities, and a very wealthy, generous, gracious
man came along and paid him out in full and gave him riches indescribable
and untold, if he were going down to the debtor's prison,
who would he talk about? I'll tell you, when I sit down
and listen to a man preach, And he doesn't preach Christ. I've
just come to one conclusion. He hadn't been in the company
of Christ. Because if he ever, ever was, he'd be the theme of
his song. Wouldn't he, John? He'd be the
theme of his song. He couldn't preach without preaching
Christ. He couldn't witness without talking
about Christ. The church wouldn't be his theme.
The Lord of the church would be his theme. That's why Paul
said, I preach Christ, He's my wisdom, sanctification, righteousness,
and redemption. By His stripes I'm healed. Now, I don't expect the natural
man to get into this type of language or talk. Turn to Romans 11, verse 33. But I expect you who know Him
to get into it. It's foolishness to the natural
man. And that's where man comprehendeth not the things of God, they're
foolishness to him, neither can he know them, they're spiritually
understood. And Paul said in Romans 11.33,
O the depth, O the depth, Romans 11.33, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out the other thing be
revealed. You might not search and find,
who by searching can find out God? But God is revealed by Spirit. And Paul says, he's revealed
to me his grace, he's given me his grace, his unsearchable riches,
his unspeakable gift. Now look at this, I preach, so
I preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. The unsearchable riches of Christ.
What's included in the unsearchable riches of Christ? Well, I can't exhaust this subject. Somebody was preaching on the
unsearchable riches of Christ one time, and a fellow came to
him after the service and said, you didn't finish your subject.
He said, you didn't expect me to, did you? But when I think of the unsearchable,
how can you finish something that's unsearchable? But let's
touch the hymn, let's get inside the door. When I think of the
unsearchable riches of Christ, I think of the unsearchable riches
of His person. This is the God-man, who thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
took upon himself the habit or form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of flesh, and became obedient. unto death,
even the death of the cross. This God-man, this wonderful,
counselor, mighty God, the Immanuel God-witness. One time this boat
was out on the sea, being tossed about, and the wind was howling,
and the waves were rolling, and the sky was dark, and the lightning
was flashing, and the disciples were afraid. They were men of
They were mariners, they were seaworthy men, but they were
scared to death, and they went back there and said, Lord, don't
you care if we perish? And he came up and said, Be safe!
And the lightning drew back into the heavens, and the clouds rolled
away, and the moon came out. And the stars twinkled as the
disciples stood there with their mouths open in that old tumultuous
sea. Just calm down as flat as this
floor. One of them said, what kind of man is this that even
the waves obey his voice? That's what I'm talking about,
the riches of his person. I think two of the riches of
his love. I wish I knew something about love. I hear people, I
see love, love, love, love. Everybody talks about love. I
love you. You love me. We love each other. I wish we
did. I wish we could, don't you? Wish we could love like he loves.
That infinite, indescribable, everlasting, unchanging love. No matter what I do, he still
loves me. No matter the bumbling and fumbling of my foolish tongue,
Milton, he still loves me. Here in his love. Not that we
love him, he loved us! It laid down his life. for creatures
like us. A long time ago, Darcy will remember
this story. I haven't told it in many, many
years. I read it somewhere. There was a little girl, about
10 or 11 years old, came home from school one day, and she's
awful quiet. Her mother said, Honey, you hadn't
said anything all afternoon. Oh, she said, She said, What's
bothering you? Nothing. She said, something's
bothering you. Nothing. Now, you sit down and
tell me what's bothering you. Well, they're having a visitation
day at school. All the mothers are supposed
to come. Well, that's all right, honey. I'll come. I'll be glad.
Well, you're not pretty like the other mothers. Mother had
burned scars all over her face, just burned scars. Her hands
had been terribly scarred by burning. You know, pretty like the other
mothers. And the children, when they see you, they tell me my
mother's ugly. I'd rather you wouldn't go. Of course, the mother was shocked,
and tears came to her eyes, but she She sat her little daughter
down and she said, I want to tell you a story. Many, many years ago, when you
were just a little baby, we lived in a farmhouse. We slept upstairs. You had your little room over
there next to your daddy's in my room. And the stove overheated
one night and caught fire. And before we knew it, the whole
house was in flames. and she said I ran into your
room and I grabbed a blanket and I wrapped you up in that
blanket and I covered you with my body and ran down those stairs
and as I ran the flames caught my dress on fire and my hair
caught on fire but the flame never touched you and I'm ugly in order that you
might be pretty Behold my hands and my feet.
I see my Lord hanging on that tree, the ugliest sight that
human eyes ever had to look at. His vision was so marred as no
other man. And He's ugly that I might be
beautiful. He suffered that I might not suffer. He died that I might
live. And me be ashamed of Him. He
can go to my PTA, and I'm going to preach Him in
the blood of His cross. And let these sissified preachers
who've got more concern for their denomination and their own well-being
and own welfare and pocketbook, let them tickle the ears of foolish
men and women. I'm going to tell you about a
crucified Savior who died that you might live. Oh, the unsearchable
riches of His love, of His righteousness, His obedience so perfect that
in that obedience I'm perfected. accepted in the Beloved. Oh,
the unsearchable riches of His death, the unsearchable riches
of His resurrection. The King is dead! All quiet in
Jerusalem. They took His body and wrapped
it in the clothes and the sheets, and anointed it with spices,
and they laid it comfortably in a grave, and they rolled a
stone over the mouth of the grave, and sadly, weeping, they walked
away. The King is dead. We thought
We thought it was he who would restore the glory of David, but
he's dead. Two days later, he walked out
of that tomb. And I'll tell you, my only hope of ever walking
out of that lot reserved for me at Rose Hill is because he
lives and I'm going to live. That's it. I got a lot out there,
my boys out there and my dad and my mother. I got three more. I don't want anybody to sleep
in one of them. It's just me and Doris, you know. But I'm
going in there one of these days. I'm going to have a service here,
and we're going to take a procession right out there. And they'll
say, oh, Henry's dead. Don't you believe it? Don't you believe
it? Paul said, I have a house eternal
in the heavens above, not made with hands. And see, sir, we're
going to walk out. This body, in this flesh, with
these eyes, I'm going to see the Lord. I believe that. That's
the unsearchable riches of His death and resurrection, the unsearchable
riches of His intercession. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. I wish I could talk about that
hour or two. And I tell you this, people talk
about Christ praying for us. He doesn't have to pray for us
now. He just shows His hands. He doesn't have to say a word. Isn't that right, Ronnie? He
doesn't have to say a word. He's there, and I'm there in
Him. He doesn't have to plead anything
else. The right man ceases, and the right pleads. And I'm in
here. And oh, the unsearchable riches
of His heaven. I want to read you that, and
I'll quit. Revelation 21. I'm looking forward to this.
And I'll tell you, there's some folks in this congregation who
are older than I am. I love you. Thank God for your
faithfulness and your dedication and your loyalty to the gospel.
And you hadn't believed in vain, either. God said, He's reserved
an inheritance for you, undefiled it, fade it not away. Undefiled. He said in Revelation 21, 3,
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with me, and He'll dwell with them, and they'll
be His God. And God Himself shall be with them and be their God,
and God shall wipe God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and there'll be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have
passed away. And he that sat on the throne,"
who's that? That's Christ. He said, Behold, I make all things
new! And he said to me, Write it,
write it. These words are true in people.
I believe it. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. Who can their glory tell?