Ephesians, the third chapter,
the portion of word which Brother Cecil Roach read for us, is my
text tonight in speaking on the subject, The Unsearchable Riches
of Christ. The Unsearchable Riches of Christ. Now the true minister of Christ learns two things. How long it
takes him to learn these two things, I do not know, but he
will learn them. If he doesn't learn them, it
is clearly evident that he's not a true minister of Christ.
But he will learn these two things. First, he'll learn the Gospel.
The Apostle Paul said, God didn't send me to baptize. He didn't
send me to officiate, moderate church meetings. He didn't send
me as a town visitor. Well, what did he send me to
do? Say something. Preach the gospel. That's the
first thing the true minister of Christ will learn. If he doesn't
learn that, it's evident he's not a minister of Christ. Not
to please men, but to please God. Paul said, I'm determined,
I am determined, and evidently there were temptations to do
otherwise, or he wouldn't need to be determined, to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's a tendency
to kind of let our intellect hang out, and there's a tendency
to impress people with our accomplishments, with our abilities. But he said,
I'm determined to know nothing among you, even the Corinthians,
even the men of Athens, whose pastime was to match wits with
one another. But I'm determined, even in this
atmosphere and this environment, I'm determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Every time I read
about the President of the United States going to hear some preacher,
and I read the preacher's text in the paper, he's always telling
the President how to run the country. You ever notice that?
Every time I read about a minister speaking before one of the civic
clubs in the city. I read where they're telling
folks how to run the city, how to teach school, or how to do
this, that, and the other. The preacher doesn't know but
one thing, who's called of God, and that's how God saves sinners.
And he learns that, or he reveals he's not a preacher of the gospel.
He learns the gospel. And then secondly, he'll learn
this, or he reveals that God's not in his efforts, he learned
his own inability and his total dependence on the grace of God.
I want you to see two verses of scripture in the book of 2
Corinthians. It will only take you a minute
to turn there, but it will be worth turning to see it for yourself. The Apostle Paul talking about
this awesome, awesome responsibility of preaching the gospel, of handling
divine things. spiritual truth, and he talks
about we have something for everybody. The true minister of the gospel,
I'm not talking about every religious quack, but the true minister
of the gospel has a message for everybody. That message is either
a saver of life unto life or death unto death. It's a message
of salvation or condemnation. Men who hear it will hear it
for their eternal good, or they'll hear it for their eternal misery.
And he says in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 16, to the one with
the savor, the smell, the fragrance of death unto death, and to the
other the savor of life unto life, who's sufficient for these
things? If you knew that tonight someone...
One of these days I'll preach the gospel for the last time.
One of these days you'll hear it for the last time. And if
you knew tonight that you were standing here preaching and somebody
out there was going to hear the message, the message of God's
grace in Christ and God's mercy, and it was going to add to their
condemnation and add to their misery and further harden their
hearts against God and against the gospel, it was going to be
used to harden their hearts and seal them in their false profession
and self-righteousness, wouldn't you tremble? And yet that's exactly
what happens when the truth is preached. God said, my word will
not return unto me void. It's like the rain from heaven.
It brings forth corn, but it brings forth briars too. It brings
forth wheat, but it makes that old grass grow too. And I don't
want to be the tares. I don't want to be the grass.
I want to be the wheat. But if you knew that, if you
knew tonight that your responsibility was to deliver the gospel of
God's grace to someone who was going to meet God. Wouldn't you
cry with Paul, who is sufficient for these things? And then down
in chapter 3, the same page, 2 Corinthians 3, he says in verse
5, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything
as of ourselves, but, oh, we have a sufficiency. If God calls
us, God will meet our need. Our sufficiency is of God. If
God sends us, He'll give us a message. If God Almighty is pleased to
use us, He'll give us something to say. So those are the two
things that every true minister of God learns. Like I say, sometimes
it takes some of us a little longer to learn them, but we'll
finally learn them or it'll be evident that we're not ministers
of Christ. It doesn't matter about our accomplishments
or degrees. It doesn't matter about our successes
or failures, we learn these two things. We learn the gospel,
the gospel, not a gospel, the gospel. The gospel of God, the
gospel of His glory, the gospel of His mercy, the gospel concerning
His Son, the gospel of the divine atonement of substitution. We
learn the gospel. And we learn that we have no
sufficiency, no ability, our total complete dependence. Absolutely,
if God is to use us, will be upon His Spirit. Now in chapter
3 of Ephesians, verse 8, this is the text. I'm going to go
back. This is going to be a different type message. We're going to
study a little more than be inspired. In verse 8, the Apostle Paul
says, Unto me, who am less than the least of all the saints,
is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles, the
heathen, the pagan, The unsearchable riches of Christ. What a remarkable
statement. What a remarkable statement for
anyone to make. Less than the least. I'm less
than the least of all the saints. Grace given to preach the ability,
the strength, the message. The unsearchable riches of Christ.
Unsearchable. Past finding out who hath known
the mind of God. What hast thou known is higher
than heaven and deeper than hell? What a remarkable statement.
These are words that live. These are words that burn. These
are remarkable words. And even more so when we consider
who wrote these words. This was Paul. This was the apostle,
the great apostle. This was the man who was remarkably
converted. This was the man who was the
subject of divine revelation. He said, I didn't learn the gospel
from a man. I learned the gospel from God.
He taught me the gospel. This is the writer of Scripture,
13 books in the New Testament, founder of churches, the first
great missionary, martyr. These words ought to command
our attention. Let's go back to verse 1 and
see about this man who made this statement. First of all, He lets
us in verse 1 look at Paul the prisoner. He says in verse 1
of chapter 3, For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus
Christ. Now he was in jail. This is called
a prison epistle. And he was in jail in Rome. And
he says, I'm the prisoner of Jesus Christ. What does he mean
by that? He was the prisoner of Nero. He was the prisoner
of the Roman government. He was a prisoner of that little
two-by-four jailer that was keeping him locked in that cell. No,
he wasn't either. He was the prisoner of Jesus
Christ. He knew that his Lord was the first cause of all things,
and Nero may put him in prison, and the Roman government may
sentence him, and the jailer may keep him, but he was the
prisoner of Jesus Christ. The only crime of which Paul
was guilty was that of preaching the gospel. He preached that
salvation was not in the ceremonial law. He preached that salvation
was not in Sabbath-keeping. He preached that salvation was
not in hand-washing, that salvation was not in touch-not, taste-not,
handle-not, that salvation was not in religious deeds, but salvation
was in Christ alone. And that's why he was in prison.
This stirred up the religious Jews and led to his imprisonment. He was the prisoner of Jesus
Christ for the sake of you Gentiles. That's why he was there. It wasn't
for crimes against society. It was for preaching the gospel
of God's grace. Paul the prisoner. Look at verse
2. Here you have Paul the steward. Paul the steward. If you have
heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given
to me, given me to you. You see that word dispensation?
That word is stewardship. That's what that word is, stewardship.
The word is administration. If you have heard of the stewardship
given to me, of the responsibility of the administration, now usually
when we encounter this word stewardship, what do you think of? Say you're
driving down the street and you see a sign out in front of a
Baptist church or a Methodist church or a Presbyterian church,
And it says stewardship week. What are they going to do that
week? You know what they're going to do. They're going to talk
about money. That's what they're going to talk about. I promise you, a bit like
Roth used to say, I bet you a dollar and a half and a cow and a calf,
they're going to preach on money that week. Because that's all
anybody thinks of when they think of stewardship. But that's not
what the Bible talks about when it talks about stewardship. And
I can show you that. Let's go to some Scripture. 1
Peter chapter 4. Now you, if you're a believer
here tonight, if you're saved, if you're a child of God, you
are a steward. You have a dispensation. You
have a stewardship. You have a responsibility, big
or small, but God gave it to you if you're His child. You've
been given ten talents or five talents or one talent. But God
gives gifts according as He will. And we are stewards, and we're
not talking about nickels and dimes now, we're talking about
stewards of the grace of God. Now here's the turn to 1 Peter
chapter 4 for the first one, but Paul says, you've heard of
the stewardship of the grace of God given to me, the responsibility,
the administration that's put in my hand. We're talking about
stewardship, now look at 1 Peter 4 verse 10. as every man hath received the
gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards
of nickels and dimes, no sir, of the grace of God. Good stewards
of the grace of God. This word steward comes from
back when men had great farms and great plantations and great
holdings like here. And they traveled, or they had
such responsibility, they made one man a steward over 40 acres,
or over this part, over the oats, or the wheat, or the corn. And
he worked them in. And he sowed it. And he planted
it. He plowed it. He harvested it. He stored it
in the barn. And this steward gave an account
of his responsibility, his dispensation, his administration to his master.
Peter says here that every one of us have received a gift to
administer one to another as good stewards of the grace of
God Let's go to another verse 1st Corinthians 4 1st Corinthians
4 Over here in the 4th chapter of 1st Corinthians verse 1 and
2 we meet with this word again Let a man 1st Corinthians got
it chapter 4 verse 1 let a man so account of us and as of the
ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. And it's required of a steward
that he be found faithful. It's required in stewards that
a man be found faithful. Brethren First Thessalonians,
let's look at this a moment. God has entrusted us with something
as stewards of God. We have been We have had put
in our hands and hearts and in our responsibility a sacred precious
treasure. God has given it to us. Our Lord
Jesus Christ went away and he said, as my father sent me, so
send I you. Greater works than I do shall
you do, because I go to my father. I've left something in your hands.
What is it? First Thessalonians 2 verse 4,
we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel. We were allowed of God to be
put in trust with the gospel. So here in Ephesians chapter
3, Paul the prisoner, writing from his cell, a prisoner of
Jesus Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles, for preaching the
gospel of God's grace, for being a good steward of the grace of
God, he says, you've heard of my stewardship, you've heard
of my responsibility, you've heard of the dispensation or
administration of the grace of God put in my hands. I was thinking tonight while
Mike was singing and Martha was playing the organ, what a beautiful
song, how it blessed me. I could tell by your faces it
was a blessing to you. I was thinking how blessed we
are to have such musicians. I was in another city recently
and in a Baptist church preaching and the music was so pitiful
and it was not conducive to good worship. And I wished I was home. And I sat thinking while Mike
was singing, Martha was playing. And then it came to me this point
in the message. They're stewards of the grace
of God. God has given them a gift. I'm thankful for them. I praise
God for them. But now they have a responsibility.
And every one of us do. It doesn't matter what your stewardship
is. If it has something to do with
Jesus Christ and something to do with His kingdom, It may be
the gift of prayer, it may be the gift of teaching, it may
be the gift of lifting someone's burden, it may be the gift of
example or humility, whatever it is. We have a responsibility. It may be as the father, the
head of a home, the mother in a situation. bringing up another
Spurgeon in your home to preach the gospel. Who knows what your
responsibility, your dispensation, your administration, be faithful
to your responsibility. God may have brought us to this
day for one statement, or one hour, or one moment, or one happening. I don't know, but he prepares
his people, let's be good stewards. stewards of the grace of God.
And if you only use this word steward and stewardship and responsibility
where it comes to people handling gold and silver, then they wouldn't
have been any use to this church because this was a poor church.
They didn't have anything, Charlie, to spend, but they were stewards
of the grace of God. That other stuff will take care
of itself if we have some good stewards of the grace of God.
And then we see Paul, verse 3, the enlightened. He said, how
that by revelation God made known unto me the mystery. The mystery. And then the next few words are
in parenthesis. This is a parenthetical statement
here. You can lift it out as I wrote a four and a few words
whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ. Let's read it leading that out,
verse 3 and 5. How that by revelation God made
known unto me the mystery which in other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men as is now revealed unto the holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit. My friends, contrary to what's
being preached today and what is believed by the average person,
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the covenant mercies of our God,
the incarnation, the union of two natures in Jesus Christ,
perfect God and perfect man. His imputed righteousness, His
atoning sacrifice, His burial and resurrection and His intercession,
and the way that God in His justice and righteousness is pleased
to redeem sinners, that's a mystery. which the natural man does not
and cannot and will not, apart from the Spirit's power, understand.
Now let me show you that. Turn back to Ephesians chapter
1. All the way through this book of Ephesians, we meet with the
word mystery. Mystery. Unknown. Unknown. It's not something the natural
man with his human wisdom, the wisdom of man is foolishness
with God. It's not something the natural
man can understand. The natural man receives it,
not the things of God. They're foolishness to him. And
Ephesians 1, 9, look at it. Having made known unto us the
mystery of His will. Look here at Ephesians 3, what
I just read in chapter 3, verse 3. By revelation He made known
unto me the mystery. Verse 4, the mystery of Christ. And then, if you will, look at
chapter 5 of Ephesians. Chapter 5, verse 32. Listen to
this. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the
wife see that she reverence her husband. Now, look back at verse
32. This is a mystery. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the Church. This relationship
of Christ with the Church, compared to a man and wife in marriage,
is a mystery. You needn't expect folks to understand
it. They're not going to unless the Holy Spirit reveals it. It's
a mystery. Look at chapter 6, verse 19. As for me, that utterance,
pray for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open
my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. The mystery of the gospel. Paul,
the educated, Paul, the moralist, Paul, the religionist, Paul,
the Pharisee, did not understand the mystery of the gospel. But
Paul, the broken, Paul, the convicted, Paul, the smitten one on the
road to Damascus under the impression of the Holy Spirit, had the gospel
revealed to us. It comes by revelation. That's
what He said, God who separated me from my mother's womb was
pleased to reveal His Son in me. It's a revelation. And I
wish to declare loudly and clearly in the hearing of all who will
pay any attention to me that apart from the Holy Spirit, apart
from divine influence, apart from the new birth, apart from
the The power of God, you can read this Bible, if you're the most brilliant
person in the world, the natural man, you can read this Bible
from now until doomsday and you're not going to understand how God
saves sinners unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to you. I know
that's tough to listen to and I know that offends man's wisdom
and offends his dignity and offends his pride. But turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. Let me show you this. 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. It's a mystery. That made Paul
mad too. Saul of Tarsus, when he was Saul
of Tarsus, he was injurious and a persecutor of the church. He
hated Jesus Christ because he didn't understand Jesus Christ.
He despised this way of grace, this way of sovereignty, this
way of the new birth, this way of substitution, this way of
a lamb slain, this way of a man coming to God as a beggar and
receiving divine grace as a guilt. He hated it. The natural man
wants God to reward him according to his works, according to his
deserts. My Lord, we preached in your
name and cast out devils and did many wonderful works. I never
knew you. The way of grace, the natural
flesh, cringes and despises it and rejects it. In 1 Corinthians
2, verse 7, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Here it
is again. Buy your Bible. That's what Barnard
used to say. Oh, buy your Bible. Before you
go to hell, buy your Bible and find out what it says. We speak
the Word of God, the wisdom of God, and the mystery, even the
hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world and to our glory,
which none of the wise men and the princes and the kings and
the leaders of this world knew. Had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man the things God hath prepared for them that love
him. God hath revealed these mysteries unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. What man knoweth the
things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Even
so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. We have received not the spirit
of this world, of worldly intellect and worldly wisdom and natural
wisdom, but the spirit which is of God, that we may know the
things that are freely given to us of God. Who gave them to
us? God did. How did He give them? Freely.
Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. The natural man, the carnal man,
the everyday man, the unregenerate man, the natural man, whether
in religion or the world, the natural man will not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to him, neither
can he know them because they're spiritually understood. But he
that's spiritual, he that's been born again, he that's been awakened
by God's Spirit and brought to faith in Christ, he judgeth all
things, he discerneth all things, he understandeth all things,
yet he himself is not understood. Who hath known the mind of the
Lord, that he may instruct him? Men try to, don't they? But we
have the mind of Christ. Oh, the mystery. Paul the Enlightened. That's what he says in verse
1. He says, I'm a prisoner for you Gentiles because I've preached
the gospel. But I'm not complaining. He said,
I'm content whatsoever state I'm in because I know I'm the
prisoner of Jesus Christ. And he said, Paul, the steward,
I've got a dispensation. I've got a stewardship. But he
says, God's enlightened me. He's revealed a mystery. And
then he says in verse 7, I've been made a minister. I've been
made a minister. Now the true minister is made
a minister by God. By God. The church has suffered. The churches of our day have
suffered and they are suffering under the leadership of self-made
ministers. and church-made ministers, and
mama-made ministers, and man-made ministers who have no message,
who have no authority. The true minister is a God-made
minister. And the only one who can make
a man a minister of the gospel is God Almighty. And the true
minister is not only made a minister, but he's a gifted minister. Look
at the next line. I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given to me. In other words, a man's not only
divinely called, but he's divinely gifted for the ministry. God
won't call you into the ministry and then leave it up to you to
figure out how to carry it out. And a man may use natural talents
and natural capacity and natural education and acquired learning,
but the guilt of interpreting Scripture and the guilt of presenting
the gospel of free grace and the guilt of leading men in the
worship of God and the guilt of taking the oversight of the
Church of Jesus Christ is totally distinct and different from any
natural ability or human training. It's a gift of God. And the only
people that have it are those who are made ministers. Where have I was made a minister? Paul the prisoner, Paul the steward,
Paul the enlightened, Paul the minister. All right, let's see
his estimation now of his ministry. Verse 8. First of all, he talks
about himself, and then he talks about his ministry, and then
he talks about his message. And I'll give you these three
things briefly. First he says, verse 8, unto
me. Boy, Paul had learned those two
things, hadn't he? The gospel and his own inability. He said,
unto me who am less than the least of all the saints. Now
the language of our text here doesn't stand alone. You know,
you would think if you read all of this man's writings or heard
him preach, and he made this statement one time, I'm less
than the least of all the saints, you might think it an emotional
evaluation. Maybe he got carried away. Paul
really didn't think he was less than the least of all the saints.
Maybe Paul got carried away here. Maybe Paul just, you know, wanted
to encourage some good brother. No, let's go through the Bible
a minute. Let's go to Philippians. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians
the second chapter. Third chapter. Philippians the
third chapter. This is not an emotional outburst
or evaluation. Paul exceeds this statement in
other places. I am less than the least of all
the saints. Look at Philippians 3 verse 12. Let's look back at
verse 8. The last line in verse 8, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him. Verse 10, that I may
know Him. Verse 11, if by any means that
I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. Here was a man that
sums it up in verse 12, I have not already attained, I am not
already perfect. Verse 13, I count not myself
to have apprehended. I haven't arrived. He keeps protesting. I want to win Christ. I want
to know Christ. I'm on good ground here sometimes
when I say, brethren, when I preach to you, I preach to myself because
I don't want to miss Christ. Along with you, I'm studying
the Word. Along with you, I'm seeking the
Lord. Along with you, I want to win Christ and be found in
Him. And I'm in good company because that's the very language
of the Apostle Paul. Well, you see, I can't place
my spiritual future in the hands of a man who has any doubts or
fears about himself. Then you wouldn't want to read
Paul's writings. Because he said, I haven't already attained. I'm
not already perfect. I have not apprehended. I follow
after Christ. My eyes are upon Him. Look at
1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. You see, God delivers His people. He gives them assurance. He gives
them confidence in Christ. But He delivers them from any
assurance or confidence in the flesh. Yes, He does. He delivers them from any place
of presumption. The child of God, He may tremble
for lack of assurance, but He won't be puffed up from presumption,
I'll tell you that. No, He won't. No, he want the
more real grace a man has in his heart. Listen to me, the
more real grace that a man has in his heart, the deeper his
personal sense of sin. And when tomorrow, when the realization
of your sins and the realization of your depravity and the realization
of your corruption overflows your soul and floods your mind,
thank God, you must be growing in grace. That's right. Thank
God. Now if you get to feeling pretty
religious tomorrow and pretty pious and feel like that you've
maybe exceeded your neighbor in spirituality and maybe you're
holier than he is, seek the Lord. That's right, I'm telling the
truth. The more we see of God's holiness, the less we see of
our own. The more light the Holy Spirit
gives, the more we see our darkness and our defilement and our depravity
and our infirmities. Spiritual men know their sins,
superficial professors talk of their perfection. Listen to Paul
in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 9. I'm the least of the apostles.
I'm not meet or fit to be called an apostle. I persecuted the
church. Look at 1 Timothy 1. You'll like
this one. He just seems to, as he gets
older and as he knows more of the gospel, he just seems to
to grow in grace and humility and to grow in knowledge and
his own insufficiency. He said in 1 Timothy 1.15, I
think this is one of the last books he wrote, verse 15, 1 Timothy
1, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I'm
the chief. I'm not just one of the Indians,
I'm the chief. The chief of sinners. How about
Romans 7, I don't need to turn to that, you know it. He says,
O wretched man that I am. Romans 7, 24. O wretched man! And then I do want you to turn
to this one, 2 Corinthians 12, verse 11. This is over in 2 Corinthians
12, 11. 2 Corinthians 12, 11. Paul had
to rebuke some of the folks with big heads, you know, He said,
if any man thinks he's half way out to glory, I'm over it. He
said that in one of the other books. But here he says, in verse
11 of 2 Corinthians 12, I've become a fool in glorying, but
you compel me to. You compel me to. I ought to
have been commended of you, but you're criticizing me and running
me down and finding fault. For in nothing am I behind the
very cheapest of apostles, though I be nothing. I'm not one whit behind the chief
apostle, but he's nothing and I'm nothing. I am nothing. I am nothing. Oh, if we could learn that. I
am nothing. Thank God the Lord saves nothings. Thank God the Lord forgives sin. Though your sin be as scarlet,
I'll make them as white as snow, though they be red like crimson.
They shall be as woe. If we confess, watch this verse,
if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just, faithful and
just, to forgive us of all our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. He's what? Faithful and just. In other words, He's faithful
to His Word and His promise to forgive, and He forgives in a
just manner, having met our sin debt and paid it. Faithful and
just to forgive. The first steps toward a right
relationship with God is a right sense of sin. And he who desires
to be saved, let him draw near to God. As the publican in the
temple who cried, O God, be reconciled unto me, the sinner. Be merciful. That's the way. Secondly, quickly,
Ephesians 3. Paul gives the estimation of
himself, I'm less than the least of all the saints. Pride goeth
before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. I'll tell
you one thing I'm sure about the man who's lifted up, I'm
sure of one thing, Charlie, he's coming down. I don't care what
it is in the spiritual realm, there's just one thing I'm certain
of, the man that's lifted up in his own estimation or pride,
He's coming down. If He wanted God, God'll cut
the ropes one of these days. He'll come down. And it'd be
good if we'd just come on down as it is and be honest. All right? Our estimation of
our office, our ministry, unto me who am less than the least
of all the saints, is this grace given that I should preach? Grace
is given to me to preach. No man is naturally equipped
to preach. neither knowledge or ability or spirit. There are
three words here that are key words. First, grace. It was the grace of God that
gave birth to the gospel. It was the grace of God that
sent Christ to the earth to live among men and to become our good
news and our representative. It was the grace of God that
enabled us to hear the gospel. It was the grace of God that
gave our hearts a love for the gospel It is the grace of God
that holds back eternal wrath and judgment against us while
we hear the gospel. It's the grace of God that keeps
us in the gospel. It's the grace of God that will
finally, as Aaron read tonight in the study, give us that complete
satisfaction of being like Christ. It's all grace from beginning
to end. That's what Paul is saying. Unto
me, who am less than the least of all the saints, is this grace,
this grace, amazing grace, it was God's amazing grace that's
given unto me. How do you think about that?
Unto me. Oh, God doesn't use angels to
preach, He uses sinful men. I'll tell you, I want to hear
somebody preach who knows what he's preaching about. I want
to hear somebody preach who's experienced what he's preaching
about. I want to hear somebody preach
with whom I can identify. And that's what Paul is saying
here, unto me is this grace given, that I should preach. The word
preach. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Now last of all, the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Let me just touch on this. I
should preach among the heathen, the Gentiles, the pagans, the
unsearchable riches of Christ. The unsearchable. I looked at
that word, unsearchable. I know it fits in with mystery.
It has to be revealed. But even after it's revealed,
it's still the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, the unsearchable
riches of that covenant. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called.
Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
Though if God be for us, in covenant mercies, who can be against us? But oh, the unsearchable riches
of that covenant, the unsearchable riches. They tell me Howard Hughes
didn't even know how much he was worth. You don't know how
much you're worth either. You don't know. The unsearchable
riches. Even considering that covenant.
The unsearchable riches. Can you count the stars? Neither
can you count the blessings of being in Christ. Can you stand
by the seashore? I looked last week at that Atlantic
Ocean and the seashore and the miles of beach and sand. Can you count the grains of sand?
Neither can you count the mercies of God in that covenant. the
unsearchable riches of the covenant. Think about this, the unsearchable
riches of His person. I spoke this morning on who is
Jesus Christ. I felt so humbled because I wanted
to talk about who He is and I didn't have the words. I take some of you fellows here,
Lloyd, Bill here, Jack, to describe you as my friends, men of character
honesty and reputation and affection and love, and even then you can't
describe a person. A friend, like I had in the bulletin
here, a friend is that person with whom you can feel safe having
neither to weigh your words, measure your words nor your thoughts.
You don't have the words to describe your love for your wife or your
children. How do you expect me to describe the riches of Christ?
the glory of his person, the riches of his person, the perfect
one, the immaculate one, the immutable one, the omniscient
one, the almighty one, the one who fills all things and all
things are in him, and they live and move and have their being.
No. No, no, no, no. The unsearchable
riches of Christ, are they more unsearchable to a man who's come
to know some of them than a man who knows none of them. They're
more unsearchable. The unsearchable riches of His
righteousness. You know how holy I am in God's
sight? I have that in the bulletin.
By one offering, He perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Do you realize what we have in the righteousness of Christ?
We who are so, our thoughts are so sinful, our deeds, our words,
our imaginations, all things. And yet when God looks at us
in Christ, We are perfect. Did you know that? Absolutely,
immutably, unchangeably, immaculately, even God in heaven with His sovereign
eye that is able to catch a glimpse, an atom of offense can find no
fault. We're holy, unblameable in God's
sight. And you think about now the riches
of His righteousness. Oh, when I hear preachers talk
about Now do this, and God will reward you. And you kind of do
the best you can. Oh, a wonderful Christian mother,
and a wonderful Christian daddy, and a wonderful Christian preacher,
and all that Tommy Rot. And I can see the shame in them. I can see the fault in them.
I can see the shadiness and the taint in them. I can see the
flesh in them. Think what God can see. You pick
out the best person on this earth and bring him in my presence
for just a few minutes and I'll see some fault in him. I'll see
the hypocrisy. Think what God sees with his
sovereign eye. Oh, I don't want any of that
righteousness. You take it. You take it. It's phony, it's
feigned, it's foolish. I want the righteousness of Christ.
I don't want to seek to establish my own righteousness but to rest
in His, because in His righteousness even God can find no fault with
me. You see what I'm saying? Oh,
the unsearchable riches of His righteousness, and then the unsearchable
riches of His atonement. Christ, Christ! Think about it. Christ died for my sins. God emptied heaven of its past
possession and sent him down here on a mission to save me
from my sin. He died for my sin. I'm somebody
in God's sight. He gave his son, and like Brother
Barnard said, Richard, he said, a man that can't love somebody
who died for him, a man that can't appreciate and love and
be devoted to somebody who died for him, He got to be pretty
ornery, hadn't he? He got to be pretty wicked. Christ
died for me. The unsearchable riches of that
atonement that cleanses and blots out and purifies and makes atonement
and erases all defilement. There's a fountain, Lord, let
us in singing, filled with blood drawn from Immanuel, God with
us veins. sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty state. The searchable riches of his
priesthood, right now, right now he intercedes for me and
you. Right now he's praying for me and you. Right now. Right
now, He's making what attempts that we make at worship, He's
making them acceptable. These people's attempts at praying,
He's making them effectual. He's bringing me to the Father
in Himself, clothed in His righteousness.