Chapter V: AUTOGRAPH CONCLUSION.--1. The Judaisers' motive (ch. vi. 12, 13) (14)

Ver. 20. +Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly.+--After his prayer proper is ended the full heart of the apostle swells out into a solemn doxology. The frequent and bold compound expressions of St. Paul (_Farrar_ says twenty of the New Testament twenty-eight with ὑπέρ are St. Paul's) spring from the endeavours adequately to express his energetic thought. +According to the pour that worketh in us.+--"The measure of a man" or "of an angel" is insufficient here. Things are not achieved by creaturely mensuration where God works (cf. ch. i. 19-23).

Ver. 21. +To Him be the glory.+--"The honour due to His name." +By Christ Jesus.+--He that "climbeth up some other way" with his offering courts his own destruction. +Throughout all ages, world without end.+--R.V. "Unto all generations, for ever and ever." A good specimen of the "exceeding abundantly above all that we . . . understand" as regarded under the aspect of time. It carries our thoughts along the vista of the future, till time melts into eternity.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-6.

_An Enlarged Gospel_--

+I. Declaring the admission of the Gentiles on the same footing as the Jews to its highest privileges+ (ver. 6).--It came as a surprise to the world of the apostle's day that the Gospel he preached offered its blessings on equal terms to Jew and Gentile. The Jew, accustomed to be the sole repository of Divine revelation, was staggered at the discovery that heaven extended its favours to the outcast, heathenish Gentile; and the Gentile, proudly trusting to his own intellectual activity in the search after truth, greeted with wonder the ampler and loftier revelations of the new evangel. It seemed too good to be true. A new era was dawning, and men were dazzled and bewildered with the splendour of the vision. It is now authoritatively declared that, on the simple conditions of penitence and faith, the Gentile world is incorporated into the body of Christ. So far from being excluded from the Divine favour, the believing Gentiles are reckoned as "fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel"; and the marvel is increased by the discovery that this astounding privilege is no new thought in the Divine mind, but was an essential part of the purpose concerning the race that had been developing in the slow march of the ages. The Hebrew Scriptures with their records of extraordinary theophanies, the saintly characters of Old Testament times, the Messianic revelations and the wealth of spiritual blessing which the isolated Jew had selfishly appropriated to himself, are the heaven-given privileges of universal man.

+II. Was wrapped in mystery for ages.+--"Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men" (ver. 5). The mystery all centres in Christ. The revelation of Messiah as the hope and salvation of the race was dimly and slowly unveiled in progressive stages. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing." Some of His grandest movements are veiled in mystery till the right moment comes, when the obscurity vanishes and the vastness and beauty of the completed work elicit our admiration and praise. We are familiar with this process in the natural world and in the progress of human history. The fruits of the earth do not reach maturity at a bound. Slowly and in secret the bud is rounded, then comes the delicately tinted blossom, and afterwards the tempting, mellow fruit. The same may be said of the growth of human character. It reaches the higher grades of mental and moral excellence by slow and silent stages, and advances in the ratio of the fidelity and energy with which the man carries out the great plan of his life-career. So the revelation of the Gospel mystery has been gradual and progressive. The purpose itself is incapable of progress--it has been fixed from eternity; but it has been made known to the world in portions suited to each succeeding period of its history. The law shadowed forth that purpose with more fulness than any previous dispensation, and the prophets went beyond the law, occupying a middle place between it and the Gospel, while the Gospel in its fuller revelation has gone as far beyond the prophets as they went beyond the law. Thus we see that God "who appears deliberate in all His operations" has unfolded His great purpose to save the race by slow and successive stages. The mystery of yesterday is the sunlit epiphany of to-day.

+III. Was specially revealed by the Spirit.+--"How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery" (ver. 3). "As it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (ver. 5). Notwithstanding the gradual disclosure of the mystery of the Gospel, its full significance could not have been caught without supernatural help. Mere flux of time adds nothing to our knowledge; nor can the most active intelligence decipher the spiritual meaning of truth. The Spirit of God, operating on the alert and awakened mind of the apostle, revealed to him the glory and power of Christ--the hidden mystery of ages--and opened to him the far-reaching provisions of the enlarged Gospel of which Christ is the inexhaustible theme. There is still much mystery in the Gospel that remains to be fathomed--the problem of the atonement, the origin of sin, the future destiny and eternal state of human souls, and the revelation of Christ and His Church to present-day social and economic questions in their bearing on human development and the future prosperity of the kingdom of God on earth. We are in daily need of the light and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

+IV. Was entrusted to man as a stewardship of Divine grace.+--"The dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward" (ver. 2). The mystery of the Gospel was revealed to Paul that he might dispense its benefits to others. Former generations had received light from heaven; but not sufficiently appreciating it, or wishing to keep it within too narrow a sphere, it grew dim and went out. Where it fell on prepared hearts it was used for the illumination and blessing of others. Paul was Divinely prepared for the revelation; he received it in trust for others; he saw the boundless provisions of the Gospel, and became a powerful advocate for its universal claims. Every minister is a steward of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and it is his joy to minister to others whatever of insight into truth and grace of experience the Divine Spirit may entrust to him. The Gospel is an ever-enlarging Gospel to the soul lit up and informed by the revealing Spirit.

+Lessons.+--1. _The Gospel is an advance on all previous revelations._ 2. _It is the grandest revelation of saving truth._ 3. _It can be known and enjoyed only by the Spirit._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Vers. 1-21. _Riches of Christ._--Many make Christianity something local, temporary, and thus degrade it. Christ is inexhaustible for mind and heart; we find all in Him. Let us never make of this rich Christ a poor one. What Christ has instituted must be something transcendent, and not so common that every intellect can discover it.--_Heubner._

Vers. 1-6. _The Calling of the Gentiles._

+I. Paul calls himself a prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles.+--The liberality of his sentiments towards them and the boldness with which he asserted their title to equal privileges with Jews were the principal reasons why the latter persecuted him with such violence, and caused him to be sent a prisoner to Rome. The spring of this bitter enmity in the Jews was their spiritual pride and worldly affection. Liberality of sentiment essentially belongs to true religion. Bigotry, hatred, and envy among Christians debase their character and scandalise their profession. We should entertain exalted thoughts of the Divine Goodness. Such thoughts enlarge the mind and liberalise the feelings.

+II. The Gospel is called a dispensation of the grace of God.+--It is a discovery of that method which the wisdom of God has chosen for dispensing His grace and mercy toward fallen men. It is called the Gospel of God as it originated in His pleasure; and the Gospel of Christ as He is the immediate author of it, and His doctrines and works, His life and death, His resurrection and ascension, and the blessings procured by Him are the subjects on which it principally treats. The grace which the Gospel offers is pardon and glory. Under such a dispensation how inexcusable are the impenitent, and how amazing will be the punishment of those who finally perish in their guilt!

+III. This dispensation was committed to the apostle for the benefit of mankind.+--It was a trust committed to him by the will of God, not a power arrogated by his own presumption. He did not rely on a secret, internal call as what alone would warrant him to commence as a preacher. He carefully conformed to the order which Christ has instituted in His Church. He instructed Timothy and Titus to do likewise. Ministers are not to found their warrant to preach on any immediate revelation. If they should pretend to this, it would be no warrant for them to assume it, unless they can by miracles prove to the world the reality of the pretended revelation.

+IV. The knowledge of the Gospel was communicated to Paul by revelation.+--God did not, at the expense of inspiration, teach the apostles those things which they knew or might know by other means. But where actual knowledge and the means of obtaining it were wanting, there inspiration supplied the defect. It is not necessary for us to know the nature of this inspiration, or the manner in which the apostles were assured of its divinity. If we believe there is an infinite and all-perfect Spirit, who pervades universal nature, we must believe He can reveal His will to men by such an immediate influence as shall carry its own evidence and leave no possible doubt of its reality. If we deny the possibility of a certain inspiration from God, we deny that power to Him which we ourselves possess, for we can speak to men in such a manner that they shall certainly know we speak to them and perfectly understand our meaning.--_Lathrop._

Vers. 4, 6. _The Knowledge of Christ intended for All._--It is significant that the inscription on the cross was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. 1. _Hebrew,_ the language of religion, of the revelation concerning the one true God. 2. _Greek,_ the language of literature, of arts and culture, the best medium in which to transmit the literature of the New Testament, as Hebrew was for that of the Old. It might be designated as the _human_ language. 3. _Latin,_ the language of the conquerors and masters of the world--also of the Roman Empire, as that kingdom of worldly aggrandisement and power, falsehood and wrong, in opposition to the kingdom of God destined to uproot and replace it. The Roman soldiers stationed throughout Europe became useful factors in the spread of the Gospel. Note also the synoptic gospels of 1. _Matthew_--Hebrew in thought and diction, written to convince Jews. 2. _Mark_--Latin in thought, and written for the Roman mind. 3. _Luke_--Greek in thought and style, written for Gentiles.

Vers. 4, 5. _God known in Christ._--After the death of Pascal there was found in the lining of his coat a parchment which he never parted from, in order to keep in his memory a certain epoch in his life. It contained these words: "Certainty--joy--the God of Jesus Christ, not of the philosophers and savants. O that I may never be separated from Him!" The explanation of this is, that on one memorable night, during a holy watching, he had met, not merely the Machinist of the universe, the God who is but the substance or the law of the world, but the God who wills and creates the happiness of His children.

Vers. 5, 6. _The Comprehensiveness of the Gospel._--1. God's purpose to call the Gentiles was not altogether unknown to the ancient Church; but it was not so clearly revealed under the Old Testament as under the New. 2. Though God might easily communicate the knowledge of Himself unto all immediately and without the help of second means, yet He hath chosen so to communicate His mind to some few only who have, at His appointment, set down in sacred writ what they immediately received, by which means the knowledge of God may, in an ordinary way, be conveyed to others. 3. It is a great and glorious privilege to be a part of that mystical body of which Christ is Head, because of the strict union such have with Christ and with all believers in Christ, and because of their interest in all the privileges of that body and in the gifts and graces of every member of it.--_Fergusson._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-9.

_An Exalted Ministerial Commission_--

+I. To distribute the unbounded wealth of the Gospel.+--"Unto me . . . is this grace given, that I should preach the unsearchable riches of Christ" (ver. 8). In calling the Gospel "the unsearchable riches of Christ" the apostle signifies that Christ, the whole truth about Him and centred in Him, is the theme of his preaching, and that in Christ he finds a mine of inexhaustible wealth, a treasure of truth which cannot be told. He speaks as one who has searched--searched so long, so far, as to have produced on his mind the impression of unsearchableness. His whole style of writing in this chapter is that of a man overwhelmed with a sense of the infinite grace of God revealed in Christ. The expression "unsearchable riches," while conveying the impression of infinitude as the words "breadth," "length," "height," "depth," suggests a different idea--that of a mine of precious metal, rather than that of a vast continent of great length and breadth with high mountains and deep valleys spread over its surface. Paul speaks as a man digging in a recently discovered gold-field, who finds particles of the precious metal in such abundance that he cannot refrain from exclaiming ever and anon, "What an inexhaustible supply of gold is here!" He speaks further as one who feels it his special business to let all the world know of this gold-field, and invite all to come and get a share of its wealth (_A. B. Bruce_).

+II. To reveal to men the secret mind of God.+--1. _The Gospel was for long hidden alone in God._ "Which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God" (ver. 9). It was a mystery hid _in_ God, not _from_ God. The idea of the universality of the Gospel, though veiled for ages by the limitations of the Divine dealings with the Jewish people, was never absent from the mind of God. Down through the rolling years one eternal purpose runs, and now and then the most gifted of the Hebrew seers caught a glimpse of its ever-widening range. This great secret of the ages was revealed to Paul in such clearness and fulness that he regarded it as the one purpose of his life--his heaven-sent commission--to make it known to his fellow-men, of whatever nationality.

2. _The purpose of the creation of all things by Christ was also a part of the Divine mystery._--"Who created all things by Jesus Christ" (ver. 9). The statement of this fact--thrown in by way of parenthesis--links the whole created things with the development of the Divine purpose, and asserts the absolute sovereignty of Jesus over all worlds. In some way yet to be more fully explained as the Divine purpose ripens all created beings are to be advantaged by the sublime redemptive work unfolded in the Gospel. "For He hath created all things, and by Him all things consist."

3. _The mystery was revealed to one for the benefit of all._--"And to make all men see what is the fellowship [the stewardship] of the mystery" (ver. 9). It was well for us and the race that the revelation and commission were committed to one who by training and gifts was so well qualified to explain and propagate the grand Divine idea. The barriers of Jewish prejudice in Paul were swept away by the vastness and universality of the message. He saw it included his Hebrew brethren--and to them the Gospel was first preached--but he saw also it included all in its comprehensive sweep. Paul was not alone among the apostles in comprehending the breadth of the Gospel; but he was foremost and most resolute and unbending in battling for the right of the Gentiles to be admitted to all its blessed privileges. He thought out the Gospel for himself, and he became the fearless and astute champion of the sinning race. What is accepted as a commonplace to-day was not won without argument, suffering, and struggle.

+III. Bestowed as an act of Divine grace.+--1. _As an act of Divine grace it was confirmed by the conscious possession of Divine power._ "Given unto me by the effectual working of His power" (ver. 7). Paul himself experienced the transforming power of the Gospel. He was deeply convinced of its truth, he believed and embraced its provisions, he accepted Christ as the living core of the Gospel, and he was thrilled with the Divine power that wrought in him a great moral change. He spoke not only with the force and authority of clearly apprehended truth, but with the unfaltering certitude of personal experience. He was henceforth the willing agent of the Divine power working within him.

2. _As an act of Divine grace his commission overwhelmed him with a sense of personal unworthiness._--"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given" (ver. 8). The immense favour humbles him to the dust. That Saul, the Pharisee and the persecutor, the most unworthy and unlikely of men, should be the chosen vessel to bear Christ's riches to the Gentile world, how shall he sufficiently give thanks for this! how express his wonder at the unfathomable wisdom and goodness that the choice displays in the mind of God! But we can see that this choice was precisely the fittest. A Hebrew of the Hebrews, steeped in Jewish traditions and glorying in his sacred ancestry, none knew better than the apostle Paul how rich were the treasures stored in the house of Abraham that he had to make over to the Gentiles. A true son of that house, he was the fittest to lead in the aliens, to show them its precious things, and make them at home within its walls (_Findlay_).

+Lessons.+--1. _The minster of the Gospel has a solemn responsibility._ 2. _Should be faithful and earnest in his work._ 3. _Should guard against temptations to pride._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Ver. 7. _A God-made Minister._--1. It is not sufficient warrant for any to meddle with the ministerial office that he hath competent gifts, except he have also ministerial power and authority conveyed to him, either immediately by God, as it was in the calling of the apostles, or mediately according to that order which God has established in His Church, as in the calling of ordinary ministers. 2. As it is required to make a man a minister that he be endued with competent abilities and gifts for that employment, so it is no less requisite that God concur with him. God giveth not to all one and the same gift, or in the same measure, but to some a greater, to others a less, as He hath more or less to do with them. 3. So great and many are the difficulties of ministers before they attain to freedom and boldness in exercising their ministerial gift that no less is required than the power of God, working effectually with a kind of pith and energy. A minister will be always ready to acknowledge his gifts as from God and His powerful working in him, and not to his own dignity, diligence, or parts.--_Fergusson._

Vers. 8, 9. _The Apostle's View of his Ministry._

+I. Consider what a humble opinion the apostle had of himself.+--"Who am less than the least of all saints." In his abilities and gifts he was not a whit behind the chiefest apostles, and in sufferings he was more frequent and in labours more abundant than they all. But in respect to worthiness he esteemed them his superiors; for they had not, like him, persecuted the Church, and they were in Christ and became apostles before him. Good Christians in honour prefer one another. True religion will produce self-abasing thoughts. The true convert forgets not his former character. He reflects often on his past guilty life, that he may be more humble in himself, more thankful, more watchful, more diligent.

+II. The apostle expresses his admiring apprehensions of God's grace in calling him to the ministry.+--To the same grace which had called him he ascribes all his furniture for the ministry and all his success. However contemptible some render themselves in the Gospel ministry, the office itself is honourable.

+III. The apostle's elevated sentiments concerning the Gospel.+--He calls it "the unsearchable riches of Christ." The blessings of the Gospel, being purchased by the blood of Christ, are called His riches. They are called riches on account of their excellency, fulness, and variety. They are undiscoverable by human reason, and made known only by revelation. They were but imperfectly made known in the prophetic revelation. They are of inestimable value.

+IV. Consider the grand and enlarged conceptions the apostle entertained of the design and importance of his ministry+ (ver. 9).--It was to open to mankind that mighty scheme which the wisdom of God had formed, and which His goodness had for ages been carrying into execution, for the redemption of our fallen race. His ministry was designed for the benefit, not of men only, but of angels too (ver. 10).--_Lathrop._

Ver. 8. _Christian Humility illustrated in the Character of Paul._

+I. The apostle remembered his past sins.+--Wherever there is a quickened conscience, it will prompt the possessor to think of his past sins, and this even when he has reason to believe that they have been forgiven. The apostle continued to remember the natural and deeply seated pride and self-righteousness which he had so long cherished. Allusion is made in every one of his public apologies and in a number of his epistles to the circumstance of his once having been an enemy of the cross of Christ and a persecutor. It is for the benefit of the believer to remember his past sinfulness. The recollection of his infirmities may enable him to guard against their recurrence. Our sins, even when past and forgiven, are apt to leave a prejudicial influence behind. Our sins are like wounds, which even when cured and closed are apt to leave a scar behind. It is most meet and becoming, and in every respect for his own profit and the advantage of the Church and world, that the sinner, and more particularly the man whose former life has been known, should walk humbly before God and his fellow-men all the days of his life. Nor let it be forgotten that the remembrance of past sin is one of the motives impelling the Christian to be "zealously affected in every good thing." The remembrance of the injury he had done to the Church stimulated him to make greater endeavours to benefit it. The persecution which he had inflicted on others made him more steadfast in bearing the sufferings to which he was now exposed. According to the account handed down from the early Church, the apostle had to suffer a violent death in the reign of Nero, when Christians were covered with pitch and burned as torches, or clothed with the skins of wild beasts and dogs let loose upon them. We can conceive that as he saw the terrible preparations for putting him to death, his memory would go back thirty years, and he would remember how he himself had stood by and consented to the death of the holy martyr Stephen, and he would feel himself thereby the more strengthened to endure what the Lord was now pleased to lay upon him.

+II. The apostle mourned over the sin yet cleaving to him.+--He had not only a recollection of past sin, he had a sense of present sin. This sense of indwelling sin is one of the elements that conduce to the onward progress of the believer. Why is it that so many professing Christians, ay, and too many true Christians, are not advancing in the spiritual life; are the same this week as they were the previous week; the same this year as they were the last year; and to all appearance, and unless God arouse them, will be the same the next week or next year as they are this? It is because they are contented with themselves and with their condition, they have reached a state of self-complacency, they have "settled upon their lees," and they do not wish to be disturbed by so much as an allusion to their sin. Very different was the temper of the apostle. Conscious of the sin that still adhered to him, he longed to have it completely exterminated, and sought the heavenly aid which might enable him to reach that after which he was always striving--"unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."

+III. The apostle acknowledged God to be the Author of all the gifts and graces possessed by him.+--Paul on more than one occasion found it necessary to speak of his gifts. And when he follows this train of reflection, he arrests himself to explain that his faults are his own, and to ascribe the glory of his gifts to God. There may be circumstances requiring us to speak of our attainments in the spiritual life; but there can be no excuse for our thinking of them or alluding to them in a spirit of complacency. Of all pride, spiritual pride is the most hateful, and the most lamentably inconsistent. How often does it happen that, when persons are suddenly elevated to places of honour, they see nothing but their own merits, their own talent, their own skill or good management? Elevation of rank thus leads in too many cases to an increase of pride and vanity. This is painfully illustrated in the history of Saul, the son of Kish. Setting out in search of his father's asses, he received before he returned a kingdom for the discharge of the offices of which he had many qualifications. But his rise seems to have fostered the morbid vanity of his mind; and when this was not fed by constant incense, when the Israelites cried: "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands," it led to envy and revenge, which goaded him on to deeds of utter infatuation. How different with Saul of Tarsus! At every step of his elevation in the Church he saw the finger of God, and was the more impressed with his own unworthiness.

+IV. The apostle took a high standard of excellence: he took as his model the law of God and the character of Jesus.+--All actual excellence, whether earthly or spiritual, has been attained by the mind keeping before it and dwelling upon the ideas of the great, the good, the beautiful, the grand, the perfect. The tradesman and mechanic reach the highest eminence by never allowing themselves to rest till they can produce the most finished specimens of their particular craft. The painter and sculptor travel to distant lands that they may see and as it were fill their eye and mind with the sight of the most beautiful models of their arts. Poets have had their yet undiscovered genius awakened into life as they contemplated some of the grandest of nature's scenes; or as they listened to the strains of other poets the spirit of inspiration has descended upon them, as the spirit of inspiration descended on Elisha while the minstrel played before him. The soldier's spirit has been aroused even more by the stirring sound of the war-trumpet than by the record of the courage and heroism of other warriors. The fervour of one patriot has been created as he listened to the burning words of another patriot; and many a martyr's zeal has been kindled at the funeral pile of other martyrs. In this way fathers have handed down their virtues to their children, and those who could leave their offspring no other have in their example left them the very richest legacy; and the deeds of those who perform great achievements have lived far longer than those who do them, and have gone down from one generation to another. Now the believer has such a model set before him in the character of Jesus, which as it were embodies the law and exhibits in it the most attractive and encouraging light. We may copy others in some things; we should copy Christ in all.--_Dr. J. McCosh._

Ver. 8. _Paul's Humility._

+I. In what it consisted.+--1. In the unreserved submission of his reason to the authority of revelation. He was a great thinker, and he was a great scholar. 2. In the unwavering reliance of his heart on Christ for the salvation of his soul. Self-righteous by constitution and education. 3. In ascribing to God alone the glory of all that he was and of all that he did. He could not but be conscious how far he stood above the ordinary in point of Christian excellence and supernatural gifts and ministerial usefulness. He never took any part of the praise to himself: "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me." 4. In cherishing a sense of his unworthiness and guilt: "Sinners, of whom I am chief." 5. In forming a lowly estimate of his own comparative standing: "Less than the least of all saints."

+II. How it was cultivated.+--1. By frequent meditation on the holiness of God. 2. By looking away from self to Christ. 3. By gratitude to God and to Christ for an interest in the blessings of redemption. 4. By a due appreciation of the importance of humility. It is ornamental, but it is also useful. It lies at the very root of all the graces of the Christian character.--_G. Brooks._

_Humility a Growth._--The progress which St. Paul made in humility has often been given by comparing three expressions in his epistles with the supposed dates when they were written: "Not meet to be called an apostle" (1 Cor. xv. 9: A.D. 59); "Less than the least of all saints" (Eph. iii. 8: A.D. 64); "Sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Tim. i. 15: A.D. 65).

_The Unsearchable Riches of Christ._--The riches of Christ's Divinity are unsearchable, the riches of His condescension are unsearchable, the riches of His tenderness are unsearchable, the riches of His redeeming love are unsearchable, the riches of his intersession are unsearchable, the riches of his faithfulness are unsearchable, and the riches of his supporting grace are unsearchable. These riches will never be expressed, even to all eternity. No! not by the noble army of martyrs, nor the glorious company of the apostles, nor the goodly fellowship of the prophets, nor the general assembly and Church of the first-born, nor the innumerable company of angels, nor the spirits of just men made perfect, nor by all the ransomed throng of heaven. It will form their most ecstatic employment in heaven. Join, all ye happy throng--join, holy Abel and Enoch, upright Job, perfect Noah, souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, grand souls of Moses, Samuel, and Elijah, pardoned David and Manasseh, soul of Isaiah the prophet. Join, all ye whose souls are under the altar cry, "How long, O Lord, wilt Thou not avenge our blood upon the earth?" Join, holy Stephen and Polycarp, holy Latimer, Ridley, Hooper, Rowland Taylor, and Anne Askew. Join, brave Wicklif, gallant Luther, stern John Knox, sweet John Bunyan, and praying George Fox. Join, pious Doddridge and tuneful Watts, noble George Whitefield, holy Fletcher, exhaustless John Wesley, dauntless Rowland Hill, and grand though lowly Robert Hall. Ye sweetest trebles of the eternal choir, ye million million babes who died without actual sin, join all your notes of praise! Pull out every stop of the grand organ of heaven, from the deep swell diapason to the lofty flute and cornet! Gabriel, strike the loftiest note of thy harp of gold. And let all the host of heaven, angels and men, begin the grand anthem, "Worthy is the Lamb." And let the eternal +Amen+ peal and roll and reverberate through all the arches of heaven! But never through all eternity shall the gathered host be able fully to express _the unsearchable riches of Christ.--Thomas Cooper._

Ver. 9. _The Fellowship of the Mystery._

I. It is +a mystery+ it should be so long hid; a mystery, because when it was plainly revealed it was not understood by those to whom it was manifested; a mystery, for God was pleased to raise up a special apostle to explain and reveal, to make an epiphany of this great truth--the will of God that all men should be saved, that His Gospel should be universally known, should be open to all for acceptance.

II. +Our share and fellowship in the work of the Gospel is to make all men see their interest in it,+ to make them understand its true catholicity, to make all men see that it is from the first the will of God that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs. By the Church is to be made known the manifold wisdom of God. Every member of the Church is to have his or her part in doing this work. We are all to take part in it by our lives, our conversation, our example, our good works and words. By availing ourselves of opportunities we are to help to make known this manifold wisdom of God.

III. Think for a moment +what is the state of those men who do not know what is their fellowship with this mystery.+--I am not speaking of the entirely ignorant. Even religious people do not half understand or appreciate the deep meaning of such words as these. Christianity means expansion, comprehension; it embraces all, and all men must see in it what is the fellowship of the mystery that we have received and that has been made known to us. We must be a light that cannot be hid.--_Bishop Claughton._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-13.

_The Manifold Wisdom of God_--

+I. Seen in the development of a long-cherished plan.+--1. _This plan was carried out by Christ._ "According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ" (ver. 11). The plan is here called the "eternal purpose," and that purpose was the redemption of man, and the personage selected for its accomplishment was the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the unchanging theme of "the Gospel of which the apostle was made a minister," this the Divinely freighted argosy of "the unsearchable riches of Christ," the veiled and sacred repository of all heavenly mysteries. The plan is significantly called the "manifold wisdom of God"--as manifold as mysterious, for there is variety in the mystery and mystery in every part of the variety. The wisdom is seen, not so much in one act as in the masterly combination of a multitude of acts, all marshalled and disposed with consummate skill to the attainment of one grand end; just as the light that fills and irradiates the valley, penetrating every nook and crevice and clothing every object with beauty, is produced, not by a solitary ray, but by manifold rays poured from the central sun, and all uniting in one harmonious illumination. The crowning wisdom of the plan was in God appointing His only Son as the agent in carrying it out. He, the sinless One, must suffer for sin; the Innocent die for the guilty, and by dying conquer sin. Only thus could the righteous claims of the violated law be fully satisfied, the offence of the sinning one condoned, the authority of the Divine government maintained, and the character of the Holy One vindicated to the whole universe.

2. _That the plan has been accomplished is evident from the attitude assumed towards man and towards God by believers_ (ver. 13).--As regards the attitude of the believer towards man, he has now "boldness" in declaring the whole truth, and towards God he has "access with confidence by the faith of Him"--he has confidential fellowship with God. Both these experiences are the result of the redeeming plan, and would have been impossible without it.

+II. Seen in the indifference to suffering its revelations inspire.+--"I desire that ye faint not [do not lose heart] at my tribulations for you, which is your glory" (ver. 13). Paul had no anxiety for himself. He almost playfully alludes to his imprisoned state: "The prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles" (ver. 1). His soul was too full of heavenly visions and of the practical bearing of the Gospel on the destiny of the race to be harassed about his personal suffering. When he thought about it at all it was to rejoice in the honour of being allowed to suffer for such a cause, and in the opportunities afforded of spreading the Gospel in quarters that might otherwise have been closed to him. But the Church feared for their champion's life, and was troubled about his prolonged sufferings and imprisonment. The apostle assures his friends there was more reason for joyous boasting than for pity and dread. The sufferings and misfortunes of the Church have been overruled in promoting her enlargement. The flames of the martyrs have illumined the truth, and the captivity of its professors has prepared the throne of its universal empire. Personal religion has grown stronger by opposition and suffering, and the Church has multiplied by the very means which were intended to destroy her.

+III. Seen in making the Church of the redeemed the means of instructing the heavenly intelligences+ (ver. 10).--These lofty beings, with their vast knowledge and gigantic powers, learn something from the Divine treatment of sinful, rebellious men. They gain new light, fresher and more expansive views, regarding the character and perfections of God; and perhaps the chief point on which their angelic knowledge will be increased is in the glorious revelations the Gospel unfolds of the infinite love of God. The Church on earth, with all its contradictions and imperfections, presents a magnificent picture of self-denial, devotion, and praise; but this is only a faint representation of the splendour of the Church above in its more completed state. The Church above is a society organised; the church below is a society organising. The heavenly intelligences are watching both processes, and their wondering adoration is being continually excited as they observe the building up and ever-advancing completion of the redeemed community. If there is one thing more than another that amazes "the principalities and powers"--amazes them more than the manifold wisdom of God unfolded to them by the Church--it must surely be the apathy and indifference of men on earth to their redemptive blessings!--that so much has been done to make man wise, and he remains willingly and contentedly ignorant; that God has been so prodigal of His wealth, and man is so slow to appreciate and seize the proffered enrichment; that God offers the abundant bread of eternal life, and man prefers to starve in lean and comfortless poverty, and grumbles against heaven that he is so poor; that salvation is pressed on his acceptance, and man persists in perishing; that "heaven lies about him in his infancy," and the celestial gate opens before him in every subsequent stage of life, and yet man resists the alluring glory, and stumbles at last into the bottomless chasm of eternal darkness.

+Lessons.+--1. _The wisdom of God is continually presenting new illustrations of its manifoldness._ 2. _The most signal display of Divine wisdom is seen in the redemption of the race._ 3. _The future history of the Church will reveal new features in the manifold wisdom of God._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Ver. 10. _The Manifold Wisdom of God_--

+I. Seen in the gradual unfolding of His great purpose to save the human race.+--1. This process suited the revelation to men's nature and condition as finite and sinful beings. Had the revelation been more rapid and brilliant it could not have been so readily appreciated, nor could men have dared to hope they had any share in it. It was adapted to the infantile state of the Church and the world when the mind is most powerfully affected by sensible objects. 2. This method was a training for appreciating the fuller discoveries of the Divine will. It has been an education and discipline, has provoked inquiry, and encouraged full submission to the will of God and faith in His wisdom and power.

+II. Seen in the means He employed to carry out His saving purpose.+--1. By the gift of His Son. 2. As a subsidiary means, by the institution of preaching, and by selecting men, and not angels, as instruments in spreading the knowledge of Gospel redemption.

+III. Seen in using the Church of the redeemed as an object-lesson in teaching the heavenly intelligences.+--The Church teaches the angels: 1. By its composition. 2. By its marvellous history. 3. By its glorious completion.

+Learn.+--1. _The dignity and glory of the Church._ 2. _Let it be your all-important concern to become a member of this spiritual community._

Vers. 11-13. _Access to God._

+I. We have access.+--The word signifies an approach to some object. Here it intends a near approach to God in worship, or such a state of peace with God as allows a freedom of intercourse. It is a familiar expression suited to convey the idea of great condescension on God's part and high privilege on ours.

+II. We have boldness of access.+ The word signifies a freedom of speaking in opposition to that restraint which we feel when in the presence of one we dread and in whose goodness we can place no confidence. It expresses the fulness of that liberty which under the Gospel all Christians enjoy of drawing near to God, and that freedom of spirit with which we should come to God. The disposition of our hearts should correspond with the liberal and gracious dispensation under which we are placed. We should come to God with a spirit of love, in opposition to servile fear. This boldness imports frequency in our approaches to God. Slaves, under fear, stand at a distance. Children, invited by the goodness of a father, come often into his presence.

+III. We have access with confidence.+ This confidence is elsewhere called a better hope and the full assurance of faith. It is opposed to doubting and distrust. Confidence in prayer is a full reliance on God; but this may be accompanied with a humble diffidence of ourselves.

+IV. All our hope of success in prayer must rest upon the mediation of Christ+ (ver. 12).--In His name we are to come before God; and in the virtue of His atonement and intercession we may hope for acceptance.

+V. Access to God a refuge in trouble+ (ver. 13).--Fearing lest his sufferings in the cause of the Gospel should dishearten his converts, the apostle sets before them a view of their security under the protection of Divine grace. Dangers were before them; but what had they to fear who had boldness of access to God? It was one of the glories of their religion that he who preached it was not ashamed to suffer for it.

+Lessons.+--1. _In the apostle Paul we have a noble example of benevolence._ 2. _New converts should be assisted and encouraged._ 3. _Our best support under trouble is boldness of access to God._ 4. _Let the grace and condescension of God encourage us to come often into His presence.--Lathrop._

Ver. 12. _Access to God in Prayer._--Prayer is to be exercised with the greatest caution and exactness, being the most solemn intercourse earth can have with heaven. The distance between God and us, so great by nature and yet greater by sin, makes it fearful to address Him; but Christ has smoothed a way, and we are commanded to come with a good heart, not only in respect of innocence, but also of confidence.

+I. There is a certain boldness and confidence very well becoming our humblest addresses to God.+--It is the very language of prayer to treat God as our Father. The nature of this confidence is not so easily set forth by positive description as by the opposition it bears to its extremes. It is opposed: 1. To desperation and horror of conscience. 2. To doubtings and groundless scrupulosities. 3. To rashness and precipitation. 4. To impudence.

+II. The foundation of this confidence is laid in the mediation of Christ.+

+III. The reason why Christ's mediation ought to minister such confidence to us.+--His incomparable fitness for the performance of that work. Considering Him: 1. In respect to God, with whom He has to mediate. God sustains a double capacity of Father and Judge. Christ appears not only as an Advocate, but as a Surety, paying down the utmost justice can exact. 2. In reference to men for whom He mediates. He is a friend, brother, surety, lord or master. 3. In respect to Himself. (1) He is perfectly acquainted with all our wants and necessities. (2) He is heartily sensible of and concerned about them. (3) He is best able to express and set them before the Father.

+IV. Whether there is any other ground that may rationally embolden us in our addresses to Him.+--If there is, it must be either: 1. Something within us as the merit of our good actions. But this cannot be--(1) because none can merit but by doing something absolutely by his own power for the advantage of him from whom he merits; (2) because to merit is to do something over and above what is due. 2. Something without us. This must be the help and intercession either of angels or saints. Angels cannot mediate for us--(1) because it is impossible for them to know and perfectly discern the thoughts; (2) because no angel can know at once all the prayers that are even uttered in words throughout the world. These arguments are still more forcible against the intercession of saints. The invocation of saints supposed to arise: 1. From the solemn meetings used by the primitive Christians at the saints' sepulchres, and there celebrating the memory of their martyrdom. 2. From those seeds of the Platonic philosophy that so much leavened many of the primitive Christians. 3. From the people being bred in idolatry. But the primitive fathers held no such thing; and the Council of Trent, that pretended to determine the case, put the world off with an ambiguity. Christ is the only true way.--_R. South._

Ver. 13. _Courage under Suffering._--1. Affliction and tribulation for the Gospel is a trial not only to those under it, but to others who look on, and are in no less hazard to be thereby brangled (made to disagree) in their confidence, blunted in their zeal, and rendered remiss in their forwardness, than the person himself who suffers. 2. A faithful minister suffering for truth will not be so solicitous for his own outward estate as for the Church and people of God, lest they be turned aside, or made to faint by reason of his sufferings. This may guard from discouragement when we consider the excellent worth of truth, and how those who suffer for it have not cast themselves without necessity upon their sufferings, but were necessitated to meet them in the way of their calling. 3. So honourable is it to suffer for Christ and truth that not only the persons who suffer are honoured, but also all such as have interest in them, who should not faint, but rather glory in them and take encouragement from them.--_Fergusson._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-21.

_A Sublime and Comprehensive Prayer_--

+I. For spiritual strengthening+ (ver. 16).--The first necessity of the new convert is strength. The change from the former life is so new and strange. The spiritual faculties are but recently called into exercise; and though they are thrilled with the vigour of youth, they possess the inherent weakness and are exposed to the temptations of youth. Their newly acquired strength is at once their glory and their danger--their glory in giving them the capacity and impulse for the highest kind of work; their danger because they are tempted to rely upon their own conscious power rather than upon the grace of God within them, which is the source of their best strength. If that strength is once undermined or eaten away, it can never be replaced. The strength of youth, physical or spiritual, belongs only in the period of youth; if lost in youth, it can never be regained in maturer life. Whatever strength we may gain in after-years will never be what it might have been if ye had never lost the strength of our first love. The apostle here prays that his converts may be invigorated with a manful courage, the moral strength to meet dangers and to battle with difficulties without quailing.

Transcriber's Note: The Transcriber is unsure what the
author means by "faith . . . must be constantly exercised
to keep Him there" in this next paragraph. Please remember
Christ's words in Hebrews xiii. 5: "I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee."

1. _This spiritual strengthening is achieved by the indwelling Christ welcomed and retained in the heart by faith._--"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" (ver. 17). The source of this strength is not in us; we cannot evoke it by any voluntary effort of our own. It is a Divine power working in us (ver. 20). It is the Christ within us making Himself felt in our otherwise enfeebled powers. We are invested with the strength of Christ by our faith in Christ; and increase of strength comes with increase of faith. The faith that receives Christ into the heart must be constantly exercised to keep Him there, and to derive inspiration and help from Him in attaining spiritual growth and in doing useful work.

2. _This spiritual strengthening is cherished by an accession of Christian love._--"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love" (ver. 17). The double metaphor gives emphasis to the idea--"rooted," a tree; "grounded" a building. When Christ is planted and settled in our hearts, love is shed abroad there, and becomes the genial soil in which our graces grow, and the basis of all our thought and action. Love is strength, the most reliable, sustaining, and victorious kind of strength.

+II. For a clearer comprehension of the immeasurable love of Christ+ (vers. 18, 19).--Here the prayer rises in sublimity and comprehensiveness. The apostle prays that we may know the unknowable--"know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." There is nothing so fascinating as the love of Christ, ever leading us on by fresh revelations, and ever leaving the impression that there are unfathomable depths and inaccessible heights yet to be discovered. "Oh that Christ would," exclaimed the saintly Rutherford, "arrest and comprise my love and my heart for all. I am a bankrupt who have no more free goods in the world for Christ, save that it is both the whole heritage I have, and all my moveables besides. Lord, give the thirsty man a drink. Oh to be over ears in the well! Oh to be swimming over head and ears in Christ's love! I would not have Christ's love entering in me, but I would enter into it, and be swallowed up of that love. But I see not myself here, for I fear I make more of His love than of Himself, whereas He Himself is far beyond and much better than His love. Oh, if I had my sinful arms filled with that lovely one Christ! Blessed be my rich Lord Jesus, who sendeth not away beggars from His house with an empty dish. He filleth the vessel of such as will come and seek. We might beg ourselves rich, if we were wise, if we would but hold out our withered hands to Christ, and learn to seek, ask, and knock." The highest conceptions of the love of Christ are realised by the soul that prays.