Riches of His Grace

Driving home: The Apostle Paul felt something of the weakness of words as a means of conveying thought when he attempted to set out in this paragraph the tremendous contrast between what men are by nature and what God constitutes them…

Martin uses the common experience of struggling to describe a sight, experience, or desire to illustrate how Paul must have felt the inadequacy of words to convey the profound contrast between man's natural state and God's grace.

Are you ever made to feel the limitations of human speech as a means of conveying thought and feelings?

1:55 - 2:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin delves into the phrase 'exceeding riches of His grace,' first defining 'riches' as immense, unquantifiable wealth, citing its five uses in Ephesians. He then explains…

To explain 'riches' as unquantifiable wealth, Martin cites the example of wealthy individuals buying expensive cars, who are unaffected by inflation or economic slumps, demonstrating a level of wealth that doesn't need counting.

Now this word, riches, means riches in the truest sense. It speaks of those who are so wealthy they don't even need to count their wealth, who can lose half their wealth and still be wealthy. There's an interesting thing. Someone who I think has reason to know mentioned to me the other day that there's an interesting phenomena in the car sales market these days.

11:03 - 11:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It is the surpassingly wealthy grace that will be displayed. Or as one man has suggested we might translate the verse this way, that he might display in the ages to come the superabounding, excessive, overflowing riches …

He uses the figure of speech 'hyperbole' (e.g., 'a ton of wisdom') to explain the word 'exceeding' (hyperbolē in Greek), showing it means an excessive, overflowing, or superabounding measure.

And then it came to mean an excessive something. When someone makes a description of a person or a thing and they exaggerate it, what do we call that figure of speech? A what? We call it a hyperbole, don't we?

12:42 - 12:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It is the surpassingly wealthy grace that will be displayed. Or as one man has suggested we might translate the verse this way, that he might display in the ages to come the superabounding, excessive, overflowing riches …

To illustrate the 'exceeding' nature of Christ's love, Martin compares it to the Atlantic Ocean overflowing a teacup, emphasizing its immeasurable vastness beyond human comprehension.

When he spoke of the exceeding, the superabounding, the overflowing measure of his power. And then he uses it in chapter 3 in verse 19 where he speaks of knowing the love of Christ which passes knowledge. It exceeds knowledge. It overflows and goes beyond the capacity of human knowledge to grasp as the Atlantic overflows.

13:32 - 14:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Meditate on the infinite source and variety of God's kindness throughout eternity.

He describes God's kindness as a funnel, with the wide end at God and the narrow end over the believer's head, symbolizing the continuous showering of kindness from God upon every redeemed sinner.

It is a disposition which disposes, the person who's exercising it, the person who has it in his bosom, whether man or God, it is that disposition disposing him to bestow all manner of good. It's the opposite of ill will, of indifference, and certainly of revenge. Now come back to the text and see what the apostle is saying. If God's purpose in the coming ages is to display his grace, if the measure of that is to display his grace, if the measure of that is to display his grace, if the measure of that is to display his grace, if the measure of that grace is described as exceeding riches, what ...

23:22 - 24:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine what place Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, holds in your heart and in your appreciation of God's kindness.

Martin uses the analogy of a wealthy man's mansion with concentric rooms, each holding increasingly precious possessions towards the center, to illustrate how Christ should occupy the innermost, most cherished place in a believer's heart.

perhaps the greatest index of the state of the soul is to be found right here what place is afforded to Jesus of Nazareth the Christ of God what is he to you what is his work to you what place does he have in your supposed appreciation of the kindness of God let me illustrate as I attempt to help you in the answer to that question imagine a woman imagine a wealthy man who owns a large estate and on that estate he owns a tremendously impressive mansion the mansion is set up and constructed not in the form of concentric circles that is a circle within a circle but of rooms rectangular or square ...

37:30 - 38:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Consider that all of God's kindness shown to you apart from union with Christ will only increase your torment if it doesn't lead you to lay hold of His kindness.

He compares the unconverted sinner's daily reception of God's kindness (apart from Christ) to putting money in a bank that gains interest, but in this case, the 'interest' is wrath, which will be received with the 'principle' on the day of judgment.

there is no one to tell them of that Savior who is the expression of the kindness of God to sinners they don't have a word in their own language they don't have you not only have the Bible you not only have places called churches but God has set you under a ministry that is faithful to the word my friend the kindness of God but I want you to turn to Romans 2 4 as I close this morning and look at what it says or despises thou the riches of His goodness that's the word His kindness and forbearance and long suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance but after thy ha...

48:59 - 50:26 Read in full sermon