Riches of His Grace

Introduction: The Weakness of Words and the Contrast of Grace

0:03 We turn, please, to Ephesians chapter 2 as we continue our studies in this amazing portion of the Word of God.

0:16 Ephesians chapter 2, and I shall read the first ten verses.

0:25 And you did he make alive when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins, wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead, and through our trespasses made us alive together with Christ, by grace have ye been saved, and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace have ye been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

1:48 which God aforeprepared that we should walk in them.

1:55 Are you ever made to feel the limitations of human speech as a means of conveying thought and feelings?

2:06 A sight is seen, an experience, a desire is born, and yet when you seek to describe that sight seen, that experience had, or that desire born, words seem to be such weak vehicles of conveying what is in the heart, what is in the mind. Well, I'm convinced after spending a number of hours in this passage in preparation and also in preaching that, 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 by His grace. For in this paragraph, as you've been reminded week by week, there is this graphic description of what we are by nature in the first three verses. Our condition is one that is described in these frightening words, dead. Our practice in that condition, one of bondage to the flesh, to the devil, and to the world,

3:29 and our true position before God, one of exposure to divine wrath and judgment, and yet wonder of wonders, the transition of verse 4, but God. And then the Apostle reaches into his stock of vocabulary and brings into service some of the most astounding concepts to show what God has done in the transforming power of grace. The author of that transformation is careful to describe as God Himself, and God alone. The motive that moved Him, His great love and His rich mercy.

God's Ultimate Intention: Displaying His Grace

4:12 The method is to bring us into union with Christ and the virtue of His saving acts. And now the matter that occupies our minds, verse 7. What was God's ultimate intention? What was the goal of God in this great work of transformation?

4:31 It's God who transforms the sinner. He does it out of great love and richness. He does it out of great mercy. He does it by uniting them to His Son so that they are quickened and raised and seated with Him.

4:44 But why does He do all of this? And the answer to that question is found in verse 7. In order that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Last week we had time only to consider the heart or the body.

5:06 The heart or the bones of this text and I suggested that the answer to the question why has God done all of this is to be found in stripping the text of the extraneous material and viewing it in this way. That He might display His grace. The purpose of God in the conferral of this gracious salvation is that He might display His grace. And in looking at those words.

5:36 We underscored the fact that God is both the determiner and the executor of the goal of redemption. He who conceived redemption has defined its goal. And that goal in its essence is nothing less than to make a display of His grace when throughout all the coming ages that would follow the conversion of sinners and on into eternity. It is God's grace.

The Measure of God's Grace: Exceeding Riches

6:05 It is God's purpose to make us showcases of that grace throughout all of the coming ages. Now this morning we come to consider the flesh and the muscle that surrounds the bones of the text. For the apostle did not speak of bare or naked grace. It would have been enough for him to say that in the ages to come He might display His grace.

6:35 And the very word grace, in itself, is filled with amazing realities. The reality of God's condescending love to the unlovely. The self-inflicted pain that He bore to deliver the unworthy and the guilty. Grace brings within its orbit the concept of efficacious power, working the deliverance of sinners and preserving them for the everlasting glory.

7:04 And yet the apostle does not give us grace in its nakedness. But grace comes to us with the flesh, with the skin, expressed in words such as we have in the text. It is the exceeding riches of His grace, expressed in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. And so our concern today is to come to grips with the apostle's effort to describe the indescribable, to define the undefinable, to deal with these aspects of the grace to be displayed in the salvation of sinners.

7:48 And what does he give to us in these words? Well, I would suggest he gives us three things. Having told us that the goal of God is the display of His grace, he now tells us something of the measure of that grace. It is the exceeding riches of His grace.

8:09 Then secondly, he tells us something of the manner in which this grace operates. It is exceeding riches of grace manifested in kindness toward us. And then he underscores thirdly the sphere in which this grace operates. It is the measure of the grace in Christ Jesus.

8:32 And so we have the measure of the grace, the manner of its operation, and the sphere of its operation. First of all, then, the manner or the measure of this grace. And Paul uses two words that are favorite words with him, and yet they are words which, in the very use of them, tell us that he still was not able to describe what he was trying to describe. Let's look first.

8:59 First of all, at the word riches. For the word exceeding modifies, of course, riches. So let's look at the word riches. In its verb form, this word means to acquire wealth.

9:13 1 Timothy 6, 9. Paul warns about the dangers of seeking to acquire wealth. For they that would be rich, they who would seek the acquisition of wealth. It's the opposite of poverty.

9:29 2 Corinthians 8, 9. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. And in this epistle to the Ephesians, no fewer than five times does the Apostle Paul use this word, riches. Look back to chapter 1 and verse 7.

9:51 In whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches, of his grace. Verse 18 of chapter 1. Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Then we have it in the text before us.

10:16 And then two more times after this text, chapter 3 and verse 8. Unto me who am less than the least of all the saints was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsung, searchable riches of Christ. And then in verse 16, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory. Five times in one epistle, he uses this word, riches.

10:46 And he does this because he cannot think of this matter of the salvation of sinners without thinking of the bounty that God has displayed in both the provision and the... ...provision.

11:00 ...provision and the application of that salvation.

11:03 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.

11:26 Ford and Chevy and some of the car makers, who make the smaller cars or medium-sized cars, have felt a tremendous lag in sales. This person indicated that Cadillac sales and Lincoln Continental sales are nowhere near feeling the same measure of slump. Why? Because if you're wealthy enough to buy a $9,000 Cadillac when the economy's in good shape, it doesn't bother you to buy an $11,000 Cadillac when the economy's not in too good shape.

11:58 If you're really wealthy, the measure of inflation, we felt, doesn't touch you. Now that's the kind of wealth we're talking about. Not the guy who's just got a bank account of a few thousand and goes around living marginally to give the impression he's really got it. I mean the kind of guy that can write off half of it and still have more than he can count.

12:17 That's the connotation of this word. As Paul would describe the measure of this grace, he said it's grace that is to be thought of in terms of riches, but then he adds another word to it, the word exceeding. The word that could be translated overflowing, superabounding, excessive. You see, the root meaning of this word is to cast or to throw beyond.

12:42 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?

12:55 We mean that they're going way beyond what we understand to be the facts in order to describe the things. And for effect, we say that he has a ton of wisdom. Well, that's a hyperbole. Well, our word hyperbole is just a letter for letter transliteration of this word.

13:14 Paul talked about the hyperbole of riches. An excess, an overflowing, a superabounding measure of riches. Now, this is another favorite word of the apostle, used two more times in this epistle. He used it in verse 19 of chapter 1.

13:32 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.

14:02 Motion exceeds the ability of a teacup as a container. So he speaks of the love of Christ which overflows the teacup of the human mind. Do you feel something now of the meaning of the word? What is the measure of the grace that God is displaying in the salvation of sinners?

14:21 Paul says, putting the two words together, 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 of the grace of God. And the ideas of quality and quantity are bound up in this phrase which describes the measure of God's grace. It's true substantial riches and it isn't.

15:01 exceeding excessive amount of those riches. And is it not just precisely that that is demanded by the wretchedness of our state? If we take verses 1 to 3 seriously and realize that the apostle was not dealing in hyperboles when he said, you were dead. When we realize that he is economizing in words in verses 1 to 3 to describe the facts as they really are. Sinners who are legally and spiritually dead. Sinners who are literally bound by the devil, by the flesh, and by the world. And sinners who are literally children of wrath.

15:55 Everything about them like a negative polarity. Crying out to God if we may liken him to positive polarity. Calling down his judgment. If we take seriously verses 1 to 3 and ask the question, how can such a creature, dead in his sins, bound in his sins, condemned in his sins, how can such a creature be brought to life? How can such a creature be liberated? How can such a creature ever be forgiven?

16:29 And accepted? The answer is, only if there is the outgoing, not of a little trickle of grace from God. Not of a little stream of grace. Not of a few morsels of grace. The wretchedness of our state is answered by the superabounding excessive riches of the grace of God. And it's because God is dealing...

The Manner of God's Grace: In Kindness Toward Us

16:59 Dealing with sinners who are as bad off as verses 1 to 3 declares that in the ages to come he will manifest not just grace, not just riches of grace, but the superabounding excessive riches of his grace to sinners. So much for the measure of the grace. Now in the second place, the manner in which this grace has operated. And will continue to operate in the ages to come. How does the grace operate? Look at the text. That he might show or display in the ages to come, the measure, exceeding riches of his grace, the manner of its operation. How will that exceeding richness of grace be manifested? Here's the Apostle's answer. In kindness towards us.

18:01 In kindness towards us. And now we come again to another favorite word of the Apostle Paul. Found only in the Pauline writings. Now you've got a sister word that's found used by the Gospel writer Matthew. Found once by Peter or in Peter's writings. But this word here is found only in the writings of the Apostle Paul. And it's a rich word. It's a word so difficult to describe as far as its English equivalent. Let me turn with you quickly to four or five instances of its usage in the New Testament, so you can get the feel of the word. All right? Turn to Romans chapter 2. This word, kindness. What does it mean?

18:51 Verse 4 of Romans 2. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness? And for the sake of forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness, and a different word is used there of God, leadeth thee to repentance? Despisest thou the riches of his goodness?

19:16 What is it that God displays to rebel sinners? Some of you sitting right here this morning. Every day you rise and you breathe God's air. You put your feet on God's earth. You eat the bounty that God provides in his providence. You use his gifts and receive that bounty and return to God nothing of loving worship. You continue to aggravate him by your sins. Continue to provoke him by your rebellion.

19:46 Continue to trample underfoot his own dear son. And what does God do? He continues to display kindness. He lets you breathe his air another day. He lets you walk upon his world another day. What is that in God that is expressed to you as an impenitent sinner? It's His kindness. It's His goodness.

20:11 That's the word the Apostle uses. Turn over to chapter 11 of Romans.

20:18 We're trying to grasp the manner in which God's grace operates, for Paul says it operates in goodness, in kindness. Romans 11 and verse 22. Behold then the goodness, the kindness, and the severity of God toward them that fell severity, but toward thee, God's goodness. As God administers His grace in the movement of nations, and He cuts off the Jewish nation as a peculiar vehicle of and recipient of saving mercy, and the gospel now is spread to the Gentiles, Paul says, behold, behold God's goodness, His beneficence, His benignity, His kindness, in causing the gospel to come to nations that for centuries were locked in the Stygian blackness and darkness of heathenism, with no lively oracles from God, nothing but the dim, shadowy light of creation which is perverted by man's own sinfulness, behold, he says, the goodness of God in the judgment that fell upon the Jewish nation, gospel streams have now spread and inundated the Gentile worlds,

21:44 bringing in their wake refreshment and salvation in life. What's that a manifestation of? The goodness, the kindness of God. That's the word used.

21:54 And then it's spoken of a human as of a human virtue. The apostle speaking of his own ministry in 2 Corinthians, Corinthians 6 and verse 6 says this, Here are the marks of my ministry as an apostle, in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness. In kindness. You read the ministry of the apostle Paul and you see him going on a mission in which he seeks nothing from men but gives himself to men sacrificially at great cost.

22:32 And even when they oppose and are indifferent to his ministry, he can say, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God is that they might be saved. Kindness. It's the word used in Galatians 5. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

22:51 Gentleness. That's the word. Gentleness. That disposition to show kindness.

22:56 As you begin to get the feeling of it now, it's used in Titus 3, 4. The kindness of God appeared in the salvation of Christ. And the best way I know to describe it is to do it this way. This kindness of God is a sweet and gentle beneficence which is disposed to bestow all measure of good.

23:22 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 has been and will continue to be through all eternity, the manner in which that exceeding riches of grace will operate, Paul says, in the kindness, and it's beautiful in the original, not merely shown to us, but in kindness upon us. It's the picture of a funnel. And the wide end is God's, and the narrow end is that which is set above my unworthy head. And he says into that funnel and out of that funnel upon me and every redeemed sinner for all eternity will come that kindness from God.

24:48 Think of the kindness of God in ever setting his love upon us in eternity. Think of the kindness of God in establishing the kindness, the covenant of redemption, giving us to the Son, and the Son agreeing to accept all of the liabilities for the salvation of his people. And the Holy Ghost, if I may use the words without irreverence, consenting to give himself to the work demanded of him in applying the redemption which the Son agrees to effect by his own incarnation and death. Think of the kindness of God, in sending his Son to the world.

25:32 And the kindness of the Son in being willing to come through the enfleshment of the virgin's womb. Think of the kindness of God in the Lord Jesus wrestling in the garden of Gethsemane, saying, Not my will, but thine be done. So disposed to show good to us that he would wrestle with our sins and travail with our iniquities, until he lies beneath the weight of them upon the cross and cries, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Think of the kindness of God in bearing even with his elect through all the years of their impenitence when they are indifferent to his claims and to the gospel of his Son. Think of the kindness that tracked us down and subdued us and grafted us into Jesus Christ. Think of the kindness, the kindness expressed in justifying us, adopting us, sealing us with the Spirit, making us joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Think of the kindness that will be manifested in preserving us when all the cards are stacked against us and preserving us to his everlasting kingdom.

26:48 Think of the kindness in preserving our dust in the grave until the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God in the Lord Jesus returns again, and we are caught up, in the air to meet him, and we shall be like him. But my friend, the text says that in the ages that are coming, not only the consummation of this age in our lives and up to the resurrection, but in all the successive ages to come, he will continue to display the exceeding riches of his grace in the kindness that continues to be showered upon us. And though the Bible doesn't answer a lot of our silly questions about what heaven will be like, but certainly his kindness will be shown in that he will devise tasks for us to perform that will be perfectly suited to our redeemed condition. There will be tasks perfectly suited to our desires, perfectly suited to our capacities and to our interests. Think of doing something all day long that you want to do and that you find delight in. That's how God will show his kindness in the world to come.

27:57 show His kindness in the delights He confers upon us, in the mysteries He discovers to us, in the glories He reveals to us. My friend, what is heaven? I think the best description is this. It will be God's opportunity to show His infinite kindness to unworthy sinners, so that heaven will be the only infallible exposition of this text. In the ages to come, He will display the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us. So we may say in summary of this particular aspect of our study this morning, the redemption of the people of God is one continuous commentary on the kindness which grace confers, and will continue to confer. If you want something to keep you busy this afternoon with profitable meditation, just take this home with you. With an infinite God as the originator and the source of this kindness, with an infinite

29:06 variety of ways in which to display that kindness through the infinite expanses of eternity, what a display of kindness that will be. Child of God, what wealth is yours? What wealth is yours? And sinner, what a tragedy to go on in your sin.

The Sphere of God's Grace: In Christ Jesus

29:29 When all this is over, when all this is over, when all this is over, when all this is over, that you count your wealth will shrivel in your hands and be as dust in a few short years, and you will be a display case of the severity of God through all eternity. The smoke of their torment shall ascend up forever and ever, and the righteous are found saying, true and righteous are thy ways, O Lord. How does God's exceeding riches of grace express itself? The manner of its expression is kindness. And now finally this morning, what is the sphere of its operation? If its measure is exceeding riches, if the manner of its expression is kindness upon us, what is the sphere of its operation? Look at the text. In Christ Jesus. And once again, we're back to that phrase that meets us.

30:36 Every turn in the epistle to the Ephesians. If there's anything that could be called the key phrase of this epistle, it is the phrase, in Christ Jesus. We confronted it in chapter one, blessed be God, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. And all the way through, in him, in whom, with whom, in him, in whom, again and again. And it refers, of course, to that phrase, in Christ Jesus. And all the way to that fundamental reality of spiritual union with Jesus Christ. And at least three things need to be said as we think of the meaning of this phrase, pointing us to the sphere of its operation. And the first is this. All that God has ever done, and all that God will ever do, in the bestowment of saving kindness to sinners, he has done and will do. And all that God will ever do, in the bestowment of saving kindness to sinners,

31:40 he has done and will do, on the basis of the person and worth of Jesus Christ the Lord.

31:47 The only sphere in which God has or ever shall manifest the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us, that is, we who are Jew or Gentile sinners, is in Christ Jesus. And I remind you that for the Apostle Paul, the words Christ Jesus are not, merely, verbal symbols to identify a person, such as your name or my name may be, or the traditional John Jones may be. When the Apostle penned, In Christ Jesus, those words were pregnant with significance. When he spoke of the Christ as the one who is the sphere of this operation of grace expressed in kindness, he is referring to God as the one who is the God's Messiah, the anointed prophet, priest, and king, the promised deliverer of Israel, the one of whom it was said he would sit upon David's throne and dispense the sure mercies of David. And Paul understood him to be on that throne. That's why the funnel was on his head, because David's greater son was upon David's throne, dispensing the sure mercies of David.

33:10 And what a great miracle! And what a great miracle! And what a great miracle! And what a great miracle! And what a great miracle! And what a great miracle! And what a great miracle!

33:11 For those mercies, the covenant blessings of salvation, salvation by grace. And then when he said Jesus, he knew what he was talking about, that name that once was despised but now was loved, that historical personage, Jesus of Nazareth, the man who is recorded as to life and deeds, death and resurrection in the gospel records, but he who is acknowledged according to his own words. And when he said Jesus, he knew what he was talking about, that name that once was despised but now was loved, that historical personage, Jesus of Nazareth, the man who is recorded as to life and deeds, death and resurrection in the gospel records, but he who is acknowledged according to his own words, that historical personage, Jesus of Nazareth, the man who is acknowledged according to his own words, of his own words, and the apostle meal says in this text that all the kindness that God will ever show to sinners is to be found within the sphere of this kind person. It is kindness unto Christ Jesus. And in the ages to come, it'll still be kindness in Christ in the book of the revelation God is careful to make plain that in the eternal state we'll still acknowledge him and see him and know him as the lamb a term that is found to my knowledge only once in the gospels John 1 behold the lamb of God

34:34 but you find it again and again in the book of the revelation look quickly a couple of instances revelation chapter 7 you have of course this recapitulation a description don't try to read the book of the revelation as though it's all laid out from this period on to the other you have sweeping recapitulations you'll have descriptions of the eternal state early in the book in certain relationships you'll have the same description later and you must not look at the book of the revelation as though it's some kind of chronicle of pre-written history you'll miss its significance and here we have a description of the redeemed and we read in verse 15 of chapter 7 therefore are they before the throne of God and they serve in day and night in his temple and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them what a beautiful picture it's the picture of God spreading a tent over them but the tent is God himself it's the picture of his people being enveloped in their God and they shall hunger no more of course not if God himself is their dwelling place how can they hunger? they shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore neither shall the sun strike upon them nor any heat for the lamb that is in the midst of the throne

36:02 shall be their shepherd and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes in the words of Rutherford's hymn the lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's lamb the lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd what does God say? that throughout the coming ages the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us will continue to be and we'll never forget that through all eternity and you read a similar vision in chapter 14 of the book of the revelation and then turn quickly to chapter 22 verses 1 and 3 for the final example and he showed me a river of water of life bright as crystal producing water of life and he showed me a river of water of life proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb verse 3 and there shall be no curse anymore and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein you see the one sphere within which God shows his kindness to men is that sphere of the person and work of Jesus Christ let me say by way of application and I trust you will understand and I trust you listen carefully this fact being true

37:30 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 in shape like boxes set within boxes and the outer room is the largest and down until the inner room and what is the largest room and what is done with tokens of his wealth is to place parts of it in the various rooms of that unusually constructed mansion things that are precious to him but not very precious are to be found in the outer room get the picture things precious but a little bit more precious than those in the outer are found in the next room things that border on being very very precious are found in the next and there in the innermost

38:57 chamber the smallest but the place where he keeps his dearest possession is to be found locked up that which he prizes above all else so if you were to ask the man what is precious to you he'd say well take a walk through my house you'd go into the outer room and these things are precious but if you say just how much do you regard these he said well I regard them in direct relationship to where they are found as you move to the center room and as you move from the outer room to the center you'd be moving from that which he esteems and regards with some love and affection at the most distant perimeter to that which he regarded his most prized treasure in the inner citadel of that home now my friend I want you to liken that to your heart your heart is like a mansion with square rooms one set within the other and in the outer room we say there is hell and in the outer room there is death and children and friends and fellow believers in the room that goes a little bit closer there is this there is that but it's an amazing thing regardless of how we may arrange our possessions in any of the outer rooms the mark of similarity with every believer is that in the inner chamber

40:25 the same object will be found you know what that object is Jesus the Christ as he revealed in the scriptures does a Christian despise wife, husband, children loved ones all of these gifts of course not they're gifts of God to be received with thanksgiving but that which occupies the inner chamber is Christ Jesus my friend what's there in your inner chamber this morning ambition self your own sense of importance your wife, your husband your children my friend anything that occupies the inner chamber is an idol and it will destroy you and damn you unless you repent of it and invite the son of God to come in his glory and take up residence in the innermost chamber of the heart that's what Paul is saying here it is God's exceeding riches of grace displayed in kindness within what sphere? in union with Christ that is in connection with him who is God's anointed who is Jesus of Nazareth

Union with Christ: The Essential Relationship

41:53 the second thing that we are warranted to deduce from this text is this all that God does in bestowing his kindness through Christ he does by uniting us to Christ the words of the text are not as the old King James wrongly said he translates it by Christ Jesus now that's a wonderful truth that all God does he does by or through Christ Jesus how does the authorised give it? someone have a King James version? how does he give it?

42:32 through Christ? I think it's through Christ is it not? now that's a wonderful truth all God does he does through Christ but it doesn't say through Christ or for the sake of Christ or on account of Christ all of which would be true biblically and theologically but the text says it is his kindness to us in Christ Jesus in use in vital relationship to him why is that so? well we saw in verses 4 to 6 as we went through with painstaking slowness I'm afraid the method of God in the salvation of sinners what was the divine method?

43:11 to quicken us together with Christ to raise us up together with Christ to seat us in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus the pervasive emphasis of the entire passage is that God saves us by bringing us into union with his Son so my friend the question is not whether you agreed with me in the previous point we made that all that God will ever do for sinners in the display of his kindness and his grace he does on the basis of Jesus Christ you may subscribe to that with perfect orthodoxy but the question I press upon your conscience this morning is this are you in Christ Jesus? has there been established a vital life relationship between you and the Son of God as revealed in scripture? well you say how is that relationship established? it's established from God's perspective when by the indwelling of the Spirit Christ unites himself to us and when from the human perspective in faith we unite ourselves to him and in true saving religion there is always that mutual union the indwelling of the Spirit the Spirit constitutes our union with Christ and the embrace of the Spirit constitutes our union with Christ and if you're in Christ then one thing is certain you're not what you once were for if any man be in Christ

44:39 he is a new creation and that's what Paul is going to bring us to down in verse 10 we're his workmanship created if we're in Christ God's done something amazing God's done something astounding my friend are you in Christ? is Christ in you? that's biblical language Christ in you the hope of glory if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his we dealt this morning with this curse that is found even in evangelical circles in our day of this kind of a dead reckoning if the Bible says it must be so because I believe that the Bible says it oh no my friend if your faith is real faith faith that is born of the work of the Spirit it will lead we have no sympathy for mindless biblical less theological less experience sheer fanaticism but my friend where fanaticism damns its thousands an empty letter religion may damn its ten thousands Paul says the sphere in which this kindness has been displayed is in union with Christ and then the final point that I want to make this morning is that I want to make this morning is this and it grieves me to make it but I feel I must because

The Danger of Despising God's Kindness Apart from Christ

46:07 this word kindness is found in that text in Romans 2 all of God's kindness shown to you apart from union with Christ will but increase the measure of your torment if it doesn't lead you to lay hold of his kindness you see God does display a kindness outside of Christ Romans 2 4 that's the word that's used Romans 2 4 despises thou of his my sinner friend think of the kindness of God to you think of the kindness of God to you if God meant you listening to this preacher this morning you'd be with divies in hell drop of water upon your parts it's God's unconverted penitent this morning not only are you here but you're here with a sound mind why aren't you in some institution this morning staring at a book a blank wall this morning whose minds of God

47:32 if God himself in the person of his own son or an angel were to preach the gospel they wouldn't know the difference between that and a man lecturing on the price of hogs in the farmer's market tomorrow morning their minds why is yours still intact this morning behold the goodness of God the very mind with which you've conceived your own mind your own selfish sinful designs the mind which has helped you to execute your plans to feed your kept that mind intact look at that body why is it not twisted and rendered utterly ineffective to even carry it to this place this morning hospitals and nursing homes are full of people whom to look upon is to open one's spirit to the deepest kind of pain why behold the goodness of God the kindness of God but added to that my friend there are multitudes in the world today who have sound minds like you do who have sound bodies like you do but listen they couldn't hear the gospel if they wanted to

48:59 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 hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God what's he saying this is what he's saying just as the man goes to the local bank and puts in his money to lay up that which will gain interest upon the day of withdrawal so that he draws out more he put in

50:26 that's the picture here Paul says here you are sinner God's goodness out of Christ now God's general kindness is being funneled upon your head with good health with sanity of mind soundness of body the blessings of a gospel ministry the earnest pleading of men who are jealous for your nation and he says every day every day that that goodness comes to you and it doesn't lead you to repentance and faith and to seek an interest in the son of God you put a little more in the bank of heaven and what are you putting in the bank of heaven you're putting that which is gaining interest and in the day of judgment you'll receive your principle with interest and you know what it'll be read the next verses read the next verses oh my friend read them treasurest treasurest of wrath revelation of the righteous judgment verse 8 unto them that are factious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness shall be wrath indignation tribulation and anguish those are the words of God why because you took

51:55 the kindness of God outside of and you mistook its intention you mistook the kindness for God of Christ position to treat lightly your sin no thunderbolts crush me God doesn't send me into madness God doesn't cripple me sin seriously my friend don't mistake God's goodness it is His loving and gentle prodding to bring you to bow in penitence at the feet of His Son and plead for mercy oh that God would bless the preaching today oh that God would bless to make another showcase of His grace so that the kindness God has shown you out of Christ may gently and lovingly embrace Christ that you may throughout the coming ages of eternity be a showcase of His kindness in Christ oh dear unconverted man, woman, boy or girl why do you still sit in your sins God is not miserly God is not miserly God is not niggardly

53:22 and stingy with His grace it is exceeding riches of grace able to meet whatever need arises in you and God because of that sin He can be just and still the justifier of sinners if they will but believe in His own dear Son what's the purpose for which God has done all these amazing things described in Ephesians 2 look at it now do you have the picture that in the ages to come He might display the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus perhaps one of the most blessed words in the text is that little word us proud solitarsis heathenish Ephesians and the word of God and the word of God it makes no difference God's grace is able to bring them to the place of forgiveness and acceptance oh may you cast yourself upon so mighty a Savior and child of God may you begin to think and act and pray and labor as one who really believes your God's showcase

54:49 for all the coming ages let us pray