I will read again the passages which are basic to our
present meditation. In the eleventh chapter of the Letter
to the Romans, at verse 33,
“Oh the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and
the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out.”
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter three, at verse
eight,
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints
was this grace given to preach the unsearchable riches of
Christ.”
Now seeing that we have not yet said all that we have to
say for this present time about the first context of
riches, that is, “The riches of His grace,” we
will just look at one or two other passages in that
connection. In the Ephesian letter, chapter one, and
verse seventeen: “That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you a spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
That scripture comes after what we have in verse seven of
that same chapter: “In Whom we have our redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace.” Then at the
end of chapter three, we have the apostle’s prayer
for a spirit of wisdom and revelation, a prayer which has
to do with the apprehension of the riches of His grace,
found in verses fourteen through twenty-one:
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to
the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by
His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend (or apprehend) with
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness
of God.Now
unto Him That is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ
Jesus throughout all ages world without end. Amen.”
Now let us come back to chapter two, and verse seven,
“That in the ages to come He might shew the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus” —the exceeding riches of His
Grace.”
We have already considered some of the things related to
this grace, the things which are the riches thereof. We
have seen the nature of grace. We have seen God’s
work of grace, and we have set grace over against our own
works for merit. And we have seen that the great
initiative of Divine Grace is, in the free action of the
Holy Spirit, to bring us into that grace.
Before we go on to look
still more deeply into this fathomless, unsearchable
ocean of Divine Grace, let us remind ourselves that just
as Grace is the beginning of everything for us, and with
us, so Grace is the continual basis of everything to the
end. You see, what is true at the beginning, is true
throughout the whole life of the child of God. This
sounds like a contradiction, yet it is not, to say that
the Law of Grace governs the whole life of the people of
God. What Grace begins, Grace carries on, and Grace
crowns. We will never be off the basis of Grace. And we
shall discover, as we go on increasingly, how we are
bound to Grace for everything that comes to us from God.
Grace for everything that we know of God, and Grace for
everything that we can be or can do; it will always be by
Grace, and nothing else. We will never move from that
place of Grace, and from that ground of Grace, on to any
other. That sounds very simple, but this is something
which confronts us every day of our lives, and all the
way along, we shall be compelled by the Holy Spirit to
recognize this, and to accept it, and to take this
position: ‘Now this is all a matter of the Grace of
God, or we will never get by this, we will never get any
further than this, but only by His Grace.’
So, we are steadily
moving, but we are really moving in a very practical way,
toward that passage which we have just read: “That
in the ages to come, He might shew the exceeding riches
of His Grace in His kindness toward us.” Oh,
how wonderful is this: that in the ages to come, the
riches of His Grace will be exceeding and displayed in
us!
Well, I think we are
beginning to realize that this is a fact. I think more
and more we are becoming aware that it has got to be more
grace, and still more grace. And if we have any
difficulty about that, let us put this climactic
statement over the whole life in the ages to come: “To
shew the exceeding riches of His grace toward us.”
Now you cannot get to that point where it is so great, so
complete and perfect, so full and final, you just cannot
leap there in one day or in one experience. No, the whole
of the life of the people of God is a pilgrimage of
grace.
A
Pilgrimage Of Grace
Now, I expect you know
that Peter’s letters are founded upon this one word:
“Grace.” And, I think it is worth our pausing
here to note it, because grace is mentioned a number of
times in his letters. Here they are just to remind
ourselves of them: 1 Peter 1:2, 10,13; 2:19,20; 3:7;
4:10; 5:5,10,12. And in 2 Peter 1:2; 3:18. However, it is
a great pity that the translators have not given us the
correct translation of this word “grace” in
every case in Peter’s letters. But Peter, as you
also know, represents the Church as in its pilgrimage.
Paul represents the Church as in the heavenlies, having
arrived very largely there, because he is viewing it from
above. But Peter is viewing it here, and he says, “I
beseech you as strangers and pilgrims” (1 Pet.
2:11). Pilgrims, that is Peter’s standpoint. For him
it is the pilgrimage of the Church. And the great word of
the pilgrimage with the people of God is the word: “Grace.”
Peter has so much to
say about grace. When I referred to the unfortunate
translation of this word, you will probably remember that
he said, “If you take persecution, opposition, ill
treatment joyfully, this is (and the translators have put
the word) acceptable with God.” But the real word
there is “grace.” The word in the original is,
“This is grace with God.” The
pilgrimage contains: persecution, opposition,
misrepresentation, and what not. And if any man knew
about that, Peter did. And if any man knew the meaning of
grace, it was that man who had denied his Lord three
times, in such a way as to feel that he had sinned beyond
the possibility of forgiveness. If ever you had done a
thing like that, in a vehement, angry way, and declared
that you did not know Jesus Christ after having been with
Him for three years, in the closest contact, you would
despair of yourself. No wonder Peter went out and wept
bitterly. No wonder the Lord had to make a special
mention of him by name when recalling the scattered
disciples after His Cross, ‘Go to My brethren, and
say unto them, and to Peter’ (Mark 16:7)—and to
Peter, mentioning him by name.
Well, that is old
ground and so familiar to us, but now we can understand
why Peter’s great word was grace. Yes,
grace is for the pilgrimage. And what Peter is saying so
much about in his first letter is “the
sufferings,” the sufferings of this present time;
and it is grace all the way along, the whole journey
calls for grace. However, and this will belong to a
further consideration, “It is grace unto glory.”
Well, I think it was
worth reminding us of that word: “Grace.”
But what grace begins—and we all know that it is
through grace that we begin, the grace of God that
brought us into salvation—grace is going to perfect
the work; it is going to carry it right through and crown
it at last. And I am quite sure that the top stone will
be brought forth with shoutings of Grace, ‘The grace
that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ’ (Zech. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:13).
Now when we talk about the riches of grace within the
realm of the unsearchable, the inexhaustible, and,
although we shall never be able to fathom these depths, I
think we can still go a little bit deeper. I want you to
come to this first chapter of the Letter to the
Ephesians. I am not going to make anything of
this—it may be a coincidence and there may be really
nothing in it—but you know that in Bible numbers,
the number of grace is five. And here in this chapter, we
have five of the exceeding riches of His grace. And when
I say exceeding, I am quite sure that as we look at them
you will say, “That is beyond me. I cannot
comprehend that, that is too big.” But,
nevertheless, you know we are allowed to look at the big
mountains, even if we cannot compass them or master them,
and it sometimes does us good just to look at them. But,
thank God, these are not just objective things that are
presented to us here, we are in them, and so we will look
at these five great, I think the greatest, “riches
of His grace.”
“Election”:
To Serve God In A Purpose
Chapter one, at verse
four, “Even as He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blemish before Him in love.” He chose us in
Him before the foundation of the world. Do you understand
that? Can you comprehend that? This is election. In the
Word it is definitely stated that “He chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world.” There
was an election, which took place in those eternal
counsels of God, which included us if we are today in
Christ Jesus. We are in Christ Jesus, because we were
chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the
world.
You see, to begin with, you are dealing with a Timeless
God. As far as time was concerned, what was some four
thousand years ahead, was present with God before time
began, because He is Timeless. Everything which for us is
future time, is always present time with God. And so, for
Him in effect, Christ was then, and in effect we were
then, and God acted on eternal ground. So let us look at
this matter of “election.” I am going to change
the word election, because I do not like that word,
although in certain forms it is in the New Testament,
which is found in 1 Peter 1, at verse 2: “Elect,
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”
That is Peter, and the elect is there mentioned as a
body, but let me say again, I am not fond of this word
election because of its associations. So I am going to
change it and speak about “selection.”
Selection, it is the same thing in meaning and in word.
Now, then, when we get that word we are helped. The
nation of Israel was “selected” out of all
nations. They were selected and chosen. If you like:
“Elected.” But God looked on all the nations of
the earth, and selected Israel among the nations. Did
that mean that God rejected all the other nations,
because He selected this nation? Did it mean that He
selected them to be saved, and all the other nations to
be lost, because they were not selected?
Now, by way of
illustration, let us come into this room where we are a
little company of people. Allow me, not to take the place
of God, but just to take this place by way of argument,
of wanting something done. I want something done, and I
look over this company, and I say: “Brother, I want
you to come alongside of me for this thing that I want
done. I select you from this company, for the thing that
I want to do. Now do not jump to conclusions, either you
or the others. Do not jump to conclusions that you are
more important than all the others, and that you are
better than all the others, that you are more worthy of
this than the others, for that is not true.”
And you others:
“Do not jump to the conclusion that because I did
not select anyone, or all of you, that you are rejected
by me and have no place in this plan of mine. Do not
conclude that you are less worthwhile than this one, or
less worthy, because you are not selected for this thing.
Do not come to such a conclusion.”
The Lord selected the
nation of Israel and said, “I have chosen you, not
because you are better than the other nations, not
because you are more worthy, but I have acted sovereignly
and chosen you, or selected you, from among the nations,
because I have a purpose that I want fulfilled. Now My
purpose is just this, to use you to the good of all the
other nations. All these other nations are going to come
into blessing through My use of you, through My selection
of you.”
Let us go to the Bible. What was the covenant with
Abraham, who was the first of this nation? “In thy
seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed”
(Gen. 12:3). That does not sound as though all other
nations were rejected and consigned to be lost, because
they were not the selected ones—in thy seed shall
all nations of the earth be blessed.
We have a great
illustration of this in Joseph, the beloved of his
father. “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his
children... and when his brethren saw that their father
loved him more than all his brethren, they hated
him...” (Genesis 37:3–4). Joseph was sold into
Egypt. Hence, it was through Joseph, that Egypt was saved
from famine and from death. It was not only his brethren,
the children of Israel his father who was saved, but it
was through Joseph that the blessing of life, salvation
came to the nation of Egypt. So Joseph, a chosen one, a
selected one out of a nation took real blessing to the
nations of the world.
Whatever word you like
to use, “Election, chosen, selection,” just
means: “To serve God in a purpose.” It does not
mean that you should be saved, and others are appointed
to be lost. See the twist that has been given to this
word, and how false it is?! And we know right through
their history that whenever Israel forgot, or lost sight
of, and failed to fulfill their vocation to the nations,
they were put under a state of suspension as to their
very calling. They were in the nations for the nations,
and when they made themselves an exclusive body, shut up
to themselves, and despised the nations, and called the
Gentiles dogs and had no dealings with them, and said we
are the people, and we are the only people, God so
heartily disapproved that He withdrew their vocation, and
sent them into captivity.
And mark you, dear friends, the two thousand years of
Israel’s history since their rejection of the Son of
God is because they failed to recognize their own
calling, that through Jesus Christ they could be made a
blessing to all the world. They put a hedge around
themselves and said, “We are the beginning, the end
of everything, God is only interested in us, the other
nations are doomed.” This was just the reverse of
their calling, “In thy seed” —and That
Seed, says Paul in Galatians 3:16, is
Christ—“shall all nations of the earth be
blessed.” And, when, instead of being a blessing,
they really became a curse amongst the nations. God said,
“That is enough, you have canceled out your own
vocation, your own calling, your own election. You have
canceled it out.” So Israel for these two thousand
years has been in the outer darkness with much weeping,
wailing, and gnashing of teeth. That is how it is, is it
not?! Why? Because in the Son of God, their vocation for
the whole world was secured, and they rejected their own
vocation when they rejected Him. That is history. And
that is the meaning of “election or selected,”
not to be saved as over against all others to be lost,
but for a purpose, the blessing of all others, the
salvation of all others who will be saved.
Now, we come to
Ephesians 1:4, where “the Church was chosen in Him
before the foundation of the world.” Chosen. What
for? To be a blessing! The vessel and instrument of God
is to be a blessing to the whole world. Paul, in his
letter to the Galatians, speaks of the Church as the
“Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us
all” (4:26). John, in his vision, “sees the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven” (Rev. 21:2). Paul has seen it there, the new
Jerusalem, our mother. John sees the coming down of the
new Jerusalem from above, our mother, and he goes on to
say: “The nations shall walk in the light
thereof” (Rev. 21:24). So there are nations that are
extra to this selected nation. And of this selected
nation, says Peter again, “Ye are a chosen
nation” (1 Peter 2:9). This selected nation, which
is the Church, has been selected to be a light to the
nations in the ages to come. “The nations shall walk
in the light thereof.” This is, as I see it, the
true doctrine of election.
Now, if you and I in
Christ, as a part of that nation, of that Jerusalem which
is above, that holy city, if you and I have been called
and chosen in Christ to form this body, which is
symbolized as the city, to diffuse the light of grace in
the ages to come to the redeemed nations in order that
they shall see the full manifestation of the grace of
God, which is the exceeding riches of His grace to
us-ward, then you and I will have to learn the meaning of
grace very deeply.
So, dear friends, while I am saying these things, I am
all the time catching my own breath. I know quite well
that I am involving myself in something that will be a
very real test, the ground of very deep testing. And, I
say this again, that because of the greatness of the
vocation, which is to display the exceeding riches of His
grace, not only to angels, but to the redeemed nations in
the ages to come, because of that vocation, you and I
will have to learn the meaning of grace in a greater
depth, if it is to be displayed in its fulness. My, how
you and I are going to be made to know the necessity for
grace, the greatness of grace. It is all grace. May that
not explain the fiery trial of which Peter speaks in
connection with grace? “Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you...” (1 Pet. 4:12). “Though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness, through manifold
trials” (1 Peter 1:6). Why? Well, he just says
there, “As every man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). Chosen—
what grace! Grace to know it and grace to show it.
How deep is this grace!
If this is true, and not imagination, and not only visual
ideas, but if we could see with John the nations, the
redeemed nations of the earth walking in the light of
what God has done in us, deriving their blessings through
this vessel, if we could just see that, then we should
bow and say, “Oh the depth of the riches, the
unsearchable riches,” how great is grace, “that
in the ages to come, He might show forth the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness to us.”
“Unto
Adoption As Sons”
Well, I have taken a
lot of time on only one of the five of these riches of
grace, but it needs a great deal more, does it not, to
explore that one realm. Perhaps, I might take another one
of the exceeding riches of His grace this evening; and if
we do not get further than that, it does not matter. But
for the time being, let us go into the next one in
Ephesians 1, at verse 5:
“Having foreordained us unto adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will.”
“Foreordained us unto adoption as sons unto Himself
through Jesus Christ.” Now that needs breaking up,
but let us just be content with this one phrase, this
part of the whole scripture: “unto adoption as
sons.”
Selection? Adoption?
Now what does that mean? Paul has more to say about that
in his Letter to the Romans in chapter 8, where he is
defining sonship. He is saying, These are the sons of
God, that are led by the Spirit of God (v. 14). “If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
His” (v. 9b). And he is explaining that it is by the
Spirit that we become sons of God. Now here he goes right
back and says, “Having foreordained us unto
adoption.” And one meaning of adoption is certainly
this: that an adopted one does not stand upon the natural
ground of sonship, but is brought in from the outside.
As you know, this
Letter to the Ephesians was written almost entirely, if
not entirely, to the Gentiles. The Gentiles were brought
in from the outside, they were called outsiders by the
Jews, but this adoption goes far back before Israel was a
people. These Gentiles existed, having been foreordained,
to be brought in from the outside and made sons.
‘You are not sons by nature, and you are not sons,
or children of God on natural grounds at all.’ This
disposes of the whole theory that everybody by natural
birth is a son of God, is a child of God. This whole
theory is not true.
Now, the sons of God
are brought in on other than natural ground.
They are not the “born ones;” they are the
“adopted ones.” The Church is an adoptive Body.
We are not of the Church by nature. You know, this has
been a controversy both in the natural realm, and in the
religious realm, for hundreds of years. In the natural,
the scientific realm, a controversy has raged, or did
rage for three hundred years on the question of life, or
the origin of life.
Now one side of the argument was represented by highly
qualified intellectual scientists, who argued and tried
to prove, that life is spontaneous. That it is there
naturally, and it just comes about of itself. They wrote
wonderfully high-browed books about this matter, and
argued and had their conferences that life is just there,
and it comes about of itself. The other side took this
position, ‘No, not at all. Life can only come from
life. It does not come from nothing; it can only come
from life. And if life springs up, if life comes into
being, then you will track it down to some living
organism.’ You see, the whole science of
microorganisms, the very air, the very dust of the air,
is impregnated with some organism, minute, too minute for
the natural eye to see, but put under certain tests in
the test tube, you will see it. You will discover there
is a living organism there. Life is always coming out of
life. It does not come out of nothing, but it comes out
of life. In the end the second side won.
Now this same thing,
this same kind of argument or contention has gone on for
hundreds of years in the religious realm. It is a very
large school of people, of theologians who say we are
sons of God by natural birth. Humanism is built upon
that, human good, natural good, and you have only got to
develop the natural good in people, and it may take a few
millions of years, but in the end they become gods, the
deification of humanity is in the very nature of man. How
under the experiments of two world wars that theory can
stand, I do not know? Knowing what man can do to man, and
is doing today, how can you speak about the natural
sonship of God inherent in man without any special
intervention or operation.
Well, here is the other
side. You come to the Bible, the Word of God; and it
says, ‘Only from Him Who has life can life be
derived.’ Life, eternal life, can never be unless it
comes from a Living Source. There must be life, eternal
life, somewhere before you can have it; it must come from
there, it does not come out of what is dead. The simple
cry of the angel on the resurrection morning has a
profound meaning, “Why seek ye the living among the
dead?” That is incongruous, contradictory, belonging
to two different worlds, there is nothing of life where
there is death. And there is no use seeking life amongst
the dead. You can only seek life where life is from the
Living Source, the Eternal Life, in Him was the Life.
Now, you see, there is sonship. Oh, no, we are
not sons of God by natural birth, but by adoption. Sons
are being brought in from the outside and given life
where you have not got it. Of course, you people do not
need such an argument, do you? But, perhaps, it is
helpful for us to recognize that we are brought out of
nothingness, so far as a relationship with God is
concerned, and given that which makes us children of
God—sonship which we do not have, which we cannot
have, but only by adoption. I know there are other full
meanings of adoption besides this one, but this is its
basic meaning: we were brought in from the outside and
made members of a family to which we do not belong by
nature. No, only by new birth are we adopted and brought
in. What a wonderful thing this is, the grace of God.
“Ye who were once afar off are now made nigh, who
were not children, but now made children.” ‘You
were not sons, but now made sons.’
And what a terrible
plight and state is represented by that word
“not” and by “were afar off.” God
only knows the great chasm that was between us and Him
and His family. By nature, there is a terrible chasm. It
has got to be bridged, and we have got to be brought over
that chasm; and it is the grace of God that does that.
And the bridge is in Christ Jesus.
Our adoption is in
Christ, as our election is in Christ. He is the bridge
Who comes over and brings us to God. How unsearchable are
His judgments, oh the depths of the riches, the riches of
His grace. We are truly in deep waters, we can only
wonder and worship. If this is true, if this is what the
Word of God teaches, and I believe it does teach this, if
it be so, then how deep are the wonders and the mysteries
and the riches of His grace in His kindness unto us.
“You who were once afar off, by His kindness, are
made nigh.” In other words, we are made nigh by His
grace.