_For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles._ ST. PAUL’S MINISTRY TO THE GENTILES A DIVINE GRACE TO HIMSELF If not wholly singular, there is something very characteristic, in this view which the Apostle of the Gentiles took of his vocation. So strong a hold had it taken of... [ Continue Reading ]
_If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward._ GOD’S DISPENSATION OF GRACE The ministerial calling is termed grace, because the designing to it is of grace, and the faculty qualifying us for it is from the free favour of God. 1. This assures ministers th... [ Continue Reading ]
_How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery._ REVELATION OF GOD’S MYSTERY 1. Those whom God sends, He also teaches. 2. We have by nature a veil before our eyes, that we cannot see spiritual matters till they be revealed. (1) Wherefore we must all pray that the veil may be removed f... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge In the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles._ THE RESERVE OF GOD IN RELATION TO HIS GRACE I. Its bearing on the Divine character. We must bear in mind-- 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge In the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles._ THE RESERVE OF GOD IN RELATION TO HIS GRACE I. Its bearing on the Divine character. We must bear in mind-- 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power._ THE MINISTERIAL GIFT 1. The ministerial gift, which God of grace giveth, makes a minister. 2. Ministers differ in their gifts and qualifications. 3. God’s power accompa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ._ UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OFFERED TO THE GENTILES It is evident from Scripture that God never intended that the privileges of adoption into His family and... [ Continue Reading ]
_And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ._ CREATION NOT HITHERTO COMPLETE Whatever creatures may have thought, it is clear that God has never yet regarded the creation as in a fi... [ Continue Reading ]
_To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord._ THE PURPOSE OF REDEMPTION I. Let us consider who are meant by the Church. Paul someti... [ Continue Reading ]
_In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him._ ACCESS TO GOD THROUGH CHRIST I. We have access. Approach to God in worship. Such a state of peace with God as allows a freedom of intercourse. II. We have boldness of access. Fulness of liberty to draw near to God. The wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory._ EXHORTATION TO STEADFASTNESS 1. We are prone, when ministers of the gospel are troubled, to forsake them and their gospel (Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:56). (1) By nature there is in us an immoderate declining o... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ A PATTERN OF PRAYER The worldly proverb is, “Every man for himself and God for us all”; the true Christian practice is, to follow Christ:--“I have prayed for thee, that... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named._ THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH A FAMILY I. In the first place, let us consider the definition given by the apostle paul of the Christian Church, taken in its entirety. It is this, “the whole family in heaven and earth.” But in order to understand this... [ Continue Reading ]
_That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man._ THE MEASURE OF GOD’S POWER The man of the world is full of what he can do; the Christian of what he cannot do. Here, we have the inward power for which we may ask to suppl... [ Continue Reading ]
_That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love._ THE SUBSTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY Here is the sum and substance of Christianity: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” It is the whole of Christianity; that is to say, it is the whole of it in the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
_May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height._ SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION From Divine love, as the root and ground of the soul’s life, comes all spiritual perception. I say spiritual, as distinct from intellectual, perception. Paul says: You will net b... [ Continue Reading ]