CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Ephesians 3:7. Whereof I was made a minister.—A deacon, a runner of errands. A lowly word, which reminds us of his own self-estimate—“not worthy to be called an apostle”—and prepares us for the strange expression in Ephesians 3:8.
Ephesians 3:8. Less than the least of all saints.—“As though we said, ‘Leaster than all Christians’ ” (Bishop Alexander). “The greatest sinner, the greatest saint, are equidistant from the goal where the mind rests in satisfaction with itself. With the growth in goodness grows the sense of sin. One law fulfilled shows a thousand neglected” (Mozley, quoted by Farrar). The unsearchable riches.—“The untrackable wealth” (Farrar), inexplicable by creaturely intelligences, unspeakable therefore by human tongues.
Ephesians 3:9. And to make all men see.—He says to the Galatians (Ephesians 3:1), “Christ was placarded before you”—so here he wants men to see for themselves.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Ephesians 3:7-9
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” (Ephesians 3:8). 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 had 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 same 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 goldfield, 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” (Ephesians 3:9). 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” (Ephesians 3:9). 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” (Ephesians 3:9). 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” (Ephesians 3:7). 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” (Ephesians 3:8). 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 minister 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
Ephesians 3:7. 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.
Ephesians 3:8-9. 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 of 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 (Ephesians 3:9).—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 (Ephesians 3:10).—Lathrop.
Ephesians 3:8. 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 it in the most attractive and encouraging light. We may copy others in some things; we should copy Christ in all.—Dr. J. McCosh.
Ephesians 3:8. 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 with 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 Corinthians 15:9); A.D. 59); “Less than the least of all saints” (Ephesians 3:8; A.D. 64); “Sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15; 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 intercession 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 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.
Ephesians 3:9. 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.