Ephesians 3:8, commentary and pictures

Paul, though feeling himself less than the least of all the saints, was given grace by revelation and the working of God's power to preach among the Gentiles as a sacred trust.
The riches of Christ he was to preach are unsearchable because they cannot be measured, searched out, or exhausted, but may be searched continually with more always to be found.
The mystery hidden from the beginning and now made known is that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel, with God's manifold wisdom made known by the church even to principalities and powers in heavenly places.
Those riches are Christ's self-giving sacrifice and redeeming love, the treasure of grace freely offered, and the gift of the Holy Spirit with all heaven's resources, raising fallen humanity to fellowship with God as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
That same grace to preach is now the privilege and duty of every believer united to Christ, to proclaim the beauties of truth and Christ's righteousness worldwide in word, personal labor, and godly life while the end is near.

Paul's Humility and Commission

Unto Paul, who called himself less than the least of all saints, grace was given to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and his lowly self-estimate expressed humility and a sense of unworthiness in receiving that calling. He counted himself smaller than the smallest believer, the least among the saints, yet was entrusted to make all see the shared fellowship of the mystery hidden from the beginning in God who created all things through Christ. His lowliness remained even after remarkable spiritual experiences, for he had been caught up to the third heaven and heard things a person could not speak, and still recognized his own unworthiness. Nearness to Christ and awareness of His holiness lead to humility, not to claims of personal purity or freedom from sin.

By revelation and the effective working of divine power, grace made him a minister to preach those riches, laying open the plan of salvation and the mystery not made known in other ages, that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. That preaching is a grace and a sacred, responsible trust, a holy work of carrying the gospel to others even when courage and sacrifice are required, so that lives show its power to save. The insight given him was so marvelous and deep that he could not present it all, yet it rooted and grounded him so firmly in truth that no suffering, reproach, or false theory could move him. God entrusts this work to frail human beings who share the frailties and temptations of those they seek to save, rather than to angels, bringing seekers into touch with fellow beings who know the truth. It is the plan of heaven that those who have received light impart it to those in darkness, with men and women of like passions chosen as representatives and channels of communication between God and man, following the pattern of Christ taking humanity to reach humanity, so that through them the gospel transforms minds and hearts.

He wrote as an aged prisoner in Rome, the prisoner of Jesus Christ in his prison-house, endeavoring to set these riches before his brethren while finding human language inadequate to express their fullness. The riches are the treasure of grace freely offered to fallen humanity, shown in Christ's self-giving sacrifice by which people receive redemption and forgiveness, and the plan of redemption was laid by such a sacrifice, a gift. Preaching Christ was his response to Christ's revelation of Himself and his chief purpose. He counted it his highest privilege because it gave him a part in bringing about the blessed state when God makes all things new, he that overcomes inherits all things, they reign forever and ever, and all the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord.

Those who are least of all saints may obtain preparedness to stand before the Son of man at His appearing by advancing every day in perfection of character and pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. This readiness comes through seeking, watching, and praying for purity of heart, creating a fragrant atmosphere around the soul, so that human infirmities do not overcome them but are overcome in and through the strength of Jesus, with the heart made one with Christ and His abiding presence expressing His image and glorifying Him. Believers who feel they are the least of all saints still belong to Christ's body, and through Christ each is connected with all human workers and with the excellence and power of heavenly beings.

Nature of Unsearchable Riches

The riches are unsearchable because they cannot be fully measured, searched out, or exhausted, but may be searched continually with more and still more always to be found, opening to heart and mind as an inexhaustible storehouse that generations can explore without diminishing supply and that will occupy the mind through eternity. They were set before brethren by Paul as an aged prisoner in Rome, who found human language inadequate to express their fullness. They are the treasure of grace freely offered to fallen humanity, the love of eternity given through God's Son in giving Him to the world, imperishable and enduring as the throne of the Eternal, lasting treasure worth far more than all human wealth, gold, gems, precious stones, or worldly considerations.

They are shown in Christ's self-giving sacrifice bringing redemption and forgiveness, purchased at immense cost when He left the courts of glory, came to a sin-polluted world, veiled divinity with humanity and humbled Himself to human nature to meet the wants of the soul, revealing matchless depths of a Saviour's love that not even an angel's tongue can describe and standing without parallel as the most exalted subject for meditation. They are His work to teach deliverance from hopelessness under sin and death, quickening those dead in trespasses and sins through faith to reach forth with mind, heart and soul unto holiness and love, showing abundant treasures of grace and ever-flowing love and mercy. Through His merits finite humanity is raised to fellowship with God and His Son, becoming heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, entitled to treasures including joy unspeakable, an eternal weight of glory, peace of heaven, and an eternal inheritance.

They include knowing Christ's love and power, sharing His attributes, and growing in understanding until believers are filled with all the fullness of God, contemplating ever more of the merits of His sacrifice, the protection of His righteousness, the fullness of His wisdom, His inexpressible love, and His power to present believers before the Father without spot or wrinkle. The more they are contemplated the more they are possessed, and daily progress in the upward path still leaves greater heights to be reached. They are contained in the great and measureless gift of the Holy Spirit with all heaven's resources, poured without restriction as golden oil of love into hearts united to God by faith, brought into the mind through the cross to meet the proud selfish heart and adorn the believer with the Spirit's graces.

They cannot be possessed without special self-denial and self-sacrifice, and those who expect the heavenly treasure without it will at last be weighed and found wanting. Those who receive redemption are therefore to become co-workers with Christ and make the riches known to others even at personal cost, giving up worldly interests and parting with friends after Christ's example in seeking and redeeming the lost. Receiving God's gifts in Christ's self-giving love moves believers to share them, laboring for people of every kind as debtors to them. After unreserved surrender to God, the knowledge of Christ becomes so excellent that all else is counted as loss.

Mystery for Gentiles and Church

By revelation was made known the mystery hidden from the beginning in God who created all things by Jesus Christ and not made known in other ages: that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. His commission was to make all men see the fellowship of that mystery hidden through the ages in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. Preaching alone was not enough, for the minister must not choose the least self-sacrificing part but must do well-directed personal labor as a servant for souls, falling upon the Rock to be broken and fashioned as a vessel unto honor so that when laboring together with God a solid work is wrought in all countries. To that intent, now by the church on earth the manifold, many-sided wisdom of God according to His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus is made known not only to the world and to those living in this world but to principalities and powers in heavenly places, revealing God's glory to heaven as well as to earth.

It is God's eternal purpose for the church, by laboring together with Christ to roll away the curse of lukewarmness, to shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners in revealing His manifold wisdom. When these words are believed and lived, the church can experience a foretaste of heaven. The mystery encompasses God's love, goodness, and compassion, which human understanding often fails to grasp, and the vast, incomprehensible plan of redemption centered on God manifest in Christ, laid by sacrifice and gift and prepared in eternal purposes before creation. God knew that a high intelligence in heaven would defect, but did not shape His purposes to fit events or cause that condition to occur, and the purpose to bring light about Christ to the Gentiles was revealed to Paul as much as he could bear. The plan of redemption through Christ is a mystery so grand that human beings and angels can never fully comprehend it, exceeding human understanding, without parallel as the most exalted subject for meditation to which hearts enlightened by grace respond with gratitude and adoration.

The chapter reveals the work to be done for everyone who is saved: Christ is to be revealed in believers, by them, and through them. This is Paul's loving commendation and encouragement to be read with Christ's message to Ephesus, that believers would have bold access by faith, not faint at tribulations, be strengthened in the inner man, have Christ dwell in the heart by faith, be rooted in love, comprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of Christ's love, and be filled with all the fullness of God to God's glory in the church through all ages. The gospel invitation is for the whole world, so those fallen through sin to the very lowest depths are not to be excluded but must be brought where the light of truth shines and compelled to come as they are with no excuse of unfitness listened to, because the supper is uncovered as the Lord's own and those who finally refuse will at last be denied any taste though they would give all for another opportunity. The insight into the riches of grace by revelation, laying open the plan of salvation and deliverance from hopelessness under sin and death unto holiness and love, was so marvelous and deep that Paul could not present it all, yet it rooted and grounded him so firmly in truth that no suffering, reproach, denial, false theory, or weakening of heavenly things could move him. The gospel as he presented it remains just as powerful in all ages to reveal rich treasures of grace and abundant love, for the gift was not for only the generation when Christ was on earth but to be manifest in all ages, to all worlds, in all cities great and small and towns and villages wherever a minister is called, helping Jews understand the Scriptures and Christ's mission, yield former opinions, and with Gentiles through repentance, conversion and faith be grafted into the living vine to have peace with God, sanctified conscience, unity, transformed character and works, divine nature, renewed love, and fruit in good works.

Scriptures Reveal the Riches

The unsearchable riches are found in the Scriptures, which are the mine, the field, the storehouse and the treasure-house where they lie, containing the science of salvation and every truth essential for salvation. They are living oracles holding inexhaustible heavenly treasures, given to human agents with precious talents and capabilities not merely to read the truth but to become enriched by it. This treasure gives Christ's workers knowledge to draw upon and share with others. Both Testaments reveal Christ, the Old through patriarchs, sacrificial offerings, law and prophets, and the New through His life, death, resurrection and work through the Holy Spirit, where God is most clearly revealed to fallen humanity. The storehouse is open to heart and mind, so that thousands may draw like from wells of salvation without diminishing the supply. Generations of students can explore the great themes of salvation without exhausting them, for the life of Christ, His mission, incarnation, atoning sacrifice and mediatorial work are enduring themes that continue to yield new truth and will occupy the mind throughout eternity. Those who set the Lord before them and behold Him are changed into the same image, burning in spirit to tell what Jesus is to them and what they are to Jesus, yet the mysteries of salvation are never exhausted so thousands more can still search them out.

They are discovered only by diligent, deep, persevering investigation with a humble teachable spirit, comparing Scripture with Scripture and examining even small details. Surface reading and accepting others' claims without examination does not yield clear understanding, while careful searching that tests even details regarded as settled can uncover precious truths about Christ. God's revelation is richly interlaced with golden veins and filled with choice and precious things, to be made one's own only by selling all to buy the field and then searching every part of it with persevering, prayerful study. The truths uncovered are precious jewels to be restored to their place in the plan of redemption. The Holy Spirit directs that search, leading beyond surface truths and rewarding the seeker with deeper knowledge of truth. The riches are explored and appropriated through faith, which the Spirit works in the heart.

The Word flashes light on the pathway so that man may walk safely and may advance and rise to become God's own true worker. It puts before him the unsearchable riches of heaven and an eternal weight of glory, telling him he may be an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, and that the peace of heaven is his if he follows the Word of God. It tells of treasure beyond estimate to be secured by every soul who will be guided by the Word rather than by human sophistries and principles that divorce the soul from God. There is no safety in departing from one principle the Word reveals, and the riches are secured by the soul being pervaded by a continual abiding sense of every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, by the life being sanctified through the truth and maintaining the authority of the truth, and by understanding and heart sanctified by strictest obedience with action and conscience connected to the pure and sacred springs from which they draw inspiration. When the soul searches for truth and lets thought run in deep channels, those riches open their richest treasures to the soul. Rightly using time to gain more knowledge of God and Jesus Christ improves every faculty God has given, and faculties put to right employment will not be left in this world but will be taken to the higher grade to be educated through all eternity.

Giving the unsearchable riches attention now instead of criticizing others and marking their failures gives knowledge of self from the Word of God. That attention prepares for the future crisis, deciding whether one stands as a child of God at His right hand or as disobedient, unthankful and unholy at His left hand. They bring the honor that comes from God, which is above every earthly honor, and fasten the soul securely to the Rock of Ages.

Proclaiming the Riches Today

Paul's charge to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles is the message for believers now because the end is near, a worldwide work to be done earnestly and in a short time, proclaiming as with one voice the last warning and salvation, telling where the world stands in its history and reproving the transgressions that hinder it. That work belongs personally to every believer as a message of salvation to those who have never heard the reasons of faith. Satan has hindered this worldwide message through alienation, disunion, diversity of opinion, envy, evil surmising, faultfinding, seeking the highest place, and letting commercial business absorb attention and means that belong to proclamation, leaving far more undone while time fast passes and the world grows worse and worse, yet the Spirit of God still strives with souls and believers must put on the whole armor of God and go to the waiting souls.

The grace to preach is the privilege of every shepherd of the flock and every minister in every conference, whether formally ordained or not, and of every church member and even those not ministers, for all united to Christ by faith whose belief works through love and purifies the soul share the church's work of magnifying truth by a sanctifying, cleansing and refining influence as children of God in one family, and no idlers will find abundant entrance into the kingdom. Ministers are to seek wisdom so their labors meet the needs of believers and unbelievers throughout the Lord's vineyard, near and far. Every person may be a living channel through whom God communicates the treasures of His grace to the world, representing Christ's Spirit and character and making the Saviour's love known as joy and blessing to human hearts. There is no limit to the usefulness of one who puts self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit on the heart, and lives wholly consecrated to God, for the indwelling Spirit is shown by the outflowing of heavenly love and divine fullness flows through the consecrated agent to be given forth to others in good works and real heartfelt service, while Christ desires above all agents who will represent His Spirit and character and all heaven waits for channels through which the holy oil can be poured.

The work requires growth by receiving the Word of God into the heart unto transformed life and character and then exerting a positive life-giving influence upon others, with earnest travail for souls rather than casual interest, earnest heart-searching and prayerful seeking to know God and the power of His grace so religious life is not tame and commonplace but marked by grace and the decided working of God's power with human effort. It calls for great reformation in lives, words, works and spiritual understanding, for catching the inspiration of angels in the heavenly courts and daily breathing the atmosphere of heaven, exposing hard-spiritedness that comes from being strangers to the working of the Holy Spirit. Preaching alone is not enough, for the minister must not choose the least self-sacrificing part and leave ministering for someone else, but must do well-directed personal labor as a servant of the people for souls for whom Christ died or his labors will not be acceptable and he has mistaken his calling. Those who administer must fall upon the Rock and be broken so the Lord may put His superscription upon them and fashion them as vessels unto honor, and when ministers are laborers together with God a solid and beautiful work for the saving of souls is wrought in all countries.

Those entrusted with responsibility as teachers, ministers and all holding responsible positions must be converted and show God's principles in character and conduct and give a right example as ensamples to the flock rather than lead others astray by wrong example. When imperfections of character are manifest in those who set a wrong example in the school, in the church, in the world, wherever they may be, they should be advised to take up some other work where they will not lead others in a wrong direction. All workers must study Ephesians 2 and 3 in most earnest prayer to learn the way of the Lord as no human voice can teach, seeing that transgression of the law caused the price of the blood of the Son of the infinite God, hating the sins that wounded Jesus, and preserving a contrite heart while viewing Jesus as compassionate tender High Priest and preaching the riches of Christ. No blunders and errors are to be made in connection with this holy responsibility for salvation that puts a mold on the work far-reaching as eternity, and God will not approve men accepting it while keeping defects, low habits, blemishes and objectionable traits inherited and cultivated. To preach acceptably to a pure and holy God requires daily and hourly warring of the spirit against the flesh, earnest effort to overcome every fault and supply every deficiency, and seeking perfection of character and refinement of manners, to be perfect in the human sphere as God is perfect in His sphere.

For every institution sanctified ministry calls for self-denial, the cross uplifted and given its central place, human influence drawing its efficacy from Christ who saves and keeps saved all who depend on Him, and church members united with Christ and with each other so the transforming power of the gospel is diffused throughout the world, with no sanitarium or medical missionary work standing independent of the church and gospel ministry and no one man as sole head, but all under control of the Spirit of God. Teaching must present the beauties of the truth of God in contrast with the poverty of sin and the delusive pleasures of the world, requiring a heart brimming with the love of God and a mind active by constant study of eternal interests. Those who teach must preach Christ rather than their own ideas, fancies, theories or doctrinal subjects alone, letting the light of His imputed righteousness shine through into the heart and be revealed in teaching as a light to the world while unveiling the mysteries of redemption. Living faith and dependence on Christ must be the warp and woof and sum and substance and core and life of every sermon, appeal, prayer, plan and effort in all parts of God's moral vineyard without neglecting distant fields, giving the people living bread from heaven and telling every soul in plain simple Bible language what he must do to be saved and revealing Him in whom hopes of eternal life are centered, which requires more prayer for divine enlightenment to search the Scriptures for hidden treasures of precious knowledge not yet obtained because the Word is spirit and life. Doing this requires faith and spiritual power, bearing the yoke and carrying the burden of Christ and taking up work without having to be urged, and when few do this it proves their practices have not been in harmony with their light, privileges and opportunities granted of heaven. The converting power comes not in spasmodic waves but as a steady holy breathing from heaven.

God's servants are given grace to make known the word of life to needy souls as minutemen ready for service at a moment's notice, making the most of opportunities that open from hour to hour and constantly come and go in faith and with a sense of responsibility as God's human agents, since a chance to speak may never again offer itself and an opportunity once neglected may pass forever beyond recall, so no one should say to be excused. Every Christian called to make the riches known should seek clear effective speech, rely on the Holy Spirit's help, follow Jesus as pattern, and train the speaking organs for the work in presenting God's word well. The wider the sphere of usefulness the more good is accomplished, by showing all contacts that the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul, by daily cooperating with God in saving souls, by speaking words of truth, handing out a tract, presenting a book and exerting a saving influence, and by cherishing a missionary spirit and giving the message of mercy to those who have not heard it so they reflect light and truth to others.

Books distributed by canvassers open people's minds to riches so vast they cannot be fully searched out, carrying the light God has committed to His church to be given to the world, so literature circulation is one very important means of placing that light before men and women and should receive more general interest rather than neglect. Proclaiming the riches to other nations includes foreign missionary work, even bearing the message of truth to one's own countrymen in foreign fields, and in the primitive church God helped this preaching by miraculously endowing missionaries with knowledge of the languages they were called to use. As God was willing to help then He still blesses efforts now to qualify and encourage those who naturally possess knowledge of foreign tongues and to secure the cooperation of every available talent so many souls are rescued from bondage of error as an acceptable offering to Jesus. Near the end of time messengers who represent Christ and reveal the triumphs of His grace herald the gospel with courage and joy amid danger, hardship and reproach, giving up worldly interests and parting with friends to share it. Their pure character, faithful lives and refining influence show that Christianity exalts and raises character in righteousness and true holiness and that the gospel is God's power to save.

The unsearchable riches are Christ's grace given freely and abundantly to fathers and mothers for the holy calling of the gospel, to be kept in simplicity and separation from worldly customs and maxims under the Lord's admonition, and departing from that simplicity and corrupting themselves with the world proves them unworthy of what Christ would give. Christ offers those lasting riches beside the throne of God, to which title can and must be made sure, even to those who have squandered what was entrusted to them, and they secure them by using earthly property for good, sending it beforehand to heaven through giving, doing good, being rich in good works, ready to distribute and willing to communicate, thereby laying up unfailing treasure and making friends who will receive them into eternal tabernacles. Every follower presented with these riches as an eternal weight of glory must daily and hourly partake of the divine nature, having escaped corruption through lust, with all God has given sanctified, refined and ennobled and nothing extinguished. Every true believer receiving them will have the burden to work in simplicity, meekness and love to save souls, for Jesus draws men and invites them to look to Him as Redeemer and live and to come to Him for rest, and being laborers together with God gives strong faith in eternal realities and a distinct sense of sacred obligation that will not leave men continually occupied with unimportant things while fellow men perish within reach.

Ephesians 3 contains rich blessings to be grasped by faith, giving courage in the Lord and divine strength, and its instruction that means much is to be read to hearers, read and practiced, impressed upon minds and read most solemnly, by bearing a living testimony for God under all circumstances, talking courage and strength and faith and allowing no breath of doubt or word of unbelief. Human beings cannot declare Christ's righteousness by human strength or words, for His death was to declare it and it is revealed in God's many-sided wisdom because nothing unrighteous can be wise. Although Paul counted himself smaller than the smallest believer, grace gave him to preach the boundless riches and make all see the fellowship of the mystery hidden from the beginning in God who created all things through Christ, so that through the church the manifold wisdom and riches would now be made known to principalities and powers according to the eternal purpose in Christ the Lord. God's wisdom and power wait for every human agent, whose present duty is to point souls to the lifted Saviour amid deception and evil, putting every spiritual nerve and muscle to the tax, bringing minds to noble and elevated thoughts, offering humble prayer, searching to know truth, and arming for conflict against every obstructing influence to win eternal life. Daily progress can be made in the upward path to holiness yet still greater heights remain, and every stretch of spiritual muscle and every taxation of heart and brain brings to light abundance of grace essential for advancing, with the more the riches are contemplated the more they are possessed and the more is revealed of the merits of Christ's sacrifice, the protection of His righteousness, His inexpressible love, the fullness of His wisdom, and His power to present believers before the Father without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.