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 Cor. xv. 9: a.d. 59); “Less than the least of all saints” (Eph. iii. 8: a.d. 64); “Sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. i. 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 intersession 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 are 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.

Ver. 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.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 10–13.

The Manifold Wisdom of God—

I. Seen in the development of a long-cherished plan.—1. This plan was carried out by Christ. “According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ” (ver. 11). The plan is here called the “eternal purpose,” and that purpose was the redemption of man, and the personage selected for its accomplishment was the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the unchanging theme of “the Gospel of which the apostle was made a minister,” this the Divinely freighted argosy of “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” the veiled and sacred repository of all heavenly mysteries. The plan is significantly called the “manifold wisdom of God”—as manifold as mysterious, for there is variety in the mystery and mystery in every part of the variety. The wisdom is seen, not so much in one act as in the masterly combination of a multitude of acts, all marshalled and disposed with consummate skill to the attainment of one grand end; just as the light that fills and irradiates the valley, penetrating every nook and crevice and clothing every object with beauty, is produced, not by a solitary ray, but by manifold rays poured from the central sun, and all uniting in one harmonious illumination. The crowning wisdom of the plan was in God appointing His only Son as the agent in carrying it out. He, the sinless One, must suffer for sin; the Innocent die for the guilty, and by dying conquer sin. Only thus could the righteous claims of the violated law be fully satisfied, the offence of the sinning one condoned, the authority of the Divine government maintained, and the character of the Holy One vindicated to the whole universe.

2. That the plan has been accomplished is evident from the attitude assumed towards man and towards God by believers (ver. 13).—As regards the attitude of the believer towards man, he has now “boldness” in declaring the whole truth, and towards God he has “access with confidence by the faith of Him”—he has confidential fellowship with God. Both these experiences are the result of the redeeming plan, and would have been impossible without it.