THE Apostle Paul as a monument of the sovereign grace of God could never let pass from his mind the loving kindness of His God who arrested him on his swift and certain career to hell. The experience passed through on that unforgettable day when the light shone from the throne of heaven and when he heard the solemn and arresting words: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” was an experience that was never to fade from his mind. It was so manifestly a work in which the grace of God appeared that when the light shone into his understanding he could find nothing in it which could be attributed to his own works. With such an experience and his powerful intellect now enlightened by the Holy Ghost he saw clearly that his case was not singular but was in accordance with that plan of salvation so glorifying to God and so beneficial to all His redeemed. As a true master-builder he directs his hearers to the humbling truth that they were all guilty before God—Jews, as well as Gentiles—there was none that did good, not even one. In addition to this guilt there is a powerless helplessness which proclaims in no uncertain voice the utter inability of the sinner to do anything well-pleasing in the sight of God. It is a solemn experience when a sinner, who may hitherto have had some vain imaginings of his own power, is brought face to face with the unquestionable fact of his utter inability in spiritual things. This inability is set before us in various ways in Scripture, but, perhaps, no description brings home the utter helplessness so impressively as when the state of the sinner is described as death—he is said to be dead in trespasses and sins. It is this aspect of the state of the sinner to which the Apostle calls the attention of the Ephesian believers. The power that is required to remedy this condition is the exceeding greatness of the power of God and if such a power is required, then, it follows that their salvation is not dependent upon any power which they possess. The description of the spiritual condition of the Ephesian believers ere they came under the Spirit’s quickening power is desparate enough—dead, as they were in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past they walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience; among whom also they all had their conversation in times past in the lusts of their flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Eph. ii. 2, 3). The Apostle fixes the attention of the Ephesian believers on this dark picture ere he presents to them another in which the grace of God is prominently set forth. “But God who is rich in mercy,” he says, “for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (Eph. ii. 4-7). It will be noticed that the Apostle is so carried away by the view he gets of the free grace of God that ere he comes to the announcement of the inevitable conclusion which he has reached and which has gripped his heart and understanding (that it is by grace they are saved through faith and that not of themselves: it is the gift of God; not of works lest any should boast) he, as if eager to announce the truth interjects in the course of his statement the words “by grace are ye saved” (verse 5). The grace that turned the children of wrath to be heirs of the hope of eternal life is surely a blessing which these heirs will willingly and lovingly acknowledge to Him who saved them and gave them a hope which is never to put them to shame. It is this background so full of the undeserved favour of the Lord upon which the Apostle’s eye is fixed and upon which his whole heart is set. The extremity of the ruin and the marvellous deliverance are so contrasted as to call forth from the Apostle an expression as to the wondrous grace that brought about the change which only the ages that are coming will be adequate to “shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Time, as it were, is too short to explore the wonders of this grace which appeared so wonderful in the Apostle’s eyes. God has reserved the eternal ages coming for the exploration of “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus the Lord.” The grace of which the Apostle speaks here is no ordinary grace—it is the exceeding riches of God’s grace. The Apostle does not stint himself in his language when he speaks of this grace. It is not simply God’s grace nor even “the riches of His grace” but “the exceeding riches of His grace.” From such a viewpoint it is no wonder the Apostle looks forward to the eternal ages and sees this people interested in the work that was done on their behalf when God quickened them and raised them up together and made them sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. These benefits, in all their manifold wonders, came to them through Jesus Christ. They had no claim on any of the blessings that came their way. It is not by works of righteousness they were saved but according to His mercy and by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed on them abundantly (Tit. iii. 4), or as the Apostle says in another place: “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us before the world began (II. Tim. i. 9). “The grandeur of God’s way of salvation wherever it is apprehended in any measure exalts the God of salvation and glorifies His name for His wondrous grace. These were not dreams in which the Apostle indulged himself but living experiences based on the bed-rock of eternal and immutable truth. The joy that was his in meditating upon the wonders of God’s grace may be ours in a measure if the Holy Spirit will lead us into these holy fields where he gleaned and from which he came laden with the very finest of the wheat.