The Unfathomable Riches of Christ - Ephesians 3:8

Go ahead and open your Bibles again to Ephesians chapter 3 please. Ephesians chapter 3 and we will be focusing on verse 8. But before we do that, I want you to think for a moment about the lyrics to one of those songs we sang this morning. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace." That's what I want us to do this morning, to turn our eyes upon Jesus.

Look full in his wonderful face as it were, in the hope that whatever things of earth are weighing you down this morning, whether sorrows or burdens or temptations or fleshly desires or doubts or whatever else, will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Now let's read again Ephesians chapter 3 verse 8. Paul says, "To me, the very least of all saints this grace was given to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ." I want to focus particularly on one phrase in verse 8 this morning. You probably guessed what it is.

"To me," Paul says, "the very least of all saints this grace was given to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ." The unfathomable riches of Christ. There's the title of the message this morning, the unfathomable riches of Christ. We're going to try to fathom the unfathomable this morning as we consider the riches or the treasures or the glories of Christ. What does unfathomable mean anyway? The LSB and the NASB use unfathomable. The ESV and the KJV use unsearchable, which is similar and certainly easier to say three times fast. Others use boundless or incalculable, emphasizing limitless scope.

And scholars have also used words like inexplorable or untraceable, illimitable, inscrutable, infinite, and inexhaustible to describe the meaning here. By the way, inexhaustible is a favorite of mine because it's the title of Tripoli's 2008 Christian Hip Hop song about this very subject, the inexhaustible nature of Christ. Look it up. That might have caught some of you by surprise. I love it. It means past finding out, impossible to comprehend, immeasurable, impossible to be traced out. The riches of Christ cannot be traced out step by step. The word means they cannot be tracked out. They're untrackable.

They are so vast you cannot discover their end. The only other use of this Greek word in the New Testament is in Romans 1133, which reads, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" Now, in my research on this phrase, I read about a preacher from the turn of the 20th century who was preaching to his congregation about the blessings of God spoken of in the first three chapters of Ephesians. And he found it an overwhelming task. Listen to what he said about chapter 3, verse 8 here.

Quote, "In the words of the text, 'The unsearchable riches of Christ,' unsearchable literally means riches that can never be explored. You can not only count or measure them," listen, "you can form no estimate of them, and you not only can form no estimate of them, but you never can get to the end of your investigation." Listen, "There is a boundless continent, a world, a universe of riches that still lies before you, even after you have carried your search to the limits of possibility." Wow!

He went on to say, "I feel as though I had a theme about which no man ought to speak, and archangel's tongue could do no justice to it." Another man I found said this, "Two attractive words, 'Riches and unsearchable,' can convey the idea of things that are most precious being infinitely abundant. Usually, precious things are rare; their very rarity increases their price. But here, that which is most precious is also boundless. Riches of compassion and love, of merit, of sanctifying, comforting and transforming power all without limit." Did you get that? He said, "Usually, precious things are rare; their very rarity increases their price.

But here, that which is most precious is also boundless." Amazing thought. The riches of Christ are without limit. So far without limit that you can never, and we will never, get to the end of discovering them, even in eternity. Man, oh man. But what are those riches? Or what does the Greek word from which we get riches mean? Well, in the first sense, of course, it means what it sounds like it means. Riches, referring to material wealth or abundant physical possessions beyond what would be considered normal for a particular society or group of people.

In fact, this word often found in the New Testament is often found in New Testament passages warning against the danger of pursuing riches like that, physical riches. But here in Ephesians 3.8, Paul is describing spiritual abundance in Christ in whom Paul reminds us in Colossians 2 verse 3, "In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Could you list those? Could you jot down a list of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ? If you started right now, how long would it take? Of course, you could never finish, right?

That's because all of those treasures, all of those glories, all of those riches are unfathomable. I should have said this earlier, sorry about that, but the word fathom is a nautical word. It's a unit of measure that equals six feet and is used to measure the depth of water. By the way, a league, L-E-A-G-U-E, a league is another nautical unit of measurement. And there are 3,038.06 fathoms in one league. Anybody remember the book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Or maybe the movie, came out in 1954. Well 20,000 leagues are equal to 52,800,000 fathoms or 8,800,000 feet, which is only 244 times deeper than the deepest known part of the ocean.

Oops. Anyway, so sailors would have a rope marked off in fathoms, that's every six feet, and something heavy on the end of it. And to see how deep the water is, they'd let the heavy thing over the side of the boat and count the fathoms as the rope went down until it stopped. Therefore, unfathomable means it's too deep to fathom. It's too deep to find the bottom. We ain't got enough rope to measure it. And in the case of the riches of Christ, there ain't enough rope in the universe to measure it. Make sense? Okay, so we all agree that we ain't got enough rope here this morning.

We cannot fathom the riches of Christ, but we can marvel at some of them, yes? We can put some of those riches in the front of our minds, can't we? And that's what I want to do in the few minutes we have left. Just consider some of those riches. Some of those treasures. Some of those glories. And to help us, I'd like to look at three categories of riches or treasures or glories. And certainly, these are not the only three categories. It's just three that I came up with to help us direct our thoughts. First we'll consider the riches of Christ and His divine nature. Then the riches of Christ and His redemptive work.

And finally, the riches of Christ and His eternal reign. The riches of Christ and His divine nature. The riches of Christ and His redemptive work. And the riches of Christ and His eternal reign. Let's look at the riches of Christ and His divine nature. His divine nature. What does that mean actually? It means His deity. Or His godness, if I could make up a word. We know and understand that the Bible teaches that Christ is both truly man and truly God, right?

Isaiah 9, 6 says, "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Christ Himself said in John 8, 58, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am announcing the covenant name of God." So we don't have to establish that this morning. Christ is God. Amen? With that in mind, listen to Isaiah again, this time in chapter 40, verses 25 to 28. "To whom then will you liken me that I would be His equal?" says the Holy One. "Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars.

The one who leads forth their host by number. He calls them all by name because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power. Not one of them is missing. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is unsearchable." That all applies to Christ. Psalm chapter 1 tells us it was Christ who made all things, yes? And Colossians chapter 1 tells us the same thing too and then adds that it's Christ who's holding it all together right now.

Hebrews 1.3 says this about how Christ relates to the Father in this regard, "Who being the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholding all things by the word of His power." Colossians 2 verses 9 and 10 say, "For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily, and in Him you have been filled, who is the head of over all rule and authority." Question. When you think of Jesus, do your thoughts include thoughts of Him as the Creator and the one who is upholding and sustaining all things, or that all the fullness of God is in Him?

When we think about the attributes of God, which is something we really should do more often, isn't it true that we mostly think of those attributes as being attributes of the Father? Just kind of naturally. When we think of omnipotence, for instance, that God is all-powerful, or omniscience that God is all-knowing, that He has always possessed all knowledge that nothing has ever occurred to Him, or taken Him by surprise, or omnipresence, that He is always everywhere present all at once in His fullness in every place, do we ever consider that those attributes apply to the second person of the Trinity as much as to the first?

That they apply just as much to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as they do to the Father? We certainly should think that way. Every attribute of the Father applies to the Godness of Christ, to the divine nature of Christ. Yes, it's true, Christ also is truly man. He also has a human nature, and His truly human nature and His truly divine nature never mix but are perfectly united somehow in His one person, Jesus Christ. It's hard to understand that. Impossible, really. In fact, dare I say it, it's unfathomable. Now, this is not to say, of course, that there's no difference between the Son and the Father and the Holy Spirit. Of course there are.

They are indeed the same in essence, but they are three distinct persons. One in essence, three in persons. But every attribute of the Father also belongs to the Son, every single one, including the attribute of self-existence or aseity. Although the human nature of Christ has a birthday, the divine nature of Christ is eternal and never had a beginning. Now there's an unfathomable tidbit for you. His existence depends on nothing. On the contrary, everything else's existence depends upon Him. Wrap your head around that. You know why this matters? What troubles are you facing this morning?

Are you quietly dealing with something that's too big for you? Do you feel helpless? Is your heart broken? Are you facing unrelenting temptation lately? Are you nearing the point of failure there? If so, then you need to spend some time thinking about who Christ is. You need to turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth that are menacing you or causing you grief will begin to grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Here are three suggestions that might help you do that. Number one, spend time in prayer this week focusing on Christ's Godness, the attributes of His divine nature.

Acknowledge that His power and wisdom are beyond your understanding and ask Him to deepen your trust in His control over your life's challenges or any temptations you're facing. Number two, read Colossians 2, 9 and 10 every day this week, reflecting on how Christ's fullness as God means that He lacks nothing you need. Write down one area of your life where you need His authority and surrender it to Him in faith.

And three, worship Christ by praising Him for His divine attributes, His power, His wisdom, His holiness, using Hebrews 1 and 3 as a guide, sing of Him like holy, holy, holy, thinking of Christ to center your heart on His majesty even if you can't fully grasp the fullness of that which you can't. Consider the unfathomable riches of Christ in His divine nature. Now what about the riches of Christ and His redemptive work? Just as unfathomable, equally unsearchable and inexhaustible. Isaiah 55 verse 8 and 9 say, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways," declares Yahweh.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." That certainly applies to the plan of salvation. No man thought of that. Listen to Paul in Romans 5 verses 6, 7 and 8. Romans 5 verses 6, 7 and 8. Paul says, "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Paul basically says it might make sense for somebody to give their life for a good person, but to sacrifice yourself for a dirtbag like me? Who would do that? See the Bible tells us there are no good people. No, not one in fact. And before we are converted to Christ, before the Holy Spirit causes us to be born again, we aren't just helpless and broken. I suppose we are those things, but the Bible also says we are enemies of God. Paul says somebody might be willing to die for a good man, but there ain't none.

And who in the world would willingly suffer in the place of His enemies? Well Christ would, and He did. And that should blow our minds, frankly. That's an unfathomable thought by itself. See every single man-made religion, which is all of them except Christianity, every single man-made religion says I must work my way to God. I have to do something to make up for my sins. Well that ought to tell you that those folks don't really understand how sinful their sin is or how holy God is, because if they could get a glimpse of His holiness and their own sin, they would know that there's nothing they could do to make up for that.

There's nothing they can do. There's nothing you can do, folks, to bridge the gap between you and God. If that gap is going to get bridged, God's going to have to be the one to do it. And He did. Hallelujah. In Romans 11.33, which I read earlier, Paul can hardly contain himself as he ponders the Lord's plan for Israel and the redemption of Gentiles. Listen to it again. Actually, I'm going to read verses 33 to 36, Romans 11 verses 33 to 36. Paul says, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor, or who has first given to Him that it might be repaid Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever. Amen." What a God! Remember, thinking back to our first point about the unfathomable riches of Christ and His divine nature, the full Godness of Christ with His total sovereignty and total power, He didn't just make salvation possible for people who hate Him. Rather, He accomplished salvation for people who hate Him. Amazing! Ephesians chapter 2 verses, I'll tell you what, turn there. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2 please.

Ephesians chapter 2, just one chapter back. I was going to go straight to a particular verse there, but in verse 8 also, but I want us to look at more of the passage. So let's read from verse 1 down to verse 10. Ephesians 2 verses 1 to 10. Paul says, "And you were dead in your transgressions and sins." Hold up, hold up. He said, "Dead, D-E-A-D." What can a dead man do? I'm sorry, what can a dead man do? Nothing, except rot.

"And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also formally conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." Y'all, I'll pause here. Y'all remember Pastor Chris's death walker messages on this passage. You either were or still are a death walker. But get ready for the sweetest two words in all of scripture. But God.

You know, in one sense, that's the entire gospel right there. But God. "But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were," hello, "dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Here's verse 8. Listen. "For by grace you've been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." This God, this Christ, who is transcendent, perfectly holy, high, and lifted up, who has all power, all knowledge, who created the stars and holds them all together right this minute. This Christ looked at you, believer, when you hated him and said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." He said, "Father, punish me instead." And the Father did just that. And the Holy Spirit reached down and touched you in your dead and rotten state, and he made you alive and inclined your heart toward Christ.

Are you kidding me? That's not how we would have written the story, folks. You know, if we'd have written the story, we'd be the hero, right, but Christ is the hero. He's the one, and his wisdom is unsearchable beyond finding out. But what little bit we can grasp provides an absolute rock of assurance for us. What do I mean by that? Simple. If you are a believer, if you've been born again, you had nothing to do with it. It was a gift, and it was a gift that he will never take back. Read John 17. Spend some time in John 17. Christ promises eternal life to those whom the Father has given him. Do you know what eternal means?

If Christ promises eternal life, that's no take backs, or it's not eternal. Does that make sense? John 5, 24, Christ said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. If it were possible for a believer to lose his or her salvation and therefore come into judgment, then that verse is a lie." So, by the way, as Vody Baucom says, "If you could lose your salvation, you would." I've often said, "If it were up to me to keep myself saved, I couldn't do it for 15 minutes." And neither could you.

But John 5, 24 says believers will not come into judgment. And it says that believers have already passed out of death into life, passed tense, done well, and that it's a one-way street, no turnaround. Hallelujah. Listen to Christ speaking in John chapter 10, verses 27 through 30. John 10, 27 to 30. Again Christ speaking, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish ever." I love the LSB for this one verse, if nothing else, because the LSB renders that, "And they will never perish ever." Continuing "And no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Do you see the picture that Christ just painted there? I think I may have described this before in this pulpit. But if He has redeemed you, if you've been born again, then He has you held tightly in His hand, safe and secure. And that ought to be enough to convince you that you're safe. But then He shows you the Father's mighty hand, sort of wrapped around His. The picture is one of double security, my goodness. Believer you are safe and secure. If you are born again, you can't get unborn again.

So not only is this amazing Christ able to save you, He's able to keep you too, and He promises that He will do so. The unfathomable riches of His divine nature are directly connected with the unfathomable riches of His redemptive work. Here's some more homework for you this week, especially if you're prone to worry about falling away. I'm speaking to Christians now, are just prone to worry, period. First read John 17 every day this week and listen as Christ prays for you there. Then confess the sin of doubting Him. Number two, ponder the depth of John 10 verses 27 to 30 every day this week.

Number three, also read the first 10 verses of Ephesians chapter 2 every day. And look for yourself in there. Find yourself in those verses. In doing so, you can turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full on His wonderful face so that the things of earth, the things of your old nature, things like doubt, maybe despair, will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. So maybe we've scratched the surface of a scratch on the surface of the unfathomable riches of Christ and His divine nature and the unfathomable riches of Christ and His redemptive work. Let's now look briefly at the unfathomable riches of Christ and His eternal reign.

Listen to Psalm 145 verses 10 to 13. Psalm 145, 10 to 13. All your work shall give thanks to you, O Yahweh, and your holy ones shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power to make known to the sons of men your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Here's the first two verses of Psalm 93. Psalm 93, 1 and 2. Yahweh reigns. He is clothed with majesty. Yahweh has clothed and girded himself with strength. Indeed, the world is established. It will not be shaken.

Your throne is established from of old. You are from everlasting. And one of my favorite verses is Psalm 115 verse 3. Psalm 115 verse 3 which says, "But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases." I love that. Here's Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4 verses 34 and 35. After King Nebuchadnezzar was restored from his punishment of living like a wild beast on all fours for a while, he says this, "But at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes toward heaven and my understanding returned to me. And I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. And no one can strike against His hand or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" Here now, Christ is God. You get it? Whose dominion is an everlasting dominion? Whose kingdom endures from generation to generation? Who does whatever He wants in heaven and among men and has no one who can stop Him? Still not sure? How about Philippians chapter 2 verses 8 to 11? Philippians 2, 8 to 11.

Paul says, "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus," we sang this too, "every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Here's Matthew 25, 31.

Matthew 25 verse 31, Jesus Himself speaking, "But when the Son of Man comes in glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne." Consider Revelation 5 verses 12 and 13. "Saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, 'To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion for the next 20 minutes or so.'" No.

Honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. Mark this now. The unfathomable riches of Christ and His divine nature is indivisibly connected to the unfathomable riches of Christ in His work of redemption. Because although the humanity of Christ made Him an appropriate sacrifice, His divine attributes made Him a worthy sacrifice. But guess what? The unfathomable riches of Christ both in His divine nature and in His redemptive work are just as tightly bound to the unfathomable riches of Christ in His eternal reign. Because His divine nature means He is eternal and everlasting.

And because of His redemptive work, the Father exalted Him and gave Him a name above every other name. And through the redemption He provided, He purchased a bride for Himself. If you've been born again, He purchased you for Himself. Now that's all true and it's mind-stretching. Those thoughts should make you soar upward toward the mountaintop to survey the heights of such wonderful truth. But does it mean anything practically? Right here this morning? You bet it does.

It means that Christ's reign is eternal and cannot be overthrown, which means believers can rest in the certainty that nothing in this world, sin, evil, suffering, can ultimately prevail against Him. This gives hope in trials, knowing that Christ's victory is secure and His kingdom will never end. It means that if you've been born again, you can face life's challenges with confidence, trusting that Christ is reigning now and forever. When facing personal struggles, you can pray with boldness, knowing your King is sovereign over all circumstances. It means for the born again, this is a source of joy.

Christ your Savior is the center of universal worship and you're part of this eternal chorus. His worthiness ensures that your salvation is secure and He is triumphed over sin and death. It means that believers can live with an eternal perspective, prioritizing kingdom values over worldly pursuits. For example, we can choose to serve others selflessly, knowing our reward is in Christ's coming kingdom, not in temporary gains. And Christ's eternal reign means that He will keep His own secure forever. His omnipotent power ensures that those who are born again will not be lost as His kingdom endures through all generations.

So believers, you can rest in Christ keeping power, resisting the temptation to doubt your salvation during trials. And you can look forward to the day when there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears, forever and ever and ever and ever. Hallelujah. There's lots and lots of encouragement there. But I'd fail in my duty if I didn't provide a warning to those of you who remain in your sins who have not been born from above. Please listen closely to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 3 through 10, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 3 to 10.

All speaking here, "We are always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is only fitting because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of each one of you, one of you all toward one another increases all the more, so that we ourselves boast about you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering.

Since it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give rest to you who are afflicted and to us as well, listen, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, executing vengeance on those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Listen, these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day and to be marveled at among all who have believed." Christ filled with all the unfathomable riches of his divine nature came as a little tiny baby Christ displaying the unfathomable riches of his redemptive work went to the cross as a suffering servant, a humble perfect sacrifice.

But folks, Christ is coming back blazing with the unfathomable riches of his eternal dominion as a conquering king to claim his bride and to inflict punishment on those who rejected his mercy. That's uncomfortable, but it's true. That's not pleasant, but it's true. The unfathomable riches of his divine nature enable him to do that. The unfathomable riches of his redemptive work mean you are without excuse and the unfathomable riches of his eternal reign mean there will be no escape. Once you repent, once you surrender, once you submit today, please, please. There's a little phrase tucked inside of Hebrews 927.

Often use this verse when I have to preach a funeral. It's very appropriate. It's a little, just kind of almost throw away. It's actually leading to something in the next part of the verse, but it's truth nevertheless. The little phrase is this, "It is appointed for man to die once, and after this comes judgment." Should the Lord tarry in his return, death is sure, and so is judgment. Your death won't come a moment early or a moment too late. It will come exactly at the appointed time, down to the millisecond, and then judgment. What will happen at the judgment? Christ himself tells us in Matthew chapter 25. We already read verse 31.

Matthew 25 verse 31, Jesus said, "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne." And the rest of that chapter describes how Christ will gather the nations and judge men, placing the sheep or those who've been born again on his right side, and the goats or unbelievers on his left. He welcomes the sheep into the kingdom in verses 34 to 40, and he condemns the goats in verses 41 to 46. Listen to verse 46. Matthew 25, 46, "Speaking of the lost, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but they're righteous into eternal life." He uses the same word, eternal.

Some translations have everlasting in both places, but it's the same word for both heaven and hell, for eternal life and eternal punishment. There are those who say that hell won't really be forever, but Christ doesn't allow that idea because whatever hell is in terms of duration, so is heaven because it's the same word, eternal or everlasting. Heaven is forever, folks, but so is hell. Wrapping up here, believers, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face as you contemplate the unfathomable riches of Christ, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Others of you here this morning or within the sound of my voice, if you've not surrendered to Christ, if you've not been made new, if you've not been born again, then I beg you, I plead with you. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full at the wonderful cross and beg Him for mercy. He's eager to save. He is eager to save.