We're turning tonight to Paul's letter to the Ephesians and the chapter 1 and I want to speak upon the subject of the abounding God, the abounding God. Ephesians chapter 1 and we'll begin reading at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory. Amen. And we'll end the reading at that verse, knowing the Lord will bless the reading of His precious, infallible Word for His name's sake. I want to draw your attention to verse number 7 and verse 8, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. My mind was deeply impressed recently with the words in verse number eight, in particular the opening part of that verse, wherein He hath abounded toward us. He hath abounded toward us. What significance there is in this description. How suggestive these words are. God hath abounded toward us. He hath abounded toward us in the riches of His redeeming grace. God's grace is not like a trickling stream dried up in the midst of drought. It is like the majestic energy of the advancing sea as it rolls in upon the shoreline. What a glorious image this text suggests. The abounding God in all the energy of His divine being, God, in the unstoppable force of His grace abounding toward us. Grace must not be considered as a mere pleasing sentiment. It is so much more than simply a good-natured smile. It is all the energy of God disposed and directed towards fallen sinners. Grace does not flow from a reluctant God. From a God who is reluctant to pardon, and reluctant to save, and reluctant to reconcile, He hath abounded toward us. You remember the story the Lord told of the prodigal son? When he came to himself and he decided that he would return, his father saw him a great way off, and he ran towards him. There was abounding energy directed towards the embrace of his wayward and lost son. And that picture is the picture that is conveyed in this Word to Abound. He hath abounded towards us. God's grace is exercised with all the energy and all the enthusiasm of His Divine Being. Notice the setting in which the Apostle locates this abounding energy, this divine energy of God, this outgoing of God's energy. He locates it, first of all, in the area of redemption. Verse 7, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us." In other words, in this great task, in this great work of redemption, God has manifested His energy. in abounding toward us. Redemption is a buying back in the symbolism of the old world, the world that Paul was accustomed to. It is best explained in the setting of slavery commonplace in the Roman Empire. The slave was one who did not have his liberty. He was the possession of another man, serving another master, whose liberty could only be obtained by the payment of a ransom price. All men, like the ancient slave in a spiritual sense, are slaves of sin, dominated and controlled by the reigning power of that principle of sin within a fallen nature, the term grace. and the appreciation of that grace has fallen out of modern vocabulary because the word sin has been largely vanquished. It has largely disappeared from the vocabulary of the modern world. Grace is only known in its connection to sin. It is only fully realized and fully appreciated whenever sin is recognized and realized. Where sin is exiled, grace soon follows. Sin is a foreign identity in our modern society. It has been banished. It has been replaced with less distressing phrases, phrases that have no teeth, no bite upon the conscience. Grace only abounds. where there is the reigning, controlling power of sin, where men recognize and feel themselves to be helpless slaves to the merciless tyrant of sin itself. The Bible says that sin dwells in us, sin reigns over us. We are the slaves, we are the servants of sin. Sin is not merely an invited guest, but it is the master, and at that it is a tyrannical master, a tyrant. that rules over us as a cruel taskmaster into this fallen, helpless, hopeless plight. The Eternal God comes with all the outgoing energy of His redeeming personality. Look at what Paul says. wherein, in other words, in this great task, in this great mission, to redeem fallen man, to bring him back from the slave slavery and tyranny of sin, God hath abounded toward us. The hymn writer put it like this. He saw me plunged in deep distress. He flew to my relief. God did not drag his heels on the errand of redeeming mercy. but rather He abounds toward us. He comes with all the energy of His Divine Being. What words these are! These are words that ought to instill hope in the most hopeless of human beings. These are words that lift man from the very depths of despair. He hath abounded toward us. What a picture this is. What an image this presents. The abounding God in the outgoing of His energy. He hath abounded toward us in His redeeming purpose, in His work of redemption, willing to pay the price in full, willing to do all that was required, all that it would take in order to deliver man, to redeem man from his slavery to sin. He hath abounded toward us in his redemption, in his work of redemption. But you'll notice that the Apostle Paul adds the word wisdom. He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom, in all wisdom. this great redeeming purpose that addresses the plight of fallen man, the task of redeeming fallen man. In that task, God has directed and disposed all the wisdom of deity. Divine love was the foundation of the redemption plan. It is out of that love that redemption is provided. But it was Divine Wisdom that devised the way to achieve that redemption, and only Divine Wisdom could do so. When man fell, he fell to a place where only Deity could rescue him. where only divine love could lift him up, where only divine wisdom could devise the plan and the way by which he can be delivered. The plight of fallen man is beyond his own ability to unravel. No human mind can unravel the plight of the fall. No human mind can work out a way of deliverance, it takes Divine Wisdom. Only Divine Wisdom can vindicate Divine Justice. Only Divine Wisdom can find a way to satisfy divine justice. The Apostle Paul identifies the great dilemma that is faced because of the plight of fallen man. He refers to it in Romans chapter 3 in verse 26, and he puts it like this, It is that plan by which God remains just, and at the same time, the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Here's the problem. Man is a sinner. God is just. And because He is just, He must punish the sin. He must visit that sin with what it deserves. But how can He do this? How can he do this and yet save the sinner? How can he save the sinner and yet remain just and faithful to his own righteous nature? That's the dilemma. And no human mind can figure it out. No human mind can provide the answer or the solution to that problem. The solution is found only in the mind of God, in the mind of infinite wisdom. And the answer, the answer is the cross. God spared no wisdom. in devising the plan by which fallen man could be delivered, restored, reconciled, and yet God remained just in the process. The answer is the cross, the substitutionary atoning death of God's dear Son, who would receive the requirement of divine justice in the place of the guilty, so that the guilty might go free. The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, in the first chapter of that letter, he refers to the crucifixion of Christ, the message of Christ crucified as the manifestation of divine wisdom. Oh, the world looks upon it with folly. The world looks upon the cross and it does not understand how people can adhere and follow one whose life was ended in such shame and suffering. They do not see the wisdom of God. They see it as folly, as failure. And yet the Apostle Paul says, this message of a crucified Christ is the manifestation of divine wisdom. This is the way, this is the method, this is the means that God has devised out of divine wisdom. to satisfy his own justice, to remain a just and holy God who visits sin with the punishment it deserves, and yet, at the same time, can release the sinner pardon the transgressor, lift him up out of his plight, and bring him into a reconciled state with God, and bring him to eternal glory, only divine wisdom could devise the way. And that wisdom shines in all its splendor, in all of its glory, from a cross of shame, where the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, laid down his life as a ransom for many. God hath abounded toward us in his great work of redemption, He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom. You want to see the wisdom of God, look at the cross. The cross is the place where justice and mercy are brought together. just as satisfied, and therefore mercy flowing in all of its fullness to those who do not deserve it. In the death of God's dear Son, you find the abounding wisdom of God set to the great plan of man's redemption. But notice another matter that the Apostle identifies, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Prudence. Wisdom and prudence are closely associated. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. But the term prudence brings in a different perspective. It focuses upon the intention, upon the purpose. It is a deliberate thought to manage with good sense what has been purposed to be done. This now directs our thoughts to the intention of God, God's intention in redemption. He fulfills that intention with prudence, He does not devise the plan and then entrust it to someone else. What He has intended to do in relation to the redemption of His people, He will manage with good thought, with good sense, to ensure that it is accomplished. He will fruitfully apply His purpose, His will, His intention. And He abounds in that prudence. Not something that He undertakes reluctantly or half-heartedly, but again all the energy of His divine being is exercised in the application of that intention. What he has intended to do, he will manage the affairs of that intention in order to bring it about. In its application, there will be the same outgoing energy and enthusiasm. wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. What he has intended to do, he will so manage in order to bring its everlasting accomplishment. Christian, draw your comfort your joy, your strength. From this wonderful analogy, God is abounding towards you like the majestic ocean rolling in upon the seashore. He is not reluctant in the exercising of his grace. He abounds And that word abound, according to one Bible dictionary, means to be over and above, more than enough, in his purpose, in his intention, in his provision, and in the application of his redeeming love and grace towards his people. What comfort there is in those words. They direct us to the One who is the source of our redemption, the Lord Himself. And He is abounding toward us. Do we doubt Him? Do we doubt His purpose? Do we doubt His intention? Do we doubt His ability to apply and to accomplish what He has purposed to do. Surely this word abound will slay that doubt and drive it from our hearts and minds. He hath abounded over and above more than enough. He exercises this energy in the accomplishment of his redeeming purpose. Do not fear. Do not fret. Do not worry. God is abounding toward you. Keep in mind the image of the rolling waves crashing in upon the seashore. They come with such force, such energy. They are unstoppable. And that's the picture here of the abounding God. He is unstoppable in His purpose to redeem you, in His intention, in the provision, in the application of that redemption. He abounds towards you. But is there an unconverted listener? someone listening to the sound of my voice, listening to this message, and as yet you have not received Jesus Christ as your Savior, and perhaps you are hesitant, perhaps you are fearful, you doubt whether there is mercy for you, whether there is pardon for you, you think your sins are too great, too many, too bad, that they place you beyond redemption. Do the waves of the sea fail to reach the shoreline? They certainly do not. They crash in with all that energy and force. They reach their destination. And if you are hesitant and fearful today, then let these words encourage you to seek the Lord and to call upon Him with confidence, wherein He hath abounded toward us. God is not reluctant in the display of His mercy, in the dispensing of His grace. God is not reluctant. God is not half-hearted. He will abound toward you. Where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. The language that is used in the Song of Solomon says, Behold, my beloved, he cometh leaping and skipping upon the mountains, those mountains that separate us, that divide us and separate us from him, the mountains of our sin. He comes leaping and skipping, abounding. Such is His desire to save. Nothing will stop Him in the accomplishment of His purpose. This is the Savior revealed in Scripture. And to all who call upon Him, the same Lord is rich. The same Lord abounds in redeeming grace. In His infinite wisdom, in His prudence, He abounds. in His grace toward us. What comforting words these are. What an image it presents to us of the abounding God. Let these words comfort your heart. And let this thought stir your soul, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. And if God has abounded toward us, then should we not seek to abound toward him. May the Lord bless his word to every heart, for his name's sake. Amen.