R.C. Sproul

the widespread persecution against Jesus as was carried out by Saul of Tarsus, who was described as breathing out fire as he went from house to house, dragging people and having them imprisoned and worse.

And when Jesus appeared to him and spoke to him in Hebrew, saying to him, Saul, Saul,

Why persecutest thou me?

Jesus didn't say, why are you persecuting my church?

Why are you persecuting my people?

But why are you persecuting me?

Because from Christ's perspective, the persecution of his body, the church, was nothing less than an act of persecution against him.

And so Paul never forgot that he started out

as a vicious persecutor of Christ Himself.

And now, through no merit of His own, but only by the grace of the forgiving and tender mercy of Jesus,

His life is turned upside down.

Instead of the enemy par excellence, he becomes the missionary par excellence in behalf of the effective power of the Spirit of God that made him a minister of the gospel.

And so he says to me, this grace was given.

Why?

That I should preach among the Gentiles

the unsearchable riches of Christ.

I want to talk about the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Unsearchable riches of Christ are not merely unsearchable with respect to His earthly ministry, but they are unsearchable as they include His deity, His unity with the Father,

and with the Holy Spirit.

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