Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1209
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this Grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Ephesians 3:8.
THIS is a very remarkable day for me, for if I am spared to preach this present sermon, I shall have completed 20 years of printed discourses issued week by week. This will be the last sermon of my 20th volume, making 1,209 in all. This is by no means a common occurrence. Indeed, I have not heard of another case in which for so long a time published discourses have been welcomed by the Christian Church and scattered broadcast over the land. Having obtained help of God, I continue unto this day testifying the Gospel of Christ Jesus. For this I magnify the name of the Lord and ask my dear friends associated with me to assist me in the expression of my thankfulness to Almighty God for such special lovingkindness.
I could not find, even in the rich volume of Inspiration, any language more expressive of the deep emotions of my soul than the verse which is now before us, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this Grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unspeakable riches of Christ.” How long or how short the time allotted to my future ministry may be, I do not wish to know. Whether I shall complete another 20 years or become silent in a few months, for these 20 years of blessed assistance in the ministration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ I must, and will, adore the name of the Lord, even if never again He should permit me to open my lips in His service. It is enough of mercy for one man to have enjoyed, even if there were no more to follow. Bless the Lord, O my Soul!
While we shall consider the verse as Paul’s own expression, we shall retain our own hold upon it, and use it very much as a summary of our own emotions. Note from the text that Paul thought very little of himself. “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints,” he says, “is this Grace given.” I am sure Paul was never guilty of mock modesty and never pretended to be more humble than he really was. At suitable times he could vindicate himself and claim his position among his fellow men. If any denied his Apostleship, he proved it by abundant arguments. Yes, he even became, on one occasion, what he calls a “fool in glorying”—he recounted his abundant labors and his frequent sufferings—he pointed to his success and protested that he was not a whit behind the very chief of the Apostles though he was nothing!
Although all this was true and Paul expressed only the bare truth when he thus defended himself, yet in his heart of hearts he chose to take the lowest seat in the lowest room. And because there were no adjectives in correct language which could express his opinion of himself, he did violence to language and said that he was “less than the least of all saints.” His straining of words is not to be censured, for language was made for man and not man for language. And when, within the bounds of grammar, a mighty heart cannot express itself, it does well to snap the bonds and let its strength have space to exercise itself.
I do not quarrel with Paul’s language, but I do dispute his right to push me out of my place! Less than the least is a position which I had hoped to occupy, but he has taken it from me and I would gladly give him a touch on the shoulder and say, “Friend, go up higher.” For as there are no lower seats and we could not think of sitting above the great Apostle, he must allow us to allot him a higher place. Was Paul really less than the least of all saints? Was not this too low an estimate of himself? Brothers and Sisters, I suppose he meant that he felt this to be the case when he looked at himself from certain aspects. He was one of the late converts—many of his comrades were in Christ before him—and he yielded precedence to the older ones.
He had been, before, a persecutor and injurious and, though God had forgiven him, he had never forgiven himself. And when he remembered his share in the sufferings and martyrdom of the saints, he felt that though now numbered among them, he could only dare to sit in the lowest place. Besides, any devout man, however eminent he may be in most
respects, will find that there are certain other points in which he falls short. And the Apostle, instead of looking at the points in which he excelled, singled out with modest eye those qualities in which he felt he failed. It is in these respects he put himself down as, “less than the least of all saints.”
This strikes us as being a very different mode of speech from that which is adopted by certain Brethren. One friend asserts that he has ceased from known sin for some months. Then another Brother, to go a little further, asserts that the very being of sin in him has been destroyed, root and branch—of which I believe, in both cases, not one single word! If those Brothers had said that they were 16 feet high, that their eyes were solid diamonds and that their hair was Prussian blue, I should feel towards them very much as I do now. They simply do not know themselves and the best article of furniture they could have in their houses would be a mirror which would let them see their own reflection! If they had once had such a sight, I guarantee you they would sing another tune, pitched to a far lower key.