Ephesians 2:7

That in the ages to come,....

FROM this verse it is clear that Paul fully expected the Gospel of the Grace of God to be preached in the ages to come. He had no notion of a temporary Gospel to develop into a better, but he was assured that the same Gospel would be preached to the end of the dispensation. Nor this alone, for as I take it, he looked to the perpetuity of the Gospel, not only through the ages which have already elapsed since the first Advent of our blessed Lord, but throughout the ages after He shall have come a second time.

Greek, "That He might show forth (middle reflexive voice; for His own glory, Eph 1:6, 12, 14) in the ages which are coming on," that is, the blessed ages of the Gospel which supersede "the age (Greek, for 'course') of this world" (Eph 2:2), and the past "ages" from which the mystery was hidden (Col 1:26, 27).

FROM this verse it is clear that Paul fully expected the Gospel of the Grace of God to be preached in the ages to come. He had no notion of a temporary Gospel to develop into a better, but he was assured that the same Gospel would be preached to the end of the dispensation. Nor this alone, for as I take it, he looked to the perpetuity of the Gospel, not only through the ages which have already elapsed since the first Advent of our blessed Lord, but throughout the ages after He shall have come a second time. Eternity, itself will not improve upon the Gospel. When all the saints shall be gathered Home they shall still talk and speak of the wonders of Jehovah's love in Christ Jesus! And in the golden streets they shall stand up and tell what the Lord has done for them to listening crowds of angels, principalities and powers. Paul did not believe in the quenching of the light of the testimony of Grace, but expected that throughout the ages to come it would burn on with the same brilliance. This I infer from the fact that he looked upon the believing Ephesians and himself as having been converted in the dawn of Christianity, on purpose, that to later ages they might serve as specimens of what the Gospel can do. He looked upon these Ephesians, newly drawn out from the cesspool of idolatry, in the same light as he looked upon himself when he said that the Lord had shown towards him all long-suffering for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on His name. Paul and these Ephesians—and all those early Christians—were types to us of what God can do by the Gospel and of what He will continue to do until the present dispensation shall close. From this statement we may gather with most sure logic that the Gospel is altogether unalterable, for if its results 1,800 years ago are to serve us as proofs of its power, then it must be the same Gospel.

That in the ages to come - God has produced us an example, and one which shall be on record through all generations, that he quickens dead souls; that he forgives the sins of the most sinful, when they repent and believe in Christ Jesus. So that what God has done for the sinners at Ephesus will serve as an encouragement to all ages of the world; and on this evidence every preacher of the Gospel may boldly proclaim that Christ saves unto the uttermost all that come unto God through him. And thus the exceeding riches of his grace will appear in the provision he has made for the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles. This observation of the apostle is of great use and importance; because we are authorized to state, in all the successive ages of the world, that he who saved the sinners at Ephesus is ever ready to save all who, like them, repent of their sins, and believe in Christ Jesus.

That in the ages to come - In all future times. The sense is, that the riches of divine grace, and the divine benignity, would be shown in the conversion of Christians and their salvation, to all future times. Such was his love to those who were lost, that it would be an everlasting monument of his mercy, a perpetual and unchanging proof that he was good.