+V. The glory of Divine grace in salvation will be increasingly demonstrated in the future.+--"That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace" (ver. 7). The most valuable function of history is not that which deals with the rise and fall of empires, the brutal ravages of war, the biographies of kings, statesmen, and philosophers, but that which treats upon the social and moral condition of the people and the influence of religion in the development of individual and national character. The true history of the world is the history of God's dealings with it. The ages of the past have been a revelation of God; the ages to come will be an enlargement of that revelation, and its most conspicuous feature will be an ever-new development of the riches of Divine grace in the redemption of the human race. In all successive ages of the world we are authorised to declare that sinners shall be saved only as they repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. +Lessons.+--_Salvation_--1. _Is a revelation of what God does for man._ 2. _Is absolutely necessary for each._ 3. _Should be earnestly sought by all._ _GERM NOTES OF THE VERSES._ Vers. 4-7. _The Great Change effected in Man by the Gospel._ +I. The happy change which the Gospel made in the Ephesians.+--A change not peculiar to them, but common to all sincere believers. 1. _God hath quickened us._--Made us alive with Christ. (1) True Christians are alive; they have spiritual senses and appetites. (2) Spiritual motions. (3) Spiritual pleasures. (4) Spiritual powers. The spiritual life comes through Christ and is conformed to Him. 2. _God hath raised us up together with Christ_ (ver. 6).--His resurrection is a proof and pattern of that of believers. 3. _God hath made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ._--His entrance into heaven is a proof of the final salvation of believers. He sits there for them, to take care of their interests, and in due time will bring them to sit where He is. +II. Contemplate the mercy of God in this great change.+--"God, who is rich in mercy" (ver. 4). The mercies of God are rich in extent, in number, in respect of constancy, in variety, in value. "The great love wherewith He loved us." He first loved us. His love shines brighter when we consider what a being He is. He is infinitely above us. He is self-sufficient. The Gospel gives us the most exalted conceptions of God's character. +III. The general purpose of God's particular mercy to the Ephesians+ (ver. 7).--God's mercy in reclaiming one transgressor may operate to the salvation of thousands in ages to come. The Gospel dispensation was intended to serve some useful purposes among other intelligences. Not only God's gracious dispensation to fallen men, but also His righteous severity toward irreclaimable offenders, is designed for extensive beneficial influence.--_Lathrop._ Vers. 4, 5. _The State of Grace._ 1. _Salvation originates in the love of God._