Ephesians 3 v 20 thru 21

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Finish chapter three this morning. Just the last couple of verses is all we have left in this chapter. And these verses really give us a great picture of God and who God is, and speaks about the God who does exceedingly abundantly above all. And one of the greatest challenges that we face as Christians is having thoughts about God that are too small. We think that issues, trials, troubles, whatever in our lives are just overwhelming. And we go to God in a, well, maybe he can do something about this kind of way. Or we speak about him in a he might be able to help kind of way. We confess the omnipotence of God, that he is all powerful, and but we live as though in that he has some sort of limited resources, and we we affirm his sovereignty, but we pray timid prayers. We forget that Hebrews tells us that we can approach the throne of grace with boldness, with confidence, because we have a God who is concerned about every detail of our lives. And while we may know that God is infinite, our expectations of Him in a given situation really are rather finite. And the Apostle Paul here concludes the first half of Ephesians with one of the most magnificent doxologies in all of Scripture. And uh he he has prayed that believers might know the immeasurable love of Christ and to be filled with all the fullness of God. And we looked at that last week in verses 14 down through 19. And now he he just really erupts into this praise. And this is not just a conclusion to a prayer. Uh, it is not simply kind of like we, you know, tend to pray, and then oh, in Jesus' name, I better throw that on there. That's not what this is. That is not what Paul is doing. He is he's giving us this great theology, this understanding of who God is, and it breaks out into worship. And it is doctrine that becomes doxology, and and it is a a heart in Paul that is overwhelmed by God. And uh, in fact, the the great Welsh, I believe he was Welsh preacher, Martin Lloyd Jones, he said the ultimate test of our understanding of doctrine is the amount of praise and thanksgiving that results from it. What we truly understand and know about God should inform our worship. If worship is all about how we feel, we've got things turned upside down. Because God is worthy of our worship regardless of how we feel. And the deeper our understanding of God goes, the higher our worship will go. Paul has really been sort of contemplating God's eternal plan of redemption, the mystery of the gospel, the unity of Jew and Gentile together into one family. And he's talked about the riches of Christ and the immeasurable love of God. And so now that we have with Paul looked upon those realities of who God is and what he's done for us in Christ, Paul in his writing here can no longer just explain those things. He has to worship God. And that's what takes place in these two verses. He he reveals to us two uh uh two verses here that have three incredible truths wrapped up in them: that God's power is limitless, that God's present working is active in our lives, and the reality of God's eternal glory. Let's look at verses 20 and 21. He says, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you today for your word. Lord, may its truths penetrate not just our minds but our hearts. May we have a deeper understanding of you today, and that that deeper understanding might cause us to be more obedient, cause us to be more like Christ, cause us to walk more and more in your love, and to be a mirror reflecting your love to the world. Father, have your way in us today, in Christ's name. Amen. So he starts out, and he he really begins talking about the limitless power of God in verse 20, now to him who's able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. So this doxology, this breaking out in praise and worship to God, begins with God, not us. Um, you know, a lot of a lot of uh places you would go on a, I don't know, say this time of day on a Sunday, they sing lots of songs about me. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, I feel, I want, I need. But our focus should be on God. Sing hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Why? Because Christ is our hope in life and death. Not because of us. If we come on a Sunday morning with our invisible mirror up in front of us to look at us and see how we are, we've got the wrong mindset. When we come on a Sunday morning, we should be here to worship God, to honor Him for His gracious, loving heart, and to fellowship and encourage one another. And we do that through singing psalms and songs. By the way, did you notice that first song we sang was based on a psalm? That wasn't an accident. You know, there was a time in the church when they actually sang from a songbook that was nothing but the psalms. They just sang scripture. And that's perfectly fine. We're not limited to that. But we need to make sure that what we are singing is scriptural. And and I hope you understand that. I hope you see that in what we do, because it's all about God. It's all about honoring him, pleasing him, glorifying him. Paul begins where all true theology begins, and that is with God. Now to him who is able to do. I think it's the King James that says, exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. He starts with God. He doesn't start with his own weakness, he doesn't start with the needs that we may have in our lives. He doesn't start with our circumstances and what we're going through, but he starts with God himself. To him who is able. And literally, it it the word, it comes, the root word of dinameno is dinami. And it it means to be able, to to possess power to do something, or to have the capability to do something. And it emphasizes God's inherent ability. Paul is not saying God might be able to. He might be able to do this. He's not saying that God usually succeeds in accomplishing his purposes. He is declaring that omnipotence begins to God's very nature. It is God's nature to be more than capable to accomplish what he sets out to do. The same root word we get English words like dynamic, dynamite, dynasty. It is the fact that God possesses limitless power within himself. He doesn't need anything outside of himself. He is able to do way more than we could ever come up with. That's the point that Paul is beginning with here. Because God's omnipotence is evident throughout Scripture. It's not just here in Ephesians. Scripture repeatedly emphasizes the truth that God is all powerful. Remember when Sarah laughed at the promise of Isaac? Did God strike her dead? No, he asked her a question. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Here's a really cool thing about that question. When God says, is anything, guess what that Hebrew word means? Anything. Is there anything in all of the universe that is too hard for the Lord? Too hard for literally Yahweh. And it's a rhetorical question. Because the answer is obvious to anyone. No. There is nothing too hard for God. Jeremiah says, in fact, kind of in answer to that, many, many years later in Jeremiah 32, 17, he says, nothing is too hard for you in a conversation with God. Jesus said in Matthew 19, 26, with God, all things are possible. The angel Gabriel even proclaimed, nothing will be impossible with God in Luke 1.37, when he was announcing the coming of Christ. God, I think the reason we struggle with understanding God's omnipotence is because we can't wrap our minds around a being that never encounters difficulty. Why? Because we encounter difficulty all the time. How do I know? Well, let's, for example, the other night at work. I had to get down on my knees on a concrete floor. You might as well have shot me. Arthritis in both knees, that is not a good time to be on concrete. And then to get up, I had one hand on the floor, one hand on the machine, and getting up off the floor. Why? Well, first of all, because I'm fat, and second of all, because I got arthritis in my knees. And so I understand, I mean, that's a very simple picture of difficulty. It was difficult for me to do that because it's painful. God doesn't know that. Nothing is difficult. I mean, I remember singing a song years ago, and the chorus said, Nothing is too difficult for thee, nothing is too difficult for thee, great and mighty God, great in counsel and mighty indeed. Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, nothing is too difficult for thee. How much clearer could it be? There is nothing that causes God difficulty. God never expends energy. It's hard for us to wrap our minds around that. Nothing God ever does depletes his energy. Why? Because his words are his deeds. He speaks and things happen. He's not working at them. He never struggles. He never learns. Why? Because he's omniscient. He knows everything. He never improves. Why? Because he's not lacking. And if he changed, he would not be God. Not only is God, does he not change, he's incapable of change. Because to change would mean he's something other than God. His power is infinite because he is infinite. John Calvin wrote, The power of God is not idle or inactive, but continually manifests itself in sustaining and governing all things. God's power is at work all the time. So he says to him who is able to do what? Far more abundantly. That expression in the Greek is kind of mind-boggling because it's one of the strongest. Here you go, I'm going to use a word you probably haven't thought about since like maybe junior high English class. Strongest superlatives that Paul ever uses because it combines several intensifying ideas. He says, beyond, exceedingly abundantly overflowing. So literally, he he could have it could say this in the English: it is God is able to do superabundantly beyond. So whatever we can come up with, God is far more capable of doing that and anything else. And Paul kind of stacks these prefixes on top of each other. And it seems that he's doing that because ordinary language is failing him. It's inadequate in his attempt to describe the God that he's speaking of and the God that he is worshiping. One commentator said that Paul is stretching Greek grammar to its breaking point. It's as though he said God does infinitely more than more than enough. God does infinitely more than more than enough. He's speaking here of this kind of a staircase of God's divine ability. Notice this progress progression. He says God can do what? What we ask, what we think, more than we ask, more than we think, far more than we ask or think, infinitely more than we ask or think. What's the point? It's that every phrase Paul uses in this description of God elevates our understanding and our vision of who God is. Spurgeon said, God's gifts are not measured by our requests, but by his riches. Did you notice as you were reading along with Amos this morning out of Psalm 119 that it said, according to your steadfast love? Not out of, because it's not diminishing God's supply, but it's based on the immeasurable love that God has, the writer in Psalm 119 is asking God to love me according to that level of love. How often do our prayers reveal how little we really expect from God? I feel like sometimes we can pray, and I said we, not you, we, me included, can pray in such a way that it's like we're just checking a box on a list of to-do for the day. Well, I read my Bible, check, I said my prayers, check. And it's like we're just going down the laundry list of things, you know, my to-do list for the day. Instead of really pleading with God to either do what we're asking him to do or show us why he's not. Help us to understand. But Paul reminds us that divine power is not constrained by what our minds can imagine, what we can conjure up, what we can think of. He says that it's beyond all that we ask or think. Paul includes both prayer and imagination. Beyond what we ask. God often answers prayers in greater ways than we requested. He does things and we step back and go, oh, I didn't even think of that. Because he's able to do exceedingly abundantly more than all we can ask or think. Abraham asked for a son. God made him the father of many nations. Solomon asked for wisdom. God gave him wealth and honor in addition to wisdom. The thief on the cross asked to be remembered. And Christ gave him paradise. And then he says, beyond what we can think, because even our imagination, sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God, cannot fully grasp God's purposes. And so Isaiah writes, My thoughts are not your thoughts, Isaiah 55. Paul later writes, What no eye has seen nor ear heard, what God has prepared, 1 Corinthians 2.9. And Augustine very famously said, If you comprehend it, it is not God. Because his ways are far beyond our comprehension. We cannot truly understand them, because a finite mind cannot fully grasp an infinite God. And so Paul is exhausting everything he can think of to let us know just how beyond our understanding and our abilities God really is. Then, continuing in verse 20, we have God's present working according to the power at work within us. Probably the most surprising statement in this verse. The God of infinite power is not merely displaying his power in the universe, he's displaying his power in his people. Right? According to the power at work where? Within us. His power is working in us to save us, to do his will, to glorify him. And then there's that word again. According. According. Kata. In accordance with, in proportion to. Last week I talked about how the difference, uh, an easy way to think of the difference between out of and according to is if a millionaire gives a dollar, that's giving out of his wealth. If a millionaire gives half a million dollars, that's more in line with giving in accordance, according to his will, in proportion to. God does not say that God gives out of his love, but according to his power, according to his love, according to his grace. So If a billionaire gives a dollar, he's giving out of his wealth. If he gives millions, he's giving according to his wealth. God acts according to the measure of his omnipotence. More power than we can imagine is there. And he says, according to what? The power, dynamis. It's the same word that's often translated in the New Testament as power, might, or strength. And Paul has used this term repeatedly. Back in chapter 1, he connects this power to the resurrection of Christ. And the power that is working in believers is resurrection power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, the same power that conquered sin, the same power that defeated Satan. It's the same power that secured our redemption in Christ. Paul is saying the power that is now operating in believers is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. That's incredible power. And then he says that power is what? It's at work within us. It is at work within us. It is, it comes from the word inner gao, and it's the same word we use for energy. And it means that it is active, it is operating, it is functioning, it is effective in what it is doing, and that it is continually working. That's in the perfect present tense there, which means that it's something that happened in a point of time and it has continuing effects. That is the power of God working in us. It is not dormant, it is active. God is presently, actively working in his people. This verse, I think, gives us a beautiful illustration of theological truth that believers do not sanctify ourselves through some autonomous effort. Through something we do within ourselves. God Himself is working within us. Paul said in Philippians 2.13, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Our growth in holiness is ultimately the result of God's divine power working in us. It is not anything we do in and of ourselves. Let me say that again. Everything good in man is the work of God's grace. Because apart from God's grace, we can do no good. And we are not good. Read Romans 3 if you don't understand. It doesn't, however, eliminate our responsibility. But God's sovereignty enables us to be obedient. We can't be obedient to God apart from the Holy Spirit regenerating us. Apart from, back up to chapter two, very beginning, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. We were following the course of this world. We're following the Prince of the Power of the air. But God made us alive together with him in Christ Jesus. So it is God's doing, and he enables us then to live a life of obedience. So God works, therefore we work. God empowers, therefore we can persevere. We can press on till the end. And the church exists as evidence of God's divine power. What evidence exists that God's power is active? Well, look at the church. I don't mean Reeds Baptist or the Southern Baptist Convention or Spring River Association or any, I mean the body of genuine born-again believers in Jesus Christ around the world. What do you have? You have dead sinners who are made alive. You have enemies who become brothers and sisters. You have proud hearts that are becoming humble. You have immoral people who become holy. You have cowards who become courageous witnesses. Think of the Apostle Peter. A little girl. Aren't you one of those Galileans? I saw you with this man. And he says, blink blink it, I don't know what you're talking about. It says he answered her with a curse. He swore, used profanity, denying Christ. And what happened? Christ reconciled him to himself. And then just a month and a half later, Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost and preaches a sermon. And he tells the Jewish religious leaders and everyone else gathered there, this Jesus Christ, whom you crucified, he is the Messiah. And it says 3,000 were added to their number that day. They didn't stand there and sing 47 verses of just as I am. Peter proclaimed the truth of the gospel, the Holy Spirit convicted them of their sin, and they put their faith and trust in Christ. Why? Because he was empowered by the Spirit. He was empowered by God to do that. The church itself is a living miracle. John Chrysostom remarked that the church is stronger than heaven itself, for heaven shall pass away, but the church shall remain. Heaven and earth will pass away. But those who are in Christ, we're going to live forever. The transformation of sinners into saints is among the greatest displays of God's divine power. The fact that he takes dead, stinking, filthy sinners, makes them alive, washes them in the blood of Christ, and makes them white as snow, and sets them on the right path. What greater display of power could there be? Then verse 21 talks about God's eternal glory. He says to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. This is the ultimate purpose for everything. God's glory. It's not man, it's not comfort, it's not God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. It's not success, it's not self-fulfillment. It is the glory of God. That is the whole purpose. He says, to him be glory. That word glory is the Greek word doxa, from which we get the word doxology. And it originally referred to opinion or reputation. But in scripture it comes to mean things like splendor and majesty and excellence and divine worth. Because to glorify God is to acknowledge and proclaim the supreme worth of God. Everything exists for God's glory. Glory in the church. Paul uses again an astonishing statement that God is glorified where? He's glorified in the church. He's glorified in the church, not merely through the church, but in the church, because the church is God's chosen theater for displaying his glory. Ephesians has emphasized this repeatedly. The church displays back in verse 10 of chapter 3, God's wisdom. In chapter 2, verse 7, it displays God's grace. In this verse right here, it displays God's power and glory.

unknown 31:20

R.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

C. Sproul said the church is not an accident of history. It is central to God's eternal purposes. Christ said, I will build my church. Upon what? Upon the truth that Peter had spoken. Not on Peter. Peter was a doofus who was getting ready to deny Christ. I do not understand why the Roman Catholic Church insists that Peter was the first Pope, and that when he said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, when Jesus said, You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, they miss the play on words that Christ has done there because he said, You are Peter, pebble size rock, and on this rock, rock of Gibraltar size rock, I will build my church. Why did he use two different terms? You are Petras, and on this Petra, I will build my church. You're a tiny pebble, but on the massive huge rock of truth that you just spoke, that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God, on that truth I will build my church. Not on Peter the apostle. I already said Christ reconciled Peter to himself and that he used him in a powerful way. But Peter is not the rock on which the church is founded. That is Christ. We're gonna see in this very book, coming up pretty quick, that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. Anybody remember that old song? I remember hearing it back when I was a kid back in the 70s. Jesus is the cornerstone, though rejected by his own. What a tremendous message. Oddly enough, it's exactly what the Bible says. That he is the cornerstone. He is the rock, he is the head of the church. God has been very patient because many Christians undervalue the church. What do I mean? Well, I love God, but I don't love the church. Then you don't love God. Not in a saving way. Because if you did, you would realize that those barriers are broken down and that you're not looking to people in a local body to provide what you need spiritually. But you're looking to God for that. Well, I stopped going to church because so and so. Well, then your faith wasn't in God, it was in people. But God has chosen the church as the visible manifestation of his plan for our redemption. What do I mean? Dead raised to life. Walking in newness of life, as Paul wrote to the church in Rome. We were buried with him through baptism unto death. And now, as Christ was raised through the glory of the Father, we are raised to walk in a new life. And then there's glory in Christ Jesus. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. The church can only glorify God because we are united to Christ. That's the only way we can glorify God because every blessing comes through him. How do we know? Chapter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Where did our blessings come from? In Christ Jesus. Every prayer comes through him. It is only through Christ giving us access to the throne of God that we can pray to the Father. And every act of worship comes through him. Jesus prayed in John 17 at the beginning of his great high priestly prayer. He said, Father, glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. The glory of God shines brightly in the face of Christ. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. John MacArthur wrote that the supreme purpose of redemption is not primarily the salvation of man, but the glory of God. In fact, the I think it's the shorter catechism that begins: what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and live with him forever. That means what is our purpose? To glorify God and to live with him forever. And then he says that this glory is in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. So Paul's vision for the glory of God reaches beyond Paul's own lifetime. The church will endure, empires rise and fall, kingdoms collapse, civilizations disappear, but Christ continues to build his church. Matthew 16, 18. And for nearly 2,000 years, believers have gathered to worship Christ. And they'll continue to do that until he returns. Then he says, throughout all generations, forever and ever. In case you didn't understand, throughout all generations, he again uses superlatives forever and ever. He is literally, he says, unto all generations of the age of ages. Paul is piling eternity upon eternity. This glory is never going to cease. The praise of heaven will never end. And the redeemed will never exhaust God's greatness in their worship of Him. Augustine wrote, There shall we rest and see, see and love, love and praise. This is what shall be in the end without end. So these two verses this morning lift our eyes from ourselves and our situation to God. It reminds us that God's power is limitless, that his work is ongoing, and that his glory is eternal. So again, Martin Lloyd Jones, he said the Christian is one who has become amazed at God. Amazed at God. It is Paul's condition here. He's amazed at God. He the God who saves sinners, the God who indwells his people, the God whose power exceeds our very imagination. The God whose glory fills heaven and earth. The God who sent his son to redeem those in rebellion against him. The God who will keep his church forever. So let us trust him more deeply. Let us pray more boldly, let us worship more fervently, and let us live more faithfully in honor of this God. Because our God is able beyond our asking, beyond our thinking, beyond our imagining, and to him alone belongs all glory. And the last word of verse 21 Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word today.