Ephesians: A Conclusion of Praise
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Eph. 3:20-21.
These last two verses of this chapter are a call a “doxology.”
It is simply a statement of praise that honors the Lord’s majesty, that ascribes glory to Him, that exalts Him.
That is what Paul does in these two verses.
Paul was so deeply conscious of the love of God and His grace that he felt he had nothing more to do but give praise to the One who, in His grace and mercy has made such things possible for man.
The Question is do you feel compelled to join him?
Have you been moved and thrilled as we have realized the great possibility that you can have this same blessings here in this present world?
Our Do you feel that they are beyond the reach of the ordinary Christian, so-called, and certainly not possible for you?
Are you like the children of Isreal?
They did not believe the word of God, they did not believe His promises and as a result they wondered and suffered in their journey.
Is that you this evening?
I am sure that Paul had heard that some of the believers doubted and were discouraged, so he wanted them to know that the One that saved you can also fulfil all these petitions and He, deserves all the praise, honor and glory.
We need to be remind of this tonight as well.
We serve the the Holiest of holies
The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending
the creator of all things and the sustainer of all those things that he has created.
We have been saved by His Sons blood and it was not due to anything good in us.
We deserve Hell, but God who is rich in mercy, has seen fit to grant us certain spiritual blessings if you just believe He is able.
Paul is going to remind us of that this evening.
Main:
The first thing we see tonight about this Conclusion is we should be...
I. Praising God for what He can do
I. Praising God for what He can do
Ill. In the previous verses of Ephesians, Paul has spent considerable time describing the happy condition of the church.
He reminds us that we are not an accident, but we are saved because of the deliberate planning and action of God.
Let me just give you a brief reminder of some of the truths Paul has already shared with us.
• We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world - 1:4.
• We are predestined - 1:11.
• We are secure in our salvation, because His Spirit. - 1:14.
• We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but we have been made alive unto Him - 2:1–4
• We are a people who were separated from God - 2:12–18.
• We were aliens from God, - 2:13–18.
But now,
• we are fellowcitizens - 2:19.
• We are in His family—2:19.
• We are His Temple - 2:20–21.
• We are His body - 2:22.
There is more that Paul has told us in these three chapters, but those are enough that they should cause every saint of God to overflow with praise to the God of their salvation.
He is worthy of our love, our devotion and our praise.
We need to get busy praising Him, because we are way behind!
Paul prayed for four specific things to happen.
we saw this morning and last week
1. He prayed that they will be filled with God’s power in the inner man
2. He prayed that they will be settled in their faith
3. He prayed that they would know the love of Christ and live it out
4. He prays that they will experience the very fullness of God Himself
These petitions are powerful, wonderful, and glorious.
They should be on our own hearts and lips at all times.
However, they are impossible for us to accomplish within our own power.
We could never walk in His power without His help.
We could never know and show the love of God apart from His power.
We could never understand even the smallest truth about God unless He opened our eyes and revealed it to us personally.
So, as part of his doxology of praise to the Lord, Paul lets us know that we have help!
Thank God, there is help for those who desire His power and presence in their lives.
There is help for those who want to know His awesome love.
There is help for those who want to show that same awesome love to others.
There is help for all those who desire to know the Lord in His fullness!
The first thing we see is
A. His Excellent Ability
A. His Excellent Ability
—While we are unable to do any of the things Paul mentioned on our own;
He is able!
The word “able” means, “to be capable, strong and powerful.”
Our God is a God Who possesses “all power in Heaven and in earth,” Matt. 28:18.
Our God is the God of Creation Col. 1:16–17
• Our God is the God of Salvation Gal.2:20
• Our God is the God of Resurrection Rev.1:18
Paul’s point is that our God is “able” to do all those marvelous things I just mentioned and more, and if He can do all that, then He is more than “able” to give us the great blessings Paul prayed for in Eph. 3:16–19.
He is “able” to empower us, Acts 1:8.
He is “able” to give us knowledge of His love, Eph. 3: 17
and to show that same love to others, Rom. 5:5.
He is “able” to give us the ability to grasp Who He Is and all that He has done for us in Jesus Christ. Eph. 3:19
Our God is “capable, powerful and strong!”
We should praise Him for His Ability
then we see
B. His Excess Abundance
B. His Excess Abundance
—Paul says that God is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think.”
The phrase “exceeding abundantly above” had the idea of, “going above and beyond.”
God’s ability exceeds the lengths to which our minds can think.
His ability goes beyond the limits of what we can ask.
Verse 20 is a pyramid of praise declaring God’s ability:
“He is able; He is able to do; He is able to do exceeding abundantly; He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask; He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.”
There is no question in the minds of believers that God is able, but far too many of us fail to enjoy the privilege of seeing Him do that in our lives because we fail to follow the pattern for living mentioned in those verses.
When we are walking in His power, v. 16; when we are walking in His love, v. 17–19a; and when we are walking in the fullness of the Lord, v. 19b, we are able to tap into the awesome power of God in our lives.
When we are walking in Him and in His love, He works in us and through us to accomplish the things He desires in our lives.
In other words, it does not fall to us to make the Christian life happen.
Our duty is to simply yield to Him.
When we do, His power transcends our weakness and enables us to live for the Lord, and to accomplish great things for His glory.
Every true believer wants a closer relationship with the Lord.
We all want to live cleaner, more holy lives.
We all want to honor God and serve him faithfully.
We “ask” for that.
We “pray” for that.
But it seems it never happens because we think we will never achieve our spiritual goals, and we can’t in and of ourselves.
But, His power exceeds the limits of our weakness and He is able to help us achieve holiness and godliness in our lives.
Thank God, there are no limits to His power!
He can move mountains, change lives, lift burdens, meet needs, and He can change the lives of substandard saints and transform them into vessels of honor for His glory.
I. Praising God for what He can do
II. Praising God for what He has done
II. Praising God for what He has done
Paul tells us that we all have something in us that already has the ability to do the things he wants us to do. This is all because of His Grace
A. He has Empowered Us
A. He has Empowered Us
—Paul tells us that the Lord is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
This phrase simply reiterates what I have already said, God empowers His people to live for Him.
Before the Day of Pentecost, the Lord made this promise to His disciples. Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The word “power” in that verse and in Eph. 3:20 is the same word.
It refers to “inherent power, or the power that resides in a thing because of its nature.”
When the Lord moved into your life, He came in with power.
He came into you to enable you to love Him.
• The Lord enabled Paul to preach for His glory: 1 Cor. 2:4–5.
• The Lord enabled Paul to live for the Lord day by day: 2 Cor. 6:3–10.
And The Lord wants you to know that His grace is sufficient for you too.
He is able to empower you for service.
He is able to empower you to to live for Him every day you spend in this world.
His grace empowers us!
B. He has Engaged Us
B. He has Engaged Us
—Paul says, “according to the power that works in us.”
This does not mean our own power it means His power
The power to live for the Lord comes from Him, which comes from within.
How is that possible?
It is possible only because He lives in us.
When He saved us, the Spirit of God came into us with power
And now He works through us.
He empowers us to engage us.
He empowers us by imparting His life to us, which when he does He works through us.
He engages us into ministry.
Paul said it this way: Gal. 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
When we yield to Him and allow His life to flow from us, we will live lives that are pleasing to the Lord and empowered by Him.
Thus, God will use us to glorify Him in the world.
Here is what Jesus said about it.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
As we live for Him, and as we allow Him to live through us, He fills us with His life and He is seen, He is glorified, and He uses us as His light in the world.
Christ says it this way in
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
His grace empowers us for service. His grace engages us for living.
Thank God for grace!
I. Praising God for what He can do
II. Praising God for what He has done
And lastly tonight we see that we should be
III. Praising GOD for who He is Today
III. Praising GOD for who He is Today
Paul ends his doxology by praising God for simply being God.
Paul says ‘Unto Him, unto God, the creator of all, the begining of days and end of days. That one,’
Paul says, ‘be glory.’ this word encompasses everything that God is and that he is the One worthy of praise for simply being God.
Notice what Paul says about giving glory to God.
A. The Place of His Glory
A. The Place of His Glory
—“to Him be glory in the church”
—This phrase reminds us that the church exists for the sole purpose of bringing glory to God. Praising God for everything we have.
He is glorified in the church, because the church is made of of sinners who have been saved by His grace.
He loved us when we deserved to be cast into Hell.
He reached out to us in love and grace and drew us to Himself.
He saved us when we called on Him by faith, and He changed our lives.
Now, as we live for Him and honor His Word, He receives glory from the church.
As we love Him and love one another, He is glorified.
As we preach the Gospel and gather for worship, He is glorified.
As we sing, pray, work, and serve in the church, He is glorified.
The church is an organism that exists to bring glory to His name, and when we function as we should, that is exactly what we do!
We must keep this truth in mind as we go about the business of ministry.
Everything we do at the church should be done with a view to bringing glory to the Lord.
Every decision we make, every dollar we spent, every missionary we support, every job we assign, should all be for His glory and for no other reason.
Every person who serves here in any capacity should perform his or her job to the best of their ability for the glory of God alone.
We must not work for the applause of men.
We must not work to make a name for ourselves.
We must work for the glory of God.
Remember what Paul said to the church at Corinth?
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
B. The Permanence Of His Glory
B. The Permanence Of His Glory
—This glory that God receives through the church is not a fleeting glory.
Paul says that it will last “through out all ages, world without end.”
That phrase literally means “unto all the generation of the age of ages.”
God will be receiving glory from His church, because of His Son, when the end of time comes and eternity flows into eternity.
One day, the Lord Jesus will come for His church.
He will take his bride home to Heaven to live in the Father’s house forever,
and as the endless ages of eternity unfold, the church in Heaven, will continue to bring glory to Him as we worship Him and exult in His glory forever.
A glimpse of the amazing future of the church is given to us in Rev. 4–5.
Would to God that we could grasp all He is and all He has done for us.
We will never grasp the fulness of His glory and grace in this life.
One day, however, our bodies and our minds will be glorified.
When that happens, we will understand Him.
Even though we can’t grasp it all right now, it still doesn’t hurt to glorify Him concerning what we do know.
So, give Him glory in the church, because that is the business of Heaven.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Johann Sebastian Bach said,
“All music should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the soul’s refreshment; where this is not remembered there is no real music but only a devilish hub-bub.”
At the top of every composition, he wrote the letters:
“J. J.” Those initials stand for “Jesus Java,” which means “Jesus help me.”
Bach ended every composition with the letters “S. D.G.” Those letters stand for “Soli Dei gratia” which means “To God alone the praise.”
Bach had the glory of God at the heart of every piece of music he authored. That same desire should dwell each of our hearts.
This moment in time is as good as any for the church to get busy bringing Him glory.
Perhaps you would like to come before Him to glorify Him for His gracious work in your life.
Perhaps you would like to come and talk with Him about the issues in your life that prevent you from serving Him as well as you, and He, would like.
Perhaps you need to come seek His power for service, to tell someone about Jesus, or to walk faithfully day by day.
Perhaps you need come before Him to ask Him to help you live for Him day by day.