Unto Him be Glory

[0:00] As we read Ephesians 3 verse 14. And depth and height.

[0:31] And to know the love of Christ. Which passeth knowledge. That you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly.

[0:43] Above all that we ask or think. According to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus throughout all ages.

[0:55] World without end. Amen. Paul is praying here to God the Father. For the church at Ephesus. This church at Ephesus.

[1:06] He prayed for them. As part of his letter. He prayed an earlier prayer. In chapter 1 verse 15 through 23. So this is his second prayer. For the church.

[1:18] And he's praying. That God will be glorified. Unto him be glory in the church. Notice Paul's submission here.

[1:29] He bowed his knees. It says. Verse 14. I bow my knees. It starts with submission. As he bows. And asks God. As he surrenders.

[1:40] As he submits unto God. He bows. And he prays for this church. And to sum it all up. All of his prayer. He says this. Unto him be glory in the church.

[1:52] Unto him be glory in the church. How does a church. A people who assemble. Who gather together. In his name. In a location. How does a church.

[2:03] Give glory unto him. That is the question. I'd like us to address today. And get the answers from this passage. Verse 16. Paul prays. That he would grant you.

[2:14] This church. That he would grant you. According to the riches of his glory. Talks about the riches of heaven. The riches of his glory. To be strengthened. With might.

[2:26] By his spirit. In the inner man. That Christ may dwell. In your hearts. By faith. What is it. That marks a people. A church. That gives glory.

[2:39] Unto him. That gives glory. Unto God. I'll put to you number one. His spirit. His spirit. God gets the glory. When his church. Is strengthened.

[2:50] With might. By his spirit. Do you know. This strengthening. This strengthening. It's not. By might. Nor by power. But by his spirit.

[3:01] Isn't it. We see some. Some big. Muscular blokes. Bragging on about. How great they are. How they're going to beat up. The other bloke. And that man made. Prideful strength.

[3:13] But it's weakness. In his sight. Really. It's nothing. Compared to the. As we've heard. The awesomeness. Of our God. And do you know.

[3:23] His might. In your weakness. That is the question. This is what makes. A church strong. The riches. Of his glory. God's abundance. We read of that here.

[3:35] The spirit of God. Working. Inside human hearts. That is true power. That is true strength. And. The wonder of it. Is that he can work. In weak human vessels.

[3:46] Amen. He can work. In weak. Fragile. Vessels. Of dust. Of skin. And he fills. Us with his spirit. The spirit. Of the living God.

[3:57] You know. Some have prayed. I want. More of God. I want. More of God. And truly. In parallel. He wants more of you.

[4:08] He wants more of you. As we give. All of us. Yeah. We want more of him. He wants more of us. All of us. The spirit of God. Working inside human hearts.

[4:19] That is true power. True strength. So think back. Through the pages. Of the scriptures. We have seen. Where the Holy Spirit of God. Showed up. The spirit of God. It hovered over the.

[4:29] Face of the waters. It moved upon the face. Of the waters. And it created the world. The universe. Was created by the spirit of God. The spirit of God. It energized the people of God.

[4:40] At Pentecost. It mobilized them. To be a force for God. On the planet. The spirit of God. Equipped them. It. Resourced them.

[4:53] He sent them. Across the planet. Mobilized. That's what God wants for his church. Amen. Amen. To be a people. Shaped by the spirit of God. For God himself.

[5:04] To get a hold of us. And shake us out of our apathy. And shake us out of our. Complacency. And get us. Mobilized. The spirit of God.

[5:15] He shapes us. He changes us. He radically. Renovates us. From the inside out. And he makes us into his very own image. The spirit of God. Transforms lives and hearts.

[5:26] Just as we see through the pages of scripture. Through the record of history. Where men and women. Were sold out. To the cause of Christ. Unto him be glory.

[5:37] In the church. They were just human vessels. Just like you and me. Just as weak. And faulty. And fallible. But by his spirit. By his spirit. You can know that.

[5:47] Brother. Sister. You can know that. That same strengthening. Strengthening. To illustrate that. Let me tell you a story.

[5:58] Of a time. World War II. Was not far off. 1934. Adolf Hitler. Started to exert some force.

[6:10] In the nation of Germany. Adolf Hitler. And he summoned the German church leaders. To his Berlin office. To berate them. To tell them off.

[6:21] They weren't sufficiently promoting. His programs. And one pastor. Pastor Martin. Stood up to Hitler.

[6:35] And that evening. Hitler's Gestapo. Raided Martin's. Home. A few days later. A bomb exploded.

[6:46] In Martin's church. Later then. Martin was arrested. And placed in solitary confinement. His trial began on February the 7th.

[6:59] 1938. That morning. A green uniformed guard. Escorted the pastor. From his prison cell. Through some underground passages.

[7:11] Towards the courtroom. Martin was. Terrified. Lonely. What would become of him.

[7:21] Of his family. His church. The guard's face was impassive. Just a. Expressionless face.

[7:32] As the guard. Held him. And took him. To the. To his cell. And. As they exited a tunnel. To ascend that final flight of stairs.

[7:43] Into the courtroom. Martin heard a whisper. At first. He didn't know where it came from. For the voice was soft. As a sigh.

[7:55] Then he realized. That the officer was breathing into his words. Breathing into his ear. The words of. Proverbs 18. Verse 10. The name of the Lord.

[8:07] Is a strong tower. The righteous run to it. And are safe. Martin's fear fell away. And the power of that verse.

[8:20] Sustained him. Through his trial. And his years in Nazi concentration camps. The name of the Lord. Is a strong tower. The righteous run to it.

[8:31] And are safe. The strength in the Lord. The strength in the Lord for you. No matter what. Your circumstance. No matter what your situation. Martin found that. It's by his spirit.

[8:43] It's by his spirit. It's the wonder of it all. Is that the spirit of the almighty God. The awesome God. The great almighty God. By his spirit.

[8:53] He comes and. Unleashes his power within you. Within me. Within human vessels. Inadequate. Unworthy. Unfit. It tells of.

[9:05] Spiritual action here. Paul tells. About this church. That gives glory to God. It's by his spirit. By his spirit. Not by. Machinery. Not by. Razzmatazz.

[9:17] Not by. Sound systems. Or disco lights. Or. The latest. Rock band. And the. Greatest. Hits of men. And. The. Hoo-ha.

[9:27] And carry on. And the. Rubbish. That man tries to put into a church. But it's the spirit of God. That's the spirit of God. That's what we need.

[9:38] The spirit of God. Manifest. In human vessels. And Paul tells of this spiritual action. It's within the inner man. One by one by one.

[9:49] In those human vessels. That inner man. The part that nobody else sees. God sees. He sees your heart. He sees my heart. He sees the inner man. God cares about your inner man.

[10:01] And so should you. The inner man. It's the real you. Not that. Facade. Not that. Outside. The outer man. But the inner man.

[10:12] That's the real you. What really counts. It's who you really are. On the inside. Whether you're the real. The true. Or a fake. The spirit of God.

[10:22] Almighty. Gets to work on the inside of us. We've just got to open our heart. The Bible talks about. How the Lord opened the heart. Of Lydia. Let's just have that open heart.

[10:35] Amen. I know some think. Revelation 3.20. He stands at the door and knocks. You know. Of course we know. It's kind of a little bit stretching it. But. There is that truth.

[10:46] That he opens the heart. Doesn't he? Sometimes we can shut our heart. And put the bolt across. No. No entry. But God wants your heart. He opened the heart.

[10:56] The inner man. The real you. The spirit of God. The almighty. Wants to get to work inside of you. Inside of our heart. He's that. Real heart surgeon.

[11:07] Isn't he? He gives us a. A new heart. He takes away the old. Stony heart. He gives us a heart of flesh. The spirit of the almighty. Works within the inner man. And God's church is strong.

[11:19] When his people. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Now we can ask. Do you lack spiritual power? I could do with some more.

[11:30] Amen. We all could do with more of God. Can't we? And he wants more of you. He will give you more of himself. As you give more of yourself unto him. The more that we surrender.

[11:40] The more power we receive. Of him. Unlimited strength is at our disposal. We might think. I'm so weak. Join the club. We are all weak.

[11:53] We're still flesh. Last time I looked. One day I won't be able to do that anymore. I'll be. Whew. There'll be a new body. A new spirit. We'll be glorified.

[12:04] But for the meantime. We've got these vessels of clay. And faulty as they are. There's unlimited strength. At our disposal. And what we do as a church. Is because the Lord Jesus.

[12:14] Lives inside human hearts by faith. He fills us. He leads us. His own people. And it's wonderful to see a people. Who are strong in faith. Strong in faith.

[12:26] They want to give glory to God. That's what we want as a church. That's why we're here. To give glory to God. And how do we do that? By making godly choices.

[12:38] Make wise choices. Choices you won't have a hangover after. Choices you won't have regret about. Choices you won't have skeletons in your cupboard. Because of bad choices.

[12:49] But you'll want to please God. You'll want to be making choices that will accord with Him. Because Christ dwells in your heart by faith.

[13:01] And He guides your heart. Your choices. You care about what God cares about. We're talking about God's power. Power. His power. Great power.

[13:12] In human vessels. What a wonder. No other substitute will do. Let's not settle for anything of fleshly power. Of man's power. But the true strength of God's power.

[13:23] Paul says he prays that they be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. That's a prayer we can pray, isn't it?

[13:34] Lord, strengthen me with might by Your Spirit in my inner man. This is true strength. Strength of character. Strength of spirit. Someone has said, The power of Christ in you is greater than the pressure of troubles around you.

[13:50] That should be the case, shouldn't it? Of course we're all afflicted and tested and tried with the stresses and pressures of troubles of life.

[14:00] The sad things of life. But the power of Christ can be in us. Strengthening us. Sustaining us. And we can be such a people. Strengthened by that Spirit.

[14:12] By His might. By His Spirit in the inner man. As we seek to glorify God. And realize God is living inside of me.

[14:25] And so I want to be in line with what He would want for me. His best for me. There was a preacher who put it like this. If you are not being strengthened in the inner man.

[14:39] With power by the Spirit of God. It's very obvious you're not making Christ at home in your hearts. Why? Because Christ is His Spirit that lives there.

[14:50] If you're living a lifestyle that is not pleasing to Him. If you are grieving Him. No wonder you're discouraged. Defeated. No wonder your life is falling apart. But there's a basic truth of Scripture.

[15:01] That shows what victory is all about. Victory. It's not me doing for Him. It is me being strengthened. Me being strengthened.

[15:12] That enables the Spirit of Christ to be welcomed in my heart. You've already received Christ into your life. You say, I want to walk in the fullness of what He has to offer.

[15:23] Where do I start? It starts when you realize how weak you are. And how desperate we are to tap into His strength. And God will bring people and circumstances into your life that will cause you to cry out, Oh God, I can't.

[15:39] And He says, that's right. I never said you could. I can. I always said I would. Now tap into me. Appropriate what is already yours.

[15:50] We say, I can't. But He says, I can. Let me do it through you. Let me live through you. Let me enable you. His power strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.

[16:03] And when Jesus is living in the inner man, He will show through in the outer man. He'll so fill you and overflow you that it'll ooze out of your skin. That Jesus will ooze out of you.

[16:15] And, you know, don't you love believers that you just see Jesus in them? You just look at them and you see Jesus. You see Him.

[16:27] Just, He oozes out of them. He's just in them. He's inside of them. And that can be true for you, for me, for all of us.

[16:38] Well, let Him have His way. Let Him have His way. How is your inner man? You know, we spend so much time worrying about the outer man, don't we?

[16:49] You know, every time I go past a mirror, I just have a quick look. And I don't look any better. I just seem to look worse and worse. You know, but we spend so much time worrying about the outer man, don't we?

[17:02] What about the inner man? That's what counts, isn't it? You know, we'll fade away. One day we'll rot away. But Jesus in you, the inner man.

[17:15] That's what counts because that goes on forever, for eternity. As we yield to His Spirit in our hearts, one by one of us. Each one of us. And next time you look in the mirror, and you look at that outer man.

[17:28] And I know some of your outer mans are a lot better looking than my outer man. But, you know, think also of your inner man. Think of that. Think of that. Next time you look in the mirror.

[17:39] Every time you look in the mirror, think, how's my inner man? Am I looking after my spiritual, the spiritual me, the real me? Am I growing that, that growing that faith?

[17:50] God is glorified in that. So, we see the wonderful truth of the church that glorifies God is His Spirit. His Spirit. We see, Paul goes on to pray, verse 17.

[18:04] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height.

[18:18] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. So, secondly, what is it that marks a people, a church, that gives glory unto Him?

[18:32] Glory to God. I put to you His love. His love. God gets the glory when Christ dwells in His church, His people, who know the love of Christ.

[18:43] It says it roots us, it grounds us, it stabilizes like a tree, grounded, firmly planted into the ground. This is our foundation, love.

[18:53] The tree can withstand all the storms because it is firmly planted. And what grounds us is His love. His love. And God gets the glory in a church where His love is manifest.

[19:07] Paul tells of this fullness. He prays that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. That's amazing, isn't it? To be filled with all the fullness of God. I know our brother referred to the awesomeness of God.

[19:20] The majesty, the power. He's just beyond our imagination. Beyond our comprehension entirely. We can personally, each one, know His fullness and be filled with His fullness.

[19:35] Filled with all the fullness of God. The love of Christ. We read of the love of Christ here. It says it passeth knowledge. So His love is beyond human comprehension, beyond human limitations.

[19:51] And we as God's people are planted firmly and grounded in this love. It's a hallmark of the people who know God. That they know the love of Christ and they show it.

[20:01] God's church is strong when we reflect the love of Jesus. We know it and we show it. You know, some people, they might be right down, straight down the line.

[20:12] And they can be hard on people. And they can miss it. They might be totally doctrinally correct and be hard.

[20:25] Now there's a time for hardness. But love is the hallmark of the people of God. Love edifies.

[20:38] Love builds up. I'm not talking about a wishy-washy love that excuses sin and kind of dusts it under the rug, hides it under the carpet. Love that's kind of an airy-fairy with some fuzzy-wuzzy kind of God that is no real God at all.

[20:54] And it's all airy-fairy and all light and fluffy. But a love that speaks the truth in love. That love that works hand-in-hand with the truth.

[21:05] And think of this love. The love that took Christ to the cross. How can we get our heads around that? As Peter was saying, the gruesome torture of the cross.

[21:20] The cross, the piece of wood, the shape of the cross is not something we venerate. It's a torture instrument. It is the means of our Saviour's death.

[21:31] We don't glorify the cross, but we glorify His love at the cross. We glorify what He did at the cross. And what is it? God's church is strong when we realize, when we reflect the love of Christ, when we know it and when we show it.

[21:46] Paul prays, the breadth, the length, the depth and the height. It's almost like a cross, isn't it? The dimensions of the love of Christ took Him to the very cross.

[21:57] As we think of those dimensions, as broad as humanity. God so loved the world. How broad can you get?

[22:09] You know, something, black lives matter, white lives matter. God says all lives matter. All lives. God so loved the world. That's how broad it is.

[22:21] As broad as humanity. The breadth of it. The length of it. God said that this love is eternal. From everlasting to everlasting.

[22:33] His love is everlasting. His truth endures. His mercy endures to all generations. His love knows no end point. It's eternal.

[22:43] It's eternity. The length of it. The height of it. As we think how in America there's some flooding going on. The height of this is that love covers a multitude of sins.

[23:01] The love of God can cover the multitude of sins. His love is so high you can't get over it. Amen. It's as high as the heavens above.

[23:12] So high is His love to us. And then we think of the depths. He's gone to the very bottomless pit for our sin. He's gone to the very depths. And you might think oh I'm just so sinful.

[23:25] I'm just so unworthy. I'm a sinner and I keep on sinning. And even as a saved man, a saved woman you think I'm just never going to measure up.

[23:37] It says that His everlasting arms are underneath us. They're always underneath us. No matter how low you go, underneath are the everlasting arms.

[23:50] You can never go too low that He can't hold you still and help you and lift you. The breadth, the length, the depth, the height, the dimensions of the love of Christ.

[24:02] His love. It's extreme, isn't it? The extremity of the cross. It knows no racial barrier, no colour, no culture is without reach of this love.

[24:15] His love is boundless and it's poured out, poured out. And you see this in a people. As I say, there's different Christians we know and you just look at them and you see the love of Jesus is in them.

[24:27] It's in their eyes. It's in their talk. It's in their way. It's in their nature. The love of Jesus is in them and it's flowing out of them.

[24:39] And it's not pretend. And it's not like it's a dependent on circumstance. It's not like they, okay, I'm going to switch on the love of Jesus when they walk into the church and then I'll switch it off when I go back to normal life.

[24:55] And it's not limited by prejudice or social standing. This love. It's not based on getting anything back. Love your enemies.

[25:06] What? That's what Jesus said to do. Wow. How do I do that? So it's not based on getting anything back. It's not like you're in it to get anything out of it.

[25:20] The love of Jesus. It just oozes out of some people. It's in their eyes. It's in their hearts. It's who they are. The love of Jesus. The love of Jesus. And God's people is a people.

[25:32] God's church is a people whose hearts have been changed, transformed, made alive, filled with all the fullness of God. This God who so loved the world fills you, fills me with all of his fullness.

[25:46] And we can overflow with his great love. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. And faith is how we appropriate. It's how we receive his love.

[25:58] Faith. There's nothing complicated about it. Believe and receive. Sometimes we get too complicated. Believe and receive it.

[26:11] God's church that gives him glory is a church where we're meant to be contagious, carriers of this love to a world that knows him not.

[26:22] I know there was a sister that I was about to shake her hand this morning and she said, oh, you better not touch me. Because I've had a bit of a bug and she didn't want to transmit it.

[26:35] But brothers and sisters, we need to be transmitters of his love, don't we? We need to be contagious. So there's this good virus of his love that we want to tell everybody.

[26:47] This love is our message. It tells in the word how the love of Christ constrains us. It just pushes us out there. We just can't but relay it.

[26:58] His will is that we share this love. And we've got tracks. We've got some more. Pass them out. You might think, oh, I'm a bit too nervous to say anything. You can put a leaflet in a letterbox.

[27:10] Share his love however you can. There's lots of ways. And so his will is that we share his love. And so when you've got those people that get under your skin, you can even love them.

[27:23] You never know what God might do. Amen? Isn't that wonderful? You know, it's amazing what God can do even for those people you think, oh, I won't waste my time talking to them.

[27:35] Or I won't be nice to them. They're never nice to me. You know? But his love is our message. Let's make it happen. Let's not hold it back.

[27:46] You know, I know it might be hard to see it this way but life is so short, isn't it? And I was saying this in a recent message lately and you don't know how much time you've got to show his love to someone.

[28:00] So don't wait to show his love. And because we love Jesus, we've got that good news message to share to the world. And his love, it forgives. It extends.

[28:11] His love reaches out even when rejected. Even when you're rejected, show his love still. Jesus did and does.

[28:23] He touches the hateful and the hurting while we were enemies. While we were enemies. He did it for us, didn't he? He went to the cross for us.

[28:33] So love goes beyond expectations. And when we love with the love of Jesus, we'll have a love for the brethren, which means our brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, do good to all men but especially to the household of faith.

[28:47] Bless your brother. Bless your sister. Encourage one another. The love of Jesus is the love of the brethren. It's the love of his church. It's the love of fellowship. The love of his word. The love of sound doctrine.

[29:01] When we love God, we want to grow more, know more. And we want to comprehend. In other words, really get a grasp on knowing him. Knowing more about him. We'll have that hunger and thirsting to be a growing Christian.

[29:15] You know, the 10 o'clock service won't be enough. It won't be enough. We just want to have more. More of God. Him to have more of me. We want to have a hungering and a thirsting.

[29:25] A longing. To be where the word is. To reflect his love. To show his love. That his love constrain us. Compell us. Motivate us to be active believers. In a world that doesn't know his great love.

[29:38] And we want to show his love to others. So Paul prays that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. That's pretty massive, isn't it?

[29:51] Talked about the riches of glory. The riches of his grace. There's great wealth here. Imagine having a bank account with the unsearchable riches of Christ. Wow.

[30:02] You're wealthy people here today. The unsearchable riches of his grace. Of his bounty. Of his abundance. Of his fullness. What's blocking his fullness in your life?

[30:14] In my life? Sometimes we've just got to get out of the way. And let God do it. Let God have his way. Do we know his fullness? Or is it just a part?

[30:24] You know, sometimes we block God from having his fullness. Is your Christian experience just limited to a holy time? Well, it's 10 o'clock. I'll be spiritual till 11.30.

[30:37] A holy place. I'm here in this sanctuary. This concrete building is somehow more holy than when I step outside of it. Into the real world. No.

[30:48] God is not limited by time or place or space. The fullness. Does the fullness fill your home? Our brother was talking about his family.

[30:58] No. No. I'm sure that he's got a... He doesn't put on a face at church that's different from the face he has on at home. How could we be such?

[31:10] The fullness should fill our home. It should fill our relationships. Our marriages. Our job life. Our 24 by 7. Such that the fullness is full time.

[31:22] A full time. We need to be full time Christians. That's what we're meant to be. So find ways for your faith to fill your life in more ways. So you can be full on.

[31:34] Not partial. What if Jesus just went partially to the cross? He didn't, did he? He went fully to the cross. Fully to the ultimate sacrifice.

[31:49] He didn't hold back. And nor should we. So he wants us to be filled with all the fullness of God. What does that mean? Ask God to take away the blockage. What's stopping me from being full on for God?

[32:02] What's stopping me? What's the barrier? What's the hindrance? What am I keep putting in the way of God? And ask him for his fullness. It doesn't mean you necessarily go totally berserk or nutty or crazy.

[32:18] It might do. But no, it just means we get that fullness where we don't care what anybody else thinks. We just want God. We want God. And we want to give ourselves unto God.

[32:30] To know his fullness. To let him take charge over our lives. Over our decisions. To fully know his joy. His heart. His power. The fullness of his love.

[32:41] Of his power. Of his riches. The love of Christ. Is greater far. Than tongue or pen. Can ever tell. Who can comprehend it? Take it in.

[32:52] But the word says we can be filled with his love. Filled with his fullness. So we see. A church that glorifies God. Is a church where we see his spirit is at work.

[33:08] His spirit is working. We see his love. And thirdly we see his work. That it's all glory to God. At the end of the day.

[33:20] Proverbs. Sorry. Verse 20. Paul prays on now. Unto him that is able to do. Exceeding abundantly. Above all that we ask or think. According to the power that worketh in us.

[33:30] Unto him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus. Throughout all ages. World without end. Amen. What is it that marks a people? A church that gives glory to God.

[33:42] God gets the glory. When his church gives him the glory. A church that gives glory to God. God says that whatever we decide.

[33:52] Whatever we do. Whatever the business meeting says. Whatever the pastor's decisions are. That ultimately the ultimate object is the glory of God. That's what we're here for. That our God will do exceeding abundantly.

[34:06] Above all that we ask or think. According to the power that works in us. So God's church is marked by his spiritual power. And his love. And when it all is said and done.

[34:16] The church is God's idea. It's his plan. It's his purpose. It needs to be done according to his word. It's what he's designed it to be. A spiritual work.

[34:29] Powerful. Strengthened. A people strengthened with might. By his spirit. In the inner man. So we can know on the inside of us. God is working. His spirit is working. And strengthening us.

[34:40] With his might and power. God is working. And it's a people who know the love of Jesus. And it just beams out of them. That people will know this is a church that loves people.

[34:52] That we are a people who love the people around about us. And we want to show the love of Jesus Christ our Lord to the world around us and beyond.

[35:04] That we are vessels that he fills. And we want to be overflowing with his love. To reach out to others in any way that we can. And that might mean putting yourself out a bit.

[35:15] A lot. That in your actions. Your motivations. Your choices. You consider souls. And loving those souls that God has put into your pathway.

[35:27] So we won't hold back. But we'll live fully. We'll be full on. And you might say, I preach to that just all sounds very good in theory.

[35:40] You know. But I'm still not able. The good news is God is able.

[35:52] God is able. He is able. Able. He is able. Let me read this. I thought this was a really good one I picked up. Consider this.

[36:04] Able. Able to do. Able to do. Able to do what we ask. Able to do what we think. Able to do what we ask or think.

[36:18] Able to do above all that we ask or think. Able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think. Able to do exceedingly abundant above all that we ask or think.

[36:35] God is able. Amen. Ephesians 3 verse 20, it says that he is able. Now unto him that is able, able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

[36:53] I'm not able. God is able. God is able. That's what makes all the difference. So you might think, I'm not able to live the Christian life.

[37:04] If I'm not, it just seems too hard for me. It's just too much to learn and I just don't think I'm ever going to measure up to what other people might think of me.

[37:16] God is able. He's able to work in every human heart that opens the heart. As he opens the heart, he is able. He is able. You might think, I'm not very religious.

[37:29] I've not really got much knowledge about the Bible. And it's just all a bit hard. I'm a bit torn. I've got things that are pulling me away.

[37:40] God is able. He's able to help you. He's able to get a hold of you. If you just let him have his way with you. Let him have his way. Just surrender. Just put your hands up and surrender.

[37:53] Amen. Just surrender to God. God, have all of me. Have your way in me. Do your will in me. I surrender. I submit to you. I stop running and I stop so you can get a hold of my life.

[38:07] That can be your prayer this morning. Because God is able. And if all of us can have that heart, we can be such a church that truly functions as God has designed and planned it to.

[38:18] That we'll acknowledge at the end of the day, it's his work. It's his work. It's his spirit. It's his love. And it's his work.

[38:30] And he gets the glory. We just need to hide ourselves in Christ. That our desire will be his glory. That our decisions will be his glory.

[38:43] That our talk will be to his glory. That our hobbies will be to his glory. That our relationship with family, with marriage, it'll be to his glory. That our use of time will be directed to this end.

[38:55] His glory. And when a church works well, all of our functions are to this end. You know, the youth group isn't there so kids can have a ball.

[39:08] That might be included. But we know what we really got the youth group for. It's for the glory of God. That's why we've got a children's program here. Not so that children can do some coloring in.

[39:19] And maybe get some lollies afterwards. They might get that too. Of course. But the ultimate aim is the glory of God. That they might know him. That they might follow him.

[39:31] You know, every program. Every activity of this church. If we ever have an English language class again. The object will be that we show these students.

[39:47] They'll learn some English along the way. But we're here to tell them about Jesus. About his love. The gospel. So they can be saved.

[39:58] And the object is the glory of God. The women's fellowship. It's not so that the women folk can have some craft and share some funny stories.

[40:10] They might do that too. They might do that too. But they'll have the gospel in there. They'll have the good news. There'll be some Christian fellowship wrapping themselves around. That which the women's fellowship does.

[40:23] What the men's fellowship does. What the Bible study groups do. What the prayer meeting does. It's all to the glory of God. Because that's the ultimate and absolute objective. Is that God gets the glory.

[40:35] No glory to a man. Or some human effort. Or to some human program. There might be some innovations. And technologies.

[40:46] And new fad things we might have now and again. But the object is the glory of God. If anything gets in the way of the glory of God. Then we need to stop doing it. Amen.

[40:57] Because that's why we're here. That's why we assemble. That's why we're a church. Because we're here for the glory of God. And anything that takes away from glorifying God. We want to stop.

[41:12] And at the end of the day. When we enter. Heaven's portals. We'll look back. And we'll see.

[41:22] God has done a work. Not man. Not any of us. Not me. Not anyone here. None of us. Who exercise any ministry. Any activity in this church.

[41:35] We'll just say. Hitherto. Hath the Lord helped us. We'll say. Glory be to God. Glory be to God. What great things he has done. What great things he has done.

[41:47] Unto him be glory. In his church. It says. Paul prays. For this cause I bow my knees. Unto the father. Of our Lord. Jesus Christ. Of whom the whole family.

[41:58] In heaven and earth is named. That he would grant you. That he. Would grant you. According to the riches of his glory.

[42:10] To be strengthened. With might. In the inner man. By his spirit. In the inner man. That Christ may dwell. In your hearts. By faith. That ye being rooted.

[42:20] And grounded. In love. May be able to comprehend. With all the saints. What is the breadth. The length. And depth. And height. And to know. The love of Christ.

[42:31] Which passeth knowledge. That you might be filled. With all the fullness of God. Now unto him. Unto him. Unto him. That is able. To do exceeding.

[42:42] Abundantly. Above all that we. Ask or think. According to the power. That worketh in us. Unto him. Be glory in the church.

[42:54] By Christ Jesus. Throughout all ages. World without end. He is able. Able to do. Able to do. What we ask. Pray. Able to do.

[43:04] What we think. Able to do. What we ask. Or think. Able to do. Above all that we ask. Or think. Able to do. Abundantly. Above all that we ask. Or think. Able to do.

[43:15] Exceeding. Abundantly. Above all that we ask. Or think. Let's seek him now. Our Lord. We thank you. Unto you be glory. In your church. Lord.

[43:26] We thank you. For our brothers and sisters. Here. For each one. Hearing this Lord. That we might. Be encouraged. To be a part. Of this church. Your church. Wherever it meets.

[43:38] Whenever it meets. Lord. That we be such a church. A gathering. An assembly. Of your people. Unto your glory. That you'll. Enable us Lord. To see.

[43:49] It's a spiritual thing. It's by your spirit. As your spirit strengthens us. On the. On the inner man. We see Lord. It's your love. The love you show to us.

[44:00] And the love we can show. To one another. And to our world. And Lord. The glory. Is all yours. It's your glory. It's your work. And Lord.

[44:12] Let us be. Mindful of that. That. In all of. This. In all of our gathering. In all of our activity. In our. Personal. Christian lives.

[44:22] Lord. Help us to. Always have. An eye to this. To give glory to you. In everything that we do. That we might be filled. With all the fullness of God. We pray. If there's anyone here. They might.

[44:34] Be. Be crying out on the inside. Feeling. Like it's too hard. You are able. You're able to save. To the uttermost. Those who come to you.

[44:45] Lord. That's. That's amazing. That you could save me. That you can save. Each one. Who is saved. To the uttermost. That come.

[44:55] Unto you. Lord. We thank you. For that promise of scripture. That we can be encouraged today. As believers. To walk in your truth. We pray. If there's any yet to trust you.

[45:05] That even today. They'll. Heard that scripture. Read earlier. That we can believe. On the name. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we can be saved. As we put our trust.

[45:16] Entirely. In what you have done. In who you are. And in your work. For which we give you. All the glory. In Jesus name. Amen.