RE-FOCUS

Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)

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,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

It’s been a few weeks now since I preached on a Sunday night so I think I need to take a bit of time to bring us all up to speed and on to the same page so to speak.

It works out well for me because that is, in a way, what Paul is doing in these verses.

They are the last two verses of chapter three but remember that he wasn’t the one who divided what he wrote into chapters.

So here is what has happened so far:

Paul is in prison

Ephesians 3:1 (KJV)

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

He is a prisoner in Rome.

He gave them the reasons for his imprisonment, proving that he is a just man and urging them,

Do not faint

Ephesians 3:13 (KJV)

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

He desires it, but he does not demand it.

Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.

You can make people behave a certain way on the outside.

·   You can insist that people attend meetings

·   You can force people to dress a particular way

·   You can regulate what a person does or does not watch

Religions do it all the time.

When I first moved to Astoria, Oregon to start the church there the Rajneesh was a big deal out in Antelope, Oregon.

You’d see Rajneeshi’s in the red outfits everywhere around Oregon.

·   Most of the members of the Rajneesh’s religion were well educated: doctors and lawyers, etc.

·   They were wealthy people, but they gave all their money to Rajneesh

·   They had changed their names to whatever Rajneesh wanted to call them

I used to joke around that Rajnessh could make otherwise intelligent people

·   Change their names

·   Change their clothing to his standards

·   Change where they live and move out to his commune and

·   Give him all of their money so he could buy Antelope, Oregon and his collection of Rolls Royces

All I wanted to do was:

·   Lead people from hell into heaven

·   Encourage them to dress according to modest standards and

·   Teach them to tithe faithfully to the house of God

And I was called a legalist!

Religion can make people do things.

But it is impossible to force a relationship down someone’s throat.

You can’t make someone love you.

It is a matter of the heart so Paul said that he desired they would not faint and then

Paul prayed for them 

Ephesians 3:14 (KJV)

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Did you know you can pray for people whether they like it or not?

Did you know you can pray for people about things they don’t want you to pray?

I have prayed for people about things they were angry that I prayed for – but afterwords thanked me that I prayed the Biblical thing despite them.

All right all of that, from Ephesians 3:1-3:19, has been parenthetical.

Paul had diverted from the main theme of the book of Ephesians.

It’s time to re-focus.

Look at Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)

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,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

There are three subjects addressed in these two verses that work like a microscope to bring our focus clearer and clearer onto the subject Paul wants to teach

I see first of all,

I. THE ABUNDANT POWER OF GOD

Vs 20

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,

When I was in junior high school my parents bought me a microscope.

I had so much fun with that.

The kit they bought with it came with all sorts of things I could focus in on and look at.

But most of my fun came from finding my own things to zoom in on.

·   A bee stinger I pulled out myself

·   A fly’s wing

·   Spoiled food and my favorite,

·   Water from the horse trough

You take just a little drop of the stuff.

You put it on the slide and another slide on top of that and

That goes under the microscope

Then you begin to focus in.

·   At first you can see the slide and the droplet

·   Then you can only see the droplet

·   Then you can see just a little bit of the droplet but before long

·   You see things swimming in the droplet

·   Sometimes you can zoom in and see what’s inside the thing swimming in the droplet

Here’s the thing,

You can’t see what’s swimming in the droplet before you see the droplet.

A person has to see God before He can see what is important to God.

The whole reason why the Muslim has a wrong idea concerning Christ is because he has a wrong idea concerning God.

The same thing is true with the Mormon. He can’t understand who Christ really is because he hasn’t understood who God really is.

Vs 20

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,

The “him” is God.

And He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

God said in Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Before we can ever really zero in and understand what it is that matters to God, we have got to get hold of the fact that God is abundantly powerful.

He is able to do what we cannot ever dream of.

Much of Ephesians chapter one dealt with the doctrine of election.

The reason why the Calvinists and Arminians argue so much over election is they just can’t figure out how God could be

Sovereign over his creation and yet give His creation free will.

The Calvinist argues that man has no free will.

He is only able to do what God decrees he can do and, if he thinks he has free will it is only because God allows him to choose what God has caused him to want to choose.

The Arminian argues that God has left the choices up to us.

He argues that if salvation is based on anything other than the loving choice of a free moral agent, then those who are saved are nothing different than organic robots.

Paul’s argument is that God is bigger than all of that.

·   He is absolutely sovereign over every detail of every thing and

·   He gives man the right of free will and choice

And He has the ability to accomplish His plan through whatever choices men make.

We begin by seeing God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think

From here we zoom in to see 

II. THE ULTIMATE GLORY OF CHRIST

Vs 21

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen

Hebrews 1:1-3 (KJV) gives to us the key truth about Jesus Christ,

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person.

When I see God I see Him exceeding abundantly above all I ask or think – I can’t wrap my mind around Him.

·   He is too big

·   He is too powerful

·   He is too high

I can’t imagine God as God is.

But Jesus said John 14:9 (KJV)

… Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; …

What do I know about Jesus?

Philippians 2:5-10 (KJV)

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

I cannot comprehend all there is about God but I can get hold of this, in Christ:

·   God became man

·   Died on the Cross and

·   Is the One before whom every knee should bow

Jesus said, John 14:6

I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

It is in Christ that God is seen and

It is Christ that God has exalted

So let’s focus this microscope in a bit more and

III. THE DOCTRINE OF THIS BOOK, WHICH IS THE CHURCH

Vs 21

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen

The “him” is God the Father

Christ is Jesus

God is to be glorified by Christ Jesus, where?

In the church

We will see it in a few weeks,

Ephesians 5:25 (KJV)

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Conclusion

This world knows God exists but they don’t all see Him rightly.

But whenever God begins to come into focus, then a person begins to see Jesus.

And then whenever Jesus comes into focus, our eyes begin to see the church.

The most important institution on this earth is the local church.

·   To be a member of a local church

·   To support the health and the growth of the local church

·   To be faithful and serve God in the local church

It is the most important thing any Christian can do because that is where we glorify God.

·   It’s more important than the government because they are all under the prince of the power of the air.

·   It’s even more important that family because without the church the family will fall into spiritual darkness

But no one will have a clear view of the local church who doesn’t have a clear view of Christ and

No one will have a clear view of Christ who hasn’t got a right view of God.

Ephesians 3:20-21 then serves as that microscope

·   Pointing out Him the is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think

·   Bringing into view Christ Jesus and finally allowing us to

·   Focus on glorifying God in the church