Wonderful. Go with me, if you
would, to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. And let's
read the text which will be verses 20 and 21. 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. This morning, I pray God might
enable us to worship. Just worship. only worship. We have come into this house
and gathered in his name to worship him. That's why we're here, isn't
it? We're here to worship him. For
this cause, we bow our knees. We're here to worship him. In the dictionary, the word worship
means to reverence. It means to adore. I love that one. You know what
it is to adore. To glorify. To exalt. To praise. To honor. To magnify. Isn't that what the saints in
heaven are doing right now? The saints in heaven right now
are doing that very thing. And that's what we are going
to do for all eternity. We're going to cry blessing and
honor and glory and power Be unto him that sitteth upon the
throne. I'm looking so forward to crying
that, watching him as he sits on the throne. All of that be, who is it unto?
Him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. We're going to cry that for all
eternity. So I thought maybe we could just
start now. Let's just start right now. These two verses right here are
beautiful. They are verses of worship and
verses of praise. And all I want to do is just
consider each phrase inside the verses. Take just a minute and
enter into each one. And I believe if the Lord will
allow us to do that, we'll worship. I believe we will. Verse 20 says,
now unto him. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us. Now, and I want to emphasize
now, unto Him. Here's the clearest difference
in the lie of religion and the truth of God's Word. Here's the
clearest difference. Religion ascribes everything
to us. Everything starting with I got
saved. How many times have you heard
that? I got saved. He got saved. She got saved. Never has that ever one time
been a true statement. Once a sinner sees the truth
of the gospel and sees the truth of God's word. That sinner will
cry, God saved me. God saved me. I did not get saved. God saved me. Now unto him. Yeah, there was a time when it
was unto me. Now he's opened my eyes and now it's unto him. Now it's unto him. Somebody will
say, you're just splitting hairs. All you're doing is switching
the words up. You're just being too strict.
That's all you're doing. Everybody's trying to worship
in their own way, and you're just being too narrow. Well,
turn with me over to John 4. John chapter 4. John 4 verse 19. The woman said unto our Lord,
Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped
in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh, when you shall neither in this
mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship
you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation
is of the Jews. Salvation is unto God's people.
Unto God's people. Verse 23, but the hour cometh
and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit
and in truth for the father seeketh such to worship him if we are
going to truly worship god if we're going to be a true worshiper
and truly worship god we must worship him in his spirit and in his truth. There is only
one way to worship God. There is only one way to worship
God. People lump all kinds of things
under worship. Well, they're having a basketball
game down at the church, so we're going to go down there and worship.
There is only one way to worship God. One way. Verse 24 says,
God is a spirit And they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit. Meaning, sincerely from the heart. Sincerely in the heart. Sincerely
in the inner being. Salvation really is about 18
inches. It really is. Showing up is not worshiping
God. going through the ritual, going
through the motion, that's not worshiping God. Verse 24 says, they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth, sincerely from
the heart, sincerely from the word, sincerely from the word,
not from a packet that some motivational speaker put together, sincerely
from the Word. What does the Word say? Now unto Him. Now unto Him. Go back to our text. Ephesians
3. Here's the next phrase. Verse 20 says, That is able. That is able. There are a few
things that God has never done. God has never tried. He's never tried to do anything. God has never hoped something
would come to pass. Never. God has never wanted to see something
happen. If God wants to see something
happen, it happens. When it comes to salvation, when it comes to our salvation,
He is able. You know that's the gospel. That is the gospel start to finish.
Well, don't I have to believe on Him? Yeah, but with man it's
impossible. But with God, He's able. He can give you faith. He can
break your knee. Break your heart. He's so able. He does not beg. His ministers,
His servants do not beg. They do not beg. They cry, He
is able. He's able. When it comes to the
salvation of our children, He is able. When it comes to our loved ones,
those that we are close to, our friends, He's able. Don't write
them off. They look to me like they ought
to be written off. Don't write them off. He's able. Bring them to Him. Bring them
in person. Bring them in prayer. He's able. This is one of the greatest hindrances
that our loved ones, our families and our friends have in hearing
the witness of the gospel. This is one of the greatest hindrances
they have. We are either convinced that we
are able We want you to give me a shot
at it. Oh, he needs to hear the gospel? Well, let me talk to
him. We either believe we're able or we believe we're not
able to witness the gospel to him. And both are a hindrance.
If I believe I am able, all I'm doing is pushing the confidence
of the flesh on him. That's a hindrance. And if I
don't tell him because I don't believe I'm able to say it in
a way where they'll hear it and believe it, That's a hindrance. He's able. He's able. The next time the Lord opens
a door, just tell how great things the Lord has done for you. You just tell how He traded places
with you. Just tell Him that. Tell Him
how He traded places with you and He made all your sin His
own. And He suffered your death for
you. And in the process, He gave you
His life and set you free. Tell Him that and then remember
He's able. He's so able. One man said, I believe in the
ability of my God so much, I am willing to tell you the gospel
and then leave you alone. He's able. You know, it's amazing
how God takes His word. You never know which word it's
going to be. His word, and He slays a heart with it. He opens
up a mind and eyes and ears. One word of His. He's able. He's able. If He's willing, He's
able. Now unto Him that is able. The next phrase says to do exceeding
abundantly above. Exceeding means beyond, extremely
beyond. Abundantly means over sufficient,
not just sufficient. Over sufficient above means much
more. In chapter two, Paul talked about
the exceeding riches of his grace. in his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus, the beyond riches of his grace, the beyond gift,
exceeding beyond gift. Jude said, now unto him that
is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. I want to
experience that kind of joy. exceeding, extreme joy. David said, Lord, your people
shall be abundantly satisfied. He said, The Lord hath sworn,
I will abundantly bless. Isaiah said, He will abundantly
pardon. Oversufficiently pardon. He didn't
just save us. Our Lord did not just save us.
Call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
He did not just save us. He exceeding abundantly above
saved us. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. So much abounding. Would you do that for a maggot? Would you give your own son for
a worm in the ground? You talk about the exceeding
riches of grace and kindness. Our good shepherd said in John
10, he said, I lay down my life for the sheep and I do that so
they might have life. And so they might have it more
abundantly. Abundantly. Abundantly. Everything with God is exceeding
abundantly above. Alright, the next phrase says,
all that we ask or think. Exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think. Now had He said, He is able to
do above all that we ask or think. That'd be wonderful. But he didn't
say that. Had he said he is able to do
abundantly above all that we ask or think, that'd be great
news from our God. That's not what he said. He's
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. That's the glory and the beauty
of the gospel. So much more kindness, so much
more grace than you could ever ask for, or even think. So much more love bestowed than
you could ever imagine. I want to give you a few examples. There's a woman in the Old Testament
Scripture, a dear woman named Ruth. We know her story. She came back from absolute ruin
with her mother-in-law, Naomi. She had nothing. She had to go
glean in a field just to get something to eat. She had to
go behind the reapers and see if there was anything left so
she could have something to eat. Her hap was, and it's amazing how the Lord
does that for His people. All of His people have a hap,
a happening. It just so happened that she
lighted in the field belonging to Boaz. And it just so happened
that every believer here has landed in the field that belongs
to Christ. And Boaz showed great kindness
to her, the only man who had the right to redeem her, her
kinsman redeemer. He showed great kindness to her. He left handfuls of purpose for
her. One night she came to where he
was sleeping on the threshing room floor. And she laid down
at his feet and it woke him up. And he asked her, what are you
doing here? And she said, I'm here to ask
if you will cover me and redeem me to yourself. And what she
was asking was, will you buy me to be one of your servants?
He told her, you stay with my servants. If you stay with my
servants, you'll be fine. You just stay right there with
my servants and you'll be fine. And so she came and said, if
I found favor in your sight, would you let me become one of
your servants? Could I have that assurance that
I'll be with you to the end? Would you please buy me? I'm broke and bankrupt and empty. Would you buy me and let me become
one of your slaves? He said, nope. I'll marry you. I'll make you my wife. And that's
what he did. And she became the great grandmother
of King David. The man after God's own heart.
Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. I wonder
if he would make me a servant. I'd be glad to go glean in the
field and bring him the fruit of the crop. I wonder if he would
do that. I'll make you a joint heir of
the field. I'll make you the owner of the
field. I'll make you my wife." David himself, he said, I wonder
if I could just be the doorkeeper in God's house. I wonder if God
would just let me be the doorkeeper. God made him to be the sweet
psalmist of Israel. Used him to be the means to bless
millions and millions of believers. through the words that he sung, called him the son of David,
called himself the son of David. Solomon, David's son, the Lord
told Solomon, you can ask anything you want of me. I'll give you
anything you ask for. He said, Lord, I would love to
have a hearing heart. I would love to hear the people,
hear the cry of the people, and then I would love to wait and
hear you to bring the answer to the people. I just want to
have a hearing heart. God said, I'm going to give you
that, and I'm going to give you more wisdom, and I'm going to
give you more riches than any man has ever known. Before you,
after you. Exceeding abundantly above. All that we ask or think, this
is our God. He does not change. He's the
same. He's good unto all. Let me give you one more. Four men
climbed up on a roof, carrying their best friend, laying
in a bed, sick of the palsy. They were trying to get him to
the Lord, but they couldn't get in the house where the Lord was.
It was jam-packed full of people. So they climbed up on the roof
and started tearing the roof off. And they lowered their friend
down with ropes right in front of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
do you know why they did that? You know why they went to all
that trouble, got up there on the roof, opened it up, lowered
them down and put him right there. You know why they did that? They
wanted to see if he could walk again. He couldn't walk. And they wanted him to walk again.
You know what the Lord said to him? Your sins are forgiven. We just was hoping he could walk
again. God said your sins are forgiven. And to prove it, rise,
take up thy bed and walk. exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think. And verse 20 goes on to say,
it's according to the power that worketh in us. What is the power
that worketh in us? The Apostle Paul told the Romans,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, the good news of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation. Every exceeding abundantly
above thing that he is ever going to do for sinners. He is going
to do it through the gospel. All of them. He is going to use
the means of declaring the glory and the praise of the One who
is able, Christ Jesus the Lord. Verse 21 says, Unto Him. Verse 20 said, Now unto Him.
Verse 21 says, Unto Him. Unto Him. Unto Him. Be glory
in the church, among the church, The church is not a building
made with hands. Studs and bricks and sheetrock and paint and trim,
that's not the church of God. That's the church building. That's
where the church meets. The church of God is His people.
It's His elect, His chosen people. You are the temple of the living
God. Wherever His people are gathered
together, that's the church. And verse 21 says, Unto Him be
glory in the church. Right in the heart. Right inside
here. Unto Him be glory. Right inside
here. Right inside each heart. By Christ
Jesus. By the Lord. By the doing of
the Lord. How is all this possible? By
the doing of the Lord. By the saving of the Lord. By
the calling of the Lord. Unto Him be glory. He gets all the glory. And that's
what true worship cries. That's what true, true worship
cries. Unto Him be all the glory in
the church. And even that heart of belief,
even that heart of worship, that's by Jesus Christ. by the Lord
throughout all ages. Now, I love this. That does mean
all time. We got a lot of ages in this
room, though. I'm hopeful for our kids. Our kids have the gospel. And I pray for our seven-year-olds
and our 70-year-olds. He says that His glory is going
to be in the church throughout all ages. His mercy is not over. It hasn't
run out yet. There is mercy for us. Is there
going to be enough mercy for our children? It's not over yet. All eternity. He said world without
end. This new heaven, this new earth,
This world where God dwells and His righteousness dwells and
His people dwell. How long is that going to go
on? How long is that glorious existence going to continue? He said in verse 21, it's without
end. World without end. Now, what's the only response
we can have to that? Amen. Amen. I can't wait to hear the
whole congregation of heaven cry, Amen. Everything he says,
Amen. We're going to be an amening
congregation. The flesh won't be a hindrance
to us anymore. Amen. Amen. Now, a brother read
last Wednesday night for the scripture reading. He read Psalm
115. And I was able to watch it and
hear it read. And when I heard the end of that
chapter, I thought, my goodness, I don't
think I've ever paid attention to the end of Psalm 115. I don't
think I've ever entered into what it's saying. So I want to
close this by reading it to you. All right. Turn with me over
to Psalm 115. And we're going to close our worship with worship. This word is to every believer
in and on the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 115 verse 9 says, O Israel,
God's chosen, God's people, spiritual Israel, trust thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, And that's
the preacher. That's the one who's been called
to minister to the people of God. Trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
I take such comfort in that. God is going to save his people. God is going to protect his people. God is going to lead His people. He's going to guide His people.
Everything will be perfect for every single one of them. They're
all predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. He is
their help and He is their shield. Verse 11 says, You that fear
the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
The Lord hath been mindful of us He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear
the Lord, both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more
and more. You and your children. I love every time I see it. every
time I say it. You are blessed of the Lord,
which made heaven and earth. The same God that made heaven
and earth has blessed you. The heaven and the heavens are
the Lord's, but the earth hath He given to the children of men.
Now, He said in verse 17, The dead praise not the Lord, neither
any that go down into silence, but we will bless the Lord from
this time forth and forevermore. Praise you, Lord. Praise the
Lord. That's worship. That is worship. May God put that in us, the church. Stand together with me.