Ephesians chapter three. I don't want to read the whole text just yet, but I want you to look at verse 20 at the first few verses. It says, now unto him that is able. And I want to stop right there.

One certain difference between our gospel and all other so-called gospels, what we preach and what others preach is that we preach an able. God. Not a God that may be able if we allow him to, but a God that is absolutely able, absolutely sovereign, absolutely just. That's the difference between our God and other gods. All the other Gospels are false churches preach that you have to do something to make him able. We preach and know that he is able. He's successful. He doesn't need me to do anything in order for him to be able.

Now you and I, on the other hand, we're completely unable, uncapable. And somehow men have come up with the idea and it started back in the garden. We know where it came from. But the lie is that you are able to make a decision. You are able to do something. What does the Lord say? He's able and to him that is able.

Let's read this together. 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. and to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages without world end, amen. And I forgot to silence my phone, so I'm doing that now. And to him be all the glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages without world, world without end. Amen.

What does he mean exceeding abundantly? What does he mean by exceeding abundantly? Now in false religion, I remember as a personal testimony, that meant anything that I wanted, anything that my heart desired. And guess what? That is true. But the difference in the truth is, what's the one thing you have that's needful? He's exceeding abundantly able to forgive all your sin. all of your guilt, all of your shame, all of your sorrow, he's able, exceeding abundantly to do so, not just barely make it happen, exceeding abundantly.

So when we come to him asking, what are we asking for? Lord, give me the fountain of living water. Lord, give me this water that you speak of, what the woman in the well said. Lord, give me this bread. Lord, give me you. That's the desire of our heart, and he is able exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. He can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

And that brings us to our first point. He's able to save to the uttermost. He's able to save to the uttermost. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter seven. Look at verse 20 through 28, Hebrews chapter seven.

And as in as much as not without an oath, he was made priest. For those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath. By him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent, thou are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death. But this man, because he continued with ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, because he has an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost. that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people's? For this he did once when he offered up himself The law maketh men high priests which have infirmities, but the word of the oath which was since the law maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore.

Because he is prophet, because he is priest, and because he is king, he is able to save his people from their sin. He's able to save to the uttermost. No matter how wretched, no matter how abominable, no matter how vile, no matter how poor, how are we described? We're described as poor, naked, dead. I often say dead dog sinner. That's a good way to describe us. No matter how bad we are, he is able to save to the uttermost them who come to God

I love the wording there. This doesn't say them that come to God period it says them that come to God by him He said all that the father given me shall come to me, but no man come to the father, but by me That's he's able to bring us to him. He's able to save to the uttermost he's able to cleanse every sin and Stain the blood has not lost power hasn't lost You know, everything that we have in this life, it loses its lushness, or it loses its, well, it's Christmas time, so you go to the stores, and everything's bright and shiny and glittery, and you see all that, and you buy something, you bring it home, and a few years, it may be on a shelf, and you might forget about it.

When it comes to this gospel, when it comes to our Lord and our Savior, and it comes to His blood, it will never lose its luster. It grows sweeter with time, doesn't it? It grows sweeter. It becomes more precious to us because we see that it's by that, that is the source of our salvation is the blood of Christ. He's able to save the uttermost because he's the one that had the blood. He is the priest, he is the prophet, and he is the king.

Isaiah 1 tells us, come now and let us reason together, sayeth the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. What does he mean reason together? Does that mean we're going to debate with God? No, I actually looked that up and I love how it, how the translation works. It says, Lord, basically saying, come now, I'm going to show you. You're not gonna reason, nobody reasons with God. He's saying, I'm gonna prove this to you. I'm gonna show you the truth. Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sin be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

But how can a wicked, corrupt, destitute, depraved, dead dog, wretched, vile sinner be made the very righteousness of God? How can that be? because he is able to save to the uttermost. He is able. Nothing about our sin are we capable of doing, we're incapable as a matter of fact, but not him, he's able. He's able to take care. All that we broke, broken, he's able to fix it. All that we are, he's able to fix it. He's able to make it right. Not just make it right, but make it far better than what it was in Adam, that's for sure, isn't it?

Zephaniah 3.17 says, the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee is mighty. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. I love that. He will joy over thee with singing. He is able. Look at verse 25 again with me. Wherefore, He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto Him, come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. Notice it's all by Him. He has to do it from start to finish, every bit of it, because He's the only one able to do it. He's the only one able to make us, cause us to believe. He's the only one able to bring us to the knowledge of the truth, to bring us to the Father and present us as righteous before the Father by His blood. He alone is the one that must give us faith to believe.

Now go back to Ephesians three with me. Verse 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. Not only is he able to save to the uttermost, but our second point is, is he is able to fulfill the law, to conquer Satan, and to put away our sin. To put away our sin, to conquer this flesh.

Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 17. Sometimes when you're studying and the Lord shows you something, it's kind of like John the Baptist whenever he said, He was in the womb and his heart, or he, the mother said, Elizabeth was his mother, the mother said that the baby leapt for joy when it heard about the Lord Jesus being born. It was told unto Elizabeth that Jesus was going to be born and the baby leapt for joy in the womb. Sometimes when you're studying and the Lord chooses to reveal his face to you, your heart leaps for joy. And this is something certainly that the Lord has given me. I hope that he will allow us to enter into together.

First Samuel 17. and I'm just gonna tell us what's going on here, and then we'll read. This is the story of David and Goliath, and it's a very familiar story, I'm certain. Goliath has come down as the two armies are met, and there's a valley in the middle, and it's the Philistines and Israel, and they're waging war with each other. Well, Goliath, their champion, comes down. He's over nine foot tall, and he's mocking the God of Israel, and he's taunting them, and he says these words, Send a man out to me, send your best, send your champion, if he be able to fight with me. If he be able to fight with me.

It just so happens, and I love saying that, because that's sarcasm. It didn't just so happen, it came to pass. That's how it works, isn't it? The Lord purposed for David to be there right at that moment, and he's listening to this Philistine. He said, who is this uncircumcised Philistine? And understand something, David's a lad, which they have it pegged about 14 to 16 years old. He goes to Saul, and he says, I'll fight him. I'll fight him. And you know what Saul says to him? You are not able to fight this Philistine. And David tells him the story that had just happened or some time ago. He said, my Lord, there was a lion that came down and disturbed the sheep and got one of the lambs caught in its mouth. And I slayed that lion and recovered the sheep. Likewise, there was a bear that came down and did the same thing. And I slayed the bear. And if the Lord delivered the lion into my hands and the Lord delivered the bear into my hands, he will deliver this uncircumcised Philistine into my hands.

Well, I guess that was enough to convince Saul, because he started putting his armor on David. And David said, I can't take this. I haven't tried these. I haven't tried these. So he took his sling and his stone, five smooth stones, and you know the rest of the story. He was able to overcome the giant with just a sling. He chopped his own head off with his own sword. So let's read some of this, and then I'll elaborate.

1 Samuel 17, look at verse eight. And Goliath stood and cried into the army's vigil and said to them, why are you come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and to kill me, then will we be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day, give me a man that we may fight together.

Now listen to this part. When Saul and El Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid, greatly afraid.

Now look down in verse 32. Here's David talking to Saul. David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go down with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou are not able to go against this Philistine and to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of its mouth. And when he rose against me, I called him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said, moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

The next verse, he puts the armor on him. What's the picture here? Well, David is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was able, he was able, because his confidence was not in himself. Lord Jesus Christ was faithful unto the Father. He set his eyes like a flint to the cross. He said, Lord, I came to do thy will, O God.

The picture is the lion would be Satan, the bear would be the law, and the giant would be the flesh. The giant would be the sin that we are. And our David slayed all three of them, conquered all three of them. With the sacrifice of himself on Calvary's cross, he was able to silence the law so the law cannot harm a sheep anymore. He was able to bruise the head of the serpent, bruise the lion. Satan's referred to as a lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. He was able to conquer him on the cross once and for all. And he was able to conquer the flesh by putting away our sin once and for all, the sin of his people on the cross of Calvary.

He is able to fulfill the law's demands, to conquer Satan, and to conquer the flesh, and put away our sin. He alone is able.

The book of Revelation, chapter five, I believe it is, said they looked in heaven, and they looked in earth, and no man was found worthy. to open the book and loose the seals thereof. That was the book of life. If those seals were not open, we have no hope of eternal life. But no man was found worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof. And I, John, wept, it says. And an elder touched me and said, John, weep not. For behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of Jesse, is worthy and hath prevailed to open and loose the seals thereof.

You know what that word worthy also means? Able. He's able. He was able to open the book and loose the seals of the judgment of God, the wrath of God, for the sin of his people. And he did that once and for all on the cross of Calvary.

The scripture says, he's also able, and we sing this song, I meant to sing that first song, I forgot all about it, but scripture says, he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. What have you committed unto him? Somebody says, I haven't committed nothing to him. You've committed everything. All your hope of salvation is committed to him. Is that not true? All your hope for righteousness is committed to him. It's nothing in you. That's what he's talking about there. He can keep that which I've committed. He'll see it through. Why? He's able. He's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

Which brings us to our third point. He alone is able to drink the cup. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 20. In a sense, whenever you read this passage right here and you see the mother of James and John, the wife of Zebedee talking to the Lord, she asked him the question, Lord, allow it to be that when you come to your kingdom, let one of my sons sit on your right hand and one of my sons sit on your left. In one sense, we stand in awe, we're like, wow, what an arrogant request. But in another sense, are we not so ignorant ourselves sometimes whenever we approach our Lord? And yet Him in mercy and in grace and in love, He teaches us. He's patient, full of compassion, and His mercies never fail. Thank God for that.

Look here at verse 20 and 23 of Matthew 20, or verse 22-23. Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons worshiping him and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, what wilt thou? She saith unto him, grant that these two my sons, my two sons may sit, the one on the right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom. And Jesus answered and said, you know not what you ask. Are you able, are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. And they said unto him, we are able. And he said unto them, ye shall drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my father.

What does he mean you shall drink indeed of the cup and be baptized with the baptism I will be baptized with." What does he mean? We're not able, understand, we're not able to drink that cup, not in and of ourself. We're not able to be baptized with that baptism in and of ourself. What does he mean that you will though? He said you will indeed because of the glorious substitution of the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. When he was on the cross, after he had taken that cup, He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

What does that mean? That means righteousness was imputed to you and I, and our sin was imputed to Him. He owned them. He felt the grief, the sorrow, the shame, and the guilt. You can look throughout Scripture and see that clearly. This is how righteousness was imputed unto His people. It's amazing. that he alone was able to do that. You and I had no hope of getting rid of any of our sin whatsoever, no hope of changing what we are by nature, yet the Lord Jesus Christ made us new creatures by the sacrifice of himself. You understand something important, God demands justice for sin and we must drink of this cup and either we're gonna drink it for eternity in hell or we drink it in Christ Jesus on the cross. Remember what he said in John chapter 17, I in them and thou in me. He talked about the oneness we have with the father and the son. Whenever he was on the cross of Calvary, reconciling us back to God, everything he endured was seen as what we should have endured.

And yet, what the most fascinating part about our substitute is it's just that, substitution. Everything required by us is no longer required because He took it. He took the punishment. He took the guilt. He took the full wrath of God. And as the wrath of God continually beat upon the Lord Jesus Christ, beat upon the ark, if you remember Noah, how that rain fell, that was the wrath of God. That's what that rain was. As the rain fell upon the ark, what happened to the people that were inside? They were perfectly saved. Why? because the ark took the wrath of God. It was pitched, which is another word for atonement, which is our covering the blood. So when the Lord sees us, he sees the ark and he sees us as righteous, not as we are in this flesh, but he sees us in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He alone is able to drink the cup. You and I couldn't have drank that cup, but because we were in him, Because we were in Him, everything required by the Father for you to be presented perfectly righteous as His chosen people to Him has been accomplished. Everything. There's nothing else to be done. That's why He said it is finished. There's nothing left to do. Do you know why? He's able. He's able.

Go back with me to Ephesians chapter three. verse 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. Which brings us to our last point. He's able to be a faithful and merciful high priest. He's able to be our intercessor. He was made to be our propitiation. He's able to be our advocate. Our surety is our mediator. Our surety is our mediator.

You remember what we read in the first passage that we, I think it was the first, I believe it was the first passage that we turned to in Hebrews. It said, he therefore is the mediator of his people.

He's the mediator In the book of Exodus, and I'm not going to have us turn to this one, I'm just going to tell us the story. But Moses is judging Israel in Exodus chapter 18. They had departed Egypt and they made their way over the Red Sea. And now they're all the way back to where Moses started, which is with his father-in-law Jethro.

Every day, the people would come to Moses and they would line up and Moses would judge the people, the scripture says. And Jethro comes up to him one day and says, what you're doing is not okay. You can't, I'm paraphrasing, but he says, you can't keep this going. It's going to wear you out because it says from sunup to sundown, he would judge the people. That's all he could do. I mean, couldn't do anything else.

And he said, you're not able, there's too many people. You're not able to do this. And he says to Moses, you need to get other governors and you need to have other men, let them be the judges. And if there's a serious problem, then they can come to you, but let them some a hundred, some governed a hundred, some governed 50, some governed 25 and so on.

But you're not able Moses. Do you know I asked not so with the Lord. He ever liveth to what? Make intercession for us, his people. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. He's exceeding abundantly able to do more than we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. He is our intercessor.

Our high priest, our mediator, our intercessor, he entered once into the holies by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us all. And when he had by himself, Hebrews chapter one, when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down at the right hand of God. For what purpose? Well, he's expecting until his enemies made his footstool.

But second of all, he is our mediator. The scripture says, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. You ever feel guilty for your sin? You ever feel shame for your sin? Sorrow? You ever grieve over your sin? Come to Christ. He ever liveth to make intercession for you.

He will take our, and somebody might disagree with this, the way this is worded, but this is the truth. Everything we produce is sinful. So even our prayers are sinful. He's got to wash those in the blood. takes our sinful prayers and turn them into perfect and presents them to the Father. And the Lord hears his people. Isn't that glorious? The Lord hears his people.

To him that is able, he's able to save to the uttermost. He's able to silence the law, conquer Satan, conquer the flesh and put away this sin that we are. He alone is able to drink the cup of damnation. in order to obtain eternal redemption for his people. And he's able to be a merciful and faithful high priest as our mediator, as our advocate, he ever liveth to make intercession for us.

Thank God. And our King of kings and Lord of lords is able. Amen.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would take this and bless it for your glory to our understanding in Christ's name. Amen.

Let's take a break.