Vers. 20, 21.-.A. great doxolo_qy. The apostle had exhausted all the forms of suppli- cation, and now he casts himself upon the very infinitude of God, which was able to supply more than the thoughts or desires of men could suggest in the sphere of prayer. I. TBE THEllil.E OF THE DOXOLllGY. It is no abstract ascription of glory to Gd; it is one full of hope and cheer to the Church-the ability of God to do great things for his people. There is a sort of climax in the language employed : God is able to do what we ask or think; he is able to do above all we ask or think; nay, abundantly above it; nay, exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think; and our thinking is very much wider than our asking. Two things make us strong in prayer-a deep sense of need and e. strong hope of supply. Perhaps we shall hardly venture to ask some blessings, but we ought to consider that we are either to approach God on our own merits or on the merits of Christ. If we pray for blessing on our own merits, we cau hardly be too stinted in our asking; but if on the merits of Christ, we ought not tu disgrace God by asking little things on such a wide basis of encouragement. We have, in fact, got a carte-blanche put into our hands by Christ, saying, "Ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." We are to ask up to our power of thinking, and far beyon<l it; for "God giveth liberally and upbraideth not." " Prove me now, ... if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." But Paul says merely that God is "able" to do so; what about his will to do so? We remember, when speaking of God's ultimate restoration of the Jews, Paul says, ".And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in; for God is_able to graff them in arrain." That is, they shall be, because God is able to do it. ' Therefore, we shall never have asked too much till we have asked beyond God's ability. II. THE llEABUBB OF THE POWER REFERRED TO. "According to the power that worketh in us." It is not abstract or intrinsic omnipotence, such as merely suggests THE EPIS'l'LE TO THE EPHESIANS. [cu. m. 1--21.
a possibility that mny never pass into a reality. It is a; powerin actual exercise for thl!I benefit of the Church of God. It is in actual operation even before we hnve beaun to ask or think; it is" the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believ: •" it is the ~lorious ~nd su~passi~g power ~f God, uot only irreversibly pledgad, but ir:•evo- cnbly m operation. 'Ihe pnnctpal thing that God does for us is what he does in us. '.' Accordin&' to the power that_ worketh in us." There is a power that worketh for us, m -.utue ot who~c supreme disposal "all things w01·k together for good to them that lo.e God;" but there is a power that worketh in us, to will and to do of his· good ple.asure, that perfocteth tlrnt which concerneth us, keepiug us from falling, so that we may be presented blameless before the presence of his glory. III. 1'lra DEBT OF GLORY DUE TO sucH A Goo. "Unto him . . . be the glory.'' What shall we not render unto him? Is it not a glorious work he has done? We cannot make him glorious, but we can tell how glorious he is in his gracious and mighty adm~nistration. " Thine is the glory," said Christ. All glory belongs ·to him. Many glorious things exist in creation. 'l'he sun is glorious, the stars are glorious, even one star differing from another star in glory; but it is God who feeds their 'Wonderful fires. They belong unto Jehov:ih.. "No :flesh ,must glory in his presence;" and the only way not to glory before him is to glory in him. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." l V. Tm!: SPHERE OR scn"E OF 'l'BIS GLORY. "Unto him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus." "The locality or sphere is-the Ch11rch, the outward theatre on which 1
this glory is manifested before men ; " .and " Christ.Jesus is" the Minister of this glory to God, the Minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man, by whom the glory in question is presented with acceptance.· In •fact, it is in him· God manifests the glory of bis perfections as the God of grace and salvation ; it is through him he shines into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Thus the blessings descend throngh Christ to the Church, just aa all the Church's service goes up to God throu$ the hands of Jesus Christ. • V. THE PERIOD OF 'l'HIS GLOnY. "To all the generations of the age of the ages." A cumulative express,on of great force. This glory is to be 11;iven to God during all the ages of time. " His Name shall endure for ever; men shall be blessed in him ; all nations shall call him ble.."SC'd;" "I will make thy Name to be remembered in all generations." The stream of time rolls on world without end, but the glory is to continue throngh all the a,,aes of et.ernity. "Blessing, and honour; and glory; and power, be to him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Amen." VL LESSONB TO BE DR.AWN FllOll THIS DOXOLOGY. Let us not be poor any more in our snpplications; let ns not be stinted in asking to the dishonour of his abounding grace. Let ns be encouraged to ask by the recollection of the blessings we have already received. I.et us show a more signal gratitude·for all onr-mercieli. Are·not the extent of our obligations and the perfection of the holiness to,which they bind us,,far beyond our powers of apprehending or appreciating them? and ought they -not to leave us with the similar question of bewildered gratitude, "What maELner·of .persons ought we to be?"-T. C. Vere. 1-13.-7?,e deatk of tM tribal spirit. The apostle, having stated the unity between Jews and Gentiles in the one spiritual temple, proceeds in this parenthesis to state the aspect of the gospel which is thus presented. It amounts, i~ fac~, to th~death .of the tribal feeling, and to the encouragement of that broad cosmopchtamsm which has been fostered by the Christian system. Paul, of course, rejoiced in his Jewish origin and in all the privileges which be had thus inherited .. But since bis conversion unto Chmt, the narrowness had disappeared, and he took his stand before the world as the apostle ar,,i apc,lr,gist of Uie Gentiles, hoping for the same elevation of character for t ~em as fo: h' m5':lf. I. LET C'6 :SOTICB BOW PAUL WAS PREPARED J'OB, THIS CHA!dPIONIIHIP OP THE GE.?-TH,EB. (Ver. 8.) He bad come to entertain a deep humility of spirit. He deemed 1:r:;,,,}f" less than the kast of all saints." In Paul's experience it has been observed ti:iere is a progress. First he speaks of himself as " the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God" (lCor. xv. 9). CH. III. 1-:31.] 'J'IlE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 1:23