September 27, 2020,
Order of Service: The Order of Morning Worship, Page 15.
Old Testament Lesson: Deuteronomy 32:39-40.
Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 3:13-21.
Gospel Lesson: Luke 7:11-17.
Sermon: “God Is Able To Do Exceeding Abundantly Above All That We Ask Or Think.” Ephesians 3:20-21.
Hymns: 387 (1-5), 349, 399, 356,
Dear Friends in Christ,
One of Martin Luther’s early opponents was Erasmus of Rotterdam. Erasmus was the reputed intellectual light of his day. He provided a Greek New Testament from which Luther translated the New Testament into German. In his dealings with Erasmus, Luther is known to have said, “Your God is too small.” What did Luther mean? He meant that Erasmus was guilty of underestimating what God can do. Erasmus’ God was a limited God. He made God measurable.
We know of course that God is not measurable. From Scripture we know God is infinite and has no bounds. He is eternal, without beginning and without end. Scripture says, “Before the mountains were brought forth or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” (Psalm 90:2) In addition, as we know, God is omnipotent or all-powerful and can do anything! “With God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26) What is more, our God is also omniscient, that is, He knows all things at once. As Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, thou knowest all; things.” And, of course, our God is also omnipresent, present everywhere. He says, “Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:23-24)
In short, because our God is infinite, He has no equal, no rival, absolutely none! As God said in our Old Testament Lesson, “See now, that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal:neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand, For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.” (Deut. 32:39-40)
Furthermore, because God is not measurable and above all things, our text for today makes a statement which is no exaggeration. Our text says, “Who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” This means God can come through for us and do far beyond what can even imagine! In explaining and examining this awesome fact, we shall consider three things. First, when and how it is that unwittingly we limit our God. Secondly, why we should think and pray big. And, thirdly, we shall see that we are to glorify and praise God for doing exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
At the outset, when is it that we unwittingly are guilty of limiting God? We find ourselves limiting God when faced with what we think is an impossible situation! For example, when God promised to Abraham and Sarah a child in their old age, Sarah laughed. She said, “After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Sarah was as much as saying, “What a joke! Who ever heard of a ninety year old woman giving birth?” Yet the Lord replied to her, “Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord?
The same is true with Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. When the angel Gabriel announced that Elisabeth was going to give birth to John the Baptist, he doubted what the angel said. Zacharias said, “Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” Gabriel rebuked Zacharias and informed him that he would not be able to speak until the child would be born.
And how can we forget what took place when the Apostle Peter was imprisoned? His fellow Christians met together and prayed for Peter’s deliverance. What happened? God heard their prayers and had Peter delivered by an angel. Upon being delivered from the prison, Peter went over to the house where his fellow believers were praying. When Peter knocked on the door, Rhoda the house servant went to see who it was . When she saw Peter she ran back into the house to tell everyone that it was Peter at the gate. But what did they say to Rhoda? They said, “Thou art mad.” They thought she was crazy to say she saw Peter. Thus, they doubted the very thing they prayed for! At that moment, they, too, failed to really believe God actually answered their prayers!
Yet how often we can doubt what the Lord can do in our own faith-trying situations. Right now, the current economy being what it is, even Christians are being laid off and facing real financial distress. The first question that can pop into their minds is this: “How can we make it through? How can we pay the bills? They see themselves in an impossible situation. How can I feed and clothe my family? Is such a trying and seemingly impossible situation beyond even the help of the Lord? Remember how God fed the widow of Zarephath with but one small amount of grain and a little cruse of oil for many days, even up to a year! Also, remember what Jesus says, “Therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matt. 6:25-26) In other words, God is able to do far beyond what we expect!
Also, as parents, we can become overly concerned about our children’s future. How will they turn out in their adult years? Here we must realize that we cannot control how they will turn out. Yet we can pray for our children, and believe that God will keep His Word which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Prov. 22:6)
Also, when our young people desire to get married, the first big challenge is finding a mate who will share their faith. Some may see no prospects in the church, and conclude that finding a suitable mate will be impossible. Can God bring someone in from outside the church? Is this too much to expect? What does our text say? “He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” In this regard, instead of concluding that this is a hopeless situation, pray big. Ask the Lord to guide you to the right person. Pray with faith! Pray big! “Lord, I know that Thou art able to do exceeding abundantly above all that I ask or think. In Thy grace, find a mate with whom I can share my faith as well as my life. In this regard, think of how Abraham in faith sent his servant Eliezer back to Nahor in Mesopotamia to find a believing wife for Isaac. He made clear that his son was not to take awife from among the Canaanites. Thus, in faith, Eliezer went to Nahor and found Rebekah for Isaac. The entire enterprise was undertaken in faith that God would bless this venture. Here again, we are to pray big. Have faith in what God can do!
However, there is an area of prayer which rises above all these temporal life situations. When it comes to the matter of our spiritual life, we also are not to pray with doubts, but with the assurance that God keeps His promises. In other words, when it comes to asking the Lord to forgive our sins, when it comes to asking God to increase our faith, or when it comes to God preserving our faith, we are to pray with utmost confidence. To doubt God in these matters is equal to saying that God is not capable of making good on His Word. Thus, when we are plagued with guilt over our sins, and as we repent of our sins, we are to remember that our sins are never so great that they exceed God’s promised forgiveness. God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness are unlimited! As the Bible says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:11-12) Our human reason concludes that there is a limit on how much and how often God forgives. Yet there are no limits. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanest us from all sin.” (I John 1:7)
When it comes to having a stronger faith and a greater love for the Lord, is there a ceiling on this? After our text says, “who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, it adds these words: “according to the power that worketh in us.” What is this power that worketh in us? It is the power of God’s grace in Christ. The power of God’s grace in Christ is ever operating in our hearts. This power that worketh in us actually enables us to grow in the love of Christ. Prior to our text verse, Paul says, “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (vv. 16-19) Here especially we are to believe that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. There are no limits on what God can do for our faith.
All these assurances that God can and will bless our growth in faith and love for Him elevates our entire spiritual life. We realize greater power in our prayers. More confidently we believe the Scripture which says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16) Although we are quite familiar with how Monica, Augustine’s mother, prayed for her son, we do well to quote Luther’s comments on the bold, incessant prayers of Monica. Luther wrote: “A very fine example of the power of prayer is provided by Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. She asked for nothing in her prayer for her son except that he might be delivered from the Manichaeans and be baptized. Meanwhile the solicitous mother was intent on finding a girl who would take him in marriage if it were possible to reclaim him in this way. But the more she prayed, the more stiff-necked and stubborn the son became, and her prayer seemed unto her to have become a sin. But when the time for hearing her solicitous prayer had come (for God usually defers His help), Augustine was not only converted and baptized but devotes himself entirely to the study of theology and turns out to be such a teacher that he shines in the church to this day, teaching and instructing the church. Monica had never asked for this. It would have been enough for her if her son had been freed from error and had turned Christian. But God wants to give us greater blessings than we can ask for, so long as we do not weaken our prayer.” Indeed, does not Scripture say, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)
Truly, because God is big, we should pray big and with big faith. Thus, during the distressful days of the Reformation, Melanchthon became very ill. Luther considered Melanchthon to be such an important assistant that he boldly prayed to the Lord without condition, without saying, “Thy will be done,” since Luther was convinced that it was God’s will to save Melanchthon’s life. We call this heroic faith. The result was that Melanchthon got well and was able to help Luther, even writing the Augsburg Confession under Luther’s close oversight.
Now since God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, our text says we are to give glory to God. Our text says, “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” God is to be glorified and praised because it is He who does things far beyond what we ask or even think of asking! Consciously and purposefully we should praise and honor God for His goodness to us. This praise should resound throughout the Church. It is to resound throughout the Church world without end, that is, for all eternity.
But notice how Christ is mentioned. Paul says, “in the church by Christ Jesus.” Why does Paul say, “by Christ Jesus?” The blessings of God which so often are far beyond what we ask or think are given us in and through Christ. They are given for Christ’s sake, that is, for the sake of the fact that He has reconciled God to us. Because of Christ, God is pleased with us. “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” (II Cor. 5:19)
Today, as we see how God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, let us glorify and thank Him, and let us do so in the name of Jesus. Amen.