SERMON X.

THE DOXOLOGY.

EPHESIANS iii. 20, 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."

THE Apostle concludes his sublime and animated prayer for the Ephesian Christians with a Doxology; that is, with a form of giving glory to God. Since this prayer was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "every petition," as it has been justly observed, "is tantamount to a positive promise; for, what God inspires the heart to pray for, that, God purposes to bestow. Then, it is His will that all these blessings should be enjoyed by his true followers; that Christ should inhabit their hearts; and that they should be filled with all the fulness of God; yea, and that God should do for them more abundantly than they can ask or think."

The language of the whole prayer, and of the doxology in particular, is remarkably strong and emphatical and it has been justly remarked, that "In attempting to explain such portions of Scripture, it is almost impossible to avoid comparative flatness and insipidity; an inspired writer alone could do justice to them."-The doxology may be thus briefly paraphrased :-"Now unto God the Father, who is able to do for us all things that we ask,-to do all things infinitely beyond what we can ask, or even conceive ;-according to that powerful influence of the Holy Spirit which worketh in us;~to this God, of unspeakable power and grace, be rendered glory, adoration, and praise in the Church by Christ Jesus through the succession of all generations, and through all eternity."

We must not allow, my brethren, these noble expressions of the Apostle to be only so much letter and sound; but we must endeavour to derive distinct ideas from them, in order that, entering into their true spirit, we may adopt and use them as intelligent Christians. In our present meditation upon them, we shall consider two things,-What God is to us; and, What we especially owe to Him.

I. We are to consider what God is to us. And the notion which we form of Him from the text is, that He is a God of infinite power and goodness. He is here represented as being "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think :” and then it is added, "according to the power which worketh in us." We have here, therefore, two ideas; there is power with God; and that power worketh

in man,

1. When we speak of power with regard to God, no one questions His power for a single moment: nay, every one, on the slightest reflection, will readily admit, that infinite power,-a power without limit, and of which we can form at best only a very inadequate notion,-belongs to Him who called this vast and magnificent universe into existence by a word, and who, through revolving ages, keeps that universe in complete order; from the countless objects that are on the surface of our earth to the planets and stars that move in the remotest heights and depths of space. But the power of God as it is manifested in the works of creation, is not our subject at present: the text, and all similar passages of Scripture, lead us to the consideration of His power in what we call the kingdom of grace; His power in the Church; His gracious power with regard to the souls of men. This was the subject that engaged the minds of the Apostles; and this should engage our minds. St. Paul writes thus to the Romans: "Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ," "To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ for ever." St. Jude also speaks thus : "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, To the only wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever."

We are weak, both as to body and soul. Confining our attention to the latter, we may ask, What are we able to do? We boast indeed of our mental powers, and we are ready to declare how we can

master languages, sciences, and arts, and make ourə selves illustrious in all the accomplishments of profound, varied, and elegant scholarship. We may say, that we mould and rule the world of matter according to our will. But the question is not, What can we do as physical and intellectual beings? The question is, What can we do, as spiritual and accountable beings, for the present and eternal happiness of our souls? Are we able, by any power inherent in us, to rise up into the knowledge and fear and love of God? Are we able to resist, to vanquish, and to triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil? Are we able to renounce and conquer all sin, and to extirpate it from our hearts? Are we able to renew our corrupt nature, to implant in it all excellent principles and affections, and to adorn and enrich ourselves with the unsullied beauty of substantial holiness? Are we able to please God in our thoughts, words, and actions, and to walk in the world as citizens of heaven? It is on these things that our happiness depends; and it is in the consideration of them that we discover our strength or our weakness. But it must be here maintained, that, however we may glory in our ability and achievements as intellectual beings, we are utterly incompetent to abandon sin and error, and to espouse savingly the cause of truth and holiness, by any natural power of our own. If we be left to ourselves, even our just views and convictions of good and evil, supposing that we could obtain such, would only plunge us in despair.

But here the Gospel affords us gracious and

ample relief; for it reveals to salvation as the God of power.

us the God of our "Power belongeth

unto God." His dominion is universal; and all the treasures of redeeming mercy and grace are His: He, therefore, is able to do for us "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." The Almightiness of Jehovah, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is the support and consolation of all those who rightly feel their weakness, who know their enemies, and who understand the nature of vital and practical godliness. They avow their weakness, because they feel it but an avowal of it is not all; for they know that spiritual strength is essential to their welfare; and in order to obtain this, they look from themselves to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

of

Thus, my brethren, we preach to you theweakness of man; and we preach to you also the power God. We wish you to have that wise and sound knowledge of yourselves, which will always keep you humble and dependant; and we wish you to have, at the same time, a just sense of the divine power, which will make you thankful and joyful. We speak to you as immortal creatures, to whom everlasting salvation is the great concern. We look upon all the accomplishments of this world as comparatively mere trifles. We wish you not to spend your days on earth either as insects crawling on the ground, or as insects fluttering for a little time in the sunshine with gaudy wings; but we wish you to soar above the clouds, from earth to heaven, mingling with the skies, upborne as on the wings of eagles.