_ pressed in the words: "ex ndantly above what we ask orthink." (continued)
CLASSIC SERMON OUTLINES — Alexander Maclaren
B. According to His Mighty Power, Which He' 'When He Raised Him from the Dead (Ephesians 1:19-20).
1. Its purport. The Lord, in the glory of His risen life, and in the riches of the gifts which He received when He ascended up on high, is the pattern for us and the power which fulfils its own pattern.
2. Its purpose. The limits of that power will not be reached until every Christian soul is perfectly assimilated to that likeness nor till every Chris-
tian soul is raised to participation in Christ's dignity and sits on His throne.
C. According to the Power Which Works in Us (Ephesians 3:20).
1. Its meaning. What power is that but the power of the Spirit of God?
2. Its outcome. The effects already produced and the experiences we have already had carry in them the pledge of completeness.
II. THE RELATION OF THE DIVINE WORKING TO OUR | THOUGHTS AND DESIRES.
A. The Extent of the Divine Working.
1. It is "beyond all things." What he means by this is more fully ex-
_ pressed in the words: "ex ndantly above what we ask or think."
2. It refers especially to spiritual blessings. The rapturous words of our text are only true in a very modified and partial sense about God's working for us in the world. It is His work in us concerning which they are absolutely true.
B. The Wonder of the Divine Working.
1. It ts the power of the Triune God. As regards the working of God on our spiritual lives, this passing beyond the bounds of thought and desire is but the necessary result of the fact that the only measure of the power is God Himself in that threefold being.
2. It is more than we realize and receive. In every act of His quickening grace, in every God-given increase of our knowledge of God, in every be-