I. The central thought in this passage is the ability and willingness of God in Christ Jesus to do according to every possible measure of human need at every possible time. If we realised this, what a changed aspect it would give to this poor life of ours! How small and worthless would be the things that charm us most. How bravely and calmly we should bear the trials of our life. How well we should get rid of all this fear and doubt and gloom about tomorrow which darkens our today. How hard we should be able to work, with a pulse in every finger and a hope in every word, as we tell the young people for whom our heart's desire is that they shall be saved, "God is able."
II. In this remarkable verse we have a wonderful instance of Paul's cumulative way of speaking. The way in which Paul moves upward in his passion struck me once when I was in Wales. I was moving up a high and rocky slope. First of all it led me through a meadow; after the meadow there was an upward pathway through a wood; up a little higher I caught a gleam of the river beyond; higher still I saw the scraggy rocks and tall hills behind; higher still I saw the golden cornfields at their feet; and still higher went I, until right away yonder on the horizon I saw the black-capped mountains higher than them all; and still I had to rise, and rising, at last I stood upon the summit, and said as I looked round, "This is perfection." But it was not, for on turning in one direction I perceived a sight I had not caught before. What do you think it was? It was a glimpse of the infinite sea stretching away beyond all ken, to meet the infinite sky. Paul gets up to that height, and then he wants a pair of wings to fly with. And then I come back again, and I say to myself, "This text is for me.'
J. Jackson Wray, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxvii., p. 297.
References: Ephesians 3:20; Ephesians 3:21. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxi., No. 1266; H. W. Beecher, Sermons,1870, p. 619; J. Duncan, The Pulpit and Communion Table,p. 406; A. Maclaren, The Secret of Power,p. 130. Ephesians 4:1. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Life of Duty,vol. ii., p. 146; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. vii., p. 145; Plain Sermons by Contributors to" Tracts for the Times" vol. x., p. 36. Ephesians 4:2. F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xix., p. 65.