Experiencing Intimacy: The Heart of True Christianity

 

Summary

In today's message, we explored the profound concept of having an intimate fellowship with God, a relationship that goes beyond mere belief in Christian doctrines. Many claim to be Christians, yet when asked about their personal relationship with God, they hesitate. This hesitation is a crucial indicator of one's spiritual state. True Christianity involves knowing God personally, having a relationship that is as real and interactive as any human relationship. This intimate fellowship is often misunderstood and even ridiculed by those outside the faith, yet it is essential to the Christian experience.

Paul's letter to the Ephesians, particularly his prayer for the believers, highlights the importance of the inner life over external circumstances. Paul, despite his imprisonment, focuses on the spiritual strength of the Ephesians, praying for their inner being to be fortified by God's power. This emphasis on the inner life is crucial because it is the foundation from which we can face external challenges. If our inner life is strong, we can withstand any outward adversity.

The sermon also delved into the experiential aspect of faith. It's one thing to know Christian doctrines intellectually, but another to experience them deeply in our hearts. Paul prays for the Ephesians to grasp the dimensions of Christ's love—the breadth, length, depth, and height. This grasping is not merely intellectual but involves a deep, transformative experience of God's love that changes how we live and perceive the world.

Finally, we are reminded that the inner life is where we experience the fullness of God. It is where we are strengthened to grasp the love of Christ, which in turn transforms our outward lives. This transformation is not automatic; it requires intentional prayer, meditation, and a desire to know God more deeply. As we partake in communion, we are invited to survey the wondrous cross, to meditate on the love of Christ, and to allow this reflection to ignite a fire in our hearts, leading to a life filled with God's fullness.

Key Takeaways:

1. Intimate Fellowship with God: True Christianity is marked by a personal, intimate relationship with God, not just an intellectual assent to doctrines. This relationship is essential and transformative, allowing believers to know God personally and interactively. [00:40]

2. The Priority of the Inner Life: Paul emphasizes the importance of the inner life over external circumstances. A strong inner life, fortified by God's power, enables believers to face any outward adversity with strength and peace. [05:08]

3. Experiential Knowledge of Faith: Knowing Christian doctrines intellectually is different from experiencing them deeply in our hearts. Paul prays for believers to grasp the dimensions of Christ's love, which involves a transformative experience that changes how we live. [12:07]

4. The Dimensions of Christ's Love: Understanding the breadth, length, depth, and height of Christ's love is crucial for spiritual growth. This understanding is not just intellectual but involves a deep, experiential knowledge that transforms our lives. [25:06]

5. Transformation through Meditation: The inner life is where we experience the fullness of God. Through intentional prayer and meditation on God's love, we are transformed, enabling us to live a life filled with God's fullness and strength. [37:48]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:11] - Defining True Christianity
- [00:40] - Fellowship with God
- [01:44] - Perception of Evangelicals
- [03:15] - Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians
- [04:49] - The Priority of the Inner Life
- [06:13] - Developing the Inner Life
- [07:31] - The Non-Christian's Dilemma
- [09:18] - Strengthening the Inner Being
- [11:53] - The Realm of Experience
- [14:14] - Doctrine vs. Experience
- [16:26] - Structure of the Inner Life
- [19:04] - The Heart in the Bible
- [21:12] - Spiritual Blindness
- [25:06] - Grasping Christ's Love
- [37:48] - Living a Life of Fullness

Study Guide

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. Ephesians 3:14-19 - This passage is central to the sermon, focusing on Paul's prayer for the Ephesians to be strengthened in their inner being and to grasp the dimensions of Christ's love.
2. 1 John 1:3 - This verse emphasizes the fellowship with the Father and the Son, which is a key theme in the sermon.
3. Philippians 2:5-8 - This passage highlights the depth of Christ's love and humility, as discussed in the sermon.

#### Observation Questions
1. What does Paul pray for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:14-19, and why is this significant for their spiritual growth?
2. How does 1 John 1:3 describe the nature of fellowship with God, and why is this important for believers? [00:40]
3. In Philippians 2:5-8, what actions of Christ demonstrate the depth of His love, and how does this relate to the sermon’s message? [31:53]

#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why does Paul emphasize the strengthening of the inner being over external circumstances in his prayer for the Ephesians? How does this reflect the sermon’s message about the priority of the inner life? [05:08]
2. How does the concept of intimate fellowship with God challenge the common perception of Christianity as merely a set of beliefs? [01:44]
3. What does it mean to grasp the dimensions of Christ's love, and how can this understanding transform a believer's life? [25:06]

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your personal relationship with God. Do you feel it is more intellectual or experiential? What steps can you take to deepen your fellowship with Him? [00:40]
2. Consider a current challenge in your life. How can focusing on strengthening your inner being help you face this challenge with peace and strength? [05:08]
3. Think about a time when you felt overwhelmed by external circumstances. How did your inner spiritual life impact your response to that situation? [09:18]
4. Identify one aspect of Christ's love (breadth, length, depth, height) that you struggle to fully grasp. What practical steps can you take to meditate on and experience this aspect more deeply? [25:06]
5. How can you incorporate intentional prayer and meditation into your daily routine to experience the fullness of God in your life? [37:48]
6. Reflect on a relationship in your life that could benefit from a deeper understanding of Christ's love. How can you demonstrate this love in a tangible way this week? [28:56]
7. As you prepare to partake in communion, how can you use this time to survey the wondrous cross and allow it to ignite a fire in your heart for a life filled with God's fullness? [38:12]

Devotional

Day 1: Intimate Fellowship with God
True Christianity is not just about intellectual agreement with doctrines but involves a personal, intimate relationship with God. This relationship is essential and transformative, allowing believers to know God personally and interactively. Many people may identify as Christians, yet when asked about their personal relationship with God, they hesitate. This hesitation can be a crucial indicator of one's spiritual state. An intimate fellowship with God is often misunderstood and even ridiculed by those outside the faith, yet it is essential to the Christian experience. It is a relationship that is as real and interactive as any human relationship, and it requires intentional effort to cultivate and maintain. [00:40]

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV): "Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.'"

Reflection: Think about your current relationship with God. What steps can you take today to deepen this relationship and make it more personal and interactive?


Day 2: The Priority of the Inner Life
Paul emphasizes the importance of the inner life over external circumstances. A strong inner life, fortified by God's power, enables believers to face any outward adversity with strength and peace. Despite his imprisonment, Paul focuses on the spiritual strength of the Ephesians, praying for their inner being to be fortified by God's power. This emphasis on the inner life is crucial because it is the foundation from which we can face external challenges. If our inner life is strong, we can withstand any outward adversity. [05:08]

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV): "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Reflection: Identify one area of your inner life that needs strengthening. How can you invite God's power into this area today to help you face external challenges with peace?


Day 3: Experiential Knowledge of Faith
Knowing Christian doctrines intellectually is different from experiencing them deeply in our hearts. Paul prays for believers to grasp the dimensions of Christ's love, which involves a transformative experience that changes how we live. It's one thing to know Christian doctrines intellectually, but another to experience them deeply in our hearts. This grasping is not merely intellectual but involves a deep, transformative experience of God's love that changes how we live and perceive the world. [12:07]

Ephesians 3:17-19 (ESV): "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you experienced God's love in a transformative way. How can you seek to experience His love more deeply in your daily life?


Day 4: The Dimensions of Christ's Love
Understanding the breadth, length, depth, and height of Christ's love is crucial for spiritual growth. This understanding is not just intellectual but involves a deep, experiential knowledge that transforms our lives. Paul prays for the Ephesians to grasp the dimensions of Christ's love, which involves a transformative experience that changes how we live. This grasping is not merely intellectual but involves a deep, transformative experience of God's love that changes how we live and perceive the world. [25:06]

Romans 8:38-39 (ESV): "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Reflection: Consider the different dimensions of Christ's love. How can you allow this understanding to transform your perspective and actions today?


Day 5: Transformation through Meditation
The inner life is where we experience the fullness of God. Through intentional prayer and meditation on God's love, we are transformed, enabling us to live a life filled with God's fullness and strength. This transformation is not automatic; it requires intentional prayer, meditation, and a desire to know God more deeply. As we partake in communion, we are invited to survey the wondrous cross, to meditate on the love of Christ, and to allow this reflection to ignite a fire in our hearts, leading to a life filled with God's fullness. [37:48]

Colossians 3:16 (ESV): "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

Reflection: Set aside time today for intentional prayer and meditation on God's love. How can this practice help you experience the fullness of God in your daily life?

Quotes


a lot of people when you talk to when you talk to folks about Christianity a lot of people will say I'm a Christian when you press them they mean I believe in Christ I believe in the truths of Christianity basically but when you press and say would you say you have intimate fellowship with him a lot of people would back up and say well I don't know Who am I to say something like that [00:00:00]

Paul is suffering he's in prison and the purpose of his letter and right now at this moment in the in the letter that the thing that's most on his heart is how do I keep these people from being discouraged now you know that's another one of those places where the translation isn't as good as it ought to be in the old King James Bible if anybody has a King James Bible you will see they saying I don't want you to what anybody have it doesn't want you to faint [00:03:30]

what I am going to do is I'm going to pray for you because you're so discouraged because you're in danger of fainting when he prays he never says anything about their outward of circumstances he doesn't say Oh Lord protect them he doesn't say Oh Lord spring me from prison so I can get out and and and encourage them he doesn't say Oh Lord heal them of their sicknesses he doesn't say Oh Lord do this and do that in their lives change this and that he makes no reference at all [00:04:25]

if in your inner life there's a strength if you're enter in in your inner life there's a peace if in your inner life there's a power then it doesn't matter what's happening in the outward circumstances of your life it doesn't matter if your inner life is strong and your outer life is crumbling it doesn't matter you can move out into your outward life and strength if your outward life looks fine and your inner life is in tatters it doesn't matter about your outward life you move out into the world and weakness [00:05:08]

the ultimate trouble with the non-christian is that he knows nothing of the inner being his whole life is bounded by what he is aware of that is to say his sensations within himself and in his correspondence with the world of things that can be seen and heard and felt and handled that is his only and his total life he has no inner being to retreat into in times of trouble and stress and trial he is dependent completely upon the circumstances of his outward life [00:07:38]

Paul says I don't want you to faint so I'm going to pray that your inner being and your inner life is strengthened and until you recognize that that's where you have to start stop complaining about the problems in your relationships to the top talk complaining about your financial problems stop stop complaining that these things are too much for you we're too confusing or I don't know what to do about them what are you doing about your inner being what are you doing about your intimacy with him [00:09:09]

the heart in the Bible is not talking about the emotions but the heart is the seat of the mind the will and the emotions the heart is the seat of the personality that drives every part of your every one of your faculties if you are emotionally lifted up but it doesn't affect the way you live the way you act then it hasn't touched your heart it's only gone as deep as the emotions if you get excited intellectually about something but it doesn't actually affect the way you live [00:18:26]

theology your doctrine your beliefs relate to the actual Christian life like a map relates to the country itself the map of the country relates to the country for example if I set you if you'd never been to New York City and I set you down in New York City and I said go find and I gave you an address you know if I said go find a 58 Jane Street set you down in the middle of New York you've never been here but I give you no directions I give you no map what are your chances of ever finding it [00:20:54]

when you find you're still shocked when you find out another person is done you're just shocked how could anybody do such a thing you have not got an experiential knowledge of your sin you've got strictly an intellectual knowledge you don't know about your own sin yet that hasn't happened through fellowship it's a piece of colored paper to you because the experience of your own sin means you never look down your nose at anybody else the experience of your own sin means that you become a humble and cautious person [00:24:22]

you know about the love of Christ don't you if you're a Christian do you believe in the love of Christ what in the world is Paul praying for you for he is saying why aren't you happy all the time if you know about the love of Christ why are you ever subject to self-pity hmm why are you ever discouraged why are you ever jealous why are you ever envious why are you ever depressed why are you ever worried if you know about the love of Christ why and the answer is you don't really know the love of Christ [00:25:06]

what does it mean to grasp the height the width and the breadth and depth you know what Paul's doing right there is he is surveying the wondrous cross you see what it means to really have an inner life it means to get away from the outward circumstances and to sit down with you and the truth and you say Lord Jesus Christ I want to not just know your truth I want to know your truth I want to be filled with all the fullness of God [00:26:34]

when you're now about to take the cup and you're about to take the bread survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died survey think about the breath think about the height think about the length think about the depth until the fire awakes in your heart and say Lord I'm going to think speak to me deal with me fill me with your fullness it's available for every one of us [00:38:16]

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Transcript
What was the most surprising thing in this sermon?
Were there any personal stories shared?