Experiencing the Depths of Christ's Love

 

Summary

In this sermon, we delve into the profound prayer of the Apostle Paul for the Ephesians, as recorded in Ephesians 3:14-21. This prayer is a call for all Christians to seek a deeper understanding and experience of the love of Christ. Paul prays that believers may be strengthened by the Spirit in their inner being, allowing Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith. This indwelling leads to being rooted and grounded in love, enabling believers to comprehend the vast dimensions of Christ's love—its breadth, length, depth, and height.

The sermon emphasizes that knowing the love of Christ is the pinnacle of human achievement, a knowledge that surpasses all understanding. This knowledge is not reserved for a select few but is available to all believers. The Apostle Paul uses three key terms to describe this knowledge: comprehend, know, and surpassing knowledge. Comprehending the love of Christ involves a mental grasp, an intellectual apprehension of its vastness. However, this is not merely an intellectual exercise; it is intertwined with love itself, which includes an intellectual element.

The second term, "know," refers to experiential knowledge, a personal and direct experience of Christ's love. This is not just a concept to be understood but a reality to be experienced. It is the difference between knowing about Christ's love and feeling it personally and intimately. The third term, "surpassing knowledge," indicates that this love is inexhaustible and transcends our understanding. It is a love that continually reveals more of itself, inviting us to explore its depths further.

The sermon challenges us to meditate on the love of Christ, to study it, and to allow it to transform us. It is a call to move beyond a superficial understanding and to seek a deeper, more personal experience of Christ's love. This love is not just a theological concept but a living reality that can fill our hearts with peace and joy, even in the midst of life's challenges.

Key Takeaways:

- The love of Christ is the highest form of knowledge available to humanity, surpassing all other forms of understanding. It is a knowledge that is open to all believers, not just a select few. This love is vast and multidimensional, inviting us to explore its breadth, length, depth, and height. [01:54]

- Comprehending the love of Christ involves an intellectual grasp, but it is not purely an intellectual exercise. Love includes an intellectual element, and understanding this is crucial for a deeper experience of Christ's love. This comprehension is a mental process that requires deliberate effort and meditation. [04:49]

- Experiential knowledge of Christ's love goes beyond intellectual understanding. It is a personal and direct experience of His love, where Christ Himself makes His love known to us in an intimate way. This experiential knowledge is vital for a full understanding of Christ's love. [19:14]

- The love of Christ surpasses all knowledge, meaning it is inexhaustible and continually reveals more of itself. This love is like a never-ebbing sea, always offering more to those who seek it. It invites us to continually explore and experience its depths. [26:24]

- Meditating on the love of Christ is essential for a deeper understanding and experience of His love. This involves studying the scriptures, contemplating the manifestations of His love, and allowing it to transform our hearts and minds. It is a call to move beyond passive belief to active engagement with Christ's love. [16:14]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:11] - Introduction to Paul's Prayer
- [01:05] - The Greatest Knowledge
- [02:42] - Nature of This Knowledge
- [03:31] - Three Aspects of Knowledge
- [04:49] - Comprehending Christ's Love
- [06:28] - Conceptual Knowledge
- [08:21] - Intellectual Element in Love
- [10:37] - Love vs. Infatuation
- [13:39] - Contemplating Love
- [17:32] - Experiential Knowledge
- [20:51] - Direct Experience of Love
- [24:12] - Surpassing Knowledge
- [27:40] - Possibility of This Knowledge
- [31:29] - Historical Verification
- [38:24] - Personal Testimonies
- [42:29] - Conclusion and Prayer

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
- Ephesians 3:14-21

---

Observation Questions:

1. What does Paul pray for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:14-21, and how does he describe the love of Christ? [01:05]

2. According to the sermon, what are the three key terms Paul uses to describe the knowledge of Christ's love, and what do they mean? [03:31]

3. How does the sermon describe the difference between "comprehending" and "knowing" the love of Christ? [17:51]

4. What does the sermon suggest is the ultimate goal of understanding and experiencing the love of Christ? [02:12]

---

Interpretation Questions:

1. How does the sermon explain the intellectual element in love, and why is it important for understanding Christ's love? [08:21]

2. What does the sermon suggest about the relationship between conceptual knowledge and experiential knowledge of Christ's love? [19:14]

3. How does the sermon describe the inexhaustible nature of Christ's love, and what implications does this have for believers? [26:24]

4. In what ways does the sermon suggest that meditating on Christ's love can transform a believer's life? [16:14]

---

Application Questions:

1. Reflect on your current understanding of Christ's love. How can you deepen your intellectual grasp of this love through study and meditation this week? [15:14]

2. Have you experienced Christ's love in a personal and direct way? If not, what steps can you take to open yourself to this experience? [20:51]

3. The sermon emphasizes the inexhaustible nature of Christ's love. How can you remind yourself of this truth during challenging times? [26:24]

4. Consider a time when you felt overwhelmed by the love of Christ. How did that experience impact your faith and actions? [21:30]

5. The sermon calls for active engagement with Christ's love. What practical steps can you take to move beyond passive belief and actively engage with His love daily? [16:14]

6. How can you incorporate meditation on the love of Christ into your daily routine? What specific practices or habits can you adopt to make this a reality? [17:13]

7. Think of someone in your life who may not fully understand the love of Christ. How can you share this love with them in a meaningful way this week? [23:50]

Devotional

Day 1: The Vastness of Christ's Love
The love of Christ is described as the highest form of knowledge available to humanity, surpassing all other forms of understanding. This love is not limited to a select few but is open to all believers, inviting them to explore its vast dimensions—its breadth, length, depth, and height. Understanding this love is not just an intellectual exercise but a profound spiritual journey that requires deliberate effort and meditation. As believers, we are called to seek a deeper understanding and experience of this love, allowing it to transform our hearts and minds. [01:54]

Ephesians 3:18-19 (ESV): "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: Consider a time when you felt overwhelmed by the love of Christ. How can you intentionally seek to explore the vastness of His love in your daily life today?


Day 2: Intellectual and Spiritual Comprehension
Comprehending the love of Christ involves an intellectual grasp, but it is not purely an intellectual exercise. Love includes an intellectual element, and understanding this is crucial for a deeper experience of Christ's love. This comprehension is a mental process that requires deliberate effort and meditation. It is about moving beyond a superficial understanding and engaging with the love of Christ on a deeper level, allowing it to transform our thoughts and actions. [04:49]

Colossians 2:2-3 (ESV): "That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Reflection: What steps can you take today to deepen your intellectual and spiritual understanding of Christ's love? How can this understanding impact your interactions with others?


Day 3: Experiencing Christ's Love Personally
Experiential knowledge of Christ's love goes beyond intellectual understanding. It is a personal and direct experience of His love, where Christ Himself makes His love known to us in an intimate way. This experiential knowledge is vital for a full understanding of Christ's love, as it moves from being a concept to a living reality in our lives. It is the difference between knowing about Christ's love and feeling it personally and intimately. [19:14]

1 John 4:16 (ESV): "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

Reflection: Reflect on a moment when you felt Christ's love in a personal way. How can you create space in your life to experience His love more deeply and consistently?


Day 4: The Inexhaustible Love of Christ
The love of Christ surpasses all knowledge, meaning it is inexhaustible and continually reveals more of itself. This love is like a never-ebbing sea, always offering more to those who seek it. It invites us to continually explore and experience its depths, knowing that there is always more to discover. This inexhaustible nature of Christ's love encourages us to remain curious and open to new revelations of His love in our lives. [26:24]

Romans 11:33 (ESV): "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!"

Reflection: In what ways can you actively seek to explore the inexhaustible love of Christ today? How can this exploration impact your faith journey?


Day 5: Meditating on Christ's Love
Meditating on the love of Christ is essential for a deeper understanding and experience of His love. This involves studying the scriptures, contemplating the manifestations of His love, and allowing it to transform our hearts and minds. It is a call to move beyond passive belief to active engagement with Christ's love, allowing it to fill our lives with peace and joy, even in the midst of life's challenges. [16:14]

Psalm 119:15-16 (ESV): "I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word."

Reflection: How can you incorporate meditation on Christ's love into your daily routine? What specific practices can help you focus on His love and allow it to transform your life?

Quotes


This prayer is a call for all Christians to seek a deeper understanding and experience of the love of Christ. Paul prays that believers may be strengthened by the Spirit in their inner being, allowing Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith. This indwelling leads to being rooted and grounded in love, enabling believers to comprehend the vast dimensions of Christ's love—its breadth, length, depth, and height. [00:00:03]

This is the greatest knowledge that is possible to men there is nothing higher than this to know this Love Of Christ is the Acme of human achievement there is nothing more glorious that can ever happen to a human being than to have this knowledge and yet as we've seen it's a knowledge that is open to all we are to comprehend it with All Saints not to certain people only. [00:01:54]

The first word which we look at is this word comprehend that ye may be able to comprehend with All Saints the breadth and length and depth and height of This Love Of Christ which passes knowledge now what is the meaning of this term to comprehend well this means to take a firm mental grasp of something or if you prefer it it means to lay hold of something with the mind. [00:04:09]

Experiential knowledge of Christ's love goes beyond intellectual understanding. It is a personal and direct experience of His love, where Christ Himself makes His love known to us in an intimate way. This experiential knowledge is vital for a full understanding of Christ's love. [00:19:14]

The love of Christ surpasses all knowledge, meaning it is inexhaustible and continually reveals more of itself. This love is like a never-ebbing sea, always offering more to those who seek it. It invites us to continually explore and experience its depths. [00:26:24]

Meditating on the love of Christ is essential for a deeper understanding and experience of His love. This involves studying the scriptures, contemplating the manifestations of His love, and allowing it to transform our hearts and minds. It is a call to move beyond passive belief to active engagement with Christ's love. [00:16:14]

The Apostle is praying here primarily for these Ephesians that they may lay hold on This Love Of Christ with their minds now then at once we are confronted are we not by what appears to be a contradiction not only a contradiction in what I've been trying to say on previous Sunday mornings but a contradiction in what the Apostle himself has been saying. [00:07:06]

This is no longer conceptual knowledge what is this well this is knowledge which is gained by experience or knowledge if you prefer it which is grounded in personal experience I no longer use the term conceptual I now use the word experimental or if you prefer it experiential now this isn't my theory this isn't my idea. [00:18:07]

The Apostle says that he's bowing his knees before God the father and praying incessantly that these Ephesians may have this he knows they're already Believers he's reminded them of that they've been sealed with the spirit and there are many other things that he's told them that are of true of them but he feels that they don't know this love in this way. [00:24:28]

The knowledge surpassing Love Of Christ in other words it surely means something like this that though you may come to know it you still only know something of it it's like a never ebbing sea it is inexhaustible it is unsearchable it's always much bigger than you think it is you get more and more of it and yet you're only starting with it. [00:26:24]

The Apostle here is emphasizing by his word comprehend or apprehend that there is this tremendous element of understanding in love in other words love is something that can be contemplated and indeed I can go on to say this that love contemplates in other words if love doesn't make you think it isn't love it's this other thing this debase thing love always thinks. [00:13:39]

The Apostle's teaching here is just that that it is possible for Christian people to know the love of Christ in that personal immediate direct experimental experiential way over and above the conceptual knowledge is this experimental knowledge now then this is clearly something that is of very vital importance for us. [00:24:12]

Chatbot

  • I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from May 25, 2017. Do you have any questions about it?

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