still need to comprehend with all saints these dimensions of the love of Christ, the breadth, the length, the depth, the height, and to know that love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that I might be filled with all the fullness of God. At the end of chapter 2, the Apostle Paul has compared the church to a temple, to a spiritual temple, Verse 21 of chapter 2, "...in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." And it seems to me Paul carries that image of the temple over into this third petition. And I say that for this reason. In the book of Chronicles we read the dimensions of that first temple, Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. We are told the breadth is 20 cubits, the length is 60 cubits, the height 120 cubits. And when Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. And the Apostle is here praying as we comprehend these dimensions of the love of Christ. It is that we might be filled, that the church of Christ might be filled with all the fullness of God, that the glory of the Lord might fill the house of the Lord. So let's look at these dimensions. And the first one, he prays, that we might comprehend, that is with the mind, is the breath. The immeasurable breath of the love of Christ. And you've read this prayer many times. So what comes into your mind when you read these dimensions? The breadth of the love of Christ. Paul has touched on this in chapter 2. He is reminded, these Gentile Christians, what once they were. They were dead in trespasses and in sins. They were without God. They were without hope. They were afar off. They were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. They were strangers from the covenants of promise. the seed of Abraham, they were afar off. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are brought nigh by the blood of Christ. So he can say at the end of chapter 2, now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. You see, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not something which is narrow and confined and cramped and restricted. to the narrow geographical borders to the west of the river Jordan. It is not something restricted now to the seed of Abraham after the flesh, but the Gentile nations of the world. Here is the breadth we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Indeed the motto of the Trinitarian Bible Society is the Word of God among all nations. So the breadth of the love of Christ. And then another dimension he mentions is the length. The length of the love of Christ. Sometimes, particularly in the United Kingdom, in Ulster, the churches in Ulster will often ask me to give what they would call a wee word of testimony. But where does one begin with a word of testimony? Does one begin with the day when one can trace one's salvation? The day when one was brought from darkness to light? Born again of the Spirit of God, I know the day that I was born again. I know the time. I know the place. But I can't begin my testimony there. And I cannot begin my testimony either with the day that I can trace the first workings of the Holy Spirit upon my heart, convicting me of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come. And I know the place. And I know the date. And I know the time. But my testimony does not begin there. and it does not begin with the day of my birth. If I am to give my testimony, I must commence where it truly begins, before ever God spoke the world into being out of nothing, before ever the stars were fixed in their farthest galaxies. Before ever he had created Cherubim and Seraphim and the angelic hosts on high, when there was none but God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And it was then, and it was there, in the solemn conclave of eternity past, that I was chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. We read in Jeremiah 31 verse 3, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. And the love of Christ begins in eternity past. And it stretches into this realm of time in which we live. And when this world shall be no more, the love of Christ will go on and on and on into eternity future. The length from eternity to eternity. The immeasurable length of the love of Christ. And how we need to focus upon that in days of trials, in days of affliction. To remember this dimension of the love of Christ. Our love to Christ varies. It's like the moon, it waxes, it wanes. It's like the tide, it ebbs, it flows. It's hot, it's cold, it comes, it goes. But Paul is not here speaking of our love to Christ, but Christ's love to us. And that never varies. It is an everlasting constant. We need to remember that. That's why Paul can say at the end of Romans 8, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Utterly impossible, you see, because of this dimension, the length of the love of Christ. And then there is a third dimension. He prays we might comprehend the depth of the love of Christ. The unfathomable depths of the love of Christ. And the Apostle Paul, when he writes to the Philippians, perhaps expounds this dimension in chapter 2 of Philippians. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. For the depths of the love of Christ, from the heights of glory, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, He was not robbing God the Father or God the Spirit of glory, of honor and majesty, because he is co-equal, co-eternal with the Father and with the Spirit. But he makes himself of no reputation, takes upon him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbles himself, becomes obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. From the heights of glory to the womb of the Virgin, And then for thirty years or so he lives in poverty and in obscurity in Nazareth, working there at the carpenter's bench with chisel and hammer, shaping pieces of wood into furniture. And yet, and yet, at his command, the whole of the created universe sprang into being out of nothing. But there he labors in poverty and in obscurity. And then he comes forth for those years of public ministry. We saw no beauty in him that we should desire him. despised, rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces from him, taken by wicked hands and nailed to that shameful tree. And the Father in heaven lays on him the iniquity of us all. And he who is without sin was made sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him and the wrath of God that we deserve. The undiluted wrath of God was poured out upon the sinless Lamb of God, who bore all our sins in His own body on the tree and put away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself, shedding His precious blood to redeem us from the curse of that law that we had broken, to cleanse us from all iniquity. He cries, It is finished. He bows His head. He yields up the ghost and is lain in a borrowed tomb. The depths, the unfathomable depths of the love of Christ for poor, wretched, hell-deserving sinners like this one standing in the pulpit. And then a fourth dimension. And here I could preach a sermon on each of these dimensions, but time does not allow me so to do the height the height of the love of Christ. And perhaps Paul has touched on that in the previous chapter. Chapter 2 at verse 6, "...and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." What an astonishing thing that is! Those who are dead in trespasses and in sins, those who walked according to the course of this world, Those who walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the children of disobedience as others, the children of wrath, have been raised up and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You remember the Apostle John in his first epistle in chapter 3. Remarkable words. What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, us, deep-dyed sinners, children of wrath, that we, the likes of you and I, should be called the sons of God? Therefore the world knoweth as not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Oh, the heights! It doth not yet appear what we shall be. But when he shall appear, we shall be like him, and we shall see him as he is. In the Old Testament, there is a remarkable verse that sums up this dimension of the love of Christ. in 1 Samuel 2 and verse 8. There in 1 Samuel 2 verse 8, "...he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." Many times I've visited Countries like Zambia and Indonesia. And in some of those countries, when you are approaching or driving out of the capital city, at the side of the main road leading out, you will find mountains of refuge that are brought out from the city and piled mountain high at the side of the road. And there are people living on those refuge heaps, under tarpaulins, whole families, whole communities. And they spend their days scavenging for things they might be able to sell upon the streets of the capital city, or things they might wear, or things they might even eat. And that's the picture here in 1 Samuel. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory. Oh, the heights of the love of Christ. And Paul prays that we might comprehend with all saints these four dimensions of the love of Christ. And then he adds, and to know the love of Christ, that is to know within the heart, not just in the mind. We comprehend with the mind in verse 18, but here, to know in the heart the love of Christ. And then he adds, which passeth knowledge. When we think we know the love of Christ, we are but paddling in the shallows. There is a vast expanse and depth of the love of Christ yet to be explored, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Some of you are training to serve the Lord here in this college, and the greatest need that you have, if you are to be of any use in the service of the Lord, is to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. to know it in the breadth and the length and the depth and the height. Amen. Well, let's pray again. Almighty and eternal God, we confess that with these finite minds we can never scale the heights of the love of Christ. We can never fathom the depths of the love of Christ. that we thank thee for that great love wherewith he hath loved us. And we pray that thou wouldst within our hearts give us a greater love for such a mighty Savior and blessed Redeemer as our Lord Jesus Christ. Give us a greater zeal for thy kingdom, a greater burden for the lost souls of men. And we pray, Lord God, that thou wouldst bless these dear students here as they study in this college grant to the tutors that wisdom as they seek to instruct the students in the things of God, and we pray that thou prepare each and every one for the ministry that thou hast set before them, for Jesus' sake. Amen.