Title: The Motivating Power of Christ's Love Meta: Paul the apostle was abandoned for the things of Christ, but what is it that drove such a man? What is it that compelled him to risk his life? It was because the greatest privilege imaginable had happened to him – the Son of God, Jesus Christ, loved Paul and gave Himself up for him on the Cross. It was Christ's love for Paul that controlled his life, his decisions, and it is this love that must motivate us as well. Tags: 2 Corinthians 5:14,Love,Jesus Christ,motivation,sermon 1 00:00:01,143 --> 00:00:04,898 Father, I pray that our souls, 2 00:00:04,898 --> 00:00:09,113 our minds, 3 00:00:09,113 --> 00:00:12,367 Lord, may they be still. 4 00:00:12,367 --> 00:00:13,979 We pray that there would be 5 00:00:13,979 --> 00:00:17,526 a God-wrought stillness here. 6 00:00:21,556 --> 00:00:24,647 Lord, we pray that You'd draw near just now. 7 00:00:24,647 --> 00:00:26,092 In Christ's name, I pray. 8 00:00:26,092 --> 00:00:29,246 Amen. 9 00:00:29,246 --> 00:00:30,912 Would you please open your Bibles 10 00:00:30,912 --> 00:00:35,958 to 2 Corinthians 5? 11 00:00:35,958 --> 00:00:37,409 Brethren, I really appreciate 12 00:00:37,409 --> 00:00:41,959 all the prayers. 13 00:00:41,959 --> 00:00:46,278 I still somewhat have a low-grade headache, 14 00:00:46,278 --> 00:00:50,296 and I feel somewhat in a fog, 15 00:00:50,296 --> 00:00:53,116 so if you'd pray for me while I'm preaching, 16 00:00:53,116 --> 00:00:56,879 I'd very much appreciate it. 17 00:00:56,879 --> 00:01:02,148 2 Corinthians 5:11 18 00:01:02,148 --> 00:01:04,074 Brethren, I'll tell you right up front, 19 00:01:04,074 --> 00:01:06,183 the title of my message is 20 00:01:06,183 --> 00:01:12,949 "The Motivating Power of Christ's Love." 21 00:01:12,949 --> 00:01:14,807 There in verse 14, 22 00:01:14,807 --> 00:01:17,301 "For the love of Christ controls us." 23 00:01:17,301 --> 00:01:19,612 Or the love of Christ constrains us, 24 00:01:19,612 --> 00:01:21,391 or compels us. 25 00:01:21,391 --> 00:01:23,424 That's what I want to deal with today. 26 00:01:23,424 --> 00:01:27,396 But I want to read this in context. 27 00:01:27,396 --> 00:01:29,831 The Apostle Paul beneath Christ. 28 00:01:29,831 --> 00:01:34,469 Prototype, we might say, missionary. 29 00:01:34,469 --> 00:01:36,208 We might describe him as the 30 00:01:36,208 --> 00:01:39,384 kind of person that John was talking about. 31 00:01:39,384 --> 00:01:41,628 The kind of person that had let go 32 00:01:41,628 --> 00:01:43,556 of the things of this world. 33 00:01:43,556 --> 00:01:45,487 The kind of person that's abandoned 34 00:01:45,487 --> 00:01:47,902 for the things of Christ. 35 00:01:47,902 --> 00:01:50,454 What is it that drove such a man? 36 00:01:50,454 --> 00:01:53,495 What is it that compelled him? 37 00:01:53,495 --> 00:01:56,517 Because I want to be compelled by the same thing. 38 00:01:56,517 --> 00:02:00,363 Because we hold on tightly. 39 00:02:00,363 --> 00:02:05,499 Tighter than we think. 40 00:02:05,499 --> 00:02:09,491 I want to be like Paul. 41 00:02:09,491 --> 00:02:11,804 I want to be ready to let go 42 00:02:11,804 --> 00:02:15,814 anything at all, anytime. 43 00:02:15,814 --> 00:02:18,021 I want to live free of this world. 44 00:02:18,021 --> 00:02:19,548 And I want to be driven by 45 00:02:19,548 --> 00:02:23,707 the same things that drove him. 46 00:02:23,707 --> 00:02:26,903 These verses contain this well-known statement: 47 00:02:26,903 --> 00:02:28,818 The love of Christ controls us. 48 00:02:28,818 --> 00:02:30,192 Let's see it in context. 49 00:02:30,192 --> 00:02:33,917 Let's begin reading in verse 11. 50 00:02:33,917 --> 00:02:36,882 Now, this first part, "therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, 51 00:02:36,882 --> 00:02:39,672 we persuade others," 52 00:02:39,672 --> 00:02:43,564 That probably belongs in verse 10. 53 00:02:43,564 --> 00:02:44,965 Back in verse 10, you have 54 00:02:44,965 --> 00:02:47,789 the judgment seat of Christ. 55 00:02:47,789 --> 00:02:49,989 Each one is going to receive what is due 56 00:02:49,989 --> 00:02:51,496 for what is done in the body, 57 00:02:51,496 --> 00:02:52,671 whether good or evil, 58 00:02:52,671 --> 00:02:54,695 therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, 59 00:02:54,695 --> 00:02:55,689 we persuade others. 60 00:02:55,689 --> 00:03:00,745 That probably belongs there. 61 00:03:00,745 --> 00:03:03,210 Verse 11, mid-stream. 62 00:03:03,210 --> 00:03:08,668 "But what we are is known to God. 63 00:03:08,668 --> 00:03:10,295 And I hope it's known also 64 00:03:10,295 --> 00:03:12,877 to your conscience. 65 00:03:12,877 --> 00:03:15,126 We're not commending ourselves to you again, 66 00:03:15,126 --> 00:03:18,090 but giving you cause to boast about us, 67 00:03:18,090 --> 00:03:19,960 so that you may be able to answer those 68 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,417 who boast about outward appearance, 69 00:03:23,417 --> 00:03:26,191 and not about what is in the heart. 70 00:03:26,191 --> 00:03:28,355 For if we're beside ourselves, 71 00:03:28,355 --> 00:03:30,275 it is for God. 72 00:03:30,275 --> 00:03:31,892 If we're in our right mind, 73 00:03:31,892 --> 00:03:34,858 it is for you. 74 00:03:34,858 --> 00:03:37,773 For the love of Christ controls us, 75 00:03:37,773 --> 00:03:40,146 because we have concluded this, 76 00:03:40,146 --> 00:03:42,421 that one has died for all, 77 00:03:42,421 --> 00:03:45,284 therefore all have died. 78 00:03:45,284 --> 00:03:50,076 And He died for all that those who live 79 00:03:50,076 --> 00:03:53,302 might no longer live for themselves, 80 00:03:53,302 --> 00:03:55,376 but for Him who for their sake 81 00:03:55,376 --> 00:03:58,138 died and was raised. 82 00:03:58,138 --> 00:03:59,605 From now on, therefore, 83 00:03:59,605 --> 00:04:02,432 we regard no one according to the flesh, 84 00:04:02,432 --> 00:04:04,784 even though we once regarded Christ 85 00:04:04,784 --> 00:04:06,479 according to the flesh. 86 00:04:06,479 --> 00:04:08,459 We regard Him thus no longer. 87 00:04:08,459 --> 00:04:11,383 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. 88 00:04:11,383 --> 00:04:12,590 The old has passed away. 89 00:04:12,590 --> 00:04:14,990 Behold, the new has come. 90 00:04:14,990 --> 00:04:17,900 And this is from God, who through Christ 91 00:04:17,900 --> 00:04:19,899 reconciled us to Himself, 92 00:04:19,899 --> 00:04:24,444 and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 93 00:04:24,444 --> 00:04:27,652 that is, in Christ, God was reconciling 94 00:04:27,652 --> 00:04:29,224 the world to Himself, 95 00:04:29,224 --> 00:04:32,580 not counting their trespasses against them, 96 00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:36,723 and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 97 00:04:36,723 --> 00:04:39,412 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, 98 00:04:39,412 --> 00:04:41,455 God making His appeal through us. 99 00:04:41,455 --> 00:04:43,779 We implore you on behalf of Christ, 100 00:04:43,779 --> 00:04:46,722 be reconciled to God. 101 00:04:46,722 --> 00:04:49,395 For our sake, He made Him to be sin, 102 00:04:49,395 --> 00:04:51,194 who knew no sin, 103 00:04:51,194 --> 00:04:53,004 so that in Him, we might 104 00:04:53,004 --> 00:05:00,511 become the righteousness of God." 105 00:05:00,511 --> 00:05:06,713 The motivating power of Christ's love. 106 00:05:06,713 --> 00:05:08,588 Now, I believe when it speaks here 107 00:05:08,588 --> 00:05:10,417 about the love of Christ 108 00:05:10,417 --> 00:05:12,034 constraining us, 109 00:05:12,034 --> 00:05:17,065 this isn't specifically our love for Him, 110 00:05:17,065 --> 00:05:19,203 but His love for us. 111 00:05:19,203 --> 00:05:20,855 Now undoubtedly, His love for us 112 00:05:20,855 --> 00:05:23,240 produces our love for Him. 113 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:24,844 But I think what Paul has in mind 114 00:05:24,844 --> 00:05:28,504 is actually His love for us 115 00:05:28,504 --> 00:05:33,001 as demonstrated in His death for us. 116 00:05:33,001 --> 00:05:35,987 Let's just ask this question 117 00:05:35,987 --> 00:05:37,451 right at the beginning. 118 00:05:37,451 --> 00:05:38,997 Where does this come from? 119 00:05:38,997 --> 00:05:41,043 You know, we just read this. 120 00:05:41,043 --> 00:05:46,125 It can almost seem kind of jumbled together at first glance. 121 00:05:46,125 --> 00:05:47,472 You have a lot of things going on here. 122 00:05:47,472 --> 00:05:49,248 A lot of things being said. 123 00:05:49,248 --> 00:05:54,131 Where does "the love of Christ controls us" come from? 124 00:05:54,131 --> 00:05:55,797 I mean, how did Paul get there? 125 00:05:55,797 --> 00:05:57,181 What I'd like to do is just 126 00:05:57,181 --> 00:05:59,538 briefly look at verse 11, 12, and 13 127 00:05:59,538 --> 00:06:02,902 to let the context let us 128 00:06:02,902 --> 00:06:05,820 flow into these words. 129 00:06:05,820 --> 00:06:08,802 First, 130 00:06:08,802 --> 00:06:10,242 Verse 11. 131 00:06:10,242 --> 00:06:12,395 Picking up halfway through, 132 00:06:12,395 --> 00:06:16,855 "But what we are is known to God." 133 00:06:16,855 --> 00:06:18,899 Now, the "we." 134 00:06:18,899 --> 00:06:20,981 Paul's not speaking collectively about 135 00:06:20,981 --> 00:06:22,630 himself and the Corinthians. 136 00:06:22,630 --> 00:06:25,329 He's not saying, with his arm around the Corinthians, 137 00:06:25,329 --> 00:06:27,895 you know what we both are collectively 138 00:06:27,895 --> 00:06:28,950 God knows. 139 00:06:28,950 --> 00:06:30,572 That's not what he's saying here. 140 00:06:30,572 --> 00:06:34,440 The "we" is Paul and his fellow workers. 141 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:36,079 Paul and his company. 142 00:06:36,079 --> 00:06:37,743 Paul and Timothy. Paul and Titus. 143 00:06:37,743 --> 00:06:39,715 It's the guys that are working with him. 144 00:06:39,715 --> 00:06:41,799 It's the other guys that he sends there, 145 00:06:41,799 --> 00:06:44,645 or have come to the Corinthian church with him. 146 00:06:44,645 --> 00:06:48,163 And you'll see that. 147 00:06:48,163 --> 00:06:51,935 "What we are is known to God, 148 00:06:51,935 --> 00:06:56,359 and I hope it is known also to your conscience." 149 00:06:56,359 --> 00:07:00,204 You see, he's speaking to them, 150 00:07:00,204 --> 00:07:02,817 second person - the Corinthians. 151 00:07:02,817 --> 00:07:07,546 The "we" is he and his fellow laborers. 152 00:07:07,546 --> 00:07:10,882 Now, what's going on here? 153 00:07:10,882 --> 00:07:13,679 Why? Why do you even need to say that? 154 00:07:13,679 --> 00:07:14,751 Why do you need to say 155 00:07:14,751 --> 00:07:16,170 to the Corinthians, 156 00:07:16,170 --> 00:07:19,796 what we are, God knows? 157 00:07:19,796 --> 00:07:21,996 We'd like you to know too. 158 00:07:21,996 --> 00:07:26,256 If you look at 2 Corinthians collectively, 159 00:07:26,256 --> 00:07:28,072 Paul's talking this way because 160 00:07:28,072 --> 00:07:30,151 he's under attack. 161 00:07:30,151 --> 00:07:31,457 Some people have come in 162 00:07:31,457 --> 00:07:32,722 to the Corinthian church. 163 00:07:32,722 --> 00:07:36,006 They're called "super apostles" 164 00:07:36,006 --> 00:07:38,661 in the ESV. 165 00:07:38,661 --> 00:07:40,158 People have come in. 166 00:07:40,158 --> 00:07:42,244 People are deceiving the church at Corinth. 167 00:07:42,244 --> 00:07:44,462 People are coming in with a different message. 168 00:07:44,462 --> 00:07:46,548 People are coming in and attacking Paul. 169 00:07:46,548 --> 00:07:47,661 That's what we have. 170 00:07:47,661 --> 00:07:49,757 Look at verse 12. 171 00:07:49,757 --> 00:07:50,988 You can see this. 172 00:07:50,988 --> 00:07:52,613 "We're not commending ourselves 173 00:07:52,613 --> 00:07:54,385 to you again, 174 00:07:54,385 --> 00:07:58,040 but giving you cause to boast about us, 175 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,447 so that you may be able to answer 176 00:08:00,447 --> 00:08:02,670 those... 177 00:08:02,670 --> 00:08:04,563 Now, see there's a third person. 178 00:08:04,563 --> 00:08:06,627 You've got Paul and his people. 179 00:08:06,627 --> 00:08:07,950 You've got the Corinthians. 180 00:08:07,950 --> 00:08:09,362 And then there's "those." 181 00:08:09,362 --> 00:08:11,949 Now, some of those or them 182 00:08:11,949 --> 00:08:14,444 might be part of the Corinthian church, 183 00:08:14,444 --> 00:08:15,957 and also those that are coming 184 00:08:15,957 --> 00:08:21,060 from the outside. 185 00:08:21,060 --> 00:08:22,785 He wants the Corinthians to be able 186 00:08:22,785 --> 00:08:25,216 to answer those who boast 187 00:08:25,216 --> 00:08:28,418 about outward appearance 188 00:08:28,418 --> 00:08:32,487 and not about what is in the heart. 189 00:08:32,487 --> 00:08:33,711 Now, notice that. 190 00:08:33,711 --> 00:08:35,444 "We're not commending ourselves." 191 00:08:35,444 --> 00:08:37,940 Very interesting reading 2 Corinthians. 192 00:08:37,940 --> 00:08:42,165 Paul will say I'm not commending myself, 193 00:08:42,165 --> 00:08:43,753 but I want to commend myself. 194 00:08:43,753 --> 00:08:44,753 I'm not boasting, but I will boast. 195 00:08:44,753 --> 00:08:47,766 I don't want to boast. There's nothing to it, 196 00:08:47,766 --> 00:08:49,138 but I will boast. 197 00:08:49,138 --> 00:08:50,218 It's back and forth. 198 00:08:50,218 --> 00:08:52,831 If you just go back and look at 4:2. 199 00:08:52,831 --> 00:08:57,089 And look at the last line there of 4:2. 200 00:08:57,089 --> 00:09:00,325 "We would commend ourselves to everybody's conscience." 201 00:09:00,325 --> 00:09:01,851 You know what you feel like, 202 00:09:01,851 --> 00:09:03,611 the feel you get in this book 203 00:09:03,611 --> 00:09:06,716 is that Paul is very torn. 204 00:09:06,716 --> 00:09:10,041 He's torn because he's being put in a position 205 00:09:10,041 --> 00:09:12,632 that he does not want to be put in. 206 00:09:12,632 --> 00:09:14,700 He's being put in a position 207 00:09:14,700 --> 00:09:16,998 because he is the representative of God, 208 00:09:16,998 --> 00:09:19,350 because he is the ambassador of Christ, 209 00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:21,596 and he is under attack 210 00:09:21,596 --> 00:09:25,631 and the attacks are being believed by the Corinthians, 211 00:09:25,631 --> 00:09:27,040 and so what it does, 212 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:28,646 is it puts him in a place where 213 00:09:28,646 --> 00:09:31,569 he doesn't want to boast; he doesn't want to commend himself, 214 00:09:31,569 --> 00:09:34,278 but at the same time, he does. 215 00:09:34,278 --> 00:09:35,748 And what he's saying is, 216 00:09:35,748 --> 00:09:37,595 I do it in the sight of God. 217 00:09:37,595 --> 00:09:39,067 What he wants them to know is 218 00:09:39,067 --> 00:09:42,442 this is not carnal boasting. 219 00:09:42,442 --> 00:09:44,056 I'm not doing it like those guys 220 00:09:44,056 --> 00:09:48,896 that boast in outward appearance. 221 00:09:48,896 --> 00:09:50,770 This isn't carnal. 222 00:09:50,770 --> 00:09:54,495 I'm doing this in the sight of God. 223 00:09:54,495 --> 00:09:56,041 And you know what we are. 224 00:09:56,041 --> 00:09:58,783 You know what we were when we were there. 225 00:09:58,783 --> 00:10:02,935 He's not boasting to appear to them as somebody great. 226 00:10:02,935 --> 00:10:05,279 In fact, later, in the letter, 227 00:10:05,279 --> 00:10:07,968 he says I don't want anyone to 228 00:10:07,968 --> 00:10:10,891 think more highly of me that I ought. 229 00:10:10,891 --> 00:10:13,020 In fact, when he gets through his boasting, 230 00:10:13,020 --> 00:10:15,707 he says I'll boast about my weakness, 231 00:10:15,707 --> 00:10:18,080 like John was talking about. 232 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,945 Not that he's some great person. 233 00:10:20,945 --> 00:10:23,158 But you know what he is? 234 00:10:23,158 --> 00:10:24,321 By the will of God, 235 00:10:24,321 --> 00:10:27,282 he's an apostle of Jesus Christ. 236 00:10:27,282 --> 00:10:29,065 And he's not going to deny that. 237 00:10:29,065 --> 00:10:30,851 Because souls rest on that. 238 00:10:30,851 --> 00:10:33,034 Because the message he brings, 239 00:10:33,034 --> 00:10:35,968 is the message of reconciliation. 240 00:10:35,968 --> 00:10:37,415 And you know what happens? 241 00:10:37,415 --> 00:10:38,571 When they attack him, 242 00:10:38,571 --> 00:10:41,317 if you find yourselves believing the messengers of Satan, 243 00:10:41,317 --> 00:10:42,732 and not the messenger of God, 244 00:10:42,732 --> 00:10:44,107 then you shut out God, 245 00:10:44,107 --> 00:10:45,608 and you shut out God's message, 246 00:10:45,608 --> 00:10:48,345 and that can cost you your soul. 247 00:10:48,345 --> 00:10:49,823 And so, he's going to do this 248 00:10:49,823 --> 00:10:56,984 out of the love that he has for these people. 249 00:10:56,984 --> 00:10:59,334 Just listen to this: 250 00:10:59,334 --> 00:11:02,641 2 Corinthians 11:23 Don't turn there. 251 00:11:02,641 --> 00:11:04,662 "Are they servants of Christ? 252 00:11:04,662 --> 00:11:08,017 I'm a better one. 253 00:11:08,017 --> 00:11:11,873 I'm talking like a madman." 254 00:11:11,873 --> 00:11:14,987 You see, they're boasting. 255 00:11:14,987 --> 00:11:16,641 He comes along and he boasts, 256 00:11:16,641 --> 00:11:18,000 and then he says, 257 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,425 it's like when he does it, 258 00:11:20,425 --> 00:11:22,912 he says I'm a fool; I'm a mad man. 259 00:11:22,912 --> 00:11:25,776 But you're pushing me to it. 260 00:11:25,776 --> 00:11:30,558 You guys should be the very ones 261 00:11:30,558 --> 00:11:36,144 that have the ability to answer my detractors. 262 00:11:36,144 --> 00:11:40,710 Because you know what I was among you. 263 00:11:40,710 --> 00:11:42,836 Or this, 2 Corinthians 12:1 264 00:11:42,836 --> 00:11:44,456 "I must go on boasting, 265 00:11:44,456 --> 00:11:46,651 though there is nothing to be gained by it. 266 00:11:46,651 --> 00:11:49,328 I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord." 267 00:11:49,328 --> 00:11:51,000 2 Corinthians 12:11 268 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:52,779 "I've been a fool. 269 00:11:52,779 --> 00:11:53,948 You forced me to it. 270 00:11:53,948 --> 00:11:55,332 For I ought to have been 271 00:11:55,332 --> 00:11:57,490 commended by you. 272 00:11:57,490 --> 00:11:58,945 I was not at all inferior to 273 00:11:58,945 --> 00:11:59,954 these super apostles, 274 00:11:59,954 --> 00:12:03,539 even though I'm nothing." 275 00:12:03,539 --> 00:12:05,493 So what's happening here is 276 00:12:05,493 --> 00:12:09,578 Paul's being forced to defend himself. 277 00:12:09,578 --> 00:12:12,237 All I can think is... 278 00:12:12,237 --> 00:12:13,798 I don't know what went through 279 00:12:13,798 --> 00:12:16,474 Paul's heart and mind. 280 00:12:16,474 --> 00:12:18,497 But this must have been one of the hardest 281 00:12:18,497 --> 00:12:20,875 - in my own opinion, in my own estimation - 282 00:12:20,875 --> 00:12:22,624 it probably was one of the hardest 283 00:12:22,624 --> 00:12:27,897 letters that he had to write. 284 00:12:27,897 --> 00:12:31,665 When you're under attack, 285 00:12:31,665 --> 00:12:33,832 when you're maliciously under attack, 286 00:12:33,832 --> 00:12:36,442 when you're falsely under attack, 287 00:12:36,442 --> 00:12:41,247 when charges are being hurled at you, 288 00:12:41,247 --> 00:12:44,565 now, sometimes when that's happening, 289 00:12:44,565 --> 00:12:46,996 the best thing to do is just 290 00:12:46,996 --> 00:12:49,754 to remain silent, 291 00:12:49,754 --> 00:12:53,309 but Paul can't be silent. 292 00:12:53,309 --> 00:12:55,286 Because this doesn't just have to do 293 00:12:55,286 --> 00:12:56,313 with his reputation, 294 00:12:56,313 --> 00:12:58,369 this has to do with the truth 295 00:12:58,369 --> 00:13:00,120 that they're believing. 296 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:01,770 This has to do with the Gospel. 297 00:13:01,770 --> 00:13:03,387 These people that were coming in 298 00:13:03,387 --> 00:13:06,717 and making accusation. 299 00:13:06,717 --> 00:13:08,995 They were bringing another gospel. 300 00:13:08,995 --> 00:13:11,360 They were bringing another Christ. 301 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,049 And so he needs to defend himself, 302 00:13:13,049 --> 00:13:16,124 because in defending himself, he's defending his own apostleship, 303 00:13:16,124 --> 00:13:18,455 and in defending that, he's defending the message 304 00:13:18,455 --> 00:13:20,660 that he has from God. 305 00:13:20,660 --> 00:13:22,362 Notice what they boasted in, 306 00:13:22,362 --> 00:13:25,412 you look at verse 12 there. 307 00:13:25,412 --> 00:13:27,274 He wants them to be able to answer 308 00:13:27,274 --> 00:13:32,276 those who boast about outward appearance. 309 00:13:32,276 --> 00:13:34,659 You know when it came to outward appearance, 310 00:13:34,659 --> 00:13:38,944 do you remember what they were saying about Paul? 311 00:13:38,944 --> 00:13:42,205 His presence is weak. 312 00:13:42,205 --> 00:13:46,083 His speech is of no account. 313 00:13:46,083 --> 00:13:48,849 You get the messengers of Satan, 314 00:13:48,849 --> 00:13:50,334 that's an easy target. 315 00:13:50,334 --> 00:13:52,124 They go after the physical things. 316 00:13:52,124 --> 00:13:53,286 Well, look at the guy. 317 00:13:53,286 --> 00:13:55,055 Look at him. 318 00:13:55,055 --> 00:13:59,539 Small, or skinny, or sickly. 319 00:13:59,539 --> 00:14:00,664 Look at his presence. 320 00:14:00,664 --> 00:14:04,006 This isn't a guy that holds much weight. 321 00:14:04,006 --> 00:14:05,718 This isn't a guy that outwardly 322 00:14:05,718 --> 00:14:07,186 has a whole lot of authority. 323 00:14:07,186 --> 00:14:09,515 And so they're coming in and they're boasting, 324 00:14:09,515 --> 00:14:12,337 they're boasting in their credentials, and they're saying, 325 00:14:12,337 --> 00:14:15,425 but Paul, he just doesn't have it. 326 00:14:15,425 --> 00:14:16,746 I mean, look at the guy, 327 00:14:16,746 --> 00:14:18,455 you think you can believe that guy? 328 00:14:18,455 --> 00:14:19,950 You can trust that guy? 329 00:14:19,950 --> 00:14:21,437 His presence isn't anything. 330 00:14:21,437 --> 00:14:23,717 I mean, he talks very boldly 331 00:14:23,717 --> 00:14:24,588 in his letters, 332 00:14:24,588 --> 00:14:28,535 but when he comes here among you, 333 00:14:28,535 --> 00:14:32,284 there's not much there. 334 00:14:32,284 --> 00:14:33,955 And to add to that, 335 00:14:33,955 --> 00:14:36,153 some were charging, calling into question 336 00:14:36,153 --> 00:14:37,530 his character. 337 00:14:37,530 --> 00:14:39,542 They were saying that he did what he did 338 00:14:39,542 --> 00:14:40,642 by the flesh. 339 00:14:40,642 --> 00:14:43,285 They were calling into question his apostleship. 340 00:14:43,285 --> 00:14:45,735 They were questioning whether or not 341 00:14:45,735 --> 00:14:51,518 Christ even really spoke through him. 342 00:14:51,518 --> 00:14:54,009 And the thing here in all of this, 343 00:14:54,009 --> 00:15:00,289 jump over to 2 Corinthians 6:12. 344 00:15:00,289 --> 00:15:03,331 The thing about this is 345 00:15:03,331 --> 00:15:06,922 many of these people at Corinth 346 00:15:06,922 --> 00:15:09,087 are Paul's own converts. 347 00:15:09,087 --> 00:15:10,625 And instead of defending their 348 00:15:10,625 --> 00:15:12,252 spiritual father under 349 00:15:12,252 --> 00:15:13,951 this corrupting influence, 350 00:15:13,951 --> 00:15:16,603 these very people are becoming 351 00:15:16,603 --> 00:15:19,448 hardened towards Paul. 352 00:15:19,448 --> 00:15:23,457 They're falling for what these guys 353 00:15:23,457 --> 00:15:25,318 from the outside are doing. 354 00:15:25,318 --> 00:15:27,804 They're becoming hardened towards Paul. 355 00:15:27,804 --> 00:15:31,939 2 Corinthians 6:12 356 00:15:31,939 --> 00:15:34,640 "You're not restricted by us. 357 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,950 But you're restricted in your own affections. 358 00:15:37,950 --> 00:15:40,402 In return, I speak as to children. 359 00:15:40,402 --> 00:15:42,070 Widen your hearts also." 360 00:15:42,070 --> 00:15:46,748 Or jump to 2 Corinthians 7:2. 361 00:15:46,748 --> 00:15:49,458 "Make room in your hearts for us. 362 00:15:49,458 --> 00:15:51,099 We've wronged no one. 363 00:15:51,099 --> 00:15:52,298 We've corrupted no one. 364 00:15:52,298 --> 00:15:54,736 We've taken advantage of no one." 365 00:15:54,736 --> 00:15:58,888 You see, he's having to appeal to them. 366 00:15:58,888 --> 00:16:00,498 The thing is, he wants them 367 00:16:00,498 --> 00:16:03,674 to be convinced in their own conscience 368 00:16:03,674 --> 00:16:05,148 about what he was 369 00:16:05,148 --> 00:16:06,672 and how he conducted himself, 370 00:16:06,672 --> 00:16:07,912 how he behaved himself, 371 00:16:07,912 --> 00:16:10,252 when he was among them. 372 00:16:10,252 --> 00:16:12,373 He wants them to have the conviction 373 00:16:12,373 --> 00:16:13,485 of who he is, 374 00:16:13,485 --> 00:16:14,981 so that they might be able to 375 00:16:14,981 --> 00:16:16,093 answer on his behalf 376 00:16:16,093 --> 00:16:17,525 against these detractors, 377 00:16:17,525 --> 00:16:19,921 these guys that boast only in the outward. 378 00:16:19,921 --> 00:16:21,524 But what's happened is 379 00:16:21,524 --> 00:16:24,345 their own hearts need to be widened. 380 00:16:24,345 --> 00:16:26,250 Their own hearts need to be brought 381 00:16:26,250 --> 00:16:28,580 to a place where they're making room for Paul. 382 00:16:28,587 --> 00:16:30,713 They've become hardened towards him. 383 00:16:30,713 --> 00:16:36,671 And brethren, as Paul is finishing up the letter, 384 00:16:36,671 --> 00:16:38,033 he basically says 385 00:16:38,033 --> 00:16:42,971 this authority has been given to us. 386 00:16:42,971 --> 00:16:46,706 And it's not to lord it over you. 387 00:16:46,706 --> 00:16:49,522 It's for your own upbuilding. 388 00:16:49,522 --> 00:16:51,086 Paul is doing what he's doing 389 00:16:51,086 --> 00:16:53,155 out of love for them. 390 00:16:53,155 --> 00:16:55,352 Paul is defending himself out of 391 00:16:55,352 --> 00:16:57,421 love for them. 392 00:16:57,421 --> 00:17:00,040 Out of a zeal for God's truth 393 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:01,784 and a love for the Corinthians, 394 00:17:01,784 --> 00:17:04,352 Paul is forced to have to boast 395 00:17:04,352 --> 00:17:05,597 about himself. 396 00:17:05,597 --> 00:17:09,504 He's forced in this direction. 397 00:17:09,504 --> 00:17:12,706 Look at this, verse 13. 398 00:17:12,706 --> 00:17:15,194 "For if we are beside ourselves..." 399 00:17:15,194 --> 00:17:17,687 Beside ourselves. 400 00:17:17,687 --> 00:17:19,440 That's like to be put out of place 401 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:20,764 is what it literally means, 402 00:17:20,764 --> 00:17:22,539 or to be out of your mind. 403 00:17:22,539 --> 00:17:24,796 To be deranged. 404 00:17:24,796 --> 00:17:27,093 Paul, you're out of your mind. 405 00:17:27,093 --> 00:17:28,870 Where does this come from? 406 00:17:28,870 --> 00:17:30,864 Well, he didn't just dream it up. 407 00:17:30,864 --> 00:17:33,554 Obviously, that was another accusation that's coming at him. 408 00:17:33,554 --> 00:17:34,762 Paul was often called a fool 409 00:17:34,762 --> 00:17:35,914 and a madman. 410 00:17:35,914 --> 00:17:37,953 I mean, Festus, did he not say that? 411 00:17:37,953 --> 00:17:39,532 Paul, you're out of your mind. 412 00:17:39,532 --> 00:17:43,128 You're mad. You're out of your mind. 413 00:17:43,128 --> 00:17:46,142 And even there he says, no, I'm not. 414 00:17:46,142 --> 00:17:47,847 And he's not, but that's what he's 415 00:17:47,847 --> 00:17:48,838 being charged with, 416 00:17:48,838 --> 00:17:50,335 and he says, ok, 417 00:17:50,335 --> 00:17:51,980 let's even grant I am, 418 00:17:51,980 --> 00:17:57,260 if I am, he says, it's for God. 419 00:17:57,260 --> 00:17:58,460 It's God I'm serving. 420 00:17:58,460 --> 00:17:59,968 Whatever people may think I am, 421 00:17:59,968 --> 00:18:02,522 however I may come across, 422 00:18:02,522 --> 00:18:04,643 it's for God. 423 00:18:04,643 --> 00:18:05,972 Or if I'm in my right mind, 424 00:18:05,972 --> 00:18:07,078 it's for you. 425 00:18:07,078 --> 00:18:09,377 Do you see the two things that drive him? 426 00:18:09,377 --> 00:18:12,866 It's God - zeal for Him. 427 00:18:12,866 --> 00:18:19,720 And a love for God's people. 428 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,600 Paul's out of his mind. 429 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,369 Brethren, have you ever noticed, 430 00:18:27,369 --> 00:18:30,384 in the midst of this world, 431 00:18:30,384 --> 00:18:34,022 where people are insanely in love 432 00:18:34,022 --> 00:18:35,745 with their sin, 433 00:18:35,745 --> 00:18:42,900 running headlong into hell, 434 00:18:42,900 --> 00:18:45,355 and they look over at us Christians, 435 00:18:45,355 --> 00:18:48,717 the only ones who have sanity, 436 00:18:48,717 --> 00:18:52,824 and they call us madmen. 437 00:18:52,824 --> 00:18:56,661 I was thinking when I was first converted, 438 00:18:56,661 --> 00:18:58,499 a high school buddy of mine 439 00:18:58,499 --> 00:19:03,570 who now is a Jesuit priest, 440 00:19:03,570 --> 00:19:06,458 he called me either a Jesus freak 441 00:19:06,458 --> 00:19:09,591 or a Jesus fanatic when I first got saved. 442 00:19:09,591 --> 00:19:11,039 And I didn't hear it from him, 443 00:19:11,039 --> 00:19:12,891 I heard another guy. 444 00:19:12,891 --> 00:19:14,957 I was playing softball 445 00:19:14,957 --> 00:19:17,361 and we were coming in from taking hitting practice 446 00:19:17,361 --> 00:19:18,711 coming in from the outfield, 447 00:19:18,711 --> 00:19:20,523 and the other team was on the infield, 448 00:19:20,523 --> 00:19:22,725 and one of the other guys on the other team 449 00:19:22,725 --> 00:19:24,551 I went to high school with as well, 450 00:19:24,551 --> 00:19:26,429 and as I was running by him he said, 451 00:19:26,429 --> 00:19:29,470 Dave told me you're a Jesus freak. 452 00:19:29,470 --> 00:19:30,789 And I stopped in my tracks 453 00:19:30,789 --> 00:19:33,309 and I looked him and said 454 00:19:33,309 --> 00:19:40,222 Curt, how could you not be that way for Christ? 455 00:19:40,222 --> 00:19:43,847 But you know the thing is, 456 00:19:43,847 --> 00:19:46,644 the whole time that I was doing drugs, 457 00:19:46,644 --> 00:19:48,528 getting drunk all the time, 458 00:19:48,528 --> 00:19:50,008 living a wild life, 459 00:19:50,008 --> 00:19:53,437 Dave never called me a freak or a fanatic. 460 00:19:53,437 --> 00:19:54,467 It's the world. 461 00:19:54,467 --> 00:19:56,388 That's what they do. 462 00:19:56,388 --> 00:19:57,638 They look at Paul. 463 00:19:57,638 --> 00:20:00,126 Do you ever read in some of these old books? 464 00:20:00,126 --> 00:20:01,679 Like, you read Jonathan Edwards. 465 00:20:01,679 --> 00:20:03,375 And what are they calling people 466 00:20:03,375 --> 00:20:06,007 during the revival? 467 00:20:06,007 --> 00:20:07,474 Enthusiasts. 468 00:20:07,474 --> 00:20:13,410 Yeah, but brethren, that's one of the 469 00:20:13,410 --> 00:20:16,955 beatitudes we could say, 470 00:20:16,955 --> 00:20:20,223 blessed are those who are 471 00:20:20,223 --> 00:20:23,081 called madmen by the world. 472 00:20:23,081 --> 00:20:27,437 Who are called enthusiasts. 473 00:20:27,437 --> 00:20:29,886 And here's the thing. 474 00:20:29,886 --> 00:20:33,219 Follow where Paul's going. 475 00:20:33,219 --> 00:20:35,583 He says, I wish you could defend me, 476 00:20:35,583 --> 00:20:37,366 I hate being put in this position 477 00:20:37,366 --> 00:20:38,775 where I have to do this, 478 00:20:38,775 --> 00:20:40,985 I don't want to commend myself, 479 00:20:40,985 --> 00:20:42,876 I'm not going to commend myself again. 480 00:20:42,876 --> 00:20:44,113 I wish you could do this. 481 00:20:44,113 --> 00:20:46,692 I wish that I was bearing on your consciences here. 482 00:20:46,692 --> 00:20:48,169 You've got these people. 483 00:20:48,169 --> 00:20:50,538 They're all hung up on this outward appearance. 484 00:20:50,538 --> 00:20:53,045 There are these people that have come in, 485 00:20:53,045 --> 00:20:55,542 they're calling me a madman, 486 00:20:55,542 --> 00:20:58,421 Paul objects to any charge of being deranged. 487 00:20:58,421 --> 00:21:01,355 And he declares right here in verse 14, 488 00:21:01,355 --> 00:21:03,309 that whatever it was that was driving him 489 00:21:03,309 --> 00:21:05,044 to such zeal for God 490 00:21:05,044 --> 00:21:07,630 and a love for the Corinthians, 491 00:21:07,630 --> 00:21:09,129 no matter what the appearance 492 00:21:09,129 --> 00:21:10,604 might look like on the outside. 493 00:21:10,604 --> 00:21:14,267 Don't judge the book on the outside. 494 00:21:14,267 --> 00:21:16,373 Don't judge Christians on the outside. 495 00:21:16,373 --> 00:21:22,846 Don't judge Paul on the outside. 496 00:21:22,846 --> 00:21:24,029 John was saying that. 497 00:21:24,029 --> 00:21:26,123 I think John was even saying about himself. 498 00:21:26,123 --> 00:21:27,893 I think he was looking at himself 499 00:21:27,893 --> 00:21:30,183 and he was sizing things up. 500 00:21:30,183 --> 00:21:31,748 But the thing is, 501 00:21:31,748 --> 00:21:34,925 we need to peel back the outside 502 00:21:34,925 --> 00:21:36,150 and we need to see 503 00:21:36,150 --> 00:21:38,134 what's happening there. 504 00:21:38,134 --> 00:21:40,270 He says no matter what I look like 505 00:21:40,270 --> 00:21:42,015 on the outside, what drove Paul 506 00:21:42,015 --> 00:21:43,755 to be what he was 507 00:21:43,755 --> 00:21:45,595 and to do what he did 508 00:21:45,595 --> 00:21:47,484 and to say the things that he said, 509 00:21:47,484 --> 00:21:49,223 brethren, they don't come from any 510 00:21:49,223 --> 00:21:50,426 madman's delusions. 511 00:21:50,426 --> 00:21:51,855 What do they come from? 512 00:21:51,855 --> 00:21:53,215 Verse 14 513 00:21:53,215 --> 00:21:57,084 "The love of Christ controls us." 514 00:21:57,084 --> 00:21:59,323 The love of Christ compels 515 00:21:59,323 --> 00:22:00,481 or it constrains us. 516 00:22:00,481 --> 00:22:02,591 If you want to know what made Paul tick, 517 00:22:02,591 --> 00:22:04,611 or you want to know what drove this man, 518 00:22:04,611 --> 00:22:06,568 you've got to look beneath the surface. 519 00:22:06,568 --> 00:22:08,428 This is where verse 16 comes from. 520 00:22:08,428 --> 00:22:10,407 You can jump ahead just a little bit. 521 00:22:10,407 --> 00:22:12,417 "From now on therefore, we regard no one 522 00:22:12,417 --> 00:22:13,837 according to the flesh. 523 00:22:13,837 --> 00:22:16,756 Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, 524 00:22:16,756 --> 00:22:18,942 we regard Him thus no longer." 525 00:22:18,942 --> 00:22:20,927 You see where this comes from? 526 00:22:20,927 --> 00:22:23,448 This isn't just totally brought out of nowhere. 527 00:22:23,448 --> 00:22:25,296 Paul didn't just grab this. 528 00:22:25,296 --> 00:22:27,302 The idea is that these guys were 529 00:22:27,302 --> 00:22:29,065 judging according to the flesh. 530 00:22:29,065 --> 00:22:30,683 That's exactly what looking 531 00:22:30,683 --> 00:22:32,858 at his presence is weak, 532 00:22:32,858 --> 00:22:35,326 but oh, the power of God was upon him. 533 00:22:35,326 --> 00:22:38,215 The Spirit of God moved mightily on this man. 534 00:22:38,215 --> 00:22:39,777 You Corinthians, 535 00:22:39,777 --> 00:22:42,377 you may think me beside myself. 536 00:22:42,377 --> 00:22:45,529 You may think that my bodily presence is weak, 537 00:22:45,529 --> 00:22:47,734 you think my speech of little account, 538 00:22:47,734 --> 00:22:49,115 but listen, 539 00:22:49,115 --> 00:22:53,116 as Christians we don't measure things that way anymore. 540 00:22:53,116 --> 00:22:54,539 That's what he's saying. 541 00:22:54,539 --> 00:22:56,011 You don't look that way. 542 00:22:56,011 --> 00:22:57,632 You don't assess that way. 543 00:22:57,632 --> 00:23:00,592 Assessing Paul that way is assessing him 544 00:23:00,592 --> 00:23:02,253 exactly according to the flesh, 545 00:23:02,253 --> 00:23:05,292 but if you peel back the outward layers 546 00:23:05,292 --> 00:23:06,732 and the outward weakness, 547 00:23:06,732 --> 00:23:08,318 inside what do you find? 548 00:23:08,318 --> 00:23:10,008 Inside you find a lion. 549 00:23:10,008 --> 00:23:12,162 Inside you find a man that is strong. 550 00:23:12,162 --> 00:23:14,633 Inside you find a man that is determined. 551 00:23:14,633 --> 00:23:16,004 A man that is driven. 552 00:23:16,004 --> 00:23:18,155 Brethren, what we find is a man 553 00:23:18,155 --> 00:23:20,825 that is saying here, 554 00:23:20,825 --> 00:23:23,299 I'm mastered by something. 555 00:23:23,299 --> 00:23:26,444 Something has me constrained. 556 00:23:26,444 --> 00:23:29,220 Something has me in its grips. 557 00:23:29,220 --> 00:23:31,026 Something binds me. 558 00:23:31,026 --> 00:23:34,341 If you want to know what it is that drives me with zeal towards God 559 00:23:34,341 --> 00:23:36,649 and a love towards you Corinthian brethren, 560 00:23:36,649 --> 00:23:37,882 here it is. 561 00:23:37,882 --> 00:23:39,255 Here's what it is. 562 00:23:39,255 --> 00:23:42,243 It's no madman's delusion. 563 00:23:42,243 --> 00:23:44,433 Within he is constrained to live this way 564 00:23:44,433 --> 00:23:46,834 for God and to live for God's people 565 00:23:46,834 --> 00:23:48,950 and to be sold out for Christ. 566 00:23:48,950 --> 00:23:52,230 What others see as fanaticism, 567 00:23:52,230 --> 00:23:53,586 it's not. 568 00:23:53,586 --> 00:23:56,982 What others see as madness, it's not. 569 00:23:56,982 --> 00:23:59,809 The love of Christ is a master force here. 570 00:23:59,809 --> 00:24:03,562 And I look at this and I'm saying to myself, 571 00:24:03,562 --> 00:24:10,277 How? How, Paul? 572 00:24:10,277 --> 00:24:14,343 I want to imitate you more. 573 00:24:14,343 --> 00:24:18,650 I want to follow you as you follow Christ more. 574 00:24:18,650 --> 00:24:20,150 How did this grip you? 575 00:24:20,150 --> 00:24:25,018 And he explains it to us. 576 00:24:25,018 --> 00:24:29,137 Brethren, you can see it there. 577 00:24:29,137 --> 00:24:32,956 Verse 14. 578 00:24:32,956 --> 00:24:36,740 "The love of Christ controls us, 579 00:24:36,740 --> 00:24:37,931 because..." 580 00:24:37,931 --> 00:24:41,736 Here's the reason: 581 00:24:41,736 --> 00:24:44,784 "We have concluded this." 582 00:24:44,784 --> 00:24:46,398 What's happening? 583 00:24:46,398 --> 00:24:48,012 We've concluded. 584 00:24:48,012 --> 00:24:51,054 The old KJV says we have judged. 585 00:24:51,054 --> 00:24:52,469 We have reasoned. 586 00:24:52,469 --> 00:24:54,388 We've come to conclusions. 587 00:24:54,388 --> 00:24:58,289 Paul is thinking about the love of Christ. 588 00:24:58,289 --> 00:25:06,718 And this is a force which has mastered Paul. 589 00:25:06,718 --> 00:25:10,584 And I want you to think. 590 00:25:10,584 --> 00:25:14,461 Have you ever seen people 591 00:25:14,461 --> 00:25:18,349 who never really accomplish anything? 592 00:25:18,349 --> 00:25:20,774 They never really stay at anything very long. 593 00:25:20,774 --> 00:25:24,576 They never really stay focused. 594 00:25:24,576 --> 00:25:26,975 They're here and there. 595 00:25:26,975 --> 00:25:28,290 They're hit and miss. 596 00:25:28,290 --> 00:25:30,601 They start something, they start school, 597 00:25:30,601 --> 00:25:32,674 or they start a job and then they don't 598 00:25:32,674 --> 00:25:34,160 and then they're out and 599 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,564 then they're doing something else. 600 00:25:38,564 --> 00:25:39,944 Brethren, people like that, 601 00:25:39,944 --> 00:25:43,622 it is very safe to say are not mastered by something. 602 00:25:43,622 --> 00:25:45,618 We need to be mastered by that 603 00:25:45,618 --> 00:25:48,534 which keeps us moving in the right direction. 604 00:25:48,534 --> 00:25:50,671 That's what's happening to Paul. 605 00:25:50,671 --> 00:25:52,076 And look what he says: 606 00:25:52,076 --> 00:25:53,612 I've concluded. 607 00:25:53,612 --> 00:25:57,565 He's a man that's mastered by this force 608 00:25:57,565 --> 00:25:58,988 of the love of Christ 609 00:25:58,988 --> 00:26:02,592 because he thinks about it. 610 00:26:02,592 --> 00:26:06,591 He's reasoning through it. 611 00:26:06,591 --> 00:26:10,045 It's not just that he has some fuzzy 612 00:26:10,045 --> 00:26:13,119 feelings about the love of Christ. 613 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:15,043 He's actually thinking about it. 614 00:26:15,043 --> 00:26:18,406 And you have to see how he thinks here. 615 00:26:18,406 --> 00:26:26,887 Brethren, he's coming face to face... 616 00:26:26,887 --> 00:26:30,517 That's the Son of God. 617 00:26:30,517 --> 00:26:33,424 He's become the Lamb of God. 618 00:26:33,424 --> 00:26:37,450 Why? 619 00:26:37,450 --> 00:26:40,267 Why? 620 00:26:40,267 --> 00:26:43,407 The Son of God is hung between 621 00:26:43,407 --> 00:26:48,729 two condemned thieves. 622 00:26:48,729 --> 00:26:51,250 What wondrous love is this? 623 00:26:51,250 --> 00:26:53,283 What is this? 624 00:26:53,283 --> 00:26:56,434 Why did He do this? 625 00:26:56,434 --> 00:26:57,803 He died for me. 626 00:26:57,803 --> 00:27:02,100 He died for us. 627 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:05,005 Why? 628 00:27:05,005 --> 00:27:07,095 Why did He leave the halls of heaven? 629 00:27:07,095 --> 00:27:08,956 Why did He come down? 630 00:27:08,956 --> 00:27:12,441 He was in a place - no pain, no suffering. 631 00:27:12,441 --> 00:27:15,271 Only glory. 632 00:27:15,271 --> 00:27:17,977 A throne. 633 00:27:17,977 --> 00:27:20,245 And there He is. 634 00:27:20,245 --> 00:27:25,144 Look at Him. 635 00:27:25,144 --> 00:27:28,270 Almighty vengeance fell on the Son. 636 00:27:28,270 --> 00:27:29,916 Why? 637 00:27:29,916 --> 00:27:31,623 Why? 638 00:27:31,623 --> 00:27:36,017 What's happening is he's asking questions. 639 00:27:36,017 --> 00:27:38,019 He's wanting to come to conclusions. 640 00:27:38,019 --> 00:27:39,471 You don't come to a conclusion 641 00:27:39,471 --> 00:27:41,214 unless you ask questions about it. 642 00:27:41,214 --> 00:27:42,670 You don't come to conclusions, 643 00:27:42,670 --> 00:27:44,365 you don't thus judge, 644 00:27:44,365 --> 00:27:45,607 unless you're thinking. 645 00:27:45,607 --> 00:27:47,439 You're using some cognitive principles 646 00:27:47,439 --> 00:27:49,674 or faculties up here. 647 00:27:49,674 --> 00:27:52,985 Why? Why? Why did He die for me? 648 00:27:52,985 --> 00:27:56,082 What's going on in this? 649 00:27:56,082 --> 00:27:57,469 Because this is how the love 650 00:27:57,469 --> 00:27:59,026 of Christ compels him. 651 00:27:59,026 --> 00:28:02,276 This is how it constrains. 652 00:28:02,276 --> 00:28:06,359 Brethren, if love doesn't make you think 653 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:07,719 and make you reason 654 00:28:07,719 --> 00:28:08,971 and make you deduce 655 00:28:08,971 --> 00:28:10,544 the way that it does Paul, 656 00:28:10,544 --> 00:28:12,197 then you don't know anything 657 00:28:12,197 --> 00:28:15,481 about this, about the love of Christ, 658 00:28:15,481 --> 00:28:17,593 the way that he knows something about it. 659 00:28:17,593 --> 00:28:21,344 For Paul, the love of Christ constrained him 660 00:28:21,344 --> 00:28:23,843 in here. 661 00:28:23,843 --> 00:28:24,923 And so what was it? 662 00:28:24,923 --> 00:28:27,403 What was he thinking? 663 00:28:27,403 --> 00:28:31,137 Ok. 664 00:28:31,137 --> 00:28:37,179 Look at the text. 5:14. 665 00:28:37,179 --> 00:28:39,147 "For the love of Christ controls us, 666 00:28:39,147 --> 00:28:41,607 because we've concluded this, 667 00:28:41,607 --> 00:28:46,090 that one has died for all." 668 00:28:46,090 --> 00:28:49,984 One has died for all. 669 00:28:49,984 --> 00:28:53,242 This is not all the world without exception. 670 00:28:53,242 --> 00:28:56,156 One has died for all. 671 00:28:56,156 --> 00:28:58,280 Now if you look at verses 14 and 15, 672 00:28:58,280 --> 00:28:59,784 you'll see that it says that 673 00:28:59,784 --> 00:29:03,243 Jesus died three times. 674 00:29:03,243 --> 00:29:05,511 I recognize that if you take just this, 675 00:29:05,511 --> 00:29:08,363 "Jesus died for all," 676 00:29:08,363 --> 00:29:10,913 I think if we properly understood the very next thing 677 00:29:10,913 --> 00:29:13,670 that's said, you could see that this isn't for everybody. 678 00:29:13,670 --> 00:29:16,827 But in case that isn't clear 679 00:29:16,827 --> 00:29:18,257 right at the moment, 680 00:29:18,257 --> 00:29:21,154 you can look at the third time here. 681 00:29:21,154 --> 00:29:23,379 Notice verse 15. 682 00:29:23,379 --> 00:29:26,116 "For their sake, died." 683 00:29:26,116 --> 00:29:28,169 There's the third reference to His death 684 00:29:28,169 --> 00:29:29,982 in these three verses. 685 00:29:29,982 --> 00:29:35,964 For whose sake did He die? 686 00:29:35,964 --> 00:29:37,985 You tell me. 687 00:29:37,985 --> 00:29:40,642 Who does it say? 688 00:29:40,642 --> 00:29:46,276 For whose sake? 689 00:29:46,276 --> 00:29:48,641 Those who live. 690 00:29:48,641 --> 00:29:51,070 For those who live that they might 691 00:29:51,070 --> 00:29:53,044 no longer live for themselves 692 00:29:53,044 --> 00:29:58,866 but for Him who died for their sake. 693 00:29:58,866 --> 00:30:02,399 Or for their sake died and was raised. 694 00:30:02,399 --> 00:30:04,393 That's who we're talking about here. 695 00:30:04,393 --> 00:30:06,035 We're talking about Christians. 696 00:30:06,035 --> 00:30:09,800 He's dealing with all the redeemed. 697 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:11,183 Brethren, He died. 698 00:30:11,183 --> 00:30:12,493 He died for us. 699 00:30:12,493 --> 00:30:13,306 Now it's true, 700 00:30:13,306 --> 00:30:14,830 and right here in the context 701 00:30:14,830 --> 00:30:15,815 we can see this, 702 00:30:15,815 --> 00:30:17,720 did He die to reconcile us? 703 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:18,836 Yes. 704 00:30:18,836 --> 00:30:21,695 Did He die that our sins 705 00:30:21,695 --> 00:30:23,915 might not be counted to us? 706 00:30:23,915 --> 00:30:25,577 Yes. 707 00:30:25,577 --> 00:30:27,918 Did He die to impute that righteousness 708 00:30:27,918 --> 00:30:30,057 whereby we would be the righteousness of God? 709 00:30:30,057 --> 00:30:31,833 If you go down to verses 19, 20, 21, 710 00:30:31,833 --> 00:30:33,985 you see exactly this truth. 711 00:30:33,985 --> 00:30:37,878 Jesus Christ died. 712 00:30:37,878 --> 00:30:43,633 The Lord laid the iniquity of us all upon Him. 713 00:30:43,633 --> 00:30:44,810 He took that 714 00:30:44,810 --> 00:30:48,986 in our place, in our stead, for us. 715 00:30:48,986 --> 00:30:51,257 Yes, that we might be forgiven. 716 00:30:51,257 --> 00:30:53,870 Yes, He who knew no sin, 717 00:30:53,870 --> 00:30:55,977 He became sin. 718 00:30:55,977 --> 00:30:57,832 He knew no sin. 719 00:30:57,832 --> 00:30:59,019 There was no sin. 720 00:30:59,019 --> 00:31:02,047 There was no fault. There was no blemish. 721 00:31:02,047 --> 00:31:04,894 No original sin. 722 00:31:04,894 --> 00:31:07,993 He was born of a woman, 723 00:31:07,993 --> 00:31:11,462 but He was conceived by the Spirit of God. 724 00:31:11,462 --> 00:31:13,001 He's without blemish. 725 00:31:13,001 --> 00:31:14,594 He's pure and He's perfect. 726 00:31:14,594 --> 00:31:18,139 And He became sin for us. 727 00:31:18,139 --> 00:31:20,053 It's for us. 728 00:31:20,053 --> 00:31:21,106 Why? 729 00:31:21,106 --> 00:31:24,352 That we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 730 00:31:24,352 --> 00:31:26,752 Yes, it's true that we need forgiveness. 731 00:31:26,752 --> 00:31:29,137 Yes, it's true that we need to be saved from hell. 732 00:31:29,137 --> 00:31:30,999 Yes, it's true that we need to be saved 733 00:31:30,999 --> 00:31:32,413 from that almighty vengeance. 734 00:31:32,413 --> 00:31:34,836 Yes, that's true and that's in the context here. 735 00:31:34,836 --> 00:31:36,420 But brethren, as we're thinking, 736 00:31:36,420 --> 00:31:37,257 we need to think. 737 00:31:37,257 --> 00:31:38,564 We need to think that, 738 00:31:38,564 --> 00:31:40,275 but we need to think beyond that. 739 00:31:40,275 --> 00:31:41,651 Because in Paul's thinking, 740 00:31:41,651 --> 00:31:43,086 he's thinking beyond that. 741 00:31:43,086 --> 00:31:45,258 This "all" here is Christians, 742 00:31:45,258 --> 00:31:48,055 He died for us, 743 00:31:48,055 --> 00:31:53,005 and there's a logical inference in this. 744 00:31:53,005 --> 00:31:55,894 Therefore... look at the very end of verse 14. 745 00:31:55,894 --> 00:31:59,466 If He died for all, He died for all the redeemed. 746 00:31:59,466 --> 00:32:03,602 He died for those who are alive, 747 00:32:03,602 --> 00:32:06,362 that they may no longer live unto themselves, 748 00:32:06,362 --> 00:32:08,250 but for Him who for their sake 749 00:32:08,250 --> 00:32:10,148 died and was raised. 750 00:32:10,148 --> 00:32:12,939 Brethren, 751 00:32:12,939 --> 00:32:14,937 listen to his conclusion. 752 00:32:14,937 --> 00:32:17,053 Listen to the "therefore." 753 00:32:17,053 --> 00:32:21,479 "Therefore, all have died." 754 00:32:21,479 --> 00:32:23,954 All have died. 755 00:32:23,954 --> 00:32:25,500 Do you see what Paul's saying? 756 00:32:25,500 --> 00:32:27,666 They've all died. 757 00:32:27,666 --> 00:32:29,787 This is the same thing that he talks about 758 00:32:29,787 --> 00:32:31,383 over in Romans 6. 759 00:32:31,383 --> 00:32:33,155 He says that they're made alive. 760 00:32:33,155 --> 00:32:34,972 We die in Christ. 761 00:32:34,972 --> 00:32:36,276 We're made alive in Christ. 762 00:32:36,276 --> 00:32:38,315 This is speaking of our union with Him. 763 00:32:38,315 --> 00:32:39,891 But what you have to see, 764 00:32:39,891 --> 00:32:42,897 is that Paul does not leave the cross 765 00:32:42,897 --> 00:32:46,234 simply at our justification. 766 00:32:46,234 --> 00:32:49,261 He doesn't leave it simply at our forgiveness. 767 00:32:49,261 --> 00:32:51,630 Notice what he says. 768 00:32:51,630 --> 00:32:57,247 He died in order to do something. 769 00:32:57,247 --> 00:33:00,906 What is it? 770 00:33:00,906 --> 00:33:04,385 Brethren, did you hear brother John? 771 00:33:04,385 --> 00:33:08,370 He's talking to us about this life. 772 00:33:08,370 --> 00:33:12,392 The middle class American life. 773 00:33:12,392 --> 00:33:14,656 And what Paul says, 774 00:33:14,656 --> 00:33:19,672 is when I see the same One who ascended. 775 00:33:19,672 --> 00:33:21,750 He descended into the lower parts 776 00:33:21,750 --> 00:33:22,765 of this earth. 777 00:33:22,765 --> 00:33:24,057 I see Him. 778 00:33:24,057 --> 00:33:25,322 He humbled Himself. 779 00:33:25,322 --> 00:33:26,270 Not just as a man. 780 00:33:26,270 --> 00:33:27,169 He was a servant. 781 00:33:27,169 --> 00:33:29,648 You can imagine Him trembling 782 00:33:29,648 --> 00:33:35,872 as He brings that cup to His lips. 783 00:33:35,872 --> 00:33:37,932 Father, if it's possible, 784 00:33:37,932 --> 00:33:39,990 take this cup away. 785 00:33:39,990 --> 00:33:42,030 And the Father says it's not possible. 786 00:33:42,030 --> 00:33:43,874 And Paul's looking at this and saying, 787 00:33:43,874 --> 00:33:46,279 Why? Why? Why is He doing this? 788 00:33:46,279 --> 00:33:48,021 And he's not just seeing in it, 789 00:33:48,021 --> 00:33:49,578 yes, it's for my forgiveness, 790 00:33:49,578 --> 00:33:51,427 yes, it's that I might be reconciled, 791 00:33:51,427 --> 00:33:54,664 yes, it's that God might not count my sins to me. 792 00:33:54,664 --> 00:33:57,555 But it's more. It's more. 793 00:33:57,555 --> 00:33:59,675 We have to go beyond that. 794 00:33:59,675 --> 00:34:01,940 There's another reason in that cross. 795 00:34:01,940 --> 00:34:03,869 And he says it has everything to do 796 00:34:03,869 --> 00:34:07,689 with yours and my selfishness. 797 00:34:07,689 --> 00:34:08,867 Do you see that? 798 00:34:08,867 --> 00:34:11,753 Isn't that amazing that that's in there? 799 00:34:11,753 --> 00:34:17,023 Jesus Christ went that you might die. 800 00:34:17,023 --> 00:34:19,028 The old man might die. 801 00:34:19,028 --> 00:34:20,286 He says in verse 17, 802 00:34:20,286 --> 00:34:22,407 we're new creations. 803 00:34:22,407 --> 00:34:25,123 The old has passed. 804 00:34:25,123 --> 00:34:26,827 All has become new. 805 00:34:26,827 --> 00:34:28,425 That's what's happening here. 806 00:34:28,425 --> 00:34:30,302 That's what he sees in the cross. 807 00:34:30,302 --> 00:34:33,227 But the old man, that's what dies. 808 00:34:33,227 --> 00:34:34,267 We died. 809 00:34:34,267 --> 00:34:35,523 He sees in that cross 810 00:34:35,523 --> 00:34:36,882 his union with Christ, 811 00:34:36,882 --> 00:34:39,058 and he says, 812 00:34:39,058 --> 00:34:45,561 did He die on that cross? 813 00:34:45,561 --> 00:34:50,343 And he says I've concluded something about that. 814 00:34:50,343 --> 00:34:52,485 I've concluded I'm reconciled. 815 00:34:52,485 --> 00:34:55,000 I've concluded I'm forgiven. 816 00:34:55,000 --> 00:35:02,114 But I've concluded something else by that death. 817 00:35:02,114 --> 00:35:06,089 I've concluded that in that death, 818 00:35:06,089 --> 00:35:10,915 He died that I might die to self. 819 00:35:10,915 --> 00:35:14,501 That I might die to my own selfishness. 820 00:35:14,501 --> 00:35:17,823 My own selfish ambition. 821 00:35:17,823 --> 00:35:20,584 And that I might really live. 822 00:35:20,584 --> 00:35:23,151 And that I might live for Him. 823 00:35:23,151 --> 00:35:28,097 Brethren, that's what's going on. 824 00:35:28,097 --> 00:35:30,379 Why did He die? 825 00:35:30,379 --> 00:35:31,870 It says for our sake. Yes. 826 00:35:31,870 --> 00:35:34,125 But to accomplish what? 827 00:35:34,125 --> 00:35:37,318 Beyond forgiveness. Deliverance. 828 00:35:37,318 --> 00:35:39,500 You see what we need to be delivered from. 829 00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:40,901 And what Paul is saying is, 830 00:35:40,901 --> 00:35:42,376 I'm compelled by that. 831 00:35:42,376 --> 00:35:45,761 I'm compelled that He died to free me 832 00:35:45,761 --> 00:35:47,060 from my selfishness. 833 00:35:47,060 --> 00:35:48,610 How does that work? 834 00:35:48,610 --> 00:35:52,568 How does the love of Christ... 835 00:35:52,568 --> 00:35:56,939 Is He going to die in my place? 836 00:35:56,939 --> 00:36:04,050 Is He going to die in my stead? 837 00:36:04,050 --> 00:36:05,295 Can you see Him there 838 00:36:05,295 --> 00:36:09,986 on the ground in the garden? 839 00:36:09,986 --> 00:36:12,660 Is that bloody sweat for me? 840 00:36:12,660 --> 00:36:18,646 You notice he says, "for their sake." 841 00:36:18,646 --> 00:36:20,046 Sometimes we can say, 842 00:36:20,046 --> 00:36:21,570 Oh, God sent His Son 843 00:36:21,570 --> 00:36:24,096 to the cross for His sake. 844 00:36:24,096 --> 00:36:26,768 Yes, yes, he did. 845 00:36:26,768 --> 00:36:28,601 For His glory. 846 00:36:28,601 --> 00:36:30,257 But you don't want to say, well 847 00:36:30,257 --> 00:36:32,344 He didn't die for my sake. 848 00:36:32,344 --> 00:36:33,915 You don't want to say that. 849 00:36:33,915 --> 00:36:36,746 Because He did die for your sake. 850 00:36:36,746 --> 00:36:39,744 But He did not just die to free you 851 00:36:39,744 --> 00:36:42,262 from the guilt of sin. 852 00:36:42,262 --> 00:36:45,433 And that's what Paul is recognizing. 853 00:36:45,433 --> 00:36:47,606 For me? 854 00:36:47,606 --> 00:36:49,039 For me? 855 00:36:49,039 --> 00:36:54,572 That bloody sweat is for me? 856 00:36:54,572 --> 00:36:59,724 Look at those soldiers. 857 00:36:59,724 --> 00:37:01,468 The crown of thorns on His head, 858 00:37:01,468 --> 00:37:02,264 that's for me? 859 00:37:02,264 --> 00:37:08,228 He's being scourged, and it's for me? 860 00:37:08,228 --> 00:37:12,392 Under the dark sky of judgment. 861 00:37:12,392 --> 00:37:15,671 That's for me. 862 00:37:15,671 --> 00:37:18,413 And that's to put to death my own 863 00:37:18,413 --> 00:37:27,058 selfishness that I might live for Him. 864 00:37:27,058 --> 00:37:31,209 What wondrous love is this? 865 00:37:31,209 --> 00:37:33,891 You see, this is how he's reasoning. 866 00:37:33,891 --> 00:37:37,268 He's going to do that for me. 867 00:37:37,268 --> 00:37:40,892 I'm constrained. 868 00:37:40,892 --> 00:37:44,838 This is like a vice. 869 00:37:44,838 --> 00:37:47,183 And you must not think of it in the wrong way. 870 00:37:47,183 --> 00:37:48,754 This isn't bondage. 871 00:37:48,754 --> 00:37:49,955 This isn't bondage. 872 00:37:49,955 --> 00:37:53,066 There's no freedom like this. 873 00:37:53,066 --> 00:37:54,641 These are the bonds of love, 874 00:37:54,641 --> 00:37:58,665 the cords of love. 875 00:37:58,665 --> 00:38:03,594 We like to be constrained this way. 876 00:38:03,594 --> 00:38:06,608 A man that throws his arms around his wife. 877 00:38:06,608 --> 00:38:08,520 Why? 878 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:10,297 He's just compelled. 879 00:38:10,297 --> 00:38:13,231 You dive into that steak and you eat. 880 00:38:13,231 --> 00:38:14,577 It was good. 881 00:38:14,577 --> 00:38:16,239 You're compelled by an appetite. 882 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:22,038 Those are good appetites. 883 00:38:22,038 --> 00:38:26,556 This is the utmost freedom. 884 00:38:26,556 --> 00:38:32,862 Brethren, let me tell you something. 885 00:38:32,862 --> 00:38:35,235 If the greatest privilege imaginable 886 00:38:35,235 --> 00:38:37,296 to mankind is that Christ would 887 00:38:37,296 --> 00:38:42,216 go to the cross and die for your sins, 888 00:38:42,216 --> 00:38:45,199 well, think about that. 889 00:38:45,199 --> 00:38:50,575 Think about it. 890 00:38:50,575 --> 00:38:55,248 He died for me? 891 00:38:55,248 --> 00:38:59,763 He died that I might not live to myself. 892 00:38:59,763 --> 00:39:02,721 One of the greatest privileges that has been 893 00:39:02,721 --> 00:39:06,212 purchased for you as a Christian, 894 00:39:06,212 --> 00:39:13,560 is that you don't have to live for yourself, 895 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,985 but for Him who for your sake, 896 00:39:16,985 --> 00:39:19,645 for your sake, 897 00:39:19,645 --> 00:39:25,382 He died and He was raised. 898 00:39:25,382 --> 00:39:29,087 We need more maniacs like Paul. 899 00:39:29,087 --> 00:39:38,193 We need people who are rational like Paul. 900 00:39:38,193 --> 00:39:39,966 We need people to think like that. 901 00:39:39,966 --> 00:39:45,559 We need to think like that. 902 00:39:45,559 --> 00:39:49,003 Think. Think. Think. 903 00:39:49,003 --> 00:39:51,644 Think about the cross. 904 00:39:51,644 --> 00:39:52,845 Come back to the cross 905 00:39:52,845 --> 00:39:54,387 again and again. 906 00:39:54,387 --> 00:39:56,871 I'll tell you, 907 00:39:56,871 --> 00:40:02,991 the life John called us to live. 908 00:40:02,991 --> 00:40:05,643 Do you know what's going to set you free? 909 00:40:05,643 --> 00:40:07,562 It's when you think. 910 00:40:07,562 --> 00:40:10,504 It's when you think about the cross. 911 00:40:10,504 --> 00:40:12,595 It's when you think about the price 912 00:40:12,595 --> 00:40:19,283 that was paid in your behalf. 913 00:40:19,283 --> 00:40:24,491 The Lamb of God. Slain. 914 00:40:24,491 --> 00:40:29,251 For your sake. 915 00:40:29,251 --> 00:40:37,578 Brethren, this is wonderful! 916 00:40:37,578 --> 00:40:41,625 You will be constrained as you think. 917 00:40:41,625 --> 00:40:43,145 We have to come back to it 918 00:40:43,145 --> 00:40:45,222 again and again. 919 00:40:45,222 --> 00:40:47,582 If we're going to reason the way Paul did, 920 00:40:47,582 --> 00:40:52,488 we've got to ask questions of that cross. 921 00:40:52,488 --> 00:40:55,537 Why? 922 00:40:55,537 --> 00:41:00,443 Why did He do that? 923 00:41:00,443 --> 00:41:04,573 Did He do that 924 00:41:04,573 --> 00:41:08,133 so that I could have a better golf game? 925 00:41:08,133 --> 00:41:15,837 Did He do that for that? 926 00:41:15,837 --> 00:41:17,998 Now look, I know, 927 00:41:17,998 --> 00:41:21,172 like Kevin's message yesterday, 928 00:41:21,172 --> 00:41:24,014 perhaps, perhaps there would be a place 929 00:41:24,014 --> 00:41:34,834 to live for Christ, to deny self there. 930 00:41:34,834 --> 00:41:37,277 I mean, you might have a lost family member 931 00:41:37,277 --> 00:41:42,187 that wants to take you out to a golf course. 932 00:41:42,187 --> 00:41:51,068 But you know what I'm saying. 933 00:41:51,068 --> 00:41:56,312 To go to the cartel held border areas. 934 00:41:56,312 --> 00:41:57,383 To go to Iraq. 935 00:41:57,383 --> 00:41:58,770 John didn't tell you. 936 00:41:58,770 --> 00:42:03,471 There was a time that John was in Iraq 937 00:42:03,471 --> 00:42:05,457 that the city he was in 938 00:42:05,457 --> 00:42:11,017 was attacked by ISIS. 939 00:42:11,017 --> 00:42:17,502 He said the local Christians were pretty disturbed. 940 00:42:17,502 --> 00:42:22,839 That's one way that we die to self. 941 00:42:22,839 --> 00:42:25,423 That's one way. 942 00:42:25,423 --> 00:42:28,703 But it's moment by moment, 943 00:42:28,703 --> 00:42:33,162 Paul was a man who was constrained. 944 00:42:33,162 --> 00:42:37,499 You see what he's saying in verse 13. 945 00:42:37,499 --> 00:42:40,077 It was for God and for them. 946 00:42:40,077 --> 00:42:42,295 It's living for God and for the elect. 947 00:42:42,295 --> 00:42:43,948 It's living our life. It's zeal. 948 00:42:43,948 --> 00:42:46,111 And he's saying you want to know where it comes from? 949 00:42:46,111 --> 00:42:47,311 It comes from right here. 950 00:42:47,311 --> 00:42:49,089 There's a mastering motivating force 951 00:42:49,089 --> 00:42:50,869 at work in my life 952 00:42:50,869 --> 00:42:52,731 that has to do with the love of Christ, 953 00:42:52,731 --> 00:42:55,749 and I trace it back to the cross. 954 00:42:55,749 --> 00:42:59,025 And I look there to that cross, 955 00:42:59,025 --> 00:43:01,154 and it makes me think, 956 00:43:01,154 --> 00:43:02,910 and it makes me ask questions, 957 00:43:02,910 --> 00:43:04,739 and it makes me come to conclusions 958 00:43:04,739 --> 00:43:06,427 about why I'm here. 959 00:43:06,427 --> 00:43:08,025 It makes me come to conclusions 960 00:43:08,025 --> 00:43:11,744 about why God saved me. 961 00:43:11,744 --> 00:43:13,546 Brethren, there has been no greater 962 00:43:13,546 --> 00:43:18,142 expression of love to mankind ever. 963 00:43:18,142 --> 00:43:20,985 Not ever. 964 00:43:20,985 --> 00:43:24,998 We are among some of the select few 965 00:43:24,998 --> 00:43:29,891 that have had such a privilege bestowed upon them, 966 00:43:29,891 --> 00:43:34,908 that the Son of God would die in our behalf. 967 00:43:34,908 --> 00:43:37,401 Paul says, 968 00:43:37,401 --> 00:43:41,141 is He going to die for me? 969 00:43:41,141 --> 00:43:43,829 Is He going to die that I 970 00:43:43,829 --> 00:43:46,829 might be one with Him? 971 00:43:46,829 --> 00:43:48,799 And that I die with Him? 972 00:43:48,799 --> 00:43:50,669 Is that why? 973 00:43:50,669 --> 00:43:53,529 That I might become a new creation? 974 00:43:53,529 --> 00:43:55,016 That I might have renewal? 975 00:43:55,016 --> 00:43:58,489 Not just forgiveness. 976 00:43:58,489 --> 00:44:01,415 That I might actually die to that selfish, 977 00:44:01,415 --> 00:44:04,258 proud Pharisee that I was. 978 00:44:04,258 --> 00:44:06,286 If that's why He died, then you know what? 979 00:44:06,286 --> 00:44:07,468 That constrains me, 980 00:44:07,468 --> 00:44:09,664 and I'm going to seek to strive after 981 00:44:09,664 --> 00:44:11,707 and live for the very reason that He 982 00:44:11,707 --> 00:44:12,779 died for me. 983 00:44:12,779 --> 00:44:14,317 And it constrains me. 984 00:44:14,317 --> 00:44:17,204 And it presses me. 985 00:44:17,204 --> 00:44:22,231 Brethren, we have to think much more 986 00:44:22,231 --> 00:44:27,615 about the cross. 987 00:44:27,615 --> 00:44:31,040 Or at least, I say that because 988 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:33,358 that's an expression of my own heart to you. 989 00:44:33,358 --> 00:44:35,374 I do. 990 00:44:35,374 --> 00:44:39,317 I feel like I'm in the Word all the time. 991 00:44:39,317 --> 00:44:41,836 But I don't feel like I all the time 992 00:44:41,836 --> 00:44:44,251 make the cross a study 993 00:44:44,251 --> 00:44:47,405 the way that I really feel that Paul did. 994 00:44:47,405 --> 00:44:49,505 And I recognize this, 995 00:44:49,505 --> 00:44:51,259 if we're going to be more like Paul, 996 00:44:51,259 --> 00:44:53,472 then we really have to focus on that cross, 997 00:44:53,472 --> 00:44:55,900 just as much as he did. 998 00:44:55,900 --> 00:44:59,542 Because that constrained him. 999 00:44:59,542 --> 00:45:00,422 And I'll tell you, 1000 00:45:00,422 --> 00:45:02,286 when you let loose a people 1001 00:45:02,286 --> 00:45:04,248 that are really moved upon and 1002 00:45:04,248 --> 00:45:07,328 motivated by this kind of force, 1003 00:45:07,328 --> 00:45:09,984 it will turn the world upside down. 1004 00:45:09,984 --> 00:45:12,445 It really will. 1005 00:45:12,445 --> 00:45:15,238 Brethren, 1006 00:45:15,238 --> 00:45:17,231 to die to self 1007 00:45:17,231 --> 00:45:18,705 One of the glorious, 1008 00:45:18,705 --> 00:45:21,495 blood-bought privileges 1009 00:45:21,495 --> 00:45:24,771 of the children of God. 1010 00:45:24,771 --> 00:45:27,923 That's what you see in these verses. 1011 00:45:27,923 --> 00:45:34,114 You can't get away from it. 1012 00:45:34,114 --> 00:45:38,788 Well, brethren, I'll just say this. 1013 00:45:38,788 --> 00:45:41,276 Think, brethren, think 1014 00:45:41,276 --> 00:45:45,183 upon the cross. 1015 00:45:45,183 --> 00:45:48,294 Think upon this love. 1016 00:45:48,294 --> 00:45:51,163 Until you feel what Paul felt. 1017 00:45:51,163 --> 00:45:55,262 Until you feel its constraining influence. 1018 00:45:55,262 --> 00:45:58,660 Think. Think. 1019 00:45:58,660 --> 00:46:00,653 Brethren, remember what it was like 1020 00:46:00,653 --> 00:46:04,856 to be a lost sinner. 1021 00:46:04,856 --> 00:46:06,479 Remember the pit that you've 1022 00:46:06,479 --> 00:46:09,217 been dragged from. 1023 00:46:09,217 --> 00:46:11,277 Christ shed His blood for you. 1024 00:46:11,277 --> 00:46:16,701 In your behalf. 1025 00:46:16,701 --> 00:46:18,441 He who feels Christ's love 1026 00:46:18,441 --> 00:46:20,092 like Paul felt Christ's love, 1027 00:46:20,092 --> 00:46:24,592 they're constrained to live like Christ lived. 1028 00:46:24,592 --> 00:46:26,475 That's what I read of Paul's life. 1029 00:46:26,475 --> 00:46:29,202 That's how I read these verses. 1030 00:46:29,202 --> 00:46:33,962 Did Jesus die for me? 1031 00:46:33,962 --> 00:46:35,562 For me? 1032 00:46:35,562 --> 00:46:36,914 When I was His enemy? 1033 00:46:36,914 --> 00:46:40,724 For me? 1034 00:46:40,724 --> 00:46:42,594 Then, I'm going to live for Him. 1035 00:46:42,594 --> 00:46:45,675 I'm constrained by that love. 1036 00:46:45,675 --> 00:46:48,631 I'm going to live for Him. 1037 00:46:48,631 --> 00:46:52,328 You see how the cross 1038 00:46:52,328 --> 00:46:55,841 stimulates 1039 00:46:55,841 --> 00:46:57,015 self-sacrifice? 1040 00:46:57,015 --> 00:47:00,162 It stimulates sanctification. 1041 00:47:00,162 --> 00:47:07,151 It makes a man beside himself. 1042 00:47:07,151 --> 00:47:10,493 I would just ask you this: 1043 00:47:10,493 --> 00:47:12,391 You know, judge yourself; 1044 00:47:12,391 --> 00:47:13,856 judge yourself in this. 1045 00:47:13,856 --> 00:47:16,255 Can you say that? 1046 00:47:16,255 --> 00:47:17,725 I know we might be able to say 1047 00:47:17,725 --> 00:47:19,895 no, I'm not constrained by the love of Christ 1048 00:47:19,895 --> 00:47:21,827 as much as I should be, 1049 00:47:21,827 --> 00:47:24,636 but I am constrained by it. 1050 00:47:24,636 --> 00:47:27,272 But judge yourselves. 1051 00:47:27,272 --> 00:47:31,490 If you find in yourself, 1052 00:47:31,490 --> 00:47:33,372 no, 1053 00:47:33,372 --> 00:47:35,963 no, I don't think I am. 1054 00:47:35,963 --> 00:47:37,948 Then we would say what's said here: 1055 00:47:37,948 --> 00:47:40,180 Be reconciled to the God who alone 1056 00:47:40,180 --> 00:47:43,824 can save you. 1057 00:47:43,824 --> 00:47:44,923 And to the Christian, 1058 00:47:44,923 --> 00:47:46,396 to those who say yes, 1059 00:47:46,396 --> 00:47:49,027 I am constrained by that love. 1060 00:47:49,027 --> 00:47:50,983 I would just say to you, 1061 00:47:50,983 --> 00:47:52,954 more. 1062 00:47:52,954 --> 00:47:55,726 Think more. 1063 00:47:55,726 --> 00:48:00,330 Let your mind be set on things above. 1064 00:48:00,330 --> 00:48:01,980 This is one of the loftiest things 1065 00:48:01,980 --> 00:48:03,905 that we can do with our minds. 1066 00:48:03,905 --> 00:48:06,605 These are the best conclusions 1067 00:48:06,605 --> 00:48:07,865 that you can come to 1068 00:48:07,865 --> 00:48:09,811 with your mind. 1069 00:48:09,811 --> 00:48:11,645 The conclusions about what the cross 1070 00:48:11,645 --> 00:48:13,656 means to you. 1071 00:48:13,656 --> 00:48:17,916 And to your life. 1072 00:48:17,916 --> 00:48:21,265 Father, we ask You 1073 00:48:21,265 --> 00:48:24,424 give us fresh and new and glorious 1074 00:48:24,424 --> 00:48:28,144 vision, views, manifestations 1075 00:48:28,144 --> 00:48:30,871 of the cross. 1076 00:48:30,871 --> 00:48:33,227 We thank You 1077 00:48:33,227 --> 00:48:34,747 for the unspeakable gift 1078 00:48:34,747 --> 00:48:37,550 that You've bestowed upon us. 1079 00:48:37,550 --> 00:48:38,857 We thank You in the name 1080 00:48:38,857 --> 00:48:40,302 of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1081 00:48:40,302 --> 00:48:42,882 Amen.