January 8

Good morning and welcome. Because of technical difficulties, this is not a live presentation but a re-recording of the message. The passage for our message this morning is 2 Corinthians chapter 5 beginning with verse 11. Know therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men. We are well known to God and I also trust are well known in your consciences. We do not commend ourselves again to you but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf. That you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves it is for God. For if we are of sound mind it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died. And he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again. One of the greatest drives for men is the desire for power. And history is full of examples. No evil is too great even murder to gain that power. We've all read of such men even today like Bill Gates and George Soros. Rich beyond our imagination and use their wealth to buy power throughout the world. Another motivator that we're familiar with is greed the desire for money. The latest example of this is Sam Bankman Freed whose greed caused fraud that apparently exceeded that of Bernie Madox. It may reach 2 billion dollars. Another big motivation for people is fame. There's a craving for success and the praise of men. Of course the Kardashians are probably the masters of it that we're all familiar with. But maybe closer to home for us is the drive for personal pleasure and comfort. Motivate so many is a primary goal of life. Christians are not immune to these desires. Many in the evangelical world judge churches by unbiblical standards like the size of the congregations and the facilities that they have sometimes called campuses. Or measured by the programs that they offer. Or how entertaining and exciting the worship experience might be or the rock star pastor. You know the one who is so good at speaking and can hobnob with powerful politicians. There's a deadly example of this in the destructive situation of Mars Hill Church. The disintegration of this large mega church in Seattle and its pastor Mark Driscoll. As Paul defends his ministry and his authority as an apostle against the charges of the false teachers and self-appointed leaders. He points out that none of these things have motivated him. He is motivated by something else. 2 Corinthians 5.14. He says the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died. It's not these earthly things that have motivated Paul like money or power. No it's something else. Something spiritual and eternal. It is Christ's amazing love that moves Paul to act and to live as he does. The world is concerned with getting. But Paul's motivation, his incentive is not that he wants something. Just the opposite. He's already received the greatest of gifts. Christ's love is incomparable, undeserved love. And it's that love, Paul says, that motivates him, that drives him to serve Christ. Have you contemplated the love of Christ for you? Sometimes in the trials of life. The loss of a loved one. Our weakness in the face of the ungodly around us or the afflictions and the setbacks that come to everyone. We will sinfully question God's goodness. We question his love for us. We doubt and we fear. Paul is reminding us of an important truth we must never forget. A truth that should constantly motivate us and encourage us. The unconditional and redeeming love of Christ. It is a love demonstrated at Calvary. Paul writes in Romans chapter 5, 6 through 8. For when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Paul was acutely aware of this redeeming love of Christ. He was an enemy of the gospel. He participated in the killing of Stephen. He persecuted Christians and he drove them from their homes and imprisoned them. He called himself the chief of sinners. Yet Christ showed him his love and changed his heart. He became a servant of the cross instead of a persecutor. It is because of Adam's sin as well as our own sin that we are alienated from God. Disobedient to his commands. Yet Christ came to earth, born of Mary, taking on flesh, and he died upon the cross for us. He bore our sins, took our punishment, and he did this not because we were good, not because we were deserving, not because we had lots of merit toward him. But Paul says while we were still sinners, while we were ungodly enemies of God like Saul of Tarsus, that's the love of Christ for you as well as for Paul. Jesus spoke of this love in that well-known and beloved passage, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Paul describes this love of Christ beautifully in Ephesians 5.25. He says, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with a washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. His words of Paul, that Paul points us to, is another aspect of Christ's love, his sustaining love for his people, a love that brings him to never leave you nor forsake you. It's the gentle love of the Good Shepherd who cares for us so that we never want for anything needful, even, the psalmist says, in the shadow, in the valley of the shadow of death. Christ's love is a protective love as well, so that we do not even stub our toe upon a rock unless he wills it. Read Psalm 91. Christ's love is also a sanctifying love, a love that carefully disciplines us so that we more and more conform to God's will. The writer of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 7, If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? So even God's chastening, his discipline of you is an expression of your shepherd's love. Christ's love is a love that holds us firmly in his hand. In John 10, 28, Jesus said, I gave them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Does such love encourage you? Does it motivate you? Paul continues describing the love of Christ, he says, For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died. And he died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. Christ gave the ultimate example of love by dying for us. So we should no longer live for ourselves, for power, for money, for fame, for our own comfort. All the things that the world holds so dear and so important, no, we should live for Christ, who died for us and rose again. Paul touches on this theme again and again. He says, for me to live is Christ, to the Philippian Christians. Romans 14, 7-90 says this to believers, For none of us lives to himself, no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Paul says such love compels us. That word compel has the idea of constraint. So picture a policeman catching a burglar and then handcuffing him and forcibly putting him into jail. That's the idea of this word. Christ's love for you compels you, constrains you, forces you. You can't escape it. You must respond to such love. Christ's love compels us to fear him. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. We looked at this last week as well. That godly fear is a right and proper response to Christ's love. If you understand the redeeming love of Christ for you, you won't cower in fear of him or ignore him. You will lovingly fear him and reverence him. You will honor Christ in word and in deed. This kind of fear, a loving respect for the Lord, Psalms and Proverbs both say is the beginning of true wisdom. The world doesn't fear the Lord, profanes his precious name, ignores his authority. But those who understand his sacrificial love are compelled to reverence him above all else. Remember when Moses approached the burning bush? God spoke to him telling him to take off his sandals for you are on holy ground. To love Christ is to reverence him, honor him. Above all for he is holy and sacred. Far greater than the burning bush and the ground around it. The love of Christ compels us also to live for him. Verse 15, and he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. The truth is that even as Christians, we too often live our lives for ourselves. We're wrapped up in ourselves, our own comfort advancement, our own success and power and influence. And we too often really live like the world. But an understanding of Christ's amazing love for us is sacrificial, redeeming, sanctifying love compels us. It forces us to live for him rather than for ourselves. Remember, Christ taught that we should lay up treasure in heaven because it is eternal treasure. And the moths and the rust will not destroy it. Paul is saying there is something else that should captivate us and motivate us, that if we contemplate and understand how much Christ loves us, how much he has done for us, how much he has given for us, even his life, we will without hesitation give anything and sacrifice anything to serve him. Including verse 13, the respect of the world. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God. Or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. We're living in days where just to repeat parts of God's law is regarded as hate speech. To follow Christ has never been easy, usually counter cultural. But in the coming days, it may be very costly. However, if you understand the love of Christ, you will willingly pay it. Along with Stephen, the apostles and other martyrs for Christ. There's something else we will do if we know the love of Christ, we'll want to tell others. It's not enough to simply enjoy Christ's love ourselves. We must share it. We're compelled to share his love. It's like when you come back from a wonderful trip and you just have to tell others about it and show them your pictures. If you know the love of Christ, if you've experienced his goodness and his mercies, his grace, his blessings in your life, you're compelled, you're forced to tell others. You can't help it. Verse 11, Paul says, we persuade men. It's not just talking about witnessing or handing out tracts. It's getting a little pushy. The idea of the word is to convince others to put their faith in Christ. As Paul develops his argument, he is saying that the fear of God, He is saying that the fear of God, the love of Christ, move us by compulsion to serve him, to live to his glory, to share the gospel, to reach out to those who are lost, even when the world thinks we're fanatics or we've lost our mind, as they increasingly will if we hold to the gospel. We do so because we fear God more than we fear man. This is what the early church did. Even as persecution drove them from their homes, they went everywhere preaching the word, Acts 8.4 tells us. And the result is interesting. As far away as Thessalonica up in Asia Minor, the rulers complained, and this is Acts 17.6, they complained that these who have turned the world upside down have come here to Thessalonica too. The love of Christ compelled the believers in the early church to evangelize, and they did so with such zeal they shook the Roman Empire. In the face of Roman opposition and persecution, in the face of Jewish hostility and persecution, the believers of Paul's day were so captured by the love of Christ that none of that mattered. They lived boldly and fearlessly for their king. That is what the Lord calls you to do as well, to die to self, die to the world, die to its allurements, die to its treasures, its temptations, and live for your Savior who loves you and gave himself for you. Shall we pray? Our Lord and our God, we cannot fully comprehend your love for us, the love of Christ who laid down his life that we might live. So, Father, we pray that you would convict us of such love and convict us of false love. Help us not to love the world, but to love our Savior with all of our heart and all of our soul and all of our mind, and to live to his glory and to his praise. Lord, we pray that you would work in us to that end, we pray. Amen.