Psalm 141. The Psalm of David. Lord, I cry unto thee, make haste
unto me, give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee. That's really what prayer is,
isn't it? And that's what worship is. It's crying unto the Lord
for Him to make Himself known to us, to help us, to save us. So I pray the Lord will answer
that prayer tonight. We'll read some more from that
in just a moment. Tom's going to come and lead us in number
18. Is that right, Tom? Yes, number 18. And stop back
to me. Psalm 141 verse 2. Let my prayer be set forth before
thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, before my
mouth, and keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to
any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity
And let me not eat of their dainties. Let the righteous smite me. It
shall be a kindness. Can you say that? That's a hard
thing to say and mean. When I'm in error, Lord, bring
someone to correct me. That's a hard thing to be corrected,
isn't it? And let him reprove me. It shall
be an excellent oil which shall not break my head, for yet my
prayer also shall be in their calamities. Lord, I'll pray for
them, and you have them pray for me and encourage me and help
me. When their judges are overthrown
in stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet. Our bones are scattered at the
grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
That's where we're just one step away from the grave, aren't we?
But mine eyes are unto thee, O Lord, O God the Lord. In thee
is my trust. Leave not my soul destitute. Lord, don't leave me to myself.
Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me and the
gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their
own nets. whilst that I, with all, escape. Michael Etheridge had cataract
surgery today. He's at home recovering and things
went well. So we're grateful for that. Terri
is still very frail and back in the nursing home. As you know,
she fell again Sunday but did not break anything. And the merciful
thing for Terri is that she's not experiencing any pain whatsoever. Let's pray together. Merciful Heavenly Father, we're
so very thankful that you've allowed us once again to come
to this place, to join our hearts and our lives together in worship
to you, crying out to you, Lord, to save us. to be our helper,
our shield, our defense, and our escape. Lord, we do pray,
as David prayed, that you would lead us not into temptation,
but that you would deliver us from the evil one. Lord, we thank you for the successful
surgery that Michael had today. We pray that your hand of healing
would be upon him and that you would recover his full strength.
We pray for Wayne and ask, Lord, that you would enable him to
recover from the surgery that he had as well. Lord, we look
to you as our great physician. Thank you for Terry. Thank you,
Lord, for the faith that you've given her, and we pray that you
would continue to be merciful toward her. We ask it in Christ's
name. Well, I hope the Lord will cause
us to mean that, what we just sang, what a blessed hymn that
is. Our first passage of scripture
that we're going to look at tonight, we looked at it Sunday morning. It's in 2 Corinthians chapter
5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. at verse 14. For the love of
Christ constraineth us. Constraineth us. Do you need to be constrained? Do you find the power of your
flesh too strong to manage? Do you find the wiles of the
devil too cunning and too crafty to be able to escape? Do you
find the influence and the temptations of this world too great for you? Do you need to be constrained? I confess to you that I do. I need the Lord to constrain
me. Truth is we are as dependent
on the Lord to keep us as we are for Him to regenerate us. Just as dependent. We must be
kept constrained restrained by the power of God. This word means to be bound,
it means to be confined, it means to be put on a leash. Our verse says that it is the
love of Christ that constrains us. What are the means that God
uses to constrain his children? What does he use to bind us,
to restrain us, to keep us from falling and to protect us from
the wiles of the devil and the powers of our flesh and the evils
of this world? What does he use? I looked up
that word translated in our text this evening, constrained, and
found it to be in several other places in the New Testament.
All having to do with different things that the Lord uses to
constrain his children. The first one is here, it is
the love of Christ. The second one is that he uses
the word of God. The third one is that he uses
the fellowship of believers in the church. The fourth one is
that he uses our longing to be with Christ. The fifth one is
that he uses faith to constrain us. And the sixth one is that
he constrains us by his good providence. Many, many passages
of scripture relating to this subject of being constrained. The Lord knows that we're made
of dust. He has pity upon us, even as
the father would have pity upon his children. And he keeps us
from falling and following after the foolishness of our own flesh. The means that he uses, as I've
already mentioned, are these. The first one is the love of
Christ. The love of Christ. You got that? Not your love for Christ. You say, well, my love for Christ
doesn't always constrain me as it ought. It's because your love
for Christ isn't as it ought to be. But it's his love for
us. John defines love like this he
says herein is love here's the definition of love not that we
love God don't try to define love by the depth of your love
for God but that he loved us and gave himself as a propitiation
for our sins when he shows compassion Towards
his children like he did for Peter on that fateful night Our
hearts are broken You know that very same night Judas came to
the garden and kissed the Lord on the cheek I Don't I can't imagine what
kind of look the Lord gave to Judas It wasn't a look of pity
it wasn't a look of compassion it had no effect whatsoever on
the heart of Judas but when Peter when Peter cursed
the Lord the scripture says that our Lord looked upon him and
when he did Peter's heart was broken he saw in the eyes of
the Lord Jesus Christ a love that he was unworthy of, a love
that was infinite, a love that was pure and perfect, a love
that would constrain him, a love that would keep him from doing
what Judas did. It is the love of Christ that
constraineth us. When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's
wife, He said to her, my master has kept back nothing good from
me. Now he was speaking of Potiphar,
but prophetically he's speaking of Christ. He's speaking for
us, isn't he? Our master has kept back nothing
good from us. And Paul said in the book of
Romans, he said, it is the goodness of God that leadeth to repentance.
Now, oftentimes we think of repentance as something that happens only
after we commit the act. But in fact, repentance is a
changed mind. And we've already sinned when
we've considered the act, haven't we? And so the Lord uses his
goodness and the reminder of his goodness and his grace toward
us to change our minds. Joseph went on to say, how then
can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? It was the goodness of God that
constrained him and kept him. The greatest demonstration of
the love of God is seen at Calvary. The sacrifice that the Lord Jesus
Christ made of himself for his people. Look at verse 14. For
the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge. How do we know? that Christ loves
us. Because he pities us, yes. Because
he's compassionate towards us, yes. Because he's forgiving toward
us, yes. But greater love hath no man
than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. The greatest
demonstration of love that we see in the heart of the Lord
Jesus Christ is demonstrated in the sacrifice that he makes
of himself on Calvary's cross, isn't it? It is impossible to consider
the undeserving, infinite, sacrificial love of Christ and not be constrained. It's just impossible. When we are not constrained,
it's because we're not looking to Christ. Turn with me to 1
John chapter 4. The love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge. We thus judge. If one died for
all, then we're all dead. Here's the love of God that when
the Lord Jesus Christ died on Calvary's cross, we died in Him. And that's the reason that that
Paul tells us in Romans that we're to reckon ourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
look what John says in first John chapter 4 at verse 16 and
we have known and believed the love that God hath to us we've
known and we believed in the love that God has to us Herein
is love. Go back with me to verse 10 in
that same passage. Herein is love. Not that we loved
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. He bore in His body all the sins
of all of God's elect and suffered the full penalty of God's wrath
in order to appease the justice of God so that the fiery wrath
of God has been quenched. There's love that Christ would
take upon himself. That penalty, that punishment.
Look at verse 11. Beloved, if God so loved us,
if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. It's
the love of Christ that constraineth us. Now go back with me to verse
17 or verse 16. And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. He that is looking
to the love of Christ for all his salvation, the sacrifice
of Christ, that's the one who's in Christ. Look at verse 17. Herein is our love made perfect.
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as
He is, so are we in this world. Now there's the love of Christ. The love of Christ was so perfect. His sacrifice was so complete
and so acceptable to God that God looks upon us Just like he
looks upon the Lord Jesus Christ. As he is, so are we. Right now,
in this world. Look at verse 18. There is no
fear in love. The strength of sin is the law. And the law doesn't do anything
but engender fear. You put yourself under the law
and all it's going to do is incite more sin. It's the love of Christ
that constraineth us. And perfect, perfect love, perfect
love casteth out fear. Who's got perfect love? Is your
love perfect? Is my love perfect? No. But His
love is. and His love for us cast out
fear. We have no fear of God's wrath.
We have no fear of God's judgment. We're not under the law. We're
under grace. The law has no power to judge
us and the law has no power to incite sin in us. We're dead. Here's the love of
Christ. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. He that's under the law, he that
fears the wrath of God, he that fears judgment, he's not looking
to the love of Christ. We do love Him, the next verse
says, we do love Him, but only because He first loved us. It's not our love for Him, it's
His love for us that constraineth us. The reason we have to keep
hearing the gospel, isn't it? It's the reason why we have to
keep hearing about what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us.
Paul said, I profess to know nothing among you save Christ
and Him crucified. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ is what reminds us that we're dead. It's what reminds
us that we've been set free from the law. It's what reminds us
that we have liberty. Liberty in Christ. We're free
from the law. We're free to love. We're free
to serve God. It's the love of Christ that
constraineth us, for we thus judge, if one died, then are
all dead. That's our judgment. That's our conclusion. Turn with me to Acts chapter
18, verse 5. I began by asking you the question
that I've asked myself, do you need to be constrained? And if
you're like me, I know the answer to that question is yes. I need
to be constrained. I need to be bound to Christ
by His love for me. I need to be told and reminded
what He's done for me and who I am in Him before God. That His perfect love for me
has satisfied the demands of God's law. And that God sees
me just as He sees the Lord Jesus Christ. So that as He is, so
am I. That's the only thing that's
going to set me free. That's the love of Christ that constrains
me in this world. I need to be reminded that my
judgment is that if Christ died then I'm dead in him. The second means by which the
Lord restrains his children is found in Acts chapter 18 at verse
5 now I told you that I just looked up this word that we found
in our text 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 14 constraineth and it's
mentioned many times in the New Testament and here's one of them
in Acts chapter 18 verse 5 and when Silas and Timothy were come
from Macedonia Paul was pressed in the spirit. And that's the
word constrained. Paul was bound. He was constrained. He was forced by God. To do what? To testify to the Jews that Jesus
is Christ. You see that word, the past tense
verb was, is in italics in your Bible. It's the present tense,
that Jesus is Christ. That's who he is. It's not that
he was Christ, he is the Christ. And so the second means by which
the Lord constrains his children is the revelation of who the
Lord Jesus Christ is in the Word of God. These are they which
testify of me. So God uses his word. How shall
a young man keep his way pure? How shall he do it? By hiding
God's word in his heart. Now, we don't use verses in the
Bible to try to restrain us or constrain us as if it was some
sort of a rabbit's foot. You know, we'll just pull out
this verse and rub on a little while and maybe that'll work.
No, the Word of God is given to us for one reason, and that's
to reveal to us the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you love the story
in Luke chapter 24 when the disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus
and the Lord speaking to them, opens up the scriptures to them
and tells them of those things concerning himself, beginning
with Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. And then when they
got to the house and the scripture says, as he broke the bread,
their eyes were opened And that's symbolic of what we're doing
right now, breaking open the bread of life, revealing Christ.
And what did they say? Oh, did our hearts not burn within
us as he walked with us along the way, as he spoke to us about
the scriptures. So God's given us his word in
order to reveal the love of Christ to us. It's the love of Christ
that constraineth us. Paul was pressed. to testify
of the Lord Jesus Christ from the scriptures. We don't look to the scriptures
as just a precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little,
there a little. That's what religious people
do. They pride themselves in memorizing verses and they use
it as a sort of a trinket to help them get through the temptations
of this world. God's given us his word to reveal
to us the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's Christ himself that
constraineth us. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy
chapter 1, he said, hold fast there's the word again constrain
hold fast the form of sound words which thou have heard of me in
faith and love which is in Christ Jesus be constrained by the soundness
of God's Word which speaks of Christ Paul tells us in Romans chapter
12 Verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present yourself a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed. be not pressed into the mold
of this world, but be transformed. How? By the renewing of your
mind in Christ Jesus. So the scriptures are given to
us in order to reveal Christ, lest we become conformed to this
world. We're either going to be constrained
or conformed, one way or the other, aren't we? There's something else in this
passage in Acts chapter 18 that I want you to see. Paul was in
Corinth, and he was preaching the gospel there. And look what
it says in verse 5. And when Silas and Timothy came, Paul was all by himself. He was
the only one that believed the gospel. He was standing up against
all the gainsayers and as faithful as he was, he needed the encouragement
of Timothy and Silas. One of the means by which the
Lord constrains us. You need to be constrained. Here's
a means that he, and that's the reason you're here tonight. I
know that is. It's the reason I'm here. We need the fellowship
of one another. How many times the Lord said
in his word, comfort ye one another with these words. Pray for one
another, encourage each other. Care for that one that has fallen
and lift him up. How desperately we need the church. Truth is, we're at odds with
this world. We just don't fit into this world.
The church is our family. It's the encouragement that we
have. Paul needed Silas and Timothy.
to come alongside of him and now by the witness of two or
three mouths a thing is confirmed and now Paul's not just preaching
by himself he's got two other men here that believe the gospel
as well and what great boldness constrained him to testify of
Christ with the help of his brethren. We just need one another don't
we? When, you know, when the epistles were written, the scripture
doesn't say, Paul doesn't say, grace and peace from God our
Father to the invisible church. He doesn't say that, does he?
No, he says grace and peace from God our Father to the church
which is at? Corinth. To the church which
is at? Ephesus, to the church which
is at Thessalonica, to the church that is at Philippi. These letters were written to
local assemblies, weren't they? There's no place in the New Testament
where believers are are encouraged to forsake the
assembling of themselves together as the manner of Somnias, isn't
it? know it and believers don't want to they just know they need
each other they know they need to be constrained they know they
need the fellowship of other believers they know they need
to hear the gospel preached they know that God has sent to them
pastors and shepherds after his own heart to feed the sheep that's
what that's what they that's that's the church isn't it this
is this is We need one another to be constrained, don't we? When man by wisdom knew not God,
God through the foolishness of preaching was pleased to save
them which believe. Those who would say, well, I
don't need the church. They're just, they're being proud. They're being self-righteous.
They don't know themselves very well. They have way high too
view of themselves to think that they can survive in this world
without the fellowship of God's people. Ethiopian eunuch knew that he
needed someone didn't he? Philip asked him, he said, understandest
thou what thou readest? What did he say? How can I unless
a man should lead me? He was humbled enough to say,
I'm in need of someone to direct me, to teach me, to help me. And that's the ministry of the
church. Turn to me to First Timothy chapter
six. There's just, For anyone to deny their need
for God's people, their need to hear the gospel preached,
their need to be prayed for and to be encouraged by the people
of God, their need to, you know, the Lord has made this life that
we have as a prey. And one of the things that animals
of prey do is they congregate together for safety, don't they? Sheep, they just get in a flock,
don't they? They get in a group together.
Why? For protection, for support,
for encouragement. First Timothy chapter six, you
have your Bibles open there, look at what he says. The New
Testament is just so full of examples of the necessity of
the local church and the preaching of the gospel. And First Timothy
chapter six, verse three says, if any man teach otherwise and
consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness. He
is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes
of words, whereby cometh envying strife, railings and evils surmising,
perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute
of the truth, supposing that his gain is godliness. From such withdraw thyself. If a man persists in believing
that he doesn't need the church, we're told of God just to withdraw
ourselves. God's people know that they need
the assembly. Paul had Timothy and Silas come
and when they came he was constrained to be faithful to the gospel. Turn with me to Philippians Chapter
1. Here's another reference to this
word, constrained. God uses the love of Christ to
constrain us. God uses His Word which reveals
to us the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ to constrain
us. God uses the fellowship of other
believers in the assembly of the local church to constrain
us. If a person doesn't doesn't avail
themselves to these means that God gives us, then we won't be
constrained. These are the way God constrains
us. Look at verse 23 of Philippians
chapter 1. Paul says, for I am constrained. That's the word there. He said,
I'm in a strait betwixt two. I'm being constrained by this
conflict. He said, having a desire to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to
abide in the flesh is needful for you. My constraint is that
I have a desire that God has put in my heart to depart and
to go be with the Lord, which is far better than anything that
I could have in this world. Yet for your sake, I know I need
to stay." You know, every believer feels that way. Every believer
feels that way. They're constrained by the desire
to be with Christ. The Lord has set their affections
on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of
God. And that's a constraint. That's a constraint. Look at
1 John chapter 3. We quote this verse often, but
I want you to see it in its context and the verse following. In verse
2 of 1 John chapter 3, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. We're the children of God. And
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. You can't look at yourself
now and there's not going to be any semblance of what we're
going to be to what we are now in the flesh. We're going to
be, we're going to have glorified bodies, we're not going to have
any memory of sin, we're not going to have any temptation
of sin, we're going to be, well what does he say here, it does
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know we know this
is the constraining grace of God we know that when he shall
appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and
every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself even
as he is pure it's the hope of glory it's the
hope of being with Christ it's the hope of his return that constrains
us It's the love of Christ that constraineth us, the love of
Christ. It is the word of God that constraineth
us. It is the fellowship of God's
people and the church and the preaching of the gospel that
constraineth us. And it is the hope that God has
given to us to be with Christ that constraineth us. First Timothy
chapter one, the word holding in 1st Timothy
chapter 1 at verse 19 is the word constraineth 1st Timothy
chapter 1 verse 19 holding faith constraining faith constraining
faith and a good conscience which some having put away concerning
faith have made themselves shipwrecked Their lives have been destroyed.
Why? Because they've turned away from the faith. Which you know
means they never had any faith to begin with. Faith that's of
God never can be denied. And it never can be lost. No
man can pluck you out of my hand. The faith that God gives is infinite
and it's eternal. A believer might look away, might
fall away for a time, but he'll be brought back. He can't ever
escape the faith that God gives. Look at chapter 3 of that same
epistle at verse 9. Holding, there it is again, constraineth. Holding the mystery of faith
in a pure conscience. The mystery of faith. The hope
that we have in Christ. The belief that God has given
us of who He is and what He's accomplished. We just can't escape
it, can we? Believers can't not believe. They just can't do it. They're
constantly trying not to believe, but they can't do it. Now I want to make a statement,
you know this is true already, but I want somebody to hear this. And that is that saving faith
is not the cause of our salvation. The faithfulness of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the cause of our salvation. Not our faith.
But our faith is the result of our salvation. It's the result
of it. God gives faith to those whom
he saves. Somebody brought this passage
up to me just today as a matter of fact. Turn with me to John
chapter 1. John chapter 1 at verse 12. Here's the error of those who
are ignorant of grace and that is that they love to pull verses
out of the scripture and use them to justify themselves and
completely miss the meaning of them. They that this person took
John chapter 1 at verse 12 and they said well here it says right
here But as many as received him to them gave he power to
become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name
So we have to receive him and to believe on him before we can
become the sons of God They didn't read the next verse then you read the next verse
which were born how you don't believe unless they're born unless
they're given life unless they're regenerated by the sovereign
grace of God how we gonna believe which were born past tense not
a blood nor the will of man but of God well the will of flesh
or the will of man but of God right there That's how we come,
isn't it? God has given us faith to look
to Christ to constrain us. Paul put it like this, he said,
there hath no temptation, no trial, no trouble, no temptation
for sin that hath taken you, but such as is common to man. God is faith. He will not suffer
you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will
with the temptation do what? Provide a way of escape. Who is that way of escape? Christ
is. He's the way of escape. Do you need to be constrained? God will constrain His children.
He'll use the love of Christ to constrain us. He'll use the
word of God to constrain us. He'll use the fellowship of believers
and the encouragement of other believers in the church to constrain
us. He'll put in our heart a constraint
to be with Christ, which is far better. And that will constrain
us. He'll give to us saving faith
and that faith will constrain us. What about when I fail to employ
the means that God has given to be constrained? What about when I'm just not constrained
as I ought to be. There is one means that our Heavenly
Father uses that He uses more than anything else. Anything
else. And that is His good providence. And we don't even know how much
we've been constrained by it. The Lord said, when you pray,
pray like this, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from
evil. Order our steps to avoid the
snares of the devil. When your view of the love of
Christ is not as it ought to be. When you're not meditating
on the word of God as you ought to. When the fellowship of the
church doesn't constrain you as it ought. You're not finding
yourself longing to be with Christ. And your faith is weak. Lord, stop me. by your good providence,
put me on a short leash, keep me, constrain me, pity me in
my weakness and don't allow me to fall into the snares of the
devil. Turn to me to Psalm 140 Here's our prayer. Here's how
we ought to cry out. Verse 1. Deliver me, O Lord,
from the evil man. Deliver me from the evil of my
own flesh. Deliver me from the evil one,
Satan. Deliver me from the evil of this
world. Deliver me, O Lord, from the
evil man. Preserve me from the violent
man, which imagine mischief in their heart continually as they
gather together for war. They have sharpened their tongue
like a serpent. Adder's poison is under their
lips. Selah. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands
of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent
men who have purpose to overthrow my goings. The proud have hit
a snare for me, and cords they have spread a net by the wayside. They have set gins for me. Selah. I said unto the Lord, Thou art
my God. Hear the voice of my supplications,
O Lord. O God the Lord, the strength
of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O Lord, the desires
of the wicked, further not his wicked devices, lest they exalt
themselves. Selah. Lord, in your good providence,
Don't let me be tempted. I know if I'm tempted, I'm going
to fall. I know if I get in the wrong
place at the wrong time with the wrong people, I'm capable
of anything. Lord, in your good providence,
in your good providence, order my steps and constrain me. Constrain me. Do you need to be constrained?
The Lord's faithful. He's faithful to constrain His
children. Let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we ask that You would often remind us of the love of Christ. We ask that You would cause us
to meditate upon your word, the things that you've taught us.
We ask, Lord, that you would continue to encourage us, each
one with the other, in the fellowship of your church. We pray, Lord,
that you would put into our hearts a desire to be with Christ, which
is far better. We ask, Lord, that you would
increase our faith and that by your good providence
you would order our steps and keep us, Lord, from the evil
one. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. 452 from the hardback table.