I have a feeling that the message
this morning is going to be one of those points of crisis in our lives. I have a feeling this morning
that the message which I have been given, I believe, of God
to deliver to you will be accounted for in the judgment. I believe the message this morning
will, if obeyed and if applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
will change the direction of some confirmed the faith of some
and condemn the rebellion of some. I read a statement by Charles
Spurgeon yesterday morning in which he said, All great lives have been under
the constraint of some master principle. He said, a man who is everything
for a while and nothing very long is like a bird that flips
over the sky and leaves not one trace or one mark upon his age. But when a man or a woman or
a young person becomes concentrated When that individual is driven
by a consuming passion, even for evil, may be for good, it
may be for evil, but when that individual becomes concentrated
and driven by a consuming passion, even for evil, he becomes outstanding. They call Alexander, Alexander
the Great. What made him great? I'll tell
you what made him great. His master principle was conquest. It is said that young Alexander
sat down and cried when there were no more countries to conquer.
He could never have been the conqueror of the world except
for one thing, that master principle. an insatiable greed for conquest and victory on the
battlefield. It drove him. It drove him. That was his master principle,
greed of conquest. What made Hitler the power he
was? Power for evil, but power. His
mastering principle was love for Germany. and the desire to
bring the old glory of past days and world dominion to the Fatherland. He was driven by this passion,
by this master principle, when he was awake and when he was
asleep, that drive to bring glory to the Fatherland. What made
Whitefield and Wesley what they were? George Whitefield and John
Wesley What made these men the men they
were? These men had but one thought
and one mastering principle, and that was to bring sinners
to Christ. Somebody said Whitfield's rest
was to labor for Christ. That was his rest. When he was
riding a horse somewhere to preach, he was resting. When he was staying
up all night preaching to great crowds, he was resting. It was their honor to be stoned
while preaching. Why does a man take that, stand
in the pulpit and allow people to throw stones at them while
they are preaching? And once Whitefield's eye was
broken open and blood streamed down into his mouth while he
was preaching the gospel. Their master principle was to
bring sinners to and they counted it an honor. That was an honor.
To some people, being stoned would be shame. To Whitefield,
that was success. If you had put George Whitefield
in the House of Parliament, you would have buried him. If you
had put John Wesley in the House of Lords, that would have been
death. These men were under a passion and a purpose and a controlling
principle that dominated their lives, their thoughts, their
spirits, their souls, and their bodies. And a man never becomes great
until he's dominated by some master principle, and then his
life leaves a mark on the age, and on the town, and on the community,
and on the household in which he lives. In our text this morning,
in 2 Corinthians 5.14, the Apostle Paul defines his master principle. He lived only to promote the
glory of Christ and bless the souls of men. In verse 13 he
said, Some people say I'm crazy. They did. If you'll turn over
to the book of Acts, chapter 26, verse 24, and as Paul spoke,
Acts 26.24, and as Paul spoke Festus said with a loud voice,
Paul, you're crazy. You're beside yourself. Much
learning has made you mad. And Paul said, Festus, most noble
Festus, I'm not mad. I speak forth the words of truth
and soberness. So in verse 13 of our text, 2
Corinthians 5, Paul said, whether we be beside ourselves, whether
we be mad, some people think we are. Some people think we've
lost our mind. It is to God. If I'm mad, it
is to God. I'm motivated by a desire to
promote the glory of God. If I leave the impression on
you that I'm crazy, well, I'm doing it for the glory of And
some people think we're in our right mind, and that's for Christ,
too. But whether you think I'm mad,
he said, or whether you think I'm in my right mind, that which
motivates me, verse 14, that which motivates whatever I am
to you, if I'm crazy, all right. If I'm in my right mind, all
right, too. But whatever it is, whatever
it is, I am motivated by one master principle, and that is
the love of Christ. For the love of Christ constrains
me. The love of Christ urges me. The love of Christ impels me. The love of Christ presses me.
The love of Christ drives me. Whatever I am to you, whether
I'm mad or whether I'm in my right mind, it's the love of
Christ that makes me what I am. I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians
11. If you have your Bible, I would
like you to look at this. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 24. Paul didn't do this very often,
but he went back and talked about some of his trials and some of
his suffering, and some of the things through which he had gone,
and some of the things that he had suffered. He said in verse
24 of 2 Corinthians 11, of the Jews, five times, received our
forty strikes, save one. That was a scourging. They weren't
allowed to whip a man with over forty strikes, so they gave him
thirty-nine. Forty, save one. Three times
I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times
I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I've been in
the deep. We talk about sacrifice for Christ. We talk about suffering for Christ.
We don't have any suffering or any sacrifice. Verse 26, "...in
journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in
perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils
in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness, and beside those things that are without."
that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches."
But listen, who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and
I burn not? Paul is saying, who is weak and
I do not feel his weakness? Who is made to stumble and fall
and I am not on fire with sorrow? What is it that gave this man
this willingness to sacrifice, this compassion this deep compassion. Turn to Romans 1, verse 14. Listen to this. Romans 1, verse
14. He says, I'm a debtor. I feel
like I'm in debt. I've got a debt that I must pay,
both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise
and to the unwise, so much as So as much as in me is, I am
ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome, for I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." Romans 9, turn over
there, Romans 9, verse 1. I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not, my conscience also bear me witness in the Holy Ghost,
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
I could wish that myself were accursed or separated from Christ. for my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh." Romans 10, verse 1, "...brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved." This man who suffered so much,
this man who went through so many horrible afflictions and
bearing in his body the scars of Christ Jesus, what motivated
him? This man who said, Who is weak, and I do not feel his weakness? Can you say that? Who is made
to stumble and to fall, and I do not burn with sorrow? Not with
delight and not with hastening steps to repeat it and to be
sure that everybody knows it but I burn with sorrow." This
man who could say, I'm ready to go anywhere and preach the
gospel, even to Rome, because I'm a debtor to the Greeks and
to the barbarians, this man who could say, I could almost wish
that I could go to hell in your place. I could wish myself separated
from Christ for my This man who could say, my one heartbeat and
desire is not that men should become Baptists, is not that
men should become a part of my denomination, my
religious persuasion, but that they might know Christ. We know
what motivated Alexander, a greed of conquest. We know what motivated
mighty dictators like Napoleon and Hitler and others, but what
motivated this man Paul? He tells this down here in our
text. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, he said, the love of Christ. The love of Christ. My master
principle, that principle that produced the burden. You want
a burden? A burden for sinners a burden
for the lost, a burden for the mission fields that are ripe
already under harvest? Where do you get that burden?
Where did Paul get his? What was the master principle?
What was the master principle that produced the kind of concern
that when others were weak, he felt their weakness, and when
they fell, he fell with them? What was the master principle
that produced this dedication that could take five horrible
beatings and three shipwrecks and a stoning. What is the motivation
for this unselfish devotion to God and to men? Here it is, the love of Christ. The love of Christ constrains
me. That's what does it, Paul says.
Now, he doesn't speak of his love for Christ. He doesn't say,
my love for Christ constrains me. That's not what he says. He says, the love of Christ for
me constrains me. The love which Paul had for Christ
was a great power, it was a great principle, but it was secondary.
Paul says, the love of Christ for me, that's my master principle,
that's my driving power, That's the force that compels me, his
love for me. This is a power to which it's
a joy to submit. This is a power and a force worthy
to command all men, the love of Christ for me. And according to our text, this
love is strongest, and this compelling power is strongest when it's
seen in its substitutionary aspect. Look at it. The love of Christ
constraineth me, or us, because we thus judge. He died for us. He died for us. The particular
display of Christ's love, which had supreme sway over Paul, was
that love revealed in his substitutionary death. He loved me, and he gave
himself for me. That's what motivates me, Paul
said. That's what makes my heart beat. That's what makes my eyes
weep. That's what makes my feet move.
That's what makes my voice cry out. That's what makes my heart
bleed. Christ died for me. Christ came
down here to the earth and took my flesh. Christ came down here
to the earth and took my sin. Christ came down here to the
earth and took my shame and my hail. Christ came down here to
the earth and took my death and my penalty and my punishment,
paid my debt, and went back to the right hand of God where he
daily intercedes for me. That's what motivates me, Paul
said. Christ's love for me. Christ's love for me. here in
his love, not that we loved him, he loved us, and did what? And
gave himself for us. How do I know Christ loves me?
Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life
for his friends. I'm the good shepherd, I love my sheep, I
know my sheep, I give my life for my sheep. Christ died for
me. Christ died for me. And this
love of Christ operates upon us by begetting a love for Him
in us. When we get a little grasp on
His great love for us, it begets in us a love for Him. We love
Him because He first loved us. And to whom much is forgiven,
Christ said, He'll love much. To whom much is forgiven, He'll
love much. Now listen to this. When a man
becomes perfectly swayed, perfectly swayed by the love of Christ,
in that day he'll be a perfect Christian. When a man is growingly under
the influence of the love of Christ, he's a growing Christian. When a man is sincerely affected
by the love of Christ, when he becomes sincerely affected, not when he hears about it, but
when he becomes sincerely, personally affected by the love of Christ,
when it dawns on him what Christ did for him and how Christ loved
him, then he's a sincere Christian.
But he in whom the love of Christ has no power is no Christian. That's the essence
of the whole thing. Any man love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema. A man who has not been sincerely
affected by the love of Christ is no Christian. You can make
professions believing he died, the devil believes that. Believing
one God, the devil believes that. Believing the doctrines, he knows
those too. But he's never been sincerely
affected by the love of Christ. He's never been swayed in his
heart by the love of Christ. The master principle and motivating
force of the beat of his heart has never become the love of
Christ. And then the love of Christ will
make you love others. That's the reason John said that
if any man loved not his brother, he doesn't love God. That's the reason John said he
that hateth his brother does not know God. It's because the
love of Christ, if that love of Christ motivates you, if that
love of Christ has sincerely affected you, if that love of
Christ has become a part of your heart, you'll love others whatever
the color of their skin. whatever their nationality, whatever their political affiliations,
whatever their age, you love them. For Christ's love was a
love for others. He loved those who could do him
no service. He loved those who deserved nothing
at his hand. He loved those who were his enemies,
and he died for And if the love of Christ motivates you, impels
you, urges you, you will especially, especially love those who have
no claim on you and can return nothing to you. Turn to Luke
6, verse 31. I want you to listen to this
very carefully. And as you would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if you love them
which love you, what fight hath ye? For sinners, or unbelievers,
or the heathen, also love those that love them." That's not the
love of Christ. If Christ had waited to love
you until you loved him, do you reckon he would have ever loved
you? He loved us. And we love him because he first,
herein is love, not that we love God. We love darkness by nature.
God commended his love for us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. And Christ goes on, he says,
If you do good to them which do good to you, what thank hath
you? Who doesn't do that? And if you lend to a fellow from
whom you hope to receive with a little interest tagged on it.
You haven't done anything. Don't be sticking your chest
out. Anybody would have done that. The bank is in business
for that. They will lend to anybody who will pay it back. But I say unto you, verse 35,
you love your enemies. That's the love of Christ. And
you do good and lend, hoping for nothing again. and your reward
shall be great, and you shall be the children of the highest,
for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful." Now, you listen to me, and I'm
going to say something here that's mighty important. I've read the
old Puritans, and I love them. I appreciate them very much.
I've benefited greatly in my ministry by these But they are not infallible. And I heard not too long recently
a statement that we are either under the law of God as a curse
or as a rule of life. I'm not under the law of God
in either condition. I'm not under the law as a curse.
The Lord Jesus delivered me from the curse of the law, and I'm
not under the law or the rule of life. There is a sense in
which that is true. The law is a summary of the character
of God. And the law was given to Israel
to reveal sin. And by the knowledge of the law,
or by the law comes a knowledge of sin. But I am not under the
Ten Commandments as a rule of life. Andrew Fuller said one
time, a man asked him, are the Ten Commandments in effect today?
Fuller said, Which one of them can you break? He said, Not any
of them. He said, Then they are in effect. They are in effect,
no question about that. But it's not my rule of life. I'll tell you what you can do
if the Ten Commandments are your rule of life. Then the monks
are right, the hermits are right. Write the Ten Commandments on
a scroll. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Remember
this Sabbath day to keep it holy. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve. Honor thy father and thy
mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Write them on a scroll. Run off
up there in the mountains somewhere and put them on a wall, and sit
there, and you'll never steal from anybody. and you'll never
kill anybody, and you'll never commit adultery with anybody,
and you'll never lie on anybody. Just sit up there in the mountains
with your Ten Commandments as your rule of life. Now, you listen to what Christ
said about this. Turn to Matthew 22. Now, you
please remember what I preceded these remarks with. Andrew Fuller,
when asked by the man, Are the Ten Commandments still in effect,
he said, Which one can you break? And he said, none of them. Then
they're still in effect. But they're not our rule of life.
And one came to the Lord Jesus in Matthew 22, verse 36, and
said, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? And Jesus
said unto him, I shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and with all thy soul. And with all thy might, this
is the first and great commandment, and the second is likened to
it, I shall love thy neighbor as thyself. And on these two
commandments hang all the law, every bit of it, the whole kit
and caboodle of it right there. There she is. I shall love God
Thou shalt love God. Not just give mental assent to
the existence of God, thou shalt love God. Not go to church on Sunday and
profess you believe there's a God, but love him. And thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. As a rich young man came to Christ
one day and said to him, What must I do? What good thing shall
I do to inherit life? Christ said, Keep the commandments.
Why? He said, I kept all them from
my youth up. But what did he do with that next statement?
What did he do with that next statement? That next one turned
him around and sent him off. That next one separated him from
God. That next one revealed his rotten
heart. That next one really exposed
him. love your neighbors as yourself.
Go sell what you have. You're a rich man. You've got
neighbors that don't have anything. Go take care of your neighbors
that are hungry." And he turned and walked off. I can't handle
that, he said. I can't handle that. I want you to turn back to Luke
just a moment, verse 30, chapter 6. Let's look at this just a
minute. Luke 6, verse 31. Luke 6, verse 31. We call this
the golden rule. Have you ever looked at it? Now,
if you'll watch the Ten Commandments, every one of them nearly, every
one of them is negative. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Like I said,
the monk can go up there or the hermit in a cave somewhere and
keep the Ten Commandments as far as his neighbor is concerned
as a rule of life. But that's not the rule of life,
because Christ didn't say, not do to your neighbor. He said,
do to him. Watch verse 31. And as you would,
that men should do to you. But I'm going to take the Ten
Commandments as my rule of life, and I'm not going to steal you.
You're the things that belong to you, and I'm not going to
bodily inflict any harm upon you, and I'm not going to do
all these things. I still have manifested in love to you. Because
Christ said, whatever you want men to do to you, you do to them. You see, this thing of love and
faith and salvation is not a negativism. It's not refraining from doing
things, it's doing something. That's where we've missed the
whole thing. The average person thinks a man's a Christian and
he judges that by what he doesn't do. You judge whether or not
a man's a Christian by what he does do. What he does do. You take as your motivating principle
and your master principle and your motivating power and force,
love of Christ, which produces love for Christ, which produces
love for men. That's the rule of life. That's
the rule of life. Let me ask you a question. Which
service is most appreciated by you, that which you command or
that which is given unexpected? I can leave my house in the morning
and I can say to my wife, I want those dishes washed and I want
this floor swept and I want the rug vacuumed and I want the basement
cleaned and I want the porch swept and these things will be
done when I get home. And when I get in that evening,
it'll be done, I guarantee you it'll be done. Willingly, lovingly, because
she was motivated by love, because she was afraid. I'd rather have
five cents worth of service that was motivated by love than a
hundred dollars worth of service that I commanded. Now you give
that a little bit of thought. You give it a little bit of thought.
Sure, by the fear of God, men depart from evil. That's in the
word of God. But I'm telling you, Christ talks
about labor of love, labor of love. And this thing of love
for God and love for our fellow man, that's the rule of life. That's it. That's it. And Paul said, look back at our
text. in 2 Corinthians 5. That's the key, that's the master
principle. Christ loved me and gave himself
for me, and I love him, and I love you, and I'm constrained by that,
and I'm motivated by that, and I'm driven by that, and I'm urged
by that, and I'm impelled by that. Not just to not steal your horse, but to bring you a new horse.
You see what I'm saying? Not just not to lie on you, but to tell you some good things. Not just not to hurt you physically,
but to try to help you physically, as you would that men should
do unto you. You do it! Do it, Christ There's
enough negativism, there's enough what I don't do, what do I do? That's the Phariseeism of this separated religion that
puts a show in the flesh. It's Phariseeism. And Paul said
they glory in appearance and not in heart. They glow in appearance
and not in heart. Now, look at this next statement,
and I'll close. The love of Christ constraineth
us. Now, I think that's probably
the best word, the best rendering of the passion, constraineth
us. But there are other words implied here. Now, listen to
them, just four things, and I want you to get this. This is mighty
important. One writer said, The love of Christ restraineth me. I turn to Romans 15, the love
of Christ restraineth me. The love of Christ restrains
the believer from self-seeking. Self-seeking, selfishness, self-righteousness. Listen to Romans 15, verse 1. ought to bear the infirmities
of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us
please his neighbor for his good to edification, for even Christ And this is what it's based on,
please not himself. But as it is written, the reproaches
of them that reproach thee fell on me, not to please myself. The love of Christ restrains
me from self-seeking, from selfishness and self-righteousness. And then
what's this? The love of Christ, another author
said, keeps us employed. The love of Christ keeps us employed. like Jacob. Jacob fell in love
with Rachel, and he asked her father if he could marry her,
and her father said, Well, yes, you can have Rachel, but you'll
have to work seven years for Rachel. And so Jacob worked seven
long years. He was kept employed by his love
for Rachel. He worked and worked and worked
because he loved Rachel. That's why he worked. And then
after the seven years, that conniving father-in-law of his let him
marry the wrong girl, you know. And so he tossed seven more years. Why? Motivated by love. Motivated but not fear. Love. And the believers in Christ serve
him out of love for him. It's a labor of love. Look at
John 13. Here's two scriptures. You've got to look at these.
John 13.1. Listen to this. In the 13th chapter
of John, verse 1, the scripture says, Before the feast of the Passover,
When the Lord Jesus knew his hour was come, the hour of agony,
the hour of suffering, the hour of separation from the Father,
the hour of death, that he should depart out of the world, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end. Having loved his own, he was
willing to die for them. He was willing to suffer because
he loved them. Turn to John 21. What about you
and me? The Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he's
going to motivate his preacher. He's going to motivate his missionary. He's going to motivate the Apostle
Peter, who had quit the ministry. He had. He'd quit the ministry.
After Christ died and was buried, Peter said, I'm going fishing.
That's where he was when the Lord found him, that's where
he was when the Lord called him, and that's where he went back.
I'm going fishing. So Christ went out there where
he was fishing. brought him up on the bank, fixed him something
to eat, and then they sat down to talk. John 21, verse 15. When they had dined, Jesus said
to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than
these? He said unto him, Yea, Lord,
you know I love you. Then he said, Feed my sheep. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ was
willing for his disciples to be motivated by one thing. Do
you love me? Do you love me? And brethren,
I'm willing for those to whom I minister the gospel to be motivated
by one thing. Do you love Christ? Do you love
Christ? Are you affected by that relationship
which you have with your Lord? Do you love me? He asked him
three times. He asked him again. He said,
Peter, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know I love
you. Well, you go out and feed my sheep. And the third time,
and Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time,
do you really love me? He said, Lord, you know all things.
You know I love you. You go feed my sheep. Another
author said, The love of Christ constraineth us, means it keeps
us together. In the Song of Solomon, the loved
one said, His banner over me was a legal
paper. No, sir. His banner over me was
my recognizing my position as a wife. No, sir. His banner over
me was love. Soldiers, and my brother's here
and served in the Army twenty-some odd years, twenty-six, twenty-seven
years, he knows that soldiers are held together under old glory
because of pride in and love for their country. That's what
holds them together. If they lose that, if they lose
pride in that flag and love for what it represents, they'll scatter
like scared rabbits before the onslaught of the enemy. But what
holds them together in the face of certain death, his banner
over me, his banner over me was love. I can't be routed, I can't
be routed, his banner over me is love. And I do believe right
here in the 13th Street Baptist Church that I could almost insult
you and you wouldn't leave, because you're bound together by something
stronger than personal feelings. If you're not, you ought to leave
anyhow. I believe you're bounded together by something stronger
than a set of rules and laws and regulations. I believe you're
bound together by love. Love of Christ, love for Christ,
love for one another. And then another author said,
and this is it, the love of Christ presses me, presses me in one
direction. This gospel, this Bible, this
Christ, this kingdom, this way of life, I'm pressed in one direction. And the love of Christ did it.
Not my catechism and not my confession of faith and not my creed. but
the love of Christ. I have a first love. I love my family. I love my children. I love my wife. I love my country. I think you
can say that I'm speaking for you now. I love my country. But I do believe that that which
I love supremely Above and beyond all things is the Lord Jesus
Christ, his Church and his gospel and his kingdom and his grace
and his grace. And that's what Paul is saying.
That's what motivates me. That's what impels me. That's
what urges me. I don't have to get away from
you to rest. My rest is you. And worship. I tell you, I tell
you, the love of Christ. Paul said that's it, that's the
master principle. Don't try any other motivation.
Christ didn't when he talked to Peter. Do you love me? Our
Father, take the message and put it in my heart and in the
hearts of thy people. to give us ears to hear. Thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and thou hast
revealed them unto babes, because it seemed good in thy sight."
We need to be brokenhearted, we need to be brought down. We
are so proud and so haughty, and we think we know all things,
and we don't know anything. Bring us down at the foot of
the cross. looking to Christ. Open our mouths and fill them
with our grace and our ears. Fill them with our mercy and
our hearts. Fill them with our love. Band
us together at the cross. In Christ's name we pray, amen.