The Soundness of the Source

Again, 2 Corinthians chapter
5. I began last week acknowledging
Paul’s criticisms from time to time. The criticisms that he
faced. As I suggested last week, criticism
really is part and parcel of the ministry and it comes with
the territory. And I can remember the first. Perhaps one of the first criticisms
I faced wasn’t even about ministry, it was it was the fact that as
a college pastor, I was wearing a tie and and that I wasn’t because
of that, I wasn’t relating to the young people. And I remember
thinking how petty you know, that confrontation seemed and
there have been many petty confrontations since then. But I guess what
it made me do right off the bat is to step back and to look at
criticism and to look at, you know, what is a lot of times
called feedback. To see what I could gain from
it, and I guess what I saw even then is that, number one, not
all criticism is bad, not all criticism is inaccurate. Even
what Paul is talking about here, he is not presenting before us
a perfect saint. Not all criticism is bad. Not
all criticism is inaccurate. Certainly there are some criticism,
as I soon would discover, that is really only the tip of the
iceberg. If somebody comes to you and
talks to you about a particular flaw, in your character, desiring
to befriend you and be kind to you as a friend in Christ would
and should, to share with you some flaw for the purpose of
God perfecting you. Often it’s just the tip of the
iceberg, isn’t it? Some criticism is misdirected. Some criticism
is just the result of somebody having a bad day or somebody,
you know, angry at someone else. And so they take it out on you.
I remember Tozer years ago, one of the articles he wrote said
something to the effect of that we are to accept the criticism
regardless of who holds the whip. Good advice. Sometimes we want
to downplay. You know, maybe the fact that
this person really doesn’t know me all that well. But his point
is that sometimes an enemy is more truthful with you than even
a friend. An enemy doesn’t spare your feelings and will just tell
you the facts as they see them. And then, of course, there is
that criticism that comes from time to time that is not true.
We take it to the throne. We pray it through. We ask God
to show us. And God in his abundant mercy
says, not this time, not this issue. And you know, and I know
those times are rare. Paul wasn’t trying to defend
himself as somebody who was perfect. Paul wasn’t trying to suggest
that he was above criticism and that those who wag their tongues
in his direction were completely misguided and off base. But Paul,
Paul faced just an abundant amount of criticism. And that’s what
leads me to say that I believe it’s part and parcel of the ministry. It just comes with the territory.
Paul was criticized and scrutinized. I shared with you last week.
I’ll take just a minute to unfold that thought a little bit in
First Corinthians four. Just listen as I read. Just hear
what Paul faced. Chapter 4, verse 9, Paul says,
I think God has exhibited us apostles, last of all, as men
condemned to death. Not unlike the language he uses
even in our passage. Because we have become a spectacle
to the world, both to angels and men. We are fools for Christ’s
sake, but you are prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you
are strong. You are distinguished, but we are without honor. To
this present hour, we are both hungry and thirsty. We are poorly
clothed, roughly treated and are homeless. And we toil, working
with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless.
When we are persecuted, we endure. When we are slandered, we try
to conciliate. When we have become the scum
of the earth, the dregs of all things, even until now.” That’s
ministry. Paul was accused of being factious.
Paul was accused of being harsh and confrontational in a number
of his letters. He even has to address it, you
know, and. In Galatians, he says, have I
become your enemy by telling you the truth? In other words,
he was so direct with people that oftentimes people were put
off. He was judged as being fickle
or flighty because he seemed at times to make promises that
he had no intention of keeping. In 2 Corinthians 1, he says,
was I vacillating when I intended to do this? Did you really think
that I was just calling out empty words? His letters, as I said,
his words were often judged as weighty. His presence was judged
as being unimpressive. In other words, when he walked
in a room, people said, that’s Paul. This is the Paul that we’ve
been so afraid of. He was judged, perhaps, as a
lousy speaker. In 2 Corinthians 11 6, he said,
even if I am unskilled in speech, perhaps it wasn’t his strength.
And so because it wasn’t his strength that gave cause for
people to criticize, he was accused of deceit and error. He was accused,
Galatians 1 10, of being a man pleaser. He was constantly accused
of greed. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 2. In
1 Thessalonians 2, I said if time permitted, I wanted to read
this passage. And at this point, time isn’t
permitting, but I’m going to read it anyway. There’s always next week. Listen to the defense that Paul
mounts on behalf of him and his ministry. and all of the accusations
behind these defenses. For you yourselves know, brethren,
that our coming to you is not in vain, but after we had already
suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we
had the boldness of our God to speak to you the gospel of God
amid much opposition. For our exhortation does not
come from error or impurity or by way of deceit. But just as
we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel,
so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our
hearts. For we never came with flattering
speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness. Nor did we seek glory for men,
either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ,
we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among
you as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children, having
so fond an affection for you. We were well pleased to impart
to you not only the gospel of God, but even our own lives,
because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren,
our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be
a burden to any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel of God. You
are our witnesses, and so is God. How devoutly and uprightly
and blamelessly we behave toward you believers, just as you know
how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you
as a father would his own children. You can hear the criticisms there.
that Paul lacked boldness, that he was greedy, that perhaps he
wasn’t really committed. Paul said, we gave you our lives. But Paul wasn’t just about defending
himself. Even in the passage before us,
Paul’s purpose isn’t so much defending himself for his own
sake, but for the sake of the ministry. for the sake of the
saints. If you would, 2 Corinthians 5. Let’s review again verse 11. Where Paul writes, Therefore,
knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made
manifest to God. And I hope that we are made manifest
also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves
to you, but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us so
that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance
and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves,
it is for God. If we are of sound mind, it is
for you. For the love of Christ controls
us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all
died and he died for all so that they who live might no longer
live for themselves. but for him who died and rose
again on their behalf.” Paul is not pathologically defending
himself. He is not saying that he is above
sin, apart from all sin and above any criticism. That’s not at
all what he’s saying. But for the sake of the Gospel,
Paul takes up this subject of integrity. He takes up this matter
of blamelessness Because Paul knew that in a very real way,
when leadership is attacked, Christ is attacked. Ultimately,
the church is attacked. The gospel is attacked. Paul is defending himself because
he’s defending the ministry of Christ, the gospel of Christ. We entitled the message the soundness
of the source. Because really what Paul is aiming
to do here is to cultivate genuineness in ministry. Paul wants to be
true and genuine. Paul wants to be upright. And
he wants to be seen as such as well so that the Gospel can flourish. It’s a noble goal, a noble desire. First and foremost, Paul cultivated
this genuineness in ministry by this desire for integrity.
Look at verse one or eleven again, a desire for integrity. Therefore, knowing the fear of
the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God.
And we looked at that and it’s not persuading in the sense of
the gospel that will come and that even in the context of this
passage, it’s there. But the main thing that Paul
says here, the point of persuading is to say, look, you know, I
am Legit. I am genuine. I’m not perfect,
but I’m the real deal. I am an apostle sent by Christ
and I come with a genuine message. We persuade men. But we are made
manifest to God. God sees us for exactly who we
are. Can’t hide anything from God. We are what we are before
God and nothing more. But that said, Paul’s desire,
his deep-seated desire here is to be manifest also likewise
before men. To have those sinful tendencies
eradicated and to have those weaknesses shored up so that
as he is seen by God, he will be seen by others. That’s his
point. Knowing the fear of the Lord,
we persuade men that we are made manifest to God. And I hope,
that’s his firm desire, I hope that we are made manifest also
in your consciences. Paul wanted to be seen for what
he was. Secondly, speaking of the soundness of
the source and cultivating genuineness in ministry, Paul says, not only
is there a desire for integrity, but there is a design to integrity.
We have a tendency to think that integrity is for us. If we are
seen as upright, if we have integrity, that we are upstanding, fine
individuals. And that’s not at all Paul’s
point. That’s secondary entirely. Look at verse 12. We are not
again commending ourselves to you. I’m not going to stand myself
up here in front of you and say that look at me. I’m perfect.
It’s not at all what Paul’s saying, but we are giving you an occasion
to be proud of us so that you will have an answer for those
who take pride in appearance and not in heart. Paul says,
I wish that God in time would make manifest my heart. Show
you what really is in there. To see me as God sees me. And then he says in verse 13,
for if we are beside ourselves, it is for you. If it is for God,
if we are of sound mind, it is for you. Paul desired integrity,
not for his own sake so much as he did for the sake of the
saints at Corinth and elsewhere to be seen by them, to have a
good, solid example, to have a an individual that they could
look to. to encourage their own hearts
and lives in a Christward direction, to be able to literally stand
before them in his integrity. Thirdly, and this is where we
pick up new in cultivating a genuineness in ministry, Paul says, not only
is there a desire for integrity and a design to that integrity,
but there is also a drive for that integrity. Look, if you
would, again at verse 14. For the love of Christ controls
us. This love of Christ, for those
of you students of Scripture, you could take this either way.
You could take this as being our love for Christ. The love
of Christ in that sense. Or you could take it as the love
which Christ has for us. the love of Christ in that particular
sense. And that is the much more appropriate
sense here. It’s not so much that we loved
Christ. It’s the love that Jesus Christ
showed towards us that motivates us, that stirs our hearts. Not
so much that we show back to Him. 1 John says it very well. We love because He first loved
us. When Paul uses this structure
of language, It seems often to mean that it is the person that
exhibits that love, not the one that receives it. And so here
it’s Christ. It’s Christ’s love towards us.
In this previous section, Paul had detailed how he and how all
believers are motivated by having to one day stand before the Lord.
You remember that? We will all one day stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. But here is another great motivator. Perhaps an even stronger motivation
for faithfulness than fear. Even reverence, even the awareness
that one day we will stand before Christ and give an account as
our life lays out before Him. The greater motivation is here.
And it is that of Christ’s magnanimous, infinite love towards us. That
Christ loved me. That Christ loved you. It moves
us. It prompts us. It stirs us. It
thrills us. And ultimately, it compels and
controls us, Paul says. As one commentator said it, the
love of Christ, the love which Christ has for us, keeps us back
from all self-seeking. It confines our aims to the service
of God and of our fellow men. Paul knew of this love. Paul
was motivated by this love. Romans 8.35, who will separate
us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword In other words,
he says, because Christ has set His love on me, there’s nothing
that can stand in the way. As one said, the great compelling
force in Paul’s life from the point of his conversion onward
was that of love. Love not originating or far less
ending in himself, but the love which originates and ends with
God in Christ. His conduct is dictated by the
love of Christ. Not so much his love for Christ,
though that inevitably is involved. As much as Christ’s love for
him, that’s what moves us, isn’t it? That’s what prompts us. That’s what stirs our heart.
That’s what prompts us to to seek sanctification. That’s what
prompts us to serve our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
It’s the love that Christ had for us. Paul says quite graphically here
that the overwhelming awareness of Christ’s love towards us confines
and restricts us. We’ll look at how that word is
used. The word literally meant to coop up, to keep within narrow
bounds. And it almost sounds restrictive
or legalistic, doesn’t it? Like, yes, Christ loves me and
now I’ve got to obey. But it’s a sweet love. It’s a
sweet constraining. It’s a path of righteousness. And it’s a narrow path at that,
but it’s a path of righteousness that we willingly follow. The
idea here isn’t urging us or pressing us or whipping us or
driving us on, but rather being gently pressed and closed into
the gentle and narrow path of following Christ. One defined
it in these terms. He said the verb implies the
pressure which confines and restricts. It is true that restriction may
lead to concentration, which may produce an increase of activity. But nevertheless, restricting
men opposed to pushing them on and here restraining us from
self-seeking is the meaning. God saves us from ourselves.
God saves us from self. It’s the love of Christ that
comes so much into view that we lose sight of self. Here’s how the word is used,
Luke 845 uses it this way. Jesus asking who is the one that
pressed in on me, touched me, whether we’re denying it, Peter
said, Master, the people are all crowding and pressing in
on you. That’s the word. The love of Christ presses us
in. Luke 1250, Jesus said, I have a baptism to undergo and how
distressed, how pressed, how under pressure I am. Luke 1943,
a favorite word of Luke, the days will come upon you and your
enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you
and hand you in on every side. So the words used. This restraint. This love of
Christ produces restraint in our lives, which in turn brings
about effectiveness for the Lord. The love of Christ controls and
governs us, said one. It coerces, impresses, and therefore
impels. It is the governing influence
which controls the life. The love of Christ constrains
us. One writer said, nobly when he
said this. It is not benevolence that makes
a Christian, for then all philanthropists would be a Christian, nor is
it mere piety in the sense of reverence for God, which makes
a man a Christian for them. All devout Muslims and Jews would
be Christians. Morality does not make us religious,
but religion makes us moral. In like manner, benevolence and
piety do not make men Christians, but Christianity makes them benevolent
and devout. A Christian is one who recognizes
Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as God manifested
in the flesh, loving and dying for our redemption. And who is
so affected by a sense of the love of this incarnate God as
to be constrained to make the will of Christ the rule of obedience
and the glory of Christ, the great end for which He lives?
What constitutes a Christian? It is being so constrained by
a sense of the love of our Lord to us that we constrain our lives
to Him. Essentially, he says that is
the faith walk of the Christian. That is the life of the Christian
who comes to Christ. Now, this declaration that Paul
makes here isn’t whimsical. It isn’t emotional. It’s not
an emotional fleeting burst of enthusiasm. The love of Christ
constrains us as if that’s that. Rather, it’s a life commitment
that Paul’s talking about, a life born of utter devotion to the
Savior who first loved him. And Christ’s love was intensely
practical, as he’s already pointed out. Not only did it present
itself on the cross, securing our salvation, but it issues
forth a testimony. It gives to us truth that must
be weighed in the mind of each believer in our hearts. What
is this truth? Paul goes on to detail it. Look
at this. Verse 14. The love of Christ controls us.
Having concluded this, we have weighed the facts. We have looked
at the truth. Paul says that our commitment
to yield our lives to a loving Savior rests on a body of evidence. He has looked at it. He has considered
the facts on the matter, and he has arrived at an irrefutable
conclusion, one that directs the very course of his life. Consider these two phrases separately
for a minute. First of all, the statement one
died for all. That Christ died isn’t typically
disputed, only fools and false prophets and false teachers would
suggest that Christ didn’t die. Even the data in our newspaper
declares Christ’s death. The prophets prophesied. Most
notably, Isaiah predicted it. Isaiah 53, the Gospels all graphically
chronicle Christ’s death. Paul himself in many places proclaims
Christ’s death. Galatians 1.4, of Christ who
gave himself for our sins so that he might rescue us from
the present evil age. Speaking of Christ’s death on
the cross. Galatians 2.20, which verse we’ll look at four different
ways this morning. I’ve been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life
which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself up for me. He died. Galatians
3.13 Ephesians 5.2 There’s no disputing Christ’s death. Even Christ’s death on the cross.
Even unbelievers many times will acknowledge that historically
this was a truth. The fact that Christ’s death
was above all others. That he needed to die only once,
neither can that be disputed, the book of Hebrews clearly articulates
that truth. As one said, the contrast in
the book of Hebrews. is between the priest and sacrifices
of the old economy on the one hand, the high priest and the
sacrifice of the gospel on the other. The contrast is that those
were many, this is one. Christ died once and it never
needs to be no sacrifice ever needs to be added to it. Nothing. The fact that Christ’s death
was above all others and never needs to be repeated, that’s
not disputed. The fact that Christ’s death
was substitutionary, that cannot be disputed either. I love the way one said it, Matthew
Mead, the Puritan. Said, speaking of substitutionary
atonement, he said, alas, it is infinite righteousness that
must satisfy our sins. For it is an infinite God that
is offended by us. If ever your sin be pardoned,
it is infinite mercy that must pardon it. If ever you be reconciled
to God, it is infinite merit that must do it. If ever your
heart be changed and your soul renewed, it is infinite power
that must affect it. If ever your soul escape hell
and be saved at last, it is infinite grace that must save it. And
his point is that Christ is that Romans 8, 32, he who did not
spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all. Romans 5, 8, God demonstrates
his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. It was substitutionary. Christ
didn’t die for himself. Christ stepped into our place,
he was the sin bearer, remember? Thomas Watson, the Puritan, said
we by our sins had infinitely wronged God. And if we had could
if we could have shed rivers of tears and offered up millions
of holocausts of burnt offerings, we could never have pacified
an angry deity. Therefore, Christ must die. First,
Peter. Peter says, first, Peter, 224,
he himself bore our sins. In his body on the cross, Jesus
didn’t die for himself. Jesus wasn’t murdered in that
sense. Jesus offered himself willingly
for us substitutionary. It’s in the place of us. Isaiah 53, all of us like sheep
have gone astray, each of us has turned his own way. But the
Lord. has caused the iniquity of us
all to fall on Him. It’s in our place that Christ
died. But the part of this that people
wrestle with, it’s the all. It’s the all with which people
wrestle. If Christ died for all and all are not saved, then what
about this wasted blood of Christ The love of Christ controls us,
having concluded this, that one died for all. Pastor, this verse
should be lumped in with all those other universal passages,
shouldn’t it? John 1.29, the next day he saw
Jesus coming, as he said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world. It should be put in that group,
shouldn’t it? 1 Timothy 2 God desires all men
to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. There is one God,
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 John 2.22 He himself is the propitiation
for our sins and not only ours, but also for those of the whole
world. And so these passages raise the
question, Did Jesus die for every person who ever lived? This verse
makes it sound so, at least at a first glance. But the phrase
has to ultimately be taken not only in the context of the entirety
of the New Testament and the entirety of Scripture, which
would make the suggestion untrue. But the phrase also has to be
balanced by the immediate context. Even the following phrase, Therefore,
all died. The phrase immediately limits
the all for whom Christ died to those who, in some yet undefined
sense, died with him. As one pastor put it. Together,
these two phrases define the all for whom Christ died as those
who died in him through faith in him. Romans six says it simply
this way. What shall we say then? Are we
to continue in sin so that grace might increase? May it never
be. How shall we who died to sin
still live in it? Or do you not know that all of
us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized
into his death? Therefore, we have been we have
been buried with him through baptism into death so that as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life. The beautiful image
of baptism going down into the water, dying, coming up out of
the water, resurrected to newness of life. Romans 5, 12. Turn to Romans,
if you would. A lengthy passage. I don’t want
to lose anyone. As you’re turning. Is it for every person that ever
lived? No one said this. Jesus Christ in dying bore the
sins of his people, enduring the punishment that was due them
by becoming for them the curse that the law demanded. It pleased
the Lord to set him forth and to bruise him for this purpose.
For in so doing, he gained by his meritorious death, forgiveness,
righteousness, sanctification, eternal glory for a large and
definite number of people. all of whom He knew and to whom
He was joined before the foundation of the world. It isn’t every
person ever born. In the passage before us, Romans
5 declares that as well. Therefore, just as through one
man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death
spread to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin
was in the world, but sin was not imputed where there was no
law. Therefore, pardon me, nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until
Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of
Adam. Who is a type of him who is to
come, but the free gift is not like the transgression, for if
by the transgression of the one, many died much more by the grace
of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ
abounded to the many. Not all the gift is not like that which
came through the one who sinned for on the one hand, the judgment
arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation. But
on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions
resulting in justification. Look at the second phrase. The
love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, having looked
at the facts and weighed in the balance. The one died for all,
therefore all died. The all, the all for whom he
died, died in his dying, in a sense. As one described it, the all
for whom he died are the very ones who were saved by his death. Christ died for all who died
when He died. The simple meaning of the passage
is that the death of one was the death of all. We didn’t add
anything to the sacrifice of Christ. It wasn’t that we were
collectively sacrificed. One died. Christ died. But in a sense, those who come
to faith in Christ own that death. He goes on and says, if one died
for all died, then all died. The Scriptures teach that the
relation between Christ and his people is analogous to that between
Adam and his posterity. The apostasy of Adam was the
apostasy of all united to him. The work of Christ was the work
of all united to him. In the one, all died. In the
other, all are made alive. The Scriptures, particularly
Paul’s epistles, Constantly bear this up. Romans 6.6 Our old self
was crucified with him. I wasn’t there. Were you? But in a very real sense, when
we come to Christ, we submit to that crucifixion. Romans 7.4
You were made to die to the law through the body of Christ. Not
literally. Romans 7.6, having died to that
which we were bound, that sinful life and tendencies, we are dead
to that now. Galatians, which verse I mentioned
that we would visit again. Galatians 2.19, for through the
law, I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been
crucified with Christ. What a bold statement. Everybody
that reads it can’t possibly believe that Paul meant this.
Not literally, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me because I died. Philippians 310, we’re conformed
to his death, Colossians three, verse three, you have died and
your life is hidden with Christ in God. Seeing how this representative
of the whole race died, and His death was their death, as in
the case of Romans 5 with Adam. They all died in Him in the sense
that in the case of Christ, the supreme act of love and sacrifice brought life to us. You see, in Jesus’ death and
in ours, there is this similarity. Both of us die. Both of us die
to be raised to something far greater. For Jesus dying was
to be raised as a glorified Savior and a Redeemer. In our case,
it is a resurrection to forgiveness and righteousness. Newness of
life. Listen again to Romans chapter
six. Our old self was crucified with him in order that our body
of sin might be done away with. So that we would no longer be
slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin. Now,
if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead,
is never to die again. Death is no longer master over
him. No wonder Paul closes out by saying, even so, consider
yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Consider Paul’s very life as
an example, breathing out threats, right? Persecuting Christians
until he came face to face with the risen Christ. When he immediately
realized that this was the Messiah, the one whom all along he had
been persecuting, his hatred was immediately replaced with
love, his persecution was replaced with service. And that is Paul’s
point. Look again at the passage. The
love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died
for all, therefore all died and he died for all so that they
who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who
died and rose again on their behalf. We were saved to serve. God came down in his mercy and
saved us, died for us, called him to himself. not so that we
could sit back and enjoy the blessings of the Christian life
as everyone attends to us. He died for all so that they
who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who
died and rose again on their behalf. No wonder Paul says,
for the love of Christ controls us. It’s not an ugly constraint. We’re not under bonds. We’re
not under shackles. This mixture of love and thankfulness
is one of the strongest motives that we have in life, isn’t it? Paul never tires of declaring
it. Romans 14, 7, not one of us lives
for himself. Galatians 2, 20, the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by faith. In the Son of God,
Colossians 3, verse 1, Therefore, if you have been raised up with
Christ, keep seeking the things of above where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above
and not on the things of the earth. We don’t live for ourselves
anymore. We’re saved to serve and serve our fellow saints and
serve our Savior. Christ’s death is what makes
that all possible for us. Christ’s death is our life. Not
just because he made an atonement for sin, but because he reconciled
us to the Father and because that was the very means of liberating
us from this bondage that we were into sin. All of those for whom Christ
died, all of those who have been affected by his death on the
cross, they live no longer for themselves. Self isn’t the object
for which they live. They live for Christ. A Christian
isn’t a person who is simply unselfish, but
rather one who lives completely for the Lord, who loved and saved
him. The love of Christ controls us.
Let’s pray. Merciful God, we thank you for
a loving Savior. And we pray for the grace to
constrain our own hearts, to love you more in practical service,
the love and care of our brothers and sisters in Christ in the
seeking of the lost, Father, may they come to know the love
of the Savior as we love them. We thank you and praise you in
Jesus name. Amen.