Are you constrained by the love of Christ? Is the controlling principle of your life the love of Christ? Well, that is the description of the Christian according to the Apostle Paul. That Christ's love constrained him to live in a certain way. These words that we've read together, verses 14 and 15, describe the life and the service of the Christian. They explain to us what moves the Christian, what motivates them. And the reason that we're going to look at this today is because this is something that is very needful today. Because, do we not see an obvious lack of sincere devotion to Christ amongst so many who profess the name of Christ? Do we not see a lack of zeal to serve the Lord? A lack of commitment to the church? A lack indeed of living unto God wholeheartedly? Is it the case for you today that these words describe you Now, as Paul lived such a life, there were people who described him as being crazy, being fanatical. Indeed, he says in verse 13, for whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. And in the Greek there, it really is this, whether we be insane or whether we be sane, whether we appear to have lost our minds entirely or whether or not we seem to be of sound mind. You see, the point is there are people who said of Paul, he's lost his mind. He's gone insane. He's so fanatical. He takes a Christian life so seriously. He really believes what he says and he lives in the light of it. And it would seem to me today that the same thing has happened, that if you really believe the truths of the Bible, you take them seriously, you seek to live by them, and that means, of course, that you won't live like the world, then the accusation is you're a bit crazy, at the very least you're fanatical. Yet Paul says that everything he did was for God's glory or for the church's good. He says that in verse 13, whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God. Or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. So all I'm doing is for God and it's for the good of the church. Now, what was it that made Paul live this life that he describes here? That involved him in great suffering and persecution and opposition. that indeed meant that he lived against the current of not only the thinking of the times but indeed the whole morality and culture of his time. We can say certainly that it wasn't of himself. I emphasize that to you this morning because there is a danger for all of us to try to live the Christian life out of ourselves. So we think, well I need to be a better Christian, I need to try harder. and we look to ourselves, we look within for more strength, we try harder. It isn't so often the case that when you do that you find yourself failing and then you're even more discouraged. Rather, you'll see that the cause for Paul's selfless serving in Christ-centered life was his experience of the Lord's love. This experience had changed him. The love of God had changed him. The love of God through Jesus Christ had made him a new man. And we can say that there was this great change whenever he was converted, when he first experienced the love of God in Jesus Christ, and yet it didn't just end there. As he continued by faith to learn more of the love of Christ and to understand more and more of what the Lord had done for him, he found himself constrained to live a certain life. And he couldn't live any other life. He must live a life given over to God. It was as though he didn't have a choice. If I understand the love of God, there's only one course open to me, and that is to live wholeheartedly for this one who loved me. Indeed, he says the same thing in Romans 14, verse 8. If you look with me there in Romans 14 and verse 8, he says there, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord. Whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. You see, there's no getting away from this. If you are Christ, and you know the love of Christ, and you belong to Him, whether you live, whether you die, there's only one course open to you. To live wholeheartedly for Him. Again, I ask you, does this describe you, that yes, there's many failures in your life, but yet in your heart you have known the love of Christ constraining you. You have a desire to live not to yourself, but to live to Christ. And you are here living for Christ, desiring to serve Him, to give yourself to Him. And you can say, yes, There are varying degrees of the experience of the love of Christ, but I do know the love of Christ and I do feel its constraining power. I do feel its influence in my life. Could it be I'm speaking to some here today who maybe can read about the love of Christ, but you have not yet experienced it. And in particular, you don't know anything of its power in your life. As Solomon spoke of the bands of love that he found around him, constraining him, pulling him towards his Lord. Because that is what we must endeavor to know. So I want to consider this theme of Christ's love constraining us. I want to consider two thoughts with you. What is it that constrains the Christian? And then secondly, how is the Christian constrained? First of all, what is it that constrains a Christian? We have the answer in verse 14. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. So the answer is clear here. What is it that moves a Christian? It is the love of Christ for them. And we need to understand then that this is not talking about our love for Christ. Paul is not saying the love that I have for Jesus Christ constrains me to live in a certain way. No, it's the love that Christ has for him. That's obvious, isn't it? Because John tells us that we love him because he first loved us. And indeed, the Christian's love for the Lord is born out of their experience of the Lord's love for them. And so, it is that knowledge of Christ crucified and risen for them, of the infinite love of God displayed through Jesus Christ that has such a controlling influence in every respect, so that the Christian says, it doesn't matter what part of my life you describe, my personal life, my family, my work, my life in the church, all of it is under this principle of the love of Christ. Remember that Paul says in Galatians 2.20, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. The life which I live now, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul lived with that constant awareness, Christ loved me, Christ gave Himself for me, I'm to live by Him each day. How often do you pass through a day and you don't think, Jesus Christ died for me. And He shows His love to me in His death and resurrection. And you find that that influences you, your choices, your decisions, the way you think, how you behave. Now, Paul says here that the love of Christ constrained him, constrained God's people. The word constrained there means to hold together. to compress or to press together. And it's a word that brings up a number of pictures. It pictures a besieged city. You think of a city surrounded by an army. No one can get in or out. The attacking army holds a city and it is being besieged in order to be taken. That's the picture of this word constrained. It also pictures a ship being forced into a narrow strait by strong winds. Think maybe of a ship captain trying to steer his vessel out to sea to avoid the rocks, and yet the wind is against him. It is blowing so hard that the ship is forced into this narrow strait. It can't go anywhere else. That's the picture of this word. shows to us. And then also, this word pictures a person being arrested or being taken prisoner. You think of someone being arrested. The policeman comes, puts them in handcuffs, takes them away. They're now under his control, under his authority. That's the meaning of this word constrained. And when you apply that to Paul, What we see then is the love of Christ had besieged him, had surrounded him like an army besieging his soul and his life and had taken him. The love of Christ had so blown upon him that he was forced, constrained to live in a certain way. The love of Christ had arrested him, taken him prisoner, that he felt himself bound by love. This love that had taken hold of Paul, and it compelled him to fully surrender his life to Christ. Do you know anything of that? That you feel yourself, like Paul, I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I'm a servant of the Lord, His love has me. And surely that means then that Paul knew something of the love of Christ. And we know that the love of Christ is immeasurably great and incomprehensible. And yet it is a love that can be known. Remember that Paul prays this in Ephesians 3, that we might know Comprehend with all saints the length, breadth, depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. So yes, it is a love that passes knowledge, but it is a love that can be known. Do you understand that today? And it's something that you should be endeavoring to know, striving to know. And you can know it because it is a love that has been demonstrated. Paul speaks about that here. He says, for the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. He speaks in verse 15 that we should live unto him which died for them and rose again. So how can we know the love of Christ? Well, because he died for his people. And note that This is referring to the Lord's people. Those whom Christ died, we're told there, are those who live unto Him. So not everybody lives unto the Lord, do they? But Christ's people, His elect people, they live unto Him. And so these are the people who are being talked about here, whom Christ died for. And there is nothing that so declares the love of God. than Christ freely giving Himself for sinners, of Christ laying down His life as a substitutionary sacrifice, of Christ seeing our need and not holding Himself back, but giving Himself body and soul to be a sacrifice. Nothing shows the love of Christ more than Him Dying in our place. In our stead. Taking our sins upon Himself. And dying for our sins. Think about what that means. Dying for your sins. For my sins. Sins that condemn us. Sins that deserve our eternal judgment in hell. Sins that put us in a place where We deserve nothing but God, but his anger. Sins that are a front to a holy God. Sins that Jesus Christ, even as he dies, hates with a perfect hatred. Yet he takes them upon himself, the guilt and punishment of them. He loves sinners so much. He loves his people so much that he was willing to take their guilt upon himself and bear their sins, and to come under the divine sentence of God. And even as we read in Romans 6, the wages of sin is death. He pays those wages. He takes that upon himself and he dies. And we remember that Jesus said, greater loveth no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. But of course, he didn't. lay down His life for those who considered Him a friend, did He? We read in Romans 5 that it was while we were yet sinners, while we were enemies. And indeed, consider the attitude of your heart toward Christ before you first experienced His love. Was it not one of enmity and hatred? And to think then that He would show that love to us when we were in such condition, that He would die not for those who had a great esteem and affection for Him, who had committed their lives to serve Him, but He died for those who hated Him without a cause. And how that was even displayed at the cross. We're told after the cross, Whenever you come to the day of Pentecost, that many people are converted, no doubt people who were there at the cross, people who reviled him and spoke against him. Transformed by the love of Christ. And think about what it means that in Christ dying. When you lay hold of him by faith and you claim him as your own. And you are united to him by faith. It means that you have died yourself. You see, he says there in verse 14, because we thus judge if one died for all, then we're all dead. He's speaking of believers. He's saying, well, if you're a Christian, put your trust in Christ, you've been united to him. That means that when he died, you died with him. And think about what that means for a moment. That means that we're dead to the Lord. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Because the Lord condemned us from our birth. The Lord pointed out that we were sinners. The Lord convinced us of our iniquity. The Lord was there to bring upon us the judgment of God. But also it means that we're dead to the world. We've been born into the world with the children of Adam. We are therefore deserving of judgment because we've sinned in him. And yet to be, to, to have died in Christ means we're dead to the world. We no longer belong to it. Paul speaks of being crucified to the world. Isn't it wonderful to be dead to the world? If you're in Christ, you're dead to sin as well. We read about that in Romans 6, 4 and 5, where he speaks about being buried with Christ and raised again. That if you're planted into Christ in his death, then you're also in his resurrection. If you died in Christ and you live in Christ. And indeed, if you're dead to sin, Then it means that the payment has been made. You can't charge you for your sins anymore because the wages have been paid. You've died in Christ. What an incredible reality to think that you and I in Christ are indeed now dead to our sins. And save from eternal death. Oh, I feel myself so inadequate to try to convey to you the depth of the love of Christ, because no greater love could be shown than this. And indeed, it is not merely just that he died for us, but also that he rose for us. We're told there, the end of verse 15, that we're to live under him which died for them and rose again. Romans 4.25 tells us that He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. And you think of the love of Christ in the resurrection. How He secures a perfect salvation that God accepts. And He guarantees that to you. He says to you, look, I rose from the dead. My sacrifice is accepted. Through me, you can be pardoned and forgiven. And indeed, through me, you can receive life. Because you understand, if you're united to Christ, not only have you died in him, but you can also and have indeed been raised in him and the life that he rose with him parts to you by his spirit. Paul spoke about that in Romans 6. You've died with Him, you'll also live with Him. Because He died and rose again. And that's why, if you've received life from Him, you are to live for Him. Because He's the one who gave you life. And brought you from the dead. And if you've died in Christ and you've been risen with Him, then you are to live for Him and to Him. And indeed, even as you seek to do that, you have the assurance that the One who rose again rose in order that He would ascend on high and ever live to make intercession for you, and rose to take all authority to Himself, to rule for your good and to order all things for your good. So you think, Here is my savior. He died for me, died for my sin, and he rose again in order to give me life. What love, what constraining love. Do you know anything of being under constraint? But you're here today and you say, I couldn't help but be here. I couldn't help but live for Christ. I'm under constraint. I'm besieged. I'm forced. I'm taken prisoner. And even now, as you meditate on the love of Christ and you think of his death and resurrection and you realize he is there, yes, for all these people, but he is there for me. He's dying for me. He rose for me. You feel your love being drawn out toward him. You feel your heart being pulled upon. You feel that you are arrested and gripped and besieged by His affection. He would say today, I cannot help but love Him. I cannot help but serve Him. How can I live any other life but a life devoted to Him? Do you know anything of that? See, whenever our love is weak, or sadly, maybe the case with you today that it is non-existent, there is no love in your heart for Jesus Christ, what does it tell you about yourself? It tells you that you don't really think that your sins are that bad. You don't view your sins as heinous, as deserving of the wrath and judgment of God. And it tells you that you think very little of Christ and His sufferings, even as it's presented to you in the Word. And you're told that He was stricken of God, smitten and afflicted, and that God poured His wrath out upon Him. He suffered agony. That that really means nothing to you. That's why you don't love very much, or not at all. And indeed, It's because you know so little or none at all of the love of Christ in an experiential way. And to prove that to you, I want you to turn to Luke chapter 7. Please all turn with me to Luke chapter 7, verse 47. And we have here this incident of the woman who comes to anoint the feet of Jesus. And you remember that she breaks open this box of ointment. She weeps on the feet of Christ. She wipes His feet with her hairs and she anoints His feet with ointment. There are people there who watch this and they're indignant. What's this woman doing? She's a sinner and she's wasting this ointment. And then the Lord tells the story of two debtors and He says, well, consider this for a moment. Here's a man, in our language, he owes a pound. And here's another man and he owes a million pounds. And both men are forgiven. Here's the question. Which one do you think is forgiven the most? And which one do you think loves the most in light of the fact that they've been forgiven the most? And of course, the answer is, well, the person who's been forgiven of more. And the Lord applies that in Luke 7, verse 47. He says, Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Now, isn't that why? You love so little. It's because you don't consider your sins to be many. And you don't see The greatness of the forgiveness of God and the greatness of the sacrifice of Christ. And the love that is expressed through that to your own soul. And so you love so little. You see what Jesus said? Her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much. Do you love much? Here's a woman who's constrained. She must come to Christ. And let me ask even further, does the love of Christ govern your life, control your life? It's your chief delight and praise. You are under the constraining power of the love of Christ, because If you know nothing of that experience, then you're actually not a Christian. You cannot say today before the Lord, yes, I know something of this, this constraining power of the love of Christ in my heart. I can identify, yes, not as much as I should and not as much as I would and all that the love of Christ would govern me more and influence me more and control me more. I do know something of it. Paul says the love of Christ constrained him, but then let me conclude by considering secondly, how is the Christian constrained? Well, there are two ways that the Christian is constrained by the love of Christ. We're told in verse 15, and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. So two things, the Christian is constrained to not live to themselves, but also to live unto Christ. So firstly, not to live unto themselves. That means to live with you at the center, that all of life revolves around you, that everything you do is for yourself and for your betterment, for your advancement. The center of your life, the center of your thinking is self. Now, isn't this the prevailing way of living today? Don't we live in a culture full of people who live unto themselves, who, as Peter says, are lovers of their own souls. And indeed, this is the natural way to live. This is the desire of the natural heart, to have yourself at the center, to always think about yourself. The old nature in sin loves itself, and it will do everything it can to cater to its desires. Such a life has not died to self, rather it advances self. It has not died to the ways of the world, no, it seeks to fit into the ways of the world. And the sad thing is, it's the path of death. Didn't Jesus say, he that will seek to gain his life or lose it, but he who loses it for my sake will gain it. Isn't this a tragedy? Those people live under themselves. They end up losing that life. Is that happening to you? And you see, when Paul says here, we're not to live under themselves, doesn't that highlight the folly of those who would even profess faith and would say, well, The grace of God is such and the freeness of the gospel means that, well, I can live however I like. I'm saved. I'm going to heaven. You see how foolish that is, because the grace of the gospel is not a reason for freeness and liberty and how you're to live, you're not to say, well, I'm saved by grace, not by works. That means it doesn't matter what I do. That's foolish. Because the love of Christ restrains such sinful desires and selfish ambition. And indeed, we can say this, that it is not just or right for a Christian to live for themselves. Do you notice Paul's words in verse 14? Because we thus judge. that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and so on. He's passing judgment here. He's making, we could say, a judgment on this situation. He's saying it's not right, it's not just for a person to claim that Christ's death is theirs, and yet they do not live for the one who they claim died for them. It's just not right. The death of Christ places us under a great obligation. And I wonder, again, am I speaking to someone here? And you want to claim Christ's death for yourself. You want the comfort of knowing that your sins are dealt with, and that you will escape hell, and that you're forgiven by God. You want all the blessings of the death of Christ. You want it to be your own. You judge Jesus Christ not worthy of your life. You want him to lay down his life for you, but you're not prepared to lay down your life for him. And isn't it tragic to think that sadly today we see so much of this. Oh, I'm a Christian. Jesus died for me. Well, that means I can go and do whatever I want. and serving the Lord, giving your life in dedication to Him? How many professing believers in Christ live unto themselves? And they show it in this way. Let me just point out a number of ways to help us discern this. These people, they don't apply themselves to learn the truth. They don't give time to spiritual things. They're not faithful in their attendance on the teaching of Scripture, and therefore they're unstable in their doctrine. They're easily swayed by some new doctrine and teaching. And in regards to Christian duty, they do the bare minimum. Is that what you're like? What is the very least that I can possibly do and still be a Christian? Is that your attitude? Maybe you neglect Christian duty altogether. Or you only do it if it suits you. There's a family birthday party on the Lord's Day. Well, church just has to be dropped. It's just one example of many. And you only do your duties before God whenever it works in with your schedule. And in terms of devotion, Affection for worldly things is so strong that there is little room for Christ. Sin ensnares them and the flesh controls them so that the fruit of the Spirit is absent. And you need to understand today that Christ warns against such people. If you will not come after me, take up your cross and deny yourself, you cannot be my disciple, Jesus says. You notice that Paul says the same thing, because he says there in verse 15, and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth. And the word henceforth means no further. If you've been driving down the road, you come to a stop sign. You don't go any further. That's what that word means. No longer, not anymore. The Christian, henceforth, no more living unto themselves. Didn't Paul say that in Romans 6? How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? This is impossible. I can't do this. And when I think of the fact that the sin, my sin that required the Lord Jesus to die on the cross to deliver me, how can I continue in that sin? How can I indulge that sin? How can I live for myself whenever the life that I have isn't even mine? It's a gift of God. I cannot live for myself. That is the conclusion that the Christian comes to. Have you come to that conclusion? Where you say of yourself, I cannot live for myself. because the love of Christ constrains me. And that, of course, leads then to say that the Christian lives unto Christ. We read of that in 1 Peter 2, verse 24. 1 Peter 2, verse 24. We read of Christ, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed." See, here's the purpose of Christ's death. It's so that all those who He died for would live in Him. And so the true Christian then has a great sense of indebtedness. They consider that Christ through His death and resurrection, has given them life. And they have this immense gratitude. That's why Paul says, I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, you present yourself a living sacrifice. Because I feel this immense thankfulness to God. Do you have that thankfulness in your heart today? And you would then gladly confess yourself to be the Lord's servant. Oh yes, I'll be His prisoner. I'll be His captive. Because I wouldn't have life without Him. And yes, I'll belong to Him. I'll gladly submit myself to Him. Indeed, it is a great privilege to live unto Christ who died for me. Is that how you feel today? You remember your former life. You remember your former deadness. You're so thankful to God that He's delivered you from that. You want to use the life you have now all for Christ. How do you live unto Christ? You live unto Christ by obeying him. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Yes, that will bring the opposition of the world. He'll speak evil of you as you seek to live for Christ. And yet as you trust in Him and rely upon Him, He gives you strength and grace to obey Him. So that you can, by the grace of God, live unto Jesus Christ. Is that what you're seeking to do today? Like Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, I'm bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit. You're not your own, you're bought with a price. or that that would be true of you today, that you would be living unto Christ. Amen. Let's pray. O Lord, how we thank thee for thy word of truth. We pray that we all may experience the love of Christ today. May we especially feel it constraining us not to live unto ourselves, but unto Christ. Help us to do this. And Lord, may May thy word be blessed to our hearts. May it bear forth fruit. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.