 And the title of our sermon this morning is Compelled to Live for Christ, Compelled to Live for Christ, 2 Corinthians 5 verses 11 through 15. As Paul lays out a defense of his apostolic ministry, before this church at Corinth that has witnessed and in many ways has allowed assaults against him by vicious opponents, it has been good for us to hear and to consider what we've learned as we've gone through these texts together, right? We've learned much about Paul's theology of Christian ministry. We've seen Paul's example in Christian ministry. We've seen the motivation that Paul has laid out for Christian ministry, Paul's instruction and exhortation for Christian ministry. We've seen Paul's gratefulness for Christian ministry. Paul's love in Christian ministry. We've seen Paul's obedience, Paul's faithfulness in Christian ministry. We've learned how to think, right? How to think about, how to face and persevere through suffering. We've learned how to or we should have right to put affliction in its proper perspective, to put hardship in its proper perspective. We've considered the reasons, the motivations for joy, for hope even when the going gets tough, especially when the going gets tough, right? We've looked ahead to our future by faith as a means to encourage us in the present, to look to our future hope as a means by which we persevere in ministry now in the present. We've looked at our sources of strength in these verses. We've looked at our help and time of need. We've looked at our source of joy, our sources of perseverance, our sources of courage, hope. And I pray at this point, I pray at this point and going through these texts together that you, like I have, have come to the conclusion from the text of scripture and you are convinced that every single Christian, every true Christian, every genuine Christian has been called into Christian ministry. Everyone who names the name of Christ has been called into Christian ministry. You are a learning follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you've come to the point where you, with all the saints, judged us that if one died for all, then all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. That living for him doesn't merely mean showing up at church on a Sunday morning, but that you personally have a responsibility before the Lord to preach the gospel to lost sinners in hopes of converting them to the faith and seeing them saved by God. That you personally, you personally have a responsibility before the Lord to the people at this church, the brothers and sisters at this church to be an eye, to be a hand, to be a foot, to be an ear as the Lord has given you gifts of His grace. And I pray going through texts like this in 2 Corinthians, that you desire heart, mind, soul, and strength to live a life that is well pleasing to him. That's our ambition, right? That's our aim. To neglect evangelism, to neglect discipleship in the church, to neglect the Lord's commission is sin against God. And we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in the body according to what He has done. I pray that you, that I would not be unmoved as the Holy Spirit works through His Word, but that you will think and consider and trust and repent, right? And decide and take action. We've talked about this before, but it bears repeating, right? We don't face the same degree of hardship, same degree of difficulty or affliction that Paul faced. We battle flesh as Paul did. We fight sin and temptation as Paul did. We fight discouragements, right? We fight fears. But by God's grace, we're not persecuted in the same way, right? We're serving in different contexts. We have different challenges to contend with. As you and I sit here this morning, considering the Christian ministry together through Paul's writing in 2 Corinthians, the very real and the very dangerous difficulties that we do face are apathy, indifference, indolence, a lack of concern, worldliness, worldly priorities, worldly concerns, rather than living a life that is constrained or controlled or compelled by strong convictions, by a fear of God, a love for His people, a love for Him, or a hope for the future. Many are given over to comfort. Many of you here, sort of love about this church, right? Many of you here actively engaged in the life and the health and the prosperity of this church, actively engaged in the Lord's work. You're pursuing growth. You're pursuing maturity in Christ. You show up to serve one another, not to be served, but to serve, right? You show up to disciple or to be discipled. You encourage. You pray. You evangelize. You serve. You minister and you pray more, right? You labor with a willing and cheerful heart, single, married, big family, small family, no family, full-time, part-time, overtime. With a clear conscience before God, you're being faithful, right? Loving the Lord, loving His people, not where you want to be, not satisfied with where you are in that respect, but producing fruits in ministry for His sake, right? Fulfilling your calling. Praise God for His grace, amen? Praise God for that. I pray that you take Paul's words to heart. Be encouraged, brother. Be encouraged, sister. Take joy in the Lord's grace in that. Be encouraged to press on in the work. Be steadfast. Be immovable. Continue to press. Run and finish your race with joy. Don't stop. Don't shrink back, right? Others, if you are not serving the Lord faithfully and you know you're not, it's in the recesses of your accusing conscience that you're not. You're not evangelizing. You're not preaching the gospel of the lost. Maybe it's been a while since you've even talked to a stranger, someone else, a family member, a co-worker about the Lord. You're not really loving the brothers here because you're not involved here, right? You're not actively heart and soul involved in the life and health and prosperity of this church. And there's always some excuse, right? Always some excuse. You don't know how it is with my work. You don't know how it is with my wife, my kids, my family, this project, that situation. I may not know, but the Lord knows. And He has called you to serve Him. He has called you to preach the gospel to lost people. He has called you to minister to your brothers and sisters in the church, to love His people, right? To tend to His sheep, so to speak. In that situation or the other situation, in that job or on that job, in that family situation or the other family situation, you've been called by God to love Him, fear Him, and serve Him in Christian ministry. I pray, I pray that you would not remain fruitless by that you will heed the words spoken by Paul. You will heed the good means of grace illustrated here in these texts. And you would repent of your neglect, that you would repent of your sin. I pray that you would be moved by this. I pray that you would be moved by love, love for the Lord, love for the Lord's people. I pray that you'd be moved by hope, by a hope of our inheritance. I pray that you'd be moved by fear, a holy fear of loss, a fear of the one with whom we must give an account, a fear of that day on which you will face Him at the judgment seat of Christ. I pray that you'd be motivated by joy. It is a joy to serve the Lord in this way, right? To abandon yourself at the cause of Christ is a means of joy in the Christian life. To deny yourself, to take up your cross daily, to lay down your life in sacrificial service and to follow Him. To this end in these texts, and specifically here in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 11 through 15, Paul gives us three compelling motivations for laying down our lives in sacrificial ministry. Administry for the Lord and for his church. Three compelling motivations. You'll find this outline in your worship folder. We are one compelled to live for Christ by our fear of the Lord. We're compelled to live for Christ by our fear of the Lord, verse 11. Secondly, we are compelled to live for Christ by our love for his church, verses 12 through 13. Thirdly, we are compelled to live for Christ by his love for his own, his love for his own, verses 14 and 15. We've noted, as we've been working through these texts, we've noted many times now a particular pattern in Paul's heart and mind. It's a pattern that we see throughout Paul's writings. It's a pattern we see throughout the Bible. Here's the pattern. What Paul knows determines what Paul decides and determines what Paul does. Those things fit together. What Paul knows planted in the heart by the Spirit of God illuminated there by the Spirit of God, finding root there by the Spirit of God. What Paul knows determines what Paul decides. It results in a change of will. It convicts Paul. He is a man of conviction. It fuels his resolve. What Paul knows determines what Paul decides and determines what Paul does. It has an impact on his life, on the way that he lives. Good theology by faith produces biblical conviction. Biblical conviction governs and motivates biblical conduct. These things are not mysterious. They're not far off. Good theology by faith applied by the Spirit of God in the heart of the Christian produces biblical conviction. Biblical conviction governs, motivates, fuels, drives, fires biblical conduct. And all that work. Again, these things are not mysterious. This works by the means of grace. God gives us glorious means through which he fuels and drives and motivates and empowers and strengthens our conduct. He gives us his truth that in the hands of the Holy Spirit, so to speak, finds root in our heart, finds root and bears fruit in the way that we think, in the way that we act, in what we know, what we decide, and what we do. Avail yourself of those means. Cultivate within your heart a fear of God, a love for the Lord, a love for his church. Avail yourself of those means, the means of the Word of God. Reliance upon the Spirit of God. You can go before God and pray for strength. You can go before God and pray for wisdom. You can rely upon him. Read the Word of God. Learn of him. Submit yourself to him. Worship him. Praise him. Gather together with God's people and fellowship. Be sharpened. Be strengthened. Be encouraged. Be reviewed. Be corrected. Be instructed. Submit yourself to that and rely upon him. If you're faithful, take joy and motivation from these truths, right? Take joy, motivation from these truths. Let them fuel sacrificial ministry and reliance upon the Spirit. If you're not being faithful, repent. Repent and then take joy and take motivation from these truths. Let them fuel sacrificial ministry and reliance upon the Spirit. These are glorious motivations for us who endeavor to serve the Lord in Christian ministry. And that is every single Christian the Lord has called to himself. All Christians. All Christians, right? Let's consider point one. We are compelled to live for Christ, to serve him zealously in ministry. We are compelled to live for Christ by our fear of the Lord. Verse 11. Verse 11 says this, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. The use of the word knowing in verse 11 is describing that knowledge that we gain by thought, gain by meditation, that we gain by understanding, that knowledge that we gain by experience. We, like Paul, you're in Christ, we know the terror of the Lord, the fear of God. We know that through understanding, we know that through reading his word, we know that through experience. The spirit of God applying that truth in our heart, we know the fear of God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. We know that our God is a consuming fire. We consider those things, correct? That experience or that understanding comes in part through knowing verse 10 that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Again, consider with me how knowing affects our understanding, will affect our decisions, will affect what we do, right? We know the fear of the Lord by considering verse 10 that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. It's at the judgment seat of Christ where the thoughts and intents of our hearts are laid bare before him with whom we must give an account. It's at the judgment seat of Christ where every worthless or faithless work of wood, hay, or stubble will be burned up in the fire, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. It's there at the judgment seat that we can suffer loss before the one who comes to render to each one according to his work, whether good or evil. Therefore, verse 11, knowing, understanding, experiencing the fear fabas of the Lord, we persuade men. The word is simply fear. Standard word in the New Testament for fear. We fear the Lord. Therefore, we persuade men. The thought of that day, right? The thought of that day in verse 10 where we will face Jesus Christ who shed his own blood for our soul. The thought of that day when we will face our Lord and Master, the one who has commissioned us, the day when every word, every thought, every deed will be judged, that day should motivate our ambition to live a life that is well pleasing to him. Verse 9, that day should motivate our aim. It should fuel a healthy, biblical, sober, solemn fear of the Lord. It did that in Paul. It should do that in us as well, amen. Think of a time, think of a time when maybe in your life that you just absolutely dropped the ball. That you thoroughly, through and through, just disappointed one that you really loved, right? When you just failed and failed spectacularly, it's that hurt, right? It's that grief mixed with a love for that person that caused such disappointment. In this context, our fear is a fear of displeasing him. The one whom we love, the one whom for whose sake our life ambition is to live pleasing to him, to serve in ministry, the one who died and gave himself for me. It's a fear of that displeasure. It's a fear of standing before him that should motivate a life that is well pleasing to him, right? To motivate us to live a heart, soul, mind, and strength for him. In this context, listen, verse 11 is not referring to the fear and the dread that will fall upon me ungodly in that day. It's not speaking primarily of the fear and dread of the ungodly. Of course, that certainly applies. That's not primarily what Paul is referring to here. That kind of fear, the dread, the fear, the terror that will fall upon the ungodly is described very well in Revelation 6, verse 15. Listen to this. The kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, every free man, they hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. They cried out to the mountains and rocks fall on us, hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand? Not one of those able to stand, not one of those able to hide. The dread, that terror that should fill the heart of the unbeliever is not the fear that motivates Paul. It's not the same fear. We understand that. We know that. The fear of the Lord that motivates Paul is inseparably married to love. To love. It's inseparably married to grace, mercy, forgiveness, justification, resurrection, hope. It's the fear of offending God. It's the fear of provoking his displeasure. Thomas Manton said this. The heart is shy of a condemning God, but closes with and adheres to a pardoning God. And nothing breatheth this fear to offend so much as a tender sense of the Lord's goodness in Christ. Amen, Thomas Manton. It's that fear that is coupled with forgiveness, that fear that is coupled with love and mercy and grace, that fear that doesn't want to displease him, right? That's the fear that should compel us to live for Christ. That's the fear that should compel us to live a holy life, that should drive us in our sanctification, that should drive us to make our ambition to live a life that is well pleasing to him. In his book, The Forgotten Fear, Albert Martin explains the relationship between our fear of God and our conduct. He says there, the fear of God is the holy soil that produces the godly life. Or, listen, the absence of the fear of God is the unholy soil that produces an ungodly life. We sin against God because we don't have an adequate understanding of fear, of his fear specifically. Job is described as a man who feared God in what? Shunned evil. That's right. He's a man who feared God and out of a fear of God he shunned evil. The lost are described in Romans chapter three, verse 18, as those who have no fear of God before their eyes. They simply don't have a fear of God before their eyes. We sin, fall into patterns of sin, find ourselves in ruts of sin. We sit there in that mire chewing down on that vomit because we don't have a fear of God before our eyes. Solomon says in Proverbs chapter one that fools hate this knowledge. Listen, if the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then the height of folly is to not fear God, right? Proverbs chapter one, verse 28, they will call on me and God says I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel. They despised by every rebuke. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For Paul, in 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse 11, it was this biblical, solemn, sober, holy fear that fueled faithfulness in ministry. Verse 11, knowing there for the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. We persuade men. Paul's ministry here, verse 11, described as persuading men. Right? That's the Christian ministry. Persuading men. Present, active, indicative, a continuously ongoing ministry of persuasion. You're a Christian. You're in the business of persuading men. Ministry for the Lord involves persuading men of the truth. It involves convincing people of the truth of God. Whether you're talking to a lost person and you're persuading them, pleading with them as an ambassador of Christ, pleading with them, imploring them to be reconciled to God, you're persuading that lost person, aren't you? You're persuading with the aim of converting them, right? Anyone who presumes to preach the gospel, quote, unquote, that doesn't persuade with the aim of converting them, right? With the aim of bringing them to saving faith, with the aim of them turning from their sin to put their faith and trust in Christ, it's not preaching the gospel. Something else, but it's not preaching the gospel. In verse 20, that persuading is described there as pleading and imploring on behalf of Christ, preaching the word in season or out of season, convincing, rebuking, exhorting with all long suffering and teaching, knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. In all of that, in the sight of God and in the sight of the Corinthians, he goes on to say, but we are well known to God and I also trust our well known in your consciences. The word there for well known, you see it twice at the end of verse 10 or at the end of verse 11, that word again is Faneiraho. We talked about that last week. Faneiraho, it means exposed or laid bare before God. Same word used for our appearing, Faneiraho, before the judgment seat of Christ. In other words, Paul is an open book before the Lord. He's an open book before the Lord and he trusts Faneiraho, that he is exposed or transparent, that he's an open book before the consciences of the Corinthians as well. In other words, taken in context here, Paul is essentially saying, I wouldn't dare be guilty of those things which false teachers and opponents have said falsely about me. I wouldn't dare be guilty of those things because I serve the Lord Christ in the sight of God Almighty, who's searching eyes, see every thought, every word, every action. I serve in the sight of God and listen, Corinthians, you know me too. I'm an open book before you. I'm transparent with you. What you see is what you get. I don't have a secret agenda here. You know that I am trustworthy. Why this care to serve in that way? Because the fear of God compels me. The fear of the Lord compels me to live in this way. I live before the eyes of him with whom I must give an account. So I serve with a clear conscience. Right? What a breath of fresh air. What a joy to live before the Lord Jesus Christ with a clear conscience. The fear of the Lord compels me. And Paul tells that he says of the Lord at the end of verse 11, I'm wide open before God. He tells the Corinthians, I'm wide open before you too. What about you this morning? What about you? We consider this text. Consider how the text applies to you personally. Right? Do you have a good testimony among the people of God here? What is your testimony among the people of God here? Are you that broken read that we can put absolutely no weight on? Or are you serving? Are you loving? Are you ministering? Are you preaching the gospel? Right? Does the fear of God truthfully examine yourself in your own heart and mind even now? Does the fear of God compel you to faithfulness and ministry? Is something that you have forgotten? Is someone else always calling you? Or are you here with the brothers praying for that one's soul and calling him? Are you playing the hypocrite? Are you playing the hypocrite? Are you wearing that wicked mask? Listen, you are well known to God. You are well known to God. You may wear a mask around the people of God here, but the Lord sees all. You are laid bare, the recesses of your heart exposed. Paul told the Corinthians, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. It is required in stewards that one be found faithful. Paul follows up and says, but it's a small thing that I should be judged by you. Why? Because he who judges me is the Lord. Paul says, I don't even have anything with which I can accuse myself. Paul's serving the Lord with a clear conscience. I don't have anything with which I can accuse myself, but really that doesn't matter anything because the Lord is the one who judges me, and I will stand before him with a clear conscience before God. Paul feared the Lord. He feared the Lord. An honest and sober fear of the Lord will be fertile soil for a holy light. A lack of godly fear will produce unholiness, right? A lack of godly fear is like, yeah, you know, I don't really need the body. I'm at home taking care of my business. I'm going to watch online. I really don't need that fellowship. I'm doing just fine, I'm growing. Even though you're around no one, it's the fool that isolates himself, right? For example, let me give you a couple of examples. How honest were you on your tax returns in April? How honest, particularly faithfully honest? The IRS may not see you, but God sees you, right? God sees. Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, serve him, live for him, fear of the Lord should compel faithfulness. You say words. Listen, young people, young man, young girl, you say words in private, or you say words around your buddies that you would never say in front of your parents. Maybe some of you men, you're in the car, you say words. You would never say in front of your wife. Somehow you can control yourself in front of your wife. You have no fear of God before your eyes. God hears every word. Every word will be called into judgment. You look at pornographic material on the internet, something you would never do in front of your wife, something you would never do in front of your husband, something you would never do in front of anyone else for that matter. You have no fear of God. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 13, there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Fear God, fear God, how? How? Back to how, right? Means of grace. These things are not mysterious. Reliance upon the spirit. God himself has instructed us through his word. He tells us what we need to do. We need to pray, cry out to him, read his word, meditate on his word, and then pray again, and cry out to him, and then serve him, and obey him, and then pray, and then read his word, and then pray again, right? Fear God, fear God. Isn't it a fearful thing that may be here this morning that your heart has retreated from a fear of God? You don't know what that feels like anymore. Maybe you're sitting here this morning and you can take a look at your heart, your experience over the last period of time, and you see where you don't fear the God, you don't fear God at all. You've grown indifferent, apathetic, cold, dull. Death is creeping in. Fear God. Cultivate a biblical fear of God. Point one, we are compelled to live for Christ by the fear of the Lord. Point two, we are compelled by our love for his church, compelled to live for Christ by our love for his church. Look at verse 12, for we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God, or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. We've got to remember as we work through this text, right, that Paul is writing and serving in a context of fierce, merciless, and relentless opposition against him. They are on the attack in Corinth, right? Paul, if he's out for personal gain, if Paul is out striving to make a name for himself, he's doing something wrong, right? He's being attacked on virtually every side. Everything he says and does is being mercilessly scrutinized and twisted. He's physically, mentally, emotionally spent. And even now, as he writes, defending his ministry, he does so reluctantly with no self-interest in mind, not for the purposes of gain or self-aggrandizement. Whatever he does, he does for the Lord and for the Lord's church. He is compelled by his love for this church at Corinth. Verse 13, if we are beside ourselves, it is for God, or if we are of a sound mind, it is for you. The Paul knows well that the message he's preaching, the content of the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, is a matter of life and death to these Corinthians. It's a matter of life and death. He speaks for God to them, right? He's the Lord's apostle. To undermine the apostolic message is to undermine the gospel, and is to undermine their own soul in the process. Do you see? Peter says of false teachers, when false teachers creep into a church and they begin to ex exert their influence among the people, Peter says that when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lust of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. In other words, someone says, I'm sick and tired of my life. I don't want this anymore. I'm going to go to that church down the street. I'm going to walk in. I'm going to hear the word of God preach. I want to follow Christ. And then some false teacher comes in, right? And the false teacher through great swelling words of emptiness allures them through lewdness, those who have actually escaped from those who live in error. In verse 19, while they promise them liberty, they themselves, these false teachers are slaves of corruption for by whom, by that false teacher, a person is overcome by him also, he is brought into bondage. Peter says it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. So even now, even now, in this text, what finally motivates Paul to a self defense? What finally gets Paul to the point where he says, you know what? This is something I've got to do. Love for the church. It's love for the church that motivates Paul. They need him. Paul knows it. They need help. They need the truth to defend themselves against the onslaught of error and lives, souls are at stake. So he says in verse 12, verse 12, for we do not commend ourselves again to you. We do not commend ourselves against you again to you. Listen, I'm going to give you ammunition to help you with these false teachers. He repeats the very same notion that he led with in chapter three, verse one. Look there with me, chapter three, look at verse one. Do we begin again, Paul says, to commend ourselves? Certainly not is the answer to that rhetorical question. Or do we need, as some others as those false teachers, do we need officials of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? Paul says, you are our letter of commendation. And we noted in chapter three how Paul was obviously being accused of commending himself or defending himself, right? However, Paul knows, Paul understands that he needs no condemnation. This is clarified for us later in chapter 10. Flip over to chapter 10 and look at 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse seven. Now with language very similar to that, which we see in 2 Corinthians, chapter five, Paul begins his argument in verse seven. Look, do you Corinthians look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ, let him again consider this in himself that just as he is Christ, even so we, excuse me, we are Christ. For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for your building up, right? For your edification and not for your destruction, even if I have to boast somewhat more about that, I shall not be ashamed. Verse nine, lest I seem to terrify you by letters. Verse 10, here's another accusation against him, right? His letters, verse 10, they say are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be indeed when we are present. He is, he's carrying with him apostolic authority, the good to fear the Lord by fearing, having a healthy fear of Paul in this circumstance. Verse 12, for we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. We don't commend ourselves like they do, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. They're a bunch of fools. Verse 13, we, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us, a sphere which especially includes you. In other words, we're going to boast for your sake, because we love you, because this includes you, right? Verse 14, for we are not overextending ourselves as though our authority did not extend to you, for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ, not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men's labors, but having hope that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere. You see that? He does it in love with the hope that their faith would be increased, that they would be built up. Verse 10, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you and not to boast in another man's sphere of accomplishment. But he who glories, let him glory in the Lord, for not he who commends himself is approved, you see, but whom the Lord commends. Paul's not commending himself. In other words, he's not commending himself in that sense. His commendation comes from the Lord. The one who commends himself is not approved. The one who is commended by God, that one is approved. Paul, in other words, wasn't guilty of the same self-seeking, same mongering that the false teachers were marked by. You want to see a false teacher today? Look at how they market themselves. The fame mongering of false teachers in our day. You see them all over the TV, all over the internet, right? Self-aggrandizement, self-seeking, fleecing the flock for gain. Paul would say, let whom who boasts, boast in the Lord. Paul's commendation was ultimately from the Lord then who made his ministry fruitful. And the Corinthians themselves were his living commendation. They were epistles of Christ, so to speak, fruits of his ministry. In fact, if we consider this, the Corinthians should have been the ones who were speaking up on Paul's behalf. The Corinthians should have been boasting in the Lord for Paul's sake, right? He's getting slammed at every turn. And it took a couple of hard rebukes, a couple of hard letters before the Corinthians woke up and did something about it. Second Corinthians chapter 12. Flip over another page. Second Corinthians chapter 12. Look at verse 11. Paul says in verse 11, I have become a fool in boasting. Why? You compelled me. Please, Paul, defend yourself. Please, Paul, give us it. No. Because of their silence, because they're being won over by arguments, lost against Paul by false teachers, because they're giving in to error. Right? You see, they have compelled Paul by their sinful neglect. They have compelled Paul by their sinful ignorance. I've become a fool in boasting. Paul says, you have compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you. And they said nothing. They were silent. Paul says, in nothing, I was behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? In other words, Paul's saying, in what ways, what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except for the fact that I didn't take a salary from you? And I did that out of love for you, because I didn't want to be a stumbling block to the gospel. Forgive me this wrong, Paul says, not that he wants the salary. Now, for the third time, verse 14, I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you, for I do not seek yours. I seek you, Paul says. He loves this church. He boasts for them. He defends for them. He labors for them. And he does it without taking anything from them. Back in chapter 5, verse 12, Paul's defense here is for the church. It's his love for the church. Verse 12, we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf. At this point, you've not stood up for us. You're being won over by those arguments, right? Don't listen to those false teachers. Listen to the truth and then go to battle with the truth, right? We want to give you an opportunity to boast on our behalf that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. This is really how it ought to work, right? To protect Paul from the accusation of self-aggrandizement and to equip the Corinthians with the right understanding of things so that they can cast down the deceptive arguments of the false teachers. This is how it should work. Protect Paul. Paul gives them the arguments that they need. Rather than defend yourself, rather than defend yourself, Proverbs 27 verse 2 says, let another praise you and not your own mouth. Let another praise you, not your own mouth. Don't let your mouth be silent. When your church is being slandered, speak up. When your brother, when your sister, the one you know to be a faithful, godly brother, a faithful, godly sister, speak up. Let another man praise you, right? Defend him. Stand against the accuser. Say something for the sake of the Lord's church. Say something for the furtherance of the gospel through that ministry. Say something for the benefit of that brother, that sister's ministry, right? For the sake of our influence for Christ. Don't just stand by and let them answer, let them speak without an answer. This would go for anyone that we know to be a person of integrity. They have no integrity. Different, right? Don't just leave them hanging out to dry. Blessed are you, brother. No, speak, answer. These false teachers boast in appearance and not in heart. Many of those who slander and gossip and slander some more, those who go out with that intent to harm, to pull down, to backbite, they boast in appearance and not in heart. The false teachers in Corinth had nothing spiritual about which they could boast. False teachers in Corinth were like Simon Magus, right? Simon Magus comes along, he believes that he can buy the gift of God with filthy lucre, right? Then he can have this power by buying it with money. He had nothing spiritual, nothing of genuine lasting reality or truth that he could lay his hands on. It was just an empty magic trick to Simon Magus, right? That's their religion. False teachers, those who would slander, those who would lie, those who would backbite, those who would gossip in that way, to tear down the Lord's work, to tear down the Lord's people, they have nothing spiritual about which to boast. They are empty, vapid, devoid of God. They may have had speaking skill in Corinth in that day. They may have had eloquence. They may have had glowing letters of commendation from all the right people, from all the right places, right? They looked the part, they dressed the part, they acted the part, had the wealth, would have had a large following. Tons of people in the pews, they boasted in appearance, they took pride in externals. What they didn't have, what they didn't have was commendation from the Lord, commendation, the commendation that counts, commendation where it matters. They had no spiritual fruit to speak of. They couldn't boast in heart. All they could do was boast in appearance. But look at our numbers. Look at how many people we quote, unquote saved last year. The number goes off to the denominational statistics and those people they thought they saved go right out the back door. The gospel they preach doesn't transform because it's not the gospel. The church they attend is full of weeds because they have compromised the gospel. Sin is rampant because they don't preach the gospel to one another. The truth is not upheld there. The truth is not upheld. Really instructive text with respect to this is Galatians chapter 6, permanently to Galatians chapter 6. This same problem with false teachers faced the Galatian church in chapter 6 and the actions of these false teaching Judaizers here are particularly helpful. They wanted to add circumcision to faith in Christ for someone to be saved. They're perverting the gospel. Paul says in chapter 1, let them be damned. They're perverting the gospel. Look at chapter 6, verse 12. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised. Think with me, right? Externals. They want to make a good showing in appearance, not in the heart. They could care less about the heart. They just want to appear to be doing the right thing in the flesh or to be blessed in the flesh. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised. Why? Verse 12. Only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Whatever they can do to avoid offense. I don't want to offend anyone. I don't want to face persecution. All I want to do is to make a good showing in the flesh and so be circumcised, right? I don't want to anger the Jews. Verse 13. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh, right? It's like the false teachers that Peter was speaking of. They themselves are given over to corruption. Do you see? And they want you to follow them in their corruption? They boast in appearances and got to get those circumcisions so we can send off our circumcision statistics to the denomination, right? Verse 14. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availed anything but a new creation. There's the heart, right? These people boast in appearances and not in heart. This is not a compelling love for the church, is it? It's a compelling love for themselves. Self aggrandizement to make a good showing in the flesh. This is a compelling love for their own reputation. A compelling love for their own name. Do this with me. Look at verse 12. And substitute circumcised with come to the church to be entertained. Verse 12. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to come to the church to be entertained. Only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. They're not going to suffer persecution because their aim is to entertain lost sinners, not to confront lost sinners in their sin. For even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you come to the church to be entertained, that they may boast in your flesh. They can boast in the numbers of people in our church. Listen, we've got 3,000 people in our church. 3,000 weeds that are just being spoon fed a placebo week after week after week. They're preaching peace, peace to them when there is no peace. And they'll stand before God one day in judgment and say, Lord, Lord, did I not go to church every Sunday in that place? I danced a jig when the band was up there playing worship music. Right? They boast in appearances. God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in Christ Jesus, neither going to the church to be entertained or not going to the church to be entertained is anything but a new creation. Is it a transformational work of God's spirit in that church, in the life of a sinner or not? Isn't it? Is it just appearance or is it of the heart? Substitute, circumcised with pray this little prayer. Right? As many as desire, verse 12, as many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to say this prayer to receive Jesus into your heart and be saved. Why? Only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ because if they told the truth, they would face persecution. Listen, you're a wicked, hellbound sinner. You must turn from your sin and trust Christ. And if you don't, you're going to burn in hell forever. But if you do, you'll be forgiven of your sin. Turn from your adultery. Turn from your homosexuality. Turn from your drunkenness. Turn from your pornography use. Turn from your lying. Right? In this world, that's not the way to win friends and influence people. That's the way to get yourself persecuted. That's also the way to get God's elect saved. And he has prescribed that. They boast in appearances. Substitute, circumcised would be baptized. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be baptized. Why? Only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ for not even those who are baptized to keep the law. But they desire to have you baptized that they may boast in your flesh. Do you see? You can put virtually any error today in that list. It works the same way. We must be about the heart. The heart. It is heart transformation. The gospel is the power of God into salvation. Right? The power to change the life of a sinner. Those that would boast in appearance have not that power. The power is found in God alone through the preaching of his word by faith in Christ alone. Back in 2 Corinthians chapter five. Paul says again, verse 12, we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God. And if we are of sound mind, it is for you. All of this, Paul does not for himself, but for God and for his church. He is compelled to live for Christ by an enduring love for God and a love for his church. One of the many accusations hurled against the apostle Paul was that he was out of his mind. He was out of his mind. The word is ex esthemi, meaning that Paul essentially was afflicted with mental derangement. They would have said, you are deranged, Paul. Literally ex standing outside, ex esthemi standing outside of oneself. Paul was not thinking or acting responsibly in their eyes. He was literally out of his right mind. Paul was a madman. I can't believe that Paul would go through that or do that or go to that extent or to go to that extreme. He's in good company suffering this insult. In Mark 3, the Lord himself, healing diseases, casting out demons, huge crowds were following the Lord. And in verse 21, but when his own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of him for they said he is out of his mind, ex esthemi. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said he has Beelzebub and by the ruler of the demons, he casts out demons, the false teachers. False teachers say of Paul, he's weeping over the church one minute and he's rebuking them the next minute. He's so uncompromising that Paul, like so doggedly persistent with his version of the truth. The only thing that they can retort, the only way that they can answer is essentially saying this guy is out of his mind. Sometimes the truth is so obvious, so compelling and frankly in that moment, so convicting that the only answer the lost person will give and often will give in that circumstance to shield themselves from the conviction is to attack the messenger. You are out of your mind. And Festus, Festus cries out in Acts chapter 26 verse 24, Paul, you are beside yourself, ex esthemi. Much learning is driving you mad. Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 13, if I am out of my mind, if I am fanatical, if I am filled with zeal to the point where everyone says I'm mad, then it's for the sake of the ministry. I'm this way for the Lord because I love the Lord and I'm this way for his church. I love his church. You're crazy for putting up with it, Paul. It's for the Lord. It's for the Lord's church. The Corinthians knew that he was of a sound mind, whether people thought he was crazy or whether they thought he was of a sound mind. It didn't matter to Paul. He is compelled by his love for the Lord and he is compelled by his love for the Lord's church. He is a man on a mission. If we are beside ourselves, verse 13, it is for God. Or if we are of sound mind, it is for you, your brother, your sister, that one you're witnessing to, the Lord Jesus Christ himself is worth that derision, isn't it? It's worth it. It's worth it. The Lord's people are worthy of bearing that reproach for them. The Lord is worthy of you bearing that approach. Live your life like a madman for Christ, right? Live your life in a way that a lost person would say you are crazy. What in the world are you? I've known situations where some of you, names, faces, many of them pop up in my head as we're talking about this, where people around, you lost all your friends and all your friends are like, you are out of your mind. What happened? What happened to the person that we used to run with in all that dissipation? The life you live in the flesh should be so consumed with the Lord in his church that the world looks and says to you, looks at you and says, you are out of your mind. Sadly, sadly, it's most of the professing church today that would say you're out of your mind, right? They would look at you and say, you're crazy. You are that zealous Jesus freak guy, right? I'm going to go knocking on doors today. You are out of your mind. I'm going to go open air preaching at the perversion parade downtown this week. You are crazy. Love for the Lord, love for his church, love for lost people is what compels me Paul says, I will live for Christ, not interested in self promotion, not interested in self promotion. I'm not interested in self preservation. I'm willing to be worn out for the Lord. Love for his church, love for the Lord compels us to live for Christ. One, we should be compelled to live for Christ by biblical fear of the Lord, right? Allow the fear of God to move you to action. Allow the fear of God to fuel your zeal for him. Listen, the one who says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me, learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart. The one who says that is the same one who says, do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill kill the soul, rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. If you will not be in treated with cords of divine love, if you will not be in treated with blessings and promises and hope and joy and communion with him, then you may be driven by the Lord with the goats of divine judgment. Fear God. If you're here today and you are not saved, fear God. Turn from your sin. You will stand before him and give an account. Secondly, we should be compelled to live for Christ by our love for the Lord and our love for the Lord's church. Let them think that you are out of your mind. Let the world say that we have our commendation from the Lord. Amen. All glory, honor and praise to the one who motivates his people to love and good works. Let's pray.