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Earthly Tents & Heavenly Buildings | 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Well, if you were here last week, then you would hopefully
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  remember that as a church we explored a very striking
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  contrast between two individuals who live very different lives,
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  and as a result they were granted 2 very different eternal
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  realities. And as we come to the Word of
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  God today, I want to highlight a different kind of distinction
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  that the Scriptures make. And it's not going to be between
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  the rich and poor. It's not going to be about the
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  saved and the unsaved, or any other common category for that
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  matter. Today, I want us to explore a
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  distinction that I believe believers often overlook.
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  Yet it was something that Paul passionately wrote about a more
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  than one occasion. I want us to look today at the
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  distinction between our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies,
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  what we know to be what we live in today and what is promised
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  for us at the return of Christ. And Paul mentions this in more
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  than one place, as I alluded to. But where we're going to go
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  today is not Paul defending the truth of the resurrection, nor
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  is it him trying to satisfy the curiosity of Christians who just
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  want to know what's going to come for them because of
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  Christ's love and his purchase of their souls.
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  Now, today, what we're going to see is Paul explaining the
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  secret to his unwavering commitment to the gospel.
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  He's going to reveal something that will instill hope, that
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  will make us immovable, that will make us strong, that will
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  make us Worshipful regardless of our circumstances.
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  And what's beautiful about what Paul is going to share is that
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  he expects us to also know it for ourselves.
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  He's going to reveal this revelation that's meant to be
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  experienced by all believers and as a result, causing them to
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  know the same inspiration and motivations that this great
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  apostle lived with. And so you should be excited
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  today because this is something for our encouragement.
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  And as we come to this text in a moment, I'll let you know ahead
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  of time that we're going to land at 4 quick motivations that
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  these truths created in Paul. And again, expect that this is
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  something you can know for yourself if you do this one
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  thing. Believe what Paul says to be
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  true because he is a conduit of the Holy Spirit.
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  Grasp it wholeheartedly. Apply it to your life the way
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  it's calling you to apply it, and you will soar in this life.
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  And so I want us to consider it. What will unlock these
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  motivations requires you to be confident in your convictions
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  about it. Interestingly, that's exactly
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  where Paul starts with his analysis in our main text.
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  So if you have a copy of God's Word in your hand, meet me in
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  the book of Second Corinthians chapter 5 and we're going to
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  read the first 5 verses together before we delve into it.
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  My favorite sound in church apart from seeing the wrestling
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  of the leaves of Scripture. 2nd Corinthians 5 one.
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  For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is
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  destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
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  hands eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan,
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  longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting
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  it on we may not be found naked for a while.
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  We are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened, not that
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  we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so
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  that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
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  He has prepared us For this very thing is God, who has given us
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  the Spirit as a guarantee. Lord, we ask that this would
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  birth in us the holy anticipation, the unwavering
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  hope, a devotion to You and practical service, a reflex to
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  suffering and pain. That would be true of what we
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  see here in Paul, in us as well. This is our longing and our
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  desire and we pray that You would transmit it into us as we
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  discuss it in Your Word now in Jesus name, Amen.
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  For we know the first 3 words of first one.
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  Don't you love it? Paul doesn't say, for I know he
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  expects the Christians to share in his confidence.
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  For we know all believers should have this anchoring realization.
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  What is it that Paul expects you and I to know?
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  We'll look at the rest of verse one again, that if the tent that
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  is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building
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  from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
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  And then he goes on to speak about this metaphor of tents and
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  buildings. And we'll explore that in a
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  moment. But I'm sure you didn't foresee
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  that Paul was going to talk about tents and buildings.
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  But he does. And the reason why he does is
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  because he's speaking figuratively.
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  What Paul is wanting us to think about is how your body, what
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  you're in right now, sitting in those pews, it's like a tent.
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  And I can't help but wonder if the Holy Spirit used this
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  illustration because Paul by way of occupation was what he was, a
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  tent maker. So I'm just in my sanctified
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  imagination, wonder that as Paul was working with tents, sewing
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  it and cutting it and putting it together, that the Lord began to
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  teach him, this is like your body.
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  This is like your physical frame.
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  Tents are fragile. They're weak, they're unstable.
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  They're not designed to be your permanent residence.
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  They are useful for a season, yes, but they are meant to be
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  temporary. Eventually a tent will be taken
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  down. That is exactly Paul's main
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  point with these verses, because he says how these tents.
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  Look at verse one again. That is our earthly home is
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  destroyed. Now the word destroyed doesn't
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  allude to obliteration necessarily.
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  It speaks about being disunited, dissolving, and that is the
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  destiny of your physical frame. It is going to be disassembled
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  at one point. But what moves me is Paul's
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  strategic language. Notice again in verse 1.
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  He doesn't say for we know that when the tent that is our
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  earthly home is destroyed. You would think that he would
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  say when, because death in these bodies is inevitable, right?
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  He uses the word if. For we know that if the tent
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  that is our earthly home is destroyed, if suggests that
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  there's another option. Now, what could the alternative
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  be? Isn't death something that we
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  all will taste? Yes.
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  But there's another truth that we have to consider.
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  And I believe that what Paul has in mind, which was so deeply
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  ingrained in his thinking, was the return of the Lord.
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  Think about it. Paul in writing this is
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  revealing that though he and expects Christians are prepared
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  to die not in a morbid way, but with hope.
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  Yes, prepared to die. Paul also says here I'm also
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  living with an eager expectation of the return of the Lord.
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  So yes, I'm ready to face death, but I'm also believing that at
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  any moment in my lifetime Christ can come and I can skip this
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  whole death thing all together and I can go straight to my
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  resurrection body. Wouldn't that be wonderful come
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  Lord Jesus. And so he says if here
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  interestingly showing that there's another option, but he
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  goes on to say something so important leading us a model
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  yes, that we should live with that same expectation.
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  The return of Christ is not in focus here necessarily.
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  It's the anticipation of what will become of us, what these
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  bodies will be replaced with. And that's where he says that we
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  have a building from God. Now I'm building a building in
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  contrast to 10 is what it is fixed.
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  It is lasting, it is functional, and frankly, it's more beautiful
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  and ornate than a tent. There's no doubt that he is
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  referring to our glorified bodies here.
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  We have a building from God. And notice the added description
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  of what will be ours. It is a building 1 from God.
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  It's a gift. It's granted more than that, it
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  is something that is not made with human hands, so it's not of
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  human origin. It's not produced by human
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  effort. And lastly, a building, yes,
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  much more sound and reliable than a tent.
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  We also read here that it is eternal.
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  It is eternal meaning that whatever we are going to live in
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  is not subject to decay or the fear of destruction.
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  It will be everlasting. This is how he is describing it
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  in summary. And as he's teaching this, we
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  are supposed to understand that Paul loved teaching about this
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  because it's not just found here.
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  It's it's sprinkled throughout his epistles.
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  And let me remind you of another place where he says it in a more
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  direct manner and speaking about what is to become of us in
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  Philippians 320. What does he say?
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  But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a
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  Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly
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  body to be like his glorious body, not a glorious body like
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  Him, like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even
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  to subject all things to himself.
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  What an incredible promise. Here we are told not only that
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  we have been granted citizenship in heaven, but we are also
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  promised to share in the characteristics of Jesus
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  glorified body. Yes, he's the prototype.
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  He's the first fruits. That's the upgrade that you and
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  I can expect. We all have been amazed of the
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  recent events that are taking place in California where so
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  many homes have been ravaged by these unprecedented fires.
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  And besides the lives that perish in those flames, I'm sure
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  you have seen some of these interviews with families and
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  couples that, returning to their properties, have realized that
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  everything that they have known has been burned and brought to
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  ash. And our hearts go out to them.
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  And we've even prayed for them that a full restoration will be
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  made. And more importantly, if any of
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  those people have never called upon the Lord, they would do so
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  in this crisis. But as I was looking at these
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  verses earlier in the week, I couldn't help but imagine how
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  different those interviews would have been if each of those
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  individuals, each of those families were promised, were
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  granted a home that they could never even imagine.
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  Built on a property that they could never fathom affording.
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  With the reclaim of possessions that would bring so much joy
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  despite the loss of personal sentimental objects and
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  memories. All as a gift free because of
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  the generosity of a loving and caring individual.
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  It doesn't dismiss the devastation that you might feel
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  any kind of loss hurts, but it would definitely lessen it,
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  wouldn't it? Yes, and that is precisely what
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  Paul is getting at here. You may have known a believer.
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  You may be facing a believer right before your eyes that is
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  deteriorating. You may be God forbidden in the
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  years to God, be surprised with a phone call of a Christian that
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  you know. And their death was tragic.
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  It was sudden, it was swift. And no matter how much that
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  might shock us, we have to remember that they have been
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  granted an inheritance that is infinitely more glorious than
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  whatever they've known in this life.
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  This is what Paul is trying to convey here.
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  And where my illustration falls short is that this promise is
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  not going to be a surprise. It's already ours.
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  We're supposed to know it today. Look back at his language of
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  verse one. For we know that if the tent
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  that is in our earthly, that is our earthly home is destroyed,
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  we have a building from God, we have it.
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  It's your possession. The estate belongs to you.
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  It's been purchased on the cross and no one can take it away from
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  you. You have it, and I don't have
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  the habit here of usually skipping verses.
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  I'd like to go verse by verse. But let's just hop over to verse
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  5 to see how Paul confirms this. He who has prepared us for this
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  very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
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  Do you know what the word guarantee means in the original?
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  It's so awesome in light of this metaphor.
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  Down payment the Holy Spirit has been given to each believer to
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  abide and live in them as a down payment for this building that
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  is to come. Meaning what it's done meaning
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  what that upon you calling upon the Lord receiving Jesus Christ
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  as your Savior, your destiny is sealed.
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  It's coming, it's on its way. The down payment has been made
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  and the full realization of it is yours.
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  Nothing can tamper with it. He's not going to change his
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  mind. It can't be taken from you.
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  It belongs to you forever. Moreover, listen to this part.
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  This part excites me. Whatever changes, whatever
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  comforts that the Holy Spirit does in and through you are also
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  previews, reminders, nudges that there is a complete and perfect
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  transformation on its way. Does that make sense?
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  The Holy Spirit as a deposit, living in you as he's
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  sanctifying you through and through, day by day.
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  And this abundant peace that you experience and this joy that you
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  drink from. All of that, as much as it's for
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  now, is also supposed to indicate to you, hey, there's
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  something so much better than this that's coming, and it's
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  yours. It's yours.
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  So whatever experience that you've had with the presence of
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  God in this place by yourself, whatever testimony where the
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  Holy Spirit has transformed you in a way where you recognize
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  that all of that are just little indicators and whispers of love
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  to tell you it's only going to get better.
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  It's only going to become better.
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  And Paul wants us to know that. And as much as this truth
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  brought relief to Paul, astonishingly, it also created a
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  restlessness in him. Look again at verse 2.
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  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly
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  dwelling. What does it mean by groan?
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  He's talking about a yearning that is beyond words.
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  Words, they can't even communicate this sigh in his
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  soul regarding this truth that seems strange to us.
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  He can't even express how much this truth makes him want to
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  crave it, to be known. He longs for it.
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  And when you read this man's biography, it shouldn't be a
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  surprise to you why he groaned. Turn to 2nd Corinthians, the
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  same book, Chapter 11, where he gives a brief resume of his
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  credentials as an apostle, and it's not what you expect. 2nd
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  Corinthians 1124. Five times I received at the
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  hands of the Jews the 40 lashes. Less 1/3 times I was beaten with
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  rods. Once I was stoned.
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  Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift
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  at sea on frequent journeys. And danger from rivers, danger
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  from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles,
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  danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea,
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  danger from false brothers. And where can the guy go in toil
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  and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and
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  thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
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  And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on
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  me of my anxiety for all the churches.
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  No wonder this man groaned. No wonder this yearning was so
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  intense. Can you imagine all the scars
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  that he collected? What did his face look like?
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  What kind of permanent nerve damage did he develop?
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  What kind of limitations? Did he have a limp when he
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  walked? What is it like that no matter
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  where you go, whether it's your favorite restaurant or a
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  conference out of state, to live with a realization that at any
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  moment I can be ambushed and beat up.
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  This is how this man lived. And here's what I want to say.
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  Perhaps the abundant comfort that believers share and
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  experience and joy in the West is why so many struggle to turn
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  this truth from a theological concept to a vibrant, living
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  hope. Could that be true?
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  I think so. But Paul's very suffering, his
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  constant battle with Satan, his sensitivity to sin, it stirred
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  him. It stirred him to continually
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  meditate on it, to verbally praise God for it, to draw
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  comfort from it, to joyfully teach about it and to live
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  wanting it, dreaming about it. I'm sure wherever this man
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  wasn't busy in his mind, the default of his meditation went
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  to I want my building. I want what Christ purchased for
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  me. But don't make the mistake in
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  believing that this is Christian escapism.
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  This isn't Paul wanting to just avoid trials and troubles.
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  That's part of it. But there's a positive element
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  more than just him evading from problems.
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  He wanted to be with a person, namely Christ.
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  And that's important because don't believe for a moment that
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  for you to know this kind of groaning, you have to
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  voluntarily accept pain in your life, chase down persecution.
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  Now you can also know this cry, this holy ache because of Christ
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  simply Jesus, where you've walked with him and you have
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  experienced his fragrance, where you've seen Him come through,
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  where He's opened your eyes to his beauty, where he said, if I
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  can know this kind of exhilaration now, what is to
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  come? What is to come is so glorious
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  that you need a new body to handle it.
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  That is what is to come. And Paul here is demonstrating
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  that. And we'll get to this craving
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  for the person of Christ in a moment.
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  But let's look at these last verses that we didn't explore in
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  detail. Verse three.
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  If indeed after explaining that he's groaning for this longing
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  to put on his heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on, we
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  may not be found naked for while we are still in this tent, we
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  groan being burdened. Not that we would be unclothed,
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  but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal
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  may be swallowed up by life. If you feel overwhelmed, that's
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  OK because you know what Paul is doing here.
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  Now he's mixing the metaphor. He goes from talking about tents
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  and buildings to now speaking about what clothing did you
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  catch? It talks about being clothed,
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  talks about being naked, talks about being further clothed.
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  So now he is blending metaphor. And so let's let's just take our
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  time to trace his thought pattern here.
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  So in verse one and verse 2, what is he speaking about?
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  He's speaking about how we are guaranteed to receive a heavenly
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  dwelling and if we are guaranteed for that, look at
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  this verse three. It means that we will not be
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  found naked. Verse three, you think why is he
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  talking about being naked? Pause there.
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  We'll we'll look at that in a moment because now in verse
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  four, he recaps his thought in these verses and he clarifies
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  something. Now he says we have been
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  promises heavenly dwelling, which means we're not going to
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  be naked. And then in verse four, he says
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  for while we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened.
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  So he revisits that thought. Listen, let me tell you, while
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  we're in this body, we're burdened by so much so we groan.
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  But now he wants to tell you what we are groaning for.
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  What are we groaning for? Not that we would be unclothed,
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  but that we would be rather further clothed.
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  What is he speaking about? It's simply this that as
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  believers with this resurrection hope, we are not longing to
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  become disembodied spirits, IE naked, what we are actually
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  longing for the focus. The goal of this groaning is to
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  be further clothed, meaning to receive a different kind of body
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  that what is mortal would be swallowed up by life.
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  If you understand what Paul is saying here, it actually is
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  astonishing in terms of implications.
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  One, it clarifies what the resurrection really is because
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  you have some good hearted believers who think that when we
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  give our final breath, yes, to be away from the body means that
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  we will be with the Lord, our soul will be with him, our
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  spirit will be with him, but that's it.
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  That's the final state of the matter.
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  That's it. That's all we're looking forward
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  to. That's not true.
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  On the other hand, I believe most Christians think we have a
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  general grasp of the resurrection, that yes, you will
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  give your final breath, you will be immediately in the presence
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  of the Lord, and at a later time the resurrection will take
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  place. And when will the resurrection
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  take place? At the return of Christ, the
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  culmination of the age. And when the resurrection takes
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  place, when Jesus returns, we each are going to receive a
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  brand new body disconnected from your body that you knew while on
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  earth. That's also wrong.
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  Now, I got a lot of facial reactions.
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  So you have to pay attention now because you don't want to miss
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  it. Here's what you have to
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  understand. The Bible doesn't teach that
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  there's a time coming when you will receive something that is
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  not related to the body that you have lived with this gift of
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  life. Instead, what it teaches is that
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  when the resurrection comes, the earthly body that you have
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  always known, with its unique properties and characteristics
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  will be marvelously transformed and made fit to live with God
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  forever. Just think about it.
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  Or else the term resurrection doesn't make sense.
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  What are you resurrecting? If you're going to get, if your
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  body is just going to go into the earth decay and your
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  disembodied spirit in the presence of God will be
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  receiving a brand new suit, so to speak, then why use the term
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  resurrection if Christ is the prototype of our resurrection?
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  Did Jesus leave the tomb with a different kind of body?
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  Yes and no. There's a level of continuity
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  because he didn't leave that body or leave that tomb rather,
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  with a glorified body, but he still had the scars because it
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  was the same body that was nailed on the cross in like
• 25:36
  manner, this body that you have right now, that is what is going
• 25:40
  to be resurrected on that final day.
• 25:44
  And you're hearing this perhaps for the first time, wondering
• 25:48
  does it matter or even why? Maybe you're not very happy with
• 25:53
  your body and you were looking forward to something brand new.
• 25:58
  And so this was more of a disappointing message than it
• 26:00
  was an encouraging 1. Don't worry, it'll be altered.
• 26:10
  It reveals something about the depth of God's character and
• 26:12
  love. When the Lord proposed to save
• 26:15
  us as fallen creatures, He determined to save all of who
• 26:19
  you are, not some of who you are.
• 26:22
  So not just your spirit, not just the immaterial parts of who
• 26:26
  you are, but even the polluted, fractured, sin soaked body that
• 26:34
  has caused pain for you and others, that has been damaged
• 26:38
  because of the fall. Even that part of who you are,
• 26:40
  the Lord Jesus Christ wants to redeem.
• 26:43
  I'm going to recover everything, not just some things.
• 26:49
  So it speaks to the completeness of a saving work.
• 26:52
  It speaks to His yearning to actually have all of you, not to
• 26:57
  discard any part, but to redeem everything.
• 27:01
  So the resurrection is not about replacing your identity, it's
• 27:05
  renewing it. The resurrection, more
• 27:07
  importantly, is not about erasing any part of who you are,
• 27:12
  but actually beautifying it, making it reflect and shine with
• 27:18
  the glory of God. And there's so many massive
• 27:22
  implications with this. I mean, if we had time, I would,
• 27:25
  I would discuss about how if God so values these bodies that he
• 27:29
  is determined to rescue these physical frames, how much should
• 27:34
  we as Christians cherish these bodies?
• 27:38
  How much more? Let me give you an example.
• 27:41
  I wasn't planning to do this, but since we're so close to the
• 27:43
  text, go to 1st Corinthians 6. I'm just going to read it.
• 27:47
  I'm not going to take my time to explain it, just to give you an
• 27:49
  idea and tell me what word reappears over and over again in
• 27:57
  First Corinthians 6/18. Flee from sexual immorality.
• 28:06
  Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the
• 28:12
  sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
• 28:16
  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
• 28:20
  Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
• 28:22
  You are not your own, for you are bought with a price.
• 28:24
  So glorify God in your body. You look at the end of First
• 28:30
  Thessalonians talks about the sanctification of our whole
• 28:33
  spirit, soul and body. The body should be honored,
• 28:41
  should be consecrated, should be set apart for His glory.
• 28:47
  He's going to resurrect that body of yours, and it's going to
• 28:51
  testify the greatness of His power and His love.
• 28:56
  But there are many other reasons why this truth should be
• 29:00
  considered. I told you earlier that there
• 29:05
  were four specific motivations in the main text that we are
• 29:07
  looking at, and I want you to see that with me.
• 29:10
  So let's go back to 2nd Corinthians in chapter 5.
• 29:14
  I want us to look at verses 6 down to verse 10 and in those
• 29:17
  verses 4, motivations that this truth of our resurrection bodies
• 29:22
  should instill in US today, verse 6.
• 29:27
  So we are always of good courage.
• 29:30
  We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away
• 29:33
  from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.
• 29:38
  Motivation number one, This truth that Paul wants us to know
• 29:42
  and be confident in will motivate you to live a life with
• 29:45
  courageous faith. Look at verse 7, for we walk by
• 29:49
  faith, not by sight. This will energize you to
• 29:52
  navigate through life as a conqueror, not as a victim, not
• 29:59
  as weak. Even though you're not living in
• 30:02
  the immediate, unfiltered presence of the Lord, the
• 30:06
  profoundness of this truth will do something in you that will
• 30:11
  influence your whole outlook and inlook.
• 30:13
  And when you look at the verses surrounding it, you can see it.
• 30:17
  It's so undeniable. This is the point that he is
• 30:19
  making. So look back at 2nd Corinthians
• 30:21
  4 verse 8, for example. Paul says we are afflicted in
• 30:25
  every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to
• 30:29
  despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not
• 30:34
  destroyed. Where is he getting that from?
• 30:37
  Where's the strength to be able to do that?
• 30:40
  It's not just getting out of nowhere.
• 30:41
  He's not finding it in his own fortification.
• 30:44
  He knows that I will be clothed with the heavenly dwelling one
• 30:48
  day. He knows that this is a tent and
• 30:53
  that it will be brought down and it will be replaced with
• 30:55
  something much more amazing. Look at verse 11, Second
• 31:00
  Corinthians 4. For we who live are always being
• 31:03
  given over to death for Jesus sake.
• 31:07
  Wow. So that the life of Jesus also
• 31:09
  may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
• 31:11
  We are always being given over to death.
• 31:14
  I'm not sure how many people would sign up for ministry in
• 31:16
  Paul's day. You know, they say one of the
• 31:21
  persecuted churches in China that if you wanted to be a
• 31:23
  pastor, one of your qualifications is that you have
• 31:26
  to be ready to do prison time. These days we just look for
• 31:30
  people who get a degree. No, no.
• 31:33
  Are you willing to go to jail? Are you willing to be in jail
• 31:35
  and not see your family for five years?
• 31:38
  That's what it takes for a pastor.
• 31:39
  Become a pastor in China. We are always being given over
• 31:43
  to death for Jesus sake. Look at verse 17 of 2nd
• 31:46
  Corinthians 4. I'm trying to show you something
• 31:48
  here. For this light momentary
• 31:51
  affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
• 31:56
  beyond all comparison. Then right after that we have
• 31:59
  chapter 5 where he talks about what what one of those glories
• 32:03
  are the glorification of your bodies.
• 32:06
  And it literally, this truth was so real to Paul that it
• 32:09
  redefined the afflictions he knew and they're not small.
• 32:14
  It wasn't a Co worker that gave him a dirty look because he
• 32:17
  brought his Bible and put it in his cubicle.
• 32:19
  That's not the persecution he experienced.
• 32:20
  You read it in 2nd Corinthians 11 and he was able to look at
• 32:24
  that catalogue of suffering and say it's light momentary
• 32:27
  affliction. How this truth, this is not the
• 32:32
  end of it. This is just a little bit of
• 32:35
  pain, and it won't even be worth comparing to what awaits me.
• 32:41
  We need us to be real. I can't just live here.
• 32:43
  It's got to live here. Motivation #2 found in verse
• 32:47
  eight of Second Corinthians 5. Yes, we are of good courage, and
• 32:54
  we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
• 32:59
  Motivation #1 is that this truth influences us to have courageous
• 33:03
  faith and to navigate through life with that faith.
• 33:05
  Motivation #2 to live this life with promise.
• 33:13
  What's the promise? Yes, verse 8 reveals Paul's
• 33:16
  passion. I would rather be away with the
• 33:18
  Lord, but also says something about a guarantee.
• 33:23
  The moment that death will evict you from your body, you will be
• 33:27
  immediately moving in with Jesus.
• 33:32
  So not only did this truth redefine suffering for Paul, it
• 33:35
  redefined death. And that's why he would on more
• 33:38
  than one occasion use the synonymous word for death.
• 33:41
  With what? Depart.
• 33:45
  So what do you say in Philippians 123?
• 33:47
  My desire is to depart and be with Christ.
• 33:52
  What did he tell Timothy? His spiritual child And second
• 33:56
  Timothy 4/6 The time of my departure has now arrived.
• 34:02
  Do you know what the word depart means in the original to
• 34:05
  unloosen another way of understanding it.
• 34:10
  And it's used in these ways to unfasten the ropes of ready for
• 34:13
  this a tent. So the time of my departure, the
• 34:19
  time of me putting this thing away and tucking it has now
• 34:23
  come. That's the language that Paul
• 34:26
  had when he spoke about death. I heard of a pastor who preached
• 34:30
  the message on behalf of a fellow minister and a best
• 34:33
  friend of his. And when he got before the
• 34:36
  church, he revealed the title of his message as he was speaking
• 34:38
  about the end of this man's life and his legacy.
• 34:40
  And this was the title of the message.
• 34:42
  Excuse me, but I got to go. I like that.
• 34:51
  If the Lord doesn't return in my lifetime, I might consider
• 34:54
  something similar at my departure.
• 34:57
  Excuse me, but I got to go. That's what it is.
• 35:02
  Death is not the cessation of life.
• 35:04
  It's a transition into a better one.
• 35:07
  That's what we're supposed to believe as Christians.
• 35:11
  And that's why as much as we weep and yes, we we cry,
• 35:13
  remember that illustration? Imagine what it'd been like for
• 35:16
  those Californians to lose their home, but immediately realize
• 35:19
  you have something 1000 times better than what you've known.
• 35:24
  There is pain, but there's also excitement.
• 35:28
  There's also relief, security, joy.
• 35:36
  How much more for us with an eternal dwelling motivation to
• 35:40
  live this life with promise And this this truth refused the
• 35:44
  notion of soul sleep, the idea that we remain unconscious until
• 35:48
  the return of Christ occurs. So you have many people who
• 35:52
  believe this, that when a believer dies, they don't go
• 35:55
  into the immediate presence of the Lord, they remain
• 35:57
  unconscious and they'll only be awakened at the resurrection.
• 36:02
  So what does it mean here for Paul to say that I desire to
• 36:05
  depart and be with Christ, or that in verse 8 we would rather
• 36:09
  be away from the body, implying that to be away from this body
• 36:13
  means that I'm going to be with the Lord.
• 36:15
  So you have every right to believe that when a loved one
• 36:18
  gives their final breath, the next breath is them praising
• 36:21
  Jesus Christ in His face. That's the truth.
• 36:26
  Motivation to live this life with promise.
• 36:30
  And I'll redefine pain even if that pain leads to death.
• 36:35
  Motivation #3 look at verse 9 with me.
• 36:40
  So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to
• 36:44
  please Him. Motivation to live this life not
• 36:50
  with promise, but with purpose. So knowing that the Lord is
• 36:55
  alive today and that we will one day meet him face to face and
• 36:58
  live with him forever, Paul outlines the fundamental purpose
• 37:01
  of every Christian's life. To please him, to live for him.
• 37:08
  So you see, being a Christian is not about slavishly abiding by
• 37:13
  certain precepts and being so rule and and and restrictive
• 37:18
  oriented. It's about bringing joy to a
• 37:22
  real person. Notice it doesn't say here.
• 37:26
  So whether we are away or we're present that we should obey the
• 37:29
  law. Well, yeah, there is an element
• 37:31
  of the law of Christ that we do obey.
• 37:32
  There is obedience in that. It's no, no, no.
• 37:34
  It's to please him. And what I love about this verse
• 37:40
  in light of the context is that Paul is also implying, when I
• 37:44
  realized this truth, by the way, it radically transformed me.
• 37:47
  I'm just personally testifying because what Paul is saying here
• 37:50
  is that there is a way to please the Lord in this body, that you
• 37:55
  won't be able to please the Lord with your new body.
• 38:00
  There is a way to please the Lord while on earth that you
• 38:02
  won't be able to please the Lord in heaven.
• 38:07
  This is what he believes, and This is why he can move forward
• 38:13
  and not even entertain the thought of giving up in his walk
• 38:17
  with the Lord. And here's one example in this
• 38:20
  context, among many other examples.
• 38:22
  Go to chapter 4. Again, look at verse 15.
• 38:25
  Notice what he says after in that chapter, at least this part
• 38:28
  of the chapter, describing some of the sufferings that he and
• 38:31
  his obedience invited into his life.
• 38:33
  For it is all for your sake. So that as grace extends to more
• 38:38
  and more people, it may increase Thanksgiving to the glory of
• 38:42
  God. So he tells his Corinthians,
• 38:45
  you, you want to know why I'm suffering the way I'm suffering?
• 38:47
  In part, it's for your sake. And more than that, my heartbeat
• 38:53
  in this life is that this gospel of grace would extend to more
• 38:57
  and more people so that more people can give glory to God for
• 39:02
  this grace that they received. Little idea of what Paul lived
• 39:07
  for, that he would reach more than the word, would go out more
• 39:11
  and more. And guess what?
• 39:12
  You can't do that when you receive this building in glory.
• 39:16
  Why? Because nobody's lost in that
• 39:18
  place. I know that's an astounding
• 39:20
  thought. Your evangelism won't matter in
• 39:24
  heaven. Your your prayers are not going
• 39:27
  to go anywhere in heaven. You can't resist temptation in
• 39:32
  heaven. It isn't there now in this life.
• 39:36
  Can you glorify God in this tent that you won't be able to when
• 39:41
  it collapses and you receive your heavenly dwelling?
• 39:45
  Doesn't that motivate you? When you're in your ministry?
• 39:48
  You're frustrated because you're not seeing the fruit that you
• 39:50
  want to see or because nobody appreciates or there's even
• 39:52
  persecution with it. As much as this is difficult, I
• 39:56
  know that I only have this breath of a life to be able to
• 39:59
  glorify God. How dare I even complain or
• 40:01
  contemplate quitting. I'm only in this tent for a
• 40:06
  little while, so I'm going to stick with it and I'm going to
• 40:10
  honor him as long as I live in this body because I'm going to
• 40:15
  glorify him in another way when I am away from this body.
• 40:21
  Oh, that should energize you. It energizes man.
• 40:26
  Last motivation. Along with his encouragement
• 40:32
  comes a sobering reminder in verse 10 that how we live in
• 40:38
  these bodies will determine the rewards that the resurrected
• 40:41
  Lord will give us when we meet Him.
• 40:44
  Verse 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
• 40:48
  Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what He
• 40:52
  has done in the body, whether good or evil.
• 40:55
  Motivation #4 that this provides us is to live this life with
• 41:00
  accountability, with accountability, not just with
• 41:04
  courageous faith, not just with a promise, not just with
• 41:07
  purpose, but to live this life with a sense of accountability.
• 41:11
  So listen, we're not only going to experience embrace when we
• 41:15
  are clothed with glory after we meet the Lord, we're also going
• 41:19
  to be met with in evaluation. The judgement seemed of Christ
• 41:22
  is not synonymous with the great white throne judgement that you
• 41:25
  find in Revelation, 22 different judgement seats.
• 41:28
  The great white throne at the end of Revelation is for
• 41:30
  unbelievers to determine the degree of their punishment in
• 41:32
  hell. The judgement seat of Christ is
• 41:36
  not Christ evaluating us to see if you are worthy to be saved.
• 41:40
  That's been dealt with at the cross, but it will be an
• 41:44
  evaluation to determine the rewards that you will know for
• 41:49
  eternity. Salvation is the same for all
• 41:54
  Christians. Rewards are not.
• 41:58
  Yes, the Bible gloriously teaches that salvation cannot be
• 42:01
  taken from you, but it also teaches that rewards can.
• 42:07
  And while we rejoice that salvation is for all who believe
• 42:11
  you and I must understand that the rewards are for those who
• 42:14
  work. And the reason why Paul brings
• 42:18
  us up here is because the resurrection puts into proper
• 42:21
  perspective meeting the Lord at that judgement seat, puts into
• 42:26
  perspective what we do as Christians with our time, with
• 42:30
  our money, with our abilities, with our opportunities.
• 42:38
  Paul understood that he was called.
• 42:40
  Paul understood that he was gifted with an incredible mind.
• 42:43
  And when he lived with the realization that I will leave
• 42:45
  this tent and meet the Lord, yes, with an embrace, yes, to be
• 42:49
  clothed with something that I can't even explain in detail.
• 42:53
  I will also have a face to face conversation with the Savior to
• 42:56
  discuss what I did while I lived in that tent.
• 43:01
  And this is the last verse because we're going to close it
• 43:03
  here. But just to give you an idea,
• 43:04
  peek over at verse 11 to see what I'm speaking about.
• 43:06
  Therefore, so I shared this little verse here last Wednesday
• 43:11
  at our prayer meeting. Whenever you see the word,
• 43:12
  therefore you have to say what is therefore, therefore,
• 43:15
  therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.
• 43:20
  Pause there. So he just finished in verse 10
• 43:23
  talking about the judgement seat of Christ, and he says we must
• 43:26
  all appear before it. Therefore I live with the fear
• 43:30
  of God. Why?
• 43:32
  Because God will send you to hell.
• 43:34
  No, he's a born again believer filled with the Spirit, sealed
• 43:36
  as a guarantee. I don't want to disappoint my
• 43:41
  God. I don't want to look at my life
• 43:46
  at the end and realize that I didn't honor His commands.
• 43:52
  I didn't fulfill my calling. I quit when He didn't tell me to
• 43:56
  quit. I lived in the flesh.
• 43:58
  I lived in carnality more than than I did in the Spirit.
• 44:07
  And so though there is no threat of losing salvation in these
• 44:09
  verses, there is the danger of missing out on a more fulfilling
• 44:15
  encounter with Christ. May the Lord help us live with a
• 44:22
  realization that this tent is temporary, that we're promised a
• 44:28
  building and we're going to one day meet the builder of that
• 44:33
  building. And we've come to these elements
• 44:36
  because, yes, we're reflecting on the body and blood of Jesus,
• 44:41
  but we're also looking forward to the extent of this purchase
• 44:49
  of our eternal dwelling with him.
• 44:52
  So we would, we pray now and ask the Lord to help us believe it
• 44:56
  as this man Paul believed it. Lord, we thank you for this
• 45:05
  time. And we ask that the reality of
• 45:10
  the resurrection would be more real to us than anything else in
• 45:13
  this room. And we pray that the truths that
• 45:18
  we heard from these verses would would never leave us, may be
• 45:25
  absorbed by every person, may get into the bloodstream of our
• 45:29
  existence. We, we want to be like this man
• 45:31
  who was able to be so motivated by this truth.
• 45:37
  But we've come to reflect on your grace, thanking you that
• 45:41
  our salvation is a gift. But Lord, we also want this
• 45:43
  grace to not be in vain. We want it to stir us to be
• 45:48
  useful, effective, unashamed of your gospel.
• 45:55
  We give you thanks today together in Jesus name, Amen.
• 46:00
  Allow me to make one more observation about this truth of
• 46:04
  our glorification, the final stage of our salvation.
• 46:07
  Each of us in here very likely will fall asleep at a different
• 46:12
  time. And I use the New Testament
• 46:14
  language for death. Everyone here will fall asleep
• 46:17
  at a unique time. There are instances where it
• 46:21
  happens tragically with others at the same time, but generally
• 46:25
  that's the case. Additionally, most if not all of
• 46:30
  us in here were saved at a unique, different time.
• 46:35
  But when it comes to us being clothed with our heavenly
• 46:38
  dwelling, the glorification of our bodies, I'm not sure if you
• 46:42
  know this, but that's going to happen collectively at one time,
• 46:46
  that upon the return of Jesus Christ, his entire body, the
• 46:51
  church will be transformed, the twinkling of an eye.
• 46:55
  So think about this. Even in our glorification,
• 46:58
  everything that we've known, even in Christ has been unique
• 47:01
  and separate and individualistic to some degree.
• 47:03
  But when it comes to that final stage, we're all going to know
• 47:07
  it at the same time. Not a glorious thought, but we
• 47:11
  thank you. Your word is so deep, so rich.
• 47:14
  We ask, Oh God, for those who might be struggling with
• 47:17
  sickness, maybe their own bodies or those who are deeply loved
• 47:21
  that are their tents are ready to collapse.
• 47:28
  Lord, may the truth of the resurrection bring them comfort
• 47:31
  and knowing that this not it's not the end.
• 47:33
  This is not the permanent state of their being or for us who are
• 47:37
  enduring persecution and suffering from family friends
• 47:39
  for our faith in Christ. May we remember that it is worth
• 47:43
  it because this pain is not the end of the story either.
• 47:46
  The betrayal, the harm, the the loneliness at times is not the
• 47:50
  final say. We will be gathered together
• 47:53
  forever Lord, when we feel like we've lost purpose or we've lost
• 47:57
  passion or we're even feeling weak in our service to you.
• 48:00
  May we remember the face to face encounter that we will have for
• 48:04
  with the one that saved us. May we never lose sight of it.
• 48:07
  Oh God. So we pray that you instill
• 48:09
  these truths. Help us live before them, Lord,
• 48:12
  place them before the eyes of our minds so that we would never
• 48:15
  fail to recognize these promises.
• 48:18
  Lord, we love you and we thank you.
• 48:19
  As a church we give you all thanks and honor in Jesus name,
• 48:23
  Amen and Amen.