Corinthians chapter 5. Paul had talked in the
previous chapter about we're like clay jars.
We're in our human bodies. We're weak. But within
that clay jar is something beautiful and powerful.
The grace of God and salvation that comes through
Jesus Christ and the ways that God chooses to
use us even though we are weak. He's kind of
following along that same line of thinking with
us being weak while we're here serving the Lord.
He kind of follows that same idea here in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. So let's pray and we'll get started.
God, I pray that you would just be with us for
these few minutes, that we would focus on you.
that we would not be distracted by the worries
and the things of the world, but that you would
help our minds to see your word and to hear your
word and to grow in it and to live by it and
maybe get some encouragement from it tonight.
So I pray that your Holy Spirit would just be
among us. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen. 2 Corinthians
5, verse 1. For we know that if our temporary
earthly dwelling is destroyed, We have a building
from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens,
not made with hands. Now, we talked a little
bit last week where Paul talked about his momentary
light affliction. And then when we flipped to
2 Corinthians chapter 12, we saw that that momentary
light affliction was not light affliction at
all. It was imprisonments and being stoned and
being hit with lashes on multiple occasions and
all of these different things. But yet... Paul
still referred to those as momentary light afflictions
because he had his eye on the bigger picture.
He knew that he was a weak vessel in this world,
but as weak as he was, he knew the power of God
was great, and so as long as he was on this earth,
he was going to continue to do the Lord's work.
And here he begins to talk about our temporary
bodies. For we know that if our temporary earthly
dwelling is destroyed, he's talking about our
bodies here. He's talking about, look, at some
point in time in our life, whether it's through
persecution for serving the Lord or just growing
old, at some point in time, our bodies will begin
to deteriorate. Now, everybody in here, well,
you younger ones can't, but if you've got a little
age on you, you can see that your eyes don't
work as good as they used to, and you can't hear
as good as you used to. You've got a few more
aches and pains than you used to. You go somewhere
with a bunch of young folks, when it's time to
stand up, they just stand up. When you go somewhere
with a bunch of old folks and it's time to stand
up, you hear a lot of grunting going on. Our
muscles are sore and things hurt. And it's just
the way it is. As we grow old, our bodies begin
to deteriorate. And sometimes it doesn't even
take old age. Sometimes just health problems,
even at a young age, will cause our bodies to
begin to deteriorate. And in Paul's case, his
body was physically deteriorating as a result
of some of this. persecution that he had experienced,
no doubt. I mean, these things, you get stoned
and you get beat enough times and go through
those things, it takes a physical toll on you.
But nevertheless, Paul says, for we know that
if our temporary earthly dwelling is destroyed,
we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling
in the heavens, not made with hands. So he says,
look. Even though things in this life might be
difficult, we're looking past this life. Our
focus is on not what we see. We talked about
last week. Our focus is not on what we see, but
what is unseen. And so he says, I know that even
though my body is being destroyed here, I know
that one day I've got a better dwelling place.
That my dwelling place here is being destroyed,
but God has something special for me when I get
to be with him in heaven for all of eternity.
And he continues on in verse 2. Now, we have
this idea of groaning in this body. Now, I suspect
there are some of us that groan, and the older
we get, or... Maybe the worse our health gets,
even if we're younger, we know people. And there
comes a point in people's lives where they are
just ready to go and be with the Lord. You've
known people like that. You've known people,
and they've lived their life, and the sickness
has got the best of them, and their age has got
the best of them, and people eventually get to
a point where they'll just say, I'm just ready
to go. The Lord's done all He can do for me here.
He's used me in all the ways He can. And I'm
ready to go and be with the Lord. And understandably
so. When we get to that point, we're not there
tonight, praise the Lord. We're not at that point.
We're still doing good. But you can understand.
how people get to that point. Even if you're
not to the point to where you're ready to die,
you still may have days that you've grown inside
this body, and that's what Paul says. Indeed,
we've grown in this body, desiring to put on
our dwelling from heaven. Now, that's a good
day. We think about all of our pains and our
sicknesses and our struggles here, and we do
look forward to a day. that we're not going to
experience those things, that we're going to
have a better body than what we do now, a body
that's not being worn down, a body that's in
perfect shape all the time that's provided by
the Lord. Since we are clothed, we will not be
found naked. I think he's probably recalling
the things that he wrote in what we call 1 Corinthians
toward the end of the book. He talked about being
clothed with immortality. And we see that same
idea coming here, that we're not naked. We're
not naked in our sin. We see that language used.
Scripture sometimes about our sinfulness, that
they were naked and knew not that they sinned.
It talks about Adam and Eve. And then all of
a sudden their eyes were opened and they knew
that they were naked. So that nakedness kind
of talks about our sinfulness. Paul uses that
same example here when he says, when we are clothed,
we will not be naked. So he's talking about getting
a new body, a new dwelling place in heaven, but
kind of also combining that with this idea of
being clothed with righteousness and clothed
with immortality. And he continues on in verse
4. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent,
burdened as we are, because we do not want to
be unclothed, but clothed. so that mortality
may be swallowed up by life. Now, it's interesting
how he describes this body. He describes this
body as a tent. He says we groan while we are
in this tent. Now, this is something that we
can all understand. If anybody's ever slept in
a tent before or saw a tent before, you know
it's not much to a tent. I mean, they're made
to be real simple because a lot of times people
are toting them as they're hiking. You don't
want anything that's heavy and elaborate. You
want something as small as it can be. So tents
serve a purpose. it gives you a place you can
get in and zip up and hopefully at least keep
the mosquitoes away from you and and maybe keep
you a little warmer than if you were out in the
elements keep the wind off of you but but tents
are not made to last for any extended period
of time and over time tents begin to deteriorate
and they get holes and they get leaks and the
zipper breaks and a tin is only a temporary thing
it's not made to last forever eventually it serves
its purpose and it's done with And that's how
Paul describes our bodies here. He says we groan
while we are in this tent, burdened as we are,
because we do not want to be unclothed. That
is, we want to be in a place where we are taken
care of, where we're not in these old bodies
that are falling apart, where we're not struggling
against sin, but that we are clothed with immortality.
In verse 5, he says, And the one who prepared
us for this very purpose is God. who gave us
the Spirit as a down payment. So God has prepared
us for the day that he's going to take us to
be home with him. Now, while we're in this life,
life is tough. Our bodies wear down, sickness
hits, the stresses of life hits, the persecution
sometimes for stepping up for the Lord hits.
These are all things that we go through as brothers
and sisters in Christ, but God has something
better prepared for us, something that he's prepared
ahead of time so that when our time comes, that
we will get to go into the presence of God for
all of eternity. And how can we be assured of
this? How can we be assured that there's something
better coming? How can we know that God's going
to follow through on his promise? Well, he says
here that he gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
So the moment we accept Jesus Christ, we put
our faith in Jesus Christ, we make him the king
of our life, we choose to follow him, we receive
the Holy Spirit. And that's a great thing. The
Holy Spirit, it leads and it guides and it instructs
us and it... powers us. We see that a lot in
the New Testament and the Old Testament. The
Holy Spirit didn't act in quite the same way
in the Old Testament as in the New Testament.
In the New Testament, everybody who comes to
Jesus Christ receives the Holy Spirit, but in
the Old Testament, it appears as though the Holy
Spirit, maybe it kind of came and went because
We see certain people at certain times that the
Spirit of the Lord comes upon them and they're
able to prophesy or they're able to do mighty
things and defeat mighty armies or whatever it
may be when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon
them. And so Paul says, look, this is our evidence
that we have been saved. This is our evidence
that God loves us. This is our evidence that
there is something better prepared for us, that
God gives us the Holy Spirit in this life. as
a down payment to show us that, hey, look, I've
got something better prepared for you. So we
need to listen to the Holy Spirit's guidance,
to the Holy Spirit's instructions. We need to
allow the Holy Spirit to empower us. The Holy
Spirit can empower us to do things that are beyond
our control. So there may be things that God
calls you to that you feel led to do, but you
say, man, I'm not good enough to do that. I don't
have the strength. I don't have the ability.
But the Holy Spirit can empower us to do. Far
greater things than we could ever imagine, and
it's not on our own strength. It is due to the
Lord's strength. Verse 6. So we are always confident
and know that while we are at home in the body,
we are away from the Lord. Okay, so as long as
we're in this life, we know the Lord. We know
the word of the Lord. We know about Jesus Christ.
We've received his spirit, but we're not really
fully in the presence of the Lord. Now it's a
joy to know and to experience the Lord in the
way that we do and to feel His presence in the
way that we do and to see that He answers our
prayers and just to know that He strengthens
us in the way that He does right now while we're
in this body, while we're at home right here
in our tents in this world. But there's coming
a day that we are going to be at home with the
Lord. But Paul says, look, when we're still in
this world, as much as we experience God in the
ways that we can, we're still not at home with
God in the way that we will one day be. He says
in verse 7, For we walk by faith, not by sight,
and we are confident and satisfied to be out
of the body and home with the Lord. Therefore,
whether we are at home or away, we make it our
aim to be pleasing to him. Isn't that a beautiful
verse? Verse 7. We walk by faith, not by sight.
We walk knowing that God is good. What we see
before us is often bad and it's hardship for
us and it's situations that we don't know how
we'll get out of or how God can do any good with
this. But nonetheless, he says, we don't walk
by what we see. We walk by our faith in God,
knowing that God is good, God is in control,
God is using us, God is not going to leave us
and forsake us. And so for that reason, we continue
to do the Lord's work. And we are confident and
satisfied to be out of the body and at home with
the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or
away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.
So Paul says, whatever we do, whether we are
here, or whether we are in the presence of God,
our goal is to please God. Our goal is to praise
God. Our goal is to save God. Paul says, it doesn't
matter where I am. He says, I want to be with
the Lord, but I know that God's got a job for
me to do here. I want to be with the Lord. I've
grown while I'm in this body, but I know that
as long as I'm here, I need to serve the Lord.
So it doesn't matter. I look forward to the day
that I'll get to be with him, Paul says, but
it doesn't matter if I don't get to be with him.
Today or tomorrow or whenever the day is going
to come, he says, I still desire to serve the
Lord wherever I am. Verse 10. For we must all
appear before the tribunal of Christ so that
each may be repaid for what he has done in the
body, whether good or worthless. Now that's something
to think about. Paul says, look, I want to live
for the Lord. I want to serve Him. I want to
please Him. I want to be obedient to Him because.
Why does he want to do that? What is part of
his motivation? It's a fear of the Lord as we
see in the next couple of verses. His motivation
is this. He knows that one day every work that
he does, every word that he says, or every word
that he doesn't say, or every word that he doesn't
do, he knows that one day he will have to stand
before the tribunal of Jesus, the judgment seat
of Jesus Christ. For we must all appear before
the tribunal of Christ. Now that's a scary thing
to think about. that we must all stand before
the tribunal of Christ. Now, those who have trusted
Christ, I don't think our salvation is on the
line here in this judgment, but I do think our
works are going to be judged in some way. And
what kind of works are we doing? Are they good
works or are they bad works? He says, so that
each may be repaid for what he has done in this
body. Now, I don't know what that payment is
going to look like, what that reward is going
to look like. I don't know what it's going to
be like. But I suspect it's going to be better
to be rewarded than not rewarded when that day
comes. We're all going to be judged by our works
on that day, whether good or worthless. Or some
translations would just say good or bad. So what
about our works? What kind of stuff are we doing
in our life? This is kind of a scary thing to
think about. Stop for a second and say, okay,
one day I'm going to sit before the judgment
seat of Jesus Christ, and these things that I'm
doing, are going to be brought up. Are we doing
good things or are we doing bad things? Are we
doing stuff that's worth something or is the
stuff we're doing worthless? And maybe we don't
think about that enough. Maybe we should. Probably
we don't want to. It's probably easier not to
think about that. But perhaps we would change
the way we live if we thought more about that
question. Perhaps that's how Paul can live the
way that he lives. It's because he does think
about that question. He does ponder that question.
He does let that question drive his life and
the decisions he makes and the ways that he serves
the Lord. Is he doing good? Is he doing bad?
Are we doing good or are we doing bad? We want
to do things that are good. We want to do good
works, not for ourselves. but to serve the Lord.
Paul's desire is not a pat on the back. It's
not so everybody can say, oh, look how great
Paul is. It's not so we can stand here 2 ,000
years later and praise Paul. We're not praising
Paul. We're praising the Lord. And we praise
the Lord for people like Paul that stood up to
serve the Lord and be a good example to us and
write words like this that we can grow from.
So maybe these words can be an encouragement
for us tonight, that we can know that... Look,
these old bodies are wearing out. They're like
tents. We enjoy them while we have them. They're
good while they last, but over time they begin
to tear down and we long for something better.
And praise the Lord, we have something to long
for. We have some hope to know that there is
a building in the heavens that will not be destroyed.
A building in the presence of God that will be
forever. And there's a lot of hope and encouragement
in that. Maybe we need to look at the question
that Paul leaves us with here. And that is, are
the works that we're doing, are they good or
are they worthless? But we want to be those who
are obedient to God. We want to be those who
follow. We want to be those who do good works.
We want to be those who trust in Jesus Christ
and put our faith in Jesus Christ and find our
hope in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. God, we come
to you tonight. We thank you for these good words.
And I pray that you be with us as we groan in
this world. God, it is tough. There are days
that we just... are worn out from the world and
the stresses and the pains and the sicknesses
and all the stuff in this world. So, dear Lord,
I pray that you encourage us that while we're
in these old tents, that we just keep going.
God, even if they're falling apart, I pray that
you help us to keep going as long as we can go
with our eyes looking above, looking ahead. Dear
Lord, focused on being in your presence. And
I pray, God, that you would help us to continue
to seek you and serve you. and live for you as
long as we can to do what we can and to do good
works for you, dear Lord. Help us to see the
things in our lives maybe that are worthless
so that we would be able to get those things
out with your help and your power. And I ask
these things in Jesus' name. Amen.