WEBVTT 00:00:06.869 --> 00:00:16.410 Corinthians chapter 5. Paul had talked in the 00:00:16.410 --> 00:00:19.850 previous chapter about we're like clay jars. 00:00:19.969 --> 00:00:23.789 We're in our human bodies. We're weak. But within 00:00:23.789 --> 00:00:26.550 that clay jar is something beautiful and powerful. 00:00:26.750 --> 00:00:29.570 The grace of God and salvation that comes through 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:32.609 Jesus Christ and the ways that God chooses to 00:00:32.609 --> 00:00:36.090 use us even though we are weak. He's kind of 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:39.130 following along that same line of thinking with 00:00:39.130 --> 00:00:41.890 us being weak while we're here serving the Lord. 00:00:42.130 --> 00:00:45.609 He kind of follows that same idea here in 2 Corinthians 00:00:45.609 --> 00:00:48.570 chapter 5. So let's pray and we'll get started. 00:00:49.090 --> 00:00:51.710 God, I pray that you would just be with us for 00:00:51.710 --> 00:00:54.030 these few minutes, that we would focus on you. 00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:56.509 that we would not be distracted by the worries 00:00:56.509 --> 00:00:58.350 and the things of the world, but that you would 00:00:58.350 --> 00:01:01.530 help our minds to see your word and to hear your 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:04.489 word and to grow in it and to live by it and 00:01:04.489 --> 00:01:06.390 maybe get some encouragement from it tonight. 00:01:06.549 --> 00:01:08.510 So I pray that your Holy Spirit would just be 00:01:08.510 --> 00:01:15.590 among us. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen. 2 Corinthians 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:21.390 5, verse 1. For we know that if our temporary 00:01:21.390 --> 00:01:25.569 earthly dwelling is destroyed, We have a building 00:01:25.569 --> 00:01:29.049 from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, 00:01:29.189 --> 00:01:32.969 not made with hands. Now, we talked a little 00:01:32.969 --> 00:01:35.989 bit last week where Paul talked about his momentary 00:01:35.989 --> 00:01:37.870 light affliction. And then when we flipped to 00:01:37.870 --> 00:01:41.390 2 Corinthians chapter 12, we saw that that momentary 00:01:41.390 --> 00:01:43.530 light affliction was not light affliction at 00:01:43.530 --> 00:01:45.989 all. It was imprisonments and being stoned and 00:01:45.989 --> 00:01:50.510 being hit with lashes on multiple occasions and 00:01:50.510 --> 00:01:53.299 all of these different things. But yet... Paul 00:01:53.299 --> 00:01:56.420 still referred to those as momentary light afflictions 00:01:56.420 --> 00:01:59.120 because he had his eye on the bigger picture. 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.359 He knew that he was a weak vessel in this world, 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:05.680 but as weak as he was, he knew the power of God 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.159 was great, and so as long as he was on this earth, 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:12.360 he was going to continue to do the Lord's work. 00:02:12.860 --> 00:02:15.479 And here he begins to talk about our temporary 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:18.800 bodies. For we know that if our temporary earthly 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.400 dwelling is destroyed, he's talking about our 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:23.620 bodies here. He's talking about, look, at some 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:25.939 point in time in our life, whether it's through 00:02:25.939 --> 00:02:29.099 persecution for serving the Lord or just growing 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.699 old, at some point in time, our bodies will begin 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:35.930 to deteriorate. Now, everybody in here, well, 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:38.669 you younger ones can't, but if you've got a little 00:02:38.669 --> 00:02:41.889 age on you, you can see that your eyes don't 00:02:41.889 --> 00:02:43.849 work as good as they used to, and you can't hear 00:02:43.849 --> 00:02:46.289 as good as you used to. You've got a few more 00:02:46.289 --> 00:02:49.469 aches and pains than you used to. You go somewhere 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.069 with a bunch of young folks, when it's time to 00:02:52.069 --> 00:02:54.009 stand up, they just stand up. When you go somewhere 00:02:54.009 --> 00:02:55.810 with a bunch of old folks and it's time to stand 00:02:55.810 --> 00:03:01.210 up, you hear a lot of grunting going on. Our 00:03:01.210 --> 00:03:04.650 muscles are sore and things hurt. And it's just 00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:08.669 the way it is. As we grow old, our bodies begin 00:03:08.669 --> 00:03:10.750 to deteriorate. And sometimes it doesn't even 00:03:10.750 --> 00:03:12.930 take old age. Sometimes just health problems, 00:03:13.009 --> 00:03:15.189 even at a young age, will cause our bodies to 00:03:15.189 --> 00:03:18.689 begin to deteriorate. And in Paul's case, his 00:03:18.689 --> 00:03:22.229 body was physically deteriorating as a result 00:03:22.229 --> 00:03:24.909 of some of this. persecution that he had experienced, 00:03:25.069 --> 00:03:27.189 no doubt. I mean, these things, you get stoned 00:03:27.189 --> 00:03:29.469 and you get beat enough times and go through 00:03:29.469 --> 00:03:31.930 those things, it takes a physical toll on you. 00:03:32.509 --> 00:03:35.250 But nevertheless, Paul says, for we know that 00:03:35.250 --> 00:03:37.689 if our temporary earthly dwelling is destroyed, 00:03:37.810 --> 00:03:41.930 we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling 00:03:41.930 --> 00:03:45.870 in the heavens, not made with hands. So he says, 00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.569 look. Even though things in this life might be 00:03:48.569 --> 00:03:51.050 difficult, we're looking past this life. Our 00:03:51.050 --> 00:03:53.650 focus is on not what we see. We talked about 00:03:53.650 --> 00:03:56.530 last week. Our focus is not on what we see, but 00:03:56.530 --> 00:04:00.009 what is unseen. And so he says, I know that even 00:04:00.009 --> 00:04:02.629 though my body is being destroyed here, I know 00:04:02.629 --> 00:04:04.610 that one day I've got a better dwelling place. 00:04:04.849 --> 00:04:07.590 That my dwelling place here is being destroyed, 00:04:07.629 --> 00:04:10.530 but God has something special for me when I get 00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:13.050 to be with him in heaven for all of eternity. 00:04:13.370 --> 00:04:28.459 And he continues on in verse 2. Now, we have 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:31.459 this idea of groaning in this body. Now, I suspect 00:04:31.459 --> 00:04:33.959 there are some of us that groan, and the older 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:36.350 we get, or... Maybe the worse our health gets, 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:38.930 even if we're younger, we know people. And there 00:04:38.930 --> 00:04:42.069 comes a point in people's lives where they are 00:04:42.069 --> 00:04:44.449 just ready to go and be with the Lord. You've 00:04:44.449 --> 00:04:46.250 known people like that. You've known people, 00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:48.649 and they've lived their life, and the sickness 00:04:48.649 --> 00:04:52.149 has got the best of them, and their age has got 00:04:52.149 --> 00:04:54.610 the best of them, and people eventually get to 00:04:54.610 --> 00:04:57.649 a point where they'll just say, I'm just ready 00:04:57.649 --> 00:05:00.829 to go. The Lord's done all He can do for me here. 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:04.649 He's used me in all the ways He can. And I'm 00:05:04.649 --> 00:05:07.610 ready to go and be with the Lord. And understandably 00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:09.649 so. When we get to that point, we're not there 00:05:09.649 --> 00:05:11.430 tonight, praise the Lord. We're not at that point. 00:05:11.509 --> 00:05:13.970 We're still doing good. But you can understand. 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:17.180 how people get to that point. Even if you're 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:18.980 not to the point to where you're ready to die, 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:22.279 you still may have days that you've grown inside 00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:24.439 this body, and that's what Paul says. Indeed, 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:27.660 we've grown in this body, desiring to put on 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:29.779 our dwelling from heaven. Now, that's a good 00:05:29.779 --> 00:05:32.300 day. We think about all of our pains and our 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:34.759 sicknesses and our struggles here, and we do 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:37.019 look forward to a day. that we're not going to 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:38.579 experience those things, that we're going to 00:05:38.579 --> 00:05:41.120 have a better body than what we do now, a body 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:43.660 that's not being worn down, a body that's in 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:46.259 perfect shape all the time that's provided by 00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:51.100 the Lord. Since we are clothed, we will not be 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:54.800 found naked. I think he's probably recalling 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.959 the things that he wrote in what we call 1 Corinthians 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:00.579 toward the end of the book. He talked about being 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:04.240 clothed with immortality. And we see that same 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:08.620 idea coming here, that we're not naked. We're 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:12.399 not naked in our sin. We see that language used. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.100 Scripture sometimes about our sinfulness, that 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:18.519 they were naked and knew not that they sinned. 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:20.819 It talks about Adam and Eve. And then all of 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:23.139 a sudden their eyes were opened and they knew 00:06:23.139 --> 00:06:25.620 that they were naked. So that nakedness kind 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:28.920 of talks about our sinfulness. Paul uses that 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:32.540 same example here when he says, when we are clothed, 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:35.160 we will not be naked. So he's talking about getting 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:38.060 a new body, a new dwelling place in heaven, but 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:40.360 kind of also combining that with this idea of 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:43.040 being clothed with righteousness and clothed 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.560 with immortality. And he continues on in verse 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.980 4. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:53.639 burdened as we are, because we do not want to 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:57.790 be unclothed, but clothed. so that mortality 00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:01.670 may be swallowed up by life. Now, it's interesting 00:07:01.670 --> 00:07:04.629 how he describes this body. He describes this 00:07:04.629 --> 00:07:07.889 body as a tent. He says we groan while we are 00:07:07.889 --> 00:07:10.750 in this tent. Now, this is something that we 00:07:10.750 --> 00:07:13.569 can all understand. If anybody's ever slept in 00:07:13.569 --> 00:07:16.250 a tent before or saw a tent before, you know 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:18.670 it's not much to a tent. I mean, they're made 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:20.949 to be real simple because a lot of times people 00:07:20.949 --> 00:07:22.490 are toting them as they're hiking. You don't 00:07:22.490 --> 00:07:24.569 want anything that's heavy and elaborate. You 00:07:24.569 --> 00:07:27.170 want something as small as it can be. So tents 00:07:27.170 --> 00:07:29.589 serve a purpose. it gives you a place you can 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:32.129 get in and zip up and hopefully at least keep 00:07:32.129 --> 00:07:34.410 the mosquitoes away from you and and maybe keep 00:07:34.410 --> 00:07:36.310 you a little warmer than if you were out in the 00:07:36.310 --> 00:07:38.949 elements keep the wind off of you but but tents 00:07:38.949 --> 00:07:41.389 are not made to last for any extended period 00:07:41.389 --> 00:07:44.889 of time and over time tents begin to deteriorate 00:07:44.889 --> 00:07:47.350 and they get holes and they get leaks and the 00:07:47.350 --> 00:07:50.569 zipper breaks and a tin is only a temporary thing 00:07:50.569 --> 00:07:53.709 it's not made to last forever eventually it serves 00:07:53.709 --> 00:07:56.620 its purpose and it's done with And that's how 00:07:56.620 --> 00:07:59.079 Paul describes our bodies here. He says we groan 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:02.040 while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:04.839 because we do not want to be unclothed. That 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:08.360 is, we want to be in a place where we are taken 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:10.800 care of, where we're not in these old bodies 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:13.019 that are falling apart, where we're not struggling 00:08:13.019 --> 00:08:17.439 against sin, but that we are clothed with immortality. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.480 In verse 5, he says, And the one who prepared 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:26.220 us for this very purpose is God. who gave us 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:30.699 the Spirit as a down payment. So God has prepared 00:08:30.699 --> 00:08:32.740 us for the day that he's going to take us to 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:35.059 be home with him. Now, while we're in this life, 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:37.139 life is tough. Our bodies wear down, sickness 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:40.539 hits, the stresses of life hits, the persecution 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:42.899 sometimes for stepping up for the Lord hits. 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:46.519 These are all things that we go through as brothers 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:48.919 and sisters in Christ, but God has something 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.480 better prepared for us, something that he's prepared 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:54.840 ahead of time so that when our time comes, that 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:57.759 we will get to go into the presence of God for 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:00.850 all of eternity. And how can we be assured of 00:09:00.850 --> 00:09:02.590 this? How can we be assured that there's something 00:09:02.590 --> 00:09:04.929 better coming? How can we know that God's going 00:09:04.929 --> 00:09:07.350 to follow through on his promise? Well, he says 00:09:07.350 --> 00:09:11.429 here that he gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:14.289 So the moment we accept Jesus Christ, we put 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:16.330 our faith in Jesus Christ, we make him the king 00:09:16.330 --> 00:09:19.230 of our life, we choose to follow him, we receive 00:09:19.230 --> 00:09:22.970 the Holy Spirit. And that's a great thing. The 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:25.789 Holy Spirit, it leads and it guides and it instructs 00:09:25.789 --> 00:09:29.399 us and it... powers us. We see that a lot in 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:31.820 the New Testament and the Old Testament. The 00:09:31.820 --> 00:09:34.639 Holy Spirit didn't act in quite the same way 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:36.480 in the Old Testament as in the New Testament. 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:38.919 In the New Testament, everybody who comes to 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:42.120 Jesus Christ receives the Holy Spirit, but in 00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:44.059 the Old Testament, it appears as though the Holy 00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:46.899 Spirit, maybe it kind of came and went because 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:49.899 We see certain people at certain times that the 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:52.240 Spirit of the Lord comes upon them and they're 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.919 able to prophesy or they're able to do mighty 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:57.279 things and defeat mighty armies or whatever it 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:00.320 may be when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:04.940 them. And so Paul says, look, this is our evidence 00:10:04.940 --> 00:10:07.940 that we have been saved. This is our evidence 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:10.620 that God loves us. This is our evidence that 00:10:10.620 --> 00:10:12.559 there is something better prepared for us, that 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:16.809 God gives us the Holy Spirit in this life. as 00:10:16.809 --> 00:10:19.289 a down payment to show us that, hey, look, I've 00:10:19.289 --> 00:10:21.850 got something better prepared for you. So we 00:10:21.850 --> 00:10:23.970 need to listen to the Holy Spirit's guidance, 00:10:24.029 --> 00:10:26.730 to the Holy Spirit's instructions. We need to 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:28.990 allow the Holy Spirit to empower us. The Holy 00:10:28.990 --> 00:10:31.970 Spirit can empower us to do things that are beyond 00:10:31.970 --> 00:10:34.570 our control. So there may be things that God 00:10:34.570 --> 00:10:37.070 calls you to that you feel led to do, but you 00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:38.970 say, man, I'm not good enough to do that. I don't 00:10:38.970 --> 00:10:40.490 have the strength. I don't have the ability. 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:44.009 But the Holy Spirit can empower us to do. Far 00:10:44.009 --> 00:10:46.330 greater things than we could ever imagine, and 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:49.309 it's not on our own strength. It is due to the 00:10:49.309 --> 00:10:54.250 Lord's strength. Verse 6. So we are always confident 00:10:54.250 --> 00:10:57.610 and know that while we are at home in the body, 00:10:57.789 --> 00:11:02.309 we are away from the Lord. Okay, so as long as 00:11:02.309 --> 00:11:05.750 we're in this life, we know the Lord. We know 00:11:05.750 --> 00:11:07.909 the word of the Lord. We know about Jesus Christ. 00:11:07.990 --> 00:11:11.029 We've received his spirit, but we're not really 00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:14.330 fully in the presence of the Lord. Now it's a 00:11:14.330 --> 00:11:17.490 joy to know and to experience the Lord in the 00:11:17.490 --> 00:11:19.889 way that we do and to feel His presence in the 00:11:19.889 --> 00:11:21.950 way that we do and to see that He answers our 00:11:21.950 --> 00:11:24.309 prayers and just to know that He strengthens 00:11:24.309 --> 00:11:26.929 us in the way that He does right now while we're 00:11:26.929 --> 00:11:28.970 in this body, while we're at home right here 00:11:28.970 --> 00:11:32.240 in our tents in this world. But there's coming 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.759 a day that we are going to be at home with the 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:37.179 Lord. But Paul says, look, when we're still in 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:40.159 this world, as much as we experience God in the 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:43.019 ways that we can, we're still not at home with 00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:46.960 God in the way that we will one day be. He says 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.399 in verse 7, For we walk by faith, not by sight, 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:54.139 and we are confident and satisfied to be out 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:57.970 of the body and home with the Lord. Therefore, 00:11:58.070 --> 00:12:01.370 whether we are at home or away, we make it our 00:12:01.370 --> 00:12:05.529 aim to be pleasing to him. Isn't that a beautiful 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:08.769 verse? Verse 7. We walk by faith, not by sight. 00:12:08.950 --> 00:12:11.710 We walk knowing that God is good. What we see 00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:14.730 before us is often bad and it's hardship for 00:12:14.730 --> 00:12:16.990 us and it's situations that we don't know how 00:12:16.990 --> 00:12:19.750 we'll get out of or how God can do any good with 00:12:19.750 --> 00:12:22.490 this. But nonetheless, he says, we don't walk 00:12:22.490 --> 00:12:25.629 by what we see. We walk by our faith in God, 00:12:25.730 --> 00:12:28.110 knowing that God is good, God is in control, 00:12:28.389 --> 00:12:31.169 God is using us, God is not going to leave us 00:12:31.169 --> 00:12:34.129 and forsake us. And so for that reason, we continue 00:12:34.129 --> 00:12:37.429 to do the Lord's work. And we are confident and 00:12:37.429 --> 00:12:41.009 satisfied to be out of the body and at home with 00:12:41.009 --> 00:12:44.169 the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or 00:12:44.169 --> 00:12:46.389 away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him. 00:12:46.509 --> 00:12:49.590 So Paul says, whatever we do, whether we are 00:12:49.590 --> 00:12:52.100 here, or whether we are in the presence of God, 00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:55.620 our goal is to please God. Our goal is to praise 00:12:55.620 --> 00:12:59.059 God. Our goal is to save God. Paul says, it doesn't 00:12:59.059 --> 00:13:01.519 matter where I am. He says, I want to be with 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:04.120 the Lord, but I know that God's got a job for 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:06.639 me to do here. I want to be with the Lord. I've 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.080 grown while I'm in this body, but I know that 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:11.940 as long as I'm here, I need to serve the Lord. 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:14.679 So it doesn't matter. I look forward to the day 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:17.000 that I'll get to be with him, Paul says, but 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.139 it doesn't matter if I don't get to be with him. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.779 Today or tomorrow or whenever the day is going 00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:24.700 to come, he says, I still desire to serve the 00:13:24.700 --> 00:13:30.320 Lord wherever I am. Verse 10. For we must all 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.220 appear before the tribunal of Christ so that 00:13:34.220 --> 00:13:37.139 each may be repaid for what he has done in the 00:13:37.139 --> 00:13:41.940 body, whether good or worthless. Now that's something 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:45.549 to think about. Paul says, look, I want to live 00:13:45.549 --> 00:13:47.809 for the Lord. I want to serve Him. I want to 00:13:47.809 --> 00:13:50.450 please Him. I want to be obedient to Him because. 00:13:50.710 --> 00:13:53.149 Why does he want to do that? What is part of 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:55.389 his motivation? It's a fear of the Lord as we 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:58.779 see in the next couple of verses. His motivation 00:13:58.779 --> 00:14:01.720 is this. He knows that one day every work that 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:04.120 he does, every word that he says, or every word 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:06.419 that he doesn't say, or every word that he doesn't 00:14:06.419 --> 00:14:09.000 do, he knows that one day he will have to stand 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:12.120 before the tribunal of Jesus, the judgment seat 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:15.779 of Jesus Christ. For we must all appear before 00:14:15.779 --> 00:14:19.399 the tribunal of Christ. Now that's a scary thing 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.269 to think about. that we must all stand before 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:24.909 the tribunal of Christ. Now, those who have trusted 00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:27.009 Christ, I don't think our salvation is on the 00:14:27.009 --> 00:14:29.549 line here in this judgment, but I do think our 00:14:29.549 --> 00:14:31.990 works are going to be judged in some way. And 00:14:31.990 --> 00:14:35.009 what kind of works are we doing? Are they good 00:14:35.009 --> 00:14:37.990 works or are they bad works? He says, so that 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:41.690 each may be repaid for what he has done in this 00:14:41.690 --> 00:14:44.409 body. Now, I don't know what that payment is 00:14:44.409 --> 00:14:46.149 going to look like, what that reward is going 00:14:46.149 --> 00:14:47.710 to look like. I don't know what it's going to 00:14:47.710 --> 00:14:50.230 be like. But I suspect it's going to be better 00:14:50.230 --> 00:14:52.289 to be rewarded than not rewarded when that day 00:14:52.289 --> 00:14:55.190 comes. We're all going to be judged by our works 00:14:55.190 --> 00:14:59.009 on that day, whether good or worthless. Or some 00:14:59.009 --> 00:15:03.429 translations would just say good or bad. So what 00:15:03.429 --> 00:15:06.350 about our works? What kind of stuff are we doing 00:15:06.350 --> 00:15:08.110 in our life? This is kind of a scary thing to 00:15:08.110 --> 00:15:10.029 think about. Stop for a second and say, okay, 00:15:10.090 --> 00:15:12.690 one day I'm going to sit before the judgment 00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:16.490 seat of Jesus Christ, and these things that I'm 00:15:16.490 --> 00:15:20.320 doing, are going to be brought up. Are we doing 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.620 good things or are we doing bad things? Are we 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:26.279 doing stuff that's worth something or is the 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:29.840 stuff we're doing worthless? And maybe we don't 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:32.179 think about that enough. Maybe we should. Probably 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:34.360 we don't want to. It's probably easier not to 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.779 think about that. But perhaps we would change 00:15:37.779 --> 00:15:40.240 the way we live if we thought more about that 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.000 question. Perhaps that's how Paul can live the 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:45.379 way that he lives. It's because he does think 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:47.500 about that question. He does ponder that question. 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:51.120 He does let that question drive his life and 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:53.860 the decisions he makes and the ways that he serves 00:15:53.860 --> 00:15:56.860 the Lord. Is he doing good? Is he doing bad? 00:15:56.980 --> 00:15:59.580 Are we doing good or are we doing bad? We want 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:02.480 to do things that are good. We want to do good 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:05.340 works, not for ourselves. but to serve the Lord. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.679 Paul's desire is not a pat on the back. It's 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.220 not so everybody can say, oh, look how great 00:16:09.220 --> 00:16:11.960 Paul is. It's not so we can stand here 2 ,000 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:13.899 years later and praise Paul. We're not praising 00:16:13.899 --> 00:16:17.000 Paul. We're praising the Lord. And we praise 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.879 the Lord for people like Paul that stood up to 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:23.080 serve the Lord and be a good example to us and 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:25.159 write words like this that we can grow from. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:27.759 So maybe these words can be an encouragement 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.990 for us tonight, that we can know that... Look, 00:16:31.070 --> 00:16:32.809 these old bodies are wearing out. They're like 00:16:32.809 --> 00:16:35.230 tents. We enjoy them while we have them. They're 00:16:35.230 --> 00:16:37.850 good while they last, but over time they begin 00:16:37.850 --> 00:16:40.309 to tear down and we long for something better. 00:16:40.789 --> 00:16:42.909 And praise the Lord, we have something to long 00:16:42.909 --> 00:16:45.009 for. We have some hope to know that there is 00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:48.350 a building in the heavens that will not be destroyed. 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:51.210 A building in the presence of God that will be 00:16:51.210 --> 00:16:53.769 forever. And there's a lot of hope and encouragement 00:16:53.769 --> 00:16:56.129 in that. Maybe we need to look at the question 00:16:56.129 --> 00:16:59.279 that Paul leaves us with here. And that is, are 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:01.480 the works that we're doing, are they good or 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:05.400 are they worthless? But we want to be those who 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:07.160 are obedient to God. We want to be those who 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:08.980 follow. We want to be those who do good works. 00:17:09.059 --> 00:17:11.400 We want to be those who trust in Jesus Christ 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:14.319 and put our faith in Jesus Christ and find our 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.779 hope in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. God, we come 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:19.640 to you tonight. We thank you for these good words. 00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:22.599 And I pray that you be with us as we groan in 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:24.839 this world. God, it is tough. There are days 00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:29.480 that we just... are worn out from the world and 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:31.619 the stresses and the pains and the sicknesses 00:17:31.619 --> 00:17:34.460 and all the stuff in this world. So, dear Lord, 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:36.720 I pray that you encourage us that while we're 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:39.180 in these old tents, that we just keep going. 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:41.980 God, even if they're falling apart, I pray that 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:44.160 you help us to keep going as long as we can go 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:48.740 with our eyes looking above, looking ahead. Dear 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:50.880 Lord, focused on being in your presence. And 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:53.900 I pray, God, that you would help us to continue 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:56.630 to seek you and serve you. and live for you as 00:17:56.630 --> 00:17:59.230 long as we can to do what we can and to do good 00:17:59.230 --> 00:18:01.150 works for you, dear Lord. Help us to see the 00:18:01.150 --> 00:18:03.690 things in our lives maybe that are worthless 00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:06.509 so that we would be able to get those things 00:18:06.509 --> 00:18:09.109 out with your help and your power. And I ask 00:18:09.109 --> 00:18:11.269 these things in Jesus' name. Amen.