Earthly Tents & Heavenly Buildings | 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, if you were here last week, then you would hopefully

remember that as a church we explored a very striking

contrast between two individuals who live very different lives,

and as a result they were granted 2 very different eternal

realities. And as we come to the Word of

God today, I want to highlight a different kind of distinction

that the Scriptures make. And it's not going to be between

the rich and poor. It's not going to be about the

saved and the unsaved, or any other common category for that

matter. Today, I want us to explore a

distinction that I believe believers often overlook.

Yet it was something that Paul passionately wrote about a more

than one occasion. I want us to look today at the

distinction between our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies,

what we know to be what we live in today and what is promised

for us at the return of Christ. And Paul mentions this in more

than one place, as I alluded to. But where we're going to go

today is not Paul defending the truth of the resurrection, nor

is it him trying to satisfy the curiosity of Christians who just

want to know what's going to come for them because of

Christ's love and his purchase of their souls.

Now, today, what we're going to see is Paul explaining the

secret to his unwavering commitment to the gospel.

He's going to reveal something that will instill hope, that

will make us immovable, that will make us strong, that will

make us Worshipful regardless of our circumstances.

And what's beautiful about what Paul is going to share is that

he expects us to also know it for ourselves.

He's going to reveal this revelation that's meant to be

experienced by all believers and as a result, causing them to

know the same inspiration and motivations that this great

apostle lived with. And so you should be excited

today because this is something for our encouragement.

And as we come to this text in a moment, I'll let you know ahead

of time that we're going to land at 4 quick motivations that

these truths created in Paul. And again, expect that this is

something you can know for yourself if you do this one

thing. Believe what Paul says to be

true because he is a conduit of the Holy Spirit.

Grasp it wholeheartedly. Apply it to your life the way

it's calling you to apply it, and you will soar in this life.

And so I want us to consider it. What will unlock these

motivations requires you to be confident in your convictions

about it. Interestingly, that's exactly

where Paul starts with his analysis in our main text.

So if you have a copy of God's Word in your hand, meet me in

the book of Second Corinthians chapter 5 and we're going to

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

read the first 5 verses together before we delve into it.

My favorite sound in church apart from seeing the wrestling

of the leaves of Scripture. 2nd Corinthians 5 one.

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is

destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with

hands eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan,

longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting

it on we may not be found naked for a while.

We are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened, not that

we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so

that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

He has prepared us For this very thing is God, who has given us

the Spirit as a guarantee. Lord, we ask that this would

birth in us the holy anticipation, the unwavering

hope, a devotion to You and practical service, a reflex to

suffering and pain. That would be true of what we

see here in Paul, in us as well. This is our longing and our

desire and we pray that You would transmit it into us as we

discuss it in Your Word now in Jesus name, Amen.

For we know the first 3 words of first one.

Don't you love it? Paul doesn't say, for I know he

expects the Christians to share in his confidence.

For we know all believers should have this anchoring realization.

What is it that Paul expects you and I to know?

We'll look at the rest of verse one again, that if the tent that

is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building

from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

And then he goes on to speak about this metaphor of tents and

buildings. And we'll explore that in a

moment. But I'm sure you didn't foresee

that Paul was going to talk about tents and buildings.

But he does. And the reason why he does is

because he's speaking figuratively.

What Paul is wanting us to think about is how your body, what

you're in right now, sitting in those pews, it's like a tent.

And I can't help but wonder if the Holy Spirit used this

illustration because Paul by way of occupation was what he was, a

tent maker. So I'm just in my sanctified

imagination, wonder that as Paul was working with tents, sewing

it and cutting it and putting it together, that the Lord began to

teach him, this is like your body.

This is like your physical frame.

Tents are fragile. They're weak, they're unstable.

They're not designed to be your permanent residence.

They are useful for a season, yes, but they are meant to be

temporary. Eventually a tent will be taken

down. That is exactly Paul's main

point with these verses, because he says how these tents.

Look at verse one again. That is our earthly home is

destroyed. Now the word destroyed doesn't

allude to obliteration necessarily.

It speaks about being disunited, dissolving, and that is the

destiny of your physical frame. It is going to be disassembled

at one point. But what moves me is Paul's

strategic language. Notice again in verse 1.

He doesn't say for we know that when the tent that is our

earthly home is destroyed. You would think that he would

say when, because death in these bodies is inevitable, right?

He uses the word if. For we know that if the tent

that is our earthly home is destroyed, if suggests that

there's another option. Now, what could the alternative

be? Isn't death something that we

all will taste? Yes.

But there's another truth that we have to consider.

And I believe that what Paul has in mind, which was so deeply

ingrained in his thinking, was the return of the Lord.

Think about it. Paul in writing this is

revealing that though he and expects Christians are prepared

to die not in a morbid way, but with hope.

Yes, prepared to die. Paul also says here I'm also

living with an eager expectation of the return of the Lord.

So yes, I'm ready to face death, but I'm also believing that at

any moment in my lifetime Christ can come and I can skip this

whole death thing all together and I can go straight to my

resurrection body. Wouldn't that be wonderful come

Lord Jesus. And so he says if here

interestingly showing that there's another option, but he

goes on to say something so important leading us a model

yes, that we should live with that same expectation.

The return of Christ is not in focus here necessarily.

It's the anticipation of what will become of us, what these

bodies will be replaced with. And that's where he says that we

have a building from God. Now I'm building a building in

contrast to 10 is what it is fixed.

It is lasting, it is functional, and frankly, it's more beautiful

and ornate than a tent. There's no doubt that he is

referring to our glorified bodies here.

We have a building from God. And notice the added description

of what will be ours. It is a building 1 from God.

It's a gift. It's granted more than that, it

is something that is not made with human hands, so it's not of

human origin. It's not produced by human

effort. And lastly, a building, yes,

much more sound and reliable than a tent.

We also read here that it is eternal.

It is eternal meaning that whatever we are going to live in

is not subject to decay or the fear of destruction.

It will be everlasting. This is how he is describing it

in summary. And as he's teaching this, we

are supposed to understand that Paul loved teaching about this

because it's not just found here.

It's it's sprinkled throughout his epistles.

And let me remind you of another place where he says it in a more

direct manner and speaking about what is to become of us in

Philippians 320. What does he say?

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a

Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly

body to be like his glorious body, not a glorious body like

Him, like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even

to subject all things to himself.

What an incredible promise. Here we are told not only that

we have been granted citizenship in heaven, but we are also

promised to share in the characteristics of Jesus

glorified body. Yes, he's the prototype.

He's the first fruits. That's the upgrade that you and

I can expect. We all have been amazed of the

recent events that are taking place in California where so

many homes have been ravaged by these unprecedented fires.

And besides the lives that perish in those flames, I'm sure

you have seen some of these interviews with families and

couples that, returning to their properties, have realized that

everything that they have known has been burned and brought to

ash. And our hearts go out to them.

And we've even prayed for them that a full restoration will be

made. And more importantly, if any of

those people have never called upon the Lord, they would do so

in this crisis. But as I was looking at these

verses earlier in the week, I couldn't help but imagine how

different those interviews would have been if each of those

individuals, each of those families were promised, were

granted a home that they could never even imagine.

Built on a property that they could never fathom affording.

With the reclaim of possessions that would bring so much joy

despite the loss of personal sentimental objects and

memories. All as a gift free because of

the generosity of a loving and caring individual.

It doesn't dismiss the devastation that you might feel

any kind of loss hurts, but it would definitely lessen it,

wouldn't it? Yes, and that is precisely what

Paul is getting at here. You may have known a believer.

You may be facing a believer right before your eyes that is

deteriorating. You may be God forbidden in the

years to God, be surprised with a phone call of a Christian that

you know. And their death was tragic.

It was sudden, it was swift. And no matter how much that

might shock us, we have to remember that they have been

granted an inheritance that is infinitely more glorious than

whatever they've known in this life.

This is what Paul is trying to convey here.

And where my illustration falls short is that this promise is

not going to be a surprise. It's already ours.

We're supposed to know it today. Look back at his language of

verse one. For we know that if the tent

that is in our earthly, that is our earthly home is destroyed,

we have a building from God, we have it.

It's your possession. The estate belongs to you.

It's been purchased on the cross and no one can take it away from

you. You have it, and I don't have

the habit here of usually skipping verses.

I'd like to go verse by verse. But let's just hop over to verse

5 to see how Paul confirms this. He who has prepared us for this

very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Do you know what the word guarantee means in the original?

It's so awesome in light of this metaphor.

Down payment the Holy Spirit has been given to each believer to

abide and live in them as a down payment for this building that

is to come. Meaning what it's done meaning

what that upon you calling upon the Lord receiving Jesus Christ

as your Savior, your destiny is sealed.

It's coming, it's on its way. The down payment has been made

and the full realization of it is yours.

Nothing can tamper with it. He's not going to change his

mind. It can't be taken from you.

It belongs to you forever. Moreover, listen to this part.

This part excites me. Whatever changes, whatever

comforts that the Holy Spirit does in and through you are also

previews, reminders, nudges that there is a complete and perfect

transformation on its way. Does that make sense?

The Holy Spirit as a deposit, living in you as he's

sanctifying you through and through, day by day.

And this abundant peace that you experience and this joy that you

drink from. All of that, as much as it's for

now, is also supposed to indicate to you, hey, there's

something so much better than this that's coming, and it's

yours. It's yours.

So whatever experience that you've had with the presence of

God in this place by yourself, whatever testimony where the

Holy Spirit has transformed you in a way where you recognize

that all of that are just little indicators and whispers of love

to tell you it's only going to get better.

It's only going to become better.

And Paul wants us to know that. And as much as this truth

brought relief to Paul, astonishingly, it also created a

restlessness in him. Look again at verse 2.

For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly

dwelling. What does it mean by groan?

He's talking about a yearning that is beyond words.

Words, they can't even communicate this sigh in his

soul regarding this truth that seems strange to us.

He can't even express how much this truth makes him want to

crave it, to be known. He longs for it.

And when you read this man's biography, it shouldn't be a

surprise to you why he groaned. Turn to 2nd Corinthians, the

same book, Chapter 11, where he gives a brief resume of his

credentials as an apostle, and it's not what you expect. 2nd

Corinthians 1124. Five times I received at the

hands of the Jews the 40 lashes. Less 1/3 times I was beaten with

rods. Once I was stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift

at sea on frequent journeys. And danger from rivers, danger

from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles,

danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea,

danger from false brothers. And where can the guy go in toil

and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and

thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on

me of my anxiety for all the churches.

No wonder this man groaned. No wonder this yearning was so

intense. Can you imagine all the scars

that he collected? What did his face look like?

What kind of permanent nerve damage did he develop?

What kind of limitations? Did he have a limp when he

walked? What is it like that no matter

where you go, whether it's your favorite restaurant or a

conference out of state, to live with a realization that at any

moment I can be ambushed and beat up.

This is how this man lived. And here's what I want to say.

Perhaps the abundant comfort that believers share and

experience and joy in the West is why so many struggle to turn

this truth from a theological concept to a vibrant, living

hope. Could that be true?

I think so. But Paul's very suffering, his

constant battle with Satan, his sensitivity to sin, it stirred

him. It stirred him to continually

meditate on it, to verbally praise God for it, to draw

comfort from it, to joyfully teach about it and to live

wanting it, dreaming about it. I'm sure wherever this man

wasn't busy in his mind, the default of his meditation went

to I want my building. I want what Christ purchased for

me. But don't make the mistake in

believing that this is Christian escapism.

This isn't Paul wanting to just avoid trials and troubles.

That's part of it. But there's a positive element

more than just him evading from problems.

He wanted to be with a person, namely Christ.

And that's important because don't believe for a moment that

for you to know this kind of groaning, you have to

voluntarily accept pain in your life, chase down persecution.

Now you can also know this cry, this holy ache because of Christ

simply Jesus, where you've walked with him and you have

experienced his fragrance, where you've seen Him come through,

where He's opened your eyes to his beauty, where he said, if I

can know this kind of exhilaration now, what is to

come? What is to come is so glorious

that you need a new body to handle it.

That is what is to come. And Paul here is demonstrating

that. And we'll get to this craving

for the person of Christ in a moment.

But let's look at these last verses that we didn't explore in

detail. Verse three.

If indeed after explaining that he's groaning for this longing

to put on his heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on, we

may not be found naked for while we are still in this tent, we

groan being burdened. Not that we would be unclothed,

but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal

may be swallowed up by life. If you feel overwhelmed, that's

OK because you know what Paul is doing here.

Now he's mixing the metaphor. He goes from talking about tents

and buildings to now speaking about what clothing did you

catch? It talks about being clothed,

talks about being naked, talks about being further clothed.

So now he is blending metaphor. And so let's let's just take our

time to trace his thought pattern here.

So in verse one and verse 2, what is he speaking about?

He's speaking about how we are guaranteed to receive a heavenly

dwelling and if we are guaranteed for that, look at

this verse three. It means that we will not be

found naked. Verse three, you think why is he

talking about being naked? Pause there.

We'll we'll look at that in a moment because now in verse

four, he recaps his thought in these verses and he clarifies

something. Now he says we have been

promises heavenly dwelling, which means we're not going to

be naked. And then in verse four, he says

for while we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened.

So he revisits that thought. Listen, let me tell you, while

we're in this body, we're burdened by so much so we groan.

But now he wants to tell you what we are groaning for.

What are we groaning for? Not that we would be unclothed,

but that we would be rather further clothed.

What is he speaking about? It's simply this that as

believers with this resurrection hope, we are not longing to

become disembodied spirits, IE naked, what we are actually

longing for the focus. The goal of this groaning is to

be further clothed, meaning to receive a different kind of body

that what is mortal would be swallowed up by life.

If you understand what Paul is saying here, it actually is

astonishing in terms of implications.

One, it clarifies what the resurrection really is because

you have some good hearted believers who think that when we

give our final breath, yes, to be away from the body means that

we will be with the Lord, our soul will be with him, our

spirit will be with him, but that's it.

That's the final state of the matter.

That's it. That's all we're looking forward

to. That's not true.

On the other hand, I believe most Christians think we have a

general grasp of the resurrection, that yes, you will

give your final breath, you will be immediately in the presence

of the Lord, and at a later time the resurrection will take

place. And when will the resurrection

take place? At the return of Christ, the

culmination of the age. And when the resurrection takes

place, when Jesus returns, we each are going to receive a

brand new body disconnected from your body that you knew while on

earth. That's also wrong.

Now, I got a lot of facial reactions.

So you have to pay attention now because you don't want to miss

it. Here's what you have to

understand. The Bible doesn't teach that

there's a time coming when you will receive something that is

not related to the body that you have lived with this gift of

life. Instead, what it teaches is that

when the resurrection comes, the earthly body that you have

always known, with its unique properties and characteristics

will be marvelously transformed and made fit to live with God

forever. Just think about it.

Or else the term resurrection doesn't make sense.

What are you resurrecting? If you're going to get, if your

body is just going to go into the earth decay and your

disembodied spirit in the presence of God will be

receiving a brand new suit, so to speak, then why use the term

resurrection if Christ is the prototype of our resurrection?

Did Jesus leave the tomb with a different kind of body?

Yes and no. There's a level of continuity

because he didn't leave that body or leave that tomb rather,

with a glorified body, but he still had the scars because it

was the same body that was nailed on the cross in like

manner, this body that you have right now, that is what is going

to be resurrected on that final day.

And you're hearing this perhaps for the first time, wondering

does it matter or even why? Maybe you're not very happy with

your body and you were looking forward to something brand new.

And so this was more of a disappointing message than it

was an encouraging 1. Don't worry, it'll be altered.

It reveals something about the depth of God's character and

love. When the Lord proposed to save

us as fallen creatures, He determined to save all of who

you are, not some of who you are.

So not just your spirit, not just the immaterial parts of who

you are, but even the polluted, fractured, sin soaked body that

has caused pain for you and others, that has been damaged

because of the fall. Even that part of who you are,

the Lord Jesus Christ wants to redeem.

I'm going to recover everything, not just some things.

So it speaks to the completeness of a saving work.

It speaks to His yearning to actually have all of you, not to

discard any part, but to redeem everything.

So the resurrection is not about replacing your identity, it's

renewing it. The resurrection, more

importantly, is not about erasing any part of who you are,

but actually beautifying it, making it reflect and shine with

the glory of God. And there's so many massive

implications with this. I mean, if we had time, I would,

I would discuss about how if God so values these bodies that he

is determined to rescue these physical frames, how much should

we as Christians cherish these bodies?

How much more? Let me give you an example.

I wasn't planning to do this, but since we're so close to the

text, go to 1st Corinthians 6. I'm just going to read it.

I'm not going to take my time to explain it, just to give you an

idea and tell me what word reappears over and over again in

First Corinthians 6/18. Flee from sexual immorality.

Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the

sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy

Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

You are not your own, for you are bought with a price.

So glorify God in your body. You look at the end of First

Thessalonians talks about the sanctification of our whole

spirit, soul and body. The body should be honored,

should be consecrated, should be set apart for His glory.

He's going to resurrect that body of yours, and it's going to

testify the greatness of His power and His love.

But there are many other reasons why this truth should be

considered. I told you earlier that there

were four specific motivations in the main text that we are

looking at, and I want you to see that with me.

So let's go back to 2nd Corinthians in chapter 5.

I want us to look at verses 6 down to verse 10 and in those

verses 4, motivations that this truth of our resurrection bodies

should instill in US today, verse 6.

So we are always of good courage.

We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away

from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Motivation number one, This truth that Paul wants us to know

and be confident in will motivate you to live a life with

courageous faith. Look at verse 7, for we walk by

faith, not by sight. This will energize you to

navigate through life as a conqueror, not as a victim, not

as weak. Even though you're not living in

the immediate, unfiltered presence of the Lord, the

profoundness of this truth will do something in you that will

influence your whole outlook and inlook.

And when you look at the verses surrounding it, you can see it.

It's so undeniable. This is the point that he is

making. So look back at 2nd Corinthians

4 verse 8, for example. Paul says we are afflicted in

every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to

despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not

destroyed. Where is he getting that from?

Where's the strength to be able to do that?

It's not just getting out of nowhere.

He's not finding it in his own fortification.

He knows that I will be clothed with the heavenly dwelling one

day. He knows that this is a tent and

that it will be brought down and it will be replaced with

something much more amazing. Look at verse 11, Second

Corinthians 4. For we who live are always being

given over to death for Jesus sake.

Wow. So that the life of Jesus also

may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

We are always being given over to death.

I'm not sure how many people would sign up for ministry in

Paul's day. You know, they say one of the

persecuted churches in China that if you wanted to be a

pastor, one of your qualifications is that you have

to be ready to do prison time. These days we just look for

people who get a degree. No, no.

Are you willing to go to jail? Are you willing to be in jail

and not see your family for five years?

That's what it takes for a pastor.

Become a pastor in China. We are always being given over

to death for Jesus sake. Look at verse 17 of 2nd

Corinthians 4. I'm trying to show you something

here. For this light momentary

affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison. Then right after that we have

chapter 5 where he talks about what what one of those glories

are the glorification of your bodies.

And it literally, this truth was so real to Paul that it

redefined the afflictions he knew and they're not small.

It wasn't a Co worker that gave him a dirty look because he

brought his Bible and put it in his cubicle.

That's not the persecution he experienced.

You read it in 2nd Corinthians 11 and he was able to look at

that catalogue of suffering and say it's light momentary

affliction. How this truth, this is not the

end of it. This is just a little bit of

pain, and it won't even be worth comparing to what awaits me.

We need us to be real. I can't just live here.

It's got to live here. Motivation #2 found in verse

eight of Second Corinthians 5. Yes, we are of good courage, and

we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Motivation #1 is that this truth influences us to have courageous

faith and to navigate through life with that faith.

Motivation #2 to live this life with promise.

What's the promise? Yes, verse 8 reveals Paul's

passion. I would rather be away with the

Lord, but also says something about a guarantee.

The moment that death will evict you from your body, you will be

immediately moving in with Jesus.

So not only did this truth redefine suffering for Paul, it

redefined death. And that's why he would on more

than one occasion use the synonymous word for death.

With what? Depart.

So what do you say in Philippians 123?

My desire is to depart and be with Christ.

What did he tell Timothy? His spiritual child And second

Timothy 4/6 The time of my departure has now arrived.

Do you know what the word depart means in the original to

unloosen another way of understanding it.

And it's used in these ways to unfasten the ropes of ready for

this a tent. So the time of my departure, the

time of me putting this thing away and tucking it has now

come. That's the language that Paul

had when he spoke about death. I heard of a pastor who preached

the message on behalf of a fellow minister and a best

friend of his. And when he got before the

church, he revealed the title of his message as he was speaking

about the end of this man's life and his legacy.

And this was the title of the message.

Excuse me, but I got to go. I like that.

If the Lord doesn't return in my lifetime, I might consider

something similar at my departure.

Excuse me, but I got to go. That's what it is.

Death is not the cessation of life.

It's a transition into a better one.

That's what we're supposed to believe as Christians.

And that's why as much as we weep and yes, we we cry,

remember that illustration? Imagine what it'd been like for

those Californians to lose their home, but immediately realize

you have something 1000 times better than what you've known.

There is pain, but there's also excitement.

There's also relief, security, joy.

How much more for us with an eternal dwelling motivation to

live this life with promise And this this truth refused the

notion of soul sleep, the idea that we remain unconscious until

the return of Christ occurs. So you have many people who

believe this, that when a believer dies, they don't go

into the immediate presence of the Lord, they remain

unconscious and they'll only be awakened at the resurrection.

So what does it mean here for Paul to say that I desire to

depart and be with Christ, or that in verse 8 we would rather

be away from the body, implying that to be away from this body

means that I'm going to be with the Lord.

So you have every right to believe that when a loved one

gives their final breath, the next breath is them praising

Jesus Christ in His face. That's the truth.

Motivation to live this life with promise.

And I'll redefine pain even if that pain leads to death.

Motivation #3 look at verse 9 with me.

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to

please Him. Motivation to live this life not

with promise, but with purpose. So knowing that the Lord is

alive today and that we will one day meet him face to face and

live with him forever, Paul outlines the fundamental purpose

of every Christian's life. To please him, to live for him.

So you see, being a Christian is not about slavishly abiding by

certain precepts and being so rule and and and restrictive

oriented. It's about bringing joy to a

real person. Notice it doesn't say here.

So whether we are away or we're present that we should obey the

law. Well, yeah, there is an element

of the law of Christ that we do obey.

There is obedience in that. It's no, no, no.

It's to please him. And what I love about this verse

in light of the context is that Paul is also implying, when I

realized this truth, by the way, it radically transformed me.

I'm just personally testifying because what Paul is saying here

is that there is a way to please the Lord in this body, that you

won't be able to please the Lord with your new body.

There is a way to please the Lord while on earth that you

won't be able to please the Lord in heaven.

This is what he believes, and This is why he can move forward

and not even entertain the thought of giving up in his walk

with the Lord. And here's one example in this

context, among many other examples.

Go to chapter 4. Again, look at verse 15.

Notice what he says after in that chapter, at least this part

of the chapter, describing some of the sufferings that he and

his obedience invited into his life.

For it is all for your sake. So that as grace extends to more

and more people, it may increase Thanksgiving to the glory of

God. So he tells his Corinthians,

you, you want to know why I'm suffering the way I'm suffering?

In part, it's for your sake. And more than that, my heartbeat

in this life is that this gospel of grace would extend to more

and more people so that more people can give glory to God for

this grace that they received. Little idea of what Paul lived

for, that he would reach more than the word, would go out more

and more. And guess what?

You can't do that when you receive this building in glory.

Why? Because nobody's lost in that

place. I know that's an astounding

thought. Your evangelism won't matter in

heaven. Your your prayers are not going

to go anywhere in heaven. You can't resist temptation in

heaven. It isn't there now in this life.

Can you glorify God in this tent that you won't be able to when

it collapses and you receive your heavenly dwelling?

Doesn't that motivate you? When you're in your ministry?

You're frustrated because you're not seeing the fruit that you

want to see or because nobody appreciates or there's even

persecution with it. As much as this is difficult, I

know that I only have this breath of a life to be able to

glorify God. How dare I even complain or

contemplate quitting. I'm only in this tent for a

little while, so I'm going to stick with it and I'm going to

honor him as long as I live in this body because I'm going to

glorify him in another way when I am away from this body.

Oh, that should energize you. It energizes man.

Last motivation. Along with his encouragement

comes a sobering reminder in verse 10 that how we live in

these bodies will determine the rewards that the resurrected

Lord will give us when we meet Him.

Verse 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of

Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what He

has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Motivation #4 that this provides us is to live this life with

accountability, with accountability, not just with

courageous faith, not just with a promise, not just with

purpose, but to live this life with a sense of accountability.

So listen, we're not only going to experience embrace when we

are clothed with glory after we meet the Lord, we're also going

to be met with in evaluation. The judgement seemed of Christ

is not synonymous with the great white throne judgement that you

find in Revelation, 22 different judgement seats.

The great white throne at the end of Revelation is for

unbelievers to determine the degree of their punishment in

hell. The judgement seat of Christ is

not Christ evaluating us to see if you are worthy to be saved.

That's been dealt with at the cross, but it will be an

evaluation to determine the rewards that you will know for

eternity. Salvation is the same for all

Christians. Rewards are not.

Yes, the Bible gloriously teaches that salvation cannot be

taken from you, but it also teaches that rewards can.

And while we rejoice that salvation is for all who believe

you and I must understand that the rewards are for those who

work. And the reason why Paul brings

us up here is because the resurrection puts into proper

perspective meeting the Lord at that judgement seat, puts into

perspective what we do as Christians with our time, with

our money, with our abilities, with our opportunities.

Paul understood that he was called.

Paul understood that he was gifted with an incredible mind.

And when he lived with the realization that I will leave

this tent and meet the Lord, yes, with an embrace, yes, to be

clothed with something that I can't even explain in detail.

I will also have a face to face conversation with the Savior to

discuss what I did while I lived in that tent.

And this is the last verse because we're going to close it

here. But just to give you an idea,

peek over at verse 11 to see what I'm speaking about.

Therefore, so I shared this little verse here last Wednesday

at our prayer meeting. Whenever you see the word,

therefore you have to say what is therefore, therefore,

therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.

Pause there. So he just finished in verse 10

talking about the judgement seat of Christ, and he says we must

all appear before it. Therefore I live with the fear

of God. Why?

Because God will send you to hell.

No, he's a born again believer filled with the Spirit, sealed

as a guarantee. I don't want to disappoint my

God. I don't want to look at my life

at the end and realize that I didn't honor His commands.

I didn't fulfill my calling. I quit when He didn't tell me to

quit. I lived in the flesh.

I lived in carnality more than than I did in the Spirit.

And so though there is no threat of losing salvation in these

verses, there is the danger of missing out on a more fulfilling

encounter with Christ. May the Lord help us live with a

realization that this tent is temporary, that we're promised a

building and we're going to one day meet the builder of that

building. And we've come to these elements

because, yes, we're reflecting on the body and blood of Jesus,

but we're also looking forward to the extent of this purchase

of our eternal dwelling with him.

So we would, we pray now and ask the Lord to help us believe it

as this man Paul believed it. Lord, we thank you for this

time. And we ask that the reality of

the resurrection would be more real to us than anything else in

this room. And we pray that the truths that

we heard from these verses would would never leave us, may be

absorbed by every person, may get into the bloodstream of our

existence. We, we want to be like this man

who was able to be so motivated by this truth.

But we've come to reflect on your grace, thanking you that

our salvation is a gift. But Lord, we also want this

grace to not be in vain. We want it to stir us to be

useful, effective, unashamed of your gospel.

We give you thanks today together in Jesus name, Amen.

Allow me to make one more observation about this truth of

our glorification, the final stage of our salvation.

Each of us in here very likely will fall asleep at a different

time. And I use the New Testament

language for death. Everyone here will fall asleep

at a unique time. There are instances where it

happens tragically with others at the same time, but generally

that's the case. Additionally, most if not all of

us in here were saved at a unique, different time.

But when it comes to us being clothed with our heavenly

dwelling, the glorification of our bodies, I'm not sure if you

know this, but that's going to happen collectively at one time,

that upon the return of Jesus Christ, his entire body, the

church will be transformed, the twinkling of an eye.

So think about this. Even in our glorification,

everything that we've known, even in Christ has been unique

and separate and individualistic to some degree.

But when it comes to that final stage, we're all going to know

it at the same time. Not a glorious thought, but we

thank you. Your word is so deep, so rich.

We ask, Oh God, for those who might be struggling with

sickness, maybe their own bodies or those who are deeply loved

that are their tents are ready to collapse.

Lord, may the truth of the resurrection bring them comfort

and knowing that this not it's not the end.

This is not the permanent state of their being or for us who are

enduring persecution and suffering from family friends

for our faith in Christ. May we remember that it is worth

it because this pain is not the end of the story either.

The betrayal, the harm, the the loneliness at times is not the

final say. We will be gathered together

forever Lord, when we feel like we've lost purpose or we've lost

passion or we're even feeling weak in our service to you.

May we remember the face to face encounter that we will have for

with the one that saved us. May we never lose sight of it.

Oh God. So we pray that you instill

these truths. Help us live before them, Lord,

place them before the eyes of our minds so that we would never

fail to recognize these promises.

Lord, we love you and we thank you.

As a church we give you all thanks and honor in Jesus name,

Amen and Amen.