WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:03.759 Thank you for tuning in to Newsong Churches Sermon Podcast. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:12.240 Newsong is a gospel centered community serving Anglican Church in Port Perry, Ontario, and in the parish of the Anglican Network in Canada. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:13.759 We'd love to connect with you. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:19.760 If you'd like to reach out to us, you can find our contact information at Newsongport Perry.ca. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.480 God bless you through the ministry of the Word. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:32.000 Our second reading is from 2 Corinthians, beginning in chapter 4, verse 13. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:42.000 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed, and so I spoke. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:46.079 We also believe, and so we also speak. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:54.079 Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:04.879 For it is all for your sake, so that grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.599 So we do not lose heart. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:14.879 Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:22.640 For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:28.719 As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:35.120 For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:47.200 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. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:56.640 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. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:10.479 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. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:17.599 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:20.639 So we are always of good courage. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:27.919 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. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:34.319 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:50.639 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him, 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. 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:52.560 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:54.240 Thank you, being God. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.000 As we stand, let us pray together. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:04.000 Father in heaven, we thank you for your deep love for each of us. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:10.240 We thank you for Jesus, who brings us into this close fellowship with you forever. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.879 And we ask that your hope would fill us as we hear your word this morning. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:22.960 Strengthen us, Father, to glorify Jesus in our life in every way, through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:25.039 We ask this in Jesus' name. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:26.000 Amen. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:28.319 Please be seated. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:43.039 Well, it's been uh wonderful to spend a weekend in Port Perry and to be part of this wonderful ordination yesterday to be able to preach here with you today. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:52.000 And uh, this is my first time in Port Perry this weekend, uh, and uh what a lovely, wonderful community that you live in. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:04:11.199 In fact, I even got to have a uh walking tour of Port Perry yesterday with um uh with Rachel and with Creighton and their dog as well, and I got to see the claim to fame of Port Perry, the uh oldest grain elevator in Canada. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:13.599 Uh so I took a picture of it as well. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:18.639 So I guess uh I grew up uh going on holidays in the prairies. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.240 Not many people do that, and saw grain elevators everywhere. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:26.720 It just reminded me of growing up, and who knew that the first one was here. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.680 So wonderful to be here in Port Perry. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:33.279 Um and looking forward to the barbecue. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:37.199 I know that you have a tradition of having barbecues on rainy days. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:39.600 And I thought you guys are gonna break the tradition today. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.959 It was beautiful sunshine when I came, but it's looking a little cloudy. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 We'll pray that holds off for this uh for our barbecue. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:54.079 And uh I would like us to look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and 5. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:05:04.160 We've had a strong diet of 2 Corinthians this week, and Bishop Charlie preached on this yesterday, and I told Bishop Charlie, you went out beyond your passage, I noticed. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.240 I can cut out half my sermon. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:17.439 Because I'm taking the the um uh the passage just before the one he did yesterday at the uh at the ordination, and I'd like you to turn there. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:26.480 If you have your Bibles, turn to 2 Corinthians 4.13, but you can also look in your bulletins, which I notice is very nice big print. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:31.439 So I I commend your printer on this. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:44.399 So um, this is an incredible passage, and because it's about eternity, it's about eternity with God, but it's connecting that eternity with our everyday life. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:53.279 And it actually says that it changes everything about the way we live life, that we know that we will be with the Lord forever. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:06:05.680 You all read together and very enthusiastically, by the way, this congregation I think is a model for our whole diocese on how you respond in the liturgy. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:11.839 Very enthusiastically, with joy, understanding what's the wonderful things that are being said here. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:24.079 And one of the things that we just did when Matt was leading us in the creed to say that I believe in the resurrection, the resurrection of the body, the resurrection to the new life. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:34.079 And this is what this passage is all about, and it's saying that that true hope, that certain hope, changes the way that we live our life. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:38.480 And that's what brings such great goodness to the lives of other people. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:55.839 I love the fact that just before this passage, God says to us through his word that he puts the treasure of the gospel, the treasure of that hope in Jesus Christ in jars of clay. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:02.959 And what he means by that is our bodies have weaknesses and imperfections like jars of clay. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:09.040 And uh and it actually makes clear that surpassing power comes from God Himself. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:13.839 Our weaknesses show God's power, interestingly. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:20.800 So the knowledge of Jesus shines through the cracks and the imperfections of your life and my life as well. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.439 And that gives us uh great confidence. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:32.000 God is in the process of transforming us jars of clay as he works his grace through us to other people. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:37.519 And so Paul is exhibit A of the jars of clay. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.759 He's got all those weaknesses, he says. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:52.160 But through that, he has an incredible ambition to bring the goodness of God to other people. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:08:07.600 His ambition is to please God in the way that he relates to people, to use this time on earth to do God's good and holy will, knowing that that grace will affect many, many people for great good. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:15.600 And you know, Paul knew weariness from criticism, from disappointments, from betrayals, from frustrations. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:23.360 He must have been tempted many times to give up on Corinth, for instance, who he is calling, who is writing to. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:27.120 But through it all, he has this tremendous ambition. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:36.000 He perseveres with Corinth, and he would willingly face more challenges than other cities like Ephesus and Rome and Jerusalem. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:37.120 Why is this? 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.519 Why does he have this great ambition that he follows through with? 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:45.919 Well, it is because the living God gave him courage. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:56.399 And I love the fact that we just heard the characteristics of Christians when we had Suzanne with the children, and they were all listed there. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:58.240 Some of those were courage. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:02.159 Perseverance was there, I noticed, right on the top of it. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:06.080 And Paul says that God gives me those things. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:08.879 God gives me courage to persevere. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:15.440 And the way God does it is by his certainties, by the certainties of his promise. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:21.919 That's what gives Paul courage, and you and I today, to have an ambition that we follow through with. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:23.519 Look at this really quickly. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.360 Look at verse 416. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:27.840 This is all about courage. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.960 We do not lose heart, we don't lose courage. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.679 Look at verse chapter 5, verse 6. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:34.559 Jump down. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:38.159 We are always of good courage. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.519 Look at verse uh chapter 5, verse 8. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.799 Yes, we are of good courage. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:10:00.480 And I want you to notice that immediately before and after those, those, each of those calls to courage, there is a testimony about God's great promises, his powerful promises. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.279 Uh they are they are the fact that we will be at home with the Lord. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:10.399 Uh, they are the fact that our mortal body will be swallowed up by life. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:27.440 And the theme of this is Paul is saying that the promise you and I have is that we will have a resurrection body, that there is a certain hope before each one of us that changes the way that we live. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:39.120 And he doesn't um uh he doesn't share these powerful promises just to give a power a positive spin on life, like a motivational um poster. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:47.600 He does it because to have courage is to be strengthened to be per to persevere with your ambition. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:53.440 Through any discouragement that comes when we are faced with challenges and our weakness. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:59.360 Umbition is something God gives each one of us. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:05.360 And ambition is something that can have a very bad connotation in our life. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:16.159 Um today, there was uh there was a famous trial for Watergate that took place. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:24.720 And um one of those figures in that in the Watergate scandal was Charles Coulson, Chuck Colson. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:32.559 Uh and I when I was a teenager, I read a book called Born Again that uh was his biography, which was a real influence on me. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.120 It was uh it was a great encouragement. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:40.879 And um Chuck Colson was somebody who was incredibly ambitious in life. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:47.200 He ended up being the right-hand man to Richard Nixon at age 40. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.720 One of the most powerful people in the world, he ended up being. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:58.320 And he became uh a Christian during the Watergate scandal, which he was very much a part of. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:07.600 Uh and uh in the trial, he uh he was ended up being sentences to two years in prison. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:09.360 And here's what he said. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:20.960 He said at the trial, right afterwards, to the press, he said, What happened today in court was the court's will, and uh and it was the Lord's will as well. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:30.480 He said, I have committed my life to Jesus Christ, and I can work for him in prison as well as out of prison. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:32.799 I can have this great ambition. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:35.759 Um he did just that. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:40.960 Out of prison, he started prison fellowship, which some of you may be aware of. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:46.000 But that ministry to people who are in prison went worldwide. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:54.639 And thousands of people gave their life to the Lord Jesus Christ and had their lives dramatically transformed. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:00.000 Thousands and thousands, bringing hope into the darkness of prison. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:10.639 Uh the his great ambition, which really changed many, many, many people's lives, was to please the Lord Jesus. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.480 That was his ambition. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:20.399 And that's what verse chapter 5, verse 9, if you look down there, it tells us exactly what that ambition is. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.679 Every Christian has this goal. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:29.200 Whether we are at home or away, at home means to be with the Lord. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:35.200 We make it our aim, our ambition to please him, to please the Lord. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:41.600 You see, Paul was ambitious to be a channel of grace, God's grace, to other people in his life. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:48.480 And we are meant to persevere in this as well, because it was Jesus' own ambition. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:52.159 Remember the voice of the Father when Jesus was baptized. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:56.799 This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.759 Jesus' ambition was to please his father. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.080 And that is ours as well. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:07.759 And uh Paul knows it's a great challenge for us to do this in our life. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:09.120 And that's what I love about him. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.440 There's nothing varnished about Paul. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.519 He says, This is what's going on for me. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:15.919 I have disillusionment and weariness. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.720 I'm a jar of clay. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:26.399 But he says to us that God gives him courage through certainties. 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:33.120 And I want to share three certainties that all have to do with the resurrection of the body. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:37.360 Three certainties, and that will be my sermon. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:50.000 So the first thing that keeps our aim, our ambition clear and focused is that you will share God's life together with other people. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:51.519 This is a certainty. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:56.480 You will share God's life with other people forever. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:00.399 Look at chapter 4, verse 14 and 15. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:13.039 He who raised the Lord from uh who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.360 You see, that's God's great desire. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:28.159 It is to bring all people together into God's presence, to bring you with others into the very presence of the glorified God. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:38.559 And it's not only, it only belongs to you to put your trust in Jesus, it's the future of everyone that you relate to who puts their faith in Jesus as well. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:50.720 And that's the future of those you relate to and serve in the church, and it's possibly what is ahead for other people in your life who don't know God yet. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:55.679 That you will be with them in God's presence forever. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:16:00.399 And that reveals a deep significance about the people in your life and in this church. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:08.159 The person who is sitting next to you, you will be with forever in the new heaven and the new earth. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:16.080 And that's a strong encouragement to keep praying for and speaking with those in your life who don't know the Lord as well. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.840 That we have a desire to bring others into that fellowship. 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:24.559 That is a forever fellowship, an eternal fellowship with God. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:30.159 And it inspires us to love and serve our fellow Christians differently. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:39.840 It would have been a shock for those who were critical of Paul, who betrayed him and so forth, to know they're going to be in eternity with him forever. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:43.200 Paul says, I know I will be with you forever as well. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:45.039 C.S. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:51.919 Lewis wrote a great sermon that had to do with this passage called The Weight of Glory. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.759 And you can see about the weight of glory that's in our passage today. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.039 And he says this. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:03.440 He says in that sermon, it's a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.680 He's talking about the glorified body that we will all have. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:21.359 To remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:30.960 See, he he captured what the Bible says that you and I will have glorified bodies that we may be tempted to worship if we saw it today. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:39.839 And I that just lends such significance to who we are and who your neighbor is. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:47.839 Last week I had a conversation with a guy whose house we stayed at, who opened his house to us when we were in Vancouver. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:49.359 He's 87 years old. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:57.279 And he said, We had a great conversation last night at this party about will we recognize people in heaven? 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:59.920 Will we recognize people in heaven? 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:04.000 And I said, Bob, it is absolutely certain that you will. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.839 And that's what this is saying. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:11.839 The resurrection of the body is such that who you are now is glorified. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:21.599 And like Jesus, who rose from the dead, and his disciples didn't know for sure who is this, and then realized that this was Jesus. 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:27.440 Jesus showed them his hands and his side, and they realized this is the Lord, and there was incredible joy. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:37.279 That there is something different about the quality that we will have, and something incredibly different, but it has continuity as well to who you are. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:40.240 There will be reunion in heaven. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:52.720 You will recognize one another in heaven, and you will recognize also those people that you might have had a difficult time with in this world, that may have disappointed you and so forth. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:19:04.079 So there is a great significance, and the way that we treat one another changes because of that promise that you will be with each other in heaven. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:07.039 All those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:20.079 There is a call here for us to persevere in pleasing God in our relationships, not just with who we are in our heart, but to persevere to please God in the way we treat one another. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:30.240 Now, the second future certainty, besides the fact that we will be with one another in God's presence, is that we will have new bodies, as I was just saying. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.119 Well, look at chapter 5, verse 1. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:40.480 This makes really clear in a picture this resurrection of the body that I've just been talking about. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:53.680 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. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.960 And I think that this building here is kind of a picture of that. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:05.920 Because there was a building that was here when the Odd Fellows owned it, and it was very different. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:17.119 And what has happened is that you guys actually have a new, renovated building here, which is glorious and light, and a place where you glorify God as we worship together as well. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:28.000 It's kind of a picture here, you know, that we we have a tent here right now, but that's going to be completely renovated to a home, a house that's not made with hands. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:37.039 Imagine your body being made by God to be like Jesus' own resurrection body. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:44.079 Our minds and our bodies, our emotions can be a great source of discouragement because they can let us down now. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:45.359 That's what Paul is saying. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.400 This is the context of his ministry and your ministry. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:54.079 But it is temporary, this body, and he's emphatic about this. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:55.279 Look at verse 2. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:02.000 He says, For in this tent we groan, and we're longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:04.880 And he repeats it in verse 4, in case we don't know it. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:10.960 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:15.759 And that groaning is really a longing for the heavenly dwelling. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.319 Our bodies are very good right now. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:20.640 And it's made for this earth. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:25.279 That body will be transformed to be absolutely glorious. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:35.920 So that your weakness, so it's saying that that body, with all of its weaknesses and limitations, it's looking for something greater. 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:46.319 But also, this is the context that God has given us now to please God, to do his incredible work that he has for us. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:56.720 God's plan is that his grace and power is revealed in our weakness, in our temporary bodies as we seek to please him. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.359 And that was a real theme in the ordination yesterday. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:08.319 Really, give your life to serving God in his church in the way that Matt is doing without the power of God at work in you. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:12.319 Because we are weak people, we are jars of clay. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:23.279 And the wonderful thing is that this temporary body, which is God's gift to us, is part of a bigger story. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:28.160 And I think that this is what this picture gives to us: that we're part of a bigger story. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:34.160 That God will further change our body so that we can serve Him without limitation. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:36.960 So look at chapter 5, verse 4. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:43.920 Not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:48.400 So that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.079 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:57.680 Paul puts it that way to say, it's certain. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.480 God Himself has prepared us for this. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:06.559 So our serving God in weakness here on earth is the first part of our ministry. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:07.920 It's part one. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:15.119 And it's going to continue with us being swallowed up by life, having a body that pleases God eternally. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:17.680 And it will be our great joy. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:31.759 So we begin doing now in our tent what we will be doing in a much more glorious and loving way in part two, in our resurrection body, which will never end. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:37.440 So you can see that your active ministry of pleasing God now is incredibly significant. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:39.279 It will continue. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:51.680 You with your transformed body will continue to do the way that you are serving God now with a new freedom and a new joy and an ability with limitless possibilities to please God. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:57.119 So the adventure that we have begun now will continue. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:23:58.960 And that's our ambition. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:17.279 Now the third and last certain certainty is not only that we will be with God together forever, not only that we will have a new body, but interestingly, verse 5, 10 says that Jesus will judge us. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.480 It is a certainty that Jesus will judge us. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:25.039 And you're going to say, well, Bishop Dan, thanks for ending on a downer here. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:29.279 But I want, and look at verse 10. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:39.359 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one of us may receive what is due for what they have done in their body, whether good or evil? 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:46.000 Now this says that unmistakably Christians will be judged. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:54.720 Because the we is Paul, this incredible missionary, and each of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:58.319 And so you say, wait a minute, you can't end on this downer. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:05.920 Didn't Paul state in Romans that God's judgment has already taken place for those who trust him? 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:09.119 Jesus has taken our judgment. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.480 That he has taken the punishment for our sins. 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:21.200 And didn't he say in the gospel, in Romans, that there is no condemnation for those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus? 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:26.000 And emphatically, yes, it is the unshakable truth. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:32.000 However, the judgment in this verse is a very different kind of judgment. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:39.279 It's a judgment that is actually part of our saving work that God is doing in us. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:42.880 It's actually a sign that He has already saved us. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:55.119 Because what He is doing here is He is evaluating our work and He is praising us for the work that has been done that pleases God. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:26:05.920 And He is stripping away those things which are not of God, that we cannot take with us into that new heaven and that new earth. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:10.559 Look at what 1 Corinthians 3 says. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:15.279 And this is about that judgment of evaluation. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:20.720 He says, Each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:22.000 Thank you very much. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:33.920 And he's saying it's like everything that we've done will be brought to light, and the fire will test, oh, it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:41.519 If the work that anyone has been built on the foundation of Christ survives, he will receive a reward. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:51.359 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:57.200 You see, what this says is that Jesus loves us completely. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:05.599 And in that salvation we will walk, he will walk us through our lives. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:09.519 And he will disclose what we have done from God's perspective. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:19.599 And clearly it says here that God will praise you for your service to him, for what you have done to please him in this world. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:29.119 And a lot of those things are things that may be completely unseen by other people, or that are considered maybe insignificant by the world. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:33.200 And yet this will be considered great by God. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:37.920 He will say, Well done, good and faithful servant. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.200 And that's the thing we look forward to as Christians. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:45.839 Nothing could be better than to receive the praise of God. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:49.680 There will be joy in heaven for your serving of Him. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:28:01.039 But there will also be some kind of loss of reward for works you and I have done that have displeased God, that has nothing to do with the foundations of Jesus Christ. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:04.720 Those that will be taken away, they will be shown to be worthless. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:13.599 But this judgment will be for our good, so that we take with us only that which is good, only that which pleases God. 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:18.240 And that certainty is very relevant for you and I now. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:34.640 It's a great strength for us in persevering with our ministry, with what will go on into eternity, with those acts of love and the relationships and the service that we do that we know will be part of the life of heaven. 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:41.119 So there's deep encouragement for us to persevere in serving Jesus, in living for Him and for one another. 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:50.559 May we be, as we leave this passage, be ambitious for Jesus' words, well done, good and faithful servant. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:29:02.319 There's no greater reward than it's greater than all the status, all the wealth, all the recognition of this world than to hear God praise us on that last day. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:12.799 So I want to close by saying that it is never God's will that we would persevere on our own. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:17.759 He doesn't call us to do that on our own strength. 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:22.079 Look at verse 5, chapter 5. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:25.039 You can see that there is this present certainty. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:32.960 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:45.680 So the Holy Spirit that's in you and me is the guarantee that God will transform our bodies, that he is even now changing you and me to be more and more like Jesus Himself. 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.599 And that Holy Spirit strengthens us. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:55.759 We are weak jars of clay with the treasure of Jesus inside of us. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:58.640 Ask the Holy Spirit to be your helper. 00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:05.839 Ask him to be the one who makes you a channel of his grace in and through your weakness. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:09.519 That's what the amazing promise of chapter 4, verse 16 is. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:14.160 Though our outer self is wasting way, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:32.000 And you know, Paul says that inner renewal has to do with God telling you every day that he loves you, telling you the width and height, length, depth of his great love for you, and strengthening you each day to please him as you know that love. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:36.799 May the Holy Spirit strengthen you to comprehend Christ's love for you today. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:53.119 And may you make it your ambition to do as Jesus did, as Chuck Colson did, as Matt was being called to do in that ordination yesterday, to please God in every aspect of your life. 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:55.200 What a marvelous ambition. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:02.880 And it is certain that his, God's overflowing grace will make that great ambition successful. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:09.440 It's a tremendous blessing and privilege to serve God almost unbelievably good. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.519 And so again, C.S. 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:12.799 Lewis expresses it will. 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:14.160 I end with this quote. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:15.519 This is wonderful. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:24.880 To please God, to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness, to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:34.000 As an artist delights in his work or a father in a son, a mother in a daughter, it seems impossible. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:38.480 A weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:40.319 But so it is. 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:41.680 Amen. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:46.880 Thank you for listening today. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:52.640 We follow a generous God who calls us to give willfully, cheerfully, and sacrificially towards gospel ministry. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:59.039 Newsong is one hundred percent funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:06.640 If you'd like to learn more about how to give towards Newsong's ministry, you can do just that at newsongperry.ca giving. 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:09.119 God bless you and keep you today and every day.