WEBVTT 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.280 Well, good morning. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:26.160 Thank you for tuning in to Virch Church once again this Sunday morning. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:31.679 Um, our continuing web series on um preaching in slippers. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:32.960 It's always a nice time. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:42.159 But uh, we're continuing, we're going forward in 2 Corinthians here, and I say continuing because this passage is really picking up where the last one left off, right? 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:46.159 We're kind of taking chapter four and going to the next level. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:49.359 I could almost say this is like the sequel. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.520 So this time the stakes are higher. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:54.320 All right. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:05.040 We think about uh sequels, you know, we think about the characters in the movie that that have to face higher challenges and have to, you know, figure out new ways to deal with their problems. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.879 Um kind of reminds me of perhaps a more cinematic uh topic. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:14.560 A friend of mine here, uh he was in the uh Irish Defense Forces in an elite unit, right? 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:18.480 And he talked about uh what it was like to plan a military operation. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:28.640 He said you would go through and you would look at all the details and you would look at all of the situation and you come up with the best possible plan, the best possible plan. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:33.359 And then you'd come back to it and you'd say, okay, well, if this doesn't work, what's our contingency plan? 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.040 And you come up with a plan B. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.200 And then you come back to it and you'd say, okay, plan A is this, plan B is this. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:40.480 What if those don't work? 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:41.840 What's plan C? 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:52.799 And on and on and on until you felt like you had covered every single possibility that could come out of this operation, everything that could go wrong, every contingency, every contingency. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:59.120 So the man has since retired from military life, and he's since come to faith in Jesus. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:07.599 And he says one of the biggest things that was an adjustment to him in the Christian walk is there is no plan B, right? 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.759 Plan A is the only plan there is. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:12.879 We trust and obey, we wait and hope. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:18.400 So, sequel or not, we're gonna see a lot of the same ideas that we saw in chapter four. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.240 Um, trust and obey, wait and hope. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:27.280 So, as we take a look at our sequel this morning, let's uh let's go to the Lord in prayer. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:42.560 Ah, Father God, we thank you that your word is timeless, and we thank you that the the wisdom that we see in it is not just some theoretical thing, but it's something that is uh to be applied to the very real situations in our lives. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:03:04.240 I pray, Lord, as we as we dig into this passage, that you would help us see what we need to see, that your spirit would be at work within us, that uh we would be transformed, uh, glory to glory that uh that um yeah, we would be brought closer and dearer and nearer into our affections to for the Lord Jesus. 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:09.919 Thank you, Lord, for this uh this passage and pray that you would speak in Jesus' name. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:10.719 Amen. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:12.000 All right. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:22.879 So depending upon whether you are a glass half full or glass half empty person, you could walk away from chapter four with some wrong ideas, right? 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:25.120 Duncan's Duncan spoke on this last week. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:30.319 If you haven't watched it, great sermon, great passage, great opportunity, watch it not now. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.080 I'll I'll I'll give you time later. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:37.360 But um, you could you could very easily walk away from that passage with some wrong impressions, right? 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:47.199 If you're if you're glass half full, gosh, you might look at at 417, where Paul calls his suffering, you know, light momentary affliction. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.800 You might say, Well, this isn't gonna be so bad. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:04:00.879 You might look at verses eight and nine of that chapter and see afflicted but not crushed, or struck down but not destroyed, get some sense of relief. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:06.240 That's like almost, yay, we're gonna have hard times, but they're not gonna be that bad. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:17.759 On the other hand, if you're a glass half-empty person, oh, you could look at that passage and recognize that yeah, if we get afflicted enough, eventually we might get crushed. 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:22.399 If we're struck down enough times, we could be destroyed. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:30.000 You might even look at chapter four, verse 16, and see the idea that our outer self is wasting away. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:31.120 Oh, what's that? 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:33.279 What's the end result of wasting away? 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:37.199 That means ultimately there's gonna be nothing left. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:49.439 So your pessimists out there might conclude, chapter four, Paul is kind of sugarcoating it, you know, watering it down, under underplaying the weight and implications of suffering for Christ. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:55.920 So as we look at today's passage, we're gonna see Paul isn't really underplaying anything. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:05.600 The suffering, it's light and momentary only in comparison to the to the eternal weight of glory, which he says itself is beyond comparison. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:10.240 It's just as bad, if not worse, than the pessimist fear. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.959 But we'll also see that it's better than the optimists think it is. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:20.240 Our hope in suffering is not limited to, you know, sort of thinking happy thoughts in the moment. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:27.120 We look ahead to a new life that is so much better than simply the absence of suffering. 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:28.720 So let's dig in. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:34.560 So, like I said before, we start this passage with the prior chapter firmly in view. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:43.519 Paul has just been talking about the last verse in chapter four, it talks about looking not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:47.759 For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:49.680 That's that's how chapter four ends. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:56.240 And the first word in our passage, and I want to draw attention to this because the first word in our passage is for. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:56.959 Right? 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.199 So this links these two passages together. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:03.279 This might be like saying, because, or with this in mind. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:04.319 So it's linking. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:11.920 Paul didn't sit down and write the write the book of 2 Corinthians with chapter and verse headings and breaks and stuff like this. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:13.120 He just wrote a letter. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:20.560 The chapters and verses were added centuries later so that we would have an easier time studying and knowing knowing you know what each of us is talking about. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.680 So you can open up your Bible to chapter five, verse one. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:30.720 So I think in this passage especially, there's a lot of these little linking words that help to see how this thought flows. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:34.079 And that's far more important than chapter and verse breaks. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:43.600 So if chapter four ends with a with a mindset, it ends with a practice that Paul has, uh, that of focusing on eternal things rather than temporary. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:47.600 Um, this starts off by explaining why he does that. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.000 So look at chapter five, verse one. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:51.600 This is our passage for the morning. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:52.160 Keep that open. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.079 We're gonna we're gonna be referring back and forth uh to it as we go. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:06.959 It says, 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. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:08.079 That's verse one. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.240 And this brings us to our first point. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:14.480 We, as Christians, we look ahead with hope. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:16.720 Now, what is Paul on about? 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:18.480 What does this verse actually mean? 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:23.120 He's got tents, buildings, homes, and houses and dwellings. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:25.439 These are all word pictures, right? 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:31.600 This is Paul painting a picture, and he's talking about the human body, our mortal human body. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:41.920 So we can see this is a serious topic right from the beginning because he says, if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, okay, this is the real deal here. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:52.480 We could take the word pictures out of it and state it more literally and say, if the sufferings that characterize the Christian life lead to our death, this is nothing small. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:59.759 Paul is communicating very clearly that to be a follower of Christ may bring us into danger even unto death. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:10.079 He's not saying that everybody who follows Jesus is going to wind up becoming a martyr, but he's carrying the discussion of the prior chapter to its logical conclusion. 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:20.720 What if, as the pessimists would have said, all of this affliction and persecution, being perplexed and struck down, does prove fatal. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:22.959 Does that change things? 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:24.720 So look at the rest of verse one. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:25.600 Let's see what it says. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:35.200 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. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:36.879 Consider that contrast. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:38.080 On one side, we have a tent. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:39.919 Now, a tent is temporary. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.759 Uh it's something that you break out for a camping trip or an outdoor event. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:53.279 I went to a lovely wedding in a tent in someone's back garden a couple years ago, and it was great, but nobody was saying, gosh, why are you wasting time with that house? 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:54.320 You've got this tent. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:55.679 No, a tent is temporary. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.559 When the event is over, you fold it up and you put it away. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:02.559 When the camping trip is done, you put it in your car and you go home. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:07.519 So what happens when Paul is talking about this? 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.559 What happens when our earthly tent, this body, is destroyed? 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:13.519 Does he say, gosh, look, you've got another tent? 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.320 Does he say you've got a better tent? 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:18.799 Does he even say you've got a glamping tent? 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:24.240 No, he says, when this earthly tent is destroyed, we have a building, right? 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:25.840 A house that's eternal. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.320 It's not built with human hands. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:31.919 It's not like this drafty house that I'm preaching to you from this morning. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:40.480 The building that God is talking, that Paul is talking about is uh is a new body created by God Almighty to be ours forever. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:46.799 So going on, verse two, it says, For in this tent we groan. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.559 Now we know a little bit about this. 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:52.320 Some of us are groaning this morning for one reason or another. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:59.039 But the idea of groaning in our mortal bodies is something that the apostle Paul uh talks about here and in other places as well. 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:03.120 You see the exact same wording just a couple verses later in verse four. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:07.840 We see it in Romans chapter eight, which Paul also wrote to a different body of believers. 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:12.480 In that passage, he even says, you know, all creation groans. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.039 He says that we groan within ourselves. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:16.879 And all of this is looking ahead. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:20.720 We groan because we long for something that's not yet here. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:22.639 We long for what is to come. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:25.759 This isn't this isn't blind wishing, right? 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:27.600 This isn't just like wishful thinking. 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:29.840 We groan, oh, I wish I had something. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.440 This is based on knowledge. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:34.480 We saw that at the very beginning of verse one. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.240 He says, For we know. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:46.559 Now, in the Bible, there's lots of times where we look at stuff that's certainty, that's sure to come, but hasn't arrived yet. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:48.159 And there's a word for this. 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:49.759 The word is hope. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:50.480 All right. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:54.799 So once again, our first point here is we wait in hope. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:00.960 We see the brokenness of this world, and we look ahead with hope to put on our heavenly dwelling. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:02.000 That's verse two. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:09.039 We see the hardship of our own experience, and we look ahead with hope that what is mortal may be swallowed up by by life. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:10.559 That's verse four. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:17.360 We look ahead with hope that we will not face the shame in verse three, where it talks about being found naked. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:23.440 Instead, we look ahead with hope that we will be further clothed, verse four, by God Himself. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.440 Galatians 3 says, This is this is talking about this idea of being clothed. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:33.039 It says, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:34.879 That's clothing language there. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:42.080 And Jesus Himself in Luke 24 says, Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:48.240 He was talking about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, which was going to happen at Pentecost, the beginning of Acts. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:56.320 So all of us who are followers of Jesus are clothed with him, we're united to him, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:02.000 These are present tense realities that point to this future truth. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.200 So we can see this in in verse 5 even. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:13.360 It says, He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:21.120 Because we have the Spirit, we we we know we have this now, and it's it's pointing to our future, the guarantee of our future. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:30.799 Now, this idea of delayed gratification, this is not strictly a Christian idea, a Christian concept, right? 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:32.639 People do this all the time. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:38.960 You look at the seven habits of highly effective people, Stephen Covey's master work of self-help there. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.360 He says, uh, number two is begin with the end in mind. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:47.039 So take your goal and and uh and and work towards it. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:54.480 It says, you know, here we are, we study hard with the idea of a degree, and the degree gets us the career and the lifestyle that we want. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:58.159 We're willing to work hard now for a reward later. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:06.960 Um we we can do it in simple ways by like, you know, just working hours in the kitchen to get a get a really nice meal out of it. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:11.840 Even me, even me in my earthly tent here. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:16.000 We uh I'm out in the park three days a week with David and we we do baseball training. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:16.879 And what am I doing? 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:28.879 I'm putting aside other things that I could be doing and maybe would rather be doing, but uh suffering for the goal of possibly having a decent baseball season if and when the uh restrictions allow. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.679 So we know what it is to suffer now with the idea of reward later. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:40.240 And if the reward is something good and we have an idea of when it's coming, it's easy to put it off. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:42.159 You can even see this. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:43.759 All right, controversial time here. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:55.120 You can even see this when we see how uh the Irish government talks about our COVID restrictions because they always say, here's the restrictions, and they are in effect until this date. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:55.600 Right? 00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:03.440 So we only have to think about how long these restrictions will be in effect until such and such date, and then they'll reevaluate. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:08.240 Now, I know that you're listening to this today. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:17.919 There was a big protest yesterday because we got to that to the end of our COVID restrictions, and the Irish government said, nope, we're gonna continue on with these restrictions. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:19.039 So I can hear you. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.399 You're saying these are all examples of false hope. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:23.519 What is this? 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:49.679 Well, yeah, they are all of these things that we hope in in the world to a certain at a certain point, they become false hopes because either they fail to satisfy us in the way that we that we hope they will, or they elude us completely, or you know, we just put ourselves in a cycle of having to continually re-renew and redo our things that we're working for here. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:50.799 We have to outdo ourselves. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.200 It's like in the movie Elf, right? 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.559 I don't believe I'm gonna quote the movie Elf, but I'm gonna do it right now. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:03.919 Beginning of the movie, Santa comes and he announces to all the elves, you mean let me let me read off the quote here because it's profound. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:07.360 He says, uh, we've had another very successful year. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:14.960 So after all that hard work, it's time to begin, time to start preparations for next Christmas. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:18.240 So it's just an unending cycle. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:23.600 And when we're hoping in things of the world, we're gonna be in that unending cycle. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:27.279 We're gonna be hoping in things that ultimately won't satisfy. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:38.320 It is time that we as a church stop placing our hope in when COVID restrictions are gonna end and instead look ahead to a world where sickness will be no more. 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:42.240 Verse 6. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:45.600 So we are always of good courage. 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:53.200 So, again, this is tying us back to the previous verse, which says that God has given us the spirit as a guarantee. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:16:02.559 So for Paul, the certainty of our hope just doesn't just dispel the negative feelings, it gives rise to courage. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:09.039 This is another example of chapter five going to the next level from chapter four, the sequel here. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:11.519 Chapter four says we do not lose heart. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:12.559 That's great. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.440 Chapter five says we're of courage. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.519 It says we are always of good courage. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.279 So this is our second point. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:23.600 Hope brings courage. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.639 Courage here does not mean the absence of fear. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:32.320 This would this would reduce the Christian walk to some kind of exercise in stoicism, right? 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:36.480 That uh, you know, keep calm and suffer on. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.320 No, that's not what this is about. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:40.960 Remember, Paul has not given this example in any way. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:50.480 Back in chapter one, he wrote, we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:58.799 This courage that Paul's talking about, it doesn't hide the difficulty, doesn't minimize it. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:05.039 And just as a side note, have you ever been around people who minimize, they try to offer you comfort by minimizing, don't be like that. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:10.640 Don't be, you know, the it's not that big of a deal, you'll get through this and you'll be fine, you know, you'll be a stronger person afterwards. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:17.680 If you want to comfort someone who's going through it, try uh Paul's advice from Romans 12, where he says, weep with those who weep. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:18.640 Just a side note. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:26.400 But if this courage is not like that, if it's not this stoic exercise, and if it's not minimizing, and if it's not hiding it, what is it? 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.640 Well, it's confidence. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:33.200 It's confidence in the Lord based on the certain hope that we have. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:34.880 It's like the psalmist. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:41.440 Psalmist writes, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.039 Why not? 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:43.839 Why not? 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.160 For you are with me. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.200 This is not some kind of false bravado. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:53.920 This is not a courage based on our ability to handle things. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:59.440 This is a sure and certain hope set to action. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:08.079 So going on with verse six, it says, We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.359 If we read this in isolation, it might give us the wrong idea. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:16.240 It might sound like God is not with us while we're while we're in this body, in this life. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.559 But we know from the prior verse that he is through his holy spirit who's given to us. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:22.079 So that's not what it's talking about. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:22.720 What does it mean? 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:25.680 I think this is looking just more at the experience. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:30.160 We're not literally away from the Lord, but it often feels like we are. 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.759 Reminds me of a story I heard of the little boy, right? 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:35.599 A little boy had a nightmare in the middle of the night. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:39.279 He calls out, and his dad comes, you know, comforts him. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:43.599 And the dad says, Don't worry, son, God is with you. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:48.319 And the son says, That's great, dad, but I was really hoping for someone with skin on. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:55.759 So Paul immediately, because of this, goes to verse 7 and says, We walk by faith, not by sight. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:06.880 Our courage is not based on being physically present with the Lord Jesus, but rather on the hope, rather on the certainty that he's there even when we don't see him. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:11.440 With that in mind, it would be better to see him, don't you think? 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:17.680 Verse 8 says, We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.680 This brings us all the way back around to where we started. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:35.759 If the suffering of this world results in death, and of course it will, unless Jesus comes back first, we uh we're gonna be consumed by this world and it's going to destroy our mortal bodies. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:48.960 But even if that happens, we respond with hope, we respond with courage, and we even respond with the knowledge that to be away from this body and at home with the Lord is the more desirable place to be. 00:19:49.359 --> 00:20:02.240 Away from this earthly tent, free of the perplexity of this world, you know, very few things in this world are more frightening to us than the idea of death. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:16.319 Paul here is saying, not only does the Christian have nothing to fear in death, to be physically and bodily present with the risen Lord Jesus is better than the best our world has to offer. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:22.799 Now, when my grandfather died, it was, I think, the first funeral I'd ever been to. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:29.599 Um, and something that the pastor said uh about my grandfather sticks out to me even to this day. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:37.359 He said, He's moving! He said um last week Jack wouldn't have chosen to die. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:39.680 But this week he wouldn't choose to come back. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:40.480 I'll read that again. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.440 He says, um, this is not a direct quote because it was years ago. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.839 He says last week Jack wouldn't have chosen to die. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:51.839 But this week he wouldn't choose to come back. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:01.119 So we live this life with hope-fueled courage, and we look ahead to a better life in eternity. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:06.480 So reviewing our points thus far, we look ahead with hope. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:14.240 Hope brings courage, and now we come to the last point where we aim to please the Lord. 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:15.759 Now, courage. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:21.039 We just we just got done with this idea of courage, and courage means a lot of things to a lot of different people. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:28.880 Some people think about you know, something big like climbing Mount Everest or running with the bulls, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:40.960 Some people look at it and say it's more like you know, social courage, you know, working up the strength to talk to somebody you've never spoken to before, having those awkward or uncomfortable conversations that you need to have. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:46.079 It can be overcoming personal fears like public speaking. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:48.000 Yeah. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.839 But Paul has something specific in mind for this courage. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:54.160 This isn't just courage for courage's sake. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:22:01.920 Verse nine, it says So whether we are at home or away, we make it our Aim to please him. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:08.480 The two questions come out of this when we talk about the idea of making it our aim to please God. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.039 Why do we need to please God? 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:13.920 And how do we please God? 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:16.960 Well, starting with the why. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.359 First, what this verse is not saying. 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:27.440 Paul is not talking about pleasing God so that we can become right with him or so that we can remain right with him. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:33.680 This is not a call to legalism, you know, to kind of a works-based salvation. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.559 That's certainly not what he has in mind here. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:44.079 Um, we see this just in the way that the passage flows, all those connecting words there, all the four and the so. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:53.759 It says, you know, we have this, so we have this, so we have this, so we have this, on down the line, and it's after all the hope, the certain hope. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:23:01.359 It's after all of the courage, courage that is built on this certain hope, after all of those things, we come to the idea of pleasing God. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:05.359 So this is more a result than a cause. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:14.799 This this is God-given hope forged into God-empowered courage, applied as a God-pleasing life. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:16.720 It's a result, not a cause. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:29.119 So once we've dealt with the why, we've gotten that off the table and out of the way, the how becomes less opaque because scripture is filled with examples of the sort of things that please God. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:34.079 If I'm not trying to earn my way into God's good graces, what do I need to do? 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:40.960 Well, Jesus summarized the law and the prophets, summarized the the Old Testament in the in two commands. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:44.720 One, love God with all your heart and soul and mind. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.680 Two, love your neighbor as yourself. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:50.880 That's that's that's how we please God. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.200 That's that's what this means. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:55.359 We make it our aim to please God. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:02.319 Other passages in scripture talk about what is the what is the the heart of Christian ethic. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:10.559 There's other passages that talk about, you know, walk humbly into love mercy and and walk humbly with your God. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:12.319 Yeah. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:19.200 There's other ones in there that talk about uh different stuff, but um our pastor back in the states summed it up. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:26.640 He said that Christian life is obeying the word of God by the power of the Spirit of God for the purpose of the glory of God. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:34.880 At City Church, we talk about loving God, loving one another, loving our community. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:38.640 However, we want to sum this up. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:46.079 Fact of the matter is we'll know more and better how to please God as we know him better. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:49.200 It's like I've been married 21 and a half years. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:53.119 I know how to how to care for my wife because I know her better. 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:57.200 I'm better at caring for my wife because I know her better. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:03.519 Um, we can ask Dorian about that afterwards if this is if this is actually working out, but it's it's true. 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:08.000 As we know God better, we know better how to please him. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:09.440 How do we get to know God better? 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:15.599 Well, through his word, through prayer, through fellowship with his people. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:20.640 These are all these are all things that are available to us, whether we're in lockdown or not. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.319 And so we make it our aim. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:28.720 Remember, make it our aim also is not about a set of boxes that need to be ticked. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:33.680 It's about an orientation of our lives, of our affections. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:37.519 So valuing the things that God values. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:44.480 So we could just as easily discuss, you know, where is your heart oriented this morning? 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:46.880 Who are we aiming to please? 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.720 And that brings us to verse 10. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:52.720 Let me let me read it. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:26:03.599 It says, 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. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:13.920 Now, in the same way that we wanted not to have the wrong idea about what it is to please God, we need to make sure that we're not misunderstanding this idea of judgment. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:16.400 So look at what it does not mean. 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:23.279 We're not looking at judgment in the sense of, you know, saved or unsaved, heaven or hell. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:24.160 This is not that. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:29.119 Remember, all of this passage is built on the certainty of our hope. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:35.759 It's built on, you know, our our courage in the Lord is built on solid things. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:38.160 And so our future is secure. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:42.640 So, with that off of the table, what does this mean? 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:53.519 Well, in the context of the passage, this points to something of a review, some some kind of a review of our lives when our lives are done. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:58.480 Have we hoped in God or in the things of this world? 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:01.119 Have we uh been of good courage? 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:04.160 Have we made it our aim to please him? 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:10.319 Our future is secure, but still the way that we live, it matters. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:12.559 It makes a difference in the here and now. 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:22.799 And God is uniquely qualified and uniquely justified to judge what has the content of my life been about. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:32.400 Since we just read that it's better to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, we might conclude wrongly. 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:35.519 That means this life is meaningless, doesn't matter. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.319 Just just hold on in hope. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:41.359 And uh eventually you'll you'll you'll be with the Lord. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:50.319 But what this tells us is just another another application of that courage and yet another encouragement for us to press on. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:28:02.000 Another thing to bear in mind here is this comes in a big section of this letter where Paul has been uh defending his ministry. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:09.359 He's been under a lot of pressure to be, you know, maybe more impressive, more imposing, more of an influencer. 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:25.119 Back in chapter three, he says that he doesn't need to commend himself, he doesn't need to have grand letters of introduction like some of these other super apostles, more flashy people might have, because he's not living for the approval of people. 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:28.400 His aim in life is to please God. 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:36.960 And at the end of the day, God, not Paul's critics, not the more impressive speakers running around in the city of Corinth back in the day. 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:41.039 God will judge the content of Paul's life. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:48.319 So again, Paul is Paul is ending up this little section here with a with a mindset change. 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:54.240 All right, we wrapped up chapter four with not looking at the things that are that are temporary, but the things that are eternal. 00:28:54.319 --> 00:29:00.720 And now he's saying that we're we're living for the approval, not of people, but of God. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:04.480 So, really, that's our sequel. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:10.559 We've got new challenges, higher stakes, but the same resources. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:19.279 In the gospel, we have hope, but it's not hope that just lets us curl up in a ball and wait for the end. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:26.000 It's hope that through godly courage enables a life that's pleasing to God. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.720 Like I was talking about before, there is no plan B. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:36.559 We press on, we trust and obey, we wait in hope. 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:47.440 Now, if the previous chapter showed us that our suffering is not without purpose, then this section here is showing us that it's not without end. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:54.799 We live in hope of a better world and an expiration date on our trials and tribulations. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:30:03.519 Out of that comes courage for living in this world, and that courage is to be used in orienting our purpose with his. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:06.880 And what else do we have? 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:14.240 I mean, our secular Western world doesn't give us a lot to go on for the topic of suffering. 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:30.160 We can rail against the injustice, we can fight or we can flight, but our world finds neither purpose nor escape in any meaningful way from the pain that is around us. 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:33.680 The message of the gospel, though, is so much better. 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:39.839 It says that in Christ our suffering is not meaningless and it is not everlasting. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:52.079 If you have not yet placed your hope in Jesus, I hope you'll see that this Christian hope and courage are so vital for the trials that we face in life. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:31:01.359 If you'd like to know more about the gospel, if you'd like to talk more about what it is to uh come forward in faith, please reach out. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:02.880 I'd love to talk to you. 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:07.680 I'm sure a lot of the other uh leaders here at City Church would be happy to talk to you as well. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:19.759 Just finally, here as a church, as a gathered body of believers here in this time, in this day and age, how can we encourage each other? 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:30.000 Well, based on the hope that we have, based on the courage that it drives, let's get to work on verse nine. 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:32.480 Let's make it our aim to please God. 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:47.119 You see, our hope may not always feel hopeful, and our courage may not always feel courageous, but we will find them sufficient because they're rooted in the truth of the gospel. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:49.599 So let's make that our aim. 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:54.480 Let's be in each other's lives and let's encourage each other with these words. 00:31:54.640 --> 00:32:01.279 Let's do this as a church, let's do this as community groups, let's do this in twos and threes. 00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:06.640 Love God, love one another, love our community. 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:13.920 Let's pray, Heavenly Father. 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:19.359 We thank you that you've given us provision that we might have hope. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:45.839 Thank you that that hope is not passive, is not uh just curling up into a ball, Lord, but it is uh hope that drives us in courage and that it uh brings us about to a point where we're not living for the approval of others, we're not living for uh our own purposes, Lord, but we are living a life that is pleasing to you. 00:32:46.160 --> 00:33:00.880 And I pray as we uh reflect on this and as we go forward in our week that you would remind us that the sufferings that we see and the trials that we uh endure, they're not forever. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:05.200 We do have a sure and certain hope for the future. 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:26.400 And Lord, may that stir us up, not only in affection uh in our own walk, but Lord, let it stir us towards um being proactive and talking to those who don't yet know you, those who uh need this hope and this courage in this world that is uh broken and falling apart in so many different ways. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:27.680 Lord, we thank you. 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:29.519 Thank you that you're with us. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:31.599 Thank you for your word. 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:34.000 Pray this in Christ's name. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:34.960 Amen. 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:38.000 Have a good Sunday, everybody. 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:40.000 See you at Teen Coffee.