WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:02.319 Let me read it for us. 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:09.839 2 Corinthians 5, verse 8, Paul declares, Yes, we are of good courage. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:17.039 We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:18.239 That's verse 6. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:21.839 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.600 And verse 8, yes, we are of good courage. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:31.359 We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:37.600 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:40.079 This is the Word of God. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:43.119 And I pray it would take root in your heart this morning. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:57.600 This is a passage that my mind has settled on recently as I think about how much fear has gripped not just our own nation, but our world right now, in light of COVID, coronavirus. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:03.439 So much the world, it really is gripped by a deep fear of death. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:06.480 And so I want to talk about that this morning. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:10.079 Some of this fear is obviously irrational. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:31.760 I'm sure you know many of these numbers, but somebody from the congregation sent me this this week, and I thought it was interesting he crunched some numbers and said, you know, in Virginia, if you're under 70, the odds of dying from COVID are about the same as dying from electrocution or radiation poisoning. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:43.439 If you're in Virginia, according to stats of Friday, is when he sent this to me, you're 11 times more likely to die by drowning if you're under age 70. 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:53.920 You're 19 times more likely to die by falling, and you're 138 times more likely to die in a traffic accident than by COVID. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:02:00.159 And yet, of course, we still swim, we still hike, and we still drive. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:12.240 And as I talk about this this morning, I'm not meaning to poke anybody who's taking reasonable precautions against a highly contagious illness. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:13.280 I hope you understand that. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:30.080 I know many of you are caring for parents, many of you are doing ministry in nursing homes and memory loss centers, many of you are nurses and doctors, and so the threat of COVID is very real for your livelihood and your occupation, your ability to care for your parents and loved ones that depend upon you. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:36.319 So I know that I'm not trying to needle any of you for those reasons. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.680 I'm not even talking about the external precautions. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:46.639 I'm talking about the internal attitude of fear that grips so many people right now. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:49.680 They're terrified of death. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:59.520 And there's just something emotional about, you know, we realize, probably even intellectually, most people realize they're more likely to die in a car accident than by a virus. 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:01.120 I mean, they realize that. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:08.000 But intellectually and emotionally, we're at such a place in our life where we've come to terms with that and to function in our society. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:12.639 We drive, and there's something about driving that it's relatively in your control, you feel like. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:16.960 And you know, obviously only half of accidents are, you know, one person's fault. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:25.039 But there's part of it that you just feel like you're in control of what happens to you, and so there's less of a fear of that. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:31.039 And I'm not advocating you should be more afraid of driving, although I have driven with some of you, and you should be more afraid of driving. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:34.240 Um, it's not 138 times for you. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:39.039 It's about 5,000 times more likely for some of you to die in a car accident, I think. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:55.120 But there is nevertheless an emotional fear that grips you with the uh, you know, something that's contagious and that you can't see, and you just you you're afraid of it because if it gets you, there's this idea that you will die and you're not in defense of it. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:12.719 You know, and God made uh a world where there is sin and there is there are viruses in the world, and the viruses are small and tiny and smaller than the holes in your mask, and people will get sick, and you will get you will be contagious, and other people will get sick, and the virus will spread. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:16.720 That's what happens in a fallen world is that people get sick and then they die. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:21.519 And so you ask yourself, why would God allow something like this in the world? 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.079 And the Bible gives lots of answers for that. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:38.879 One reason, I think, that's kind of evident is just in the smallness of the virus that God can demonstrate to us with something so small how quickly he can bring the world to a screeching halt. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.240 And that ought to humble us, shouldn't it? 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:48.399 You know, it is in the heart of man to plan his ways, but it is indeed the Lord that directs the steps. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:05:07.600 We are so good at making plans and long-term plans and short-term plans, and where we're going to lunch after the service, if I would hurry up, and you know, what you're gonna do next year, and where you're gonna go to college, and what job you're gonna have, and what position you'll play in sports next year, and all of these things that go in our minds, and the Lord can just stop them like that. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:15.120 The strength of man is nothing really compared to the sovereign, omnipotent power of God. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:19.199 And one of the ways that is evident is through the fear of death. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:41.360 And yet, in the scripture, not just the New Testament where we have the Spirit who seals us, but in the Old Testament as well, it is one of the distinguishing features of those who believe in the Lord, one of the distinguishing features of those who have their faith in Jesus Christ and believe in the power of the resurrection, that they have courage in the face of death. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.439 We've looked at this topic the last few weeks. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:55.040 Two weeks ago, we looked at Psalm 18 and we saw David, if you're gonna look at an Old Testament person who is marked by courage, your mind and your thoughts would go to David. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:03.199 He stood in the battlefield raising a sling against a giant and declared that the giant would fall. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:09.279 David said over and over again that the Lord would defend him, and if the Lord didn't defend him, he had what was coming to him. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:17.120 At the end of his life, he surrenders his will to the Lord and says, I would rather fall into the Lord's hand than my enemy's hands. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:21.680 He had a life marked by a supernatural courage. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:26.079 And so we looked at that two weeks ago and how David's life is marked by courage from Psalm 18. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.800 Last week, Pastor Ryan went through the book of Ecclesiastes for us. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:34.720 And if you missed that sermon, I strongly recommend you listen to it. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:41.519 And that was supposed to calibrate your thinking into this idea of, you know, our life is so short. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:45.519 In many ways, it is so insignificant. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:50.720 If there's no such thing as a resurrection, why does any of this matter? 00:06:51.759 --> 00:07:02.160 And as your thoughts settle there, you better land where God exists and the resurrection is real and he will bring every act of mankind into judgment. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.120 Now, are you going to respond to that with fear or with courage? 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.439 Well, if your faith is in Jesus Christ, it should produce a courage in you. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:24.079 So I want to wrap up our time in this little series, this brief series on courage, by looking at verse 8 of 2 Corinthians 5, where Paul declares for the second time in this chapter that we are of good courage. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:34.480 Christians are marked by this courage in the face of death because, and I know you understand this, death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:43.040 For believers, in many respects, death is the best thing that can happen to us. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:51.040 And so here's where our worldview is so different than everybody else's, because everybody else's worst case scenario is our best case scenario. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:57.040 Don't you want, if you're in a project at work, don't you want that kind of person on your team? 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:00.399 Like the worst thing could happen here that fills your heart with fear. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.160 You've got somebody on your team who's like, well, that's actually the best thing that can happen for me. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:07.920 That's how we are in the world. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:11.120 And that's why the world can't make sense of believers for the most part. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:15.519 Because, I mean, even basics of like the pro-life rhetoric, they don't understand. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:25.279 What it means to be in the image of God, people have a hard time understanding what Christians mean when they talk like that because they don't understand the resurrection. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:32.159 They don't understand what it means to be made in the image of God, regardless of the color of your skin or the age of your life. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:34.320 They don't understand those basic things. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:41.519 Whereas we do, and because of that, we recognize that there's this there's this dignity that every human being has. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:50.000 Regardless of what they look like on the outside, regardless of how fast they are, how old they are, how smart they are. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.440 Regardless of all those things, we all have to, we're united in this dignity. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:57.679 And at the same time, we recognize that we're all going to die. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:07.120 Regardless of our ethnicity or our language or our wealth or our political power or our social status, we're all going to die. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.279 And then we recognize that God has a purpose for us while we're alive. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:23.759 And that gives us courage to live a bold life, courage to not just lead a bold life, but courage to face death with boldness. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:28.080 So I want to give you a little outline this morning, but first, just give you this heading. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:31.120 This passage is about the courage to face death. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.159 Courage in the Bible is a moral attribute. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:38.000 Let me say that one more time because that's different than the way the world understands courage. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:41.440 In the Bible, courage is a moral attribute. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:47.360 In the world's mind, depending on what culture you're from, courage looks different. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:10:04.399 You know, in the kind of the American culture, courage looks like a form of bravery or even a sense of being macho, a sense of willing to suffer harm, you know, to run into a burning building kind of thing, which is a very courageous act, of course. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.679 In some other cultures, courage looks like stoicism. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:09.919 This is true of the Greek culture. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:13.279 In the Greek world, courage looked like an impenetrability. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:17.360 Courage looked like the ability to express no emotions. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.240 For the Greeks, courage was stoicism. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.120 It was a loved one dies and you don't mourn. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.759 Something happens to you and you don't celebrate. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:26.480 That's courage. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:30.639 It's this idea that you are a pillar and nothing in the world can affect you. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.000 That's what the Stoics believed. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.799 Biblical courage is different from both of those. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:49.440 Biblical courage is the moral capability, the moral capability to hold on to faith and drive out fear to lead a bold life for the Lord. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:51.759 And you see that in the Old Testament and the New Testament. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:57.440 Isaiah 4, verse 14, Yahweh says, Fear not, for I hold you, Isaiah, by your hand. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:02.879 And Isaiah is supposed to tell the Israelites, fear not, because God, your God, will hold you by the hand. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:10.080 That's the courage element in the Old Testament, that you put your faith in God, and so it drives out fear of the Lord. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:17.919 You're supposed to have a healthy fear of the Lord, but as your faith is in God, that fear is given way to courage and confidence. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.399 You see how there's an overlap here between the idea of courage and faith. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:28.559 Faith is the ability to see the unseen and to know the truth about God and the truth about the resurrection and the truth about heaven. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:34.320 Courage is the ability to live in light of that faith, to live with a boldness. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.840 Jeremiah chapter 1, God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet, and Jeremiah says, No, thanks. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:43.519 And God says, You don't get to say no before you were born. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:45.840 I, when you were in the womb, I knew, I knew you. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:47.840 I knit you together for this purpose, Jeremiah. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:51.200 I'm putting my word in your very bones, he says later on in the book. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:52.960 So you don't get out of this. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:12:00.399 But then Jeremiah 1, verse 8, God tells Jeremiah, do not be afraid of them. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:04.799 Jeremiah is going to go in the world, he's going to go preaching the gospel, and the world is going to rebel against him. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:07.519 The Israelites and the tribe of Judah are going to rebel against him. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:13.679 And God tells Jeremiah, Don't be afraid of them, for I am here to be with you, declares Yahweh. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:16.559 So do you see the connection between courage and faith right there? 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:21.519 Do not be afraid of opposition, because I am with you, declares the Lord. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:25.519 So if you believe that, by faith you believe that the Lord is with you. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.919 By faith, you believe that he's working in your life. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:33.120 That gives you courage to press through difficult circumstances. 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:35.039 That gives you courage to press through life. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.279 That gives you courage to face death. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:40.480 Acts chapter 28. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:44.879 Paul under house arrest, isolated in Rome. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.840 He was ready for his trial, and the judges just kept postponing the trial. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:49.120 They had no need for him. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:50.960 They didn't really want to hear his case. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.360 He had gone there to testify before Caesar's household. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:02.159 We know from Philippians chapter 4 that that was successful, that those in Caesar's household did hear the gospel from Paul, but he wasn't brought before Caesar necessarily. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.320 He was just left in his house. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:07.279 And times going on. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:11.039 If you've read the book of Acts, the end of it is so frustrating, isn't it? 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.399 Because you want some like grand finale. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:20.879 You want Paul to finally be vindicated and the judges declare not guilty, or you want him to be executed or something. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:23.519 Like bring the story to a close. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:29.600 And instead, he's just there, hanging out in his house. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:34.159 And he grew discouraged, it says. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:35.840 Acts 28, 15. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:38.399 He was feeling beleaguered. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:42.159 He was feeling like his life is just being wasted there. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:48.080 And then the Lord sent brothers in the faith to come see him. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.080 And the brothers ministered to him and encouraged him. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:57.519 And it said that from that conversation, this is Acts 28, verse 15, Paul took courage. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.279 You get what that means? 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:05.440 That he was built up in the faith by other believers, and that gave him the courage to go back to being bold. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:16.240 That gave him the courage to continue to take a stand for Christ, the courage to be in custody, under house arrest, with a sense of boldness instead of a sense of beleagueredness. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.639 This is what the Lord had even promised him earlier on. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:25.440 Do you remember when Paul was first called to go to Rome, Jesus appeared to him in a vision? 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:31.039 And told him, Take courage, for you will testify about me in Rome. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:32.559 That was the promise. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:44.960 Then he gets to Rome and he feels discouraged, even though Jesus has said, You will take courage, and then God answers his own prophecy by sending brothers in the Lord who encourage him by giving him courage. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.440 That's why a courage for a Christian is not stoicism, it's not apathy. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:57.840 Courage for a Christian is a moral virtue that empowers us to stand up straight, morally speaking, that empowers us to take stands for righteousness. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:02.799 Our convictions about God and his word become our backbone in how we live. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:06.320 The Lord strengthens our heart so that we are courageous. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.039 That's what it means to be courageous. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:35.039 That you have convictions that work themselves out in your emotions, that work themselves out in your affections, that work themselves out in the confidence you have to be under house arrest for the gospel, for the confidence you have to share the gospel with those that don't know Jesus, for the confidence you have to take stands for righteousness and what is right, for the confidence you have to face death, to look death in the eye and see him as a welcome friend, not as a foe. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.440 It's something that happens in our hearts as the Lord strengthens our hearts. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:44.559 And this is why the Lord told Joshua back in the Old Testament. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:46.399 This is not just a New Testament concept. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:48.720 Back in the Old Testament, the Lord calls Joshua. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:51.519 Joshua 1, verse 6, and says, I'm calling you, Joshua. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:56.879 You will lead these people, and you need to be strong and courageous. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:58.960 That's right. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.120 That's the mark of virtue. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:05.600 It makes no sense in the eyes of the world. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:07.200 The Israelites are outnumbered. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:21.919 In a foreign land, for them, it was the only right the Israelites had to cross the Jordan River, march around Jericho, and conquer the land there was that God had promised it to Abraham 400 years earlier, 440 by this point. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.480 But Joshua believes that, and so he takes courage. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.559 Faith produces courage. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:35.440 I mentioned earlier David in Psalm 18, but your mind should go to 1 Samuel 17, where he walks into the battlefield. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:44.559 Remember, the Israelites had been being heckled by Goliath and his minions for days and days and days, and they were unable to muster a response. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:50.960 So much so, so much time had gone by that David grew concerned that his brothers were running out of food and went to bring them food. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.919 He expected to find them surrounded by an invincible army. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:59.679 Instead, he found them cowering, being heckled by one giant. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.440 Imagine this conversation with Saul, King Saul. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:04.799 Hey, who's gonna deal with that guy? 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:05.920 He's blaspheming the Lord. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.480 And Saul's like, I don't know, you want to try on my armor? 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:13.119 David doesn't need Saul's armor. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.599 He goes out there in the field with his sling. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:18.319 Remember what he declares in the field? 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.359 In the open field in front of both armies. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:31.200 This boy says, You come at me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:35.680 That's what courage in the Bible looks like. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.400 And that is supernatural. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.799 That is a work of the Lord in the human heart. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:50.000 That is God's spirit who gives somebody the faith to believe in the afterlife, the faith to believe in the reality of Yahweh, our covenant-keeping God. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:50.640 That faith. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:18:05.279 And in the New Testament, that spirit of faith is the one who seals our hearts, who regenerates us, who gives us faith by causing us to be born again, seals our hearts with faith, acts as a deposit, a guarantee for us. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:12.640 That's why verse 5 of 2 Corinthians 5 says that he gives us his spirit as a guarantee, so we are always of good courage. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.680 That's one of those places where the verse marker throws you off there. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.440 Verse 5 just runs into verse 6. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:22.960 God has given us a spirit, his spirit as a guarantee, so we are always of good courage. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.319 This is 2 Timothy 1, verse 7. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:34.799 God gave us a spirit, not of fear, not of fear, but he gave us a spirit of power and love and self-control. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:38.400 This is marked in the early church. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:46.559 Remember, Peter and John were arrested for their faith, were beaten for their faith, thrown into prison, told, hey, don't preach Jesus, we'll let you out. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.319 They said, no, thank you. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:49.920 We'll keep preaching Jesus. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.039 They let him out anyway. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:52.640 And they go back out to preaching Jesus. 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:53.440 So that's what happened. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:54.640 That's Peter and John right there. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:56.559 That was their submission to governing authorities. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:58.480 Don't speak, you don't preach. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:00.000 Nah. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:06.400 And the crowd watches them as they emerge from custody and watch them go out and preach. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:08.960 And do you remember what the crowd discerns about them? 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:10.400 This is Acts. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:12.720 I thought it was on my notes. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:14.720 Acts chapter 4, verse 13. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:16.880 They're seen out there. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:23.119 And the crowd discerns from them that they were ordinary people, unlearned, untrained people. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:29.839 And yet they had been with Jesus and they were marked by courage. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:36.240 How can you have that kind of courage to be told we're going to put you to death if you keep preaching? 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:39.680 And you barely slow your step. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.079 It comes from faith in the resurrection. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:52.000 Like I said, for Peter and John in that scenario, their best case scenario is everybody else's worst-case scenario. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:56.079 You can't silence somebody who's not afraid of death. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:00.480 This is why the book of Hebrews ends with this, Hebrews 13, verse 6. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:05.759 I can confidently say, the Lord is my helper, what can man do to me? 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:13.680 That's a question that should be over every moral decision you have in your life, every day of your life. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:14.960 That should be the banner over it. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:18.480 If the Lord is my helper, what can a person do to me? 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:21.119 This is Romans chapter 8. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:24.079 What can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus? 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:29.680 Heights can't, depths can't, angels can't, demons can't, principalities can't, rulers can't. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:31.200 What can separate you? 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:33.759 Who can bring a charge against God's elect? 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:34.880 No one. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:41.119 If Jesus Christ is for you, the devil himself will not be successful in his opposition of you. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:43.519 That produces a sense of courage. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:46.319 If the Lord is your helper, what can man do to me? 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:49.200 This is the courage to face death we find in verse 8 here. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.319 And there's a couple evidences of it. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.759 The first evidence is the Christian's preference. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:57.599 The Christian's preference. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.279 You just have to marvel about how Paul words this. 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:02.400 And he does this elsewhere also. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:08.640 We'll look at some other places he words it like this, but it's just so staggering that Paul reduces his courage to a choice. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:15.279 He answers a question in verse 8 that nobody has articulated, but it's the question. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:16.960 Paul frames his own question here. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:19.359 Yes, we are of good courage. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:23.759 We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.160 So Paul makes us an either-or. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:33.119 You know the game children play, either or Paul makes us an either-or question. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:36.880 Would you rather live another day or go to heaven? 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:45.039 Either or what's a courageous, faith-filled answer to that question? 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:46.720 I'd rather go to heaven. 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:47.920 There's no heaven. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:50.160 Paul, that's why I love how verse 8 starts with a yes. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:51.119 Yes, by the way. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:51.839 Yes. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:53.039 What's the question? 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:54.400 Yes, right off the gate. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:54.799 Yes. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:56.960 Heaven, yes, heaven, yes, yes, yes. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:58.480 That's what I want, Paul says. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.039 Heaven. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:06.079 And it's almost like his interlocutor here, his the narrator who hasn't even got the question out of his mouth and Paul's already answering it. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:07.920 Would you rather yes? 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.039 He's so confident. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:16.880 This is true for believers. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.559 Christians long for heaven. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.359 Like the deer pants for the water, Christians long for heaven. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:24.240 Like a baby cries for milk, Christians long for heaven. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:27.200 Like an athlete wants to play the next game. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.759 Like a worker wants to be paid. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:31.839 Like a soldier wants peace. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.599 That's how Christians want to see heaven. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:49.279 It's very interesting to me from a preacher's perspective that verses 6, 7, and 8 here are in the indicative, not in the imperative, because what I mean by that is Paul's just stating these as a matter of fact. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:50.960 He's not turning them into an imperative. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:54.640 This is not one of his places, and there are many, many imperatives in 2 Corinthians. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:57.279 I mean, 2 Corinthians is him basically dressing down the Corinthians. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:22:59.359 He's telling them a lot of things to do. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:01.440 This is not one of those places. 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:04.160 He doesn't tell them, so you be of good courage. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:07.839 He doesn't say, so you guys, get your chin up and get back in the game. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:09.839 Rub some dirt on it and get back out there. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:10.640 He doesn't tell them that. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:14.000 He just says it as a matter, if they're believers, this is true of them, is what he's saying. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:16.559 You are, if you're a believer, you have courage. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:18.559 And that's how it comes across. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:25.279 Certainly, I think that's a cognitive decision he's making when he's writing this, is he's inspired by the Holy Spirit. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:29.200 He's not turning this around to them to say, hey, you do this. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.720 He's just telling them this is this is what it is. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.559 So here's the example of Paul. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.000 He has courage in the face of death. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:39.920 He wants to go to heaven. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.319 If it was a yes or no question, would you want to keep living in this world or go to heaven? 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:47.680 He says, no to this world, yes to heaven. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:52.079 Because that's where the real life begins. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.079 This is all precursor. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:01.680 You know, there's a genre of movies that start with the credits. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:09.519 One of the great things about you know watching them on Amazon Prime or whatever is that you can skip the credits and get right to the movie. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:13.839 In fact, they even offer Amazon Prime even offers you that option. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:17.599 You know, once the credits start or whatever, you get the little box down the lower right-hand corner. 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:18.319 I love this feature. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.880 Whoever designed this needs a raise immediately. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:23.200 Skip the credits. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.759 Click yes, thank you very much. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.240 This life is the opening credits. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:36.319 It's all the real stuff comes next. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:37.839 The real stuff comes next. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:45.599 And so that's why Paul says 1 Corinthians 15, he's looking forward to heaven because there, he's looking for in 1 Corinthians 15, it's not just heaven. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:50.160 He says he's looking forward to death because in death, mortality is swallowed up by life. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:51.759 What a great turn of phrase. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.119 Mortality meaning the capacity to die. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:56.960 That's what mortality means. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:02.400 Your capacity to die is swallowed up by life. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:06.640 You would expect him to say mortality is swallowed up by death. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:10.559 That's what finally brings an end to mortality, is death gobbling it up. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.440 When your life is eaten, you know, what brings an end to your life? 00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:16.000 The shark that ate you, brought an end to your life. 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:18.480 That's what you expect the word picture to be. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:23.759 But he says, no, mortality is gobbled up not by death, but by life itself. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:28.240 Meaning when you die, your capacity for death is vanquished. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:32.240 It's annihilated by the reality of eternal life. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:40.160 He uses another example, 1 Corinthians 15, that heaven, your life in heaven is like a tree, and your life here on earth is like the seed. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:41.039 And you understand this. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:44.880 The seed cannot produce the tree unless the seed first dies. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:48.240 And what does that mean? 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:53.279 Well, the seed ceases to be a seed and becomes a sapling and becomes a tree. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:55.839 It's one of the great mysteries of biology. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:00.000 To this very day, biologists still don't have a full understanding of how that works. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:10.079 They don't have an understanding of how the seed, I mean, they're just even now are developing new theories about how the seed knows which way to point up and down and which way to send the roots out and which way to shoot up. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:15.359 And this is still a mystery to science now, much less 2,000 years ago. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:17.119 And the seed dies. 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:23.440 At some point, it ceases to be a seed and becomes a tree. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:25.200 And Paul says, that's what happens. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.039 Your life right now is the seed. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:32.480 And you want to be the tree, which you will be in heaven, but unless you die, you're not going to get there. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:35.359 That's what has to happen. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:42.559 And so Paul's point is that if I have a choice, I choose heaven, which is another way of choosing death to get to heaven. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:45.599 And he's saying this in such a way. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:50.640 This is not, when I read this, it does not come across as merely an abstract theological point. 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:54.799 It comes across as something that has personally and profoundly impacted him. 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:56.799 Yes, we are of good courage. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.240 We would rather be, that phrase rather, it's such a preference to him. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.279 We would rather be with the Lord. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:09.119 We'd rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:13.680 Why is that? 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:16.480 I mean, there's so many reasons, aren't there? 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:21.039 If you die, you're with the Lord, you see the Lord. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:22.319 That's the reason he gives here. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:23.200 You see the Lord. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:26.000 If you love the Lord, you want to see him, you want to be with him. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:28.160 It's a love for Jesus. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:30.720 You see loved ones. 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:32.559 Loved ones who died in the Lord. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:35.119 This is what he tells the Thessalonians. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:42.000 Don't mourn like those who have no hope, because there are those who have died, their bodies went to the ground, their souls are with the Lord right now. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.960 Don't mourn as if you have no hope. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:48.240 And in that context, the hope is that you will see them again. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:57.279 So on the one hand, you're longing for heaven because you get to see Jesus, but there's another very real reason that you have loved ones who died in the Lord, and you want to see them also. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:08.480 This is David in 1 Samuel 12, where his, you know, his son is, his baby, infant son is dying, and David is praying and fasting for seven days for the life of his son. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:11.359 And then his son dies, and David bathes and goes and worships. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:14.000 And it is such a mystery to those around him. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:17.039 Because that is the opposite of the way that should work, right? 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.839 You would expect everything to be reversed in that. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:27.200 You would expect him to be worshiping while the son is alive. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:39.839 You expect him to be with the sun and worshiping, and as the sun is dying, you would expect prayer, and as the sun has died, you would expect, this is in a non-Christian perspective, as the sun is dead, you'd expect not worship but anger towards the Lord. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:43.440 Not worship, but grief. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:48.000 For David, when the son was alive, he was devoted to prayer. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:50.480 When the son died, he was devoted to worship. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.799 And his servant said, It makes no sense, David. 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.319 It makes no sense. 00:28:54.880 --> 00:29:00.160 And David said, I'm not gonna bring him back to me, but I'm gonna go to him. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:02.640 Do you see that hope in heaven? 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:04.640 I'm gonna go to him. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:07.759 That's what motivated David. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:09.039 I'm gonna press forward. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:11.119 Of course, David is excited to see the Lord. 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:13.279 He wrote the book of Psalms, okay? 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:14.720 He's excited to see the Lord. 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:19.680 But also, he's excited to see his infant son who died. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.119 I will go to him, David says, and so I will worship now. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:31.440 I've heard people argue that those kind of passages don't mean that babies go to heaven, they just mean that David is also going to die one day, too. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:32.799 You know what you follow that argument? 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:37.920 Like he did, I'm not, he's not gonna come to me, I'm gonna go to him, meaning I'm also going to die, and we'll see what happens. 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:40.960 That doesn't make any sense of the context. 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:46.160 That doesn't make any sense of a person who has the courage to go worship God because his son just died. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:50.640 From the non-Christian perspective, that makes zero sense. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:55.119 From the believer's perspective, of course. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:04.000 Of course, your heart is filled with worship because you're looking forward to the day that you will be away from your own body and at home with the Lord. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:09.599 What a day that will be when parents meet children that perhaps they never met before. 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:19.279 Not in their fallen state, not in their needy infant state like they would be in this world, but in their transformed, glorified state. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.200 What a day that will be. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:28.480 What a day when parents are united with children that preceded them in death, when children are united with parents that preceded them in death. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:31.519 It's a grand reunion. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:42.960 There are those that say, I I'm not ready to die yet because I want to see my family grow up, and I want to see the grandkids grow up, and that's that's those are good reasons, right? 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:43.759 Family is good. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:45.200 All of God's gifts are good. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:48.000 None of God's gifts should keep you from heaven. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:57.279 You want to go to heaven because you see Jesus, you see loved ones there, you want to go to heaven because you get rest from your work. 00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.920 That's probably chief in Paul's mind, right here. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:06.400