"Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in this body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith and not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!" (II Corinthians 5:6-8)
Last week, in our lesson on II Corinthians 4:16-18, we saw how the beleagured apostle Paul was able to confidently carry out his ministry of preaching the gospel of Christ, to the equally beleagured Corinthian believers, because of what he "knew" (for sure!), as a revelation from God through the Holy Spirit! Although he suffered for the cause of Christ, perhaps more than any other man in all of history, he "knew" (and believed, and therefore "spoke!) that God was "the One who had shown in his heart to give him (as a priceless treasure!) the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ," so that "the surpassing power of the greatness of the life of Jesus Christ might be manifested (and plainly seen!) in his mortal flesh" (as in an "earthen vessel")--and spread to more and more people, and abound to the glory of God"!
The apostle Paul also "knew" (as he said in 4:14) that "the One who raised the Lord Jesus (from the dead!) would raise him up (and them, and us, also!) with Jesus" one day! "Therefore (he wrote in verse 16) we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day"! And so he viewed all the affliction that he suffered as only "light and momentary," and "producing for him (he says, "us"!) "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not on the things which are seen, but (by faith!) at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal!"
And so, as Paul would write, in 5:7, as believers in this life, we "walk by faith and not by sight"! And that "new covenant knowledge and understanding about which we learned from Paul in chapter 4, as revealed to him by revelation from the Holy Spirit, established the basis, and set the tone for last night's lesson (on 5:1-10) where Paul begins by sharing something else that he "knew" about living the Christian life! Something we need to know as well, so that we "don't lose heart," as believers and followers of Christ! (And he uses a lot of "discourse marker phrases," such as "indeed," and "for indeed," and "therefore," and "so that," as Kirk noted last nite, "to convey, emphasize, confirm, or exlain the points he's making! And so, in Paul's writings he always follows what he writes about "what he knows" with a lot of "therefores," and "so thats, as we'll saw in our lesson last night!
"For we know (he writes in verse 1) that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!" Paul, likening our body to an earthly tent! Constable notes that "in ancient times a tent was a familiar symbol of what was not permanent, and so Paul was contrasting the believer's temporary home, in his dilapidated body, with his eternal home, in his glorious body (in a day to come!), something subsantial and lasting, in heaven"! Many people who lived during the time of Paul were nomadic tent dwellers, and (interestingly) Paul was a tent-maker by trade, and so he knew all about tents! Tents were temporary, fragile, insecure, and lowly, and could easily be torn down and taken away! And so, when he writes that it's "torn down," he's picturing a soon coming separation, or death!
MacArthur likens death to "something (or someone) coming to the door of our house (or our life!) like an utterly unsympathetic landlord, waving an eviction notice that will be executed the moment the landlord arrives! Releasing us (as believers) from a fairly wretched neighborhood down here to a much better neighborhood up there! It's not going to make us homeless; but, instead, there's waiting for us a far more grand and glorious dwelling in a far better neighborhood"! (You get the point!)
And so he's saying that "therefore," we as Christians (like Paul!) shouldn't fear death! And even welcome it, "knowing" what is to come! Although, on the other hand, also like Paul, wanting to remain as long as the Lord wants to use us in His service! MacArthur notes that death (for the Christian!) "is nothing more than a reprieve, a release, from the dilapidating slum that we now live in, ushering us into a better home in a far better place! Death isn't something that cause Paul pain and suffering! Life is! And that's the reason why he longed for death!"
In Philippians 1:23 he wrote to the Philippian believers, "But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is very much better! Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake!" He would gladly trade his scrawny tent for "a building which has foundation, whose builder and maker was God"! But, then again, he knew he had something more to finish first in this life!
In I Corinthians 15:51 he wrote (something more he knew, that was given to him by revelation,) about the coming "rapture of believers"! "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (not writing it as a church nursery message!); in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we all will be changed. For this perishable must put on immortality. But when this perishable will put on the imperishable, and this mortal will put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (And he goes on to give us another "therefore" (which we'll pick up below)!
And maybe, speaking of the "rapture," this explains why the apostle Paul would write, in verse 1 of our text, that "if" (and not "when") our house is torn down"! Indicating that Paul was hoping to still be around at the time of the rapture when, as he wrote in II Thessalonians 4:17, believers "who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so be always with Him!" Thus not experiencing death! This was his first hope and desire, as MacArthur notes!
But death was not a problem to Paul either, because of what he "knew" was waiting for him! "A building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!" Paul "knew" that he was a stranger, an alien, a sojourner, and a pilgrim in this world! (Like Moses who, Exodus 2:22 says, was "a sojourner in a foreign land," and like Peter who, in I Peter 2:11, referred to us as "strangers and pilgrims in this world"!)
In Philippians 3:20, Paul writes, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He hasseven to subject all things to Himself!"
The apostle John writes, in John 1:14, that when Jesus came into this world and became flesh, He "dwelt among us and we saw His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth"! The word "dwelt," in the Greek, means "tabernackled," and so, He took the form of a man and "tabernackled," or "tented" in a temporary body among us! But after His crucifixion was resurrected into a glorified body, a body not made with hands, and "not of this creation"! A dwelling place for Christ in His glory that, MacArthur says, "is not earthy or physical, or tented, but spiritual and transcendent! Glorified! And eternal in the heavens!
Jesus told His disciples, in John 14:1-3, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places (KJV says, "mansions"); if it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you; if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also!"
And, John wrote (in I John 3:1-3), "See what great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are! For this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him! Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be! We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is! And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself, just as He is pure!" Wow!
And yet, Paul writes in verse 2 of our text, that "in this house (this earthly house) "we groan"! And for emphasis: "Indeed, we grown, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked! For indeed (there it is again!), while we are in this tent we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life"!
Romans 8:22-25 adds: "For we know (we know!) that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth until now. And not only this, but also, we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the resurrection of the body! For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for something he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it!"
We groan because we are unfulfilled, incomplete, and imperfect in this life! Paul wrote (in Romans 7:24), "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? He didn't fear death! He feared life in this world--so debilitating, so corrupting! He wanted a glorified body! To be like Jesus! To be "swallowed up in the fulness of the perfections of eternal life"!
MacArthur wrote that the highest expression that we will ever know in the glory of God's eternal heaven will be when we receive our new resurrected, glorified bodies"! And Paul writes, in verse 5, that "God has prepared us for this very purpose, and given to us the Spirit (the Holy Spirit who indwells us) as a pledge (or guarantee of what's ahead)! Wow!
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory!" (The seal "is the official mark of identification placed on a document under the authority of the person whose stamp was on the seal! Signifying security, authenticity, ownership, and authority!")
And now, another "therefore," in verses 6-8! "Therefore, being of good courage, and knowing (there's that word again!) that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith and not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!" Wow! Again, because of what he "knew" was ahead!
And yet another "therefore" in verse 9! "Therefore we also have as our ambition (the "noblest ambition of all," writes MacArthur), whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him! And how can we do that? By "therefore, being steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing (there's that word again!) that our toil is not vain in the Lord"!
And why that? Verse 10 sums it up! "For we (speaking of believers!) must all appear before the judgment seat of God, so that (note our final "discourse marker"!) each one of us may be recompensed for his deeds in the body (this tent!), according to what he has done, whether good or bad!" Notice that it doesn't say anything about judgment for sin! That's been dealt with when we came to the cross! (Romans 8:1, in still another "therefore," says, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!)
And so Paul was able to say, at the end of his life, something very special that he shared with Timothy, his beloved brother in the faith (in II Timothy 4:7-8), "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing!"
Paul faced death confidently, triumphantly, and joyfully! Our dear friend, John MacArthur once wrote that just as we are to glorify God in the way we live, we should also glorify Him in the way we die! It's our last best chance (he said) to glorify God while still in this world, and it's the greatest opportunity to prove the reality of our faith! Also that "the reality of our faith is most clearly manifested in the face of death!" And he once even gave a message on this passage, which he titled "Facing Death Confidently"!
Psalm 116:13 say, "Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints!" And I sure that applied in John's case, just as in Paul's! And there's a hymn that comes to mind that I'm sure the apostle Paul, and John, and each of us would want to join in singing, as a fitting close to this lesson! It's called "I Know Whom I Have Believed!" And here are the words:
Verse 1--"I know not why God's wondrous love to me He has made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love, redeemed me for His own!
The chorus--"But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able,
To keep that which I've committed; unto Him against that day!"
Verse 2--"I know not how this saving faith, to me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word, wrought peace within my heart!
(Chorus)
Verse 3--"I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in Him!
(Chorus)
Verse 4--"I know not when my Lord shall come, at night or noon-day fair,
Or if I'll walk the vale with Him, or meet Him in the air!"
(Chorus) And let's sing it again! "But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded He is able,
To keep that which I've committed, unto Him against that day!"
But there's another more contemporary gospel song that comes to mind that also fits this lesson so well, and it's called "Knowing You, Jesus," and I'll leave you with the chorus:
"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You! There is no greater thing!
You're the best! You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love you, Lord...!"
Go on and sing it!
May God be with you, my brothers! Til we meet again!
Lowell
Last week, in our lesson on II Corinthians 4:16-18, we saw how the beleagured apostle Paul was able to confidently carry out his ministry of preaching the gospel of Christ, to the equally beleagured Corinthian believers, because of what he "knew" (for sure!), as a revelation from God through the Holy Spirit! Although he suffered for the cause of Christ, perhaps more than any other man in all of history, he "knew" (and believed, and therefore "spoke!) that God was "the One who had shown in his heart to give him (as a priceless treasure!) the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ," so that "the surpassing power of the greatness of the life of Jesus Christ might be manifested (and plainly seen!) in his mortal flesh" (as in an "earthen vessel")--and spread to more and more people, and abound to the glory of God"!
The apostle Paul also "knew" (as he said in 4:14) that "the One who raised the Lord Jesus (from the dead!) would raise him up (and them, and us, also!) with Jesus" one day! "Therefore (he wrote in verse 16) we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day"! And so he viewed all the affliction that he suffered as only "light and momentary," and "producing for him (he says, "us"!) "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not on the things which are seen, but (by faith!) at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal!"
And so, as Paul would write, in 5:7, as believers in this life, we "walk by faith and not by sight"! And that "new covenant knowledge and understanding about which we learned from Paul in chapter 4, as revealed to him by revelation from the Holy Spirit, established the basis, and set the tone for last night's lesson (on 5:1-10) where Paul begins by sharing something else that he "knew" about living the Christian life! Something we need to know as well, so that we "don't lose heart," as believers and followers of Christ! (And he uses a lot of "discourse marker phrases," such as "indeed," and "for indeed," and "therefore," and "so that," as Kirk noted last nite, "to convey, emphasize, confirm, or exlain the points he's making! And so, in Paul's writings he always follows what he writes about "what he knows" with a lot of "therefores," and "so thats, as we'll saw in our lesson last night!
"For we know (he writes in verse 1) that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!" Paul, likening our body to an earthly tent! Constable notes that "in ancient times a tent was a familiar symbol of what was not permanent, and so Paul was contrasting the believer's temporary home, in his dilapidated body, with his eternal home, in his glorious body (in a day to come!), something subsantial and lasting, in heaven"! Many people who lived during the time of Paul were nomadic tent dwellers, and (interestingly) Paul was a tent-maker by trade, and so he knew all about tents! Tents were temporary, fragile, insecure, and lowly, and could easily be torn down and taken away! And so, when he writes that it's "torn down," he's picturing a soon coming separation, or death!
MacArthur likens death to "something (or someone) coming to the door of our house (or our life!) like an utterly unsympathetic landlord, waving an eviction notice that will be executed the moment the landlord arrives! Releasing us (as believers) from a fairly wretched neighborhood down here to a much better neighborhood up there! It's not going to make us homeless; but, instead, there's waiting for us a far more grand and glorious dwelling in a far better neighborhood"! (You get the point!)
And so he's saying that "therefore," we as Christians (like Paul!) shouldn't fear death! And even welcome it, "knowing" what is to come! Although, on the other hand, also like Paul, wanting to remain as long as the Lord wants to use us in His service! MacArthur notes that death (for the Christian!) "is nothing more than a reprieve, a release, from the dilapidating slum that we now live in, ushering us into a better home in a far better place! Death isn't something that cause Paul pain and suffering! Life is! And that's the reason why he longed for death!"
In Philippians 1:23 he wrote to the Philippian believers, "But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is very much better! Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake!" He would gladly trade his scrawny tent for "a building which has foundation, whose builder and maker was God"! But, then again, he knew he had something more to finish first in this life!
In I Corinthians 15:51 he wrote (something more he knew, that was given to him by revelation,) about the coming "rapture of believers"! "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (not writing it as a church nursery message!); in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we all will be changed. For this perishable must put on immortality. But when this perishable will put on the imperishable, and this mortal will put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (And he goes on to give us another "therefore" (which we'll pick up below)!
And maybe, speaking of the "rapture," this explains why the apostle Paul would write, in verse 1 of our text, that "if" (and not "when") our house is torn down"! Indicating that Paul was hoping to still be around at the time of the rapture when, as he wrote in II Thessalonians 4:17, believers "who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so be always with Him!" Thus not experiencing death! This was his first hope and desire, as MacArthur notes!
But death was not a problem to Paul either, because of what he "knew" was waiting for him! "A building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!" Paul "knew" that he was a stranger, an alien, a sojourner, and a pilgrim in this world! (Like Moses who, Exodus 2:22 says, was "a sojourner in a foreign land," and like Peter who, in I Peter 2:11, referred to us as "strangers and pilgrims in this world"!)
In Philippians 3:20, Paul writes, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He hasseven to subject all things to Himself!"
The apostle John writes, in John 1:14, that when Jesus came into this world and became flesh, He "dwelt among us and we saw His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth"! The word "dwelt," in the Greek, means "tabernackled," and so, He took the form of a man and "tabernackled," or "tented" in a temporary body among us! But after His crucifixion was resurrected into a glorified body, a body not made with hands, and "not of this creation"! A dwelling place for Christ in His glory that, MacArthur says, "is not earthy or physical, or tented, but spiritual and transcendent! Glorified! And eternal in the heavens!
Jesus told His disciples, in John 14:1-3, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places (KJV says, "mansions"); if it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you; if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also!"
And, John wrote (in I John 3:1-3), "See what great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are! For this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him! Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be! We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is! And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself, just as He is pure!" Wow!
And yet, Paul writes in verse 2 of our text, that "in this house (this earthly house) "we groan"! And for emphasis: "Indeed, we grown, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked! For indeed (there it is again!), while we are in this tent we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life"!
Romans 8:22-25 adds: "For we know (we know!) that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth until now. And not only this, but also, we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the resurrection of the body! For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for something he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it!"
We groan because we are unfulfilled, incomplete, and imperfect in this life! Paul wrote (in Romans 7:24), "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? He didn't fear death! He feared life in this world--so debilitating, so corrupting! He wanted a glorified body! To be like Jesus! To be "swallowed up in the fulness of the perfections of eternal life"!
MacArthur wrote that the highest expression that we will ever know in the glory of God's eternal heaven will be when we receive our new resurrected, glorified bodies"! And Paul writes, in verse 5, that "God has prepared us for this very purpose, and given to us the Spirit (the Holy Spirit who indwells us) as a pledge (or guarantee of what's ahead)! Wow!
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory!" (The seal "is the official mark of identification placed on a document under the authority of the person whose stamp was on the seal! Signifying security, authenticity, ownership, and authority!")
And now, another "therefore," in verses 6-8! "Therefore, being of good courage, and knowing (there's that word again!) that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith and not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!" Wow! Again, because of what he "knew" was ahead!
And yet another "therefore" in verse 9! "Therefore we also have as our ambition (the "noblest ambition of all," writes MacArthur), whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him! And how can we do that? By "therefore, being steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing (there's that word again!) that our toil is not vain in the Lord"!
And why that? Verse 10 sums it up! "For we (speaking of believers!) must all appear before the judgment seat of God, so that (note our final "discourse marker"!) each one of us may be recompensed for his deeds in the body (this tent!), according to what he has done, whether good or bad!" Notice that it doesn't say anything about judgment for sin! That's been dealt with when we came to the cross! (Romans 8:1, in still another "therefore," says, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!)
And so Paul was able to say, at the end of his life, something very special that he shared with Timothy, his beloved brother in the faith (in II Timothy 4:7-8), "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing!"
Paul faced death confidently, triumphantly, and joyfully! Our dear friend, John MacArthur once wrote that just as we are to glorify God in the way we live, we should also glorify Him in the way we die! It's our last best chance (he said) to glorify God while still in this world, and it's the greatest opportunity to prove the reality of our faith! Also that "the reality of our faith is most clearly manifested in the face of death!" And he once even gave a message on this passage, which he titled "Facing Death Confidently"!
Psalm 116:13 say, "Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints!" And I sure that applied in John's case, just as in Paul's! And there's a hymn that comes to mind that I'm sure the apostle Paul, and John, and each of us would want to join in singing, as a fitting close to this lesson! It's called "I Know Whom I Have Believed!" And here are the words:
Verse 1--"I know not why God's wondrous love to me He has made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love, redeemed me for His own!
The chorus--"But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able,
To keep that which I've committed; unto Him against that day!"
Verse 2--"I know not how this saving faith, to me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word, wrought peace within my heart!
(Chorus)
Verse 3--"I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in Him!
(Chorus)
Verse 4--"I know not when my Lord shall come, at night or noon-day fair,
Or if I'll walk the vale with Him, or meet Him in the air!"
(Chorus) And let's sing it again! "But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded He is able,
To keep that which I've committed, unto Him against that day!"
But there's another more contemporary gospel song that comes to mind that also fits this lesson so well, and it's called "Knowing You, Jesus," and I'll leave you with the chorus:
"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You! There is no greater thing!
You're the best! You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love you, Lord...!"
Go on and sing it!
May God be with you, my brothers! Til we meet again!
Lowell
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