This Earthly Tent

Introduction

Good Morning, I am Shawn, I am the family pastor here at First Grace. Before we do anything, we have a member at the hospital with acute appendicitis. His surgery was to be at 10am. Let us take a moment to pray for him and his family.

Our Father, thank you for your mercy and your grace. thank you also for the Hellmans and what they mean to us, their church. I pray you lay your hand on him this morning that he may be comforted by your Spirit. Guide the surgeon to be precise and perfect in his execution of the surgery. Heal Garths body. Comfort Sophie and their children. It is scary to watch a loved one in a health crisis. Encourage them all and remind them of you perfect goodness and everlasting love. May all of this be to your glory, honor, and praise forevermore. AMEN.

We will be setting up a Meal Train this week to give him time to recover and so they can care for him without needing to worry.

Next, today is Caring well Sunday. It is a Southern Baptist day to remember that it is important to build our churches to be a safe place, both so that those who have been hurt know this is a place of safety, and so that we make it as close to impossible for someone to be harmed while they are here. There is a page in the bulletin from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, for parents to consider to help you keep your children safe.

Now, if you have your Bible, please turn it to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. If you do not have a Bible, we have some out at the Welcome Desk, please feel free to grab one and keep it. It is our gift to you.

While you are turning to 2 corinthians 5, if you have one of our sermon notebooks,

I have Titled this sermon: “This Earthly Tent”

Our Big Idea this morning is: “By faith we walk in these earthly tents knowing we will receive homes when we appear before Christ”

In John chapter 11 we have the story of Lazarus, his death and of when Jesus rose him from the dead. Jesus had heard about his sickness and waited several more days to the bewilderment of his apostles. They knew how much Jesus cared for him. Telling his apostles Lazarus had died, Jesus journeys to Bethany. Even while he is still far out, he is approached by both of his sisters. I am always struck by the fact that they both say the exact same thing, but they mean something different. They both say this, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” To Martha Jesus says this, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” He points her to the hope of the future which faith in him will bring. To Mary he became moved by her and went to the tomb and raised him from the dead. The utterly human anguish in the heart of Mary moved the author of life. Yet it is his statement to Martha I want to keep on our minds this morning, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

By faith we walk in these earthly tents knowing we will receive homes when we appear before Christ

2 Corinthians 5:1–10 1 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. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Lets Pray:

Our Father in Heaven, give us ears to hear what you Spirit would say to your church this morning. Remind us of your glory. Remind us of the one in whom we have believed

Big Idea: By faith we walk in these earthly tents knowing we will receive homes when we appear before Christ

I have 2 points this morning: Who we will become, then whom we will face

First, Who we will become

1 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. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

In verse 1 of chapter 5 we pick up with a similar theme as we discussed in the last chapter. This one takes on a little bit of a different approach. As we hold a precious treasure in jars of clay, that is our mortal flesh including our yet to be glorified hearts. We nonetheless, look forward to when this light and momentary affliction will make way for an even greater eternal weight of glory. Paul, at the beginning of chapter 5 switches metaphors to talk about the same ideas in another way. In verse 1, he speaks of our tents, which is our earthly home. This is not talking about your house, your city, or the region in which you were born. He isn’t talking about the world in which we live. He is talking about our flesh, our bodies, that and our hearts and minds as connected to this present life. For the moment he is speaking in contrast with the eternal, immaterial part of our soul.

As we I mentioned last week, it can be difficult to talk about any of this with any measure of clarity, partially because we are whole beings made up of many significant parts. Each of these parts make up the whole and none can be discounted in their importance to that whole. At the same time, the sum of each of these all added together makes something greater than the sum of their parts, this is the Imago Dei, the image of God in us.

That said, if these tents, our bodies, are destroyed we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, which is eternal in the heavens. Of course, it can be argued that God made the tents we dwell in now, so what is the difference? He fashioned all of us in our mothers womb’s, he has knit us together, and we are all fearfully and wonderfully made. At the same time, our flesh is also “made by hands” in the sense that our mothers and fathers participate in the construction of these earthly tents, let the hearer understand.

In verse 2 Paul speaks of our longing to put on immortality. This is true for Christians and non-christians alike. For the Christian, we look forward to the fulfillment of the promise of eternal life even if we don’t fully understand what it will look like. The Bible speaks of a precious few who will not taste death before Christ comes, but the rest of us will. This means we approach our nearly inevitable deaths with the hope of our heavenly home.

However, we are not the only ones with this longing. This has been a struggle in humanity since the beginning. We were created for the eternal, but found ourselves trudging through the squalor of mortality. What do we do with this longing? We strive to build up our earthly homes, we earn more, even invest it. This is true literally with our wealth, building it to enjoy and then pass on to other generations. It is true with our own bodies, some fixate on making sure he or she is healthy and strong as long as possible. Some try to fulfill this desire for the eternal by building a legacy. It is true with our families, having kids and grandkids, passing on a familial legacy and traditions that will out live us. It is true with some when they try build something great which will out live them. Honestly, there are countless ways people seek the eternal.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says “11 He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” God built us to seek that which only he could sate. We were meant to seek eternity in him. This is why, as the author of Ecclesiastes tell us repeatedly, everything else is vapor, a striving after the wind. This is why it will feel empty when measured with what truly matters.

Now, looking at Verses 3 and 4, they are unusual. We look forward to putting on our eternal homes, our resurrected bodies so that we might not be found naked? Paul says, not that we would be unclothed, but instead that we would be further clothed. What?

I believe this is the idea: We were created as both physical and spiritual beings. We walk creation in a way like no other created being. The animals are physical, but not spiritual. They are not eternal. The Angels, are spiritual beings, but not physical. They have a beginning, but no discernible end and are therefore eternal. Human beings are both. We are physical beings who live and move on the earth. We are finite and mortal, but we were also created with an immortal spirit. We are, therefore, spiritual beings who have a beginning, but no discernible end. To be clear, this is different from when we speak of the eternity of God, who has no beginning and no end. He was not created by anyone, but instead he has always been. Everything finds its ultimate source in him, and it is in him we all live and move and find our being.

With this in mind, unless I have misunderstood this, verses 3 and 4 are referring to the resurrection. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Regardless of how this will eventually happen, in the end, when Jesus returns, he will raise everyone from the dead and everyone who remains will be changed. They will shed their earthly forms and put on what is to be their heavenly body. This will be both a physical and spiritual body, but not tainted by our sinfulness. This is the hope of the Christian, that mortality would be swallowed up by life in our resurrection from the dead.

What do we do with this? Let me start with this, are you aware of your current mortality? Do you remind yourself of the vapor of chasing temporary things? What is it that truly matters? Toward what do your ambitions point you? Are you building up a tiny kingdom for yourself? Are you seeking to stand taller than the people around you? What do you seek? Do you seek the temporal, or the eternal?

What part of who you are will carry on into eternity? Will your wealth? your strength? Will it be your reputation? If we are to build our tents, how would we do that? Is it even possible?

2 Peter 1:3–8 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We build our tents by faith on the rock of our salvation. This faith is built upon by virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. It is a character we are forming in our innermost being, so pay attention to who you are becoming. You are becoming someone, either by sating your sinful desires, or by subjecting them to the discipline of a faith pointed toward eternity and the heavenly home built for us in Christ Jesus. We become godly as we sate our desire for eternity with the one who can actually fulfill it. By doing this, not only will it make for a better life, but we develop the part of us that will endure into eternity. Then we should disciple others to do the same, but beware the leaven of the pharisees, who heap rules and seek to do the work of the Spirit for him. We have one judge, that is Jesus Christ.

By faith we walk in these earthly tents knowing we will receive homes when we face the judgment seat of Christ

My First point was, Who we will become. My second point is Whom we will face

5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Verse 5 helps us see that that our future hope in the resurrection, our future homes, have been prepared for us by God, who has given us his Spirit as a guarantee. This is the place Jesus said he went to prepare. The Holy Spirit, as Ephesians says, is a seal on us as a guarantee until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. This is one of the main purposes of the Holy Spirit, to be the stamp of identification on each of us that we belong to God.

The result is courage. What ought we fear? We walk by faith, not by sight. When we have God himself promising us a better home when these tents, when these jars break; what is there to fear? Like we talked about last week, we need not fear what can be done to this body, when Almighty God has prepared for us a heavenly home beyond our comprehension. We know we can walk through anything, no matter how difficult, because with the eyes of faith we can see the end. We know that no matter what trials or tribulations we traverse, we have a promised home in him.

Looking at verse 8, We walk in good courage because we know that while we would rather be at home with the Lord, away from our fragile mortal flesh, regardless, whether we remain in our flesh, or depart this plane to be with him, we will aim to please him. This is the chief duty of man as Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” We fear that is respect him and honor him with our obedience. Through which we aim to please him with our every step, our actions, with our words, with even the desires of our hearts. We do this, not because we must, but because we love and respect him and he has earned our devotion.

We do this because he first loved us and sent his very son who put on an earthly tent like ours. He endured all of what it means to be human. He endured every temptation as us, yet without sin. He knows what it is like to be tempted, but I’m not sure we know quite what it is like to be tempted as he was. Here is the thing, temptation only gets worse the more you fight it. Once you give in, you get a reprieve. This gives you an opportunity to feel all of the same and guilt which comes from your failure. Jesus never gave in. He endured.

At the same time, we are only tempted to do that which we are capable. To use an innocuous example: I am not tempted to drop a bunch of money on a yacht. It just isn’t a temptation for someone who lives in the middle of Iowa and doesn’t has the level of wealth I possess. Yet for someone else, the temptation does exists, because it is something of which they are capable. Jesus was far more able than we could possibly imagine. First, because he is God in the flesh. Second, because he is human the way Adam was human, not like me. I am broken by sin, Jesus was not. This is why he was tempted to turn stones into bread, something I would never be tempted to do.

All of that to say, Jesus knows what it is like to struggle with temptation, he knows better than you do, he knows better than I. Yet, he still did not sin.

Instead, he took your sin and mine on his shoulders, he bore the weight of it on his shoulders. This was represented by the weight of the cross which he carried uphill to the place of the skull, Golgotha, calvary. He carried it willingly, then God poured out his wrath on his son. The wrath you and I truly deserve because of our sin. My sin alone deserved an infinite payment, so did yours. So the infinite, wondrous, and eternal word took God’s wrath for it and died there, hung on a roman cross. He died and was buried in a borrowed tomb.

On the third day after his death God raised Jesus from the dead. He had shed his earthly tent and put on his home. In this, he gives us a glimpse of what is to come. He rose to show us the victory he gained over sin and death and the grave, and to show us the object of our faith. We are not called to believe something with no evidence. We have eyewitness testimonies of Jesus’s resurrection, produced when other eye witnesses could have corroborated or even denied their validity. Yet, their reliability have been continually attested for 2 millenia. We believe in the resurrected Jesus.

Jesus, having been obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, was then exalted. He was given all authority in Heaven and on earth that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.

Verse 10, then tells us that when we leave our earthly tent, we all will stand before the judgment seat of the exalted Christ, and we will receive our reward for the things we have done in this earthly tent, whether good or evil.

There are many different judgments which are pronounced in the Bible. In the New Testament, there are the judgments described in the book of Revelation with the scrolls, the trumpets, and the bowls. It seems Jesus will judge Christians then he will judge the nations on the earth. Christians will judge the angels, and then there is the great white throne of judgment. I want to talk about the judgment seat of Christ which is when he will judge those who belong to him, and I want to talk about the great white throne of judgment when God the father will judge those whose name is not found in the lamb’s book of life.

For the Christian, we have been rescued from the great white throne of judgment. However, the Bible is still clear that we will face the judgment of Christ. There are many ideas about what this will look like, so I will speak in as general of terms as I can.

1 Corinthians 3:9–15 says, 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

There is some sort of difference between what our inheritance will look like when we reach Jesus’ judgment seat.

There are some who think they belong to Jesus who will be sent away because he does not know them, they are destined for the great white throne of judgment.

For those who truly believe, who have repented of their sin and have put their faith in Jesus Christ as their only hope of salvation, our names are written in the Lamb’s (that is Jesus’) book of life. We are far from perfect, in fact many of us can be down right wretched, but our holiness is not based upon us, but on Jesus. We struggle through this life to varying degrees of success. We strive to build upon the foundation we have been given, because we build our tents on the rock of our salvation. As we talked earlier, who we are becoming, the tents we are building are determined by who you are now and the habits and behaviors you develop.

Our various rewards are in some ways dependent upon our actions. In many ways it comes back to what Jesus said, build your treasure in heaven. The works we do to serve Christ and others, the fruit we produce by the Spirit, the character we develop by the humble practice of virtue and self-discipline. These are things which won’t be burned up by the refining fires of Christ’s judgment.

To be clear, I will be happy to be a dog or beggar in the courts of Christ. I think any of us would be happy to be with him and metaphorically eat the scraps from his table. It would be better than facing the great white throne of judgment.

Yet, some of us, because of our deeds will be saved, but “as if through fire.” Our works will burn up because they were of little to no value. The riches of a life lived with eternity in mind will be shown as revealed through fire as the dross is removed and we appear refined by Christ’s judgment.

For those who have not repented of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ as their only hope of salvation, they bear their own guilt and shame. They who did not hand it over for Christ, will carry their own sin before the perfectly just and almighty God. This is the moment when God’s mercy and grace take a back seat and he dispenses pure justice on those who did not accept his mercy. There is only one verdict at the great white throne, guilty. This is because all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Then those who have been shown their guilt will be cast into Gehenna, the lake of fire, a place of eternal blackness, of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is not a place we were ever meant for, but it was made for Satan and his angels. Those who refuse God’s mercy and grace in Christ Jesus choose this judgment for themselves. It is eternal torment for an eternal offense.

If you are here and you have not put your faith in Jesus Christ as you hope of salvation. I want to encourage you to consider it. Choose Christ! He will rescue you from the wrath of God, you will receive mercy and grace. You will be forgiven and adopted into the household of God and given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of your inheritance. Jesus will begin to work in you and shape you. You will gain an extended family who love you and want to help you even as you will love and help us. We aren’t perfect, we have problems too, but we can help one another. Believe today. If you have questions, talk to the person sitting next to you, or come find me. I would love to answer your questions as best as I can.

By faith we walk in these earthly tents knowing we will receive homes when we appear before Christ

In Conclusion:

Jesus said, ”I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” We live our lives, walking by faith, not by sight. We do this knowing that this tent, our outer-self might be wasting away, but who we are becoming, who we are in our inner-self is renewed by the Spirit of God day by day. We build our lives upon the rock of our salvation because who we are becoming matters. What we build upon the rock of our salvation matters. If we build with straw and paper, it will be burned up when we see Jesus face to face. Instead, we hope in our future resurrection because the Son of Man was crucified in our place and has rescued us from the Judgment of God, and we build upon our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Then when all is said and done, we will will be with Jesus forever, free of all the pain and affliction we encountered walking this broken world.

By faith we walk in these earthly tents knowing we will receive homes when we appear before Christ

Lets Pray:

Our Father in Heaven, fill us all with hope in the resurrection. It is clear that future hope was a comfort for Martha, may it be so with us as well. Father work in all of our hearts as we remember to pay attention to who we are becoming and whom we will face. Be with us now as we remember together the covenant you established in you blood.

Communion

Now, at this time we are going to take communion together as one body in Christ. We do this to remember the body and blood of Jesus broken and shed for us. We do this to remember his body the church of which we are all a part if we have repented of our sin and have believed in him. You do not have to be a member of this church to partake, but if you cannot confidently say you believe in Jesus Christ as your hope of salvation and you believe him to be Lord of all, then I ask for you to refrain. This is not meant to exclude you, but for you to see the weight of what we do. Take a moment to consider Jesus. Pray for his forgiveness and put your faith in him. If you can then confidently say you believe, join us. We will get the elements, return to our seats, then I will read scripture for us and we will partake together.

Matthew 26:26–29 “26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Lets Pray together: Our Father, bless you people, convict us of our sin and lead us to repentance and continued faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless us and remind us of our future hope in our resurrection from the dead.

Announcements

Small Group:

First, I need to make a correction, Zach Knutson, will not be a small group leader this year. It was a misunderstanding which led to his name in the bulletin.

Second, Our groups will begin September 22nd.

Third, we could use another group, if anyone is interested.

Youth Group:

We could use help in our youth group. We have been having some consistent guests and they could use some adults in their lives who can love them and teach them the gospel. Come see me if you are willing.

Pray for the youth ministry, we had 14 students on Wednesday and most of them were community kids who need the gospel. Pray the Lord of the harvest would send workers into his harvest.

Meeting

We are having a brief meeting shortly after the service. This is for members. We will be electing a new elder.