Book 47: 2 Corinthians: Earthly Tents and Heavenly Hope: 2 Corinthians 5 and Short Intro

Welcome/Call to Worship – Rev. Becky Rego

Hymns/Songs:

1) Jesus is King

2) Worthy is the Lamb

Open Time of Prayer

Children’s Talk – Bible quote or human saying? – Rev. Becky Rego

Reading – 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 - Mateus Abilio

Hymn: Ancient Words

2 Corinthians 5:1–10 ESV

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.

Introduction: The 2nd Letter to the Corinthians

Recently in our bible readings for the church we started reading 2 Corinthians. And in the last week we read chapter 5. And though it is my plan to preach from every book of the bible at least once over the 3 years, and we are on target to do so with one year gone already, I knew that I wanted to preach on this particular chapter. But before I do, as it is a new book, or rather letter, then a short intro will suffice because we already introduced the 1st letter a long time ago:

The 1st letter to the church at Corinth, we know, is a scathing portrayal of a divisive church. To be honest, the 2nd letter reveals some changes but the divisions continue to pervade this church well into the next century when Clement wrote to them of the same kind of things.

But Paul’s heart is very much for this fellowship and he writes this rather personal letter to them. He wants them to be steadfast and deal with the problems that are pressing in on them from the outside as well as sorting the issues going on between members.

The pressures from the outside are not different today. Corinth loved status, power and freedom from morals just as we are pressured to conform and compromise.

Then the issues from within are really what can tear apart a fellowship with division or false teachers and prophets. We are called to stand and persevere and to have integrity.

As we read 2 Corinthians the big themes are suffering, resurrection and reconciliation. It is well worth reading through carefully. Two of those themes feature in what we are looking at today.

Introduction: Chapter 5

Chapter 5 deals with the temporary nature of our lives, something that at the pastoral team leaders’ meeting this week we also briefly mentioned talking about counting our days, and not knowing when our day will come.

But when that day does, as it will for all who are not present at the Lord’s return for us, life does not end but in a very real way, begins. We may be fragile right now but we shall put on immortality that can never be ended. And in a world that is getting all the more uncertain we need to have supreme confidence in our God.

This chapter covers our time here on earth through to the eternal glorified future for those who have put their trust in Jesus. If you are His, then you have comfort and assurance of a home with God.

Our Temporary Earthly Tent (2 Corinthians 5:1-4)

What was Paul’s occupation? What did Paul do for a living? Well, he refused to take money for preaching the gospel in certain cities, such as the one at Corinth so what did he do? Tent making, of course. Which makes this all the more interesting when in verse 1 he speaks of earthly tents. And this is intentional.

What are tents? Are they supposed to be permanent living quarters? Well, if your homeless that could be as that could be seen from the news this week for a particular young woman who cannot afford the rent.

Or as I read also this week from 1 Chronicles 17 that David wanted to build God a house because he was sitting in his own comfortable residence. But God said, I have lived in tents ever since Moses and it was not a requirement for God to have a permanent home.

A tent then, when you think about it is fragile, temporary, so that you can up sticks and go, it is not meant to be permanent. And this, of course, is used as a symbol of our bodies. Tents do not last and nor do our bodies. They wear down, get fragile and eventually they die.

A tent-dweller called Abraham knew about this and is mentioned in:

Hebrews 11:9–10 ESV

9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Paul joins with this for he is looking forward to a permanent home that cannot be found in the here and now. Paul had already written about this to the Corinthians in his last letter where he says:

1 Corinthians 15:51–53 ESV

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Paul, of course, is speaking of the rapture, where elsewhere it is called our blessed hope, where we are taken up and will receive our new glorified bodies. We will be transformed so that we can be fitted for eternal life with God. What we are now is nothing compared to what we shall be.

Groaning Deeply to be Transformed (2 Corinthians 5:2-4)

And we cannot wait. It will be extraordinary. We groan deeply with great heartfelt desire, verse 4 says, to be housed with our spiritual home, our real home. We do not want to be without a body but instead we want to experience immortality.

This is not something that just Christians look for. There is always some desire for the elixir of youth, a desire to reverse ageing. And if you remember Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the Holy Grail which is supposed to give you life immortal. And that, with all the other hair-brained ideas are, of course, pipe dreams.

The real place to find immortality is in death but after we have put our trust in Jesus’ work on the cross to save us from our body of sin.

Truly we can echo what it says in

Romans 8:23 ESV

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Why? Because there is no more sin, no more worrying, no more crying, no more pain, no more suffering, and no more death. We have a right as Christians to look forward longingly to these things.

And what’s more, it’s a guarantee!

Guarantee of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:5)

Oh yes! We have come across this guarantee recently haven’t we? We saw that back in August when we looked at Ephesians 1 and in particular

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

It is guaranteed. The down payment has already been paid in full. Not just a deposit. No. Complete payment. For what? Our future transformation and resurrection.

We shall be spared the wrath that is going to be poured out on this world. Oh that people would realise their state of being! God so loved the world.

This week I read about when James and John wanted to call for fire to be poured out upon a city of Samaria but Jesus rebuked them and said:

Luke 9:55–56 (NKJV)

“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

It is not God’s will for people to suffer but in rejecting their way of salvation through Jesus they are inviting it upon themselves, and indeed we read that they are already under wrath in John 3:18.

For those of us who have put our faith in Jesus we have confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit to keep us for He gives us assurance that God will fulfil His Word to us, and that He is there with us and in us to see, as Keith Green put it, “until the work on earth is done”.

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

Walking by faith means we are seeing with spiritual eyes what is not yet visible.

This raises the question for me of whether we would rather be with the Lord or does this world still hold too much allure for us. Are we good soil who really understand or are we caught in the thorns of worry and pleasure? Can we really say with Paul:

Philippians 1:23 (ESV) My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better?

Colossians 3:2 (ESV) Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Where you focus your mind, the heart follows. Jesus said, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The yearning for Heaven and being with Jesus should shape our very existence.

Accountability Before Christ’s Judgement Seat (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)

The Judgement Seat is where the judge sits to decide on rewards and penalties. Salvation has already been wrought. This is not a judgement for sin for that has been paid in full. But it will be about our faithfulness to the will of God since we came to Christ. We are told by Paul in:

Romans 14:10–12 ESV

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

When will this take place? It will take place after the rapture but before the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth. I suspect that some of the rewards may be to do with responsibility we will be given during His reign, because of what it says in the parable of the talents. But it is a guess though not an unreasonable one.

We are given more of a glimpse of this in

1 Corinthians 3:12–15 ESV

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.

All our actions have eternal consequences. Now that is sobering. Very sobering. We are called to holiness and living for Jesus whilst we are in this very temporary tent. How we use our time, talents, and resources will be taken into account.

The Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21)

If the judgement for believers is severe then what of the unsaved? Surely we are those who do not want to see them left in their state either. And just as we have been reconciled and have had our relationship restored back to God through Jesus’ work of paying the price for our sin, and the gospel being told to us, we are now those who have that ministry to others as ambassadors or representatives of Christ on earth, whilst we are still here and able through the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Darkness is quickly coming over the earth and the time is short. The Good news of Jesus who wants to see all people saved needs to be shared and much more pro-actively. We have the ministry, not a select chosen few, but all of us, all of us are appointed Ambassador where we are for Jesus.

And may I appeal to you to repent and believe because the other place is no joke. He came to seek you, He now draws you to Himself. Be reconciled to God. Accept, believe and confess. Accept and ask Jesus into your life, believe and trust in Him for your salvation and eternal life, and confess that Jesus is Lord and Saviour of your life. You’ve got to do this. There is no other way to be blessed by God.

Conclusion: Earthly Tents and Eternal Hope

Our earthly tents are groaning! I couldn’t have put that in better words. When you are a child or you are still young in years it seems that life is very long and that 40 years old is ancient. But after a particular age we all begin to decay unless, of course, you are of the happy few who seem to live life with no problems. But age is not something you can avoid, and neither is death unless you are raptured.

Dear Christian, because of our view of life we look forward with hope even when this life does not go well. We have confidence in God of a future that is so secure, so much better, so eternal and glorious that somehow it makes the present endurable. That is what it means to walk by faith. We can’t see it now but we know that God is faithful and that His promises are sure, and we keep our eyes fixed above where our redemption is coming from. One day, one day soon, we shall be with Him forever. He is coming to take us to be with Him.

And then we shall stand before Him to receive rewards that we don’t deserve because He wrought them through us after He saved us from a life that was headed for hell. What a day that will be!

I hope that in the meantime we will recognise we each need to do our part as ambassadors for Christ and bringing others to be reconciled with Him.

And that all of us will hear those precious words, "Well done, good and faithful servant” before we cast down our crowns at His glorious feet.

Song: In Christ Alone

Benediction

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 - Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

Bibliography

Bockmuehl, Markus. *The Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians*. New York: T&T Clark, 2006.

Bruce, F. F. *The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary*. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983.

Garland, David E. *2 Corinthians*. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999.

Harris, Murray J. *The Second Epistle to the Corinthians*. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.

Keener, Craig S. *2 Corinthians: An Exegetical Commentary*. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2005.

Morris, Leon. *The First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians*. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980.

Schreiner, Thomas R. *1, 2 Corinthians*. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000.

Stott, John R. W. *The Message of 2 Corinthians: The Glory of the New Covenant*. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 1988.

Witherington III, Ben. *Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians*. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

Zodhiates, Spiros. *The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament*. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 1992.

Communion

The blessedness that is ours because Jesus came to reconcile us to God and not only forgave our sins which frankly was an awesome thing to do but He freely gave us so much more as we heard in the message today. We are not only saved but have eternal life that will be spent forever with God into a future that simply cannot be imagined for how glorious it is going to be.

Prayer for the elements

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NKJV

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Prayer for the fellowship

Benediction

Ephesians 3:17-19 - (May) Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.