Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Glad you are here this morning, hard to imagine it is the last Sunday of July, is it not?

Well this Sunday tells us something unique, do you know what it is?

Summer is almost over and school is just about ready to get back into full swing again .

Freedom of summer break is almost gone...

But that will be ok, Jesus is with us no matter what.....

As the seasons move one to another we know that God is still at work in our world, Amen.

Now lets move forward this morning.....

Last week we began looking at a set of passages from the Book of 2 Corinthians.

And we began looking at the idea of a future state.

The great change that will come to our future life with the Lord.

Because He is the first fruits of the resurrection we will one day share that same state.

But for now, we hold a precious treasure, a redeemed soul in a earthen vessel.

and in the midst of it all we are called to live for Jesus every day.

We are called to share the hope hidden in side of us, the love and message of Jesus.

And I know like Paul knew in that day, there are difficulties alone the way.

But He encourages us to do our best… strive, push, work hard; not for ourselves, not for Paul… but for Jesus and his glory.

Your life, my life, each of us should bring Him glory…

So this morning lets continue this these and lets go the 2 Corinthians chapter 5

And in , we will look at the first 10 verses....

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In this passage I can point out several things concerning our life here in this passage.

So lets begin and think about this...

1. Life has Momentary Afflictions....

As you open up this chapter, this thought ( Life has momentary afflictions) is the very first point that Paul makes to the believers he is writing too.

Now why would Paul write about affliction?

I think we could identify several reasons..

First off....

A. Life does indeed have afflictions… it is part of the real world, we cannot sugar coat our existence here on ole planet earth.

Now many false teacher, wolves in sheep's clothing would like to convenience the world, something is wrong if you are facing trouble, hardships, whatever.... prosperity gospel and the like has been bad about this issue.

B. He is trying to encourage the Christians there, reminding them that God is aware of their present condition, but also to remind them of their future hope.

He began talking about the afflictions of life back in chapter 4, and as Paul opens chapter 5, he

Why does he go there first....

I think he is getitng to the heart of the matter, what is on a lot of peoples minds… kind of like talking about the elephant that is in the room, getting it out and into the open.

The Jewish brethren at times had the idea that trials, suffering might be the result of sin.

Paul reminds people what was happening, life has problems, but don’t be consumed by them.

Now lets move forward.... Paul is talking about the afflictions of life back in chapter 4, and as Paul opens chapter 5, he continues that thought...

Look at verse 1....

Paul says here “For we know...” That little phrase is important, it will set the stage for what he has been talking about and what He is tying it to in chapter 5.

So lets run back to chapter 4, and refresh our memories.... Listen to

Now when you hear this, please don’t think that Paul is making light of the circumstances around him,… no, not at all.

What He means is this.....

When you compare the afflictions of this age to the joy, the greatness, the glory of what is to come… well there is really no comparison.

It is the idea of comparing this life to the life of glory, standing in the presence of Jesus.

You just cannot truly compare the two...

He says everything we face here, well it is ok…, in light of what is to come....

Paul has indeed faced hardships and persecution thus far in His ministry and there will be more before his death in the days to come…

The same is true of us, we might be 1900 years in the future, but this life we live is not free of problems, it never will be,.. if you could start naming some of your problems, well we would be here all day probably.

We face hardships, failures and discouragements .. honestly what we face… is what we know Paul faced, and the early church faced similar things indeed...

Don’t doubt it a bit… but here is what you can do...

Bear up under it faithfully.

We know that life has problems, but Jesus walks with us.

We can bear it up under the joy of this knowledge.

But this passage reminds us of a promise… so lets move on to our second thought for today.

2. A Wonderful Promise

2. A Wonderful Promise

So this life is proving grounds for the next… the problems, the events of this life remind us how sweet our life will be before the Lord. the promise of what is to come is indeed special, wonderful and as such we are thankful...

We really just moved to the word ‘for’ in verse 1… so what is next...

Lets go back to our text...

So there are a couple thoughts here for us to examine… to know and understand this truth better.

The first is this:

Lets go back to our

A. A New Dwelling Awaits:

So listen to what Paul is saying here, He says if this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God himself, a house that is eternal in the heavens, made not with Human hands.

The tent is the modern description of our bodies, tents are temporary… and so is this body.

This body is a temporary vessel that shelters the soul while we journey through this life.

But the truth is; this body, tent cannot last forever.

It will wear out, fail and eventually be destroyed, and will return to the ground from whence it came..

But do not fear>>>>> God has already been at work in us.

Go back to verse 1

@ Cor 5;1

So when we die, when this life comes to an end, we have a home prepared by God, eternal in the heavens.

Remember that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God....I Cor 15:50

But there is no reason to fear, God has given us something wonderful...

There is no reason to fear death my friends, for God has already prepared us a home the immortal dwelling so we can stand in His presence.

And we long for that, we eagerly await that day… go back to our text.

B. We Long for that Dwelling....

We long for that dwelling while in this life, why?

Mankind understands this is not it… this is not the best God has to offer us.. this place is broken and so are we.

So we long for the next… Don’t beleive me, look back to the gospels and see the soul satisfying joy of redemption.

People were in torment, in sin, hurting and being hurt and when they found Jesus.. peace..

I love the story the man in the land of Gadara, he as filled with a legion of demons, and when he came to Jesus and found the life changing message and hope that Jesus had to offer, we find the next picture of him in his right mind sitting at the feet of the Savior…WOW!

That is the first matter of satisfaction in a believers life, the second it heaven and all that it offers.

And so we groan, verse 2 longing to put on our heaven dwelling.

Why? Verse 3 tells us

2 Co

We do not want to be found naked.

Listen, we must have something, a body and home, something if we hope to stand in the presence of Jesus.

The old has died, so what will we have… for the present time… until the day of the rapture we have a home, a tabernacle, a house not made with hands that is eternal in the heavens.

God has prepared us a spiritual body, a garment, a vessel to satisfy the soul until the day of his return.

And then the dead in Christ will be raised and the old body will be glorified, changed and for those who have died, their soul will rejoin that Body..

God has prepared us a spiritual body, a garment, a vessel to satisfy the soul until the day of his return.

And then the dead in Christ will be raised and the old body will be glorified, changed and for those who have died, their soul will rejoin that Body..

Anyone who is alive and remain at his return, that person is caught up in the air and changed, made eternal.

Oh my friends, that is the promise of Jesus.. if we pass, die whatever you want to call it, before his return.

Understand we will be in his presence clothed, waiting and worshipping for the great day of the Lord.

Resurrection day for all those in Christ

Aren’t you glad He has taken care of us in so many ways, He has thought of every little detail until we see Jesus...

And it is a promise.... how do we know, verse 5 tells us.

The Holy Spirit, He is given to us, all of us who are in Christ as a guarantee of the good things to come...

How that is a promise.