Sermon for 6/6/21 14 Minutes - Speaking Boldly From An Earthen Vessel with a Heavenly Destiny!

2 Corinthians 4:13 - 5:1

This morning I'll be reading 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 13 to chapter 5 verse 1.

And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1

In the verses leading up to this,,, Paul had been speaking about the trials that they had to endure and how they were able to hold up under this pressure because of Jesus Christ living in them. It is this faith in Jesus that allows him to speak as well.

2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1 (HCSB)

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you. 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to increase to God’s glory. 16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 1 For we know that if our temporary, earthly dwelling is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning,,, and,,, The word of God,,, for the people of God,,, ,,, Thanks be to God!

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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Last Sunday,,, we looked at the Holy Spirit,,, and we seen how it is so important to our walk with God every day,,, actually it's the only way to have that relationship that we desire,,, and need,,, so much.

This week we will look at the reasons that we can speak with authority no matter what we are going through,,, or facing.

So let's begin,,, as we look at these verses this morning,,, and see how they can help us,,, in our walk with God,,, this week.

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Verse 13 says: 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak.

Paul had been talking about the constant struggle that we have because of the weakness from our physical bodies and the fact that we must rely on God’s power to do the job that God has for us to do.

In this verse he is answering the question that you might have up to this point about whether he is ready to give up considering the circumstances,,, and of course we see that the answer is no!

And the reason for that answer is faith in Jesus Christ.

He knows that no matter what is done to our earthly body,,, we are heading toward our heavenly destination,,, and nothing,,, or no one,,, can stop us from reaching heaven,,, and eternity with Christ.

Paul is quoting from the first part of Psalm 116:10 (KJV 1900) — 10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:

My commentary says that even though Paul doesn’t use the end of the verse,,, it is believed that his listeners would have understood that he was talking about being “greatly afflicted”,,, because of their knowledge of this verse,,, and his previous words spoken earlier in the chapter.

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Verse 14 says: 14 We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you.

Paul could speak of his suffering and death without worry because he was convinced that God would deliver him.

This confidence was founded on the resurrection of Jesus,,, and the guarantee of resurrection for all who place their faith for salvation in Him!

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Verse 15 says: 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to increase to God’s glory.

Paul realized that the more he suffered,,, the more the grace of God was made available to others.

The more people who were saved,,, the more thanksgiving ascended to God.

And the more thanksgiving ascended to God,,, the more God was glorified.

The Living Bible seems to capture the spirit of the verse in this paraphrase: These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified.

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Verses 16 and 17 say: 16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

Paul had been explaining that he was willing to undergo all kinds of suffering and danger because he had faith in the saving grace of Jesus Christ and hope in the resurrection.

Therefore he did not give up.

Although on one hand,,, his physical body was constantly being destroyed,,, on the other hand,,, there was a spiritual renewal which enabled him to go on,,, in spite of every problem or trial that he went through.

The fact that the outward man is perishing needs little explanation or comment.

It is all too evident in our bodies!

But Paul is here rejoicing in the fact that God sends daily supplies of power for Christian service.

If you think about all of the terrible things that Paul went through,,, beatings,,, jail,,, hardships from travels,,, ship wrecks,,, etc. it’s hard to imagine him talking about “momentary light afflictions”.

But what Paul was comparing his hardships and trials to,,, made them seem “light”,,, when compared to the glory that he would receive once he made it to heaven.

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Verse 18 says: 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This knowledge and hope in things to come,,, sustained Paul in the midst of the temporary sufferings that marked his ministry.

As he had reminded the Corinthians earlier in 1 Corinthians 7:31,,, the world and its present sufferings are passing away.

What is seen (the material) is temporary, but what is unseen (the spiritual) is eternal.

The temporal will be replaced by a “glory that will never fade away” (1 Peter 5:4),,, and,,, an “eternal glory in Christ” (1 Peter 5:10).

Therefore,,, Paul said,,, believers should look not on what is seen but,,, instead,,, on what cannot be seen.

What the inner man “sees” goes way beyond,,, what the physical eyes can see.

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Chapter 5 verse 1 says: 1 For we know that if our temporary, earthly dwelling is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.

Paul had referred to his mortal body as being destroyed in verse 16,,, now he compares it to a temporary earthly dwelling that is destroyed.

But,,, we shouldn’t worry because,,, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says the words that Paul used in this verse,,, were in remembrance of the words of Jesus’ own description of His resurrected body as a temple after He had cleared the temple and the religious leaders were questioning Him in John 2:18–22 (HCSB) — 18 So the Jews replied to Him, “What sign of authority will You show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it up in three days.” 20 Therefore the Jews said, “This sanctuary took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. And they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made.

So we can see,,, just as the disciples remembered these words and were strengthened by them,,, that we should remember them and be strengthened as well,,, and by doing that,,, we have nothing to worry about either,,, because,,, there is nothing that can come between us and God’s love and keep us from eternity in heaven with Him.

We will have trials and hard times,,, sure,,, but these will be nothing compared to the glories in heaven,,, that we will enjoy forever!

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So we can see from these words in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians,,, that we can speak boldly when needed,,, and without worry!

We can do that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He made for us.

We have the strength that we need to do anything that God intends for us to do,,, and we can do it without worry or fear,,, because nothing in this world can keep us from God’s love.

We also don’t have to worry about our mortal,,, aging bodies either,,, since our bodies will be renewed somehow whenever we leave this world to go to our heavenly home.

Those of you that are younger may not worry now,,, but you might later,,, and if you do,,, hopefully you can remember that God has a better body prepared for us than the one that we have today.

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So hopefully as we are spending our week at work,,, or play,,, or whatever we have planned for this coming week,,, we will remember these words of Paul about speaking boldly because of the faith that we have.

And that faith comes from Jesus Christ,,, and the sacrifice,,, that He made,,, for all!