1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:09,000 The suffering and the eventual passing of Terry 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:14,460 Fox has raised in many minds some of 3 00:00:14,460 --> 00:00:17,980 the most basic questions concerning life and death. 4 00:00:20,620 --> 00:00:23,260 Members of the congregation might be amazed at 5 00:00:23,260 --> 00:00:26,980 the number of questions that are being raised 6 00:00:26,980 --> 00:00:30,520 by non-Christian people as well as by 7 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,600 those within the church concerning these very important 8 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:35,120 issues. 9 00:00:37,500 --> 00:00:40,160 Now, it would be impossible to answer all 10 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,060 the questions that have been raised in one 11 00:00:43,060 --> 00:00:44,320 sermon or even in two. 12 00:00:45,340 --> 00:00:48,460 But I thought it wise this morning, and 13 00:00:48,460 --> 00:00:52,340 we shall follow this on this evening, if 14 00:00:52,340 --> 00:00:54,740 we were to concentrate at least upon one 15 00:00:54,740 --> 00:01:00,500 passage that has much to teach us concerning 16 00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:06,860 death and our eventual resurrection to life in 17 00:01:06,860 --> 00:01:08,480 and through our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 00:01:09,660 --> 00:01:12,300 It is good to see what the New 19 00:01:12,300 --> 00:01:14,820 Testament has to say about these issues. 20 00:01:15,620 --> 00:01:19,440 I trust it will be of comfort and 21 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:24,260 lead to a renewed hope in every Christian 22 00:01:24,260 --> 00:01:27,900 heart and that should there be among us 23 00:01:27,900 --> 00:01:30,240 those who do not as yet know the 24 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,700 hope which is so evident in this passage 25 00:01:34,700 --> 00:01:38,320 and which is the privilege of every truly 26 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,720 Christian person, I trust that this will be 27 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,480 a day when you will lay hold upon 28 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,840 the hope that is set before you and 29 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,260 that together we may rejoice and be able 30 00:01:50,260 --> 00:01:54,420 to sing from a true heart forever with 31 00:01:54,420 --> 00:01:55,000 the Lord. 32 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:55,960 Amen. 33 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,440 So let it be. 34 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:04,760 Life from the dead is in that word. 35 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:06,400 It is immortality. 36 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:09,900 May the Lord therefore help us as we 37 00:02:09,900 --> 00:02:13,740 come to meditate this morning upon the first 38 00:02:13,740 --> 00:02:19,000 five verses in 2 Corinthians 5 and we 39 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,040 shall be picking up the thread this evening 40 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,320 perhaps with verse 5 going on to the 41 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,140 end of that section at verse 10. 42 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,140 I'm not going to read all that passage 43 00:02:31,140 --> 00:02:33,280 again, but we shall be reading the verses 44 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:35,940 as we comment upon them in the body 45 00:02:35,940 --> 00:02:37,200 of our exposition. 46 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,880 It is a very daring thing to mock 47 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:45,740 death and the grave and to challenge their 48 00:02:45,740 --> 00:02:48,100 capacity to harm us or to triumph over 49 00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:48,520 us. 50 00:02:49,820 --> 00:02:52,220 But you will remember that is precisely what 51 00:02:52,220 --> 00:02:55,400 the Apostle Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15. 52 00:02:57,770 --> 00:03:00,750 Without any sense of shame or weakness or 53 00:03:00,750 --> 00:03:05,470 frailty, he challenges death and the grave. 54 00:03:07,170 --> 00:03:10,370 And what may not be normally appreciated, he 55 00:03:10,370 --> 00:03:12,210 doesn't do so in his own words. 56 00:03:14,330 --> 00:03:16,970 He lays hold of words that come, one 57 00:03:16,970 --> 00:03:19,890 from the prophet Isaiah who had said similar 58 00:03:19,890 --> 00:03:23,410 things before and then from the prophet Hosea. 59 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:28,780 And he intertwines these words together and he 60 00:03:28,780 --> 00:03:31,640 says, Death has been swallowed up in victory. 61 00:03:32,820 --> 00:03:35,920 O death, where is your sting? 62 00:03:36,740 --> 00:03:41,300 O grave, he says, where is your victory? 63 00:03:42,060 --> 00:03:43,600 I'm challenging you. 64 00:03:45,860 --> 00:03:48,540 Then he goes on to explain, the sting 65 00:03:48,540 --> 00:03:49,500 of death is sin. 66 00:03:51,060 --> 00:03:55,420 And the power of sin, that which makes 67 00:03:55,420 --> 00:03:58,340 sin so mighty and so powerful is the 68 00:03:58,340 --> 00:04:01,360 law of God that we heard about on 69 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:02,600 Wednesday evening last. 70 00:04:03,580 --> 00:04:06,300 The power of sin is the law. 71 00:04:07,740 --> 00:04:11,500 But thanks be to God who gives us 72 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:14,540 the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 73 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,540 Paul challenges death and the grave. 74 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:22,420 And he does so, as we shall see 75 00:04:22,420 --> 00:04:24,940 in a moment, out of an experience of 76 00:04:24,940 --> 00:04:27,800 the glorious certainty that God has given him 77 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,160 to proclaim not only to a few, but 78 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,240 to all who would receive the message. 79 00:04:36,670 --> 00:04:38,930 Now, that is in 1 Corinthians 15. 80 00:04:40,750 --> 00:04:44,630 Here in 2 Corinthians 5, the apostle, generally 81 00:04:44,630 --> 00:04:46,850 speaking, takes up the same theme. 82 00:04:47,730 --> 00:04:49,310 But you will notice that there is a 83 00:04:49,310 --> 00:04:49,710 difference. 84 00:04:52,350 --> 00:04:57,230 In 1 Corinthians 15, he was basically, though 85 00:04:57,230 --> 00:04:59,750 he goes wider than this, but basically, he 86 00:04:59,750 --> 00:05:03,390 was answering the question, how are the dead 87 00:05:03,390 --> 00:05:03,890 raised? 88 00:05:04,010 --> 00:05:05,890 That's how our reading began this morning. 89 00:05:06,290 --> 00:05:08,690 Some will ask, how are the dead raised 90 00:05:08,690 --> 00:05:10,190 and with what bodies do they come? 91 00:05:11,710 --> 00:05:14,850 Paul proceeds to answer that question in 1 92 00:05:14,850 --> 00:05:15,850 Corinthians 15. 93 00:05:17,510 --> 00:05:20,390 Here, however, Paul goes beyond that. 94 00:05:21,370 --> 00:05:24,330 And he comes to deal with the nature 95 00:05:24,330 --> 00:05:26,650 of the resurrection body itself. 96 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,420 In 2 Corinthians 5, he's not saying that 97 00:05:31,420 --> 00:05:32,560 we shall rise from the dead. 98 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:33,780 He's taking that for granted. 99 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:35,060 That has been said. 100 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:36,320 Christ is risen. 101 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,960 We shall rise in Christ. 102 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,720 That's been said in 1 Corinthians 15. 103 00:05:42,620 --> 00:05:44,680 And the reason for our hope has been 104 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:45,660 there exposed. 105 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,360 If we are in Christ, if we have 106 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,120 received the gospel, if we have died with 107 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,360 Christ, we shall rise again with him. 108 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,580 And the resurrection of the spirit, so that 109 00:05:56,580 --> 00:05:59,380 we are born again, is a foregleam and 110 00:05:59,380 --> 00:06:01,420 a proof of the fact that one day, 111 00:06:01,900 --> 00:06:05,100 the Christians shall physically rise from the grave 112 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:11,320 and share in the glorious victory of our 113 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,600 Lord and his redemption, which involves, among other 114 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,560 things, the redemption of the body, the reclamation 115 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,840 of the body from all the miseries that 116 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:25,100 sin has brought upon it, from the fall 117 00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:29,540 of Adam to our own falls and iniquities. 118 00:06:31,730 --> 00:06:34,710 Now, death and the future that lies beyond 119 00:06:34,710 --> 00:06:37,270 its boundaries are too important a subject, therefore, 120 00:06:37,650 --> 00:06:38,710 for us to neglect. 121 00:06:39,530 --> 00:06:42,210 This morning, the main thing I shall want 122 00:06:42,210 --> 00:06:46,630 to be dwelling upon is the aspect of 123 00:06:46,630 --> 00:06:53,310 the Christians' assurance that is particularly enunciated in 124 00:06:53,310 --> 00:06:55,330 these first four or five verses. 125 00:06:57,150 --> 00:06:59,190 Look at the first verse again. 126 00:06:59,790 --> 00:07:01,710 Now we know. 127 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:05,380 It's not that we guess. 128 00:07:06,500 --> 00:07:09,560 It's not that we hope in the sense 129 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,320 that we normally use the word. 130 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:12,880 That is, hope for the best. 131 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,420 Even when the New Testament uses the word 132 00:07:16,420 --> 00:07:19,560 hope, it means we are assured of something. 133 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,400 It's never in the sense in which it 134 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:22,540 is commonly used. 135 00:07:23,540 --> 00:07:25,180 Christian hope is a real hope. 136 00:07:25,340 --> 00:07:26,080 It's a certainty. 137 00:07:26,340 --> 00:07:27,020 It's an assurance. 138 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,260 But here Paul doesn't use the word hope. 139 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:31,660 We know. 140 00:07:32,340 --> 00:07:33,480 What do we know? 141 00:07:35,060 --> 00:07:37,600 We know, he says, that if our earthly 142 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,660 tent, the earthly tent we live in, is 143 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:47,360 destroyed, we have a building from God, an 144 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,780 eternal house in heaven, not built by human 145 00:07:51,780 --> 00:07:52,620 hands. 146 00:07:53,340 --> 00:07:56,660 I'm quoting from the New International Version. 147 00:07:57,540 --> 00:08:00,160 Now let's look at some factors included in 148 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,340 this marvelous assurance that God has given to 149 00:08:03,340 --> 00:08:03,920 his people. 150 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,360 Paul is here speaking of another body. 151 00:08:07,860 --> 00:08:08,980 Another body. 152 00:08:11,340 --> 00:08:14,280 The apostle affirms that in the possible event 153 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:21,120 of death, preceding the Lord's return, and thus 154 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,220 causing the dissolution of the bodies that we 155 00:08:24,220 --> 00:08:31,289 now inhabit, then we may rest assured that 156 00:08:31,289 --> 00:08:34,429 we shall not face, what he calls in 157 00:08:34,429 --> 00:08:37,990 this context, a condition of nakedness. 158 00:08:39,350 --> 00:08:41,570 Now you may have often wondered what that 159 00:08:41,570 --> 00:08:41,909 means. 160 00:08:42,210 --> 00:08:44,670 A condition of nakedness. 161 00:08:45,310 --> 00:08:47,410 What the apostle has in mind is this. 162 00:08:48,430 --> 00:08:51,190 If death overtakes us before the coming of 163 00:08:51,190 --> 00:08:54,690 Christ, then the body will be dissolved, will 164 00:08:54,690 --> 00:08:57,910 either be buried at sea, or in the 165 00:08:57,910 --> 00:09:01,470 earth, or in some other way, disposed of 166 00:09:01,470 --> 00:09:02,350 in some other way. 167 00:09:03,250 --> 00:09:06,430 And the spirit will go, and until the 168 00:09:06,430 --> 00:09:09,890 morning of the resurrection, our spirits will go 169 00:09:09,890 --> 00:09:12,210 to an intermediate state, to be with Christ 170 00:09:12,210 --> 00:09:12,850 it is certain. 171 00:09:13,770 --> 00:09:17,390 And yet not into the final enjoyment of 172 00:09:17,390 --> 00:09:20,810 its full salvation, because it is only when 173 00:09:20,810 --> 00:09:23,130 Christ returns that the dead shall be raised 174 00:09:23,130 --> 00:09:26,130 incorruptible, and we shall be changed and have 175 00:09:26,130 --> 00:09:27,250 a body like unto his. 176 00:09:27,450 --> 00:09:30,110 So there is an intermediate state, and Paul 177 00:09:30,110 --> 00:09:32,170 speaks of it as a state of nakedness. 178 00:09:33,370 --> 00:09:35,430 We're neither in the old body nor in 179 00:09:35,430 --> 00:09:35,790 the new. 180 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,060 Or to quote what he says here, we 181 00:09:41,060 --> 00:09:42,620 are without a home, we are without a 182 00:09:42,620 --> 00:09:42,920 house. 183 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,600 That is the spirits that we have, our 184 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,460 human spirits, our redeemed spirits, is in this 185 00:09:49,460 --> 00:09:54,340 intermediate state of nakedness, as he calls it. 186 00:09:55,120 --> 00:10:01,950 Now he says, death, when it precedes the 187 00:10:01,950 --> 00:10:04,470 Lord's return, as it does, has for a 188 00:10:04,470 --> 00:10:07,470 multitude of Christians, and may yet do, though 189 00:10:07,470 --> 00:10:08,850 we mustn't take that for granted. 190 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,380 We must remember that, even if it does, 191 00:10:15,380 --> 00:10:18,480 ultimately we have a building of God. 192 00:10:22,370 --> 00:10:24,530 We may be naked for a moment, but 193 00:10:24,530 --> 00:10:28,610 we have a building from God, and that 194 00:10:28,610 --> 00:10:30,490 is a house that has not been touched 195 00:10:30,490 --> 00:10:31,670 by human hands. 196 00:10:31,830 --> 00:10:34,130 Human hands have had nothing to do in 197 00:10:34,130 --> 00:10:34,670 its making. 198 00:10:35,730 --> 00:10:38,110 It is an eternal house, and he's talking 199 00:10:38,110 --> 00:10:38,810 about the body. 200 00:10:39,350 --> 00:10:45,030 It is an eternal house already there awaiting 201 00:10:45,030 --> 00:10:47,730 us, as it were, in heaven. 202 00:10:48,410 --> 00:10:50,690 Heaven is not the house, heaven is the 203 00:10:50,690 --> 00:10:53,090 place where it is kept for God's people. 204 00:10:55,340 --> 00:10:58,520 Now since it will be inevitably asked how 205 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:00,900 the apostle could be so sure of things 206 00:11:00,900 --> 00:11:04,140 which are not capable of being proven by 207 00:11:04,140 --> 00:11:08,100 human intelligence, it is important to note Paul's 208 00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:09,900 precise language here. 209 00:11:12,210 --> 00:11:15,430 The verb translated, we know, is the key. 210 00:11:16,950 --> 00:11:21,770 Dr. Philip Edgecombe Hughes, in his magnificent commentary 211 00:11:21,770 --> 00:11:26,450 on 2 Corinthians, says this about that verb, 212 00:11:26,790 --> 00:11:28,090 oidomen, in the Greek. 213 00:11:29,070 --> 00:11:33,230 Oidomen, he says, is used here in its 214 00:11:33,230 --> 00:11:36,790 proper sense of to know. 215 00:11:38,130 --> 00:11:41,690 To know as a result of perceiving or 216 00:11:41,690 --> 00:11:45,590 seeing a truth by intuition or revelation. 217 00:11:47,310 --> 00:11:50,610 In contrast to the acquiring of knowledge by 218 00:11:50,610 --> 00:11:54,730 instruction or research, which has an entirely different 219 00:11:54,730 --> 00:11:56,910 verb to know, genoskein. 220 00:11:58,070 --> 00:11:59,310 Now what are we saying? 221 00:12:01,270 --> 00:12:06,130 Paul's assurance and certainty concerning future matters, concerning 222 00:12:06,130 --> 00:12:08,390 the fact that there is a future body 223 00:12:08,390 --> 00:12:10,250 and we shall receive it in due course, 224 00:12:10,830 --> 00:12:13,770 it doesn't come because Paul has researched into 225 00:12:13,770 --> 00:12:14,370 this area. 226 00:12:16,190 --> 00:12:17,830 Now he may have thought a lot about 227 00:12:17,830 --> 00:12:21,150 it, doubtless he had, or he couldn't write 228 00:12:21,150 --> 00:12:21,750 as he does. 229 00:12:22,510 --> 00:12:26,370 But this knowledge did not come by Paul's 230 00:12:26,370 --> 00:12:29,570 ingenuity, by his being able to think clearer 231 00:12:29,570 --> 00:12:30,550 than somebody else. 232 00:12:31,950 --> 00:12:35,190 It isn't the fruit of human research. 233 00:12:37,230 --> 00:12:38,370 How did he get it then? 234 00:12:38,590 --> 00:12:39,530 How does he know it? 235 00:12:40,530 --> 00:12:43,830 Well Paul is able to say, we know 236 00:12:43,830 --> 00:12:46,670 because the knowledge of which he speaks is 237 00:12:46,670 --> 00:12:50,830 the knowledge that comes by revelation from God. 238 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,160 So that you see, if you don't believe 239 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,860 that God is and is capable of communicating, 240 00:13:02,540 --> 00:13:06,080 capable of revealing himself and truth to man, 241 00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:09,940 well now you're in a fog land and 242 00:13:09,940 --> 00:13:12,280 you will find it difficult to accept this. 243 00:13:13,220 --> 00:13:14,920 Paul knew that God lived. 244 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:17,460 Paul knew that God was real. 245 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:19,820 Paul knew that God could communicate. 246 00:13:22,100 --> 00:13:23,900 And as one who was involved in the 247 00:13:23,900 --> 00:13:26,820 process of receiving from God his word to 248 00:13:26,820 --> 00:13:29,080 declare to men and women, there was no 249 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:30,220 doubt in his mind at all. 250 00:13:30,340 --> 00:13:32,680 So he is able to say, we know. 251 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,040 Now there are many things that we Christians 252 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:41,800 do not know. 253 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,120 I find it is necessary for those of 254 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:49,960 us who are blessed with certainty concerning eternal 255 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,940 issues to remind ourselves of this from time 256 00:13:53,940 --> 00:13:55,300 to time to keep us humble. 257 00:13:57,900 --> 00:14:01,680 God has privileged us immensely in granting us 258 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:07,420 an assurance of sins forgiven, an assurance of 259 00:14:07,420 --> 00:14:11,560 peace with himself, an assurance of resurrection from 260 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,940 the dead, an assurance that we have a 261 00:14:13,940 --> 00:14:16,220 new body awaiting us and that it is 262 00:14:16,220 --> 00:14:18,060 like the glorious body of our Lord. 263 00:14:18,500 --> 00:14:22,260 These are glorious certainties given to every man 264 00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:24,080 and woman who really believes in Christ. 265 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,940 But, let us remind ourselves there are a 266 00:14:28,940 --> 00:14:31,860 multitude of things that we simply do not 267 00:14:31,860 --> 00:14:34,980 know for God has not revealed them. 268 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,060 Even the incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus said, 269 00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:45,320 concerning one matter, he said, only the Father 270 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:46,140 knows. 271 00:14:48,140 --> 00:14:52,200 In my state of humiliation, I have chosen 272 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,780 not to desire to know the day and 273 00:14:55,780 --> 00:14:57,920 the hour when I shall return in glory 274 00:14:57,920 --> 00:14:58,900 to judge the world. 275 00:15:00,540 --> 00:15:02,800 Not anyone, there is no one who knows, 276 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,160 the Father only. 277 00:15:04,780 --> 00:15:06,460 He is the only one who knows. 278 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,180 There are many things we do not know. 279 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,780 But here is something that God has revealed 280 00:15:13,780 --> 00:15:14,960 to his Apostle. 281 00:15:15,740 --> 00:15:18,180 Through his Apostle he has revealed it to 282 00:15:18,180 --> 00:15:21,760 us and therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, 283 00:15:21,860 --> 00:15:23,740 it is something we may know. 284 00:15:25,940 --> 00:15:27,540 And I want to invite you this morning 285 00:15:27,540 --> 00:15:29,640 to put the arms of faith around what 286 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,720 is said here for your comfort and encouragement 287 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,740 and in order to capacitate you to speak 288 00:15:35,740 --> 00:15:38,220 to every other man and woman in Christ 289 00:15:38,220 --> 00:15:40,540 and to urge others to come in and 290 00:15:40,540 --> 00:15:43,760 enjoy the same certainty as God has made 291 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:45,260 available for us. 292 00:15:46,060 --> 00:15:48,040 But now, notice, let's move from that. 293 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,940 Whereas Paul here stresses the newness and the 294 00:15:52,940 --> 00:15:56,700 distinction or the difference between the new body 295 00:15:56,700 --> 00:15:59,820 that awakes the redeemed and that which is 296 00:15:59,820 --> 00:16:03,580 our present habitat, this must not be taken 297 00:16:03,580 --> 00:16:04,660 out of context. 298 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,000 Paul wrote two letters to the Corinthians as 299 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,140 we have already implied. 300 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:13,080 He did more than two actually. 301 00:16:13,220 --> 00:16:16,960 He speaks of one, of a third one, 302 00:16:17,020 --> 00:16:19,740 another one that must have got to them 303 00:16:19,740 --> 00:16:21,660 but it has not been preserved for us. 304 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:27,700 But in the first, he stressed that there 305 00:16:27,700 --> 00:16:30,940 is a certain continuity between the body that 306 00:16:30,940 --> 00:16:32,700 now is, the one in which you are 307 00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:34,420 living this morning, the tent in which you 308 00:16:34,420 --> 00:16:37,360 are living, there is a continuity between the 309 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:38,820 body that we now have and the body 310 00:16:38,820 --> 00:16:40,340 that we shall ultimately have. 311 00:16:41,700 --> 00:16:45,500 Now, in 1 Corinthians, that is basically the 312 00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:45,840 stress. 313 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,280 Now, he stresses the other side too but 314 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,080 fundamentally it is that. 315 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,640 And he does it in this way. 316 00:16:55,630 --> 00:16:57,710 When you sow, he says, you do not 317 00:16:57,710 --> 00:17:00,050 plant the body that will be but just 318 00:17:00,050 --> 00:17:03,790 a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. 319 00:17:03,790 --> 00:17:07,990 But God gives it a body as he 320 00:17:07,990 --> 00:17:08,710 has determined. 321 00:17:09,450 --> 00:17:11,829 And to each kind of seed, he gives 322 00:17:11,829 --> 00:17:12,630 its own body. 323 00:17:13,670 --> 00:17:15,670 So will it be with the resurrection of 324 00:17:15,670 --> 00:17:16,190 the dead. 325 00:17:16,589 --> 00:17:18,930 The body that is sown is perishable, it 326 00:17:18,930 --> 00:17:24,250 is raised, it is raised imperishable. 327 00:17:24,550 --> 00:17:26,349 Now, the words I want you to notice 328 00:17:26,349 --> 00:17:26,869 is this. 329 00:17:27,369 --> 00:17:28,790 It is raised. 330 00:17:32,890 --> 00:17:35,090 It is raised. 331 00:17:35,090 --> 00:17:36,830 And it runs through the whole passage. 332 00:17:37,230 --> 00:17:39,050 But this will suffice for us to get 333 00:17:39,050 --> 00:17:39,490 the point. 334 00:17:40,570 --> 00:17:42,750 The body that we sow into the ground, 335 00:17:42,890 --> 00:17:45,010 the body that falls into the ground or 336 00:17:45,010 --> 00:17:49,230 into the fire, that body, it is raised. 337 00:17:51,740 --> 00:17:54,120 Death is not the annihilation of the body. 338 00:17:54,300 --> 00:17:59,980 Death does not leave the body forever dismembered 339 00:17:59,980 --> 00:18:01,600 or decomposed. 340 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:02,980 That is Paul's statement. 341 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:05,720 It is raised. 342 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,960 There is a resurrection of the body that 343 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:09,640 is buried. 344 00:18:13,430 --> 00:18:15,710 Now, the stress there is upon the continuity 345 00:18:15,710 --> 00:18:17,530 of the old in the new. 346 00:18:19,010 --> 00:18:22,030 He puts it elsewhere in this language. 347 00:18:22,790 --> 00:18:30,030 The seed is sown and it continues and 348 00:18:30,030 --> 00:18:32,010 expresses itself in the fruit. 349 00:18:34,110 --> 00:18:37,250 You sow a seed, it becomes a grain 350 00:18:37,250 --> 00:18:37,850 of corn. 351 00:18:37,850 --> 00:18:40,370 You sow a seed, it becomes a flower 352 00:18:40,370 --> 00:18:40,830 or whatever. 353 00:18:42,490 --> 00:18:44,730 But there is continuity there between the seed 354 00:18:44,730 --> 00:18:46,370 that is sown and the flower that emerges 355 00:18:46,370 --> 00:18:46,810 from it. 356 00:18:47,010 --> 00:18:49,070 The old is in the new. 357 00:18:50,570 --> 00:18:54,710 Paul has exactly the same thought in Philippians 358 00:18:54,710 --> 00:18:56,650 3, verses 20 and 21. 359 00:18:57,970 --> 00:18:59,430 There he says this. 360 00:19:00,790 --> 00:19:05,270 Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly 361 00:19:05,270 --> 00:19:08,270 await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus 362 00:19:08,270 --> 00:19:13,550 Christ, who, by the power that enables Him 363 00:19:13,550 --> 00:19:18,290 to bring everything under His control, will transform 364 00:19:18,290 --> 00:19:22,930 our lowly bodies so that they will be 365 00:19:22,930 --> 00:19:26,510 like His glorious body. 366 00:19:27,510 --> 00:19:28,390 Now, do you see the point? 367 00:19:29,430 --> 00:19:33,350 He will transform our lowly bodies. 368 00:19:34,070 --> 00:19:37,690 He takes the material, whatever there remains. 369 00:19:40,130 --> 00:19:43,470 He takes the material of the decomposed physical 370 00:19:43,470 --> 00:19:45,670 body and He transforms it. 371 00:19:46,110 --> 00:19:48,690 He uses it to transform it and make 372 00:19:48,690 --> 00:19:52,170 it anew after the pattern of His own 373 00:19:52,170 --> 00:19:53,290 glorious body. 374 00:19:53,470 --> 00:19:54,310 But there is continuity. 375 00:19:55,670 --> 00:19:57,330 Now, there may be very little left of 376 00:19:57,330 --> 00:19:58,690 your body as it is today. 377 00:20:00,010 --> 00:20:01,270 You may be buried at sea. 378 00:20:01,990 --> 00:20:03,150 You may have been cremated. 379 00:20:03,150 --> 00:20:04,910 You may have been buried in the ground. 380 00:20:05,510 --> 00:20:08,350 But what there is, the Almighty Creator will 381 00:20:08,350 --> 00:20:10,510 take of it and He will use it 382 00:20:10,510 --> 00:20:11,910 and employ it and out of it. 383 00:20:12,230 --> 00:20:15,950 He will refashion a body like unto the 384 00:20:15,950 --> 00:20:17,690 glorious body of our Lord. 385 00:20:20,100 --> 00:20:24,500 The concept there, let me stress, is of 386 00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:28,740 the ultimate transformation of our present body so 387 00:20:28,740 --> 00:20:31,900 that it resembles the glorious and glorified body 388 00:20:31,900 --> 00:20:32,380 of Jesus. 389 00:20:33,220 --> 00:20:36,500 And that again implies continuity of the old 390 00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:37,280 in the new. 391 00:20:37,940 --> 00:20:40,300 The new is not entirely new. 392 00:20:41,780 --> 00:20:44,020 And yet it is very new. 393 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:48,340 That's what Paul is stressing in 2 Corinthians 394 00:20:48,340 --> 00:20:48,660 5. 395 00:20:48,740 --> 00:20:49,320 It is new. 396 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,360 Have you noticed how he does that? 397 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,600 He's got a beautiful image here. 398 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,980 And in the context, to the first readers 399 00:20:57,980 --> 00:21:00,380 of the New Testament, I'm quite sure it 400 00:21:00,380 --> 00:21:02,380 would have had a very real significance. 401 00:21:03,300 --> 00:21:06,920 We are unfortunately superficial in our reading of 402 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:09,040 the Bible all too often. 403 00:21:11,850 --> 00:21:13,910 Taking up the new body will be, says 404 00:21:13,910 --> 00:21:19,130 Paul, like moving from a tent into a 405 00:21:19,130 --> 00:21:19,510 temple. 406 00:21:20,810 --> 00:21:22,590 Now that's the language he uses. 407 00:21:23,490 --> 00:21:29,410 From a temporary canvas dwelling into a permanent 408 00:21:29,410 --> 00:21:33,330 body fitted for another sphere that human hands 409 00:21:33,330 --> 00:21:34,870 have had nothing to do in the making 410 00:21:34,870 --> 00:21:35,290 of it. 411 00:21:36,430 --> 00:21:37,890 And it is eternal. 412 00:21:38,470 --> 00:21:40,930 You can say about the new body, it's 413 00:21:40,930 --> 00:21:42,090 not just for a moment. 414 00:21:43,790 --> 00:21:45,970 Here in the body pent absent from him 415 00:21:45,970 --> 00:21:46,670 I roam. 416 00:21:46,930 --> 00:21:49,070 But one day we shall pitch the tent 417 00:21:49,070 --> 00:21:50,030 for the last night. 418 00:21:50,230 --> 00:21:51,950 We shall go to sleep for the last 419 00:21:51,950 --> 00:21:53,750 night or wake up for the last day. 420 00:21:54,130 --> 00:21:56,030 And the tent will decompose. 421 00:21:56,250 --> 00:21:57,230 It will run away. 422 00:21:57,530 --> 00:21:59,250 And somebody will put it in the ground. 423 00:21:59,250 --> 00:22:02,370 And some minister will say ashes to ashes, 424 00:22:02,850 --> 00:22:05,650 dust to dust, and so forth. 425 00:22:08,910 --> 00:22:12,150 But concerning the body that is to be, 426 00:22:12,370 --> 00:22:13,830 it is a temple. 427 00:22:15,730 --> 00:22:20,670 It is a, in comparison, more permanent building 428 00:22:20,670 --> 00:22:25,750 fitted for a permanent habitation which is heaven. 429 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,960 And that spells discontinuity between the old and 430 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:34,300 the new. 431 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,960 It spells a veritable distinction. 432 00:22:39,460 --> 00:22:41,820 There is a world of difference between the 433 00:22:41,820 --> 00:22:43,060 new body and the old body. 434 00:22:45,270 --> 00:22:48,750 But we must hold these two concepts in 435 00:22:48,750 --> 00:22:49,310 balance. 436 00:22:50,130 --> 00:22:53,930 Not forget the one and simply stress the 437 00:22:53,930 --> 00:22:54,190 other. 438 00:22:54,790 --> 00:22:57,750 There is continuity but there is discontinuity. 439 00:22:57,750 --> 00:23:03,730 And the Apostle Paul is here stressing that 440 00:23:03,730 --> 00:23:06,530 the new body will be something that eye 441 00:23:06,530 --> 00:23:07,590 has not seen. 442 00:23:09,250 --> 00:23:12,150 No ear has heard a full description of 443 00:23:12,150 --> 00:23:17,330 it other than what God has revealed concerning 444 00:23:17,330 --> 00:23:17,730 it. 445 00:23:18,810 --> 00:23:19,930 Another body. 446 00:23:21,190 --> 00:23:22,990 But now Paul has more to say about 447 00:23:22,990 --> 00:23:23,590 its texture. 448 00:23:23,590 --> 00:23:25,550 I've referred to it but I want to 449 00:23:25,550 --> 00:23:28,910 just disentangle the thoughts a little. 450 00:23:31,250 --> 00:23:33,430 He says that the new body is a 451 00:23:33,430 --> 00:23:36,590 building from God, an eternal house in heaven, 452 00:23:37,730 --> 00:23:38,890 not made with hand. 453 00:23:41,630 --> 00:23:43,930 The Apostle has just referred to our present 454 00:23:43,930 --> 00:23:44,850 bodies as tents. 455 00:23:46,570 --> 00:23:48,890 Now the notion of a tent is quite 456 00:23:48,890 --> 00:23:49,390 obvious. 457 00:23:49,670 --> 00:23:52,150 It's simple, it's universal. 458 00:23:53,350 --> 00:23:55,690 But especially was it so in New Testament 459 00:23:55,690 --> 00:23:58,630 times and it would have a very real 460 00:23:58,630 --> 00:24:00,850 significance for the first readers. 461 00:24:03,330 --> 00:24:06,750 What's the difference between a tent and a 462 00:24:06,750 --> 00:24:07,010 temple? 463 00:24:08,690 --> 00:24:15,330 Well, a tent is a thin canvas that 464 00:24:15,330 --> 00:24:17,290 you put up when you're hiking, when you're 465 00:24:17,290 --> 00:24:18,530 on pilgrimage generally. 466 00:24:18,550 --> 00:24:21,270 You don't normally live in a tent. 467 00:24:22,510 --> 00:24:25,130 But you pitch a tent in the morning 468 00:24:25,130 --> 00:24:27,330 and you dismantle or in the evening and 469 00:24:27,330 --> 00:24:29,110 you dismantle it next day and you move 470 00:24:29,110 --> 00:24:29,470 on. 471 00:24:31,860 --> 00:24:34,640 When the tent has been under the weather 472 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:38,960 of heat and cold and rain, you will 473 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,500 soon find that it shows that it is 474 00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:44,000 suffering from wear and tear. 475 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,760 The tent pegs begin to rot after a 476 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:52,320 few years and sooner or later the tent 477 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,980 will gradually wear out and the rain will 478 00:24:54,980 --> 00:24:57,100 come through and it will totter and it 479 00:24:57,100 --> 00:24:59,040 will fall and it will be just a 480 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:00,680 crumbled thing. 481 00:25:03,670 --> 00:25:07,710 But the temple, the house in heaven of 482 00:25:07,710 --> 00:25:11,290 which Paul speaks, doesn't share in that kind 483 00:25:11,290 --> 00:25:12,210 of characteristic. 484 00:25:13,650 --> 00:25:16,870 By sheer contradistinction it is entirely different. 485 00:25:17,070 --> 00:25:18,170 It is eternal. 486 00:25:19,570 --> 00:25:20,490 It continues. 487 00:25:21,190 --> 00:25:22,030 It abides. 488 00:25:22,770 --> 00:25:24,170 Time has nothing to do with it. 489 00:25:24,170 --> 00:25:26,650 There are no ravages of time that cause 490 00:25:26,650 --> 00:25:29,230 it to decompose and to wear away or 491 00:25:29,230 --> 00:25:29,970 to wear out. 492 00:25:30,150 --> 00:25:31,330 None whatsoever. 493 00:25:35,980 --> 00:25:38,680 Now, it is more than probable that if 494 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,600 Paul were writing this letter to Jews, he 495 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,160 would have made explicit something that is evidently 496 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:47,620 implicit in his thought. 497 00:25:49,220 --> 00:25:52,420 Because it is more than probable that the 498 00:25:52,420 --> 00:25:55,320 image in Paul's mind is that of the 499 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,940 difference between the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, 500 00:25:59,700 --> 00:26:02,660 in which God met with the Israelites under 501 00:26:02,660 --> 00:26:07,300 the old dispensation, and the temple in Jerusalem 502 00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:08,640 of later times. 503 00:26:10,610 --> 00:26:13,850 He uses words here that specifically, I would 504 00:26:13,850 --> 00:26:16,970 say, refer to the real distinction between these 505 00:26:16,970 --> 00:26:17,150 two. 506 00:26:17,350 --> 00:26:18,870 Now, you know the tent of meeting. 507 00:26:19,410 --> 00:26:21,150 Well, they took it down one day and 508 00:26:21,150 --> 00:26:22,590 they went so far and they pitched the 509 00:26:22,590 --> 00:26:23,630 tent of meeting again. 510 00:26:25,510 --> 00:26:27,270 And gradually it wore out. 511 00:26:28,410 --> 00:26:30,450 And ultimately there came a time in God's 512 00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:32,530 providence and in God's will when there was 513 00:26:32,530 --> 00:26:34,150 no need for it and no place for 514 00:26:34,150 --> 00:26:34,270 it. 515 00:26:34,510 --> 00:26:36,050 And it was put on one side and 516 00:26:36,050 --> 00:26:38,870 it was folded, put on one side forevermore. 517 00:26:42,740 --> 00:26:44,080 But then there's the tabernacle. 518 00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:47,540 Then there is the temple in Jerusalem, an 519 00:26:47,540 --> 00:26:49,660 altogether different entity. 520 00:26:50,980 --> 00:26:51,940 It is solid. 521 00:26:52,060 --> 00:26:52,800 It is lasting. 522 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,260 Now, as history shows us, it has not 523 00:26:55,260 --> 00:26:56,000 lasted either. 524 00:26:56,620 --> 00:26:59,460 So even this is not a perfect illustration. 525 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,500 But the image is there and the contrast 526 00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:03,460 is there. 527 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,880 But as far as God's house in heaven, 528 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,920 the body, the new body that God has 529 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,080 for his people, it is, unlike even the 530 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,340 temple in Jerusalem, it is eternal. 531 00:27:19,710 --> 00:27:23,330 An eternal house in heaven. 532 00:27:23,330 --> 00:27:26,070 The contrast is glaring. 533 00:27:27,010 --> 00:27:29,150 Now, in order to stress the contrast between 534 00:27:29,150 --> 00:27:31,030 the old and the new, Paul is not 535 00:27:31,030 --> 00:27:34,030 even content to say what I have referred 536 00:27:34,030 --> 00:27:34,390 to now. 537 00:27:34,470 --> 00:27:35,890 He goes one step further. 538 00:27:38,350 --> 00:27:39,650 And I think we ought just to make 539 00:27:39,650 --> 00:27:41,030 mention of it in passing on. 540 00:27:41,370 --> 00:27:44,930 He adds these words, that the body in 541 00:27:44,930 --> 00:27:48,790 heaven is eternal, not made with hands. 542 00:27:50,510 --> 00:27:52,450 Now, when you read those words, you may 543 00:27:52,450 --> 00:27:56,130 be tempted to ask, well, is the present 544 00:27:56,130 --> 00:27:57,290 body made with hands? 545 00:27:58,890 --> 00:28:01,210 Surely the present body is God's creation. 546 00:28:02,770 --> 00:28:05,890 I would answer, Paul is not denying that 547 00:28:05,890 --> 00:28:06,490 at all. 548 00:28:07,750 --> 00:28:08,950 Not at all. 549 00:28:09,890 --> 00:28:11,270 He agrees with that. 550 00:28:11,350 --> 00:28:13,610 Everything was created by our Lord. 551 00:28:14,270 --> 00:28:19,250 Nothing that has been created was not created 552 00:28:19,250 --> 00:28:19,810 by him. 553 00:28:19,810 --> 00:28:24,730 Your body is his, he says, elsewhere. 554 00:28:26,110 --> 00:28:27,370 He made it. 555 00:28:28,130 --> 00:28:28,910 It's his. 556 00:28:29,550 --> 00:28:34,200 But now, you see, it is possible that 557 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,260 some husband and wife might turn around and 558 00:28:37,260 --> 00:28:41,560 say, well, I do have a share, we 559 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,400 do have a share, in the creation of 560 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:45,780 the bodies of our children. 561 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,880 By the process of procreation, it is we 562 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:51,580 who bring a child into the world. 563 00:28:52,700 --> 00:28:55,160 Maybe God has given us the capacity, maybe 564 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,100 God has given us the gift for doing 565 00:28:57,100 --> 00:28:57,420 that. 566 00:28:57,700 --> 00:28:58,720 It is we who do it. 567 00:28:58,800 --> 00:28:59,660 We are involved. 568 00:29:02,410 --> 00:29:05,370 Lest somebody should say that, Paul says, as 569 00:29:05,370 --> 00:29:07,450 far as the new body is concerned, you've 570 00:29:07,450 --> 00:29:10,990 got absolutely nothing to do with it. 571 00:29:12,630 --> 00:29:13,570 Not a thing. 572 00:29:15,270 --> 00:29:16,350 Not a thing. 573 00:29:18,570 --> 00:29:20,990 If you do not believe, therefore, in a 574 00:29:20,990 --> 00:29:25,170 God who is almighty and all-gracious, omnipotently 575 00:29:25,170 --> 00:29:27,990 powerful to save and to keep his promises, 576 00:29:28,350 --> 00:29:30,930 then you cannot accept this. 577 00:29:31,550 --> 00:29:35,190 The acceptance of this presupposes that you not 578 00:29:35,190 --> 00:29:38,390 only know that God is omnipotent and almighty 579 00:29:38,390 --> 00:29:40,830 as well as all-gracious, but that you 580 00:29:40,830 --> 00:29:45,230 accept it for yourself, and he is able. 581 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,100 By sheer contrast, no human hand will have 582 00:29:52,100 --> 00:29:54,360 any role to play in the formation of 583 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:55,320 our new bodies. 584 00:29:55,820 --> 00:29:58,600 Now, these are some features included in the 585 00:29:58,600 --> 00:29:59,400 Christian's assurance. 586 00:30:00,980 --> 00:30:03,000 They are among the things that are divinely 587 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,220 revealed and therefore unquestionably true. 588 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,640 Scripture says elsewhere, and I would relate to 589 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,160 it now, and I would hold to it 590 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:16,080 in my heart, the secret things belong to 591 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:17,040 the Lord our God. 592 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,500 There are certain things which are secret, and 593 00:30:21,500 --> 00:30:23,260 we shouldn't try to delve into them. 594 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,020 They belong to God almighty. 595 00:30:27,340 --> 00:30:31,440 But the things that are revealed belong to 596 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,260 us and to our children forever. 597 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,120 What God has revealed, what God has disclosed, 598 00:30:38,220 --> 00:30:40,840 what God has said, you and I should 599 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,040 read, you and I should believe, you and 600 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:44,080 I should trust. 601 00:30:47,030 --> 00:30:48,950 The secret things belong to him. 602 00:30:49,170 --> 00:30:52,510 Don't enter into that territory where you don't 603 00:30:52,510 --> 00:30:53,250 belong. 604 00:30:54,710 --> 00:30:58,130 But trust and receive what God has revealed. 605 00:30:58,850 --> 00:31:01,410 He wants you to have the assurance and 606 00:31:01,410 --> 00:31:02,450 the joy of believing. 607 00:31:02,910 --> 00:31:05,370 The other thing that I want to mention 608 00:31:05,370 --> 00:31:06,490 this morning is this. 609 00:31:07,290 --> 00:31:09,030 I just want to say one or two 610 00:31:09,030 --> 00:31:11,650 things about that which is inspired by the 611 00:31:11,650 --> 00:31:12,970 possession of such assurance. 612 00:31:16,270 --> 00:31:18,410 What is it that is inspired? 613 00:31:20,090 --> 00:31:23,730 Now let me read to you these words 614 00:31:23,730 --> 00:31:26,510 from three versions, three translations. 615 00:31:27,990 --> 00:31:30,330 I'll quote the King James Version first. 616 00:31:30,850 --> 00:31:36,490 In this we groan, earnestly desiring to be 617 00:31:36,490 --> 00:31:38,370 clothed upon with our house which is from 618 00:31:38,370 --> 00:31:38,670 heaven. 619 00:31:39,770 --> 00:31:40,910 That's the King James. 620 00:31:42,050 --> 00:31:44,350 The RSV puts it like this. 621 00:31:44,350 --> 00:31:51,070 Here indeed we groan and long to put 622 00:31:51,070 --> 00:31:53,070 on our heavenly dwelling. 623 00:31:54,230 --> 00:31:56,790 And the New International Version puts it in 624 00:31:56,790 --> 00:31:57,190 this way. 625 00:31:57,650 --> 00:32:03,470 Meanwhile we groan longing to be clothed with 626 00:32:03,470 --> 00:32:04,550 our heavenly dwelling. 627 00:32:05,750 --> 00:32:08,350 Longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. 628 00:32:08,470 --> 00:32:10,270 Now what we're focusing upon is this. 629 00:32:11,110 --> 00:32:13,950 That which is inspired by the possession of 630 00:32:13,950 --> 00:32:16,910 the kind of assurance that Paul had concerning 631 00:32:16,910 --> 00:32:18,390 the body that is to be. 632 00:32:19,990 --> 00:32:22,110 Now there's a small technical point. 633 00:32:23,610 --> 00:32:26,050 I have to mention it because it doesn't 634 00:32:26,050 --> 00:32:28,290 really come through in any of those translations 635 00:32:28,290 --> 00:32:32,870 though the most astute commentators will refer to 636 00:32:32,870 --> 00:32:33,070 it. 637 00:32:33,830 --> 00:32:35,230 It's a technical point. 638 00:32:35,870 --> 00:32:37,670 There are two little words in the Greek 639 00:32:37,670 --> 00:32:39,950 that underlie the first part of that verse. 640 00:32:40,550 --> 00:32:42,430 There are two simple little words. 641 00:32:43,350 --> 00:32:44,050 Entuto. 642 00:32:46,780 --> 00:32:50,160 And these two words elsewhere in the New 643 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:54,180 Testament without exception have the force of the 644 00:32:54,180 --> 00:32:57,100 phrase on this account. 645 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,140 Or if you like, for this reason. 646 00:33:03,740 --> 00:33:04,900 On this account. 647 00:33:05,340 --> 00:33:06,440 On account of what? 648 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,420 Well on account of what the Apostle has 649 00:33:09,420 --> 00:33:10,200 already said. 650 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,280 We know that if our earthly house the 651 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,900 earthly tent we live in is destroyed we 652 00:33:15,900 --> 00:33:18,220 have a building from God an eternal house 653 00:33:18,220 --> 00:33:21,840 in heaven not built by human hands. 654 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:27,220 For this reason not meanwhile as the NIV 655 00:33:27,220 --> 00:33:31,540 puts it but for the very reason that 656 00:33:31,540 --> 00:33:36,600 we know these things because these things are 657 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:38,740 true God has revealed them and we know 658 00:33:38,740 --> 00:33:40,580 them on the basis of what God has 659 00:33:40,580 --> 00:33:43,720 revealed for this very reason because of the 660 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,780 revelation that has granted us the knowledge we 661 00:33:46,780 --> 00:33:47,800 have what? 662 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,640 Well, we groan. 663 00:33:52,820 --> 00:33:55,460 Longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling 664 00:33:55,460 --> 00:33:57,680 because when we are clothed we will not 665 00:33:57,680 --> 00:33:59,020 be found naked and so forth. 666 00:34:00,260 --> 00:34:03,060 Now without delving further into this technical point 667 00:34:03,060 --> 00:34:05,280 I want to stress that I think it 668 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,239 ought to be translated in that way here 669 00:34:07,239 --> 00:34:07,500 too. 670 00:34:07,900 --> 00:34:10,159 It should be that translation for the very 671 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:15,000 reason specified in verse 1 that is why 672 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:20,560 Paul says here We groan longing to be 673 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,880 clothed upon by our house which is from 674 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:25,139 heaven. 675 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:29,620 The late Dr. James Demme who has got 676 00:34:29,620 --> 00:34:34,940 a very erudite commentary on 2 Corinthians puts 677 00:34:34,940 --> 00:34:36,739 it in this way If Paul had no 678 00:34:36,739 --> 00:34:40,600 hope he would not sigh for the future 679 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:44,120 but the very longing which pressed the sighs 680 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:46,620 from his bosom became itself witness to the 681 00:34:46,620 --> 00:34:47,880 glory which awaited him. 682 00:34:49,699 --> 00:34:55,000 Paul was sighing, Paul was longing Why? 683 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,460 Because of the thing for which he hoped. 684 00:34:59,900 --> 00:35:02,100 You say, is that important? 685 00:35:02,860 --> 00:35:04,960 What's the point of stressing this? 686 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:06,080 Well, I'll tell you. 687 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,560 The point is this There are those who 688 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:11,620 would say that we groan Paul means that 689 00:35:11,620 --> 00:35:14,240 we groan in this present body because of 690 00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:24,170 its weakness because of sicknesses because of weariness, 691 00:35:24,950 --> 00:35:28,210 tiredness and the kind of things that can 692 00:35:28,210 --> 00:35:29,330 afflict our bodies. 693 00:35:29,570 --> 00:35:32,370 Now, Paul would not want to deny that 694 00:35:32,370 --> 00:35:34,790 that in and of itself is true Neither 695 00:35:34,790 --> 00:35:36,730 would I want to deny that that in 696 00:35:36,730 --> 00:35:40,810 and of itself is true You're sick, you 697 00:35:40,810 --> 00:35:43,430 have a fever and you're a little bit 698 00:35:43,430 --> 00:35:45,530 weary and perhaps at that time of your 699 00:35:45,530 --> 00:35:47,850 fever or your sickness you have a deeper, 700 00:35:48,070 --> 00:35:49,750 greater yearning for the body that is to 701 00:35:49,750 --> 00:35:54,670 come OK, alright, granted but that's not what 702 00:35:54,670 --> 00:35:58,610 Paul is saying here What he's saying here 703 00:35:58,610 --> 00:36:01,010 is this If we really know anything about 704 00:36:01,010 --> 00:36:04,190 the body that is to come we groan 705 00:36:04,190 --> 00:36:08,870 longing Notice, groan longing For what? 706 00:36:09,370 --> 00:36:15,720 For the body of which we're certain We 707 00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:18,820 groan longing to be made like our Lord 708 00:36:18,820 --> 00:36:20,860 not only in our spirits He will come 709 00:36:20,860 --> 00:36:22,820 back to that later on when he urges 710 00:36:22,820 --> 00:36:25,420 us to perfect holiness in the fear of 711 00:36:25,420 --> 00:36:29,540 the Lord but we yearn longing also to 712 00:36:29,540 --> 00:36:32,240 have a body like unto His so that 713 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:35,780 in our purified spirits and in our new 714 00:36:35,780 --> 00:36:38,620 bodies we shall dwell the new sphere and 715 00:36:38,620 --> 00:36:44,360 serve Him acceptably in a sphere into which 716 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:48,940 sin does not enter where sickness and sorrow 717 00:36:48,940 --> 00:36:53,060 and suffering and separation are all alike unknown 718 00:36:54,580 --> 00:36:58,540 in the glory of His presence I don't 719 00:36:58,540 --> 00:37:00,640 know whether I dare try to illustrate that 720 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,540 There is no ultimate illustration of this but 721 00:37:04,540 --> 00:37:07,060 I was reminded as I was meditating and 722 00:37:07,060 --> 00:37:09,860 trying to prepare for this morning I was 723 00:37:09,860 --> 00:37:11,940 reminded of an incident I won't tell you 724 00:37:11,940 --> 00:37:21,760 where It was a wedding The 725 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:26,460 young bride was going to live with her 726 00:37:26,460 --> 00:37:30,760 husband in the apartment where he had lived 727 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,780 as a single man and she was very 728 00:37:34,780 --> 00:37:41,940 pleased with it quite pleased but they were 729 00:37:41,940 --> 00:37:45,760 not going there for long The bridegroom's husband 730 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:51,280 was a builder and the father had promised 731 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,920 that when he was able he would build 732 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,940 them a house and so of course they 733 00:37:57,940 --> 00:38:00,100 were going to this apartment only in the 734 00:38:00,100 --> 00:38:02,740 interval She was thrilled with it It was 735 00:38:02,740 --> 00:38:07,000 such a nice compact apartment as she said 736 00:38:08,220 --> 00:38:12,020 But then a number of things happened You 737 00:38:12,020 --> 00:38:14,280 may guess there was a builder's strike somewhere 738 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,860 there That was the first thing and it 739 00:38:17,860 --> 00:38:21,120 was a prolonged one A second thing that 740 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:22,800 happened was this that her husband was taken 741 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:24,360 ill and she had to nurse him in 742 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:27,880 the apartment and she found that really the 743 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,980 facilities that would have been all right for 744 00:38:30,980 --> 00:38:33,740 them whilst everything was well were not quite 745 00:38:33,740 --> 00:38:35,980 so good when she had to nurse him 746 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:41,160 But then there came this last link in 747 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:45,300 the chain The house was ready and she 748 00:38:45,300 --> 00:38:48,060 was taken to see it Her husband was 749 00:38:48,060 --> 00:38:49,580 still in bed at home in the apartment 750 00:38:49,580 --> 00:38:52,080 but she went to see the house completed 751 00:38:52,620 --> 00:38:57,240 and she was utterly thrilled with it Everything 752 00:38:57,240 --> 00:39:00,280 was just it, just perfect and all the 753 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,020 gadgets you can possibly think of you can 754 00:39:03,020 --> 00:39:06,260 possibly think of Now when she went back 755 00:39:06,260 --> 00:39:08,360 to the little apartment to nurse her husband 756 00:39:09,100 --> 00:39:13,740 you know she had become almost intolerant with 757 00:39:13,740 --> 00:39:22,920 the crampness the confined characteristic of the little 758 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,300 place where she had been quite happy earlier 759 00:39:25,300 --> 00:39:31,560 on And she became just eager, yearning, impatient 760 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:37,190 to possess the new house Brothers and sisters 761 00:39:37,190 --> 00:39:38,870 in Christ that's the kind of thing we 762 00:39:38,870 --> 00:39:41,630 have here Don't press the analogy too far 763 00:39:41,630 --> 00:39:46,890 But when once you and I know You 764 00:39:46,890 --> 00:39:49,970 see when you have real Christian assurance We 765 00:39:49,970 --> 00:39:54,010 use the word assurance rather flippantly When we 766 00:39:54,010 --> 00:39:57,990 have the real biblically based Christian assurance And 767 00:39:57,990 --> 00:39:59,850 it relates even to this The house that 768 00:39:59,850 --> 00:40:02,210 is to come When we know that When 769 00:40:02,210 --> 00:40:05,390 we believe that When this assurance is deep 770 00:40:05,390 --> 00:40:07,970 in our souls and masters us Then we 771 00:40:07,970 --> 00:40:13,030 begin to yearn forever with the Lord Amen 772 00:40:13,890 --> 00:40:22,800 So let it be Why does a man 773 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,520 yearn for the body that is to come? 774 00:40:24,620 --> 00:40:26,500 For this reason Only because he knows of 775 00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:30,220 its glory And however great it is in 776 00:40:30,220 --> 00:40:32,280 this present body However much we think of 777 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:35,960 this present body Unfortunately we think far too 778 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,290 much about it in one sense I do 779 00:40:40,290 --> 00:40:42,830 not want to suggest that either Paul or 780 00:40:42,830 --> 00:40:45,730 any other Christian should think lightly of this 781 00:40:45,730 --> 00:40:48,650 body It is the creation of God And 782 00:40:48,650 --> 00:40:50,990 we should look after it for God And 783 00:40:50,990 --> 00:40:52,890 we are answerable for what we do to 784 00:40:52,890 --> 00:40:57,010 it as well as in it But after 785 00:40:57,010 --> 00:40:59,110 all God only meant this as a tent 786 00:40:59,110 --> 00:41:03,170 overnight On pilgrimage for a couple of years 787 00:41:03,170 --> 00:41:07,290 Thereafter to be dismantled and left behind And 788 00:41:07,290 --> 00:41:09,570 he will continue the grains from it in 789 00:41:09,570 --> 00:41:13,730 his organizing of the new entity that awaits 790 00:41:13,730 --> 00:41:20,880 us in the hell Now my friends I 791 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:25,040 conclude I come back to the point where 792 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:31,780 we started Do you know anything of the 793 00:41:31,780 --> 00:41:39,320 revelation that God has given ministering comfort to 794 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:43,180 your hearts That you can begin to hope 795 00:41:43,180 --> 00:41:46,220 for things that are not seen At the 796 00:41:46,220 --> 00:41:48,540 end of chapter 4 Paul has said that 797 00:41:48,540 --> 00:41:50,580 one of the characteristics of a Christian is 798 00:41:50,580 --> 00:41:57,880 this We live for And we anticipate We 799 00:41:57,880 --> 00:41:59,820 are not so concerned with the things that 800 00:41:59,820 --> 00:42:02,260 we can see Because the things that are 801 00:42:02,260 --> 00:42:05,080 seen are temporal But we are concerned and 802 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,620 we anticipate things unseen And they the unseen 803 00:42:08,620 --> 00:42:14,160 things are eternal My question is this Have 804 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:16,700 you received the revelation that God has given 805 00:42:16,700 --> 00:42:18,580 in his son And in his word through 806 00:42:18,580 --> 00:42:21,860 his apostles To the point that having believed 807 00:42:21,860 --> 00:42:27,400 them you have begun to hope Now this 808 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:29,000 is what it means to be a true 809 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:36,450 believer Let us forget the shallow nuances that 810 00:42:36,450 --> 00:42:38,470 we hear of from time to time This 811 00:42:38,470 --> 00:42:40,190 is what it means This is part of 812 00:42:40,190 --> 00:42:42,370 what it means An important part To be 813 00:42:42,370 --> 00:42:45,530 a genuine believer We do not simply take 814 00:42:45,530 --> 00:42:48,270 the apostles doctrine And say yes it is 815 00:42:48,270 --> 00:42:50,990 that, yes it is that As if we 816 00:42:50,990 --> 00:42:54,530 were professors sitting in a chair And weighing 817 00:42:54,530 --> 00:42:58,010 things objectively Putting the odd pieces together No, 818 00:42:58,190 --> 00:43:00,070 no, no, no, no Belief is something that 819 00:43:00,070 --> 00:43:04,150 has an impact upon the soul The truth 820 00:43:04,150 --> 00:43:08,050 touches us It moves us It creates It 821 00:43:08,050 --> 00:43:17,740 genders hope It is a very disturbing thing 822 00:43:17,740 --> 00:43:20,420 to find Christians That know nothing of the 823 00:43:20,420 --> 00:43:24,660 heart strings Pulling them toward the land unseen 824 00:43:24,660 --> 00:43:33,170 And the Jerusalem that is above Unless, unless 825 00:43:33,170 --> 00:43:35,490 we can say with the apostle Paul We 826 00:43:35,490 --> 00:43:40,730 know this Then we are probably confined to 827 00:43:40,730 --> 00:43:44,790 Interests that surround our bodies The physical bodies 828 00:43:44,790 --> 00:43:46,290 we have now And this is true of 829 00:43:46,290 --> 00:43:49,170 course If you and I were to examine 830 00:43:49,170 --> 00:43:51,470 ourselves this morning I'm afraid we would have 831 00:43:51,470 --> 00:43:54,670 to say that Eighty, ninety percent of our 832 00:43:54,670 --> 00:43:58,530 time is taken up with Things that relate 833 00:43:58,530 --> 00:44:00,410 to the physical body The tent that is 834 00:44:00,410 --> 00:44:03,150 wearing out And whether you realize it or 835 00:44:03,150 --> 00:44:04,930 not It's wearing out right now as you 836 00:44:04,930 --> 00:44:06,610 sit in the pew And as I stand 837 00:44:06,610 --> 00:44:10,510 in the pulpit here It's a tent of 838 00:44:10,510 --> 00:44:13,450 clay Paul calls it an earthen vessel in 839 00:44:13,450 --> 00:44:17,210 chapter four Here it's a tent of canvas 840 00:44:17,210 --> 00:44:20,570 not clay That wears out It's in the 841 00:44:20,570 --> 00:44:25,530 process of wearing out If we are really 842 00:44:25,530 --> 00:44:28,150 believing the revelation that God has given That 843 00:44:28,150 --> 00:44:30,510 in turn should gender the beginnings of hope 844 00:44:30,510 --> 00:44:33,310 And we look forward to it And we 845 00:44:33,310 --> 00:44:38,690 anticipate it As the apostle says elsewhere Having 846 00:44:38,690 --> 00:44:41,670 a desire to depart To be with Christ 847 00:44:41,670 --> 00:44:44,390 which is far better That does not mean 848 00:44:44,390 --> 00:44:47,690 that he did not appreciate life No, the 849 00:44:47,690 --> 00:44:49,370 apostle was willing to live And he was 850 00:44:49,370 --> 00:44:52,870 willing to suffer anywhere and anytime If the 851 00:44:52,870 --> 00:44:59,420 will of God required it But in the 852 00:44:59,420 --> 00:45:02,300 depth of his heart There was always a 853 00:45:02,300 --> 00:45:07,700 yearning for home I am a stranger here 854 00:45:07,700 --> 00:45:11,580 he would say Within a foreign land My 855 00:45:11,580 --> 00:45:15,240 home is far away upon a golden strand 856 00:45:15,240 --> 00:45:21,800 And he always knew The homing instinct To 857 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,660 dwell in the house that God had prepared 858 00:45:25,660 --> 00:45:27,620 Do you know anything of that? 859 00:45:30,170 --> 00:45:33,630 Let us pray as we conclude then That 860 00:45:33,630 --> 00:45:37,550 the Lord will grant us An ever deepening 861 00:45:37,550 --> 00:45:40,870 confidence in the word he has given In 862 00:45:40,870 --> 00:45:43,170 the work he has wrought And will yet 863 00:45:43,170 --> 00:45:45,990 work on behalf of his people To bring 864 00:45:45,990 --> 00:45:51,470 them into the full possession Of the purchased 865 00:45:51,470 --> 00:46:03,720 possession Let us pray Heavenly Father We 866 00:46:03,720 --> 00:46:06,160 would magnify your holy name for the gospel 867 00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:12,400 We crave your mercy oh Lord That all 868 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:14,500 too often we have thought of your redemption 869 00:46:14,500 --> 00:46:19,370 As relating only to our souls We thank 870 00:46:19,370 --> 00:46:22,670 you that when Christ died He redeemed the 871 00:46:22,670 --> 00:46:27,110 souls of men And that those who trust 872 00:46:27,110 --> 00:46:32,750 in him Are redeemed Justified Freely from all 873 00:46:32,750 --> 00:46:39,860 things Pardoned But we bless your holy name 874 00:46:39,860 --> 00:46:44,240 That that same redemption purchased for us A 875 00:46:44,240 --> 00:46:48,940 new habitat A house that human hands have 876 00:46:48,940 --> 00:46:50,680 had nothing to do in the making of 877 00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:58,500 it Eternal Glorious Like the resurrection body of 878 00:46:58,500 --> 00:47:04,460 our Lord himself And we pray that you 879 00:47:04,460 --> 00:47:08,280 will give to us The corresponding hope that 880 00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:12,300 should be in our hearts Even as we 881 00:47:12,300 --> 00:47:16,140 enjoy the privileges of this present life Or 882 00:47:16,140 --> 00:47:20,960 otherwise As we bear with the problems And 883 00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:23,720 the sufferings And the sorrows of this life 884 00:47:23,720 --> 00:47:26,960 Grant that in and through all these things 885 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:30,480 There may be an undercurrent of yearning And 886 00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:36,740 of hoping That corresponds to assurance In order 887 00:47:36,740 --> 00:47:39,980 that out of a sense of peace and 888 00:47:39,980 --> 00:47:45,760 prospect We may be witnesses to yourself In 889 00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:51,720 a world that is lost And undone And 890 00:47:51,720 --> 00:47:56,400 these things we ask in Jesus name Amen