1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,440 Actually turn in your Bibles tonight to second Corinthians. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:13,360 Second Corinthians, chapter 5. 3 00:00:25,770 --> 00:00:26,170 Foreign. 4 00:00:35,130 --> 00:00:40,970 In verse number one, the Bible says, for we know that if our earthly 5 00:00:40,970 --> 00:00:44,610 house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 6 00:00:44,610 --> 00:00:48,570 God, house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. 7 00:00:48,570 --> 00:00:53,250 For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with 8 00:00:53,250 --> 00:00:54,570 our house which is from heaven. 9 00:00:55,010 --> 00:00:58,370 If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. 10 00:00:58,610 --> 00:01:02,290 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened 11 00:01:02,850 --> 00:01:07,650 not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that 12 00:01:07,650 --> 00:01:11,250 mortality might be swallowed up in life of life. 13 00:01:11,970 --> 00:01:15,970 Now he that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God, who 14 00:01:15,970 --> 00:01:19,410 also hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit. 15 00:01:19,650 --> 00:01:23,430 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we 16 00:01:23,430 --> 00:01:26,190 are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. 17 00:01:26,190 --> 00:01:28,910 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 18 00:01:29,310 --> 00:01:32,270 We are confident, I say, and rather willing. 19 00:01:32,830 --> 00:01:36,550 Willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with 20 00:01:36,550 --> 00:01:40,750 the Lord wherefore we labor that whether present or absent, we 21 00:01:40,750 --> 00:01:42,350 may be accepted of him. 22 00:01:42,670 --> 00:01:45,870 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that 23 00:01:45,870 --> 00:01:49,680 everyone may receive the things done in his body according 24 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,360 to that he hath done, whether good or bad. 25 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,240 Tonight the message is simple. 26 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,320 Don't get too concerned with your clay pot. 27 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:04,240 Let's pray and we'll. 28 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:04,760 We'll start. 29 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,240 Our Heavenly Father, thank you so much, Lord, for the grace that 30 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:09,120 you give to us. 31 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,720 Thank you for the encouragement of your word as we 32 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:18,250 go through life's trials and the daily grind of life, Lord, the 33 00:02:19,050 --> 00:02:24,890 overwhelming aspects of it, Lord, that just threatening to cause 34 00:02:24,890 --> 00:02:29,730 us to run and hide and tear, Lord, and I just pray that you would 35 00:02:29,730 --> 00:02:34,050 help us tonight to see out of your word in the life of Paul and 36 00:02:34,050 --> 00:02:36,890 the life of other Christians, Lord, and look at our own life and 37 00:02:36,890 --> 00:02:42,320 how we are to as people of a heavenly city of a heavenly calling, 38 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,840 Lord, to have our mind set on the things above, Lord, rather than 39 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:47,360 the things here on this earth. 40 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,480 We ask that you would help us tonight to understand your word better. 41 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:51,680 In Jesus name we pray. 42 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:52,320 Amen. 43 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,880 Don't get too concerned with your clay pot. 44 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:06,400 In second Corinthians here, Paul, he begins talking about something 45 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,930 that is monumental to this life. 46 00:03:12,010 --> 00:03:12,890 Living in the. 47 00:03:12,970 --> 00:03:14,090 The Christian walk. 48 00:03:14,410 --> 00:03:18,170 We have those slides up for, for that, for that sermon. 49 00:03:18,250 --> 00:03:19,530 I think it's at the bottom. 50 00:03:20,650 --> 00:03:21,850 I'm gonna click through it. 51 00:03:22,490 --> 00:03:28,330 Give us a visual, visual representation of that. 52 00:03:31,930 --> 00:03:34,420 It should be loaded in there at the bottom on the left. 53 00:03:34,660 --> 00:03:36,180 Unless they clicked off of the list. 54 00:03:42,100 --> 00:03:45,140 Well, while they're figuring that out, maybe or maybe not. 55 00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:46,580 We'll get something tonight. 56 00:03:47,380 --> 00:03:51,020 Whenever Paul speaks about this, he had already spoken about 57 00:03:51,020 --> 00:03:53,980 this tabernacle that we dwell in. 58 00:03:53,980 --> 00:03:55,780 And he says here in this very first verse. 59 00:03:55,780 --> 00:03:59,700 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 60 00:03:59,950 --> 00:04:00,590 were dissolved. 61 00:04:00,670 --> 00:04:02,190 Now what is he talking about there? 62 00:04:03,150 --> 00:04:04,430 He's talking about our body. 63 00:04:04,830 --> 00:04:07,310 He's talking about this tabernacle. 64 00:04:07,710 --> 00:04:12,350 He's talking about how we one day have a mansion in heaven. 65 00:04:12,430 --> 00:04:14,910 And a lot of people think that whenever you get to heaven, you're 66 00:04:14,910 --> 00:04:17,510 going to get this big house and it's just going to be grand and 67 00:04:17,510 --> 00:04:17,830 gorgeous. 68 00:04:17,830 --> 00:04:18,830 It's going to be a mansion. 69 00:04:19,230 --> 00:04:21,070 I really don't think it's going to be a house. 70 00:04:21,470 --> 00:04:24,310 I think it's going to be a body and it's going to be like a 71 00:04:24,310 --> 00:04:26,350 mansion, especially compared to. 72 00:04:26,420 --> 00:04:29,060 To this raggedy thing that we are walking around in. 73 00:04:29,700 --> 00:04:32,580 It is a mansion in comparison. 74 00:04:33,300 --> 00:04:39,300 Now, this present body, as many of us know, is fragile. 75 00:04:39,620 --> 00:04:44,900 I can't tell you how many times I've cut myself this past week 76 00:04:44,900 --> 00:04:48,540 alone trying to get the. 77 00:04:48,540 --> 00:04:51,500 The simplest little things and just the. 78 00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:54,920 The pain that ensues when you're just trying to do stuff around 79 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:55,440 the house. 80 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,440 I've hit myself with hammers, I've smashed my fingers. 81 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,040 I ran into boxes. 82 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:02,440 Just this is. 83 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:03,760 I'm bleeding all over the place. 84 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,160 The body is extremely fragile. 85 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:12,360 Now this sermon itself came out of a different trial that I went 86 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,480 through a couple of years ago and that I was encouraged in. 87 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:17,240 And this was some. 88 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:19,600 A passage that really stuck with me. 89 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,370 And I think that it's going to stick with all of us in a special 90 00:05:22,370 --> 00:05:28,450 way, especially depending on how fragile you are or how old you 91 00:05:28,450 --> 00:05:33,290 become, you start to feel that fragile ness of life. 92 00:05:33,690 --> 00:05:43,250 The present body is fragile, but the next we'll get it up there 93 00:05:43,250 --> 00:05:43,690 eventually. 94 00:05:43,770 --> 00:05:47,440 The present body is fragile, but the big thing about it is it 95 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:48,880 is not final. 96 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,080 This isn't all there is is what I wrote. 97 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:53,360 The new one is far better. 98 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:55,320 Now look here at what he says. 99 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,040 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle. 100 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:04,880 Now that's not an if of hey, it might might happen or it might 101 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:05,520 not happen. 102 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:06,320 The. 103 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:12,640 The word here that is used, the grammatical use of it is a potential 104 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:15,310 action, action that is to occur. 105 00:06:16,510 --> 00:06:18,430 This is going to happen. 106 00:06:18,670 --> 00:06:21,390 It's not a matter of if it could happen. 107 00:06:21,710 --> 00:06:22,750 We're not really sure. 108 00:06:22,990 --> 00:06:26,790 It's in the sense of it's could be today and could be tomorrow, 109 00:06:26,790 --> 00:06:28,990 or it could be next week, but it is going to come. 110 00:06:29,550 --> 00:06:35,870 So if when this body is dissolved, destroyed, demolished, 111 00:06:35,870 --> 00:06:42,330 taken down, we have this treasure in an earthen vessel and 112 00:06:42,330 --> 00:06:44,050 that's where we get that clay pot. 113 00:06:44,610 --> 00:06:52,290 Whenever, whenever I was diagnosed with Ms. And all the stuff 114 00:06:52,290 --> 00:06:57,410 that happened with that, my former pastor, what he told me was 115 00:06:57,410 --> 00:07:00,050 Ethan trying to encourage me. 116 00:07:00,210 --> 00:07:02,610 Don't get too concerned with your clay pot. 117 00:07:04,050 --> 00:07:05,250 It's just a clay pot. 118 00:07:06,220 --> 00:07:07,340 That's all your body is. 119 00:07:07,580 --> 00:07:08,380 That's all it is. 120 00:07:08,380 --> 00:07:09,900 To the, to, to this lot. 121 00:07:10,460 --> 00:07:12,540 We live in a clay pot. 122 00:07:12,940 --> 00:07:14,860 It's not a shiny vessel of gold. 123 00:07:15,340 --> 00:07:16,780 It's not per se. 124 00:07:17,580 --> 00:07:23,300 A thing that is going, is decorated, that's going to last forever. 125 00:07:23,300 --> 00:07:26,260 You know, whenever we talk about what a wedding band should, 126 00:07:26,260 --> 00:07:29,660 should be made out of, we want it to be made out of precious gems 127 00:07:29,740 --> 00:07:32,540 and something sort of precious metal that will last. 128 00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:39,540 The body that we dwell in is not permanent vessel, it is sown 129 00:07:39,700 --> 00:07:40,820 in dishonor. 130 00:07:41,060 --> 00:07:45,780 It is going to be resurrected in something glorious in that mansion. 131 00:07:46,900 --> 00:07:49,940 So don't get too concerned with your clay pot. 132 00:07:50,020 --> 00:07:54,900 We have a spiritual body not made with hands like Jesus being 133 00:07:54,900 --> 00:07:55,940 prepared for us. 134 00:07:56,340 --> 00:08:00,540 In Mark chapter 14, Jesus speaks of this, says destroy this 135 00:08:00,540 --> 00:08:03,740 temple that is made with hands and within three days I will build 136 00:08:03,740 --> 00:08:05,820 another not made with hands. 137 00:08:06,140 --> 00:08:07,420 What was he speaking of? 138 00:08:07,580 --> 00:08:10,220 He was obviously speaking of that new resurrected body. 139 00:08:10,620 --> 00:08:12,100 In first John chapter three. 140 00:08:12,100 --> 00:08:14,380 We get a great hope, beloved. 141 00:08:14,780 --> 00:08:16,660 Now are we the sons of God. 142 00:08:16,660 --> 00:08:19,420 And it does not yet appear what we shall be. 143 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:26,240 But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for 144 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,560 we shall see him as he is. 145 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:34,000 And so when Paul speaks of that resurrection body, it is a spiritual 146 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,440 body, he doesn't mean an unreal body or a non physical body. 147 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,840 He is talking about the same kind of body that our risen Lord 148 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:43,040 had. 149 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,640 Whenever he appeared before the disciples in the upper room, 150 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:51,680 whenever he ate, whenever he had the honeycomb, the fish, he asked 151 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:53,920 for something to eat and drink. 152 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:58,440 I mean there was is a physical body, but it is a glorified body 153 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:04,080 raised by the power of God, no longer ruled by weakness, decay, 154 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:06,960 sickness, sin and death. 155 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:12,760 There are people that are born in so many different ways with a 156 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:17,520 body that is sometimes at birth immediately handicapped, not 157 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:18,880 able to walk from birth. 158 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,610 There was people who was healed in, in the Bible. 159 00:09:21,770 --> 00:09:25,450 How, what, what sin did this man do or what sin did his parents 160 00:09:25,450 --> 00:09:27,450 do that he was born lame? 161 00:09:27,450 --> 00:09:30,730 The people asked, said nothing, he didn't do that. 162 00:09:30,730 --> 00:09:32,290 It was just to work the work of God. 163 00:09:32,290 --> 00:09:34,490 But this man was definitely born this way. 164 00:09:34,810 --> 00:09:36,250 One man was born blind. 165 00:09:38,730 --> 00:09:44,370 So many people are born handicapped or become handicapped 166 00:09:44,370 --> 00:09:48,290 or you get to a point in your life whenever the body just doesn't 167 00:09:48,290 --> 00:09:49,010 work anymore. 168 00:09:49,010 --> 00:09:49,850 And that can happen. 169 00:09:50,350 --> 00:09:52,470 And when you're 7 years old, that can happen. 170 00:09:52,470 --> 00:09:55,470 In your 30s, that can happen whenever you're 60 and 8. 171 00:09:55,710 --> 00:09:58,510 We never know when our body may give out. 172 00:09:59,310 --> 00:10:00,270 Whenever I got. 173 00:10:01,550 --> 00:10:04,510 Well, we didn't get the diagnosis that I had in us. 174 00:10:04,670 --> 00:10:06,670 It just started a whole bunch of stuff happening. 175 00:10:06,670 --> 00:10:07,950 I couldn't walk anymore. 176 00:10:08,430 --> 00:10:10,590 Okay, that was a moment of failing. 177 00:10:10,590 --> 00:10:13,790 That was a moment of thinking, okay, what in the world's going on? 178 00:10:13,790 --> 00:10:18,200 There's those moments whenever you can't really fathom what God 179 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,240 is doing, but you were trying to figure out what is going on with 180 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:23,440 this body. 181 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:26,760 Romans, chapter 8, verse 23. 182 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:31,080 What we are waiting for is the adoption, to wit, the redemption 183 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:31,920 of our body. 184 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,640 We are waiting for that adoption. 185 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:43,040 And so my first encouragement to us tonight is, don't be so concerned 186 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:48,440 with the clay pot, because we can worship that clay pot. 187 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,000 We can get all in a bind over what it is. 188 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:57,000 And what we really forget is what God has made us to do and what 189 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:01,240 that vessel our body is meant for. 190 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,320 The present body is not final. 191 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:12,290 That is a hope that is looking unto the redemption of our body. 192 00:11:12,850 --> 00:11:17,770 And in the first letter in Corinth to Corinth, Paul discusses 193 00:11:17,770 --> 00:11:20,130 the great difference between these two bodies. 194 00:11:20,210 --> 00:11:22,690 He talks about that in First Corinthians, chapter 15. 195 00:11:23,010 --> 00:11:28,930 This body that is sown, imperishable, it is raised imperishable. 196 00:11:28,930 --> 00:11:32,770 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, is sown in weakness, 197 00:11:33,090 --> 00:11:37,750 it is raised in power, is sown in a natural body, it is raised a 198 00:11:37,750 --> 00:11:38,510 spiritual body. 199 00:11:38,910 --> 00:11:43,630 But make no mistake, the clay pot is not the whole story. 200 00:11:44,430 --> 00:11:50,510 What we are looking at is not the clay pot, but rather the treasure 201 00:11:50,750 --> 00:11:54,270 in that pot that we have been entrusted with. 202 00:11:54,430 --> 00:11:55,550 What is that treasure? 203 00:11:56,430 --> 00:11:57,390 Give me some feedback. 204 00:11:57,390 --> 00:11:58,350 What is that treasure? 205 00:11:59,790 --> 00:12:00,510 The soul. 206 00:12:00,750 --> 00:12:01,230 Yes. 207 00:12:01,710 --> 00:12:03,390 What have you been entrusted with? 208 00:12:03,470 --> 00:12:03,950 Soul? 209 00:12:05,150 --> 00:12:07,070 As a Christian, what have you been entrusted with? 210 00:12:09,070 --> 00:12:10,110 The Holy Spirit. 211 00:12:10,430 --> 00:12:14,990 To deliver the gospel to other people so that they can have the 212 00:12:14,990 --> 00:12:20,030 Holy Spirit, so that they can know Christ and see that treasure 213 00:12:20,110 --> 00:12:24,110 that we have in earthen vessels, as Paul talks through there 214 00:12:24,670 --> 00:12:28,990 in chapter four of 2 Corinthians was what Paul really 215 00:12:29,310 --> 00:12:30,790 wanted them to focus on. 216 00:12:30,790 --> 00:12:31,390 Go there. 217 00:12:31,550 --> 00:12:34,270 That one chapter over in second Corinthians, chapter four, 218 00:12:34,870 --> 00:12:35,670 what does he say? 219 00:12:44,630 --> 00:12:46,950 I am in first Corinthians that's responded. 220 00:12:50,070 --> 00:12:55,390 He says, for we are carrying about in our bodies the Dying of 221 00:12:55,390 --> 00:13:01,520 the Lord Jesus, being made a sacrifice for Jesus's sake. 222 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:08,600 He says that we have the treasure in this earthen vessel. 223 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,680 He said, we're troubled on every side, yet not distressed, perplexed, 224 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:18,080 speaking about the life of a Christian and this weak, weak tabernacle. 225 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:22,480 And it's interesting the way that this is interpreted. 226 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,160 It's a tent, you know, when you think about building a house, 227 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:27,760 you don't think about building a tent. 228 00:13:28,130 --> 00:13:30,050 And that's what this house is like. 229 00:13:30,130 --> 00:13:33,570 It is like building a tent. 230 00:13:34,130 --> 00:13:38,770 Whereas we sometimes refer to it as this great and glorious temple. 231 00:13:38,770 --> 00:13:39,570 It's a tent. 232 00:13:40,690 --> 00:13:41,690 This was a pot. 233 00:13:41,690 --> 00:13:45,890 In the power of the Gospel, that treasure in earthen vessels 234 00:13:46,130 --> 00:13:47,650 lies within that. 235 00:13:48,050 --> 00:13:48,450 That. 236 00:13:48,770 --> 00:13:52,610 That pot that's cracked, it has holes in it. 237 00:13:52,850 --> 00:13:56,210 It's trying to shine forth the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. 238 00:13:56,630 --> 00:14:00,190 But the point is, the clay pot is not permanent. 239 00:14:00,190 --> 00:14:01,030 It's fragile. 240 00:14:01,030 --> 00:14:03,190 But what's coming will be glorious. 241 00:14:03,670 --> 00:14:09,550 So whenever we start talking about that, okay, now we are thinking 242 00:14:09,550 --> 00:14:13,590 about, okay, this is temporary, and one day we're going 243 00:14:13,590 --> 00:14:15,670 to have that permanent, and we're going to live. 244 00:14:15,670 --> 00:14:17,110 We're living for the permanent. 245 00:14:17,190 --> 00:14:20,510 We need to have our mindset on the permanent, on the affection of 246 00:14:20,510 --> 00:14:21,190 things above. 247 00:14:21,990 --> 00:14:25,810 There's almost this other side of it that some people sometimes 248 00:14:25,810 --> 00:14:27,490 get the impression of, so what? 249 00:14:27,490 --> 00:14:28,170 What is it? 250 00:14:28,170 --> 00:14:29,410 We're just waiting to die. 251 00:14:29,730 --> 00:14:31,330 Is that the point of Christianity? 252 00:14:32,370 --> 00:14:37,530 Is that what we are to look for is this a longing for death? 253 00:14:37,530 --> 00:14:41,570 And the answer to that is no, the Christian does not long for death. 254 00:14:41,970 --> 00:14:43,410 They long for Christ. 255 00:14:44,770 --> 00:14:49,570 So we get this question, is this an unnatural desire? 256 00:14:49,930 --> 00:14:54,650 Because Paul talks about death and desiring to go and be with Christ 257 00:14:54,970 --> 00:15:00,090 in many of instances, he desires it over in Philippians, remember 258 00:15:00,090 --> 00:15:04,690 in Philippians chapter one says, I'm in betwixt the two, having 259 00:15:04,690 --> 00:15:09,410 a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, rather 260 00:15:09,410 --> 00:15:12,970 than be in this cursed world, but rather be with him, or rather 261 00:15:12,970 --> 00:15:16,730 to be with you and to be able to teach you and exhort you into 262 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:18,480 see fruit in your lives. 263 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,480 So the question is, do we wish to die? 264 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:23,360 Look there in verse two. 265 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,440 For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed 266 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,240 upon with our house which is from heaven. 267 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:34,640 If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked, for 268 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,280 we that are in this tabernacle do groan. 269 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,320 Some of us are groaning tonight being burdened, not that 270 00:15:42,650 --> 00:15:45,690 for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that 271 00:15:45,690 --> 00:15:48,490 mortality might be swallowed up in life. 272 00:15:48,490 --> 00:15:50,250 So you see what Paul is saying here. 273 00:15:50,490 --> 00:15:50,890 We. 274 00:15:50,970 --> 00:15:56,170 We want to be found clothed in that glorious temple. 275 00:15:56,250 --> 00:16:01,210 We don't desire to be unclothed in the sense of having 276 00:16:01,610 --> 00:16:04,410 no body and just being some spirit that is. 277 00:16:04,570 --> 00:16:06,690 That is just free and reigning. 278 00:16:06,690 --> 00:16:06,890 That's. 279 00:16:06,890 --> 00:16:07,690 That's not what he's saying. 280 00:16:07,850 --> 00:16:10,330 We're not desiring that emptiness. 281 00:16:10,330 --> 00:16:17,210 We are desiring to be clothed with that imperishable, that mortality 282 00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:20,810 might be swallowed up of life. 283 00:16:21,690 --> 00:16:27,730 This the natural desire of a Christian to desire Christ, longing 284 00:16:27,730 --> 00:16:28,410 for Christ. 285 00:16:28,650 --> 00:16:32,930 And so that is the ultimate plan you've heard of. 286 00:16:32,930 --> 00:16:34,490 People say everybody wants to go to heaven. 287 00:16:36,050 --> 00:16:37,410 Ain't nobody wants to go right now. 288 00:16:38,850 --> 00:16:41,250 Oftentimes that's what people joke about. 289 00:16:42,530 --> 00:16:46,850 The idea, though, that we want to go to heaven. 290 00:16:47,250 --> 00:16:50,810 The idea is not necessarily of going to a place, but rather going 291 00:16:50,810 --> 00:16:51,890 and being with a person. 292 00:16:52,770 --> 00:16:57,450 A dentist had a patient in his room and started to talk to him about 293 00:16:57,450 --> 00:16:57,970 different things. 294 00:16:57,970 --> 00:17:02,150 And somehow heaven got brought up and he began speaking to this 295 00:17:02,150 --> 00:17:04,190 guy and witnessing to him about heaven. 296 00:17:04,670 --> 00:17:07,270 And this guy said, well, how do you even know that it's going 297 00:17:07,270 --> 00:17:07,790 to be good? 298 00:17:08,190 --> 00:17:10,830 How do you even know what it's going to be like? 299 00:17:11,390 --> 00:17:13,230 And he said, well, I don't. 300 00:17:13,310 --> 00:17:15,550 I said, well, you're just hoping for nothing. 301 00:17:16,350 --> 00:17:18,270 And the guy said, well, let me show you. 302 00:17:18,750 --> 00:17:23,350 He went to the back office door and he tried to open the door. 303 00:17:23,350 --> 00:17:27,830 And the door was kind of wedge a little bit, and he had to push 304 00:17:27,830 --> 00:17:28,270 on it. 305 00:17:28,879 --> 00:17:29,919 Something was blocking it. 306 00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:33,399 And then he opened that door, and finally whatever on the other 307 00:17:33,399 --> 00:17:38,079 side was blocking it moved and he opened it up and his dog ran from 308 00:17:38,079 --> 00:17:41,679 that room into the room, shot into the room as quick as he could 309 00:17:41,759 --> 00:17:43,759 and got right next to his master's feet. 310 00:17:44,398 --> 00:17:48,359 And the guy said, you see, that dog has never been in this room 311 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:49,279 while there's a patient. 312 00:17:49,439 --> 00:17:52,719 But that dog doesn't really care about the room. 313 00:17:53,519 --> 00:17:57,640 The dog knows that his master is in that room, and that's what 314 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:58,560 he desires. 315 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,120 And it's the same thing for heaven. 316 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,720 I don't really care what heaven's going to be like. 317 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:06,880 I care that my savior's there. 318 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,879 That is the desire heaven can be. 319 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,600 Heaven can be just this old earth. 320 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:18,160 We know we're going to get a new earth one day and that it's going 321 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,340 to be a perfect earth where there is no. 322 00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:25,420 No sickness and famine and everything is going to be perfect. 323 00:18:25,420 --> 00:18:27,900 And it's always going to be 73 degrees. 324 00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:29,820 No, I don't know if it's going to be like that or not. 325 00:18:30,380 --> 00:18:37,140 But what I do know is it doesn't matter if it is a place of 326 00:18:37,140 --> 00:18:37,980 paradise. 327 00:18:38,140 --> 00:18:44,580 If it's a desert or if it's, you know, if it's negative 20, my 328 00:18:44,580 --> 00:18:45,740 wife would not agree to that. 329 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,560 But if my savior is there, it doesn't really matter because I want 330 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:52,440 to be with my savior. 331 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,240 Is that is the desire that we are to have. 332 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:57,640 What is natural though? 333 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,600 You know, the natural inclination that you are bent to. 334 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:03,960 We've talked about that a little bit. 335 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,520 You know, every single year, certain birds have a built in instinct 336 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:08,920 to migrate south for the winter. 337 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,720 We see cartoons that talk about that. 338 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,000 We know birds do that. 339 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,240 That's the reason why people in Florida can duck hunt. 340 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,360 Because ducks, they migrate south for the winter. 341 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,680 They fly down there trying to look for food. 342 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,200 Once they can't beat the ice in the winter anymore to get food, 343 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:26,720 they fly south for food. 344 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:28,240 Many birds do that. 345 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:30,960 What is natural. 346 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,480 Humans have a natural desire not to die. 347 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:35,280 Did you know that? 348 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,800 That is a very natural thing not to die. 349 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,640 Life clings to the final breath. 350 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:43,760 To want to live is natural. 351 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,960 The heart itself beats out of its own volition. 352 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:49,560 You do not make your heart beat. 353 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,000 The heart beats on its own. 354 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,400 You know, whenever doctors get that defibrillator, because guy's 355 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,560 heart stop and he gets it, we're going to restart the heart. 356 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:01,080 That's not true at all. 357 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,080 I don't know how many of you were underneath that impression. 358 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:04,440 I was underneath that impression. 359 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,560 The heart starts whenever they, you know, clear. 360 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:10,560 That's not what's happening. 361 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,560 There is nothing that can start a heart. 362 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,440 The heart has to start on its own. 363 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:26,000 Defibrillators are only there to correct an irregular heartbeat, 364 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,560 to get it onto a regular track. 365 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:31,120 It does not start the heart. 366 00:20:31,460 --> 00:20:35,980 I was absolutely floored when I heard and learned that heart has 367 00:20:35,980 --> 00:20:37,780 to start on its own. 368 00:20:38,500 --> 00:20:38,900 My. 369 00:20:39,540 --> 00:20:42,460 I heard about this first, though, whenever my dad had open 370 00:20:42,460 --> 00:20:46,820 heart surgery and whenever we were speaking about different doctors 371 00:20:47,380 --> 00:20:49,220 performing heart surgery. 372 00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:52,980 In heart surgery, they stop the heart in order to operate. 373 00:20:53,540 --> 00:20:54,580 That's how they do it. 374 00:20:55,220 --> 00:20:58,270 But the doctors, they seal everything up. 375 00:20:58,670 --> 00:20:59,710 They close it. 376 00:21:00,430 --> 00:21:05,790 They know, they remove their tools that are keeping the heart 377 00:21:05,790 --> 00:21:06,670 from beating. 378 00:21:07,710 --> 00:21:08,750 And then they wait. 379 00:21:09,870 --> 00:21:16,350 And that person's heart has to restart all on its own, out of its 380 00:21:16,350 --> 00:21:16,950 own volition. 381 00:21:16,950 --> 00:21:18,430 That is natural. 382 00:21:18,830 --> 00:21:20,750 That is the natural desire. 383 00:21:21,150 --> 00:21:26,850 And if that person has no will to live, that person's heart does 384 00:21:26,850 --> 00:21:27,770 not start. 385 00:21:28,810 --> 00:21:32,010 And so that's where you get some of those emotional theater movies 386 00:21:32,410 --> 00:21:32,810 live. 387 00:21:33,050 --> 00:21:34,770 Come on, you know you want to live. 388 00:21:34,770 --> 00:21:36,090 You know, it's that aspect. 389 00:21:36,250 --> 00:21:38,570 But that's the natural, the desire to live. 390 00:21:38,730 --> 00:21:41,690 Is something that the heart desires to do. 391 00:21:42,170 --> 00:21:44,890 Paul would talk about departing and dying many times in 392 00:21:44,890 --> 00:21:45,690 his letters. 393 00:21:46,010 --> 00:21:49,610 Sometimes he thought it was now, sometimes he thought it was 394 00:21:49,610 --> 00:21:49,930 later. 395 00:21:50,740 --> 00:21:54,100 Sometimes he thought, I will continue on to be able to see you 396 00:21:54,100 --> 00:21:56,340 and produce, see more and more fruit. 397 00:21:56,980 --> 00:22:01,220 The problem with fallen man and the fallen mindset that would 398 00:22:01,220 --> 00:22:07,540 pervade even Christians is not that man has no hunger for life. 399 00:22:08,020 --> 00:22:15,060 The problem is that sin has twisted that hunger, twisted the 400 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:18,650 desire to understand what it means to live. 401 00:22:19,850 --> 00:22:21,690 What was man designed to do? 402 00:22:21,690 --> 00:22:23,530 Well, he was made to hunger for God. 403 00:22:24,730 --> 00:22:27,210 Man was designed for spiritual things. 404 00:22:28,090 --> 00:22:33,210 Man was designed to crave spiritual things because God is a 405 00:22:33,210 --> 00:22:35,690 spirit and God and man is made in God's image. 406 00:22:36,410 --> 00:22:42,370 And yet what do we see man doing in his flesh as he craves spirit? 407 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:48,040 Spiritual things, we see idolatry, we see demon worship, we 408 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:53,160 see all manner of things that people love being spiritual. 409 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,680 That's the reason why the Catholic Church today is so prevalent, 410 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:02,600 so attractive, if you will, because of the physical manifestations 411 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,320 of religion, the physical manifestation of holy relics. 412 00:23:08,290 --> 00:23:10,130 My faith being sight, touchable. 413 00:23:10,530 --> 00:23:13,490 Spiritual people love to be spiritual. 414 00:23:13,730 --> 00:23:15,490 People love to do that. 415 00:23:15,490 --> 00:23:15,770 It's. 416 00:23:15,770 --> 00:23:17,010 It's almost tangible. 417 00:23:17,570 --> 00:23:18,490 You know, there's a. 418 00:23:18,490 --> 00:23:23,970 There's a problem with someone who has a twisted appetite. 419 00:23:24,290 --> 00:23:26,290 You ever heard of children that eat glue? 420 00:23:27,330 --> 00:23:29,010 Yeah, or eat weird things. 421 00:23:29,650 --> 00:23:33,010 It's a medical condition called pica, where. 422 00:23:33,170 --> 00:23:36,750 Pica is where people crave and eat things that are not food. 423 00:23:37,390 --> 00:23:42,190 Dirt, clay, paint chips, soap, glue. 424 00:23:42,670 --> 00:23:45,510 Ever watch my strange addiction I had? 425 00:23:45,510 --> 00:23:48,350 There was one lady on my strange addiction, she liked eating 426 00:23:48,910 --> 00:23:49,790 deodorant. 427 00:23:52,270 --> 00:23:53,230 Just sing. 428 00:23:53,950 --> 00:23:54,350 We. 429 00:23:54,590 --> 00:23:57,990 Have you ever tasted deodorant just by accident, Just raise of hands. 430 00:23:57,990 --> 00:24:01,270 How many of you, you know, you accidentally had a little bit, then 431 00:24:01,270 --> 00:24:02,270 you did something right? 432 00:24:03,190 --> 00:24:03,510 What's. 433 00:24:03,830 --> 00:24:05,070 Oh, it's horrible. 434 00:24:05,070 --> 00:24:07,030 This lady eats deodorant. 435 00:24:07,990 --> 00:24:11,590 Humanity has a deep natural hunger for spiritual life. 436 00:24:11,910 --> 00:24:17,670 But sin twists it into unnatural cravings, idolatry, greed, 437 00:24:17,910 --> 00:24:18,390 lust. 438 00:24:18,710 --> 00:24:21,550 Things that can never nourish our soul. 439 00:24:21,550 --> 00:24:23,510 What is that song that Mick Jagger wrote? 440 00:24:23,590 --> 00:24:25,350 Can't get no Satisfaction. 441 00:24:26,070 --> 00:24:30,560 Dude that could have everything, couldn't get any satisfaction. 442 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,200 He decided to write a song about it, you know, Ripley's Believe 443 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:34,720 it or Not. 444 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:36,320 Ripley. 445 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:43,280 He was not a good looking guy at all, but he was a man that had 446 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:43,760 it all. 447 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:49,520 Ripley had so much money, so much fame and fortune. 448 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,120 He literally every single pride, every single. 449 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,960 The besetting sins of the flesh, the pride of life, lust of 450 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,800 the eyes, the lust of the world. 451 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:02,560 He had it all. 452 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:04,280 He could do whatever he wanted to Go do. 453 00:25:04,360 --> 00:25:06,280 He could have whatever he wanted. 454 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,040 He could buy whatever he desired. 455 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:10,200 He had it all. 456 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,200 But he lived his life in great dissatisfaction. 457 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:18,200 Why Filling the heart with things that don't belong. 458 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,760 The Christian does not long for death. 459 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:21,720 He longs for Christ. 460 00:25:22,590 --> 00:25:25,870 Death is not the treasure Christ is. 461 00:25:26,510 --> 00:25:30,750 Death is only the doorway that leads to Christ. 462 00:25:31,310 --> 00:25:33,070 And that is what we have to remember. 463 00:25:33,550 --> 00:25:44,190 That he as God gives us that desire for himself in us as a gap 464 00:25:44,190 --> 00:25:45,230 in our hearts. 465 00:25:45,310 --> 00:25:49,390 And we cannot try to fill that gap with stuff of the world. 466 00:25:50,350 --> 00:25:54,350 And this is where don't get concerned with your clay pot comes 467 00:25:54,350 --> 00:25:54,670 up. 468 00:25:55,230 --> 00:25:59,750 We often will get concerned with the stuff that we have or the 469 00:25:59,750 --> 00:26:00,750 condition of our body. 470 00:26:00,990 --> 00:26:04,669 And it gets our eyes and our focus off of Jesus. 471 00:26:05,310 --> 00:26:08,710 First Corinthians, chapter 15 says, for this corruptible must put 472 00:26:08,710 --> 00:26:10,190 on incorruption. 473 00:26:10,430 --> 00:26:12,350 That is the desire. 474 00:26:12,830 --> 00:26:14,670 Death is the way to it. 475 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:18,080 Oh, there it goes. 476 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:18,680 It does work. 477 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,760 I will fix that by the time next week whenever I get that new 478 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:23,960 USB reader. 479 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:29,680 We understand that death doesn't have the same hold on us 480 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:31,159 as it did before salvation. 481 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:38,760 Now I'm gonna say something that I want you to take with a. 482 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:39,640 Just a. 483 00:26:41,970 --> 00:26:44,210 Don't get overly thinking about this. 484 00:26:45,090 --> 00:26:49,330 Whenever someone dies, we mourn with that person. 485 00:26:51,890 --> 00:26:58,130 But we don't mourn as the world mourn. 486 00:26:59,650 --> 00:27:01,010 And the question is why? 487 00:27:01,970 --> 00:27:03,410 Does that mean that we're heartless? 488 00:27:04,450 --> 00:27:04,850 No. 489 00:27:06,540 --> 00:27:11,900 Whenever my uncle died this past year, past August, been almost 490 00:27:11,900 --> 00:27:14,860 a year now, we knew exactly where he went. 491 00:27:15,180 --> 00:27:19,580 We knew his testimony, we knew his life, we knew what he believed, 492 00:27:19,660 --> 00:27:21,500 we knew he was following Christ. 493 00:27:22,380 --> 00:27:24,300 There's great comfort in that. 494 00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:26,100 To go. 495 00:27:26,100 --> 00:27:30,700 There's a huge difference between someone who has died without 496 00:27:30,780 --> 00:27:36,530 Christ, someone who has died with Christ, and we don't mourn as 497 00:27:36,530 --> 00:27:37,610 those who have no hope. 498 00:27:37,610 --> 00:27:39,930 The Bible says we don't mourn. 499 00:27:40,170 --> 00:27:40,970 We still mourn. 500 00:27:40,970 --> 00:27:41,770 We still grieve. 501 00:27:42,410 --> 00:27:47,130 It is absolutely right for us to grieve because death is the enemy. 502 00:27:47,930 --> 00:27:51,210 Death is the absolute enemy of us. 503 00:27:51,210 --> 00:27:56,410 And the Bible says death will be the last enemy defeated one day. 504 00:27:56,410 --> 00:27:57,700 There will not death. 505 00:27:58,340 --> 00:28:00,180 That is what we will rejoice over. 506 00:28:01,060 --> 00:28:07,420 But whenever it comes to understanding that death doesn't 507 00:28:07,420 --> 00:28:11,060 have a hold on us, there in First Corinthians, chapter 15, he 508 00:28:11,060 --> 00:28:13,860 says, Death is swallowed up in victory. 509 00:28:13,860 --> 00:28:15,620 O death, where is thy sting? 510 00:28:15,620 --> 00:28:17,540 O grave, where is thy victory? 511 00:28:17,940 --> 00:28:20,900 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 512 00:28:20,980 --> 00:28:25,310 But thanks be to God, which give us victory through our Lord 513 00:28:25,310 --> 00:28:25,790 Jesus. 514 00:28:26,830 --> 00:28:31,950 Be steadfast therefore, Christian, unmovable, abounding in 515 00:28:31,950 --> 00:28:32,910 the works of the Lord. 516 00:28:33,470 --> 00:28:38,110 The Spirit of God is given to us for those moments of comfort. 517 00:28:38,830 --> 00:28:42,510 The Spirit is God's guarantee that the resurrection is coming. 518 00:28:42,510 --> 00:28:45,310 Look there in verse 5 of 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. 519 00:28:45,550 --> 00:28:49,910 Now, he that hath wrought us for the self, same thing is God, 520 00:28:49,990 --> 00:28:55,070 who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 521 00:28:55,070 --> 00:28:55,910 The earnest. 522 00:28:56,550 --> 00:28:58,870 Such a good word. 523 00:28:59,590 --> 00:28:59,990 It's. 524 00:28:59,990 --> 00:29:04,030 It's mentioned multiple times throughout the letters of Paul in 525 00:29:04,030 --> 00:29:04,190 the. 526 00:29:04,190 --> 00:29:08,310 In the New Testament to help us understand what we are given at 527 00:29:08,310 --> 00:29:09,430 the moment of salvation. 528 00:29:09,510 --> 00:29:12,470 And that is, as you've already said a couple times, the Holy Spirit. 529 00:29:12,870 --> 00:29:16,970 We are given the earnest of our salvation. 530 00:29:17,530 --> 00:29:23,090 You know, we had to put down money to get the house that we purchased 531 00:29:23,090 --> 00:29:23,610 over here. 532 00:29:23,690 --> 00:29:25,290 We had to put down in earnest. 533 00:29:25,290 --> 00:29:25,930 What was that? 534 00:29:25,930 --> 00:29:26,370 Earnest? 535 00:29:26,370 --> 00:29:27,170 What did that mean? 536 00:29:27,170 --> 00:29:31,210 Well, as you know, the earnest says, I'm putting money. 537 00:29:31,450 --> 00:29:32,810 I'm putting down something. 538 00:29:32,810 --> 00:29:37,610 I'm putting my money where my mouth is and I am going to come and 539 00:29:37,610 --> 00:29:38,250 collect. 540 00:29:38,730 --> 00:29:40,090 It was a guarantee. 541 00:29:40,590 --> 00:29:44,110 They would often do these seals of king would. 542 00:29:44,190 --> 00:29:48,750 Would mark his seal, and it was the earnest that, this is mine 543 00:29:48,990 --> 00:29:50,990 and I'm going to come and collect it. 544 00:29:51,230 --> 00:29:54,030 We are given the earnest of the Spirit. 545 00:29:54,270 --> 00:29:58,910 We are given the down payment, the guarantee that we will be collected. 546 00:30:00,510 --> 00:30:02,750 We have that guarantee. 547 00:30:03,150 --> 00:30:05,150 You can't lose that guarantee. 548 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,080 You cannot forego that guarantee. 549 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,520 God will not let you forego that guarantee. 550 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,080 You are in his hand. 551 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,680 He has given that to us. 552 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,160 He's prepared us for this very thing. 553 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,000 The one who has done this is God. 554 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,920 And he has given that Spirit to us as the guarantee. 555 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,800 He did not merely promise resurrection, he placed his Spirit 556 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:33,430 inside of us to guarantee that what he started, he will finish. 557 00:30:33,910 --> 00:30:38,630 In Ephesians 1:13, it says, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of 558 00:30:38,630 --> 00:30:39,110 promise. 559 00:30:39,270 --> 00:30:41,870 Sealed in Romans, chapter 8:11. 560 00:30:41,870 --> 00:30:45,990 The Spirit who raised Jesus will quicken your mortal bodies with 561 00:30:46,310 --> 00:30:47,110 the Spirit. 562 00:30:47,669 --> 00:30:48,310 The Spirit. 563 00:30:48,310 --> 00:30:50,390 What shall separate us from the love of Christ? 564 00:30:50,630 --> 00:30:51,190 Nothing. 565 00:30:51,590 --> 00:30:51,990 Why? 566 00:30:51,990 --> 00:30:54,950 Because we are sealed with the Spirit until the day of redemption. 567 00:30:55,270 --> 00:30:59,520 So the Spirit inside you is proof that God is not finished. 568 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,080 And he will perform it. 569 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,960 He will make you, as we read there in first Corinthians, steadfast, 570 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:11,200 unmoved, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. 571 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:20,240 So the Spirit is given to us to conform us to the image of Christ 572 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:24,400 and to mold and make us into the image of Christ until the day 573 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:26,640 where our faith is made final. 574 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:27,680 Number four. 575 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:35,280 We walk by faith, not by sight, because eternity is certain. 576 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:45,040 Our ambitions must be, therefore to please Christ so to 577 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,360 the exhortation that Paul gives us there in first Corinthians, 578 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,120 be unmovable, be steadfast, always abound in the work of the 579 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:52,280 Lord. 580 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:57,040 That's an exhortation to us because eternity is certain. 581 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:02,920 Our ambitions then are therefore looking unto Jesus, the 582 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:04,560 author and finisher of our faith. 583 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:09,760 And he is trying to get us to set our affection on things above. 584 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,120 And he says here in verse number six, therefore we are always 585 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:13,760 confident. 586 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,720 Confident, that's that guarantee. 587 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,440 Knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from 588 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:21,960 the Lord. 589 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:28,200 We can always be confident that, yes, we have our body, but 590 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:29,800 that just means we're away from God. 591 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,880 And then number two, we walk by faith, not by sight. 592 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,320 That is a way of life in all areas of our life. 593 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,520 And we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from 594 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,820 the body to be present with the Lord, than to therefore. 595 00:32:46,820 --> 00:32:49,740 For we labor that whether present or absent. 596 00:32:50,220 --> 00:32:55,260 And this is the exhortation we may be accepted of him. 597 00:32:55,420 --> 00:32:59,140 Why we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that 598 00:32:59,140 --> 00:33:01,980 everyone may receive the things done in his body according 599 00:33:01,980 --> 00:33:04,220 to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 600 00:33:04,460 --> 00:33:14,430 Now, I. Grandpa, He was a good old Southern preacher, is what he 601 00:33:14,430 --> 00:33:14,710 was. 602 00:33:15,430 --> 00:33:20,430 And he talked about the judgment of God, Judgment, seat of 603 00:33:20,430 --> 00:33:20,710 Christ. 604 00:33:21,510 --> 00:33:25,910 And this is one aspect as Christians that we will sometimes 605 00:33:26,230 --> 00:33:30,630 forget and not keep in mind. 606 00:33:31,510 --> 00:33:34,390 Now, understand, what does the judgment seat of Christ mean? 607 00:33:35,110 --> 00:33:37,030 Will we be judged for our sin? 608 00:33:40,710 --> 00:33:41,870 We got a good shaking hands. 609 00:33:41,870 --> 00:33:42,830 Good, you're shaking your head. 610 00:33:42,830 --> 00:33:46,110 No, no, we won't be judged for our sins as Christians. 611 00:33:46,110 --> 00:33:47,750 That sin has been paid for. 612 00:33:47,830 --> 00:33:49,190 That debt is gone. 613 00:33:49,510 --> 00:33:52,070 We live by faith, though not by sight. 614 00:33:52,470 --> 00:33:56,870 Therefore, one day there is a judgment, and it is a judgment. 615 00:33:57,350 --> 00:33:58,710 It doesn't matter that you're. 616 00:33:58,710 --> 00:33:59,670 You're accepted. 617 00:34:00,230 --> 00:34:02,230 You still want to be judged, worthy. 618 00:34:02,230 --> 00:34:04,310 We all desire to hear that. 619 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,920 Well done, thou good and faithful servant man. 620 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:13,120 When we think of our God and what he has done for us, whether 621 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:14,440 or not to. 622 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:18,360 To please him should be our highest goal and desire. 623 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:22,080 And you think about Stephen and the. 624 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:30,240 The applause, the well done that Stephen received. 625 00:34:30,860 --> 00:34:33,860 As far as we know, we don't know what other Christians have gotten 626 00:34:33,860 --> 00:34:34,020 it. 627 00:34:34,020 --> 00:34:37,820 I'm sure there have been many, but we get to read about Stephen. 628 00:34:37,980 --> 00:34:44,300 Stephen got a standing ovation for his preaching right before he 629 00:34:44,300 --> 00:34:47,060 died, when he was preaching to the Pharisees, right before they 630 00:34:47,060 --> 00:34:48,540 stoned him in Acts, chapter eight. 631 00:34:49,260 --> 00:34:51,700 Right before that, he said, I see the Son of Man. 632 00:34:51,700 --> 00:34:53,740 Now, where do we know the Son of Man is? 633 00:34:53,900 --> 00:34:58,580 He is Sitting on the right hand of the Father on front sitting, 634 00:34:59,140 --> 00:35:02,580 Stephen said, behold, I see the Son of God standing on the right 635 00:35:02,580 --> 00:35:03,380 hand of the front. 636 00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:05,780 The guy got a standing ovation. 637 00:35:07,060 --> 00:35:10,740 That is should be our desire as Christians. 638 00:35:11,780 --> 00:35:15,860 Why we're going to talk about in Sunday school, are you living 639 00:35:16,740 --> 00:35:23,880 for the acceptance of God or are you living from the acceptance 640 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:24,680 of God? 641 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:30,280 We don't do things in this life for the acceptance of God. 642 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,200 We don't do it so that he will love us. 643 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:40,080 We do it because he does love us, because he is merciful, not so 644 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:44,280 that he will give us mercy, but because he is giving us mercy. 645 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,340 Our earthly existence is a period of stewardship and where we 646 00:35:49,340 --> 00:35:53,460 are called to labor in this life, not for our own glory, not 647 00:35:53,460 --> 00:35:57,220 for our own material gain, not to become accepted by Christ, but 648 00:35:57,220 --> 00:36:00,660 because we are already accepted in Christ. 649 00:36:01,540 --> 00:36:07,940 So therefore, whatever we do, we labor that we should be accepted 650 00:36:08,180 --> 00:36:08,980 of him. 651 00:36:09,460 --> 00:36:13,140 We should be pleasing to him, is what that means. 652 00:36:13,460 --> 00:36:15,340 We make it our aim to please him. 653 00:36:15,340 --> 00:36:17,410 We make it our goal to please him. 654 00:36:17,410 --> 00:36:21,290 It is our constant ambition to please God. 655 00:36:21,690 --> 00:36:27,130 Not to get acceptance, but from that acceptance. 656 00:36:27,130 --> 00:36:29,530 And that's a very distinct point that we have to understand 657 00:36:29,610 --> 00:36:30,330 about it. 658 00:36:30,890 --> 00:36:34,410 So tonight, what the conclusion of it is is this. 659 00:36:34,410 --> 00:36:39,690 Live as a steward who will soon stand before Christ and desire 660 00:36:40,330 --> 00:36:46,020 that great proclamation of, well done, thou good and faithful 661 00:36:46,100 --> 00:36:46,580 sir. 662 00:36:46,660 --> 00:36:48,980 What are you a steward of, Paul? 663 00:36:48,980 --> 00:36:51,220 He moves from comfort to responsibility. 664 00:36:51,700 --> 00:36:55,940 Resurrection, hope does not make us lazy like some of some of 665 00:36:55,940 --> 00:36:58,500 the people that were in Thessalonians. 666 00:36:58,580 --> 00:37:01,940 They just got on the top of their house and they said, well, 667 00:37:01,940 --> 00:37:04,740 God's going to come back, so we don't have to do anything. 668 00:37:04,980 --> 00:37:07,940 It's not a period of laziness, of, well, we don't have to do anything 669 00:37:07,940 --> 00:37:09,260 because we're going to go to heaven one day. 670 00:37:09,260 --> 00:37:14,000 It's, what are you doing because of the gift of salvation? 671 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,600 What are you doing because of that? 672 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,720 And that's what he says there in chapter, in verse, chapter four. 673 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:24,200 We have this treasure in earth and vessels, that the excellency 674 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,320 of the power may be of God and not of us. 675 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:29,800 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed, perplexed, but 676 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:30,640 not in despair. 677 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:34,880 Persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed. 678 00:37:35,370 --> 00:37:38,770 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus 679 00:37:38,770 --> 00:37:39,010 Christ. 680 00:37:39,010 --> 00:37:43,050 That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 681 00:37:43,530 --> 00:37:48,450 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake. 682 00:37:48,450 --> 00:37:53,850 That the life of Jesus might be made manifest our mortal flesh. 683 00:37:55,050 --> 00:37:57,210 What are we doing with the stewardship that God has given. 684 00:37:58,010 --> 00:37:59,690 What are we doing with this life? 685 00:38:00,090 --> 00:38:05,630 It is just a clay pot but it is going can be worth something in 686 00:38:05,630 --> 00:38:06,070 glory. 687 00:38:07,030 --> 00:38:15,110 This raggedy fragile vessel that we indwell can one day give 688 00:38:15,110 --> 00:38:16,230 us that. 689 00:38:16,310 --> 00:38:17,030 Well done. 690 00:38:17,350 --> 00:38:18,550 How good and faithless. 691 00:38:18,710 --> 00:38:19,390 Let's pray. 692 00:38:19,390 --> 00:38:23,150 Father thank you so much Lord for the grace that you give us to 693 00:38:23,150 --> 00:38:24,470 grow in Christ each day. 694 00:38:24,870 --> 00:38:28,190 Lord thank you that you are the author and finisher our faith 695 00:38:28,190 --> 00:38:31,270 Lord, and that you desire to perfect us Lord, and that you don't 696 00:38:31,270 --> 00:38:35,360 leave us alone even though some days we would like to just be 697 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:38,120 left alone wallow in our sin. 698 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:42,480 Lord, I pray that you would please by grace, by your mercy. 699 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:48,040 Don't let us do that or come after our hearts Lord, as you always 700 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:52,360 do, or give us the mercy and grace to chasten us to get us closer 701 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:53,560 into your arms. 702 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,000 Pray and ask these things in Jesus name. 703 00:38:57,240 --> 00:38:57,800 Amen.