2 Corinthians - Lesson 5A

• Good morning, guys, welcome back to our journey through the Book, or maybe better said, Paul’s 2nd recorded letter to the Corinthian Church – the letter the Bible entitles “2nd Corinthians.”

  • When we last left off, I left you with a few focus verses for the week, verses for you to study on your own

  • And those verses showed up in the 5th Chapter of 2 Cor. verses 1-10

    • In my NASB this section of scripture is entitled “The Temporal & Eternal”

    • And this is what Paul wrote:

2 Cor. 5:1 For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Cor. 5:2 For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
2 Cor. 5:3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked.
2 Cor. 5:4 For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
2 Cor. 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.
2 Cor. 5:6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
2 Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight—
2 Cor. 5:8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
2 Cor. 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
2 Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.

• For context purposes, let me bring us back up to speed, with where Paul is.

  • When we last left off in Chapter 4 we ended our study with Chapter 4:16-18 where Paul made two insightful and “yet” powerful statements.

  • I want to re-read it real quick and highlight what were the two main points, or themes of those verses if you will

2 Cor. 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.
2 Cor. 4:17 For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
2 Cor. 4:18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

• As I previously stated, Paul’s words (this letter) are addressed to the church at Corinth. A church that he founded and that has begun to drift off track in his absence

  • In fact they have drifted off track so much, that they are now questioning the validity of Paul’s calling as an Apostle of Jesus Christ

  • So as a result, Paul writes these words with one theme in mind: to defend who he is, as well as defend the authority or the calling that God has placed on his life

    • Now before moving on this morning, let me say the words Paul wrote here in verse 17 may be some of the most powerful language used in all the scriptures.

    • And the reason for this is, Paul’s life and the affliction he experienced wouldn’t be considered light by any of us, or by anyone else for that matter

    • Think about it, he had been beaten, stripped naked, shackled, beaten again, shipwrecked and snake bitten. And imprisoned, not once, not twice, but three times.

  • From our vantage point, we wouldn’t call his life afflictions “Light or Easy” but Paul does. And why?

• When we read the beginning of verse 17, that these trials and tribulations are momentary and light, and that they are doing something for him – what where they doing?

  • They were producing in them an eternal weight of glory that was far beyond all comparison

• Interesting statement here, they are producing an eternal weight of glory - that far exceeds anything good or bad - that he could ever experience in this life

  • But that begs the question, what in the world is he talking about?

  • He’s saying, whatever I experience on this earth, in the here and now, whatever afflictions I may experience as a believer, those afflictions had a purpose and a meaning.

    • And that purpose and meaning finds its center, its origin, its purpose, squarely revolving around the Glory of God.

  • Which means, Paul confidently and boldly knows he and the others will receive an eternal reward which far exceeds anything they (and by extension us), could ever experience here on earth

  • And these things that happen to us – sickness, death, pain, heartache, brokenness – whatever it is, those things are doing something.

    • Which is to take your life and mold it all for “God's Glory”

    • And that was why Paul could make the statement he made

    • Let me also say this, Paul deeply and strongly believed what he said. He believed it with every fiber of his being, and we must do the same.

  • But the question is, how can we arrive at the same place Paul did in his life?

• How can we mature to this point that we look at life the same way Paul did? Or a better question might be, is it even possible to arrive at this place?

  • I say you can have all of God you want in your life, you simply must become more deeply intimate with Him.

  • And you do that through Study - Prayer - Study - Prayer - Study

    • That’s how your belief system and your confidence in God is built. Outside of that it will never happen.

• The true test of our faith comes in times of trial in our lives. It's a really simple test and it begins with a question:

  •  When trials and troubles arrive in our life do we A) Immediately abandon our faith, and question God

  • Or B) Do we stay steadfast, and double down on our relationship with Him, pull closer to him

    • Now this may sound like I am painting with a broad stroke here this morning, but it’s the truth. You cannot know where you stand in your faith until it is tested.

    • Let me also say, this doesn’t mean that when something bad happens that we don’t question or worry. It simply means in the end you don’t waiver. It means  (after the shock is over) you have a level set, you get up and dust yourself off and double down on your relationship with God.

• So Paul, as part of his defense of who he is, uses as his proof his life and his affliction

  • Essentially saying, if I were not an Apostle – if I were not a true believer, a man called by God – then how do you explain my outlook on life, that in spite of all that I have been through I’m still standing firm.

    • This is an example of what a true witness really looks like, it causes people to “lean in - look closer - inquire - become curious" 

    • This is how it works: People are watching, observing how we act and react in the face of any type of adversity.

    • They are curious about this faith we say we have, curious how we handle and conduct ourselves in even simple matters of conflict

    • For that is your witness, they are a witnessing everything you say and do!

  • Finally Paul says at the end of Chapter 4 that his attitude and perspective comes from a focus: A focus on the eternal versus the temporal. A focus on the next life, not this one.

• This got me to thinking about the word focus and just how powerful our minds can be. The reality is for most of us we will never tap into even 5% of our ability to focus. Yet focus is key.

  • And focus is a derivative of discipline, which is the main reason we don’t focus very well. Most (if not all of us) struggle to stay disciplined, especially as it relates to spiritual matters.

  • Obviously, the greatest example of this being studying your Bible daily, coupled with your prayer life

    • Do you set aside time for God daily or do you skip it most days?

• A couple weeks ago, I was honored with the opportunity to play golf with one of Major League Baseball all-time greats Mr. Daryl Strawberry. Daryl was a phenom by most accounts; He won 4 World Series (1 with the Mets, and 3 with the Yankees)

  • And let me say, what a wonderful day it was – and what a kind and gracious man he was (a man who loved the Lord).

  • As we spent the day together, I thought to myself, here I am playing golf with a baseball legend. So what questions could I ask him

    • And I don’t mean, superficial questions. I mean questions that might give me some real insight into the world of an elite athlete.

  • So as I thought about what questions to ask, I had to really think what it meant to be a professional at anything. I had to try to think about and understand what it meant to be successful at that level. Because most people never truly understand how talented a professional athlete really is.

    • We simply see them on TV and think, how hard could it be.

    • The reality is it’s extremely hard

  • You see in order to be deemed a professional at anything there are some intangibles that an individual must posses: It’s not just their ability to hit the ball, or to run fast, or to catch, or jump or whatever it is, in whatever sport they may play.

  • It’s much more than that. It’s the mental. It’s their ability to be disciplined and to Focus!

• I asked Daryl, when you stepped into the batter’s box in Shea or Yankee stadium, what did you hear? He said “Nothing - I didn’t hear anything. I just focused on the pitcher and the ball that was coming out of his hands.

  • I said, I’ve heard it said a good hitter could see the spin on the ball. He said, I could see the seams on the ball!

    • You want to talk about focus, his eyes and mental state were so focused, he could see the seams turning on the ball

• This type of focus is the type the Apostle Paul had. He knew who he was. He knew who Jesus was – He knew that Jesus saved him, and he knew his calling was to get up everyday and work for the Kingdom

  • And that was all made possible because of his view of this life. Meaning he knew this life was temporal and fleeting, nothing but a vapor - a mist if you will.

• I love the way King Solomon summed up his life in the end. King Solomon was the richest man who ever lived. It's been said he was so wealthy that if you took his wealth and converted it into today's currency he would be worth $2.1 Trillion Dollars

  • And just to put that into perspective:

    • John D Rockefeller was worth $663.4 Billion

    • Henry Ford was worth $199 Billion

    • Cornelius Vanderbilt was worth $185 Billion

    • Jeff Bezos of Amazon $152.8 Billion

    • Bill Gates $118.1 Billion

    • Warren Buffet $117.3 Billion

  • You get the picture.

• Here’s what King Solomon had to say about his life, his wisdom, his wealth and all the pleasures obtained for himself in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions
Eccl. 2:1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.
Eccl. 2:2 I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”
Eccl. 2:3 I explored with my mind how to refresh my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize foolishness, until I could see what good there is for the sons of mankind to do under heaven for the few years of their lives.
Eccl. 2:4 I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself;
Eccl. 2:5 I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
Eccl. 2:6 I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.
Eccl. 2:7 I bought male and female slaves, and I had slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
Eccl. 2:8 I also amassed for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers, and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.
Eccl. 2:9 Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.
Eccl. 2:10 All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor.
Eccl. 2:11 So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.

• Paraphrasing here, King Solomon said I have had it all, I have seen it all, I have experienced all the pleasures that my heart desired and it was all for naught - for nothing - it was all vanity and striving after the wind

  • Perspective and Focus Guys, that’s what it’s all about. It's what we must do if we are ever going to be anything other than a Christian in name only, we must put this life in its rightful perspective – which is it’s temporary.

• Moving on, Paul continues with his theme of focusing on the Temporal versus the Eternal

2 Cor. 5:1 For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Cor. 5:2 For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
2 Cor. 5:3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked.
2 Cor. 5:4 For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
2 Cor. 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.
2 Cor. 5:6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
2 Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight—
2 Cor. 5:8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
2 Cor. 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
2 Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.

• I sound like a broken record, but one more time, Paul’s word are so rich and weighty, the sheer structure and the architecture of what he is saying, is so heavy – very poetic.

  • Beginning with verse 1 he says

2 Cor. 51 For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. 

• What Paul is saying is, your body is a house. A dwelling place, but the question is a dwelling place for what?

  • For your soul, and God's Holy Spirit if you are a believer.

    • It’s a housing for something that will live on forever. Something eternal.

    • And as such, if we truly believe and understand this, we should quit trying to hold onto it.

  • We spend our entire lives in a body, one that we all know is dying, trying to prolong or somehow forgo death – and in the meantime we miss living life.

• I mean if you are a believer living life here that means working now for the later, not working now for now.

  • It means a life lived here is only truly lived to its fullest when we live in it, but live it with eyes for eternity.

    • It's kind of like a 401K – You invest every paycheck for years, to enjoy it later

    • Paul’s and the other disciples and Apostles perspective was pure, they saw themselves as simply passing through this world

    • And they knew the here and now was just a proving ground what was to come.

    • And we know this to be the case because of what he says in verse 10 – which we will touch on later

  • And so, our body is temporary housing, and it should be viewed this way.

• Next he says,

2 Cor. 5:2 For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 
2 Cor. 5:3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. 

• Here we have once again some more of Paul’s weighty words. Interesting statement here in verse 2:

  • As they live in this tent, ie… their body, they groan! They groan longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven

  • I had to pause here for moment and honestly ask myself a question – Am I groaning to receive my new home, Or would I say, No I’m good.

    • This word "groan" in the Greek is a verb and it means "to groan within oneself"

    • The usage of this word is I groan, expressing grief, anger or desire

  • This term “denotes feeling which is internal and unexpressed”

    • It’s as if there is a pressure inside you, exerting forward (like the forward pressure of Childbirth), to feel pressure from what is coming on

  • So what Paul is saying is their belief of what’s to come is so strong inside themselves they are literally internally groaning inside themselves. How’s that for perspective?

• Now, as I said earlier, I had to pause and ask myself the question – do I ever feel this way?

  • And the answer is, being truthful maybe a little, in times of hardship.

• Which then precipitated the next question, which was can I feel this way? Is it even possible? And the answer is yes, but it requires our minds to leave the temporal (the here and now) and move into the eternal

  • This takes us back to the topic of discipline and focus. We must discipline ourselves daily focus toward God, and how do we do that?

    • Once again we study, we study, we study – and pray and meditate

    • And how often – every chance we get. Certainly daily if not multiple times a day. And let me say I know it’s tough, I know.

  • But when you create that habit it's amazing how much easier it gets

  • This groaning that Paul speaks about here, comes by way of Revelation. From God revealing himself to you through His word, the more you become intimate with Him, the more your groaning will increase overtime.

• Now obviously, Paul was in a much different environment than we are. He didn’t have the shiny things of life pulling at him.

  • Which meant looking forward to the next life was a lot easier on him. And in that sense, it was much easier for him to focus.

  • But having said that the same level of Spiritual Awaking that Paul experienced, is still available for us today, it’s just harder to obtain naturally. We just have to make the commitment.

• Moving on, verse 3 says:

2 Cor. 5:3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. 

• Verse 3 gives us the why to Verse 1, as in why they are groaning inside: It’s because they’re anxious, because they know that because their bodies are just a temporary dwelling place, they are ready to move on to the permanent. And they know, that when they die they will not be found naked.

  • In other words, they know they will move from one covering to another. From this ole worn out vessel / house to a new resurrected body.

    • “To not be found naked” is just a poetic way of saying they know they are clothed ie. saved and headed to their permanent home. Which is further confirmed in verses 4&5, where Paul says

2 Cor. 5:4 For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 
2 Cor. 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.

• We will close here but let me highlight just a couple things in verses 4&5, and that is as believers we are going to be burdened. It's never ending.

  • One thing gets fixed, or repaired, only for the next thing to rear its head.

    • Every week it seems I remove 2 things from my prayer list, only to add 4 more

    • This is the temporal, temporary life we live and it will never change.

  • But what will help you embrace and accept this fact shows up in verse 5 where Paul says,

2 Cor. 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.

• Listen to me, if you don’t hear anything else this morning, Your God is totally in control of everything. Not only is He in control, He has prepared things for you beforehand. Before you were even born.

  • Jeremiah says it this way in Jer. 1:4-5, when he says

Jer. 1:4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer. 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

• Guys, your life has purpose and meaning. And just as Paul tells us in verse 5 has sealed each and every believer with a pledge – a commitment, a down payment (if you will), by placing the Holy Spirit inside of you.

  • And one day, sooner than later (I assure you), the Lord is coming back to retrieve which is rightfully His, which is the Spirit that lives within us.

  • If we can remember that and grasp it just a little bit it will help us keep our focus.