"A Divinely Designed Destiny" (2 Corinthians 5:1-10) Dr. Keith B. McGee (2/17/19)

let's put those hands together how many know that the Lord is great and greatly to be praised give God a hand clap of praise truly it is a good day know that you alive a man a man how many are excited to be in the house of worship one more time hallelujah I don't know about you but I we made it here to this week to this third week in February and truly I don't know about you but I know this is Black History Month and we've made it this far simply by the grace and mercy of God but as we look back over the timeline over our ancestors and what they have accomplished for us we truly acknowledge them this month but even beyond that every chance we get we thank God for the pioneers those that had labored and went through the struggles of this life for us to be able to be in the position that we're in so let's just give it up for Black History Month on today truly we thank God for their great sacrifice I thank God because I'm just a song person I'm a song person and I know that you know walking the lines and you know thinking back on Black History Month looking at the fact that they had water hoses sprayed on them and dogs sit on them and they stood there and I'm reminded of a song but I just want to share with you the song and it may be somebody here that you know may not be going through the stuff that our ancestors went through our forefathers went through but you're going through something and you know I'm going through stuff I've been hit with some things some surprises but I thank God because it didn't surprise God and I wish you a turn to your neighborhood real quick as I say it shocked me but it isn't shot God and that's comforting and knowing that you can't just you can't surprise God with some of the mess that people try to throw your way sometimes the enemy tries to come in like a flood but we can stand because we know whose hand we're in but there's a song there's a song that simply says this holiday it's saying it says this is how I find my bad that's all the song says says this is how I find my bad this is how I fight my bad this is how I find my bad and as the song kept going I was like man that's good that's good stuff because while the battle was going on if you will simply just give God a praise and give God a worship your understand that you can have peace in the midst of the storm and then it that's another part of the song and it simply says it may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by you it may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by you and I don't know somebody mighty came in here today it might look like you are surrounded but I came to tell you that it it may look like I'm sorry but I'm surrounded by you it may look when it comes around but I'm surrounded by you this is how I find love this is how a fine this is how I find love this is it may be it may look like it may look but I'm sorry in mainland and I believe it's of maybe 10 more people that it in mainland my console but I'm surrounded for you this is how I find it's simply declares a line in the sand to the enemies you telling the enemy this is how I'll fight we don't get guns we don't get knives we don't start fighting this is how I fight I'm simply standing on the Word of God and I think that this is our friend we fight our battles with our hands lifted up this is how I fight somebody that's going through right now and they don't know when they leave here what the outcome is gonna be this song is for you this is how I fight I lift up my hands I I go down on my knees and prayer I know that this is how I fight my back and it may look by all accounts how are you were coming to worship lifting your head how are you in here giving our prayers it may look like but I'm surrounded by you in mainland but I'm surrounded by you in Maine when it comes but I'm surrounded by you come on let's standing you got pray to get ready for church mission purpose Hey with me Mihai and will be and will be Hey I wanna reading your hearing verses 1 through 10 again out of 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verses 1 through 10 file with me in the word of prayer O Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth there is none like you from everlasting to everlasting you are God we think of you for who you are we thank you for the things that you have done thank you for a place to preach thank you for people to preach to God we are asking you for power to preach with make this your word believable and receivable may these your people be receptive as well as responsive to your Holy Word Holy Spirit this is your time to have your way think with my mind and speak with my mouth you are the real preacher continual Lord to convince convict and convert us into the conformity of Christ always thanking you for what you have done and always trusting you for what your going to do it is in the strong name of Jesus that we pray amen second Corinthians chapter five verses one through ten there shall find these words recorded for your listening as they have been translated in the English standard version four we know that if the tenth that is our earthly home is destroyed we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for in this tent we groan longing to put on our heavenly dwelling if indeed by putting it on we may not be found that naked well while we are still in this tent we groan being burdened not that we would be unclothed but that we would be further clothes so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life he who has prepared us for this very thing is God who has given us the spirit as a guarantee so we are always of good courage we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord well we walk by faith not by sight yes we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord so whether we are at home or away we make it our aim to please him but we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether good or evil and just for a little while put a tag on this text and talk on this topic today a divinely designed destiny a divinely designed destiny brothers and sisters most of us of a certain age who are mature in years and who for time have been gainfully employed have been afforded the privilege because of this to upgrade our living accommodations for those of you who have families before you had families you didn't need quite as much space as you do now some of you started off in a studio apartment or even a one-bedroom apartment or rented facility but as you begin to grow and as your needs began to grow and as your desires began to change as your families begin to grow you saw a need to upgrade your living accommodations and looking back to your former places of residence you could in no wise have survived and/or thrived in that place to the point that your life had grown to where you are our brothers and sisters throughout the Gospels and especially in the epistles the Lord and the apostle's have given us insight into the fact that we are all expecting to upgrade our living accommodations the fact that Jesus said I'm going somewhere and I'm and I'm going somewhere to prepare a place for you when I get the place ready for you or when I get you ready for the place I will come again and receive you unto myself so that where I am you can be they're also and this message my brothers and sisters was caught by the handles by the apostle's and then it was passed on to other believers that we need to be constantly reminded that this world is not our home we're just strangers passing through another time those who would write words of inspirations they call us or categorize us as pilgrims our pilgrim is a unique individual because a vagabond does not have a home a fugitive has left from home a traveler is a way from home but a pilgrim is on his earth her or her way home again this world is not our home we are just on a pilgrimage as some would refer to it from earth to glory but in order to make it to glory my brothers and sisters you need to have the Lord on your side I said some time ago I believe it was during the Ignite conference be that when we were all born our eternal destination was already determined the default box was checked to deserve it of hail and the only way to get that box unchecked and to get a new box check this you needed Jesus Christ you needed Jesus Christ to hack into your system by way of the Holy Spirit and reroute your eternal destination from eternal condemnation to eternal commendation in heaven and that is the kind of news that Paul is trying to convey to the body of Christ in the church at Corinth the church at Corinth was a church that was in need of a lot of doctrinal teachings and here in the past this particular passage Paul gives his position on the predisposed nature of the believer do you not know my brothers and sisters you and I have a predisposed position in God it is all ready been fixed it has already been signed and sealed and delivered our destinations because of God send us on our way to heaven and because we know that we are on our way to heaven we ought to be glad as we study this book called second Corinthians Paul in this disclosure of our predisposed nature shows us even in throughout Chapter four up until the time of this particular passage all of the wonderful things that God has offered us because of our relationship with Jesus Christ in chapter four verse one he says we have at this ministry in chapter four verse seven he says we have this treasure in chapter four verse 13 it says we have the same spirit of faith and here in chapter five verse number one he's telling us that we have a building of God what a testimony Paul gave to the reality of the Christian faith thank God today that we have a building of God that is not made by hands that has been reserved for the redeemed and that's why my brothers and sisters I wonder sometim why it is so easy for people who call themselves Christians who were dare to even profess on one hand that they belong to God that when the call for the redeemed to say so goes out there are stills a delegation of people that sit there like statues and remain silent and so I want to try this one more time let the redeemed of the Lord say so you don't have to worried about what's going to happen you already know what's going to happen you already know that lend my Stevie Wonder voice that as far as our eternal security is concerned it's been signed it's been sealed and it's been delivered and as we explore this particular passage my brothers and sisters let me help you to get excited about something because most of the time when you hear this passage of Scripture it is because of somebody has died mat mat matter of fact most time before a preacher gets up and reads a scripture like this or takes a text for his words of comfort it is because somebody has died but this scripture it was never designed to be a death passage as much as it was designed to be a doctrinal passage to get people to understand the precious and priceless promises that we have in Jesus Christ as it relates to our transition now I know you don't like to talk about that subject that that's the last subject as you want to talk about my brothers and sisters but let me be the one to remind you that one of these old days we are all going to have to leave this world well we're all going to have to meet the Lord one way or another because thank God he wants us dead or alive you either going to fit in one category the dead in Christ are you going to fit in the other category we who are still alive skooby we'll be caught up to meet him in the air either case of my brothers and sisters isn't it wonderful to know isn't it wonderful to be able to go to bed at night with concrete confidence that if the Lord calls I'm ready to answer and if the Lord calls I've got the sets enough to know that to be absent from this body I can expect to be present with the Lord that's why my brothers and sisters we need to revisit the idea of a funeral versus a home growing a funeral is when that person died without any hope a funeral is when a person died without ever repenting of their sins in Jesus Christ a funeral my brothers and sisters sets a sad note because it reminds us of the destiny of the one who has departed but a homegoing my brothers and sisters is just when we gather together the two not to say goodbye to our dear friend or loved one but to say see you later on the other side it is a celebration of one who has crossed over from death into everlasting life and we can all shout because the party ain't even going on yet the party hasn't even got started because they tell me that they can't crown him those who have preceded us until we get there so Hall is excited in sharing this news he does not deliver this news he does not write this on a sad note but he wants them to be excited about the prospects of what lies ahead when we transition from this life to the next number one Paul spoke of the two bodies of the same a the present earthly body which is the mortal and B the future heavenly body which is the eternal and number two death is really just laying one body down and taking another body see a lot of us have a fear of death because some of the myths and fables that we've heard all of our lives well I would see if you talked to a person had died they had been buried family had had the repast then some week laters they come knocking on your door talking about it's me I'm back and they can tell you all about their death experience God knows that we have these kinds of things looming in the back of our minds and we have some questions about what happens when I breathe my last what happened when my eyes closed for the last time well Paul gives us some encouraging words so that you don't have to spend the rest of your life worrying and wondering about your eternal fate because we have a destiny all that has been divinely designed by God in other words God has already taken care of it for us so I didn't come to push it I just came to drop it and they'll let you know that there are timeless truths that are trapped within the treasury of this text that are tailored to teach us to trust God for our transition from the temporary by embracing the prospect of promised perfection I thought that sounded pretty good many of us are worried about our transition but you don't have to worry about your transition just trust God by embracing the prospect of his promised perfection my first point is my brothers and sisters we have a divinely designed destiny because our abode has already been selected can we look at the text again if you don't mind it says for we know that if the tent that is our earthly cone is destroyed we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heaven Nepal leads in verse 1 by saying we know Paul always telling us what we know isn't he here in he's saying to us that if this tent that is our earthly body that is our earthly home is dissolved in the King James rendering we have a building from God that is not made with hands eternal in the heavens Paul can speak boldly about this Jewish fathers were commanded in the law to do three things for their children number one teach them the law make sure that they knew the word number two teach them a trade make sure that they had a skill so that they could be a productive and self-sustaining and then number three lay up and inheritance for them don't leave them don't don't leave them in a position to bury you you put them in a financial advantage ahead of time so when you make your transition they'll be all right and so Paul's a trade was a leather worker but he specifically worked in the area of making tents or repairing tents and so when Paul is talking to the church at Corinth he's making a lot of tent making references particularly what we find here in verse number one when he talks about the tent even the Greek word used for tent means eight temporary structure a temporary structure that does not necessarily have a lot of value a temporary structure that is vulnerable to the elements and a temporary structure that is only viable under most favorable conditions doesn't that sound familiar that sounds like you and I as high of an opinion as we would like to have about ourselves when we really think about it we are all just some dirty I know I'm right about it because the Bible says from the dust thou art and from the dust you shall return and I know you love giving people a piece of your mind I know that you love telling people telling people off at the drop of a hat and I know there are some of you that got to have the last word but the preacher got the last word and then the word is ashes to ashes and dust to dust and all my brothers and sisters when those things are declared under us we still don't have to worry because what Paul is expressing is by way a word picture is is that God is just taking down our tent that we're destroyed really means dissolved it means as if one would take up the pegs from the tent and allow it to collapse so that it could be folded rolled up and transport it to the next place or put away until it could be used again this earthly existence is just like being in a tent now right off of the Dan right somewhere around Polk in Harrison you can look over east and you can see scores tense because the people that occupy them can't do any better than a ten but if they could I'm sure they would trade those tents and for a more suitable and durable kind of structure because who would water after all live in a tent when we could live in a building even if the building doesn't belong to us brothers and sisters when Paul makes this reference he's saying that it was never God's intention for us to stay here in this body since sin entered into the world let me put a pen into my preaching right there when men fail in the garden it made us susceptible to death God made out of permanent he was a building of God not made by human hands right because how did God create out everything else that there be cats let there be dogs let there be Birds let there be fish let there be mountains let there be trees let there be fruit bearing trees let there be vegetation everything was by God spoken word but God got down and dirty when he made man and he made him with his own hands and he told him to go out and be fruitful and multiply and gave him one command he said basically you got one job you can enjoy all of this and all of that but the tree that's in the midst of the garden of the knowledge of good and evil don't eat from it because the day you eat from it you will surely die you will dissolve they sickly and Pope Paul looks back to that and resents his argument for the church at Corinth and us today that since the time we purged our mother's birth canal some would suggest that we started living but I would argue that it was then to that we also started dying hallelujah somebody we started dying we are living and dying simultaneously living and dying concurrently and at the same time but Paul says you don't have to worry about the dying part because when this tent it's temporary now since Adam failed everybody got a tent but when this tent is dissolved when God pulls up the states on this tent and the tent is leveled to the ground don't worry about it don't get your B biddies in a bunch because we have a building from God not made by hands anything man makes its gonna need maintenance my son was good for this he loved internet just like any young man a teenager does he loved the Internet and all when the internet went out he would have a fit he'd be all old hell he'd be messing with stuff he don't know nothing about in the circuit breaker box flipping switches behind the router pulling out plugs and pressing buttons he don't know no I'm like what do you do he act like he could not live without the internet didn't had a clue what he was doing and then I said well what from what I can see is there's some trouble out there somewhere in the network and you just gonna have to learn how to live without the internet just for a little while but is boring and I ain't got nothing to do and I said son calm down because it works more than it doesn't work y'all didn't catch that sisters and brothers that's what we can appreciate about God when God makes something it always works here come here Paul Paul's got another you know this already he says and we know that all things work together for the good of God to them who are called according to his purpose anything man-made doesn't work all the time so don't get mad at your car when the check engine light comes on they put the light there to let you know that it's a possibility that's your engine could fail don't get mad when you ride down the street on a hot summer day with your windows down and you pull up to a stop sign and you hear that squeaking it's time to get some brakes brake pads rotors fluid don't last forever just about anything man makes is already temporary it always always needs maintenance it means repair and even sometimes it needs a replacement but when it comes to God when God put his hands on something it's perfect that is until man messes it up back to the case of Adam Adam was perfect but he messed it up but when it comes to this tint this Tabernacle making it shift to a building not made with hands God is basically undoing what the hands of man has done and the house that God makes us and that we're building it means the same thing and the Greek language as it means in the English lays a permanent physical structure that one already occupies or hopes to occupy in the near or distant future we have that from God ability that's not made by hands that's eternal in the heavens but look at verse 2 it says for in this tent we groan long to put on our heavenly dwelling if indeed by putting it all we may not be found naked what does Paul mean by this you already know what he means then this tent you're groaning you groan when you get out the bed when you prick your finger when you stub your toe you groan when you get that headache you groan when you got congestion and your sinuses you groan when you've got those aches and pains you groan tummyache will make you groan toothache will make you grow I'll tell you this body is vulnerable and we groan almost every day of our natural lives and because we're saying we're groaning primarily because we also know that there's something better we know there's something better you've been in the Lord long enough to already know that there's something better than this you've been saved long enough to know that you've got a glorified body then you will occupy one day you've been born again long enough to know a charge to keep our eyes and a guard to glorify a never dying soul the same that's fitted for the sky to serve this present age is my calling to fulfill and all of our power we must engage to do our masters will and so we ground each and every day of our lives because we know we've got something else to put on but it is not up to us to win we can put on or take up this new dwelling place Paul kept on talking he says if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked some of you believe in ghosts yes you do yes you do you wake up in the middle of the night and you see a shadow you grab those covers with white knuckles peeking over there's other covers that's why some of y'all got night lights in your house till you believe in ghosts yes you do and that's one of your greatest fears there are your death questions one of them is will I be a ghost with my spirit be running around aimlessly that's why we lied almost every funeral week we go to or 10 so I'm about Big Momma looking down no she ain't normally were looking over my shoulder he ain't be gone they men there's no ghosts wandering around from place to place and the text teaches us that right here it says if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked naked and this sense means a spirit that is uncle unclothed a spirit without a home that's what we call a ghost so stop blaming stuff that happened in your house on haints oh I'm the only one ever heard that it's a hain't in this house this house is haunted and all that stuff no no we don't believe in ghosts because verse 4 says for while we are still in this tent we groan groaning days are not over because we grown from a burden that we had not a death wish no that's not what Paul was talking about then I'm sick of living in this body I want to be a man oh that's not what he's groaning about but we're burden not that we would be unclothed but that we would be further clothed that phrase further clothes means over coated now I need you to stay with me right here it's not deep but it does bear an explanation Paul is seemingly telling us that if this earthly house this tent is dissolved we have a building from God not made from hands but Paul was also suggesting is you're not basically trading one that you got to leave out of one to go to the next one he saying you're in the tent already but you're also in the building of God let me put it where you can get it a couple of weeks ago the weatherman somebody that loves you they advised you it's going to be real cold it's gonna be record-breaking low temperatures wind chills 30 and 4 and 30 40 50 below zero depending on where you are you better bundle up and wear plenty of layers and do your best not to stay outside too long Paul is using the similar kind of language he's saying God already knows he knows that he can't leave you naked he can't leave you with a gap between tent to building and so while you're in the tent he built the building around you so when that gives out you already in the building yeah y'all not helping me in here y'all not helping in there Chicago is one of the leading cities for conventions they bring a big cookware convention here they bring a big candy conviction here right now they have an automobile convention that's all the Auto Show he is is one big convention and then in the summer they have a boat and RV convention at the boat and RV convention they give you they show off and they advertise all of your outfitting needs to enjoy yourself outdoors but at the McCormick place when you get to the helping section you see all these tents all different varieties shapes and sizes and manufacturers on display when Paul says that we don't have to worry about being unclothed it's just like being at the boat and RV show when you see tents on the inside because if you get in the tent and you check it out from the inside because you're in the market to purchase one when you step out of the tent you're not in the rain when you step out of the tent you're not in the elements because the tent is already in the building and it works the same way right here in the text my brothers and sisters when this earthly house is dissolved and it will dissolve you don't even have to worry about making moving moving arrangements because God has already taken care of that the tent is in the building of God that's not made by hands that's why I says but that we would be further clothes over coated layered up so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life we are mere mortals but because we have professed Christ because the Holy Spirit has taken residence in us we already have life and some other passages Paul will say this body of death Paul would lament over the fact that for a time for the time being we're stuck here in these leaky and achy little tents but he says don't worry about it because we mortality has been swallowed up by life you just miss your shout what do you mean after we missed our shot we're following you we're with you we're alert we're awake you could be swallowed up by death but instead you are swallowed up by life back to my previous reference when you first came into existence you were born and sin shape in iniquity and in sin did all of our mothers conceive us but because of the love of Christ because of his mercy and His grace that he lavishly poured upon us when we were born again instead of being swallowed up by death hallelujah somebody will swallowed up by life Paul says you want to know who gets the credit or do you want to know who gets the blame it's the same person he who has prepared us for this very thing is God God knew a long time ago that if we were to have eternal security that if we were to enjoy a heavenly home that he wanted it done right so he had to do it himself I keep on telling you that all the time because some of y'all get mad when somebody you give them a chance and they drop the ball they don't meet your expectations the job is undone or in other cases half done and then you gotta do it yourself you got to spend the money stand in the line you gotta do the work give the effort so that that box gets checked on your list of things to do because you also believe that if you want something done right sometimes you got to do it yourself as far as this thing we call salvation God wanted it done right and so he did it himself you don't believe me read backwards start reading second Corinthians chapter 4 he reconciled us back to himself by himself by sending his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins like the choir just sang about a little while ago as our replacement but the text says here you can have confidence yes in the story of the gospel that's in the past but you've got some present proof right here and right now that God is working this thing out what's my present proof it says right there in verse number 5 he has given us the spirit as a guarantee well if you're not excited already it's possibly because you don't have the spirit if that doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside it's probably because you ain't got the right stuff loan inside because when you got the right stuff on the inside every now and then it shows up on the outside every now and then it shines through on the outside God has given us the spirit as a guarantee in other words when you upgraded your living accommodations you follow the realtor all over town when you settled on something and you looked at the offering you wanted to make an offer and you gave them some money down in real estate is called earnest money and anything that's earnest is truthful that means you serious because money talks I need to move on in this sermon so God had to prove that money talks and you can take what I do and say to the bank he said I'm gonna give you a deposit Oh heaven so that you know every day you walk around with a little piece of heaven in your life he said I'm gonna put something on it so you have a guarantee that's you own your way I wish I had somebody here today that knew how to get excited that God put some on the fact that I'm on my way to heaven despite what he might say despite what she might say I'm on my way to heaven I'm so there's not many guarantees in life are they and how many guarantees in life some of y'all little lotto you never saw a lottery you didn't like you got Susumu ticket some scratch all you got you the big ball the little ball the Powerball you play lotto you play lottery in almost all 50 states hallelujah somebody but there's no guarantee that you go in now you may hit a lick every now and then but there's really no guarantee the fella that the truck driver has just won a few weeks ago he kept on getting up in the morning go on the work going to the same donut shop getting his coffee going the same gas station getting it didn't even know he won because he understood something that there was no guarantee that he would win yeah they may have told you you got to play to win but because you play does not remotely suggest that you're gonna win raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about because you play and you didn't win told God the biggest lie you ever told where when when I hit this Lord I'm gonna do this for the church I'm gonna do this for the pastor I'm gonna do this for the kingdom and all that stuff you ain't doing nothing for with what you already got she won't 586 million dollars hallelujah somebody you want 586 million dollars all to yourself that one's on my side chipper would never see you ever again you know I'm right God did it and to prove to you that he did it he gave us the spirit as a guarantee I know he did Ephesians 1 11 through 14 says in him we have obtained and inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory in him you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him were sealed with what the promised Holy Spirit before Jesus ascended he told his disciples and Luke and in acts the end of Luke in chapter 24 and in Acts chapter 1 I'm gonna promise you something I'm gonna promise you though y'all hang out around here till you get what I promised and people been getting it ever since hallelujah the promised Holy Spirit who hears that word again is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it you know people who have generational wealth that gets passed down from one generation to the next when when when they get ready to meet their maker people like Warren Buffett and when Sam Walton did it when he died and split his worth wealth among his four children so many other people have done that they got they give them an inheritance but they don't get none of it until that person dies look at God you got a piece ahem hallelujah you got a piece of heaven already Brett bless His Holy Name you got a piece already because Jesus already - but he got up the third day morning as the first fruits to the resurrection and you got a Holy Spirit within you that's reminding you of this fact each and every day why to the praise of his glory in other words Paul says we got motive shout about then we realize sometimes see we got a bad habit in the body of Christ of shouting about external stuff clothes cars cash cribs creature comforts we got a bad habit about Sheldon about external stuff and we lifted up a left hand about the internal stuff I don't know how you feel about it but I'm so glad that God thought enough about me to decide to leave me with a little piece of heaven as earnest money as sincere money to let me know that I'm on my way to heaven and this world can't do me no harm I got another 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verse 21 through 22 says and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee what I love about the Bible is when the Bible just keep on saying the same old stuff in different ways and in different places that mean God really wants us to get it aren't you glad that God sealed the deal by giving you a deposit and he does not go back on any of his promises he does not renege and he is no Indian giver because he's faithful to his word so our boat has been already has already been selected but then this is what excites me yeah y'all had me saying this also our job 3 into beloved we are God's children now and what we shall be has not yet appeared are we there yet I'm God's child right now I may not look like I may not sound like it I may not act like it every mounded but I'm God's child now but when he appears hallelujah we're gonna be like him hallelujah you can try all you want to you can't make nobody like Jesus only Jesus can make us like Jesus we will be like him and we will see him as he is our boat has already been selected but then our appearance has already been scheduled Paul says y'all ain't shouting enough yeah even though this is a letter Paul knows it's 11 I subscribe to some periodicals I read I order some books I'll get some books off the shelf and sometimes it's just reading that book I have to put it down and Hollow I have to make that that this is good face I have to go because it excites me what's what it says excites me Karlsson we've been in this five verses by now and I don't think you quite excited as I'm trying to get you at this moment so he leads with the second stands in verse 6 that says so we are always of good courage I'm always happy is what Paul is saying basically Paulsen I'm never scared about what's going to happen there are two categories of people that are seated among us today people who are scared to live and people who are scared to die now you got to figure out which one you are oh your way home but I'm right about it yes I am and you might as well raise your hand we don't know which one or the other you are if I'm right about the raise your hand if I'm right about it some of y'all scared to leave you know I'll come out after a certain time some of y'all scared to die you don't want to go don't wear your one do numbers you cause for fear of the worst happening hallelujah somebody so we either gotta feel living or we got a fear dying but here Paul says squash all of that be a good courage don't worry about the outcome because we've already gone over that and verse 1 through 5 Paul's telling us what we know again I like when somebody tell me what I already know he says we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord for we walk by faith and not by sight beloved believers on this earth are at home in the body we're pilgrims we are dual citizens so we are at Rome because you don't get out of this until you make your transition so you might as well be at home but believers who have died are absent from the body and the funeral you was right we said they not there anymore that's just a shell and that's the truth it's nice to go to the cemetery go to see the park to go to Mount Hope to go to Oberlin go to Washington memory garbage it's nice to go to burrow and lay some flowers by your loved ones green it's nice to do that but you ain't got to bring no lawn chair unfolded and you sit down there having a conversation eat some advice you you not don't get no advice you do better staying at home talking to the picture on the wall you might get more of a response than going all the way to the cemetery because they are not there because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord believers on earth are at home in the body my believers who have died in the faith are absent from the body believers on earth are absent from the Lord while believers in heaven are present with the Lord here Paul is saying we know this that we are at home in the body while we are way from the Lord this thing isn't a seeing is believing kind of thing he says do away with your Missouri mentality we walk by faith and not by sight you don't have an eyewitness to tell you about what is like on the other side other than Jesus hallelujah Jesus the only one that you tell us what heaven is like why you said it came heavens like because it came to heavens like that came to heavens like this like this is like this like that is like that and he said but I'm going to make room for you and when I come back I'm going to receive you that where I am you may be also we are walking by faith not by sight there are people who have had those near-death experiences for our clinical purposes they were dead for minutes and all that stuff and they they wrote written books and there have been whole movies about these experiences that they saw the light and they saw a silhouette of someone begging them to come over to the other side and all that stuff but they second-guessed all of that and they turn around and came back if you really understood if that really happened that you really understood what was going on I walked into the lights hallelujah and so they come back and they tell us this is what they experienced what well if the exact same thing happened to you I don't mean you don't see the exact same stuff now it's debatable but I just believe that if that did happen to a person God is trying to save that person in the right way and if they have not confessed Christ not repented of their sin Jesus brother then then they gotta fix that so that that will be their outcome and then they can share the gospel with other people so that will be the outcome of their friends and loved ones with what we don't know we gotta scratch that see all why all the time when it comes to God we need signs miracles and wonders we just can't take him at his word so Paul is just saying just a god at his word we walk by faith and not by sight and if you can walk by faith and not by sight with anything else surely you can do it with your eternal home Paul says again yes we're not scared we're of good courage yeah we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord there's austere debates about this statement that Paul is making in verse 8 7 and verse eight right here particularly some saying Paul is saying that he's ready to die he's ready to make his transition no Paul Paul has a unusual maturity about himself because he would later say for me to live is Christ in the dice game for me to stay here that's fruitful labor for Christ that's for y'all but for me to die that's for me I get to be with my Lord forever but Paul said I'm in a conundrum I don't know which one is better stay here preaching teaching plan churches get cussed out getting locked up getting shipwreck hidden stone going hungry being without or being with Christ I don't know which one is better yeah I have to agree with the king that said Paul much learning has made you mad so spending time with God will make you crazy when you really think about some things that he's doing but Paul is saying oh yeah I ain't worried about time because I already know that outcome already know was happening so yeah whether I'm at home or away the best I can do is just keep trying to please the Lord keep giving God the glory keep giving up the wrong for the right keep on being faithful to the one who is faithful to me that's all we can do if you're still here gosh my still wants you to do something leave us boast about we praise God about still being here that must be some indication that you're not done with whatever he's given you to do because think about it when we give up to go when we transition the next thing you're gonna probably hear from the Lord is well do come on let's think critically for a minute that's one next thing you've all hear from God is well done so when you leave here hallelujah make sure that you've done well yeah I'm not gonna help me see a lot of people wanna hear well done but have not necessarily done well stay with me we may get our aim to please him let's do a comparative analysis if you're not pleasing God who else are you pleasing it could be yourself ah what do you mean preacher verse 10 here we come it says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether they're good or evil Paul's told us two times by now be of good courage but tap your left foot on the ground two times very very quietly very sadly in verse 10 doesn't scare the heck out of some of you he's told us verse six be a bit of courage he told us in verse eight to be of good courage but we get the first hand for we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ well we got to give an account what is dude what we've done in this body whether it's good or evil let me provide you with some relief this is not the sinners judgment the air just came back in the room this is not suggestion that determine if you go to hell a heaven it's already what what have we been talking about for the last hour it's already been determined that's you own your way to heaven so why would you let verse 10 scare the hell out of you I keep on telling you there's the sinners judgments which we don't get you when then there's the Saints judgment now on verse 10 is really trying to communicate in the Saints doesn't it this means that the character of our service shall be revealed we gotta give an account of what we've done in this body in other word you may fool me you might fool Madam President you might fool the chairman you might fool the ministry you might fool everybody in the body of Christ but you're not gonna fool God he's going to authenticate he's going to legitimize what we do so that he can determine what our reward will be gods don't pick it apart he's gonna size it up and then judgment we gonna say relax you stand here but what level of luxury is gonna be determined by this judgment you him you good you don't know you're on the right side of the Lord but whether you get an A or a dese for your grave is about to be the turn and it's all it's not a matter of effort it's motive because you can do a bang-up job on something and have a wrong motive so guys don't say did you do it to please or did you do it to please you did you do it to please me or did you do it to please your boo did you do it to please me or did you do it to please your mama and gods gonna determine yeah this was for me me me me me me her me him him them me me them me them me them them them them him him her or me me me me me so you gotta ask yourself does versed hand steal scared because you already man why you do some stuff that some of y'all won't do nothing unless you get coddled you not get a cold you got to get a call or a text you want you all get mad at spout for three weeks but each day those three weeks you check your phone see this when I'm talking about ain't nobody text me ain't nobody call me what's your motive do you are you in this relationship with God because of what it does for you or what it does for him because he's gonna he already know like say you can fool us but you ain't gonna be able to fool him and this what you need to consider as you consider this Romans 14 10 through 12 why do you pass judgment on your brother see we like to do that we learn to evaluate everybody else and we don't even take time to evaluate ourselves you know tell where everybody else's know we got a heaven where you got a hell we ain't gotta know where to put nobody in is that why do you despise your but why you look down will be why you can't get along with folk why are you so difficult for we all have to stand before the judgment seat of God that's everybody for it is written as I live says the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue confess to God since then so then each of us will give an account of himself to God 1st Corinthians 3 13 through 15 each one's work will become manifest for the day judgment will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done if the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives he will receive a reward if anyone's work is burned up he will suffer loss you better shout right here though he himself will be saved but only as through fire Paul gives smelting examples metalsmiths tested the integrity of their metal their precious metals there though there's children their copper their brass and in the middle by heating it up and you knew it was the real deal based on what happened when the fire went out so gods don't put our works up to see if it's copper brass aluminum gold silver platinum he's gonna test it you go be saved but your works will be determined by God what John says in Revelation 14 14 I made that bet ain't no mulligans he said and I heard the spirits say write blessed are they who die in the Lord from henceforth says the spirit for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them your work so don't follow you and God is not concerned about the much of your work and he's concerned about the motive of your work some people do a lot but why do you do it do you do it for your attention or for God's attention do you do for your good or for God's glory 1st Corinthians 4 and 5 and I'm almost done therefore do not pronounce judgment before time wait - wait wait - is God's time before the Lord you want to renounce just before the Lord comes here will is the one who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purpose of the heart God knows the heart and when God does it each one will receive his commendation from dr. so you ain't gotta be scared of verse 10 because the curse a condemnation but it says commendation so you can't walk around heaven I'm mad at what she got it's better than what I got she meant what she did some us do stuff but if you really look at the heart of the matter it's about us so I just pre-show eulogy well you know it or not because see something I won't get to hear discern and the remarks and obituary and the music it kills me when family say will play this song later they the only hit at the reef I've fixed a favorite dish they eat it I'm just saying we just do the most in the name of grief and comfort here we don't have to worry because if it's done from the heart everything will be alright we are divinely designed destiny that's why I prayer ought to be like what the caravan saying Lord keep me day by day in a pure and perfect way I want to live I want to live on in a building not made by hands I'm a stranger here traveling through this barren Lane lord I know there's a building somewhere I'm building not made by hands Lord keep my body strong so I can do no wrong Lord give me the grace to run this Christian race to a building not made by hands as we extend this invitation to discipleship y'all never disappoint I knew Dave's gonna do that thank you brother Mattox there may be somebody here today that needs to be in that predisposed position a chance but I'm already in the building don't just suffer the Vienna taint and you don't have a home for your soul I know all of us got a a leak here elite there some loose fabric over here some loose stitching over there a busted zipper here or there in our tent but we don't have to worry cuz we're going somewhere to a building not made by hands and if you want that you can have it you want to get that automatic default changed from eternal condemnation to eternal commendation we extend this invitation for you right now seek the Lord while he may be found call on them while he's near that the wicked forsake his way in the end righteous his thoughts and let him turn into the Lord and He will have mercy upon you and abundantly pardon trust in the Lord with all your heart do not lean upon your own understanding but in all of your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path if there's somebody here today under the sound of my voice does not know the Lord Jesus in the pardon of your sins get to know him get to know him so that you too can have the eternal security of a building of God eternal in the heavens a building not made by hands let us pray God be thinking to be praised for who you are the things that you have done thank you for your word and we know God that not a word of yours will return boy but it will accomplish what you please when and where you please and for those under the sound of our voice even those who will be watching viewing listening we pray that you would add to the body of Christ up laborers will be resourceful reliable and responsible Lord the place is being prepared and we need you to continue to prepare the people for the place do it God for argued but most of all do it God for your glory help the church help the body of Christ Oh God in Jesus name Amen now if there's somebody here today wants to give it a try you want to learn how to be a faith Walker stop walking by sight stop trusting what you can see what you can taste touch and smell but you want to trust God and take him at his word won't you come if their nun give God some praise on your way to your seat hallelujah that's that one

Channel: Messiah Temple M.B. Church

Views: 574

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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Id: iUzp60R2RhQ

Length: 109min 36sec (6576 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 17 2019