A REASON TO SERVE
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (KJV)
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
As early as 2 Corinthians 1:9-10[1] the Apostle Paul began to speak about the possibility of death.
His ministry was a dangerous one:
He mentions death again in 2:16[2]
And again in 4:11-12[3]
If he were alive today, we would accuse him of having some sort of complex or disorder. But this was the truth of his day. He knew that his life was but a vapor and that he could lose it at any moment.
The Apostle continued his ministry until, at the end, he was able to say, 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV)
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
I think he says something about the spiritual mindset that enabled him to offer his life a living sacrifice every day.
I am going to take our text in reverse order and notice,
*I. Something future
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (KJV)
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Verse 9 is one of those that could easily be misinterpreted to mean we work our way to heaven.
The word labor is made of two parts meaning “love of honor” or, in other places translated “ambition.”
The Word of God is not saying we have to work to be accepted of God at our death.
What it’s saying is that our goal, our desire, our priority, the thing that we want to happen is that, whether present or absent, whether in our living or our dying, we might do the thing that is most pleasing to the Lord.
I wonder how often we make decisions in our day to day lives where we could say “Our ambition, our desire, our priority in this decision is that God would be well pleased.”?
I wonder how many of our prayers have as their first ambition, not that we get the answer we wish to have, but that God is well pleased?
And then the Word of God says that the reason for this priority is that we will all “…appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
The phrase judgment seat of Christ is only found here and in Romans 14:10-12 (KJV)
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Our sin has already been judged and paid in the Cross of Christ.
That will not be brought up again.
· It is forgiven
· It is removed as far as the east is from the west
· It is buried in the depths of the sea
God will not remember them again.
But I will give an account at the judgment seat of Christ for how I have lived my life for the Lord.
And I will be rewarded for that life.
(At the rodeo, a goose egg, “Give him a round of applause, that’s all he’s gonna get.”
Worse yet was a consolation prize. The guy with the lowest score at the rodeo was sometimes called into the arena with all the winners, his name was announced as receiving the consolation prize. It was a buckle, just like the winners but he got it for losing.)
I’m just telling you, suffering loss is painful.
It’s not eternal torment, but it is suffering nonetheless.
In view of the judgment seat of Christ,
Whether by living or in dying, the Apostle said his drive was to be accepted of the Lord.
And then notice,
*II. Something present
2 Corinthians 5:5-8 (KJV)
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Notice the word confidence, found twice in these verses.
· He was confident knowing that this body prevented him from being in the presence of the Lord and
· He was confident and even willing to be absent from the body so he could be present with the Lord
Notice where he got his confidence
“…God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit”.
The earnest means what we think it does.
God has given us the Holy Spirit who seals and protects us until we get to heaven.
In this case, the confidence comes from Romans 8:14-16 (KJV)
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
The Holy Spirit of God, leads, loves and bears witness with the spirit of the saved, that they are the children of God.
My confidence comes in the testimony of the Holy Spirit in me.
Finally notice,
*III. Something eternal
2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (KJV)
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Notice here the Word of God uses the word “groan” twice.
I am reminded of Romans 8:21-22 (KJV)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And of Romans 8:26 (KJV)
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
I think the Spirit of God, who witnesses to our spirits that we are the children of God, places within us a longing to be home:
· To be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ
· To be free from the rags of self righteousness, which is in itself, sin
The Spirit of God within us understands that we are not genuinely clothed today.
But we, who have the witness of the Holy Spirit in us, know that when mortality is “swallowed up in life,” “we have an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
[1] 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 (KJV)
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
[2] 2 Corinthians 2:16 (KJV)
To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
[3] 2 Corinthians 4:11-12 (KJV)
For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
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