II Corinthians 5:1 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.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 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.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
This week was another historic week in Canada. Bill C9 advanced through the Senate. It is another step closer to becoming law. There has been much hot air vented as this bill has worked its way through the house and now the senate. None of that did anything to stop the intent of this bad bill.
The Bible warns us that there is a need for housecleaning and that housecleaning needs to be begin at God’s house.
Jesus cleansed the Temple twice while He was on this earth. The Temple was to be a picture of His body. Jesus Christ was and is without sin. The Temple was being used to try to portray Him as a corrupt person. Eventually God destroyed that earthly Temple. It had served its purpose and it was a hindrance to the people. God brought the Romans in to destroy that “magnificent” building.
The real Temple, the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be destroyed. He is alive and seated on the right hand of His Father in glory. For years, professing Christians have been attempting to corrupt Jesus. The New Evangelical movement is heavily involved in that corruption. Sadly, Independent, Fundamental Baptist churches are also guilty of allowing the world to have an impact in our lives. That cannot stand. Souls are dying and going to hell, assuming they are right with God and finding out too late they are not right with Him.
I am not looking forward to working under the curse of Bill C9, but it is coming anyway. It is possible that there will be some true saints arrested and imprisoned for not bowing to the dictates of a wicked government. Now is not the time to hide. Now is the time to pray for boldness, not grandstanding. It is not hatred to quote any Bible verse. It is hatred to try to shelter sin.
In our text, the apostle Paul knew all about the threat to his freedom. He knew that his time on earth was temporary. He also understood he had a building of God, that was not made with hands. That building was eternal. That building was in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He understood there would be groaning in this life. Even true saints are not immune to trouble. In fact true saints will be the target of people in high places. Paul longed to be clothed with that absolute righteousness that was in heaven. He longed to be righteous now on earth, but he understood that absolute righteousness was reserved for heaven.
In verse 3 Paul was directed to write of the need to be clothed in righteousness. He did not want to be found naked. He had been naked prior to salvation. He had been granted the gift of eternal life. He wanted to make sure he was honouring that gift as much as possible even while in his earthly body.
In verse 4 we see again that the attitude of the saint is not to look more like the world. The true saint understands that is not the answer. The true saint wants to be clothed more and more in the righteousness of Christ. Many will despise that sight.
The true saint is not looking for an escape route. He is looking to honour God now but he is also looking for that blessed hope of heaven. The true saint has a desire to see others saved and also to be in the presence of the Lord.
In verse 5 Paul reminded the saints that the good work being done in them was of God. It was God that had changed Paul and his companions. God had given them the earnest, the “down payment” of the Holy Spirit. The true child of God cannot be lost. He cannot go back into a life of sin. He will sin. The saints in Corinth had been guilty of sin. However, they had come to realize their rebellion and they had sought and received forgiveness. That forgiveness had set them free from the bondage to sin they had put themselves under. The fornicator was no longer a fornicator. He was not a “sanctified” fornicator. He stopped fornicating. Those involved in the schisms were no longer involved in that. They had been delivered from that sin.
They had the indwelling Holy Spirit already in I Corinthians but they had not yielded to Him. Now they were yielding to Him and they had opportunity to understand how the Christian life is lived on this earth.
In verse 6 we see that there is a confidence that God’s children can have. That confidence is due to walking by faith and not by sight. We believe the promises of God and we act upon those promises. That is what Paul was encouraging the saints with.
Paul was confident and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. He knew that was awaiting him. He knew that same reward was there for all saints. There is a home in heaven for the true saint. The true saint has nothing on this earth that is worth holding onto at the expense of that heavenly home.
We need to learn to see where true value is. We need certain things on this earth, but often times we need far less than we strive for. There is a need to spend more time on heavenly treasure and less on earthly treasure.
As our world continues to spiral downward, those who are saved need to be looking upward. Our hope is not in this world. We hope to see more people saved, but salvation is of the Lord. We look to God and we proclaim His Word in the hope of seeing some humble themselves and turn to the true God in repentance and trust in the true Jesus for salvation.
Pastor Bartel