Once again, we have a wonderful opportunity to open up the Word of God. So will you take your bibles and turn to Second Corinthians chapter five. We're going to be in verses one through eight this morning as we continue to make our way through this amazing epistle. Although it was written back in the first century, it has such relevance to each of us today. I'm sure that most all of you will agree with me when I say I am homesick for heaven. I am homesick for heaven. I know what it's like to be overseas, especially in lands where you can't understand anything they're saying. And you have to depend upon somebody else to interpret. And I know what it's like to really be homesick, and I'm sure a lot of you have felt that as well. But my, I have to say that given everything that's going on in the world, right now, I really am feeling more than perhaps ever in my life, what it is to be an alien, in a foreign land. I mean, we are citizens of another kingdom. And people that have never been born again, people that know nothing of what it is to be a new creature in Christ; and suddenly your citizenship is in heaven, and everything's changed. People don't understand that. But those of us that have been transformed by the power of the Spirit, know that feeling. And so it's always wonderful to come together and open up the Word of God and hear truth. I'm so tired of hearing deception. I mean, you don't know who to believe, right? With so much of the stuff that's going on today. But certainly a lot of things we know are absolute deceptions, because we compare them to the Word of God. So what we have before us are some very encouraging words, truths that will speak to each of our hearts; those of us who know and love Christ. We're looking here at the words of the Apostle Paul, who has suffered in ways that, frankly, we couldn't even imagine, as we have examined what happened to his body, you could just see in your mind's eye, a body that was just absolutely disfigured, especially from 195 lashes that he had experienced over the course of his life. And so here we're learning how the Apostle Paul was able to not lose hope, okay? And so this will be an encouragement to all of us as we reflect upon these great truths and apply them to our life. This is a way of understanding how he was able to endure the things that he endured, and therefore helpful for us to be able to endure what we're experiencing now. And as you've heard me say many times, persecution against the true church is mounting rapidly. This will also help us understand how we can have joy, how we can have confidence even in the face of death.

So let's pick it up at verse 16, Second Corinthians five...I'm sorry, Second Corinthians four beginning of verse 16. We're going to look at verse five and following but I want to start in chapter four. Verse 16, he says, "Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison, 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." And now the text that we will examine here this morning..."For we know that if the earthly tent, which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house, we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed, while we are in this tent, we 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. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord."

I've entitled my discourse to you this morning "Groaning for Glory." And I think you can understand why. It's interesting as I age, I find myself making more noises when I get up out of a chair. Maybe some of you can identify with that kind of strange groanings that I catch myself doing. And of course, we all groan with physical aches and pains, and we groan because of heartaches; the great difficulties that we experience in life. In fact, life in general includes a lot of groaning. The more we experience life in this fallen world, the more we long for heaven. Now, when we were young, we didn't think about those things that much, we were all excited about life. And we had all of these dreams. And in fact, a lot of young people, when I asked them about heaven, they really don't want to talk about that, that much because, after all, they want to get married, and have their career and do all of these things. But as we begin to age, we begin to see that things aren't the way we wished they would be all the time. And we begin to long and, in fact, God has set eternity in our hearts. We're told in Ecclesiastes three and verse 11. In fact, as we look at Scripture, we see that God has created within us a void, that only he can fill. He created us to bring glory to him. And we can never find any satisfaction in life, any real fulfillment in life, unless we are living our life for his glory. The problem is, we are limited in our ability to do that, because of our body, because we still remain incarcerated in unredeemed flesh, unredeemed humaneness. So we groan for glory. And by faith, we wait patiently for him to take us home and to clothe us in our glorified bodies.

Now, as we prepare to look at this text, let me ask you, do you find yourself longing for heaven? Do you find yourself groaning for that day when you will be in the presence of Christ? Do you "exult in the hope of the glory of God," as Paul said, in Romans five, verse two? Do you yearn for a resurrected body? If not, you're probably grasping onto this world far too tightly. You know little of your sin and the Savior, and you're living for yourself rather than living in light of eternity. Well, as we look at this text, we see that Paul lived his life in light of eternity. And as we look at this text, we can see that there are basically two lenses, if you will, that he looked through, as he looked at his life, and all that was happening to him. And these will be two very simple points in a little outline that I've given you this morning. He lived in light of eternity, because he was confident of two promises. Number one, a glorified body awaited him. And secondly, he knew that a sovereign God was preparing him. Very simple, very profound. And I pray that these truths will encourage you so that you don't lose hope in the days to come, especially when it's your time to face death, as we all will.

You will recall when Job was suffering, he was abandoned by his brothers, he was abandoned by his friends, his relatives, his wife, his household. In fact, his wife told him to curse God and die. Where did he turn? He set his mind on things above. In fact, we read that he set his hope on fellowship with God that would come one day and on a new earth and a resurrected body. He said this in Job 19, verse 25, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see God; whom I shall see for myself and my I shall behold, and not another, my heart faints within me." He was consumed with a longing, or desire, to be with the Lord his God. Someone has well said that diamonds are best displayed on black velvet. And that's what we see here. Beloved, do you believe in the physical resurrection of the body? I hope you do. This is fundamental to the Christian faith. In fact, the prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 26, verse 19, "Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits." Folks, there is nothing more encouraging, there is nothing more exhilarating, there is nothing more exciting in the Christian life, than to know that we are in the process of being conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, and one day we will be glorified with Him. I hope that hope is yours. One day we will be given a glorified body. In fact, the old theologians used to call it "the beatific vision"--that moment, when we will finally feast our eyes upon the visible presence of Christ and enjoy his infinite beauty and love forever. And that's the goal of the Christian life. Ultimately, that day when we will see God, when we will, as Jude tells us in verse 24, when we will "stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy." That instant, when, for the first time, for the first time, we will experience unhindered perfected, fullness of Triune love. I mean, can there be anything more exhilarating than that? And that's what motivated the Apostle Paul.

Now in light of this, Paul, who, by the way, was a tentmaker on the side, which is very important. He says, this beginning of verse one of chapter five, four, "we know that if the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Now the phrase "for we know," emphasizes that they had already been taught these things, and they were confident of these doctrinal truths. And then he goes on to say that "if the earthly tent"--which is a metaphor, describing the temporary dwelling of the mortal body that houses the soul-- "we know that if this earthly tent, which is our house is torn down"-- referring to death--"we have a building from God," and that denotes a permanent dwelling house, "not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

And this brings us to the first lens through which the Apostle Paul viewed life and that is he knew number one, that a glorified body awaited him. Now, why did he say "if the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down?" Why didn't he say "since?" Well, I believe it, because he understood along with the people that he was speaking to, that the imminent return of Christ would also include perhaps being snatched away in the rapture of the church. This would mean that there would be a possibility that they wouldn't die, that they would be taken up into glory. Instead of dying, they would according to First Corinthians 15, "be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye." In fact, if we go to that text at First Corinthians 15, verse 51, as we read earlier, "Behold, I tell you will mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed." Speaking to believers here, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." This refers to the same eschatological event that is described in First Thessalonians four, verses 16 through 17. There we read, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." "Caught up," a term in Greek--"harpazo"--it translates "harpazo" and it means to be suddenly snatched up, suddenly caught up, suddenly removed. So whether raptured or resurrected from the dead, this transformation is going to be instantaneous; an amazing thought in and of itself. It's going to happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. I don't know who measured this, but I looked it up the twinkling of an eye is 1/10 of a second. So that's pretty fast. And it will happen at the last trumpet. That is, it's symbolic of the sound that was used historically in Israel to summon the people. And this will be the final sound of the church age when the bridal church will be prepared for her groom, who comes to snatch her away unto himself.

John spoke about this in his Gospel; Jesus speaking here in chapter 14, beginning of verse two, "'...I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.'" He will then according to Scripture, take his raptured bride to celebrate the marriage supper. There we will receive our rewards and then we will return back with Christ when he comes again to establish his earthly kingdom. This is according to Colossians three, four, "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." In fact, in Romans 8:19, we read, "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God." And back to First Corinthians 15 and verse 52, At the last trumpet..."the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality." And as we all know this, this body is subject to death, it is subject to decay, and we must be clothed with something, a body that that is going to be indestructible, something that is going to be eternal. And dear friends, Paul knew this and he waited for this, he longed for this. What about you?

Back to Second Corinthians now, chapter five, verse one. He speaks of, "a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." No wonder would he say in First Corinthians 15:54, :But when those perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?'"

Now, people will rightly ask, what is the nature, what will be the nature of the glorified body? Well, the word of God gives us a little bit of instruction here to help us understand what it's going to be like, at least a little bit. First of all, we know that it will be a renovated version of our current body. Romans chapter eight and verse 11, we read that God will also "give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who dwells in you." As we look at Scripture, we see that our bodies are going to be changed. They're not going to be exchanged; as we read, for example, in First Corinthians 15:51. Remember, he says in verse 53, of First Corinthians 15, "This perishable body," in other words, the one that we have right now, "must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality." So there will be continuity, you might say, with our present body, yet, it's going to be radically different in ways that that we can't even begin to comprehend. Remember, Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection, as we read in First Corinthians 15:23. And that figure, the first fruits, is really a powerful figure, a powerful image. And by the way, it harkens back to Leviticus chapter 23, where the Lord spoke to Moses, concerning the first fruits of their barley harvest, which would happen in March and April. Barley similar to what we would call wheat. And that was the initial feast of "first fruits" that symbolized the consecration of the whole harvest to God. And it was a pledge of the whole harvest that was to come. An amazing thought. It pointed to, as we see in other passages, a future resurrection fulfilled in Christ.

Now, in that first fruits, harvest and all that went with that in that sacrifice, in that feast, what we see is that the first sheaf of barley was a representative sample of a harvest that already existed. And this is very important to keep in mind. This is very exciting to me, it already existed. It was the first installment of a fully ripened crop that was waiting in the field to be harvested. That was the point of all of this symbolism. And Paul's point, in that whole passage, was to basically say, How could Christ be the first fruit? If he were the only fruit? You see that would be totally absurd. I mean, do you really think he is the only sheaf of the barley? Well, of course not. That's ridiculous. And his point in all of this, is that the resurrection is certain. The resurrection is certain. The first sheaf cannot be harvested and offered unless the rest of the harvest is also ripe; unless the rest of the harvest is also ready to be harvested. So since Christ has been raised, and since you belong to him, you also are ready to be raised from the dead. Christ is the first fruit of a resurrection harvest that includes each and every person that belongs to Christ through saving faith.

Now back to the nature of our glorified body. Since Christ Himself is the first fruits of the resurrection, and since he himself will "transform the bodies of believers into conformity with the body of his glory"-- Philippians 3:21, it is safe to assume that our, the believers glorified body, is going to somehow be like Christ's body. And we know that he was raised with a renovated version of the body in which he died. Remember, Thomas the doubter, actually saw the scars and nail prints and so forth; placed his hands in his wounds. And he was, Jesus was recognized by those who knew him well. And as I'll talk about, in a moment, we are going to know each other and others in heaven, we will recognize them. But like Christ's resurrection body, our body will be radically different than the way we have now. Hallelujah? First Corinthians 15:42 and 44, again, that we read earlier, provides for contrasts, and I want to dwell on just for a moment, where Paul underscores the vast difference between our current body and our resurrected body. The first one is in verse 42. He says, "it is sown a perishable body, but it is raised an imperishable body." And certainly again, we know that decomposition and decay is the natural, it is the inevitable process of this body, but he says, it is raised an imperishable body. It means a body that is impervious to decay. It is incorruptible, in other words, is not going to break down. No arthritis, no disease, no sickness. And we will probably be forever youthful, perfect specimens of maleness and femaleness. By the way, there's no hint of multiple genders in heaven. There's no hint of gender confusion, none of those LGBTQ whatever perversions.

The second contrast in verse 43, "it is sown in dishonor, but it is raised in glory." Now dishonor speaks of a state of shame, a state of disgrace. We were created in perfection, with the ability to bring glory to God and all that we do. But sin ruined all of that. And more often than not, we dishonor God in our bodies, we fail to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice that's acceptable under God, but not so in our resurrected body. Moreover, there's nothing honorable about a decaying body. I've been around decaying bodies, you probably have to, and the horrible stench of putrefaction alone speaks of that disgrace. It was considered unclean in the Mosaic law, to be around the body, certainly to touch a corpse. Numbers 19:11, "The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days." But the resurrected body will not stay as it was in internment. It's going to be raised in glory. And it's safe to assume that our resurrected bodies will have all the marks of youthfulness and marks of strength; a perfect manifestation of the intended beauty of God's creation in maleness and femaleness that will help us be able to render praise to our Creator forever and ever.

A third contrast is in verse 43, "it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power." And we would all agree that our bodies are very limited in physical strength and stamina, we lack vigor. Some are stronger than others, but we're all weak people. Again, I am amazed at how such a microscopic thing called a Coronavirus can absolutely put us down. And for some put us away. We are fragile, we're vulnerable to disease, we're vulnerable to injury. And when the body dies, that lifeless corpse is really a symbol of its weakness. But as we read here, it's going to be raised in power. We're going to be able to function in ways that we cannot imagine. We're going to be able to worship God in the realm of the supernatural. Now, how so? Well, we're not real sure, Scripture doesn't tell us. But we know that we will be like Christ. First John three two says "We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him." And I find it interesting, if you examine the post-resurrection manifestations of Christ's glorified body, you begin to pick up a little bit of what our body is going to be like. It's going to be very similar in appearance. In other words, we will be able to recognize each other, but it's going to be radically different. Again, in ways that we cannot comprehend. When you think about Christ, what could he do? Well, he could suddenly appear, and then he could suddenly disappear. Boy, you want to get away? Remember that commercial? I wish I had that ability, there's times where I wish I could suddenly disappear and appear and then reappear in a distant place. Amazing. He could pass through walls and closed doors, and yet he could eat food, he could drink liquids, he could speak he could interact to others with whom he chose to reveal to himself, he was able to ascend into heaven, and he has promised to return physically. And in the same way, folks, God only knows how he is going to use the power that he is going to give us. I mean, perhaps we are going to rule other galaxies. I don't know, you don't know. Scripture doesn't say. I know he's not going to give me all that power to play a harp because I don't like harps. But I like other things, you get the idea. I mean, we may be ruling in galaxies that are not yet created. We don't know. But it's going to be something beyond our ability to comprehend. It's what he talked about in chapter four and verse 17, "the eternal weight of glory" beyond all, I forget exactly the term there--beyond our ability to comprehend is basically how it can be translated. beyond all comparison, I think is what he says.

Well, a fourth contrast in verse 44, "it is sown a natural body"-- that's what we have now, but "it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." Now, the natural body is one suited for life on this earth. It is not suited for the supernatural realm; it's suited for the natural world. But we're greatly limited in our ability. There's no way that we could live in the new creation that's going to require a spiritual body. Now you must understand spiritual does not mean ethereal. It does not mean immaterial. It does not mean that we're some disembodied spirit that's going to float around throughout eternity like a ghost, that's not what he's referring to here. In fact, saints in heaven right now, have not yet received their glorified body, which is a fascinating thought. Heaven is the dwelling place, according to Hebrews 12:23 of the spirits of righteous men made perfect, but they are able to recognize each other, and God recognizes them, obviously. We could look at passages for example, in the Old Testament where saints that die are described as those "gathered to his people," Genesis 25:8, 35:29, and many other passages. In Second Samuel 12, you remember how David spoke with confidence that one day he would go to his infant son that had died and that he would see him. And he expected to actually recognize him. In Matthew chapter eight and verse 11, Jesus promised, "many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven," which implies that we're going to recognize them. Matthew 17--you will recall on the Mount of Transfiguration--Peter, James and John, were given the ability to recognize Moses and Elijah that appeared with Jesus, although they existed in the form of a spirit with a spiritual body; obviously, they retained their individual identity. So even prior to the resurrection, the resurrected body, all the redeemed, will retain their identity forever. In First Thessalonians four, let me give you another example, Paul comforted the Thessalonian believers who thought their dying loved ones would miss the return of Christ. And he said in verse 17, "we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Well, what comfort would that have been to them if they were going to be caught up, but they couldn't recognize anybody? Obviously, that's foolish. Paul's promise that we will be together, forever, implies that we are going to enjoy sweet fellowship with all whom we have known in this life and other saints down through redemptive history. Won't it be fun to be able to recognize Noah and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and got a Enoch--got of questions for these guys. But the good thing is, they will know us as well.

Now back to our resurrected body, First Corinthians 15:44, "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Again, doesn't mean ethereal, doesn't mean immaterial. But by "spiritual," Paul means that it will be perfectly submitted to the Holy Spirit that now dwells within us. Folks, this will be that time when our sanctification will finally be perfected. When we will be like Christ, when we will be conformed into His image. Our resurrected body will not be subject to temptation, not be subject to sin; no more limitations of the mind or the body. It will be able to instantly respond to every impulse of the new creation without the slightest weakness, or aspiration or ability, that would somehow be hindered by anything at all.

Back to Second Corinthians five now, verse two, Paul says, "For indeed in this house, we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven." Verse three, "Inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked." Now, it's important that you understand this phrase, "that we not be found naked." This was given to the folks in order to counteract the Greek and Roman influence upon the culture with respect to what was called "philosophical dualism." You will recall that they, the pagan Greeks, believed that the spirit was good, but material is bad. And so they believe their souls needed to be freed from the prison of the body. So this idea of we're going to get another body, oh, no, who wants that? And so he's explaining this, by the way, Seneca, who was a Roman stoic philosopher, and even an advisor to Nero said this, quote, "I am a higher being and born for higher things than to be the slave of my body, which I look upon as only a shackle, put upon my freedom." He went on to say, "and so detestable a habitation dwells the free soul." End quote. Well, obviously, this idea of the soul being freed from the body at death, and existing as some kind of disembodied spirit for eternity, was in conflict with what God is teaching through His Apostle. And he says we longed to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven and as much as we haven't put it on, will not be found naked again. We're not going to be some disembodied spirit suspended in space. I love what William Barclay writes, quote, "Paul is not looking for nirvana, with the peace of extinction. He is not looking for absorption in the divine. He is not looking for the freedom of a disembodied spirit. He is waiting for the day when God will give him a new body, a spiritual body, in which he will still be able, even in the heavenly places, to serve and adore God."

And then Paul goes on to say, "For indeed, while we are in this tent, we groan." Boy, again, can't we all identify with this, we groan over relationships that don't work. We groan over bodies that are subject to injury and disease. We groan over kids that break our heart. We groan over apostate Christianity, corrupt politicians, domestic terrorism, terrorists, and corrupt politicians to support them. We groan over rampant sexual immorality, and the vilest forms of sexual deviancy that's just constantly being crammed down our throats. So often, I have to deal with these things in counseling with people. We groan because of mounting persecution, and the list goes on and on. And think of all that Paul dealt with, all that he suffered. And we've gone over this at length on other Sundays, but folks, one of the things I find interesting in studying the life of the apostle Paul--although there were so many things that that tormented him, both physically as well as in terms of the sins of others--his greatest misery was his own sin. Think about that. For example, he said in Romans 7:24, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" Referring to the mortal body in which sin operates, in which sin ultimately brings about decay, and death. And it's interesting, this could possibly be a reference to a horrific practice that was implemented near where the apostle Paul had lived. If you kill someone, they would strip you and take the corpse of the one that you had killed, and strap it to your back, and then banish you into the wilderness. And within days, the corruption of that corpse would eat away until it killed you. That's how he saw it. That's how he saw sin in his own body. You know, folks, it's easy for us to look at the speck in your brother's eye and not see the log in our own. But Paul mourned over his sin. And you know, as you mature in Christ, his holiness becomes even more vivid, all the more clear to us. And in the light of his purity, and in the perfections of his person, we begin to see the corruptions of our own soul in ways that we hadn't seen before. That's what causes us to sing "Amazing Grace" from the very core of our hearts, right? His word is like turning on a light down in the cellar. And when that happens, all of a sudden, all of the little critters begin to run away into the corners. Don't you feel that at times when you read the Word of God?

By the way, this is why sinners hate the Bible. This is why people apart from Christ, hate the laws of God. Some men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds are evil. We just don't want to see that. But when we look at even the sin in our own lives, we begin to see things that wish we weren't there and by the way, we only see the tip of the iceberg. Aren't you glad the Holy Spirit doesn't convict us of everything all at once? It'd be overwhelming. Jesus said, Matthew five, five, "blessed are those who mourn," referring to mourning over their sin, "for they shall be comforted." And certainly the comfort comes in the forgiveness that is ours when we place our faith in Christ. Not only the forgiveness, but the imputed righteousness of Christ, that is then put into our account; he takes our sin, gives us his righteousness. But our mourning over sin, dear friends, is in direct proportion to our ability to see the holiness of God, the purity of God, the law of God. And as I say, when we see that, we are amazed at his grace. In fact, we can never be truly amazed at his grace until we're amazed at our sin. 17th century English Puritan Thomas Manton said this, “Paul was whipped, imprisoned, stoned, in perils by land and sea, persecuted by enemies, undermined by false brethren. But afflictions did not set so close to them as sins. The body of death was his sorest burden. Therefore did he longed for deliverance. A beast will leave the place where he findeth neither food nor rest. It is not the troubles of the world only which set the saints a groaning, but indwelling corruption, this grieveth them. They are not yet rid of sin, that they serve God with such apparent weakness and manifold defects, that they are so often distracted and oppressed with sensual and worldly affections. They cannot get rid of this cursed inmate, and therefore desire a change of states. By the grace of God they have got rid of the guilt of sin and reigning power of sin, but the being of it is a trouble to them, which will still remain till this tabernacle be dissolved, then sin shall gasp its last and the saints are groaning, and long for the parting day, when by putting off flesh, they shall put off sin and come and dwell with God."

Oh Child of God, I pray that this is the burden of your heart. David's lament you will recall in Psalm 38 goes like this beginning in verse four, "There is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my folly. I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart." Paul said this in Romans eight beginning in verse 23, "And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,"--in other words, believers--"even we ourselves groan within ourselves," literally, we groan inwardly; "waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." Then I love what he says, "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it." Beloved, this is the glorious, life-dominating, soul exhilarating expectation of the redeemed.

I remember on several occasions in Siberia going to visit some of the elderly people, mostly elderly widows, they don't have nursing homes there. In fact, there's no place to take care of the elderly. Usually what happens is the little churches build on little shanties to wherever they meet, and house these people. I remember going into the room of several of these elderly ladies with Natasha, my interpreter, and sitting down with them, and for them, it was the first time they'd ever seen an American, much less another believer. And I remember sitting with them, and they love to hold my hands, you know, and they would hold my hands and they would look at me and rattle off things that I had no idea what they were saying and Natasha would interpret them. And one lady kept doing this, she would get my face and she kept doing this. And finally she calmed down and Natasha told me, she said, she can't wait to go home. She said, "I'm ready to go home." And then she talked about a glorified body. And they all started talking about the glorified body, talking about the resurrection. Folks, these were happy people, and they had nothing. How sad, we have everything. So many people today are unhappy. And the reason why is because they don't have the Lord. They have no hope. They have no help.

We see this as well, this hope, in Second Corinthians five four, Paul says, "For indeed, while we are in this tent, we 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." I mean Paul knows that his suffering is not in vain. He knows that he's going to be rewarded. He knows that his sinful, dilapidated, mortal flesh is wasting away. But someday it's going to be totally renovated. Indeed, "what is mortal," he says, "will be swallowed up by life." Again, folks, this is what he was referring to, in chapter four, verse 17, "the eternal weight of glory, far beyond comparison." And may I remind you that Christ is the ultimate glory of heaven. Too often, I come across Christians who would be fine if they went to heaven, and Christ wasn't there. Now, they don't really want to admit that, but that's how they think. They can't wait to see aunt so and so, and mom and dad, and kids and all these things, and that's wonderful. But folks, Christ is the jewel of heaven. You see, the offer of the gospel, if I can put it real practically, the offer of the gospel is not social justice. The offer of the gospel is not health and wealth. The offer of the gospel is Christ. And he is the glory of heaven. You must understand that Christ is not a means to an end, but rather he is the all sufficient and all glorious end himself. Ephesians one three, we read that "God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Now, there's so much more that could be said about our union with Christ. But folks, I hope you're groaning for Christ. Because if you truly know Him, you will.

Paul spoke of this, as well in First Corinthians 15:54, "But when this perishable will put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, DEATH IS SWALLED UP IN VICTORY." By the way, he was probably alluding to Isaiah 25, beginning in verse eight, where we read, "He will swallow up death for all time." The idea of consuming something, to bring it to a complete end, "He will swallow up death for all time and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day, 'Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited, that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.'"

Well, Paul knew that he had a glorified body that awaited him. And finally, in closing, he also knew a sovereign God was preparing him. Look at verse five. He says, "Now He who prepared us for this purpose." "Katergazotai" in Greek, it means "to equip, to prepare." He's prepared us for this purpose. Literally "this purpose" is referring to "for this very thing." Who is it? Well, it's God, "who gave to us the spirit as a pledge." A pledge is a down payment, it is a first installment, it is a guarantee. In other words, the "clothing" of verse four awaits us, this complete transformation from the perishable to the imperishable. And it's interesting that Paul uses the same verb "katergazotai" in verse 17 of chapter four. He says, "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us,"--same verb, "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." You see, folks, what he's saying here, is that he knew that a "swallowing up" power was already at work within him. And nothing could stop it. It was the sanctifying work of the indwelling Spirit of God, the Christians pledge of the future inheritance.

Ephesians one and verse 13, "You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of His glory." And Philippians one in verse six, you're familiar with it, "I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." John MacArthur said this, "The indwelling Holy Spirit is God's guarantee that believers are His possession, and that He will redeem them to the praise of his glory. For that reason, it is ludicrous to believe that Christians can lose their salvation. Nothing can interrupt the plan God set in motion in eternity past--referring to election--and has pledged himself to carry through until eternity future--referring to glorification. To argue otherwise, is to assume that God is incapable of achieving His purposes, and thus to diminish His glory." How true.

Beloved, dwell on these things, the next time you're tempted to lose heart, the next time you're filled with fear. And in verse six, he says, "Therefore being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight--"meaning our lives right now are lived in the sphere of faith, we trust in Him. Verse eight, he says, "We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body, and to be home with the Lord." So as we walk in the realm of faith, dealing with these decaying bodies, dealing with all of the sin around us, as well as our own sin, we can be deeply encouraged. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is preparing us, he's doing this. And it's certain, it's guaranteed. And I might even add, it's because of him, we are all groaning for glory; because we want to be at home with the Lord, "to be absent from the body, is to be at home with the Lord." Dear Christian, I pray that this is the passion of your heart. And if so, won't you live in light of his glory. And the more you learn of him, the more you worship him, the more you serve him, the more you commune with him, the more you will see the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, your Lord; everything else becomes rubbish, as the Apostle Paul tells us. And as this happens, the more we experience the power of his presence deep within our soul. The more he blesses us, the more he reveals himself to us, until that day, when he takes us home. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for these eternal truths. They certainly speak to our hearts, they encourage us, especially in these dark days of such deception, the freefall of immorality that we're witnessing in our country, Lord, the apostasy in the Church. But Lord, even our own sin, my goodness, we just long for you to come to take us away. And we're thankful that we know that you will indeed do that either in death, or you will come and snatch us away. We know that that's going to happen. But we thank you that you are preparing us for this time. And in this we rejoice greatly. So encourage us with these truths. And for those who know nothing of what it is to be in Christ, those who have never placed their faith in Christ because they've never seen the horror of their sin, they've never seen the glory of the cross, Oh, Father, I pray that by the power of your Spirit, you will overwhelm them with such conviction that they will run to the cross and be saved. Thank you for this time we could share together. Minister to us as only you can do, I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.