Introduction:
A. The story is told of an evangelist who was preaching away during a gospel meeting.
1. He paused and asked the congregation a question – How many of you want to go to heaven?
2. “If you want to go to heaven, then, please raise your hand,” he said.
3. Everyone in the audience raised their hand, except for one man sitting near the front.
4. The preacher pointed his finger at the man and said, “Sir, do you mean to tell me that you don’t want to go to heaven?”
5. The man replied, “Sure I want to go to heaven, but he way you asked the question, it sounded like you were getting up a busload to leave immediately.”
B. Let me ask you this question: Do you really want to go to heaven?
1. If God were to pull a bus up to the front door right now, and allow any of us to board the bus for heaven, right now, would you get on the bus? Or would you ask if there’s a later bus?
2. I’m afraid that the truth of the matter is that many of us want to go to heaven, but not right now.
3. The fact that we want something more than heaven reveals a weakness in our understanding of what heaven is all about, and what the purpose of life really is.
C. The apostle Paul didn’t feel that way.
1. He longed for heaven, and he was ready and willing to go at any moment.
2. Let’s see how he expressed his confidence about these things in today’s section of Scripture in 2 Corinthians 5.
I. Understanding the Word
A. Let’s begin with 2 Corinthians 5:1: Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
1. You might remember from last week’s sermon, that the main point of the end of 2 Corinthians 4:13-18 was that, in the midst of his adversities, Paul focused on those things that are not presently seen, but these unseen things are what count, for they are eternal.
2. Paul supports this conviction in chapter 5, verse 1, saying that we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed (this earthly tent is our perishable, mortal bodies, which are a part of the temporary things that are now seen), then we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (this is the imperishable resurrection body, the eternal, unseen things).
3. The wasting away and the affliction that Paul saw at work in his life may even lead to his death, but his confidence in the coming “eternal weight of glory” (4:17) could not be shaken, since it was based on what God himself will provide – something not built by human hands.
4. Paul’s comparison of the “earthly tent” and the “building from God” is intended to communicate the difference between temporary and permanent.
a. If you have spent much time in a tent then you know that they are not very secure, or permanent, nor are they all that comfortable.
b. When you think of strength, durability, security and comfort, you usually don’t think about a tent. As you can see in this picture, tents don’t keep bears out very well!
5. So Paul was confident and not at all worried about losing his earthly tent, because he knew that God had a far better heavenly one in store for him, and for the rest of us as well.
B. Look at verses 2-4: Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
1. Paul’s confidence in God’s future provision caused him to “groan” in the midst of his present suffering as he longed to inherit the glory God had in store for him in Christ – that was to be clothed with his heavenly dwelling.
2. When Paul compared the clothing of the heavenly dwelling with the present clothing of our earthly tent, he considered the present circumstances like being naked – unclothed.
3. How uncomfortable are you when you are unclothed – a little uncomfortable, right.
4. That’s something of how we should feel in our present earthly state, like we are unclothed, and we should be longing for our heavenly clothing.
5. We long for that which is mortal to be swallowed up and replaced by that which is immortal – eternal life.
C. Paul ended the first section of his argument by making explicit in 5:5 that the basis of his groaning, is God himself, since He is the one who has “made us for this very purpose.”
1. Look at verse 5: Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
2. God is the one who has brought about our longing for the resurrection, since He is the one who “has given the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
3. Therefore, we understand that God prepares us by giving us a foretaste of the glory to come through the indwelling Spirit, in order that the suffering of this present age might be put into its proper perspective.
4. So God prepares His people for the future by giving us a longing for it through the Spirit given to us as a down payment of his presence.
D. Look at verse 6: Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
1. Again, Paul declares his confidence, and confirms his understanding that the reality of living in our present body equals being away from the Lord.
2. We will never be fully with the Lord until we shed our earthly bodies.
3. Life in this world is not our final reality, and it must be seen for what it is, namely, it is an existence that is being “away from the Lord.”
3. This is why we are required to live by faith, not by sight as Paul says that he does. (vs. 7)
E. In verse 8 Paul comes to the logical conclusion and confession that we all should come to: We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
1. When we really understand all of this, Paul says that we would rather be away from this earthly life so that we could be with the Lord in the heavenly life.
2. Instead of desiring a prolonged life on earth, we should prefer to be “at home with the Lord.”
3. The true believer would trade this world for the world to come in a New York second.
F. What we believe and how we behave must always go hand in hand.
1. In Paul’s letters, he usually connected duty and doctrine.
2. What God has done for us or what He promises to do for us, must motivate us to do something for Him in response.
3. After acknowledging and explaining Paul’s future hope, based on God’s promises and provisions, Paul declared what it caused him to do, and why.
4. Look at verses 9 and 10: So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
5. Paul said that whether we live or die, our goal should be to please the Lord.
6. The reason being was the awareness that all people must appear before Christ as judge.
7. The image of the judgment seat in verse 10 comes from the practice of the Roman governors, who sat on such tribunal benches to render judgment in legal cases.
8. Here’s a picture of the actual judgment seat in Corinth.
9. Surely this brought to the Corinthians’ minds the time when Paul had stood before the judgment seat of the Roman governor Gallio in Corinth (Acts 18).
10. So we see that Paul was internally motivated by both the positive appeal of God’s promises, and by the negative prospect of Christ’s judgment against all that is bad.
II. Applying the Word
A. What important lessons should we take to heart from today’s Scripture section? Let me suggest three lessons.
B. First of all, we should take to heart the reality of death and judgment.
1. In 1817, Benjamin Franklin popularized an old saying: “'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
2. Even more important than the reality of death and taxes is the reality of death and judgment.
3. Death is the perennial problem of human existence.
4. Perhaps the greatest deception that Satan pulls over on us is the thought that this life is all there is and that there is no judgment at the gateway to eternity.
5. The truth that there is a future reality beyond this life and that there is a judgment ahead that determines something of that future reality remains as radical an idea in the 21st century as it was in the first.
6. It is this knowledge that fuels a life lived not for the present, but for the Lord.
7. For Paul, the goal and consequence of eschatology (last things) was not speculative knowledge, but ethics.
8. Paul had no interest in the speculation of “the when” of Christ’s coming, nor a detailed speculation into “the what and where” of heaven.
9. Paul was certain of a future reality and he longed for the resurrection and for heaven’s glory, which lead him to live a life aimed at pleasing God.
C. Second, we should take to heart our need to cultivate a hunger for our unseen future reality.
1. C.S. Lewis said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most in the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”
2. Our “now-centered” culture makes it difficult to grasp the insignificance of the present existence compared with the significance of the future existence.
a. Even in our churches, we seldom confront our saturation with the present.
b. In many ways we have lost sight of Paul’s perspective that the glorious fulfillment to be gained from pleasing the Lord cannot be compared to the puny pleasures to be strained out of this life if lived for itself.
c. One commentator put it this way: “Glutted on the second-rate happiness of this world, we are too full to hunger after God.”
d. Being filled with the sights and sounds around us, we have little room or interest in the glories to come.
3. In a Time magazine article, David Van Biema wrote: “It used to be that the hereafter was virtually palpable, but American religion now seems almost allergic to imagining it.” (Time [March 24, 1997], 71-78 [p. 71])
a. He reports that for most people “the current generic heaven still delivers when people need it most…at the death of a loved one. Why bother with it any other time?” (Ibid., 73)
b. David Wells points out: “It’s difficult for some people to conceive of anything that is really much better than this life. Sure, they go to bed appalled by the 11 o’clock news. But those buddies on the beer commercial saying, ‘It doesn’t get much better than this’ are speaking more deeply than we realize.” (Quoted by Van Biema, “Does Heaven Exist?” 76)
4. In stark contrast, Paul’s bold certainty concerning the resurrection and his corresponding comparison between the values of the present and those of the future give him courage in this world, precisely because they cause him to long for his life “from God…in heaven.”
a If the granting of the Spirit prepares us for and guarantees our future in God’s unmediated presence, then our dim view of the glory to come means that we have far too little genuine knowledge of God here and now.
b. Not having tasted much of heaven, all we can imagine are the things of earth.
c. Have you ever thought about the way we joke about how that our favorite things of earth had better be in heaven?
d. Like “heaven had better be a great golf course in the sky.”
e. Or “There better not be diets in heaven and there better be devil’s food cake.”
f. And how upsetting that we won’t be able to watch American Idol in heaven!
g. I know I’m being a bit facetious, but all of this shows how blind we can be to the fact that it is the presence of the Lord himself that makes heaven the awesome place it will be.
5. One commentator wrote: To make the central focus of heaven anything or anyone beside God himself is ludicrous, and to add something to God as heaven’s pleasure is idolatrous.
6. There’s a very touching song on Christian radio right now by Steven Curtis Chapman called “Heaven is the Face.”
a. Not long ago his family faced the tragedy of the death of their five year old daughter who was accidentally run over by their teenage son.
b. That experience produced this song that speaks of his longing for heaven because of his longing for his daughter.
c. Here’s some of the lyrics:
“Heaven is the face of a little girl, With dark brown eyes, That disappear when she smiles.
Heaven is the place, Where she calls my name, Says, “Daddy please come play with me for awhile.”
Chorus: God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more, But God, You know, that this is what I’m aching for. God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door.”
7. Although Chapman admits that heaven is so much more than his little girl with her dark brown eyes, his longing for her may be eclipsing his longing for God.
a. This is something we must be careful about.
b. Think about the questions we often ask about heaven – What will heaven look like? What will we do there? Will my loved ones know me?
c. These are not the questions that John answered when he drew our attention to the wonder of heaven in Revelation 21.
d. John wrote: I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:2-4)
8. Did you notice what the focus of our heavenly experience is? Dwelling with God is the focus.
9. Let me repeat that statement by commentator Scott Hafemann: To make the central focus of heaven anything or anyone beside God himself is ludicrous, and to add something to God as heaven’s pleasure is idolatrous.
10. Let us do what we must to draw near to God – to know the Lord, to love the Lord, to long to be with the Lord – until there is no one and nothing that we want more than the Lord.
D. One final thing I would encourage us to take to heart is our need to serve God with faithful obedience.
1. The story is told of a young boy who was caught in mischief by his mother.
a. She asked him, “Billy, If you continue to act this way, how do you expect to get into heaven?”
b. The boy thought for a moment and then said, “Well, I’ll just run in and out and keep slamming the door until they say, ‘For heaven’s sake, either come in or stay out.’ Then I’ll go in.”
2. I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way.
3. Many a debate has occurred over the years about the relationship between faith and works with regard to salvation.
4. In Ephesians 2:8-10, Paul declared, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Here you see the relationship between grace/faith/works.
5. James approached the subject of faith and deeds this way: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?...You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did….You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. (James 2:14, 20-22, 24)
6. Paul’s assumption in today’s passage from 2 Corinthians is that whatever one trusts in for the future inevitably determines how one acts in the present.
a. When someone trusts God, then they obey God.
b. We are to walk by faith and are judged by what we do, because to trust in God’s promises is to live according to His Word.
c. In this sense, it is impossible to separate trusting God from obeying God.
d. Any attempt to separate faith from works runs aground on the fact that in one and the same passage, Paul can speak of living by faith (5:7) and of being judged by deeds (5:10).
7. Every act of trust in God’s promises expresses itself in an act of obedience to his commands, and every act of obedience is a manifestation of trust.
a. Conversely, every time we disobey God it is because we are not trusting Him.
8. And consider this: Every command of God is, in essence, a promise of God in disguise.
a. For God to declare, “You shall have no other gods before me,” is therefore essentially the same thing as saying, “God promises to be sufficient in all things as your sovereign Provider, Redeemer, and Lord – so trust Him alone.” We don’t need anyone else.
b. With some reflection, every command of God can be seen to be a call to trust God’s corresponding promise.
9. Ultimately, our deeds are the means of evaluation in the courtroom of God’s judgment, since they establish the genuine nature of our claim to trust God.
10. We are saved because of the grace of God enabled by the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.
a. Nothing we do has or ever will earn or purchase our salvation.
b. Our deeds are important, not because they contribute in some way to our salvation, but because they are, in themselves, the demonstration that we are trusting in Christ and living by faith.
c. You remember the old illustration – if it were against the law to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
11. It is interesting that research shows that vast amounts of people profess a belief in some kind of divine judgment to come, but few actually operate their daily lives on the basis of such a conviction.
a. Research also shows that people are optimistic about heir own chances of being judged positively, and are just as confident that there will be condemnation for others.
Conclusion:
A. We must not be mistaken.
1. Death and judgment are inevitable realities.
2. We will not be prepared for them if our preoccupation with the things of this world eclipses our longing for things of the world to come.
3. And we will be terribly mistaken and unprepared for judgment, if we do not take seriously our need to live with faithful obedience to the Lord.
B. So let me ask you again: Do you really want to go to heaven?
1. If so, then what are you doing to ensure that heaven will be your home?
C. Let’s be cultivating a longing for the Lord and let’s anticipate dwelling with the Lord in our heavenly home forever.
1. Let us live with confident assurance that heaven will be our home because of God’s grace and the Spirit that has been given to us as a deposit.
2. And let us live for the Lord, making it our goal to please Him until we arrive at our heavenly home.
Resources:
Paul for Everyone, 2 Corinthians, Tom Wright, Westminster John Knox Press, 2003
2 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary, Scott J. Hafemann, Zondervan, 2000
2 Corinthians, John MacArthur, Nelson Impact, 2007
The Letters to the Corinthians, William Barclay, The Westminster Press, 1975
Be Encouraged, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Warren Wiersbe, Victor Books, 1989
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Murray J. Harris, Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, Zondervan, 1976
