Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. 2 Corinthians 5:11-12

Often in Christianity today we hear a watered down , sugar coated gospel. We hear about a Jesus who only loves, yeah doesn’t require repentance or obedience. This is why we have so many false converts throughout the Church, there is no fear of The Lord. 

The Bible tells us “The Fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom and understanding” (Proverbs 9:10) So what does this mean? How can “fear” bring us to wisdom or understanding? Well first if you dive into the original Hebrew word translated as Fear here its “Yirah” which also means Reverence or Awesome. 

Many people will affirm Jesus loves them, and Yes Christ loves everyone as He demonstrated his love towards you on the cross. But the real question is “Do you love Jesus”? If you claim to love Christ, then why don’t you demonstrate your love? Jesus said “If you love me, Keep my commandments” (John 14:15) If a child continually defies and dismisses what their parent says, do they really love them? No, true love is a respect or reverence for someone. So do you really have reverence for God? 

Back to our original question, how can fear bring wisdom? The first question is why do I need a Savior? Often people dismiss the gospel because they don’t understand the purpose of the gospel, we have all fallen short of the glory of God, we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) How can the knowledge of sin be obtained? By the Ten Commandments, Gods moral law. If you want to know if you need Jesus, just walk through the Ten Commandments and examine your life

The Bible also says “It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31) The bad news is there are consequences for your sin, as the Bible says “The Wages of Sin is death”(Romans 6:23) the second part of the verse gives us the gospel or Good News “BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23) You can’t have the good news without the bad news, right? Otherwise the good news doesn’t sound like good news!

As the Apostle Paul says “Knowing the terror of The Lord, we persuade men” How do you persuade people to need Jesus? You give them the bad news first, we are all sinners headed to Hell, the good news is Jesus Christ gave us the way to eternal life, Amen!

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. 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Recently John Macarthur did a sermon on “We lose down here”, and while I have great love and respect for Macarthur, I strongly disagree with his message. Our scripture readings today support my stance on this, as Born Again Christians we can never “lose”. Whether we are alive or dead, whether we are rich or poor, whether we are healthy or sick, we have Victory in Jesus Christ, period! (1 Cor. 15) 

While from a worldly perspective it may look like we are “losing”, our victory is sealed and guaranteed, Jesus said “I have already overcome the world” (John 16:33) Now Pastor John might have been trying to address “Christian Nationalism” which is an entire different topic, but understand this, nothing can separate you from the love of God, nothing! (Romans 8)

The Apostle Paul teaches “To be absent from the body is to be present with The Lord” If your alive today, rejoice you have another day on this Earth. If you have died today, you are with The Lord! There is no losing as a Born Again Christian, as Jesus said to the thief on the cross “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43) Jesus didn’t tell the thief, when the resurrection happens you will be with me, No Christ said Today, instantly! It lines up perfectly with what Paul is teaching

So the idea of “Soul Sleep” is not Biblical, to think you are going to die and cease to exist until God remembers you again, doesn’t align with scripture. Strangely this viewpoint aligns more accurately with Atheism than it does Christianity. How can we have Victory if we cease to exist? Why would Paul desire to depart from the body, if he was going to cease to exist? Did Jesus lie to the thief on the cross? No of course not, Soul Sleep is another man-made doctrine destroyed by the Word of God

So does this mean, we coast through this life, waiting to be with The Lord? No, as Paul says “We labor” as he goes on to teach, all of us with stand before Christ and give an account of all the works we have done, whether good or bad! Does this mean we have to “earn our salvation”, No, we can only be saved by faith in Christ. However if you are Born Again, filled with the Holy Spirit, then you should be producing fruits of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 7, Galatians 5) A good tree produces good fruit! 

Take heart and comfort knowing to depart from the body is to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever! Amen!

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. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

If you live long enough, you know life is painful. Life is full of trials and suffering, life is full of medical issues and struggles, sometimes it makes us wonder what is the point of life, right? This is why the gospel is called the Good News, all your pain and suffering will be gone! All your physical and mental health issues will be gone! All your family who loves The Lord will be seen again! This is described as the New Heavens and Earth in the Bible (Revelation 21)

Because Jesus Christ physically died for our sins and physically rose from the dead, defeating sin and death, we will someday physically rise again with glorified bodies, this is the final resurrection (1 Cor. 15) The Apostle Paul describes this in more detail “our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” Many of us have a “thorn in the flesh” that haunts us everyday, however one day that thorn will be removed in our glorified bodies. One day the battle with sin will be over, as our earthly house will be dissolved and we are given a temple of God, a glorified, sin free body

Paul describes our current state best here “ For this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” As Born Again Christians we groan daily, striving to be conformed in the image of Christ, while stuck in a sin-filled body. We groan at the current state of the world, while we strive for daily sanctification of the Holy Spirit, the world strives for the flesh and becomes more depraved. We groan for the day we are physically united with our Lord Jesus Christ, and reign with him in God’s Kingdom!

As Paul continues “For we that are in this tabernacle, do groan, being burdened” Take comfort and peace knowing that God understands your burdens and groans in your current state. While you struggle daily to understand how you are blessed or Born Again, but reminded of the promise, that one day we will be Rise with Christ in glorified bodies. While the current struggle of life seems long, Gods eternal kingdom is forever, take heart Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33) Amen!

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 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. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Jesus said “Unless you are Born Again, you can’t see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3) I believe this is a foundational teaching of Christianity that is often neglected by the Church. Most Churches will affirm the cross and the resurrection of Christ, how many Churches are teaching you must be Born Again? You must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit to see the Kingdom? When you ask most “Christians” are you Born Again, then look at you like you have three heads

It’s a foundational teaching because Jesus said “You can’t” be saved without the Holy Spirit. Looking at Paul’s teaching here, without the concept of regeneration, it wouldn’t make any sense. Paul says “Our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed daily” Most would say Paul is talking about the resurrection of the body, well no because are you being resurrected on a daily basis? No, but we as Christians should be renewed daily, how? By the sanctification of the Holy Spirit

Anytime we start talking about sanctification and holiness, everyone runs for the door. But if you’re truly a Christian, then you must be Born Again, and if you are truly Born Again, then the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. And if the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, you are going to be sanctified. Your going to be renewed daily, growing in Christ, moving farther away from your sins, gaining deeper knowledge in The Lord, yes this is a lifetime process

I love the next piece of wisdom Paul reveals here “For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” We could write a whole sermon about this, having an eternal perspective. The world only has a temporal perspective, they are living for the flesh, they are living just for today. We as Born Again Christians are living for the eternal Kingdom of God. Everything we do is for the Kingdom, everything we do has eternal consequences and the fruit will last forever

The unregenerated person doesn’t understand the spiritual warfare that they are in. They don’t understand there is a war for their soul, that their sin has eternal damning consequences. Jesus Christ came to set us free, our inner man is being renewed and sanctified on a daily basis, Amen!

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. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.2 Corinthians 4:11-14

What hope does this world have? If you said Jesus Christ, then you are correct, but what about those without Christ? What hope does the world have without Christ? Nothing, there is no hope outside of Jesus, why? Because regardless of your beliefs or religion, we are all under the curse of death. We are all dying on a daily basis!

But as the Apostle Paul reminds us “So then death works in us, but life in You” As Born Again Christians we are not yet in our glorified bodies, therefore our physical bodies are dying everyday, just like the world. However our “inner man, our soul is being sanctified daily! As Paul says later in this chapter “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed daily” (v16)

Those who reject the soul, this concept would make no sense, how can the Holy Spirit be sanctifying our physical bodies everyday? It wouldn’t make sense because our physical bodies are wasting away on a daily basis until our glorification in Christ. 

How do we know its the Holy Spirit renewing us daily? Notice what Paul says here “Knowing that He (Holy Spirit) which raised up the Lord Jesus , shall raise up us also by Jesus” Wow, consider what Paul said in Romans “The same power that rose Jesus from the dead is living inside of you” (Romans 8:11) The Holy Spirit shall raise us up also like Christ! Do we ever acknowledge the Holy Spirit enough?

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15

How much does God love you? Christ died for you, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, and notice what Paul says “For all things are for your sakes” If you feel unloved or unimportant, remember you are made in the image of God and all of this was done for your grace, to give God the glory in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!