I Live What I Believe
In
Hebrews 11 we read that the worlds were
framed — as a carpenter frames a house ..by the word of God. {
This world framed by His Word
A)You know what you & I also to a certain extent frame the world in which we live by the words we speak. { What do I mean
B) If you Speak words of grumpiness, doubt, fear, & cynicism that’s the world you and your family will live in!!!
1) But if you speak words of faith, hope, & joy even when you’re going through hard times — those will be the characteristics of your world.
C) But what we Speak has a lot to do with what we believe –
1) Our Outlook on life Presently / Our attitude about the Future Positionally has everything to do w/ what believe/ shaping our hearts
D) Well – in light of all the suffering he was going thru
Paul would say in v.13 2 Cor 4 I Speak what I
believe
E) We ended our study on Wed night by looking at v 13-15 where Paul was giving his perspective on his Suffering v.13-15 summed up in this way
1) that even if he died – he believed that that the Lord will raise us up, that all things will work
out for His glory.’
Well
in the passage before us today –Paul shares w/ us 4 ways how that Belief shaped
his outlook Concerning life & Concerning
Death
A)My Prayer:
that God’s word would so Penetrate our hearts – that we would walk out of this
Sanctuary today : Saying I will live what I
believe
B) I will allow the Word of God to Frame my world – shape my outlook on my present circumstances & my Future Position w/ the Lord
Now the 1st
Thing that Paul shares w/ us- Although the outward man – speaking of this body
is falling apart – God is doing a work on the inside
Read v. 16
V.16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
A)Paul says His body--"the outer man"--is decaying; it is wearing out. He can't see the way he used to (and there were probably no glasses).
1) He can't hear the way he used to. He does not recover from beatings the way he used to.
B) His strength walking from town to town does not hold up the way it used to. He sees the wrinkles in his face and neck. His memory is not as good.
1) His joints get stiff when he sits still. { B ball at camp
C) In other words, he knows that he, like everybody else, is dying. His outer man is decaying.
1) But Paul declares that He doesn't lose heart because day by day his heart, his inner man, is being renewed.
E) Getting less FROM his Body – but Closer to the Lord
Now
this is something that all of us need to come to grips w/ - the outer man is
decaying –
A)Clairol – says You are
not getting older – getting better – Not true
You are getting older – not getting better { Gravity set in muscles sagging
B) Played B – ball at the men’s retreat [first time in 4 yrs] – Guys I used to play w/ 10 yrs
ago before my hip surgery – Rob put
a move on him
1) I could see it in my mind – the body doesn’t go there
C) Missions trips: In my late 20’s & early 30’s I used to pride my self that I could fly back from Russia or Hungary on a Wed. arrive in the afternoon
1) Teach that night – Now it takes me – at least a week and ½ to recover
Listen we are ALL Getting Older –
HOPEFULLY wiser – some of us – But WE
ARE NOT GETTNG better
A)But
we can say – with Paul I will not lose heart – because if I am seeking after
the Lord – I know – I am being renewed day by day
B) Awesome work going on in my inner man – God is molding me and shaping me –
1) For that reason I am Closer to Jesus today / more dependant on Jesus today than I was 10 yrs ago { That is what matters the most
C) SO first of all Because Paul believed that God would raise him up in the end and that all things were working out for God’s Glory
1) Paul could say : Although the outward man is perishing { the outward man is falling apart} God is working on the inner man
2nd
Way that belief shaped his outlook on life / his sufferings /his death
his
times of affliction didn’t compare w/ the glory that awaited v.17
17 For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
A) Now how could Paul say that what He went thru was
Light affliction
Turn
Ch.11:23-28
B) I read verses like that – I
read the Stories of suffering Saints – Foxes book of Martyrs & think – do I
even Know what affliction is
C) How could Paul refer to that kind of abuse & Suffering as light Affliction ? – Answer is He saw it in light of the Glory that awaited
1) He calls it an eternal weight of Glory – It is a
Glory that is Weighty
B) It is as if Paul says, “Go ahead and get out the scale.
1) Put all your afflictions on one side of the scale, and
even put your thumb down on that side.
C) Then let me place the weight of glory on the other side of the scale, and you will see what a light affliction you really have.”
1) In Romans 8:18 he puts it, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.".
Now
if you really believe that it will shape the way that you look at Your life
A)It will determine what you make a Priority in your
life - which is why Paul says in v.18 - 18 while we do not look at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are
seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
B)Now the word look here is not referring to a casual glance – but it is the word used of picking up a telescope to bring something far away into view
C) It is a word that suggest an intense examination,
a constant scrutiny and a steady gaze
1)
Paul
is saying when I look at the things of this life be it the blessings or the
trials I see them for what they are – TEMPORAL
D) But my real focus is on the Eternal - Often, the
problem isn’t so much about what we think about our light affliction,
1) But that we think so little of our coming weight of glory. We are so focused on the temporal that we lose sight of the Eternal
Remember
being Engaged to be Married – hearing study on the soon return of Jesus
A)Thinking – Lord please
don’t come until after I get married /
B)Few Yrs later on Denise was Pregnant – She Praying Lord
come quickly
1) I am Praying Lord Don’t, I want to experience what is Like to be a Dad
C) Now there is nothing wrong w/ those type of Desires – But what is wrong is when those things Distort Our Vision –
1) When We start thinking that the Blessing we experience here can
somehow even COMPARE – to the
Joy & Blessing awaiting us there!!
D) Paul Declared My Telescope is
focused on the Eternal – Because what ever I go thru here won’t compare w/ the
eternal weight of Glory that awaits
Now
the 3rd thing that Paul shares concerning how that believe shaped
his outlook although this Tent is wearing Out – There is a mansion awaiting me
in Glory Ch. 5v. 1-5a
A)Notice the word of certainty there in v.1 For we know [. Not "we guess," "we hope," "we think," but we know
B) Paul realized that the body he lived in was just a tent. Did he know about tents? Absolutely. He was a tent maker by trade
1) And because he was a tentmaker by trade, he must have appreciated the craftsmanship of a well-made tent.
C) But he also knew that tents are meant to be temporary
1) Camping is Ok - Hallama – Winds - / Oregon the Rain
D) Tent Camping is ok – But I would take a nice Hotel room any day
1) Couples retreat
A)Now when we think of a MANSION – what think of -
SPACE - 10 –20,000 SQ. FEET /
& LUXUROUS
B) And Many people think of heaven as a big Beverly Hills in which everyone has a mansion,
1) and there on the corner of Glory Lane and Hallelujah Avenue is theirs.
C) But if the tent, or tabernacle, in the verse before us speaks of our earthly body, the house not made with hands must speak of our resurrected body — 1) a glorious body a custom-made for eternity.
D) Picture is clear – What we are
living in Now is like a One person Pup tent compared to what is awaiting you
& me in HEAVEN
1) New Body – Blown you away
!!!!!
A)Up until that time – aside from our honey moon the
nicest place I had ever been to was like a Days Inn / Motel 6 -
B) We Check in and the Pastor says later on our
leadership wants to meet w/ You & Denise in your room –go over some things
& Pray [ 4 couples]
C) Now I am giving him this funny look because I am
thinking why does he want to bring 4 couples to my room – small space for 10
adults -
1) I am picturing us Kneeling around the Bed
D) Well I Understood when we came to our Room – Pres. Suite –
bigger than our first Apartment !!!!! Living / Dining / walk in Closet /
1) Eddie & Dawn who also got a nice room – called I think we got your room.
- HOW MANY ROOMS YOURS HAVE
A) But Paul says – UNDESCRIBABLE -
B) he Peter says in his 2 Epistle –RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU
1) Which is the same point that Paul makes here in v. 1 . Notice the present tense
"We have," he says: Not, "We will have," "we have a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens," already there, waiting for us to put on.
C) Now in this Present body/ tent/ "we groan, we long" for something better.
1) God Built that into us – A desire for something better
– the better is there though not here
Moved back from Oregon the Lord opened the door for us to
buy a house in Rancho Del Oro – Bank repo – great Price – all Prepared
A)While we were
waiting – for the Paper work to be Finalized – we were staying at some Friends
in the Church
B) 5 of us in 2 Little Bed Rooms – I like Space –King Size
Bed times groaning – Lord hurry it up
please –
1) God was using that time to teach me Patience
C) Listen God has
a Place already Prepared for us – But right now He is Preparing us for that
Place
A Christian man in the middle of many painful trials took
a walk in his neighborhood, and saw a construction crew
at work on a big church. He
stood and watched a stone craftsman work a long time on a block, but could not
see where the block would fit, because the church
appeared to be finished.
He watched the man work on the block carefully and methodically, slowly shaping it into a precise pattern. Finally, he asked, “why are you spending so much time chipping and shaping that block?” The craftsman pointed up to the top of the nearly completed steeple, and said “I’m shaping it down here so it will fit in up there.”
The man in the middle of the trials instantly knew that was God’s message to him: he was being prepared down here, so he would fit in up in heaven.
D) God is shaping
us down here so we will Fit Up there !!!!! If I believe that I will say – Shape
me & Break me Lord all you want
1)Help me to be a
Soft moldable pile of Clay !!!
4th
thing that Paul would share that was shaped by his believe that God would raise
Him up in the end & all things working God’s Glory Be
A)It that God had placed His HS into Paul as a
Guarantee v.5b
B) The Grk word Guarantee used here described in Olden days a Down Payment - or a partial payment that required future payments
1) It gave the one receiving the guarantee a legal claim to the goods in question.
C) In the modern Greek language, It speaks of an “engagement ring.”…..
Thus
Paul says, ‘You can be sure that something great is going to happen because God
has given to you the Guarantee ,the ‘down payment’, the ‘engagement ring’ of
the Holy Spirit.’
A)Have you experienced great blessing from the HS in your life now?
B) Consider that if the down payment is this glorious,
think of how great the whole gift will be!
C) The times you have been overwhelmed by God’s artistry as you look at a sunset,
1) when you have been amazed by His grandeur as seen in a starry night,
D) when you have been awed by His power, grace, and goodness as you look at the ocean, your family, or His Word —
1) all are ‘engagement rings’, sneak previews, down payments towards what lies ahead.
What
was the Result of all of that ? Confidence to Live for Heaven Confidence to
Walk by Faith -
6 So we are always
confident, [knowing] that while 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, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be
present with the Lord.
A)To be present with the Lord: This is what makes heaven heaven. We long to be present with the Lord.
B) Heaven is precious to us for many reasons. We want to be with loved ones who have passed before us and whom we miss so dearly.
1) We want to be with the great men and women of God who have passed before us in centuries past./ streets of gold, see the pearly gates,
C) Join w/ the Angels around the throne worshipping God. However, none of those things, precious as they are, make heaven really “heaven.”
D)What
makes heaven heaven is the unhindered, unrestricted, presence of our Lord.
1) What Makes Hell Hell – is that it is that place where forever all eternity Men & Women will be Separated from the Presence of God
E) Are you Living for Heaven ? Are You ready for Heaven ?
There was a king who had all his world could afford. The
thing he loved most, however, was to laugh.
Once while being entertained a jester came along wishing to join in the
festival of activities and also wishing to perform for him. His opportunity
came and he put the best comical show together he had ever done and the king
never laughed so hard.
Once the activity was all over the king wanted to hire this jester to be his
personal jester. Once hired the king in humor handed him a small stick and
said, "You are the most foolish man alive. When you find someone more
foolish than you, then you give them this stick," and the king laughed
heartily.
After many years had passed by the king lay sick on his death bed ready to go
at any moment. He called for his jester, for he wanted to laugh one more time
before he died. When the jester was through he asked to speak to the king
personally.
Once alone with the king the jester asked, "king
where are you going?" The king responded, "on a far journey." The jester asked
again, "and how do you plan to get
there?" Again the king responded, "I don’t know."
Then the jester pulled the stick from his back pocket and handed it to the
king. The king was stunned and asked why he had given him the stick. The jester
replied, "King today I have found a more
foolish man than I. For you see, I only trifled with the things of life, but
you have trifled with things of eternity!"