Looking Up, not Around- 2 Cor 4:18

Conversations That Matter

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Here's my question to open up the sermon today. What is your ultimate goal?

00:06

Or we could also say, what is your ultimate destination? Where are you going to travel to?

00:12

Because you're on your way somewhere. Where's the final stop? Where are you gonna end your journey? Or we could also ask the question this way, what is the point of your life?

00:22

Right, these are ultimate questions to ask. What's your goal? What's your destination?

00:28

What's the point of your life? And in all of these questions, what we're really asking is, what are you oriented toward?

00:35

Now, some of you might be, feel like when you wake up, I know my wife is a little bit like this, right?

00:40

What's the first thing that has to happen when you wake up? You're not really woken up unless you get that cup of coffee, right?

00:48

And of course, there's people out there who that's, it seems like that's what life's about, right? Not my wife, but other people.

00:54

It's about that cup of coffee. That's what animates you. That's your life support, all right?

01:01

But that could be anything, right? There's so many material things that we enjoy that can end up becoming the big thing, the thing we live for.

01:09

I just live for the weekend so I can get out on the lake with my boat. That's what I live for. That's the purpose of life. And when

01:14

I die, hopefully I got out as many weekends as possible, right? There's earthly pursuits, power, money, right?

01:23

A lot of people, that's what animates them. He who dies with the most toys wins. Not really. They don't get to take those things with them, but some people think that way.

01:32

Other people, this is a little more noble, right? They think that family is the important thing, right? And I have a little daughter back there.

01:38

It's hard for me not to look at her and see purpose. And I should see purpose, right?

01:43

I shouldn't suppress that, but she's an eternal being. I'm responsible for her. God's laid down duties.

01:49

And ultimately, my love for her and my responsibility and obligations towards her are ordered because Christ has made it that way.

01:58

Christ is the one that I'm ultimately responsible for in an ultimate sense, even for my own daughter.

02:05

So these are just some of the things, and we could survey other things. Think about in your life, maybe some of the things that you get excited about that animate you.

02:13

And these things aren't necessarily all bad, but what's the ultimate purpose, right? That's what I'm trying to get at.

02:19

What's the ultimate goal beyond all this stuff? There's a poem. Some of you might've memorized this.

02:25

I don't know. Apparently this used to be one of the common poems memorized in junior high or maybe even elementary school, but it's by Edgar Allan Poe.

02:34

It's called El Dorado. Some of you, as I recite it, you might've heard this, but it starts, unfortunately, the most archaic language is the first line.

02:42

The first line is, gaily bedight, which really just means adorning in a beautiful way.

02:47

But here's the poem. Gaily bedight, a gallant night, in sunshine and in shadow, had journeyed long, singing a song in search of El Dorado.

02:59

But he grew old this night so bold, and o 'er his heart a shadow, fell as he found no spot of ground that looked like El Dorado.

03:09

And as his strength failed him at length, he met a pilgrim shadow. Shadow, said he, where can it be, this land of El Dorado?

03:19

Over the mountains of the moon, down the valley of the shadow, ride, boldly ride, the shade replied, if you seek for El Dorado.

03:29

How many of you, out of curiosity, have heard that poem before? No one's heard it? Okay, all right, we have one person.

03:35

Oh, two over here. So we have three people that have heard that, good. It used to be a famous poem.

03:41

Maybe we've gotten away from poetry a little bit in our society, but it's a beautiful poem and I love it.

03:46

And the reason for it is, Edgar Allan Poe was critiquing a spirit that he noticed,

03:54

I think particularly in the area he lived in, which was this quest for a utopia, for the perfect.

04:02

In this life, in this temporal world, we're gonna find it. And El Dorado represented this, now we see it as mythical, but people during the conquistador days didn't necessarily see it this way.

04:13

There's this mythical place where there was gold abundant, and I mean, there's other legends at that time too that are similar, like the fountain of youth.

04:23

Maybe some of you have heard of that. So you'd have Spanish explorers looking for this fountain of youth so they could have eternal life in this temporal world, in this life, right?

04:33

Of course, we know there is eternal life, but they were looking for it here in the material world. They were looking for El Dorado, but it was elusive.

04:41

You can never find it, that's the point of the poem. You will look your whole life, you'll get exhausted, you'll grow old, you'll decay in the pursuit of this ultimate that you never actually find.

04:53

And then you die having never found it. And the only encouragement the shadow can give is just keep riding, just keep looking, keep looking.

05:03

In the popular culture, there's been a few movies about this. I know there was a John Wayne movie called El Dorado, and then

05:09

I think there was a cartoon maybe 10 years ago called The Road to El Dorado. So this is still sort of in the popular imagination, but a lot of people without the name

05:18

El Dorado are pursuing something like that. They're looking for that perfect, right? I remember

05:23

I had worked for a guy at UPS years ago. I was a seasonal helper, and he was delivering papers in the morning, and then he'd work for UPS all day.

05:31

And I think he got about four or five hours of sleep every night, and that was his life. And sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

05:37

But I asked him, why do that to yourself? And he was looking for El Dorado. He thought as soon as he reached retirement, and I think he had been divorced, his kids didn't even have a relationship with him, but as soon as he got to retirement, he was gonna go to Florida.

05:50

And in Florida, it was gonna be great. He was gonna be wealthy, and all that hard work was gonna pay off.

05:57

And I just remember thinking about the proverb of the man who, he gains the whole world, but he essentially loses his soul, but he inherits the wind.

06:09

That's the line I was looking for. He inherits the wind, right? You think it's gonna be this way. You get there, it's not really that way.

06:16

El Dorado's not to be found on this earth, but there is, I think, a yearning that is both natural and good that we have for something greater than ourselves.

06:26

There is a satisfaction beyond us. We just gotta look in the right place, right?

06:31

It's not El Dorado. It's not over the next mountain. It's not the next bend in the river. It's not down the valley we haven't traveled.

06:38

We're not gonna find it in a suitcase somewhere or a treasure chest. It's not in the material world.

06:45

It's in the immaterial world, and as Christians, that's where we look. So, better question than the one that I asked before, because I asked, what is your ultimate goal, destination, point of life?

06:58

I think a better question, and this is one you see in Scripture a lot, is where is your ultimate goal, destination?

07:05

Not what, but where is it? If you're looking in the wrong place, you'll never find it. Let me read you just a few passages before we get to the main passage here, but Matthew 6,

07:14

Matthew 6, verses 19 through 21, Jesus says this, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal.

07:32

For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. Philippians 3, 20 through 21,

07:39

Paul says something similar. He says, for our citizenship is in heaven from which also we eagerly wait for a

07:45

Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself.

07:59

In Colossians 3, one through two, Paul says here, therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

08:08

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. So we have treasures in heaven, citizenship in heaven, and seeking the things above.

08:17

There's a plane of existence that is beyond the physical. That's what he's saying.

08:22

It's eternal. It has a different nature than this temporal existence with its inadequacies.

08:30

And to tie it in a little bit to Palm Sunday, I think this is one of the things the crowd missed on Palm Sunday. The crowd that cheered

08:37

Jesus as he was entering Jerusalem expected a king who was going to overthrow Roman tyranny.

08:43

And they thought Jesus was that leader, that revolutionary figure who would cast off these shackles and they would finally have what they knew they were destined for, the promised land, the kingship of David.

08:57

I mean, he's the son of David. All these things that the Jewish people at that time looked at them differently than we look at them now having the

09:05

New Testament available to us. They looked at this as a conquering king.

09:10

And of course, Christ will come as a conquering king in this temporal existence that heaven and earth will meet in what we call the consummation and Christ will reign here.

09:21

But during the time of his crucifixion, he was not riding in on a cult to be the liberator of the

09:32

Jewish people in a physical sense. He was there to liberate people spiritually from their bondage to sin.

09:38

And that's what the people at the time could not see. They were focused on the temporal realm.

09:44

They couldn't see the spiritual dimension, right? How many times do we do that? Do we focus on what's right in front of us, the physical, the temporal, and we miss the spiritual significance.

09:55

We miss what's actually right there in front of us if we would just open our eyes and see it.

10:02

So that brings us to 2 Corinthians, okay? So I'm gonna read for you 2 Corinthians. We're gonna start in chapter four.

10:09

I'm gonna read starting in verse eight and we're gonna read through chapter five and yeah, in verse nine of chapter five.

10:18

So let's read that and then I'll go over it a little more slowly.

10:23

But 2 Corinthians chapter four, let's start in verse eight. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing.

10:34

Persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

10:45

For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

10:53

So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith according to what is written,

10:59

I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that he who raised the

11:06

Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound in the glory of God.

11:20

Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

11:27

For a momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond our comparison.

11:33

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.

11:44

For we know that if the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God, but a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

11:53

For indeed, in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. And as much 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.

12:13

Now he who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the spirit as a pledge.

12:19

Therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the

12:25

Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight. So I want to dive into some of this.

12:34

And obviously the central verse is verse 18 in all of this of chapter four. We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, which

12:43

I find a fascinating way for Paul to communicate this because looking requires eyes, right?

12:49

We know what looking is. We've all had that experience at some point in our life. Some of you are having that now as you look at me as I'm preaching, but there's a spiritual sense that we can also look at things that isn't physical.

13:03

And so he wants us to draw this parallel between looking in the physical sense and then looking in a spiritual sense.

13:11

But let's start with verses eight through 12. This is Paul speaking of his sacrifice for the body of Christ.

13:17

And he contrasts this with false apostles. In the book of 2 Corinthians, you'll notice it's 2

13:23

Corinthians, 1 Corinthians came first. Paul is addressing some of the things, the issues, the corrections that he had to make to the

13:31

Corinthian church in his first letter. And this is probably six months to a year later he's writing this.

13:36

It's not that long afterward. He got word about their status and what they're doing.

13:42

He's happy to hear about a lot of the things that they did in reaction to his first letter.

13:47

They were correcting their ways, but there were also threats out there. And one of the threats were these false apostles.

13:54

And that's the term he uses in 2 Corinthians 11, 13. He says, there's false apostles out there and they want your allegiance.

14:01

And they're characterized by a number of things preceding these verses. Paul talks about their craftiness and adulterating the word of God in verse two of chapter four.

14:12

He says in verse five of chapter four, they preach themselves. Essentially, he's drawing a contrast.

14:19

He's saying, this is how we do things. This is how they do things. So we, and the we isn't, they call it the editorial we.

14:26

He's talking about himself. All right, so he's using the plural, but he's talking about himself. He's saying we, myself who is an apostle,

14:34

I am different than these false apostles. And here are some of the ways that I'm different.

14:40

And so he highlights some of those things, craftiness, adulterating the word of God. Today, there's a term, some of you might've heard this, some of you might not have.

14:48

It's called being a grifter. Ever heard of being a grifter, being grifty? So it's someone who essentially more or less takes advantage of people, but he kind of knows what sells, all right?

15:01

Uses other people's ideas perhaps, but they're looking at the word of God and to put it in a

15:07

Christian context, they're looking at the word of God and they're gonna use it to manipulate the masses.

15:13

They're gonna, they know it's authoritative. They know people respect it. They're gonna take advantage of those people and try to channel that energy towards their own plans, their own vision, maybe their own money, their own power.

15:24

They're not essentially moored or principled. They can be very erratic. They can change based on where the crowd's at.

15:32

They can sense those things, right? This is part of being a grifter. And this is really what Paul's talking about, that there's a craftiness that they have.

15:40

There's using the word of God for not the purpose the word of God was really intended for.

15:47

And then he goes on in the verses we just read and he starts drawing other comparisons, other things that characterize them that did not characterize him, that authenticated him.

15:59

He says, look, that's how these guys are, but this is how we are. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed.

16:12

What does that sound like? Persecution, trials, sacrifice.

16:18

One of the things, it's sometimes hard to tell, but one of the things that I've realized in my time of public life and tracking

16:27

Christian ministries and compromising them is guys who will sacrifice for the truth when it really costs them, when it hurts them big are generally more worthy of respect.

16:39

They're more authentic. They're the real deal because they actually care about something higher than their own platform.

16:47

Guys who love their platform too much and don't want to offend the masses and are content to tickle ears, when the going gets tough, they shirk away.

16:57

Sometimes they can manufacture a fake looking kind of strength, but it's always channeled towards benefiting themselves somehow.

17:04

It could be looking tough because sometimes you can look the part or looking gentle or looking whatever the crowd wants them to look like, but I find that authenticity is tested in the moments

17:19

Paul's describing here. It's not in the physical world. The physical world is the testing ground.

17:24

That's what we can see, but there's something beyond the physical world that Paul demonstrates that's existing within him.

17:30

There's a spiritual power that he has that is revealed when the going gets tough and some of these earthly idols would be stripped away.

17:41

Imagine losing your livelihood for being a Christian. Imagine not knowing how you're gonna feed your kids.

17:48

Imagine going into a town like Paul did. This was a common story for him and immediately receiving resistance from the people that you love, from fellow kinsmen according to the flesh, fellow

18:00

Jews, being kicked out of the synagogue, getting stoned or attempted murder, having a whole crowd chant

18:09

Artemis of the Ephesians is great and trying to counter signal what you're preaching.

18:15

I mean, Paul just had opposition all over the place, should have died how many times? Why does he do it?

18:22

Why does he do it? It can't be for his own gain. That's why some of these other false apostles were preaching, it was for their own gain, but Paul, it couldn't be that.

18:34

He says in verse 10, he was always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

18:45

He's suffering and participating in the suffering of Christ. The same way that Christ suffered,

18:51

Paul is willing to suffer and he does it so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body.

19:01

He does it for other people. He does it for the church. He does it for the church at Corinth specifically. He's willing to go through all these things because he loves them.

19:10

For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

19:19

There's different ways of approaching this, but I think the sense is that whatever the trial is, whether it is actual physical threats of death or just inconvenience or depredation of some kind,

19:32

Paul is saying that he constantly dies daily to his fleshly desires. That's something every

19:37

Christian needs to do. That's what taking up your cross and following Christ essentially is. It's just dying to yourself. Doesn't mean you can't have a lot of money.

19:44

That's fine. Doesn't mean that you can't enjoy a lot of the good gifts God's given us. That's perfectly fine. God wants that.

19:49

But it means that you're dying to your idols. You're dying to those potential things that can get your mind off track and onto things that aren't

19:57

Christ's. So you enjoy them in the context of understanding that you're thankful to Christ. He gave them to you.

20:03

So Paul here is saying, look, I'm constantly being delivered over to death.

20:09

It's for Jesus. And it's also for you, verse 12. So death works in us, but life in you.

20:17

Physical threats to myself, he's saying, are producing a fruit that is spiritual in you.

20:25

I risk all these things. I risk my neck. But in so doing, I preach the good news of the gospel.

20:31

And that bears an eternal fruit. So life is welling up in you because of the message

20:36

I'm preaching, even though I'm threatened for it. And that's Paul's reward. And it changes

20:42

Paul's perspective. And it should change our perspective. Paul's perspective impacts his actions.

20:49

Look at verse 13. He says, but having the same spirit of faith according to what is written,

20:55

I believed, therefore I spoke. We also believe, therefore we also speak.

21:01

And he's quoting Psalm 116, 10 through 11 there. So they would have been more familiar with the passage that he's quoting.

21:09

The point though of this is that he's saying, we have a truth we must acknowledge.

21:15

And if that's really the truth, we stand on the truth. We speak the truth. Knowing that he who raised the

21:21

Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound in the glory of God.

21:32

So here's what Paul's saying. He's saying that there's a truth that Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead will also spiritually raise us with him.

21:46

We have a final destination. I know where I'm going. That's what Paul's saying. I know where this journey ends, okay?

21:54

And that's what I got my eye on. And he's saying, you also are going to be part of that equation because you're gonna be there with me.

22:03

Those who have received the gospel, put their trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, you're gonna be there.

22:09

And that's what I want. That's the vision I have. That's what glorifies God. And even in this temporal realm, this will continue into the eternal realm, but we give thanks to God for this.

22:22

So God is receiving worship from us because people are waking up one by one to the fact that there's a spiritual reality.

22:33

It's Jesus. He died for our sins. Guess what? I can repent and I can be on good terms with God and I can have this final destination that isn't punishment, but is rejoicing forever.

22:44

Seems like a pretty good deal, right? But it hasn't happened yet. Not for Paul at this point that he's writing.

22:52

He hasn't seen this yet. Now he talks later about getting caught up into the third heaven and these kinds of things, but Paul has not died yet.

22:59

That's the point. We have not, in this room, died yet. It's easy to say, let's pick another state.

23:07

Let's pick just randomly like the state of Florida, okay? So I already mentioned Florida. So I don't know how many people in this room have been to Florida, but it seems like it's one of the favorite places for New Yorkers to go, right?

23:17

When I was growing up, my parents always went to California because that's where I was born. That's where my family's from.

23:23

So we went to Disneyland, but it was in California, right? And all my friends went to Disney World in Florida and it was different.

23:32

And I hadn't been to Florida until I was a little older and Florida's a pretty cool place.

23:38

It's very different than here in many ways. I like it. I like here, but I like Florida. But if you're somebody who hasn't been to Florida, how are you going to understand what

23:47

Florida's like, right? Someone could tell you about it and you could trust that person, maybe.

23:52

Maybe that's a friend of yours and they haven't lied to you before. Everything they said is true. So you trust them.

23:58

All right, there's alligators in Florida. I gotta be careful of that. It's warmer in Florida. It's really nice. Whatever description they give, you understand what

24:05

Florida is. Some people, if you're really skeptical, aren't gonna believe anyone, right?

24:11

They have to go for themselves. They gotta experience it firsthand. They have to go to Florida and they have to see what it's like, to know what

24:18

Florida's like. We haven't been to heaven. Not yet. Don wants to go there.

24:26

He talks about this. We get nervous. Not yet. God's still got you here. He's got you here for a reason.

24:33

I think as you get older, though, that yearning intensifies because, and it's different than Florida in this way, something inside of you knows that that's where you're going, especially if you're a

24:43

Christian, you know that there's this really good place, way better than Disneyland, that you're heading toward.

24:50

But you also know someone who is there, has been there, actually is preparing a mansion for you now there and he told you about it and you trust him.

24:58

That's what Paul's saying here. That's the essence of, I think, what he's conveying here is that this destination really exists and I'm willing to sacrifice on earth because of what

25:09

I know is coming. So Paul's eternal perspective impacts his actions on this world, in this world.

25:18

Does your eternal perspective impact the way you act on a daily basis, the habits that you cultivate?

25:24

What's the first thing you do in the morning? What's the last thing you do at night? What do you do in between those times?

25:30

During the day, right? We live in this temporal world, but we're oriented to a final destination and that should impact how we spend our time, that we're not wasting our time on frivolous pursuits, that we're spending it in the most efficient manner and that includes rest, by the way.

25:48

That includes enjoying things God has given us, but we're doing it to the glory of God, ultimately. That's where we orient our lives.

25:56

Just this last week, I wanted to highlight this because I thought it was such a good example of orienting our lives to a higher purpose.

26:04

I don't know how many of you are following the news, but there was this murder of a gentleman, actually it was a young high schooler at a track meet, some of you might have seen this,

26:15

Austin Metcalf. Austin Metcalf, he was murdered by a guy named Carmelo Anthony.

26:21

This was national news and it became a very politicized kind of murder.

26:27

And it reminded me of another case a few years ago, in 2019, there was the Botham Jean case.

26:34

Some of you might remember this as I describe it, but there was a guy, or sorry, there was a police officer,

26:42

Amber Geiger, who ended up murdering Botham Jean. And Brant Jean, who was,

26:50

I believe the, I'm trying to remember now how the relationship is, maybe the brother, but one of the relatives, forgave

26:56

Amber Geiger. Brant was a Christian and said, you know, you, and it was by mistake,

27:03

I think, but you killed my relative here, I'm gonna forgive you, I'm gonna forgive you.

27:09

And this was criticized immediately by some Christians, that you shouldn't forgive that person.

27:16

They took your brother away, they took your family member away, why would you forgive this person?

27:23

That's an awful thing to do. They're evil, we should condemn them. And I remember one guy in particular named

27:30

Jamar Tisby, who's written a few books, Christian leader of some variety, I guess, he considers himself that, but he argued that forgiveness shouldn't be extended to this person, especially if they haven't apologized first, right?

27:43

That's the way of the world too, right? You don't, that's weakness. You don't forgive someone who's done you wrong or done your family wrong.

27:51

What do you do? What do you do in that case? Revenge, right? That's what you do.

27:56

It's time for some revenge. We got to, and there's all these movies about this, right? Liam Neeson, every

28:03

Liam Neeson movie is basically that plot, right? Someone did him wrong, and he's going to go wipe out half the population of some foreign country for it.

28:12

And it's like the Taken movies. Now, in this case that I just mentioned from last week, the same thing happened again.

28:23

The same thing happened again. And it was sort of like a racially politicized event, but Carmelo Anthony was forgiven by Jeff Metcalf, the father whose son was murdered.

28:36

Now, I can't imagine this without Christ. I can't do it. My daughter was killed by someone unnecessarily for something frivolous.

28:46

In this case, it looks like, honestly, it looks like it was possibly something as simple as Anthony did not want to,

28:54

Carmelo Anthony did not want to give up his seat at a track meet and was asked to give up his seat by Austin Metcalf and then just stabbed the guy over it.

29:04

It was something as frivolous as this. Would I be able, as the father of the murdered party here, be able to forgive?

29:12

I'll be honest, I can't answer that question. I'd like to say yes. I don't know. I don't know. You took away one of the most precious things in my life from me.

29:22

In the power of Christ, though, and the Holy Spirit, hopefully in that moment, I would be able to, even though I can't see myself doing it now because I know that there's a reality beyond this.

29:33

That's the only way you can do it. Non -Christians don't do this. It is literally the primary thing that sets us apart as believers is that we are able to forgive even our enemies.

29:47

That's a miracle, right? That's evidence of something deep within us that isn't of this world.

29:55

It belongs to somewhere else, some other realm. That just happened last week.

30:04

There was not quite the same reactions, but there were reactions implying that, hey, you're not obligated, and he's not obligated.

30:13

You don't have to forgive. But maybe in his heart, he felt that he was, he did have to forgive.

30:18

Maybe he felt that God had forgiven him much, seen him when he was in his sins, and he wanted to extend that.

30:27

What a powerful thing for a Christian to do that. What explains it? Made news.

30:34

Non -Christians can't understand it. Gives glory to God. So this is a part of,

30:41

I think, what Paul's talking about here, and he's talking about sacrificing on behalf of the church, sacrificing on behalf of Christ.

30:48

These are the moments when those things become real, when the rubber meets the road, and we have to think to ourselves, do

30:54

I really believe what I say? And then Paul's eternal perspective impacts his outlook and his purpose.

31:03

So it certainly impacted his actions, but it also impacted his outlook, his wellness, right?

31:10

There's a lot today about self -care. You've heard that word, self -care, right? Gotta take, because on the internet, words have a very short lifespan.

31:19

Maybe it's not even a thing anymore, but a few years ago, that was like everything. I just saw self -care all over the place, which

31:26

I asked my wife about it. I was like, what is self -care? I take care of myself. Is that different?

31:31

It was kind of a trendy internet sensation, and there was all these ways, all these books on self -care.

31:41

I'm like, what is this? These people that aren't taking care of themselves need to take, I mean, I guess, yeah, good, good.

31:46

People should take care of themselves. That's a good thing. But Paul is, when he talks about the eternal purpose that impacts his outlook, it doesn't terminate in a physical, something like fighting male pattern baldness.

32:09

I guess that's part of self -care, right? You're fighting wrinkles on your face, or maybe even feeling better physically.

32:15

It doesn't terminate in those things. He's actually willing to invest those things, give those things up for something even better.

32:23

Paul is invested in an eternal outlook, and his sense of wellness, his sense of being, his sense of self is healthy because of it on a spiritual way.

32:37

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.

32:44

For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

32:50

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.

32:59

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.

33:09

For indeed, in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, and as much as we having put it on will not be found naked.

33:18

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.

33:28

And he who prepared us for this very purpose is God who gave 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

33:37

Lord, but we walk by faith and 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

33:44

Lord. Therefore, we also have our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him.

33:52

So it orients the way Paul lives, but it orients Paul's state of being, his wellness, his disposition, his attitude.

34:01

Those are the kinds of things that this impacts. And when he talks about dwelling here, he's talking about earthly, he's talking about physical body.

34:08

And I think this passage is so important for us to get because he makes this division, and Paul does this in other places too, though, between temporal and eternal.

34:16

And he makes the point that there really is two planes on which to live. And you need to, as a Christian, see beyond just the physical.

34:23

You need to see that the unreal world, or sorry, the unseen world should be more real to you than the seen in a certain sense.

34:31

There are demons, there are angels, okay, there are things of spiritual significance.

34:38

Sometimes you think, you ever felt like something's off, or you can't put your finger on it, you don't see anything, you just know something's off.

34:45

Or you're filled with a gladness, a sense of satisfaction that just doesn't register in the physical dimension, but it reaches your understanding somehow, it's a peace.

34:58

I mean, I have, you know, and I can bring you to times and places. I mean, I was hunting last fall, and there was a moment like that where I just felt an overwhelming sense of peace.

35:09

And I'm praying, not seeing any deer, so at least it was worth it, right? I mean, you hope you get a deer, but I got something better.

35:18

And I just can't describe it. It was, you know, the sun's setting, and I just knew the Lord was there.

35:24

I just knew he was there, and he was telling me everything's gonna be okay. No, not an audible voice. No, it wasn't, you know, it was just,

35:32

I can't describe it, okay? I think that exists. I think Paul was tapped into that.

35:38

And I think we ought to be tapped into that. And the things that rob us of that often are these things.

35:49

Entertainment. I'm not vilifying those things. I'm just saying, if we're on social media too much, if we're putting so much time and effort into things that distract us, we won't hear the still small voice.

36:03

We won't have the mountaintop experience. Jesus himself, who is closer to God than any of us, labored, sometimes all night, praying.

36:11

And I look at my life, and I said, where is that sense in my own life? Am I missing out on a higher realm of living because I'm distracted by temporal things, stupid things sometimes, foolish things?

36:25

May it not be so. John Chrysostom, one of the early church or patristic church fathers, he said this about this passage.

36:36

He says, he, meaning Paul, calls tribulation light, not because of the intrinsic nature of things that are grievous, but because of the expectation of good things to come.

36:46

For even as the merchant is indifferent to the labor that attends navigation, being buoyed up with the hope of a cargo, and as the boxer, bravely sustained, blows on his head, looking to the crown beyond, so also, indeed, do we, earnestly gazing toward heaven, and the good things that are in the heavens, whatever evils come on us, sustain them, all with fortitude, being nerved with the good hope of the things to come.

37:12

We have an eye that looks beyond. We can see beyond. We know that beyond the pain is a reward, just like the boxer, who takes blows to the head, knows this is gonna be over, and I'm gonna get a reward at the end of this.

37:32

This could be contrasted with a spirit that I see, that I think is out there, of rage -baiting.

37:39

You know, I talked about revenge flicks before, but really, temporary outlooks, looking at things in a very temporary fashion, reinforcing a victimology, and a, you know, let's really punish the guys who, in this physical world, have done things to us.

37:54

I'm not talking about justice. I'm talking about revenge. Or enjoying things that, and making that the point of life that are fleeting, that won't be here forever.

38:05

These kinds of things rob us, I think, of a deeper satisfaction that God wants us to have. So we need to recalibrate, and that's really the point of this message.

38:14

We need to recalibrate. We need to seek what some call the mountaintop experience, right?

38:20

And this is all throughout scripture. Let me give you three examples of it. Let's talk briefly just about Moses, and then

38:25

Elijah, and then Jesus, right? So Moses, Exodus 3, 5, then he said, this is

38:31

God speaking, do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

38:37

This was in the wilderness that God spoke to Moses. You often see this happen in scripture. It's in these wilderness areas, these mountainous regions, where there aren't any other people, there aren't any other distractions, and all of a sudden,

38:48

God shows up, and he gives a mission, and he orients your life. This is what

38:53

Moses had. This is what you saw with Elijah. 1 Kings 19, 11 through 12.

39:00

So he said, again, God, go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord, and behold, the Lord was passing, sorry, this is

39:06

Moses, I think, again. I think I got another Moses here. The Lord was passing by, and a great and strong, no, this is

39:12

Elijah, nevermind. And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the

39:18

Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake, a fire, but the

39:24

Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire, a sound of gentle blowing, right? For a minute,

39:30

I thought it was Moses in the cleft of the rock, but that's another good Moses story. But in this story,

39:36

Elijah, I mean, can you think of that, going through all those? I'd be scared out of my mind.

39:42

All right, Lord, it's the earthquake. Nope, nope, not in the earthquake. And then it's this gentle blowing wind, and that's what the

39:49

Lord wanted to, we could talk about this, we don't have time, but that's what the Lord wanted to convey to Elijah, was a sense of comfort and peace,

39:56

I think, in that moment. After wowing him, though, with, I'm powerful, Elijah, but you know what?

40:01

I'm also good and I'm gracious. That's who I am. God was revealing his character in that moment. You ever been in a tornado?

40:09

Or a, well, we've all been in a blizzard, but I remember I was in Oklahoma City a few years ago, and I was sleeping on the third or fourth floor of this hotel, and I wake up at 3 a .m.,

40:20

and my phone's going nuts, and it says, seek a shelter right now. And I'm freaking out, because I've been growing up in New York.

40:28

I've never seen anything like this. And I go down to the lobby in my pajamas, and I have the lady, or I get dressed,

40:34

I go down the lobby, and the lady in the lobby is sleeping. She's just sleeping there.

40:40

And I said, excuse me, I rang the bell or whatever. I woke her up, got her attention. Said, where's your storm shelter?

40:47

And she kind of looks at me, looks outside, and she goes, oh, that? She goes, that's nothing, go back to bed.

40:54

But okay, I guess the people here are different. It's a different kind of, they're used to that. I don't know what they would do in a blizzard, but if you've ever been in something like that, it's scary.

41:03

And it really reinforces the power of God. Man, God is powerful, I don't wanna sin. Oof, God can come down hard on that.

41:10

But you know what? He's also good to those who are repentant, who are willing to be used by him.

41:16

He can be as gentle as that gentle breeze. That's what God was conveying.

41:22

But this all happened where? On the mountain. Matthew 17, one through two, just six days later,

41:29

Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and his brother, and led them on a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.

41:39

Jesus would often slip into the wilderness and pray. What's the point of me sharing with you some of these stories?

41:45

You know, I'm not saying you have to go in the middle of the woods. I mean, you could. I think it's a good place to go.

41:51

It doesn't have to be there. It could be in the quiet place in your own house, in your own room.

41:57

Seek that quiet, study, and just pray. Be open before God, and wait for him.

42:04

Listen for what he wants to do in your life. So are your spiritual eyes open? Are you ordering your life and finding your fulfillment because of the final destination that you are heading toward?

42:19

Are your spiritual eyes open? Believers have spiritual eyes. That's God's special revelation in scripture.

42:26

That's God's, even revelation that everyone sees out there. God's communicating to us something about himself.

42:35

Earlier in 2 Corinthians, verses three through four, Paul says, if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the

42:42

God of this world is blind to the minds of the unbelieving so that they may not see the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God.

42:48

Paul's drawing a contrast. He's saying they're blind to spiritual reality. They can't see the gospel because they're blind.

42:56

You, Christians, can see the gospel because your spiritual eyes are open. Keep them open.

43:03

Keep them open. This will order your life. It will provide fulfillment, and it is real.

43:09

I want to read for you one final thing, and we will end. This is from a book called Returning to Reality by Paul Tyson.

43:16

It's a great book. He says this about what Paul's point is here. He goes, there is a clear contrast between the pre -eschaton, an imperfect cosmic age in which we presently live, that is passing away, and the future arrival of an already spiritually abiding perfection, ushering in a new cosmic order of reality that will not pass away.

43:38

Before the eschaton, then, two orders of reality are in current operation, the present, fallen, and passing age, operating at one level, and the eternal abiding and heavenly reality of God, operating at another level.

43:51

These two orders are very different in kind, yet our transient and imperfect age is deeply dependent on eternal reality for its very existence, and for the coherent harmonies and inherent meanings of its created nature.

44:05

Summarize the eternal realm, the spiritual realm is more real than the physical realm.