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November 2/3, 2013
Jason Meyer | 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.—2 Corinthians 5:6–10
Introduction
Two weeks ago, we saw the Lord do a remarkable work in our midst: 128 people responded to the call to pursue prayerfully a tug from King Jesus to the nations. There were 144 in attendance at our Missions in the Manse gatherings. Of those 144, 81 were new to the gatherings. This is remarkable proof that global focus is no dying wave at Bethlehem.
This is so important to me. In fact, this Sunday I am leaving on a mission trip with Pastor John to Ethiopia to call for more Ethiopian missionaries. I witnessed a spark of missions interest the last trip I led to Ethiopia through TLI. Pastor John and I hope to fan that spark into flame. What a strategic place for a flame to start! Ethiopia is a lighthouse surrounded by the dark iron fist of Islam in Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti! I will also be visiting some of our Bethlehem missionaries there. Please pray for Pastor John and me. There will also be three weeks here of campus specific preaching. You have the chance to get to know your Lord and your leaders better through their preaching.
Now let me do something that breaks all the rules of the church growth gurus. I am going to talk about money. I have three things to say:
The first thing I want to do is thank you for your faithful giving. We are at a good point in our giving when all of our transitions are taken into account. We have a faithful core of givers who are committed to Bethlehem’s mission to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. No browbeating here—just thanksgiving.
Jon Grano shared a really helpful perspective on our giving:
Here are the end-of-the-year needs:
"In 2012 God gave us grace to give about $2.5M to Church & Missions in November and December. This year, in 2013, we need about $2.75M to be given to Church & Missions in November and December in order to meet our anticipated expenses. This is about a 10% increase in giving needed for the last two months of the year in 2013, compared to 2012.
I would love to come back into the pulpit at the beginning of December with the wind at our backs of a strong November. To portray this pictorially, pray for 2013 C&M giving to reflect a hockey "goalie" stick (with a bigger blade that represents both November and December), rather than our usual regular hockey stick where the blade just represents December. God is free to give us whatever He deems best, and no matter what that is, we know it is for our best—we always have God's best (Romans 8).”
The second thing that I want to do is tell you why I can stand here and ask you to give more without browbeating: I am a Christian hedonist. I believe with all of my heart that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). If you are on a joy quest in Jesus, then you cannot have more joy by giving less. That is what Jesus said. I want you to give more because I am passionately committed to pursuing your joy in Jesus. Sacrificial giving is not a call to sacrifice joy in Jesus bot a call to increase joy in Jesus.
The third thing I want to say connects giving and global focus. We can talk all day long about our excitement with the numbers of those who came forward, but they do not mean much if we are not committed to do what it takes to send them. We cannot outrun our supply lines. Napoleon learned a hard lesson about outrunning his supply lines when he found himself in Russia in the winter. Not a good place to be. As a church, we do not want to find ourselves in a similar place in our mission of spreading.
Giving is not the only way that we support those that we send. We need Barnabas support team members. Many of you said that you felt a renewed passion to send. I am bringing some things for our global partners from their Barnabas support team. We are praying for more. For missions to remain no dying wave we must have a similar swell of senders who are passionate to send our people in a manner worthy of God.
But giving is just one issue among many that calls for obedience. Today is Orphan Sunday. Phony religion would refuse to talk about these things, but Scripture tells us differently in James 1:27. "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction." God cares about these things. As we heard last week in Jason DeRouchie’s excellent sermon, salvation is not mechanical. We come to know God and we come to reflect him. Our stories will read differently when he comes into the story. As we come to know him, we come to know and reflect his heart. This applies to orphans and widows. Listen to Psalm 68:5:"Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation."
Psalm 68:6 says that he does something with this love. He settles the solitary in homes. Our stories change when God comes into the story. We were orphans, but God brought us into his family. We have the everlasting hope that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We have received steadfast love when we once were orphans—we now want to reflect that steadfast love by being a help for widows and orphans. The Lord even settles some of them into our homes as He brought us into his home.
All of these comments cause a question to bubble up: how should we think about all of these causes: going, giving, sending, visiting others in distress? These things are all commands from the Lord. How ought we to think about obedience? We could talk about all obedience in a browbeating way that spreads the guilt trip really thick. We could make too much of our obedience or too little of our obedience. Today we want to avoid both of those ugly ditches. I think the way forward—the goldilocks principle of obedience—not too much, not too little, but just right—is found in the phrase “we make it our aim to please him” (v. 9). It is the main point of today’s passage and therefore the main point of today’s message. What does it mean? How does the rest of the passage help us understand it?
Sermon Points:
1. We Have Courage Always (5:6–8)
2. We Have a Constant Aim (5:9)
3. Christ Has a Final Judgment (5:10)
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Paul’s point in these three verses is profound: Christians do not have occasional courage. Courage is not seasonal. It is a permanent reality. We are ALWAYS of good courage. This courage comes despite changing circumstances. Paul looks at two: at home in the body, and away from the body. Christian courage conquers in both of these circumstances.
First, Christian courage in the body conquers by faith. Christian courage conquers challenging circumstances in the body by faith. Let’s look at that statement together. Why does life in the body bring challenges? Paul tells us right away: While we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. One of the biggest challenges is we are away from the Lord. Now let us be clear on what this means. We are not away from him in an ultimate sense. Jesus is Immanuel—God with us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. He is with us always to the end of the age. What does it mean? We are away from him in the fullest sense. The way he is with us now does not compare to the way he will be with us in heaven. The sun is always there, but sometimes the clouds block it from sight.
It also means that there are challenging circumstances that threaten faith rather than reinforce faith. Challenging circumstances can lead to losing heart. As I said before, we are tempted to lose heart when life does not seem to add up. If the good things we can see outweigh the bad things, then we have courage. That would be courage by sight, not by faith. We do not put our trust in the things that can be seen. Courage in the body comes from focusing by faith on the eternal, unseen things, not the temporary things that can be seen. When we factor in the unseen, we know that God is always at work for our good, even when we can’t see it. We have to let the sovereignty of God wash over us and the peace of God guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Even light, momentary afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory. Even the outer decay of our bodies cannot cause us to lose heart and lose the hope of glory, because there is a hidden work of renewal happening on the inside. We do not lose heart when we see all the things that can be found in a present evil age like ours: cancer, marital discord, orphans and widows (parents dying and spouses dying). We would lose heart if they were all that we saw. But even if they are all we see, we know that they are not all that is. There is more that we do not see. Faith is the conviction of things unseen! We walk by faith, not by sight.
Second, Christian courage away from the body conquers by sight. Courage will fully come with the full, face to face presence of Jesus. In other words, one day the whole Christian faith will be sight. It will no longer be “faith not sight,” the faith will be sight. It will not be hard to be of good courage on that day: it will be as easy as sight. Paul tells us why: To “be away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (v. 8). It will be in your face because we will see face to face.
Here we are studying the Bible word for word—one day we will see face to face. One day all that we see will reinforce what we believe. One day, we will be away from the body and at home with the Lord. We will not see decay, sickness, or even sin. That is why Paul can say he has good courage here by faith, but it is far better to be away from the body because he will be present with the Lord in a fuller, face to face sense.
Now Paul transitions to his conclusion. Changing circumstances do not lead to changing goals. Paul was not aiming at a different target in the body than away from the body. Both circumstances would have the same aim: Please him.
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
The context of 2 Corinthians helps us make a few observations so we can put this statement into context.
First, pleasing the Lord is the fruit of salvation not the cause of salvation. Paul makes this clear in the context of chapter 5. Look for example at 2 Corinthians 5:21. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Our righteousness is not what is pleasing to God. We are saved by the sinless Christ bearing our sins so that we become the righteousness of God in him."
Listen to Ephesians 5:8–10.
Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
This is a helpful text because Paul uses the word “fruit” of light. They did not become children of light by walking as children of light. We once hated the light. The light of the world came into the dark world of the children of wrath to make us children of light. This accords with what Paul said earlier in 2 Corinthians 4:5–6.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Second, 2 Corinthians shows that giving pleases God. “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
I can call you away from dutiful giving that just tries to twist your arm enough to give (reluctantly or under compulsion)—and towards cheerful giving—because God loves glad givers.
Paul also says that the giving of the Philippians was pleasing to God in Philippians 4:18 and he uses the same word for pleasing as in 2 Corinthians 5:9:
I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
It is also helpful to do a word search on this word for “aim” or “ambition” because Paul uses in terms of our universal and our specific callings. We all have an overarching calling to please the Lord. The way we carry that out is going to be different. This word “aim” is used elsewhere only three times in the New Testament—all in Paul. The other two places it applies to our callings.
Paul applies to his calling in Romans 15:20–21.
And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,
“Those who have never been told of him will see,
and those who have never heard will understand.”
If others in global focus have discerned that they have received this calling and aim from Christ, then we want to send them. But that ambition is tied together with the ambition of all work in 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12.
And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
Paul now explains in the third point in this text why he so resolutely keeps his sights fixed on Christ—he answers only to Christ.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
This is part of what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. We live life coram deo—our life is lived before the face of God. It looks like others are in charge. It looks like we have to answer to others. Paul was able to keep a singular, radical focus on Christ because of the truth that in the final analysis we answer only to Christ.
Paul knew what he was talking about. Paul stood before the judgment seat of the Roman Governor Gallio in Corinth (Acts 18:12, 16–17). Paul lived the way that he did because he did not fear other courts—whether it was the court of Gallio in Corinth or the court of public opinion. Paul had a radical Christ-orientation. See Acts 20:22–27.
And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
Paul didn’t fear suffering and he didn’t shrink back from saying hard things because he kept his sights on the calling of Christ.
This judgment seat of Christ also keeps us from thinking that obedience does not matter. Greek thinking sometimes thought that there was a split between the spirit and the body and what was done in the body does not matter. No one can read Paul and draw the conclusion that obedience does not matter. The judgment seat of Christ keeps people from taking a cavalier attitude to forgiveness.
The story is told sometimes of a man that felt guilty for stealing some chickens. He found out that he could go to a Catholic priest and confess his sins and receive forgiveness. He went to the confessional and was told that he was forgiven. He said to the priest: “Wow, that was easy. I was planning on stealing some more chickens tomorrow and then coming back to ask for forgiveness. Can I go ahead and get forgiveness for that now instead of coming back later?
Application
I am no fan of making the Bible into a Procrustean Bed. In Greek mythology, Procrusteus was the son of Poseidon. He had an iron bed that he invited travelers to sleep in, but he did it to torture them because if they were too short for the bed he would stretch them to fit it. If they were too tall for the bed, he would cut off the excess length of their legs.
Let me say this as clearly as possible: We do not put the Bible on the Procrustean Bed of our beliefs. We don’t put the Bible on the Procrustean bed—the Bible is the Procrustean bed—it is the bedrock of our faith. Our convictions must fit with the Bible. We do not stretch the Bible to fit our convictions. We bring our lives to the Bible now and it leads us to four convictions for application.
We live from the smile of salvation not for it. You cannot live for the Lord until you receive life from the Lord. No attempts at obeying the Lord are pleasing prior to salvation. Do not forget about the Reformation this Reformation weekend. The Reformers proclaimed faith alone, Christ alone, grace alone. Some think of salvation as a group project. We do our part and God does his part. It does not matter how little you put into the “your part” side of the equation, you are wrong if you put anything there. The difference between grace alone and grace a lot is the difference between heaven and hell. We are justified by faith alone apart from works. By grace through faith you are saved, not by works (Ephesians 2:8). Even the faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:9). It is all a gift so that we cannot boast about any part of salvation. It is all his. Do not rob God of the glory in salvation. Grace alone comes by faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone.
Get rid of the performance paradigm. No obedience pleases the Lord prior to salvation. It is all legalism. Whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:31). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
We do not live for the Lord in order to be accepted by the Lord. Imagine a father and son playing basketball. You watch your son shooting the ball and you smile. He catches your glance and sees you smile. He then comes up to you and says, “Have I pleased you enough, daddy?” Enough for what? Have I pleased you enough to be your son. You don’t please me to become my son; you please me because you are my son. In the same way, we live from his smile of salvation not for it.
No people-pleasing or self-centered pleasing when we aim to please the Lord.
Colossians 3:22–25 (no people-pleasing):
Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
Romans 15:1–3 (no self-centered pleasing):
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
You can avoid both ugly ditches of self-centered pleasing and people-centered pleasing. Please yourself in a selfish, self-centered way or a people-pleasing way so that you look good in the eyes of others. Both are wrong.
1 Corinthians 4:3–5 (judgment of others is a small thing):
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
You won’t lose heart when others frown and judge you. You will care only about Christ’s judgment, not the judgment of others. You do not have to worry about the opposition of others. Don’t let them distract you from your calling—the course that Jesus set for you. From Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Life of Peace:
An agriculturist was describing how he was driving his car along a narrow road on his way to visit a farm, when suddenly he came upon a flock of sheep and a sheep dog. His problem was how to get past these sheep. Then he described the amazing way in which the sheep dog dealt with the situation, how he kept and had his eyes upon the flock and made his calculations, running backwards and forwards. But the interesting thing was that a little terrier belonging to a nearby house came out and tried to pick a quarrel with the sheep dog, coming at him and barking at him. The writer of the article pointed out the magnificence of that sheep dog who completely ignored the yapping terrier. He knew he had a job to do—he had to get his sheep past the car—so he did not pay any attention to the terrier: "One thing I do," said the sheep dog.
You can keep your eye or your aim always fixed on him, even when it is hard.
Elizabeth Elliot tells a moving story of seeing a sheepdog at work. The sheepdog had quick responses in obedience to his master’s voice: A sheepdog loved obeying when herding the sheep, but the sheepdog also obeyed when he was told to stay and be still. He was twitching with canine desire to dart after the sheep, but he held still until the master gave the motion to move. He was not only in his element when herding the sheep, but also when he was sitting still even while twitching excitement. The Master’s voice is more enjoyable than even the easy thing. Obedience is a beautiful thing.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen—Hebrews 13:20–21
Paul said the same thing with a command to obey. Notice that the command to obey contains both the incentive to obey and the explanation for our obedience: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12–13).
“God works and we also work. But the relation is that because God works we work. All working out of salvation on our part is the effect of God’s working in us. … We have here not only the explanation of all acceptable activity on our part but we also have the incentive to our willing and working. … The more persistently active we are in working, the more persuaded we may be that all the energizing grace and power is of God” (John Murray, Quoted in M. Silva, Philippians (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2005, p. 123).
Our culture has warped ideas about heaven. Everybody wants to go there, but they do not want the biblical heaven. That becomes an opportunity for evangelism. Heaven is not your home unless your longing is to be at home with the Lord. The less the Lord is at the center of your heaven, the less your heaven is the biblical heaven. People are going to broadcast their desires into some ideal state where they can have what they want. Someone’s picture of heaven is going to show their heart like nothing else. Muslims picture heaven as a superabundance of the world’s pleasures. Their heaven is a craving for lots of virgins on couches. The Zen Buddhist actually has a heaven that is nothing. An emptiness. With you are one with the one you reach nothingness. How can that be called hope.
Not so the biblical heaven. To live is Christ—to die is gain because death means more of what you have lived for: Christ. You make much of Christ when your view of heaven is full of Christ.
Conclusion: Communion
Let us be clear on the gospel and the judgment seat of Christ. Communion helps us celebrate Christ alone and grace alone in our very symbols. We do not bring anything else to the communion meal. It is the bread representing his body—you don’t add lamb chops as if the sheep bring anything to the table. Like we said two weeks ago, salvation is not a potluck. His broken body and his shed blood ALONE save. Could my zeal no respite no, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone. Thou must save and Thou alone.
We do not come to the final judgment and say, “have I pleased you enough?” A Christian does not fear the judgment of others or the judgment of Christ.
"Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies" (Romans 8:33). We don’t fear others bringing a charge up against us. Where would they take that charge anyway? What court would they try you in. They are all his. God is the supreme court. His court on high makes the supreme court here below look like a kangaroo court.
Christians don’t fear the judgment seat of Christ because Christ will not condemn Christians. "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us" (Romans 8:34).
You know the judge as Savior and as Advocate. He died for you—he was raised for your justification. He is on high. He is speaking words not against you, but for you!
“When I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyes will close in death. And I soar to world’s unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne. Rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee.”
Closing Song: "Rock of Ages"