And so we're looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I'll begin reading here in 2 Corinthians 5 at verse 1. I'll read to verse 8 and we'll get into our study, a study that I chose to entitle being swallowed up by life. And so beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 8, Paul writes, we know that if our earthly house, this tent is destroyed. We have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven. If indeed having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight, we are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. And so as we are looking at this passage, let me remind you of its context. Let me remind you that Paul had just written concerning some of the struggles that he had been enduring for the sake of the Lord and for the sake of the gospel. And he spoke concerning those things and then spoke of how they were affecting him. In verse 16 of chapter 4 he said, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. Our outward bodies are perishing, our outward, our material bodies is what you are saying are changing for the worse. You're saying my body is wasting away under my trials because I am often threatened by death. But in spite of this, the inward man has been renewed and is being renewed day by day. This inward man, this unseen person can actually grow stronger and is renewed daily by the work of the Holy Spirit. And so Paul is saying, though my body is perishing, I'm gaining spiritual strength. My spirit is being purified and God is bringing comfort to me every day. You see, part of the way that his inward man was being renewed was through the afflictions that he was suffering. These afflictions that he went through sharpened his mind. His faith became even more bold and truth became deeper and clearer. And he's saying that his spiritual depth is being developed through the afflictions that he's enduring. And so as he spoke about that, he was speaking of the effect. And in verse 17 he spoke of it in this way. He said, our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And so he's contrasting the momentary with the eternal. Notice how he contrasts the light weight with that which is true weight. And so one of the things that he would be reminding us of something we need to consider, it's worth remembering, is that Christians suffering no matter how intense or how long it lasts still occurs only in this life. You see, he said in verse 18, 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. So our vision as believers is not to be locked onto the present conditions, which a lot of people are finding themselves to be doing right now. They're locking on to present conditions right now. They're seeing things and are being stressed by things because they're thinking how hopeless it is and how hard this is. And with so many different kinds of reports we get from various news agencies. And the one hand it's always referred to as a pandemic, but sometimes it's spoken of in such a way that it causes great fear. I mean for people to go to the various supermarkets and to buy up all the products and for standing in line. They're standing in line for quite some time to get toilet paper and lice all and various other things. I mean we're showing where our faith is and sometimes it's important. Of course they have items, but sometimes we're really revealing what we really trust in by the way we respond. Paul was saying, listen, he's saying, we're not looking at the things that are seen. We're not locked onto present conditions. Our life is really moved by the things that are eternal. Our goal goes beyond what we see at this time. Because my eyes are fixed on heaven, my heart is set on eternity. And so if this is true, then the question I would ask of all of us is, where is your hope? Is your hope set firmly upon heaven? What is it, in other words, that we're looking for? And Paul begins to speak concerning what he's looking for in verse one of chapter five, because he says in verse one of chapter five, we know that if our earthly house, this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heaven. So Paul is explaining what has fueled his faith and his hope for the future. And he identifies what it is that has made him bold and courageous in the face of all of his struggles and his trials. What is it that has fueled his life? What has produced in him such a firm devotion to Jesus Christ? What has given him the calmness to endure so much and the strength that he needs to go through so much pain? Well, he gives to us that insight right now when he says to us, if our earthly house, this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. Notice how he says in verse one, we know. When he says we know, that speaks of confidence. We're confident about our future. We're confident about our future because of the work that God has done for us. Notice how he says we know if, if our earthly house, this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God. So he makes it clear that though his body is perishing, he has something waiting for him. He has this life awaiting him in a sense of this resurrection body that has been made suitable for heaven. His body may be perishing, but God has prepared something much better for him. He's going to receive a resurrection body, one that will never suffer death and never feel pain. Again, the young people wouldn't understand this, but those of us who are growing in age and admitted know that we can't do what we used to do. You know, I have to command my body to get up in the morning in a way that I never had to before. I have to command each limb individually, leg, get out.  You know, my body, my body's rebelling. It rebels against my mind. In my mind, I'm thinking I'm still young and my body is constantly saying that I'm deceived. You know, I'm not young anymore. So I do look forward to that new body that the Lord is going to, is already preparing for me. I do look forward to the resurrection body where there's no sickness, there is no pain, there is no death, there is no fear, there's no anxiety. There's nothing that is awaiting us in heaven other than that which is most beautiful that we can't even imagine. And I look forward to that. And Paul said this is what provokes him. This is what motivated him. This is what got him going. This is what helped him to endure the different afflictions, sufferings in the pains that he went through. Because one of these days I'll be with the Lord. In one of these days, I'll never have to suffer death and I won't have any pain any longer. It's interesting, though, how he says, again, look in verse one, how he says, if our earthly house is destroyed. That's an interesting thing, adding the word if there. If our earthly house is destroyed. So Paul is once again making it clear that he expects to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in his lifetime. It's possible that he will die, but not necessarily inevitable. This expectation of being with the Lord and what we refer to as an expectation of the rapture moved him to live daily in expectation of being with Jesus, the rapture. This upcoming Wednesday night, that's going to be my subject. I'm going to be teaching on the rapture Wednesday night and give you a lot of details related to that. But Paul was expecting to be with the Lord in his lifetime. And you see various scriptures that make that very clear to Titus. In Titus chapter two, verses 11 through 14, Paul wrote, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly less, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works. So he was anticipating the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 729, he spoke to them and said, but this I say, brethren, the time is short. In 1 Thessalonians in chapter four, verses 16 and 17, when he was writing to the Thessalonians, he clearly spoke of a rapture, this event that would take place where the Lord Jesus Christ would take us to be with him. And he said in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout. With the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. And so at any moment, at any given moment, this shout could take place and we'll come up and be with him. It could happen at any time. It's the next event on the prophetic calendar to take place. There's nothing that needs to take place prior to this. But there's a rapture for us. No matter where we are, what we're doing to be taken and immediately to be translated into the presence of the Lord. Remember how he was writing to the Corinthians in his first letter and he had said to them in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, listen to this, verses 50 through 54, he said, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit corruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. We shall not all sleep, but we all shall be changed. That's what the scripture we put in the nursery for the children, right? We shall not all sleep, but we all are gonna be changed. Anyway, I had to say that. Nobody's laughing, but I am ha ha in my heart. So Paul wasn't concerned for his future, though his body was wasting away. Why? Because one day he'd have a perfect transformed body. In the Old Testament book of Job, which is the oldest recorded book in scripture, the book of Job, it reads in chapter 19, verses 25 through 27. I know that my Redeemer lives and he shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself. And my eyes shall behold and not another. And then he went on to say how my heart yearns within me. That's what ought to drive us, don't you think? My heart drives is driven by being with the Lord. That's really what God intends for us. And that's what Job said. And it wasn't just because Job was going through so much pain, he was, but it was to see God. And Paul had the same kind of drive. Paul had the same kind of heart that he would be with him. So he'd say in verse one, we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. I know that. Now he uses the word tent. Notice that as a picture of the human body as the dwelling place of the soul. That was a common image during his day. In 2 Peter, the apostle Peter used a similar image when he said in 2 Peter 1, 13 and 14, yes, I think it is right as long as I am in this tent to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ had showed me. So he knew that in a short time, I was gonna put off my tent. I know that in a short time, I'm gonna go to be with the Lord.  But we have a permanent structure to look forward to. And that's what Paul is speaking about. Again, Paul was expecting this to take place in his lifetime. He believed that he would be with the Lord, that Jesus would take him, that the rapture would occur, that it was an imminent event. He says that throughout his writings, Philippians four, verse five, where he says, let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. Or to the Romans in chapter 13, verse 12, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Or when James wrote in chapter five, verse eight, he said, you also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Revelation 22, verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming quickly. Amen. And then John closes by saying, even so come Lord Jesus. That was the anticipation of the church. And Paul expected the rapture to occur at any moment, including during his own lifetime. And he lived like that. Listen, if we really believe that Christ is returning, how then should we live? What kind of life should we ought to be living? If we really believe that he's coming, what kinds of things should we be doing? And what are the things that we ought not to be doing? If we really believe that Jesus Christ is coming, that changes your life. It actually gives you a vision of the future, a hope of eternity, that's what it does. But when you don't think he's coming, when you expect that he's not returning, maybe don't believe that at all. Your life will show it. I want a life that is lived out, anticipating being with him, because the Lord is even at the door.  Well, Paul did. And he said, I'm not concerned about these things, even if this tent, my body is destroyed. I have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. I have a resurrection body. I have something awaiting me. God is gonna do a work in me and make me suitable to live in his presence. And that excites me. He says in verse two, for in this we grown earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. If indeed having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. In this body we have infirmities. In this body we have sickness. We have trials. We can live in a state of afflictions. It results in a longing. A longing to be removed from here in order to be with him. A longing to be glorified. It's what it says in Philippians 3 verse 20, when he said, our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just to get us out of here, but it's to get us to be with him. He says in verse four, he says for we who are in this tent grown, be in burden not because we want to be clothed, but further clothed that mortality may be swallowed up by life.  We desire to be in glory with him. We desire to be with him and receive of his abundance. We can get to the point where we want to give up. We want to throw in the towel. At one point Job himself simply desired to die. Let's just get this over with. Let's be done with it. In Job chapter six verses eight and nine, he said, oh, that I might have my request that God would grant me the one thing that I longed for that it would please God to crush me that he would loose his hand and cut me off. And there's that place of despair. I just want to get it over with. I just want this to end. I can't take this anymore. But Paul didn't want to just die. Paul longed to be with the Lord. In Psalm 16 verse 11, you will show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy. Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. I don't want to just get out of here. I want to go out victoriously. And I want to remember that the prize is being with you and that I'll see you face to face and that I long for. So no, I'm not giving up and I'm not losing heart and I'm not complaining because this building is just, it's falling apart. But one day I'm going to be clothed with that which doesn't. And he speaks concerning the one who's doing this for him, verse five. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God who also has given us a spirit. His Holy Spirit is a guarantee. We have been prepared to be clothed not in weakness and death, but in victorious life. Everything that led up to this, Jesus's death, our redemption, our being born again, his grace, his gifts, everything is working to one end and that is to be with Jesus eternally. And so that's not something that Paul is simply wishing for. It's something God promised him. It's a guarantee. Notice how he said in verse five he has given us the spirit as a guarantee. It's a down payment. It's money given as a down payment that the full amount will later be paid. And so the spirit, the Holy Spirit is the pledge of the heavenly inheritance that is completely received when we're glorified in heaven. The Holy Spirit is God's seal. It's God's guarantee that we are redeemed, that we have a future in him. In 2 Corinthians 1.22 we saw how he had written that God also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. When he was writing to the Ephesians in chapter one verses 13 and 14, he told that church, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession to the praise of his glory. You see, it's the work of the Holy Spirit who guarantees a hope of a heavenly body that's suitable for heaven. And because he's faithful, we will not fail to be clothed with a new body. So we have future glory. We're gonna be with him. And that promise ultimately removes the fear of death. Are you afraid to die is a good question. I think there are believers who are.  I'm just not looking forward to the moment.  I just wonder how it's gonna take place. I've asked the Lord, may it be in my sleep. But then again, that's not good because Marie would wake up and find me there. So that's not a good thing.  The Bible makes it very clear that death is an enemy. Death is not a friend. Death is an enemy. The final enemy is referred to as death. But Jesus Christ, praise be to God, who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ. So I've been born again to a living hope. I don't have a fear of death in and of itself because I see that as a transitioning point for me to be in the presence of the Lord. And so I have something awaiting me that's greater than anything I have right now. It's hard to believe that because what I have right now in my life gives me great joy, great pleasure. I have the things that God has promised to me that I could have. I have peace with him. I have joy from him. I have his love. I have things that God has given him. And we all do as believers. If you open your heart to that, we all have that. Sometimes it's hard to believe there's something even better. And all this is is a down payment. The Holy Spirit working in my life is simply guarantee that one day I'm gonna see him face to face. It's a guarantee that keeps me strong. I don't run around wondering whether I'm saved. I don't run around wondering whether I'll go to heaven. A lot of you do.  And it depends. It depends on whether or not you're right with God. Not everybody goes to heaven. Everybody does stand before God. But that doesn't mean that everybody is going to go to heaven. Because for some, we stand before the Lord to receive reward. We'll see that in a moment. For others, you stand before the Lord to receive judgment. So I don't have a fear of death in and of itself because I worship the one who conquered it. I worship the one who gives me by the Holy Spirit a sense of guarantee that I'm gonna be with him. So I don't run around wondering whether I'm saved or not. Because God's word said it. He gave a son Jesus Christ who died on a cross for me. He died on behalf of me. He atoned for my sins. God's word said he's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And Jesus said, if I believe in him, I will not perish but have everlasting life. And I do believe in him. I do trust him. And as a result of that, I have life. I wonder if you do. If you've been raised in a church, if you've been raised in a Christian family, that doesn't mean you're saved. Have you ever opened your heart and said, Christ, come into my life, forgive me my sins, wash me and cleanse me, fill me with your spirit? Maybe you haven't. Because I can't assure myself of salvation because somebody I know was saved and I can't assure myself of salvation because my mom was saved or my dad was saved. You see, God doesn't have any grandchildren. He only has sons or daughters. And the only way for me to know that for sure is to open my heart to Christ and say God be merciful to me, a sinner. Then the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within me and then he guarantees a hope to me. And the one day I'll be with him. And I'll have future glory. And he removes that fear from me. That's what the work of the Spirit is. Now notice verse six. We are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. So notice the words always confident knowing. The Spirit gives us an internal confidence. We're assured in Christ constantly. This is one good reason to seek the Lord and to walk in his spirit. When we live in fear, we are quenching the work of God's spirit. And that's because living in uncertainty produces an anxiety filled life. Fear motivates anxiety. And that produces internal torment. So the remedy for this is walking in the Spirit and holding fast to the promises of God. One of my favorite scriptures is found in first John 418. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. He who fears has not been made perfect in love. So we have confidence because God promised it. God has guaranteed it. And because this is true, we don't need to live in fear of judgment any longer because fear and love cannot coexist. We've been saved. We can have confidence in the day of judgment. We have the Holy Spirit. He's given to us a revelation of the love of God in salvation and it's a perfect love. And this perfect love drives out fear of judgment. We need to remember that Satan uses fear but God draws with mercy and grace. We need to remember again that fear and love do not coexist. When there's a concern for final judgment, love is absent. Someone said a Christian who fears final judgment reveals a concern for personal judgment which reveals an imperfect understanding of salvation. You see perfect love, God's love, drives out fear literally. So that fear does not exist in real love. It produces perfect or mature confidence in God. Not a self-righteousness, but a confidence that God has made the promise and I can trust him, a promise of salvation. And it's a result of a genuine conversion and founded and grounded on the work of the Spirit. In Romans 8 11, it says, If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit, lives in you. He went on to say in verse 16 of the same chapter, the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, we are children of God. And so Paul in verse six had said, we are always confident knowing that while we are at home we are absent from the Lord. When he says knowing that while we are at home, the word home simply means to occupy, to occupy the body, to dwell here at this time we're home in the body. It speaks of a temporary condition, but he's saying to be here even temporarily is to be absent from the physical presence of the Lord. It doesn't mean that he's not in fellowship with the Lord. It simply means he's away from home. You see the word absent. It speaks of him being on earth, but he's away from his own home, his own country. It's giving to us an insight into a longing to be with the Lord and to leave this temporary place to go home. When Marie and I go places and we do often and we have often, we go places sometimes that we love going to. How many times have we gone to Israel? I forget now, 26 times, 27 times. We love it, we love going to Israel. There have been opportunities the Lord has given to us to travel in many places. I've seen many countries of the world. I've seen beautiful countries, Austria and Switzerland. I've seen Spain and Italy and Germany and Japan and you name it. We've been to so many different places throughout the world and they're beautiful and you can walk through the town and you can enjoy yourself meeting new people and you can be seated at a coffee bar somewhere and have a wonderful coffee and enjoy yourself. I remember one time we were in Italy and we were seated in a foyer in a hotel. We were on a ministry trip and Marie and I were having coffee and we were in this particular hotel for two or three days and every morning we'd get up and have a cappuccino. I don't know if you remember or not. I'm sure you will in a moment.  He spoke English. I have to tell you something. I love your coffee. This is the best coffee I've ever had. I said, what kind is it? Now I'm expecting him to go and come back telling me it's Lavaza or some kind of Italian thing, right? And I said, this is the best coffee I've ever had. What is it? He says, let me go and find out for you. And I said, okay, I'll wait.  It's called Maxwell House. Maxwell House. Are you kidding me? Anyway, why did I tell you that? I just thought of it. Now we've been around a lot of places. We've seen a lot of places. We've slept in rooms in different places, you know? But I always long to go home. I always long to go home. I always long to be in the place that is my home. And that's something that, I'll be honest with you guys, I think has happened in the church today as we've become too comfortable in this place. That's why we want always to have health. That's why we want always to have wealth. That's why we never wanna go through suffering, have any affliction, go through any need, have any problems because we've become comfortable here. And we don't realize that Earth isn't my home. That I'm a sojourner and I'm a pilgrim and I'm just passing through. We don't realize that. And so what happens is we get addicted to the world in this age and we fall in love with this world in this age. The accumulation of things, what I can eat, what I can drink, what I can put on. The desire for fame to be well known even in churches sometimes it drives you crazy, but it's true. We have people who are clinging so much to this Earth right now, to this world that they're concerned about losing it all. And yet Jesus taught me I can't lose a single thing that he can't give back to me in a different way perhaps. That's even greater. Anyway, we're supposed to hold onto things loosely, aren't we? We hold onto things with a hand that's open. We don't grab hold of it. We hold it loosely. It's ours for a moment. And the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. But we don't realize that, do we? We want more. We want to accumulate more. We hold onto things more. But that's not true. Listen, we're just passing through. The Earth is not my home. I'm gonna be with the Lord one day. And I look forward to that. I do. More and more. And Paul did. He said, look at, he said, this is what God is doing. In Philippians 1-21-23, he said it like this. He said, for me, to live in Christ is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell, for I'm hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And that's what we ought to have is this desire. Maybe we're torn. We have things to do and thank God for it. We have family and love here. Thank God for it. But to be with Christ, he said, well, that's far better. And in verse seven, he says, we walk by faith, not by sight. We walk by faith, not by what we see, by sight, what we see. We walk in faith, we trust in God's promises. And we're informed internally by His Holy Spirit as we walk. And this internal work of the Spirit, this drive of faith, produces a great confidence that God is with us. The Spirit gives us an internal sense that God has redeemed us. And the Holy Spirit awakens us to the fact that heaven is our home and in matters of faith, seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing. Remember the story in John chapter 11 of the resurrection of Jesus' dear friend Lazarus. And as Jesus was there and Lazarus has died, Jesus had said, Lazarus will rise again. Now, he had raised others from the dead. Lazarus would also rise again. But when he comes to Lazarus' tomb, Jesus commands that the stone be removed. Remember how Martha immediately told Jesus she thought she should inform God of something he might not know. He immediately told Jesus, he's been in there for days, the stench will be terrible. The stench will be terrible. And then Jesus in John 1140 said to her, did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God. Seeing is not believing, believing is seeing. That's what Jesus taught us. Things are yet to be seen, but we can live like those who have already seen them. And he was 11 verse one, we read what is faith. It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. For the Christian, it's the confidence that is rooted in the relationship with God. It's built on the certainty that God tells the truth and God doesn't lie. And we are confident that the moment we close our eyes here, we are with him. There's no waiting place.  You're gonna be with him. You go directly to be with the Lord. And not only are we confident, but we are well pleased. It strengthens us to endure whatever it is that we go through. Remember, we had just gone through in chapter four, the things that he had suffered, but these things made heaven more glorious, more appealing. Nothing on earth could take his eyes off of what awaited him in heaven. He said in Philippians three, eight, indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. That I may gain Christ. We are confident, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. And he goes on to say in verse nine, therefore we make it our aim whether present or absent to be well pleasing to him. You might wanna underscore that. We make it our aim to be well pleasing to him. That's our life goal. Sometimes we wanna be well pleasing to so many different people who could care less, who could care less. Oh, I want that person to like me. I wanna be well pleasing to that person. I want to be well known by that. No, listen, you underscore this. This is a very powerful scripture, guys.  That he's pleased with. It's one day he'll say, well done, my good, my faithful servant. That's what matters. Not what other people say, but what he says. We make it our aim. The word aim speaks of an earnest ambition, something we strive for, something we zealously pursue. The thought of seeing Jesus face to face, bird, Paul to live a life well pleasing to him. That was his ambition, that was his purpose. That's what he expended his energy on. Psalm 27, verse four, one thing I have desired of the Lord and that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord. That's what he wanted and that's what ought to drive a Christian. He longed to be with the Lord because he loved him, not because he wanted to escape. He lived in great anticipation of this and it provoked him to live for the Lord every day. Paul looked forward to being with Jesus so he fixed his eyes on the things that mattered. He knew that this life wasn't all there is. He was passing through, he was a pilgrim. Like I mentioned a moment ago in 1 Peter 2.11, Peter had said, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, that's what he was. But what does a sojourner, what does a pilgrim, a temporary resident, somebody who doesn't have legal status, someone who's passing through, what are they to do? Well, he says, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against your soul. Why? Well, and we'll close with this verse, verse 10. Well, because we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, whether according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Oh really, we're all gonna stand before him. He was motivated by the desire to receive a full reward for his service. In second John verse eight, John said, look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we worked for but that we may receive a full reward. You see, we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  No, that's not what this refers to. This refers to the judgment of believers, not for salvation but for rewards. It speaks of rewards that are received or lost depending on our service to Jesus. We need to remember that Christians live under the grace of God. We don't come into judgment in that fashion. In John 5, 24, Jesus said it like this. He said, I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins they have already passed from death into life. We need to remember that salvation is a gift but there are rewards for faithfulness in the Christian life and receiving rewards from the Lord should be a great motivator to serve him. We serve out of thankfulness by his grace and for that we actually receive reward and in Revelation again chapter 22 verse 12, remember Jesus said, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to render to every man according to what he's done. So we stand as believers before the judgment seat. The word judgment seat is referred to as the Bema seat of Christ. The Bema seat was actually a place of reward not of eternal judgment. The word Bema is taken from what were called the Ismian games which were also like the Olympics and the contestants who were competing in the Ismian games would compete for prizes under the close watch of officials and if they competed properly, if they followed the rules, they'd win a prize. And Paul speaks of that, he had already done this in 1 Corinthians 9, 25 through 27 where it said all athletes are disciplined in their training they do it to win a prize that will fade away but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I'm not just shadow boxing, I discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others, I myself might be disqualified. The discipline of the athlete, the pursuit of the goal and the value of the goal. And so we stand before the Bema seat to receive reward not judgment. You see, this is a place where work comes into judgment for reward. In Matthew 16, 27, Jesus said the son of man is going to come in his father's glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what he's done. Ephesians chapter six verse eight says, you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does. And so the rewards are mentioned in scripture. It's interesting, they're not given great detail. We know that there are crowns because you can see them listed. You have for example, in 1 Corinthians 9, 25, what is called the incorruptible crown. You have the crown of rejoicing in Philippians four verse one. In James chapter one verse 12, you have the crown of life. You have the crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy four verse eight. You have a crown of glory in 1 Peter chapter five verse four. And so we can also receive the commendation from the Lord. Well done, my good and faithful servant in Matthew 25, 21. And we also have responsibilities that one day we're going to have in Matthew 24 verses 45 through 47, but we'll stand before this seat. Notice he says it again and I'll close with this. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body. According to what he's done whether good or bad, they're going to receive profit or loss. There's going to be reward. And there are other things that didn't really, didn't really amount to anything. Ultimately what happens is we stand before him. Now this Bema seat judgment occurs after the rapture. You see in the rapture, we have our bodies glorified. We're with the Lord. And then we come before the Bema seat. According to Revelation 19 verse eight, when Jesus returns with his bride, she's already wearing her fine linen. So we stand before him and we receive rewards. And that's something that out of motivate every believer by the way. What is it that motivates you? I just want to be with Jesus. Yeah, absolutely. But I also want to hear well done. It's not enough just to stand before him for me. To hear his commendation. Well done. Well done. There are some who are going to pass through and be there, but they're not going to bring much to lay at his feet because they really didn't do much for him. They didn't. Being a Christian was their life insurance if you will. It was fire insurance.  I've never been one and I'll close with this thought guys. I've never been one whenever I used to compete. And I did for many years in sports and various things. I was never one who enjoyed being on a team with teammates who didn't take it seriously. I couldn't do that. I'd get frustrated. I didn't like it. We used to play games when I was in Little League all the way back, way back when. When there was a game we used to play. I don't even know if it's still played by this name. It was called Over the Line when I was a kid. We'd have a couple people. We'd have a shortstop and maybe an outfield or sometimes we had two outfielders. You'd maybe three kids at the most. And you'd stand up to bat and you'd hit the ball. And if it was on the ground, you'd get certain. Somebody you'd say, okay, someone's on first. If you hit it over the head, it's a double, you hit home run. And that's how we played the game. And I played a lot of baseball. And sometimes we'd hit the ball and the outfielder would just kind of walk to go get it. It would go past the shortstop order and he'd just walk and go get it and walk back. I hated that guy. I hated it. Run, hustle, get the ball, keep the game going. What are you doing? I hated the laziness. I just couldn't put up with that. If you're gonna do something, do it well.  If you're gonna play, play hard. Play hard.  I played baseball for years. You know, I didn't wanna sit on the bench. I didn't wanna be the guy who was like a cheerleader for the rest of the team. I was on the team, I want the team to win. But I don't wanna sit on the bench. I want my glove to be used. I want my uniform to be dirty. I wanna play, that's why I came. That's why I signed up. I've always been that way.  I was very competitive. I was very competitive. We gotta win, there's nothing else.  And the Lord had to take me and he had to change me and he did tremendously. And I'm still, though, in my heart, I'm still driven. People don't understand that, not everybody does. Oh, you're obsessed, you're this, you're that. No, I'm driven. Excellence matters to me. Doing something well matters to me. Ministry matters to me, that matters to me. So we do it the best that we can. As unto the Lord and not unto men. Why? Because from the Lord, you hear the well done. From the Lord, you receive the reward. That matters to me. Why? Either I believe it or I don't. But half-hearted devotion to God is never commanded in Scripture. He never says, love me with half of your heart. Serve me with half of your energy. He says, love me with everything. Because after all, that's the only love that matters, isn't it? If my wife only loved me with half of her heart, I don't have a good wedding, a good marriage. If I love her with only half devotion, I'm not loving her like she should be loved. I love her with all of my heart. That's what God called me to do in my wife. That's what I do with my children. That's what I do with my grandchildren. I love them completely and I love my church. And I really believe that we should love God with everything and the reward that we get. Can you imagine, guys, one day? But to hear him say, enter in to the joy of your Lord. One of these days. Well,


They look great and they just, you know, they put so much pressure on the defense because of how talented they are and how they're able to exploit their match ups or individual match ups. But they're also smart, heady players. Kevin is right back where he was and I think everybody will see that. And I'm excited, I'm excited for him. I'm excited for, you know, everybody to get him back, you know, because the game honestly wasn't the same without him. I think there's a lot of optimism around this season, deservedly so.  But, you know, in terms of talent, we've got it in the building. And in Kai as well, you know, I think both of those guys, you see a level of kind of just focus and both of them are super locked in, ready to go. Excited and happy for Kevin, who's had the longest layoff and the biggest challenge to overcome, you know, a career-threatening injury. He's done everything that could have been asked and he shows that hunger and desire, how much he loves the sport and wants to compete. So that's been fantastic. And Kyrie is, you know, just been unbelievable with his ability. I mean, his ability is off the charts and to see him sharp and executing today the way we all know he's capable of. But it still sometimes is a shock to see, you know, how beautiful the game is when the ball is in his hands.


It's going to share that in my experience with my family, I noticed for the week that as long as my mind was my single focus was forgiveness and joining, like I just kept hearing the word joining, joining, and then it just appeared to be the right time to go up, I really didn't have an agenda to go up other than to see them and join with them. And as I surrendered to that, what you were saying, I noticed that yeah, the gentleness of this experience, this experience, this holy encounter, this holy encounter, and I think the difference for me this time was I surrendered my agenda of who needed saving, like when I look at it now, in the past I would have gone up there, oh it's you that needs saving, it's you that needs saving, I'm the one that doesn't need saving, it's them. Yeah, just the allowance of the healing, it wasn't done by me, it was absolutely done by spirit, as long as I stayed out of the way, and that was my honest surrender. Beautiful, it's like you can let go of the agenda then, it is so miraculous what flows from that, because Jesus is saying forgiveness is quiet and silently does nothing, it just looks and waits and watches and judges not. The other part he says the miracle does nothing, all it does is undo. You start to, we were talking about early stages of forgiveness and then more advanced stages, early stages you can seem to identify a process that your mind goes through, almost like a mental process, almost like a reversing cause and effect and drawing it back to your mind, taking responsibility for your emotions and your thoughts and handing it over, but then when you get closer and closer to that no agenda moment, it's almost like forgiveness, you start to experience it in a much deeper way, it's like a very passive state of mind, not to say that there can't be a component that's involved where you do speak or you read something or you say something, so we're not talking passive in terms of behavior, but we're talking about a passive state of mind, a very tranquil still mind, it simply does not have an agenda, it's just so joyful and so present and then everyone can seem to do whatever they seem to do and there's this gracious sense of presence there, because you don't have this agenda to fix somebody, change somebody, tell somebody something that they don't know, that they need to hear and all this and that, the ego's agenda is the problem and when we let go of the agenda it's really glorious and what happens is you, it's not like you're stopping judging, it's just like you're in a state that's prior to judgment, it just doesn't have any judgment in it, it's so accepting. I remember I've had times where I visited people and I just had this feeling of just extending love and nothing else, so I'm not going there to play the meditysical doctor or the teacher who's got something to teach or this and this, there's just no rules, no agendas there, it's just this beautiful state of acceptance and presence and then regardless of what's going on with the conditions of the body, what the world would call good or bad or fat, ugly, skinny, all the different none of that's there, then you just can be so fully available in that presence and that's what the healing is, in the end even healing is not a process, it's just a state of mind, peace and healing are the same, when you're at peace you're healed, you know it's not about then trying to say but what about the body and this and that, it's the perception is healed, the perception is unified, you're seeing it as a whole, you're not trying to break apart off here or fix apart here or approve, there's no improvement in healing, you don't have a drive to improve, so as you go through this phase of mind training you still will go through discernment phases, like one of them for me was this best use of time, well it can still have an ego trying to get in there with this best use of time, not going there, it's not the best use of my time, not going here, not going to see the family, that's definitely not the best use of time you know the ego can come in with a kind of a firm, like an axe of saying no cut this off, cut that off, almost like partitioning very subtly aspects of the world that are negative, that are to be avoided at all costs and then there's those all favorable places, oh yeah, I can go there, that's no problem, that'll be a good use of my time but that still is dividing the world up into pieces and trying to be attracted to some pieces and avoid and be repulsed by other pieces and in the end that all collapses on itself too you know, where Jesus says the holiest spot on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love where before you had judged and now you see that you're not, you're not in that so to me those are those subtle aspects of mind training where it seems practical at some point to be watching your use of time and then after a while you get more to the surrender and follow mode where it's like you're just carried along and you're not trying to divide the world up into the good, the bad or even the good uses of time, the bad uses of time that can be a very subtle trick of the ego that tries to divide things up