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No.
No, sorry. No, no.
Verses that our brother Bernie mentioned.
Was Second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14. Let's say I had that chapter on my heart, brethren. I don't know if that would be suitable for our meditation, but I find it very challenging.
A lot of the detail of this chapter, so I suggest that we might read that.
Corinthians 5.
For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God.
And house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this Tabernacle do groan, being burdened not for that we would be unclothed, but clothe the pan, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the self, same thing as God, who also has given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
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Therefore we aren't always we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor that, whether a present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in His body according to that He has done.
Whether it be good or bad, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
But we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that we ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory and appearances, and not inherit. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because with us judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead.
And that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh? Yeah, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled this to Himself by Jesus Christ.
And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God to beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ that be reconciled to God, For hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Like to go back to a couple of chapters.
To give a brief outline of these four chapters, Chapter 345 and six.
Years ago, our brother Clem Buchanan gave it in this way, and it's been a very big help to me. In Chapter 3, we have the ministries there. We have the ministry of condemnation, and we have the ministry of righteousness, contrasting the law with grace.
Chapter 4. We have the ministers.
And.
He deals with that in that chapter in Chapter 5, which we have read.
We have the motives that animate the ministers.
Chapter 6. We have the moral traits of the ministers.
So if you can keep that in mind, it helps you to understand these.
4 chapters Chapter 3 The ministries. Chapter 4 The Ministers. Chapter 5 The Motives Chapter 6 The moral traits of the ministers.
But I was thinking of this chapter 5, especially in brother Bernie mentioned verse 14. It's one of the most powerful motives for the believer. The love of Christ constraineth us. It's not an outward constraint. It is something that is inward that.
Constrains the heart, and that's inward.
And that is so important to understand. It's not just outward.
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Moral constraints like they had in the law, but it is the love of Christ when we see the awful price that he paid the Son of God.
The eternal Son of God, the Creator of the universe, came into this world and let himself be nailed to that cross to save us from our sins.
From eternal ruin that does something to the heart that nothing else can do.
And it's one of the motives that.
That motivates us.
That's what we want to communicate to our young people, that it's something that should be operative in all of our lives. So I just suggest this. There's other motives here in chapter 5 that I think are so wonderful as well in verse one. It starts out we know.
The beauty of the confidence of the Christian faith. We know Paul. Don't you have some doubt about that?
We know, he says. That's beautiful, the confidence with which he speaks.
How can he be so certain?
Wonderful.
It's interesting that in Paul's ministry here, in these first nine verses, he brings before the Saints what perhaps would be anticipation of the glorified state. And so he speaks of it in a positive way. He says we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved, we have a Tabernacle.
We're living in a body. It's in a temporary state in this world. We're living in a body that's not glorified yet, but it will be glorified. And so he brings us out in these next few verses. And it's a part of Paul's doctrine. It's a part of what Paul reveals in his ministry as to the certainty of the future state of the believer in his body. And in the Old Testament, they had some appreciation of it, some knowledge, some hope, you might say, let's read in the.
In job chapter I think it's chapter 19.
Now Job was speaking prophetically. He didn't as David did in the Psalms. They didn't understand all that they wrote in, but they were speaking under divine.
Inspiration And so in chapter 19 of Job verse 25, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy this body.
Yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself and mine I shall behold, and not another, though my reigns be consumed within me. And so there was a little bit of a revelation prophetically as to the truth that what they had on earth there and they would go into death. That wasn't the final state. And so the apostle Paul in these first nine verses, as I say, brings it out and.
Allows that there's an anticipation of the glorified state. Isn't it wonderful for you and I to know not to hope for to think that we might have and so on. But he wants us to know these things and then as you say in verse 14, he brings before us the motive, the grand motivation for the believers life and that is appreciation and love for the Lord Jesus.
And what is it that first caused us to?
Accept Christ as Savior. Was it a fear of judgment? No.
Was it a fear of being an internally lost condition? No, that's really not what it is. It perhaps had some element. The Lord uses some of those things in our salvation, some different passages of Scripture perhaps. But what is it? It's the love of Christ that won us. And so it says in verse 14, for the love of Christ.
Constraineth or or compels us.
Because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. So the reason you and I received the Lord Jesus as our Savior was that His love was operative and compelled us to come.
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And if he hadn't acted in love, then we would never have come.
And it's his sovereign goodness and his love. And so when we're saved, then after we're saved, it's the love of Christ that compels us to live for his glory. And so brother Harry Hijo used to have this little expression. He would say, don't try to think about how much you love the Lord. Think about how much he loves you. Think of how much he loves you. And that is what will bring forth fruit in the life. And so the apostle Paul brings out these different aspects of the Christian life.
Important to see that the apostle had a special revelation.
In in regard to the the body that we will have in in the glory.
Of the our brethren who have passed through the article of death.
We are consciously in the presence of the Lord.
Without any hindrance. But they do not have a glorified body, of course.
And the apostle brings this before the Saints.
That we have.
A hope of a body of glory like unto Christ's body. Not a new body, but this Tabernacle which is something temporary.
Transformed at the return of the Lord.
Into a body of glory, glorification, we could say. And that is the hope.
That the believer has, as is brought before us in these early verses here.
In this, in this Tabernacle, we grown because we're still connected with a groaning creation through our bodies and all the infirmities that go along with it. But we're going to have a body like unto Christ and morally like Him.
It's beautiful how to put it in verse one we have.
A building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
You know, rather than something I wrestle with in my own mind as I think of that coming day of glory.
We think of it, and I don't know that we're capable of thinking of anything else than in the realms of time.
But that day will be eternity.
And there is no time there. Absolutely. So that the way he puts it is as if it's already there. We have it, a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
It's already made, you might say, but I find this so amazingly interesting. Like John said, we're going to have to be.
Transformed. If we go back to chapter 15, we read about that Paul, like John, our brother John said, had a special revelation about this.
Verse chapter 15 and verse 50.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.
The way we are right now is not our eternal state.
Neither does corruption inherit incorruption. OK, how is this going to be? And he says in verse 51 I show you a mystery, something that was before not understood. It was amazing with the brother Robert mentioned about Job.
He said in my flesh shall I see God?
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I don't know how he must have understood that, but it's there. It's written for us. It's it's amazingly wonderful.
But then he tells us how it's going to be in verse 52. It says in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound. So it's at the rapture this is going to take place.
And the dead shall be raised incorruptible those that have passed on.
And we, the Apostle Paul includes himself those that are living.
Shall be changed. We can't go to heaven in these bodies, brethren. We're going to have to be changed. And it's going to happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye to remember the conference in California years ago, her dear old brother Dan Jacobson said. When it says in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it's not talking about the rapture.
Wow, that kind of shocked me.
It's talking about the resurrection that takes place at the rapture, and it's true, brother. And I believe that's true because the rapture, there's a sequence. The dead in Christ shall be raised first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. So here it's in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, that we are changed. And it's explains in verse 53 this corruptible Speaking of our bodies.
Must put on incorruption, and this mortal shall. Must put on immortality.
Just think of my brethren in corruption. Completely impossible that we will ever get sick again.
So much sickness and sorrow and problems with our bodies in this world, we're going to be changed into incorruptible bodies and immortality means that not capable of dying ever again.
Oh, isn't that wonderful, brethren? That's what's ahead for us. And so that's what he's speaking about, this new body.
You know what? What makes me really stop and think, brethren, is when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead.
Those that saw him in resurrection.
Did not recognize him at first glance. The first one that saw him was Mary Magdalene.
She didn't recognize him. She thought he was the gardener.
Until he said Mary.
Then she recognized.
He was so beautiful.
You would walk for probably two to three hours with those on the way to Emmaus.
They didn't recognize him. You think, in two to three hours talking together.
It didn't recognize him, no.
Wasn't until they went in and he took the bread and gave thanks.
That they recognized him the same when he appeared amongst the disciples. They thought it was a spirit and that makes me think that the body and resurrection is that much different.
There's some of us that have a lot of Gray hairs on our head and we're not going to have Gray hairs over there.
I sometimes say to a brother and that are getting old, I say, I think I might have to look at you a couple times over there brother to recognize who you are. And it will be different brother, but we will know as we are known. But it's wonderful to think we have a body, we have a house, a building of God.
A house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. What a wonderful, beautiful thing to think about.
Joseph Sin, Philippians, Chapter 3.
About this change that's going to take place in our bodies.
And.
It's thrilling to consider the contrast because it tells us here in Philippians 3 and verse 20 for our conversation or citizenship. I believe is the thought here is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile and I believe better translation would be our bodies of humiliation.
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Because we know our bodies are indeed the Temple of the Holy Ghost.
And how marvelous to realize that God dwells within you and me in our physical bodies.
And the Holy Spirit is God, so we have God within us.
But they are bodies of humiliation and.
It seems like often as we converse with one another, we're asking about a person's welfare, you know, and there's aches and pains and sometimes the older you get, the more you feel these. But we got something to look forward to. And what does it tell us here in verse 21? These bodies of humiliation are going to be changed and that they may be fashioned like on to his glorious body.
His body's glorious and so that's what we have to look forward to.
According to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. So this is what the future holds for the believer, and based on the word of God we know.
The truth as wonderful to know as you were pointing out, Bob, that first verse we know.
And as you read through the chapter, it speaks about knowing this and that. And so faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. But the language of faith is I know not I hope or I think, but I know.
And faith grows as we read the Word of God.
And we learn more.
Here a little, there a little line upon line, precept upon precept. It's wonderful. I think of the blind man, you know, in the Knights of John. He received his sight and.
Of course the Pharisees, they were opposed to the Lord Jesus.
And it was through the Lord Jesus that he received his sight.
Well, they would not accept the fact that the Lord had given him his sight.
But you know this flying band.
He says.
This one thing I know.
Whereas I was blind now I see now he didn't know all about the Lord at the time. He was going to become better acquainted with the Lord and find out that he was indeed the Son of God who healed him or gave him sight. But I just find real encouragement in that he says this one thing I know. Whereas I was blind, now I see. There's no question, you know, in the mind of this man.
That he had sight. He was blind. Now he sees.
Well, how is it with you and me? You know God imparts eternal life to us.
And he wants us to know it and to enjoy it.
And the apostle John could see these things. Have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life?
He wants us to be assured of it.
So I just appreciate what's being said about knowing.
And you know, eternity is ahead.
We came across Route 50 today.
And there was a sign on a business.
It might have even been an illuminated sign.
And it said eternity. Are you ready? And here's this businessman presenting.
The reality of eternity.
On Route 50.
Eternity.
Are you ready for it?
It's so important to be ready. We don't know what a day is going to bring forth. The dear brother over in Saint John, he collapsed on the road, on the driveway, gone into eternity.
Wasn't expected, happened suddenly.
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Host not thyself, or tomorrow thou knowest not what a day may be before.
But how wonderful that the believer, as we read through this chapter, we find what's in store for us. You know, we don't have anything to worry about or to be afraid about.
As believers.
But if there's an unbeliever here today, you got everything to worry about.
Be concerned about your eternal destiny.
Helpful to just to comment on reinforce a little bit about what you were saying, brother Bob, there are two things in connection with the coming of the Lord that the apostle Paul was revealed to him and they're distinct. And so the coming of the Lord, the sequence of events that will take place is given to us by revelation in First Thessalonians chapter 5 or chapter four. He says this, I say unto you, let's read it so that we we get it. It's a it's a part of what we call.
Paul's doctrine, and it was given to him by revelation. It could not be figured out by reading the Old Testament Scriptures and trying to discern these things. It had to be delivered to him. And so he says, verse 15, First Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 15. For this we say unto you, by the word of the Lord, he received this from from Christ himself, that we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or go before them which are asleep.
And then he gives a sequence of events that will take place.
The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. So it was revealed to Him. They knew in the Old Testament that all of the Saints would come with Christ that is appearing.
They knew that, but they didn't know how the Saints would receive their bodies and be in heaven and be able to come with the Lord. And so Paul is reveals this by the Spirit of God and it comforted their hearts men as we read in first Corinthians chapter 15. He tells us about the change that has to take place and those that are alive, those that are mortal and those that are in the graves, those that are unclothed.
There has to be a change and so First Corinthians chapter 15 tells us about the change goes into great explanation and so he brings this in in.
First Second Corinthians chapter 5 as well, but we might just turn to 1St John chapter 3 and read there.
The apostle John has a different line of ministry and he says in first John chapter 3 verse one beloved now are we the sons of God?
And it does not appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.
For we shall see him as he is, and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.
And so the apostle John brings before us that we're going to be morally just like the Lord Jesus. We're not only going to be physically like him, we're going to be morally changed and morally fit to be companion of him. So we don't know, he says.
When he shall appear, we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. And so John's ministry is different.
We want to know about the coming of the Lord Jesus at the rapture. If we want to know about the change of our physical bodies, we read Paul's ministry. If we want to read about the moral change, we can read some of Paul's ministry and John's ministry as well. So we are kept in communion with the Lord by purifying ourselves.
This hope in him he purifies himself even as he is pure, and that is we exercise ourselves in connection with self judgment.
And so if we have the hope of being morally like the Lord Jesus, physically just like him.
And we exercise self judgment. We'll enjoy that position that is ours and that future that is bright before us.
In that verse two of that chapter it hinges upon.
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When he shall appear, it's not when or if he shall appear, it's when he shall appear. Only the Father knows exactly the time when he is going to send him back. When the completion of the body and the last soul is saved. That has to take place too, doesn't it? And when you look at back there in Thessalonians, you see the caught up there in the verse 17. And sometimes we make an emphasis on that caught up.
More than we do the seeing him face to face. An emphasis should be on that when he shall appear. Because I was saved in times past, I'm currently being saved right now and I shall be saved. It'll be the completion of my salvation and the return to to godliness that is going to take place in this body. I no longer will say that I was a Sinner on the road to hell.
Now I'm a Sinner saved by grace, but when that takes place, Sinner will no longer be attached to this body.
Because I'm going to have a body like of him When our brother was Speaking of seeing things, you see things spiritually. We're going to physically see him, aren't we? Face to face? We're not going to see scars. We're going to see wounds. They know where does it say that it's scars? We're going to see wounds. I, I totally believe that. I want to see the one that saved me by his grace.
The one that blocked me I'd like to read.
Before and comment on it in connection with what we have before us.
Verse 15. Chapter 4. Verse 15. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the Thanksgiving of many, abound to the glory of God, For which 'cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction, which is for but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Or the things which are seen are temporal, temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The chapters that Bob started with in chapter 3 and 4:00 and 5:00.
Are bringing before us the contrast.
Between what is temporary and what is eternal, we presently live in a temporary period called time. We are looking forward to that which is eternal.
When it's temporary.
We look at it in a certain way and we anticipate that which is eternal.
But to go back to what Bernie was saying, we all live in the valley of decision, whether we're young or old. In this way is do I live my life?
My temporary time here in view of eternity.
These chapters the apostle Paul is showing that the ministry.
In chapter three was a ministry first of the law.
It was, and it said there it was. Temp uses the thought it was temporary. It couldn't continue because it couldn't bring blessing for man. It brought rather condemnation. And so it's replaced by a ministry which has its eternal consequences because it's a ministry of righteousness and of the glory that comes by being righteous and that glory.
Exists and, well, exists for eternity.
And so it's an important for us not only to and look ahead, which is a wonderful thing to do, but as we meditate on these verses to recognize the importance of the Apostle Paul is giving to them as to living now in a way that is in view of that which is eternal.
That's why I believe.
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Whether we're doing it or not.
God is using time to accomplish purposes.
That will last for eternity.
So it says.
In verse the verses I went read.
Verse.
15 For all things are for your sake. Why are they? Because they're working. God is using your experiences of life to establish something for you that you will have forever for your blessing. And so he is working in your life, in the trials and the tribulations and the difficulties and all the things that we say. Boy, I'm going to be glad when that's done.
And that's our perspective, not God's. He puts us through those exact set of things individually, uniquely with everyone of us. And he says, as Paul says in verse 17 of that chapter, our light affliction, which is but for a moment.
That's how his perspective of time on it is. But what's the consequence?
Works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. That is God is using the temporary momentarily things that we may wish we we would pass by and not choose if it was our choice. But God says I'm using that for your eternal benefit when all things are established and permanent.
And so again, just to get the idea, in verse 18, the things which are seen are temporal or temporary.
The things which are not seen yet are eternal and consequently, how about your God? These verses are what God is doing, but look at the consequences of time and view of eternity in the next chapter, chapter 5 and verse 10.
We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
That each one may receive the things done and I'll amplify it.
To get the point, the things done in his body and the time he had here on earth.
According to what he did in that time of that temporary period called time that he was living.
That he may receive according to what he had done and consequently how we live. Time is going to have its effect on us for eternity.
One of the very important aspects in which time is working.
And important to us in review of In View of Eternity.
Is each one of us is establishing the size of our vessel?
And as that vessel is enlarged by fellowship with the Lord Jesus, and entering in.
And having a desire to know Him and his will.
There will be a larger capacity to the vessel to enjoy him for eternity, whether my vessel is a thimble.
Or a big every vessel will be filled and every soul will be perfectly happy and content. And yet there will be difference according to the importance that we placed and the choices we made of whether to live life for now.
And the temporary pleasure of now, or whether we lived it, as is given in these three chapters, in view of that which is permanent and eternal.
Paul says our light affliction. If you read the.
List of the sufferings he went through in Second Corinthians Chapter 11. I don't think you would get the idea that it was light affliction. How can he say that it's light affliction? Beaten with rod, shipwrecked the night in the day in the deep. Why do you say, Paul, that it's light affliction? Oh, it's because when you compare it with the coming glory.
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You can compare it, you can't compare it.
And it's just for a moment. And brethren, I really think when we get up there.
And look back at our lives.
We're going to say, why was I so occupied with those toys down there? Why wasn't I more occupied with that eternal glory to which I've been called?
So it is, brethren. It's interesting to me in this verse two, it says we groan. Why do we groan?
You know, in scripture groaning is not the same as complaining.
Sometimes we complain, and that's not right. Children of Israel complained and there was consequences to complaining.
But groaning is not the same as complaining.
Groaning is simply the recognition.
That the way things are now is not the way God meant them to be. And so even the Lord Jesus in this life, he groaned.
I can imagine the Lord Jesus who is the creator of all. You imagine Adam got up to 930 years old.
Just a very few people get up to over 100 now. What happened? Oh brethren, the decadence that has come in because of sin and its results.
That's why I think he says we've grown. Yeah, we all have.
Some measure of groaning to do.
But it's just in view of something that is.
Says we earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. So when we think of that coming day of glory and that body of glory that we're going to have in that day, O brethren, yeah, we do groan a little bit.
The time is so brief, and that's why the Apostle Paul could say.
Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, I just like to say to the young people.
Remember that time is short.
I used to look at the older brother and think, man, it must be good to get up there. You must not have any more struggle with the flash.
I have learned that that's not the case.
But young people?
Time is short. It just seems like yesterday I was a young person looking old up at older brethren that were teaching us it's not that long. Time is short. The Lord help us to use those brief moments of time in a way that will last for a God's eternal day and not something that will pass away forever.
What a challenge to you young people to get the right focus on temporary temporal things.
If we look at Romans chapter 8, the Apostle Paul uses the same term.
And he says in verse 23, well, let's read verse 22.
We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, so the naturally.
The whole natural creation groans because of the.
Breakdown of sin. They don't know why they've grown, but they they groan.
But then it says not only they, but ourselves also.
Which have the first fruits of the Spirit?
We even we ourselves grow within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to quit the redemption of our body. And so our bodies are not yet free from the power, from the evidence of sin and from the even the ability of sin to sin. We are, we are redeemed. Our souls, our spirits and souls are redeemed. But I think it's chapter Brown used to say you're only partly redeemed. Your body isn't set free yet from sin.
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And it needs to be redeemed. But isn't it interesting? The Spirit of God uses Paul to say that you and I are indwelled with the Spirit of God, and we have the capacity to groan because of what sin has done to God's creation. And we groan because of the.
Difficulties that we have and so on, but we grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption. And so here in this chapter that we're taking up, it's in this we grow.
It represents the fact that you and I have a new life. We have divine life and we have the capacity to groan, you might say, in communion with the Lord. And the Lord groans. He groaned when he was here, as Brother Bob pointed out. And so you and I, because we have a new life, we have the capacity to groan because of what sin has done in God's creation and what is doing now even in our own bodies.
So.
We've grown earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. We long to have our bodies glorified. And then it says, if so be that being clothed, that is, we're we're saved, we're clothed, we shall not be found naked. The unbeliever is naked in the presence of God.
It has no covering, but you and I will be in the presence of the Lord Jesus glorified in our bodies, the very same bodies that we have here. I know it's a little bit of a digression, but it's a helpful comfort to I believe in in the 110th Psalm. It speaks there of how the Lord Jesus will be. You say, well, what am I going to look like in the.
A glorified body. We know that it'll be.
Different, there won't be any mark of sin on any of us, but it says in verse three, the 110 Psalm, verse three, it says part way through in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth. And so the Lord Jesus will be seen there in the strength and the beauty of his youth, as it were as a young man. He was cut off in the midst of his days.
And so you and I will be like young people in heaven.
Not a mark of sin. Not a Gray hair.
Not a scar.
And no taint of sin, only one man will have any mark of what sin ever did in this world.
That's the Lord Jesus. He will bear those marks for all eternity. And the motive of why he went to the cross, as we've read a little bit later on in this chapter, is the love of Christ that constrains us when we think that he's going to have us there in his presence, glorified bodies and the price that he paid to make it a reality. And we realized that it was his love. Why the affections will flow forth in that scene.
Above, the praise will never cease. The Thanksgiving will never cease. But it should begin now. It should be evident in our lives.
Continually at the present time.
Speaking about Brother Roberts and Holt.
Whole creation groans, and we ourselves groan. But if you go further in Romans 8, you find out that the Comforter himself groans, the Spirit of God groans, and so if that be the case, groaning is appropriate.
It tells us in.
Romans 826 Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.
For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself make it intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. I just think that you know God identifies with our difficulties, our troubles. And you mentioned how the Lord Jesus, he groaned in spirit.
At the.
The tomb of Lazarus.
Important to remark that the blessed Lord did not have infirmities. That's a mistake that is made in Christendom.
Infirmities are a result of sin in the body.
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We don't. We don't need to.
Sin because we have an infirmity and the verse that our brother referred to there the Spirit help us our infirmities. It doesn't say he removes the infirmities. So the infirmities are weaknesses that we have in this.
Groaning Tabernacle.
But the Lord is enters into those infirmities He understands, though he never himself had an infirmity.
For instance, the Lord was never sick. That's a result of sin. And I was thinking also of what Timothy says in the first chapter, first chapter, second Timothy chapter one, it speaks of the Lord having.
Is now made manifest verse 10 by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Who have to abolish death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Now there's the full revelation through the ministry of the apostle Paul that we have now we will have a body incorruptible like Christ's body that was part of the revelation of that Paul received from the glory special revelations that were not given to.
Other apostles. And so in our chapter here, when it speaks of being clothed, I judge that that refers to receiving the glorified body when the Lord returns. Now the unsaved will have a body when they stand before the the Great White Throne, but we are not told what kind of a body it will be.
But it must be a body, because they're going to appear there at the Great White Throne and give account for their lives.
But they're going to be found naked. They will have nothing to cover that awful burden of sin that they will have. So they'll have a body, but they will have they will have no righteousness to stand before the judge of the Lord Jesus. So I just thought we should distinguish that the Lord groaned in sympathy with all the the.
The devastation that sin had brought into the world. The sorrow.
The trials, the sickness, all of the result of man's sin. The whole creation groans, the animal creation as well because of man's sin. But the Lord groaned in sympathy, though we want to.
Guard that point that the Lord, of course, he did not have an old nature, and his body was a holy body.
Without any of the signs of sin in any way. Is that right, brethren?
I'd just like to.
Extend that a little bit. If you go back to Isaiah 53 and write to read verse four, it says Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
What it speaks there in verse 4 is not the cross.
If you go to Matthew chapter 8, it explains what that means.
He's healing the sick and it says in Matthew 8 and verse 17.
The end of verse 16, it says He healed all that were sick that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah. The prophet saying himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. He felt it brethren, but he was never sick. He was never infirm because that would be a result of sin.
But he felt that, brethren, if we're in fellowship with the Lord and look out of this world around us, we should feel these things too, the terrible misery that's going on in other parts of the world where there's warfare.
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I see sometimes pictures of little orphan children trying to make the best of it just just does something to your heart. And we need to feel these things. We need to grow. We see it. The Lord Jesus is going to come back and he's going to hush those groans. But until then, we groan.
Here in our chapter, it's more in connection with our own body, I think. But we've grown in hope because.
Verse four, it says we in this Tabernacle do groan being burdened. Not for that we would be unclothed. We don't want to die. That's not the hope of the believer.
But clothed upon. In other words, transformed.
When the Lord comes back, he is going to take this body of humiliation.
And transform it into a body of glory. That's what it refers to and says, but clothed upon.
That mortality might be swallowed up of life. That beautiful way of putting it, Mortality swallowed up of life.
Brother Bob, Robert and Wally had mentioned the groanings, and we're talking about this. There's something precious in the thought of the Spirit of God groaning.
He's communicating our groanings. So how many times has a mother and father or anyone been in a situation or have a situation before them with a loved one maybe where you hardly know how to pray, you just tears running down your face, kneeling at your bed, maybe driving in your car. I don't care where it is and you're groaning within because of the situation.
And you hardly know what to say, and you just groan. There's something precious in this thought that the Spirit of God that dwells in US is communicating groanings.
It cannot be honored. We may be groaning and uttering sounds.
But the Spirit of God is communicating the meaning of that, that we can't maybe even put into words ourselves. But he's doing that and knowing that when you're there weeping before God in the midst of a trial or a difficulty does bring comfort. And being reminded when it says that the Lord Jesus, He is touched with the feelings are our infirmities. It's not the infirmities.
That he's touched with. It's the feelings of our infirmities. So well, I don't care how old you are, young you are, whatever feelings you're going through, heartbreak, hurt, pain, suffering, wherever you're at, He's touched with those feelings. He feels it. And our God, when he created this universe, put himself in a place where he could feel pain.
Because he wanted this family that he's gathering out of this world through the cross and the work of Christ on the cross. But he put himself in a place where he would feel these things. And as Bob was saying, we should feel too, along with our Savior. His heart is towards those who are suffering and hurting. And we should groan with them and we should feel with them. We often we don't. But like Bob says, sometimes we see things.
That touch us and it brings a lump up in our throat and we begin to feel it. Some poor orphan or somebody that's suffering, maybe some homeless person along the street or whatever. Somebody that's lost, somebody that's in trouble. We read in something in the news and and we feel it, how terrible things have gone in this world. And maybe we know somebody who's got a grandson or, or, or a daughter or someone who's gone off the rails and we see the hurt.
Their feeling and their the prayer meeting on prayer meeting night and they're crying out for their grandson or their granddaughter. Well, we can feel that and we know that he feels it and we know that the groaning of that dear mother and father or whoever that the Spirit of God is communicating those groanings. So I know that anybody who's lived very long has been in that position where you're on your knees and you don't even know what to say. How precious it is.
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That the Spirit of God knows how to communicate those groanings to our Father.
I'd like to go back to First John chapter 3, just for a brief moment.
Everyone here who knows the Lord is their Savior is a minister. You're a servant of God. And these things are real with each one of us. And it says in verse two that we had read earlier, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. What does it mean? We shall be like Him. We can be as much like Him now as we want to be. And it says here in the beginning of that verse, beloved, now.
Are we the sons of God now we are the sons of God. So we can become like Christ, not fully like we will in the in the glory when we shall see him, but we shall be like him and and we can be as much like him now as we want to be to be like him morally. I think that may mean sort of like we think like him. We act like him and then if you go over to.
First Second Corinthians chapter 5 again and down to verse 18.
It's not the verse I was thinking.
Sorry, let's go to Philippians chapter 2.
And verse, sorry, Philippians chapter one and verse 29. And here's a servant of the Lord, and groaning in this body. And it says in verse 29, For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for his sake. We read in our chapter that we live by faith, not by sight. And that's one of the gifts that have been given to us. Two gifts in this verse. One gift is the belief to believe, that's faith.
We need faith to believe on the Lord Jesus to go out and to serve him to be the minister of God. And then it says it's also given to you to suffer for his sake. And so there's going to be suffering, there's going to be groaning in the service of the Lord. And so we need to be aware of that. Paul could say he glories in the in his sufferings. We suffer for Christ and we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.
Let me say 325.
So.
I understand being thrown together.
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No one is doing it for every beginning.