Good morning. We're going to
open this morning's service with a hymn that's on the back of
your bulletin, so if you would all please stand. This is a familiar
hymn that's Since we don't have enough of the softback tendrils
and they're falling apart, we'll have to do it on the bulletin
occasionally. So let's all stand together. God the Father and the Son, and
the Spirit freed in one. In eternal ages past, made a
covenant sure and fast. God my Father chose His own in
the person of His Son, and ordained that I should be one with Him
eternally. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law
and retrieve me from the fall. Christ in love so willingly stood
as my great surety. For my price He offered blood
to appease the wrath of God. God the Spirit, Heavenly Dove,
promised to come down in love, bringing life and peace and grace
to the chosen, purchased race. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame, and He brings us to the Lamb. By His mighty sovereign
call, God's elect are gathered all. This poor sinner is secure,
for God's covenant will endure. It is sealed by God's own word,
by His Spirit and His blood. Blessed Holy Covenant God, I
am yours by tithes of blood. Ties of grace and ties of love
hold me to my God above. Please be seated. Good morning. Ties of grace and ties of love
hold me to my God above. It's the only thing that will
hold us to Him. It's His grace toward us and
the love that He's bestowed upon us in the person of His dear
Son. So thankful. If you'd like to open your Bibles
with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, I want you and me to have assurance
of our salvation. I want you to be confident. I
want you to be sure. I want you to know beyond any
shadow of a doubt that the Lord has saved you. And I hope that
if the Lord will be pleased to bless his word this morning that
that'll be the that'll be the result of of our study here in
second Corinthians chapter five. Let's pray together and ask his
blessings. Our Heavenly Father, we do pray,
Lord, that you would send your spirit in power that you would
give to our hearts confidence, that you would cause us, Lord,
to find our hope, our safety, our security, our happiness,
and all our salvation in the person of thy dear son, the one
who accomplished everything necessary for the salvation of your people.
Lord, you've said that faith is the substance of things hoped
for. It is the evidence of things not seen. Oh Lord, how we pray
that you would bestow the gift of faith to the hearts of thy
people this morning. Lord, that you would give us
confidence and hope in knowing that when this earthly tabernacle
is dissolved, we have a building in heaven one made by thee, not
with the hands of men. We ask it in Christ's name and
for his sake. Amen. Confidence comes from knowing
something is true. Young people, you know when you're
confident to take an exam and when you're not confident to
take an exam. You know the information that's
going to be put before you and you feel at ease to perform in
that examination. When you know something, you
know it for sure, then you're confident. And the Lord has given
us several passages of scripture
I want us to look at this morning. that speak of those things that
the believer knows. He knows them. One of them is
right here in chapter five, verse one. For we know, we know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, he's
talking about our fleshly body, we know that when we die, We
have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. Do you know that? Do you know
that? I'm not talking about a confidence
that's based on something that's faulty. All you have to do is
watch the politicians begging for votes today, and every single
one of them, I've listened to them, every single one of them
have said, I am going to be the next president of the United
States. Most of them have had to eat those words because they've
had to fall out of the race already. And that's only going to become
true of one. And yet, man in his proud, self-righteous,
cocky attitude presents a sense of confidence that's based not
on truth, but based on an attempt to intimidate. And that's not
the kind of confidence we're talking about. And we're not
talking about the kind of confidence. You've seen the new book that
Joel Osteen has written. I was shocked when I heard the
title of it. The title of it is I Am. That's the title of his new book. And the chapters are I Am Strong,
I Am Beautiful, I Am Happy, I Am Positive. Can you believe it? That's not the kind of confidence
we're talking about. That's nothing more than the power of positive
thinking, an attempt for men to try to talk themselves into
something that's not true. But when the Lord says, we know,
I want to be able to say, yes, I know, I know. I want to be able to say with
that man in John chapter nine, one thing I know, whereas once
I was blind, now I see, I see, I do see, I see Christ. I see
myself. I see how it is that God saves
centers. And I believe it. And that's
what gives us hope in eternal life. You know, you've heard
me say on several occasions, I want you to think about death.
Well, you know, in talking to believers, I have discovered
that that is a subject that a believer can never escape. I don't need to say to you, I
want you to think about death. Believers do think about it.
They do. Even before the Lord saves them.
I was talking to a brother the other night and he was telling
me about a dating relationship he had with a young lady back
in his early years and it finally broke off because she said, you're
just consumed with death. And that was before the Lord
saved him. But, you know, that seems to
be the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of every one of
God's people. And they can't find satisfaction
anywhere. As much as they try to resolve
this conflict that they have over death, they can't find satisfaction
anywhere until the Lord is pleased to give them hope in Christ and
cause them to say, now I know. Now I know. Turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 2. Look at verse 14, for as much
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver
them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. Those are the people that God
delivered. Those are the ones that Christ came to deliver. If you
have to be told to think about death, to think about the eternal
destiny of your immortal soul, then I fear that perhaps the
Spirit of God is not at work in your heart. Because when He
goes to work in one of His children's hearts, they can't escape that. through fear of death were all
their life held in bondage to, and what did the Lord do? He
took on the likeness of sinful flesh in order to destroy him
who had power over death, that is the devil, and deliver us
from that bondage. Deliver us from the fear. Deliver
us from the judgment and the wrath that is to come. And that's
what... Now, the unbeliever turned to
me to Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah chapter 28. And we tried
this, but it didn't work. Look at verse 9. Whom shall he
teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand
doctrine? Who's going to come to the right
understanding of life and death and salvation and God? Who's
going to be taught these things? Them that are weaned from milk.
drawn from the breast. Oh, Father, I thank Thee that
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent and
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in Thy sight." Here's who he reveals them to. And what means
does he use to reveal the truth of the gospel to the hearts of
his children? Verse 10, for precept must be
upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little. God used his word to teach us
the truth of the gospel. Little by little, we grow in
grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don, you
read that passage in Isaiah about trees of righteousness, which
are the plantings of the Lord, and these trees grow slowly,
but they do grow. And they put down deep roots,
rooted and grounded in Christ. Look at verse 11. For with stammering
lips and another tongue will he speak to this people, to whom
he said, this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest,
and this is the refreshing. In other words, what he's saying
is that the preachers that I send are going to take precept upon
precept, line upon line, and they're going to reveal to you
the glorious person and the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ
so that you will have a place to rest your soul and not fear
eternal judgment. But Yet they would not hear. The
natural man would not hear. But the word of the Lord was
unto them. Here's the religious person.
The word of the Lord was unto them nothing more than precept
upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little, that they may go and fall backwards
and be broken and snared and taken. They didn't. You search
the scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life,
but these are they which testify of me. That's just what the Lord
is describing here. The person who's diligent in
being a student of the Bible, studying line upon line, here
a little there, but they miss Christ. And because they miss
Christ, look at verse 14. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people, which is in Jerusalem,
because you have said, we have made a covenant with death, and
with hell are we at agreement. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have
made lies our refuge, and under falsehoods we have hid ourselves.
We've made our decision, our will, and our works the covenant
by which we're going to escape the judgment of God. It's the
covenant that we've made. There's only two covenants. Either
God's going to make a covenant of grace in Christ, or you're
gonna make a covenant of works. And that's what he's talking
about here. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. Abraham looked for a city whose
builder and maker was God, which hath foundations. This is the
foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ is the cornerstone upon which
the church is built and he's the stone on which we must stand. If when the scourge comes, when
the storm comes, there's no storm in this world. Do you remember
that passage we looked at? If you can't contend with a footman,
what are you going to do? How are you going to keep up
with a horseman? And if in this land of peace
you can't survive, what are you going to do in the swelling of
the Jordan? That's the storm. The storm that's coming is the
storm. Well, we're going to go back to our passage in 2 Corinthians
and see what he talks about there. But it's the storm of judgment.
That's the storm I want to escape. he that believeth shall not make
haste judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness
to the plummet and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies
and the water shall overflow the hiding place and your covenant
oh I invited Jesus into my I made a I made a commitment to Christ
I've made you know your covenant Your covenant with death shall
be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand when
the overflowing scourge shall pass through. Then you shall
be trodden down by it." Oh, I don't want to be standing before God
on that day in a covenant that I made. I'm too fearful of the
wrath that is to come to find any hope and comfort in that
covenant. God said, I'm going to disannoy
the covenant you've made. You think that your understanding
of the Bible and your obedience to the scriptures have somehow
given you favor with God? You've deceived yourself. You've
deceived yourself. There's only one covenant, and
that's the foundation stone, a sure stone, a tried stone. The Lord Jesus Christ was tried
by God. every point of the law, he was
tested by it and proved himself to be faithful to it. All right,
go back with me to our text. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter
1, I am not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
for I know, I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. I got all my eggs in one basket.
Christ doesn't save me, I won't be saved. If he's not all my
righteousness before God, I have no righteousness before God.
And if he doesn't put away my sin, I have no way to put away
my own sin. Christ is my only hope. I know
whom I have believed. Can you say that? I want you
to be able to say that. The Spirit of God is the only
one that can enable us to say that. to destroy the work of
the devil and deliver us who all our lives have lived in fear
of death. Oh Lord, deliver me from that
bondage. Give me hope. Give me hope. Go back with me
to our text. Here's another thing we know.
Paul said in Romans chapter 7 verse 18, for I know I know, do you know this, that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not."
I cannot produce an ounce of holiness in my life. I can't
bring anything out that would earn me favor with God that would
give me any place of standing in the presence of a holy God.
I'm completely dependent upon Christ for all my salvation."
If you are, then you can say, we know, we know that if our
earthly house, go back with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, We
know that this world and this body is not our home. We know that. We know that. As appealing as it might be to
the flesh from time to time, we know that in our heart of
hearts that this world is not our home. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, a 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." We're longing for that day. Have you seen the pictures and
the reports of the The tent cities in Syria where these poor people
are having to stand in line all day long to get a morsel of food.
And I heard one of them say the other day, I just want to go
home. I just want to go home. And I thought, well, that's what
he's talking about. Here we are living in this tent, living in
this tabernacle, and standing in line for food. And our soul
says to us, I just want to go home. That's my longing. That's the desire that God's
put in my heart. The desire to go home. For in this we groan earnestly. John put it like this in 1 John
chapter 3. He said, He said, behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the children of God. And then in verse two he says,
beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be made like him, for we shall see him as
he is. Is that the longing of your soul? Or is this world just everything
to you? Friendship with the world is
enmity with God. If this world is my life, then
I know nothing about the life that Christ came to bring to
His people. Verse 3, If so be that being
clothed we shall not be found naked." Oh, when this tent is
folded up and put away, I don't want to be found naked before
God. I need to be clothed. I need to be clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And the robe of righteousness
that John saw in Revelation, the scripture says that white
robe was the righteousness of Christ upon the saints of God. For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan. Are you groaning? You're in conflict
with your own flesh, you're in conflict with this world, but
you're longing to see him as he is and be made like him. We
do groan, being burdened. Not for that we would be unclothed. We're not looking forward to
dying, the experience of death itself. But we're looking forward
to what comes after death. We're not living our lives in
some sort of morbid expectation of death. We're longing for the
truth of what we know is going to happen after we die. And so he says that we would
be clothed, not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. That mortality might be swallowed
up of life. That's what I am. I'm a mortal
being as long as I'm in this tabernacle. And I want it to
be swallowed up of life. I don't want to know anything
about mortality. I don't want to know anything about death
and crying and tears and troubles. I want to know Christ. I don't
want to know anything about my sin anymore. Now He that hath wrought for
us the same The self-same thing is God. If this is your experience,
it's God that made it your experience. You didn't just wake up one day
and say, I'm going to become spiritual and religious, and
I'm going to show an interest in the things of God, and I'm
going to have an interest in eternal life. No. He's saying,
if that's been wrought in you, if that's been made to be true
for you, it's God that wrought it in you. who also has given us the earnest
of the Spirit. It's the Spirit of God that has
manifest that to be true in your heart. Have you ever put down
earnest money on something and then backed out of the contract
and lost your money? That's what he's talking about
here, earnest. It's the earnest of the Spirit. When God puts
down earnest money on something, He doesn't back out of the contract.
He follows through with the promises that He's made. We need the unction
of the Holy Spirit. We need the earnest of the Spirit
of God. And that earnest, that down payment,
is the certain proof that what He has started, He's going to
finish. We don't have to live in fear
of death, brethren. We've got one that's overcome death. He's
destroyed the works of the devil. He is life eternal and this mortality
is going to be swallowed up in life. Therefore, We are always confident. That's why I started out by saying
I want you to be a confident person, not cocky, not self-righteous,
not putting your hope in something that may or may not be true,
but confident in knowing that what God has promised and what
God has done cannot be changed. All of your hope is in the Lord
Jesus Christ for all your salvation. Therefore, 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. Faith has an eye to Christ. We
look not on the things which can be seen, but the things which
cannot be seen. If you're fearing death and have no confidence or hope
in eternal life, it's because you're walking by sight, not
by faith. Because you're looking at your sin, you're looking at
your circumstances, you're looking at those things that can be seen
by the eyes of the flesh. Only the eye of faith can deliver
you. from the things which can be
seen with the eye of flesh. We look not on the things which
can be seen, but on the things which cannot be seen. For the
things which can be seen are temporal, but the things which
cannot be seen are eternal. Look to the eternal. Look to
Christ. Look to where He is. He's seated
at the right hand of God. He sat down. There's no chair
in the Old Testament temple or tabernacle. Why? Because the
priest was never finished with his work. He was always bringing
blood sacrifices. When the Lord Jesus Christ finished
his work, he sat down at the right hand of God. He's finished
his work. Nothing left for you to do. Nothing
for me to do. It's accomplished. And we know. We know. What do we know? We're confident. We know that
God's sovereign and that He's merciful. What did Paul say in
Romans 8.28? For we know, we know That all things work together
for good for them that love God and those that are the called
according to his purpose. He's a God of mercy and grace
that calls out his sheep and causes everything to happen in
their lives for their good and for his glory. Do you know that? We know that the Bible is the
infallible testimony of God's word. Listen to what John said
in John chapter 21 verse 24. We know, we know that his testimony
is true. We know that. We can hang the hopes of our
immortal soul on the revelation that God made in his word. What
else are you going to hang the hopes of your soul on? Promises
of the politicians? Your material possessions? Your
health and beauty? Education? What are you going
to hang the hopes of your soul on? These words are not written by
private interpretation. Holy men of God wrote as they
were moved by the Spirit of God. This is God's Word. And John
said, we know that his testimony is true. These words are true
and faithful. Where else are we going to go
for the hope of our salvation? There's no place else to go. We know that we're sinners. Paul
said, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. In another place in Romans chapter 7 he says, and we know
that the law is spiritual. The law is holy. The law is just. The law is good. We love God's
law. Nothing wrong with God's law.
The weakness is not in the law of God, the weakness is in us.
The law can't save. Paul said, we know that the law
is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. I'm a slave to
sin. That's what that word means.
I can't do anything but sin. I can't keep the law of God.
I can't produce an ounce of holiness. I can't have a perfect thought. I can't do anything. And what's
the Lord say? Whatever is not of faith is sin. The only thing God's pleased
with is when He enables us through the gift of faith, to set our
affections on things above where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God, to put all our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, to
see Him as our law keeper, to see Him as our sin bearer, to
see Him as our substitute. And if we're looking to Him,
we can say, we know. We know that when the earthly
tabernacle of this body is dissolved, We have a, we have a, you know,
we, the imagery here is that between a tent and a mansion. And I was thinking about those
refugees in Syria, you're living in tents and some of them came
out of very wealthy situations that they, you know, they just
want to go home. And he's saying, I know I've
got a, what the Lord say? In John chapter 14, he said,
let not your heart be troubled, Don't live your life in fear.
Perfect love casteth out fear. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you, I go and prepare a place for you. I'm going to come again. I'm going to receive you unto
myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. What confidence! And if we don't have confidence,
we're looking to something other than Christ. We know that we're not under
the law. Scripture says in Romans chapter 3 verse 19, Now we know
that whatsoever the law saith to them that are under the law,
It saith to them that are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped and the whole world may become guilty before God. I'm not, I don't want to be under
that law. All the law can do, the law is a minister of death. The law is nothing but condemnation,
and what the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law,
in order that every mouth might be stopped, and we all become
guilty before God. I need one to keep the law of
God for me. He that abides with us because
of our faith in Christ and our love for the brethren. Turn with
me to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. We know, we know that, I started
this out by saying I want you to have assurance of your salvation.
And I do. I want you to be sure. I don't want you to live your
life in fear of death. I want you to live it with holy
anticipation, expectation, knowing that when this tabernacle is
dissolved, you've got a house built in heaven, a foundation
that has foundations. What a glorious way to live. Not as we read in Isaiah chapter
28, based on a covenant that you made, a covenant of lies,
that covenant is going to be disannulled. I want my hope to
be based on a covenant that God's made. Look at me, look at me
at 1 John chapter 3 verse 23. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of Jesus Christ and love
one another as he gave us commandment. Two things. believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and love one another. And he that keepeth his commandment,
that's the commandment right there, to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, love God's people. John previously said, don't say
you love God and you hate your brother. I know people who call
themselves Christians who will say to me, I hate you. I've had
people say that. I'm a child of God, but I hate
you. And I know from that statement that they're not a child of God.
Oh, don't look confused. There's a whole lot of folks
that hate me. It's okay. It's all right. Because I know
God's people love me and I love them. He that keepeth his commandment
dwelleth in him, and he in him, and hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the Spirit which he hath given us. Has the Spirit of God confirmed
to your heart that all your hope and all your faith has been placed
on the Lord Jesus Christ for all your salvation, and has he
given you a love for God's people? By this, we know that He abides
with us and we abide with Him. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for the ministry of Thy Spirit. Lord, we would not know anything
if we had not been taught of You. Lord, we pray that you would
confirm to the hearts of your Children. Our hope and I, dear son, cause us, Lord,
to love one another. For it's in Christ's name we
pray. Amen. th th