The title of the message is A
Sure Hope of Immortal Glory. A Sure Hope of Immortal Glory. Brother Dan mentioned in his
prayer the fact that we're pilgrims, sojourners, passing through a
wilderness a dry and thirsty land. And during this journey, there
are two things which support and comfort God's children, believers. There are two things given here
in this scripture, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 15 through 18. I look at these two things, and
I find it to be so. And I speak as one who has experienced
some very difficult times, and I find this, for my own heart,
to be a great blessing. Verse 15, the Apostle says, "...for
all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might
through the thanksgiving of many redound, that word is excel,
increase, to the glory of God. What's the apostle saying here?
He's saying this, that all things, everything, doesn't matter what
it is in this life, pleasant or unpleasant, painful or joyful,
difficult or easy, all things, All things are of God, and all
things are for our good, for our sakes and for his glory,
whatever takes place. There is nothing in the life
of a believer, absolutely nothing, which shall not serve that believer's
eternal good and God's glory. Now, we know that. Paul said
that in Romans 8. And we know, he said, that all
things work together for good, not the temporal good or the
present good or good feelings, but for the eternal good. All
things work together for good, eternal good, of those who love
God and those who are called according to his purpose. And
there's a scripture I want you to turn to and look at with me. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and
if we don't read this carefully, you'll miss it, which I did for
a long time. In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 18,
Paul says, in everything, in everything, give thanks. We had a preacher here one time
who brought a message from this scripture. And he said, here
was the illustration that he used, he said, and I know him
quite well, he's retired now, he's way up in, older than I
am. He said he and his wife had two
sons, one of them just brought joy to their hearts, pleasure
to their home. The other boy broke their hearts,
he just kept breaking their hearts. At every turn, he brought sorrow
and heartache to them. And he said, I gave thanks to
God for that obedient son. But he said, I couldn't ever
remember thanking God for that rebellious son until I read this
scripture. And he said, my wife and I were
reading this scripture together one day, and I said, I read it
aloud. I said, in everything, give thanks.
For this is the will of God in Christ for you." And he said,
I stopped and I said, honey, let's give thanks for our other
boy too, as well as for the one that's made us happy. Isn't that
what he's saying here? In everything, in everything
give thanks. This right here that's taking
place now is the will of God in Christ for me and you. And
it's not always easy. He never said it would be. But
everything, if the Scripture is true, and it is, isn't it?
All things work together for good to those who love God, who
are called according to His purpose. And sometimes, some of you, I
have experienced this. That some of the things that
have taken place in our lives and experiences which have broken
our hearts, literally, devastated us. Even in a few years, it proved
to be a blessing. In a few years. That's right
here on this earth, not just in heaven, not just in glory,
but we've lived to see God prove His Word. So I say to you, be
patient in whatever trial you're going through now. Be patient.
And look to Him. Because it is for your good. And it says here, "...and all
things are for your sake, that the abundant grace might, through
the thanksgiving of many, excel in Christ to the glory of God."
It's for the accomplishment of his purpose. It's for the glory
of Christ Jesus. That's true. And verse 16 says, and for this
cause, for this cause, this is a support, this is a pillar on
which we build, for this cause, because we know this, because
our hearts are encouraged by these promises, it will be for
good, our good. It will be for our sake and for
His glory. And for this cause, we don't
quit. For this cause, we do not become
discouraged, whatever comes to pass. We do not quit. We do not find fault with God's
providence. We must not. We just must not. We must believe God when the
sun is shining and believe God when the shadows are falling.
Brother Jack Shanks spoke down in Pikeville one day, one night,
and I went to hear him. And he said he was going to preach
that night on three words, God is good. God is good. And you know, he said, we're
prone to say when we're being blessed and we're happy and we're
recipients of good things, we'll say, God's good. God is good. But do we ever, when we're in
the valley, and the darkness and tears are falling, say, God
is good. Well, he is. He's good at all
times. Not just when we're being entertained
and blessed. He's good always. And that's
the reason we don't quit. We know that. We know he's good.
We know, and listen, we know that though, verse 16, though
this outward man perish, Though it perish, though this
outward man grows weak and frail and perishes, our souls, our
inward man, our souls and hearts grow stronger in Christ, in faith,
in love for Him. The old man gets weaker and weaker,
frailer and frailer. But the new man in Christ gets
stronger. Feasting on His Word and feasting
on His promises and walking with Him, we get stronger. Because
His promises are new every morning. His love is new every morning.
His grace is new every morning. It's brand new. And then in the second thing,
I said there are two things that hold us up and strengthen us
and where we find our help in time of trouble. The first one
is that all things, all things are for your sakes, for your
good and God's glory. And then the second thing that
helps so much, it does, it's so helpful, we've been singing
songs about it tonight, is the second strong support and pillar
is this, that by his grace we are able to look beyond this
moment, this day, this heartache, this trial, this journey, and
look at the glory that shall be ours in Christ. And look beyond
this life and earthly trials and afflictions to that glory
and happiness that he's prepared for those that love Him. Have
you ever read this over in Isaiah 64? I know you've read it in
1 Corinthians 2, but this is where it came from. This is not
just something one of the apostles said, it's something that God
said through one of the prophets, Isaiah. Isaiah 64, verse 4. The glory and the happiness and
the joy prepared for them that love him." Listen to this, "...and
those that look to him." Isaiah 64, verse 4, "...for since the
beginning of the world, since the beginning of the world,
men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the
eye seen." Oh God, beside thee, you're the only one. "...what
you have prepared for them that wait for thee." which God has
prepared for them that wait for him. Eye hath not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man, the glory of
his salvation." That's what our Lord said. He said, let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe in
me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places that were
not so I would have told you. And I go to prepare a place,
a place. you. If I go, and I will go,
and when I go, and prepare the place, go to Calvary, go to the
right hand of God, prepare for you a place, I'll come again
for you, and receive you to myself. Where I am there, ye may be also."
So look at verse 17 and 18. Here's that second pillar. Our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at things which
are seen, but things which are not seen.
For all these things which are seen, which we are dealing with
and and are troubled with the temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. While we look, and I think a
better word here is to dwell on it, to dwell on it. If we dwell on things which are
seen and experienced and felt by this flesh, it's trouble. But if we cannot dwell on those
things and not look upon those things, and our minds constantly
set upon those things, but if we can look at things which are
not seen, which are seen by faith and believed by faith, if we
can look at the things which are not seen, things which are
eternal, things which we don't lose, they don't pass away, they're
not taken away, and they never disappoint us, they're always
the same. in Christ. That's that second helpful, helpful
support, is to remember that whatever He brings to pass is
for our good and His glory. And if we can take our eyes off
of these things, turn to Hebrews 11. Let's see if we can find
some help here. I believe it's Hebrews 11. Hebrews
chapter 11. Providential, Dan's prayer just
was so in accord with my message. He mentioned Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob dwelling in tents. Listen to this, Hebrews 11, 8. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should afterward receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. And by faith he sojourned in
a land of promise, in a strange country, dwelling in tents. Temporary dwellings. Temporary
homes. Never owned a foot of land. Did
you know that? Abraham never owned a foot of
land in this world. Ascender. Strange land, dwelling
in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise. But he looked. His mind was set
upon and he dwelt upon in his thoughts. He looked for a city which had foundations. This has
no foundation. No tent has a foundation. But
that city for which he looked has a foundation. That's an eternal
foundation whose builder and maker is God. So Abraham defeated
dwelt on his inconveniences and his temporary dwelling places
and his conflicts, he'd have found no joy anywhere in this
land. But he looked for a city. Look
at verse Hebrews 11, 13, the same, right down below there,
talking about Abraham and all these men. These all died in
faith, not having received the fulfillment of the promises.
They had the promise of the Messiah, but he didn't come in their lifetime.
They had the promise of the blood, the cross, but not in their lifetime.
But having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and
embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on this earth. And that's what we are. Believe
me, that's what we are. We've got our roots here in Ashland
or Arlington or wherever we live. And our fathers and mothers lived
here. And maybe our grandfathers and our children were born here.
We've got roots. We own property and land. But
this is not our home. We're just as much a pilgrim
and a sojourner and a stranger on this earth as Abraham was. For verse 14, they that say such
things declare plainly they seek in a country And truly, if they had been mindful,
if their hearts had been on that country from which they came
out, on this earth, this world, its possessions and all that it affords, they might
have had opportunity to return to that old country. But now
they desire a better country, heavenly country. Wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, he hath prepared for them
a city." So we got three words there in verse 18 of our text. Go back to 2 Corinthians 4. While
we look, dwell on, mindful of, not the things which are sitting,
not the things of the earth. Mr. Spurgeon said one time concerning
this verse, if my heart and my mind dwells on the riches and
the honors and the pleasures and the approval of this world
and the temporary possessions and treasures of this world,
I will soon find myself desiring these things. with an uncommon
desire. I'll find myself setting my affections
on these things. I'll find ways to possess these
things. And when I can't possess them,
or when they're taken away, or when I lose them, I lose my heart. I lose my peace. I lose my joy. Or if my heart and my mind looks
to and dwells upon and my mind set upon even my afflictions
and my trials and my troubles, which seem to me to be greater
than others, if I dwell upon those things and think upon those
things, I'll soon find myself murmuring against God and complaining
of my lot and finding fault with His providence. So, I must not
look at those things which are seen. Covet them. This is idolatry. I must look
at that which is not seen, that sure and steadfast, and that
fadeth not away. And whether I go through pleasant
times or unpleasant times or comfortable times or uncomfortable
times, or whether my lot is good or bad, These things are all
temporary, and they shall fade away. For swift to its close
ebbs out life's little day. Its joys grow dim, and its glories
fade away. Change and decay in all around
me I see. O thou that changest not, abide
with me. There is a country, there is
a city, There is a heaven, there is a kingdom, there is a glory
that God has prepared for His people. Let's set our affection
on those things. Turn with me to Revelation 21.
Revelation 21. And John said in verse 1, I saw
a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first
earth passed away, and they are passing away. There was no more
sea. And our John saw the holy city,
the new Jerusalem, that city for which Abraham looked, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. And he'll dwell with them, and
they shall be his people. And God himself shall be with
them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death. Neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne,
he said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Now you
write. These words are true and faithful. And he said to me, It is done.
I'm Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and I'll give to
him that's a thirst of the fountain of the water of life greatly. All right, look at verse 1 of
chapter 5 now, in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 1. Here are some things
that we know. It says we know, for we know. The first thing we know that
our dwelling place is an earthly house. It says we know of our
earthly house. It was taken from the earth.
That's what the Lord said over here in Genesis chapter 3. I mentioned it this morning,
Genesis 3 verse 19, he said, In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground, for out of it
was thou taken, and thus thou art, and to thus shalt thou return. We know our earthly house, it
came from the earth, Thus thou art, it lives and dwells on the
earth. It'll die and go back to the
earth. And we're dwelling, our souls came from God. And they
only dwell in this house which came from the earth. And this
earthly house is called a tabernacle. You see, we know that if our
earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, it's called a tabernacle,
a tent, a shepherd's tent. You mean a regular old tent?
That's right. You put up temporarily in the desert and live there
for a while. A tent, like you men take your
tents camping. You pitch a tent, and that's
this tabernacle here, this body. It's frail, it's temporary, it'll
soon rot and decay, and it'll soon pass away. Now when this
happens, look at the next line. We have a building. A building. Our Lord called it a dwelling
place. He said, in my Father's house are many dwelling places. Dwelling places. It's a building
of God. It's a building, a house not
made with hands. It's not made of men. It's not made of the works of
righteousness. It's not made by materials sent
from here up there. Men have nothing to do with it. It's a house made not with hands,
built by God. It's eternal in the heavens.
It's a holy house prepared for us by Christ, and it's eternal. Turn back to 1 Corinthians 15. This ought to cause us to rejoice.
In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 50, Now this I say, brethren, this
flesh and blood, this earthly house, this natural flesh cannot
inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit
incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep. Everybody is not going to die.
There will be people living here when Christ comes. But they will
all be changed. In a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye, at the last trump, for the trump shall sound, and the
dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed." Incorruptible. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption. This mortal, this flesh, this
earthly dwelling place must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, this mortal shall
have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, death is swallowed up. obliterated, annihilated, in
victory. That's what we're looking for
and living for, and that's what Christ said to the thief on the
cross, today you'll be with me. Paradise. Paradise. When a person who loves Christ
and knows Christ, believes Christ, dies, Scripture says the body
returns to the dust. We've been reading about that,
but the soul of God who gave it. And Paul says here that when
this earthly house, this tent is folded up and laid aside,
we already have a building, a house not made with hands, not built
by men or material sent up there. It's already prepared by Christ,
a dwelling place. We leave here, this flesh goes
back to the dust, Our soul is going to be with God. Paul, that's
the reason he said to be absent from this body is to be present
with the Lord. He said, I'm in a straight betwixt the two. I
have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
Far better. We don't grieve for those who
are gone. We grieve for ourselves who miss
them. Isn't that correct? We would
not have them return to this old tabernacle when they've entered
that building of God. We wouldn't put Abraham back
in the wilderness, would you? He's found the city for which
he looked. He's found the glory for which he looked. He's found
the presence of the Lord for which he yearned. Would you bring him back? Put
him back in this mess? Back in the tent? Back in the
wind and the sun The desert? No. And that's verse 2. Look at this.
Here's a condition that exists. In this tabernacle, in this wilderness,
we groan. We groan earnestly desiring to be clothed
upon with our house which is from heaven. We groan. What have
we groaned over? We've groaned over sin. and around
us and about us. We've grown over the evil of
men. You can't read your newspaper without groaning. We've grown over the ignorance
of false religion. Oh, we've just grown over it. Blaspheming God. We've grown
for our friends and our family. We've grown. We've grown over
sickness and suffering. But that's normal. Turn back
to Romans 8. That's just the condition that
exists. It's a condition we've grown.
In this tabernacle we've grown. In Romans 8, verse 18, listen,
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. For the earnest expectation of
the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation,
that's the word there, was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because
the creation itself also shall be delivered from this bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
But we know that the whole creation groaneth, the whole creation
groaneth, the whole earth groans under sin, under the curse, under
the curse of sin, the death in this world, all of the things,
earthquakes, tidal waves, floods, The whole earth, the whole creation,
groans and prevails in pain to gather unto them. And not only
they, but ourselves also, even we who have the firstfruits of
the Spirit. We have the Spirit of God. We
have faith. We have Christ. We have new life. We have a new heart. We have
the firstfruits. Even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption. Waiting for
the transformation. Waiting for graduation day. Waiting
for the adoption to wit, namely the redemption of our bodies.
That's what we're waiting on. And that's what he's saying over
here in verse 2 of our text, 2 Corinthians 5, in this tabernacle. You can build a house and keep
out the wind and the rain. Put a good roof on it and keep
warm. Furnace and air-conditioned,
be comfortable. But you can't shield this tabernacle here from
all of the troubles and sorrows and heartache. If you got a heart,
it's going to come the way of a believer. And we've grown. That's what he said. In verse
3, Here's what we've grown for, if so be that being clothed we
shall not be found naked." What's that mean? We don't want to be
found naked like Adam. Remember when he fell, when sin
came into the world, and Adam found out he's naked. He was
scared. He was afraid of God. He hid
from God. He tried to cover his nakedness.
He was ashamed, ashamed. He was mad. Mad at He, mad at
God. I don't want to be that way. I don't want to be found naked. I don't want to be found trying
to hide my sin with my own righteousness. I want to be clothed. Clothed
upon with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at
Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8, just a moment.
Look at this verse right here. Luke chapter 8, verse 35. You remember when our Lord came
to the land of the Gadarenes and this man was mad and wild
and demon-possessed and naked. Nobody could tame him. Nobody
could get close on him. He just lived among the tombs
in the graveyard. Cut himself with stones and screamed
and yelled and they put chains on him. He'd break the chains,
you know, wild man. Well, my Lord healed him. Cast
the demons out of him. And verse 35 says, Then they
went out to see what was done. And they came to Jesus, and they
found that man out of whom the devils had departed, sitting
at the feet of Jesus, clothed in His right mind. That's what
I want. I don't want to be found naked
like Adam. I want to be at the feet of Jesus.
I want to be found at His feet, clothed in His righteousness
and holiness, in my right mind." Because everybody out of Christ
is mad, insane. The only people who have the
right mind is those who have the wisdom of God. They're clothed
in His righteousness, sitting at His feet in their right mind. That's what we want. That's it. For in this verse 4, and let
me give you this, For we that are in this tabernacle, this
tent, this temporary earthly dwelling, we do groan, being
burdened, being so burdened. Not that we would be unclothed.
Not that we would be unclothed, but we want to be clothed upon.
And here's what, I got a little help here. What's this mean? Not that we would just be unclothed,
but clothed upon. Here's what he said. We're not
just desiring to be relieved of our suffering and this fleshly
house. We want to go to our Father's
house. And secondly, it's not that we
just desire to be free from sorrow, but we want to enter the joy
of our Lord. Come, enter the joy of your Lord. It's not that we want to be relieved
of the consequence of sin. We want to be like Him. We want to be like Him. It's
just we're weary of this and long for that. It's not that
we just want to be delivered from death and delivered from
hell. We want to be changed into His
likeness. So that, listen, mortality. Verse 4, the last line, mortality
might be swallowed up of life. What is mortality? Mortality
means anything that's subject to death. Anything that's subject to death.
And that's everything in this world. Can you think of anything
in this world that's not subject to death? Natural, subject to change, subject
to decay, subject to death. Well, that's mortality. And we
want this mortality. to be swallowed up in an instant,
in a twinkling of an eye. Total abolition, total annihilation
of mortality, so there'll never be any appearance of it or memory
of it. Swallowed up. Let me show you
that in Isaiah 65. Here's another verse. Isaiah
65. You must look at this. Mortality. He said the last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. All death, any memory of death,
any thought of death, any presence of death, anything that decays
or changes, can't dwell in His presence. Isaiah 65, 17. And this is a prophecy. For behold,
I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not
be remembered, nor come to mind. We that are in this tabernacle
do grow in burden. Not that we would just be rid
of the burden, and rid of the consequences of sin, and rid
of the sorrow, but we want to be conformed to His image. We want all mortality, all things
pertaining to this world, to be swallowed up in life. His life, His glorious, immortal,
eternal life, not to be remembered or ever brought to mind. Isn't
that marvelous? Think of it. I read a book one
time a preacher wrote many years ago trying to get people to win
souls, trying to motivate people to come to church and pay their
tithes, and win souls, and do all these works. And you know
how he tried to motivate them? He wrote this book, and the title
of the book was Tears in Heaven. And he says when we get to heaven,
people are going to cry over a misspent life. They're going
to weep over failures, and they didn't do what they ought to
do, or say what they ought to say, or win souls like they ought
to win, and do these things. They're going to, in heaven,
crying in the presence of the Lord. This says mortality is
going to be swallowed up in life and never remembered or called
to mind. Isn't that what they say? It's
gone. I tell you, some of you are going
to meet me in Glovery, and you're going to say, Brother Mahan,
why didn't you tell us how wonderful and glorious and joyful and happy
his kingdom is. And I'm going to say to you,
I told you all I knew. I don't know. I told you all
I knew. We couldn't put it in words if
we could see it. All couldn't. He came back from
glory and he said, I just, I can't tell you. I can't tell you what
I heard. Because there's no way for us
to even imagine the glory, the beauty, the joy, the happiness,
the holiness, the perfection, the immortality of His presence. Oh, my, my. And I tell you, verse
5, I want to give you this before I quit. And He that hath wrought
us Now, He that hath wrought us, He that has saved us, He
that chose us before the foundation of the world, He that entered
into a covenant with His Son, made Him our surety and our priest
and sacrifice and Savior, He that elected us to life eternal,
He that came down to this earth and perfectly obeyed the law,
on our behalf and went to the cross and bore our sins in His
body on the tree and paid the debt, put sin away, redeemed
us, went back to heaven and praised for us. He that hath wrought
us, chose us, called us, saved us, kept us, for the selfsame
thing, for this very fulfillment, is God. God's done it. God did this. God did it. And He's also given
us the pledge or earnest of His Spirit. Could I take the time to turn
to Ephesians 1? Are you too weary? Have I been
too long? But let me just show you something
here from this verse. He that hath brought us for this
same purpose, Eternal glory is God. Now look
at Ephesians 1, verse 3. It talks about the Father. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.
That's that dwelling place. According as He chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world that we should be one day
holy, unblameable. Before Him in love, He predestinated
us. to the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ Himself according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He made us
accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His
grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of His will, His gospel.
according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself."
Listen, that in the dispensation of the fullness of time, he might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, those already gone, and which are on earth, those of
you that are still here, which are even in him now, in whom
also we have obtained an inheritance. being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ, in whom you trusted after you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in
whom also you believed, and you were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise, which is the earnest, that's what we just read, he
has given us his spirit, the earnest of our inheritance, the
pledge, the token unto the redemption of the purchased possession to
the praise of his glory. He that hath wrought us for this
purpose is God, who also has given to us the pledge of his
spirit. Alright, may God bless that word
to your heart.