When Stuart Hamblen produced the song “This Ole House” -- he had no idea it would become a popular hit -- but it did.
You remember it, of course. -- Who could forget it?
This ole house is gettin’ shaky,
This ole house is gettin’ old.
This ole house lets in the rain.
This ole house lets in the cold.
I Ain’t gonna need this house no longer,
Ain’t gonna need this house no more.
Ain’t got time to fix the shingles,
Ain’t got time to fix the floor.
Ain’t got time to oil the hinges,
Nor to mend the window panes,
Ain’t gonna need this house no longer.
I’m gettin ready to meet the saints.
Who among us here has not identified with that song at one time or another?
I am reminded of that hit song whenever I read the words of the Apostle Paul found in -- 2 Cor. 5:1-10.
This passage talks about our bodies -- bodies -- bodies!
I remember hearing my dad telling his doctor: -- “My body is like an old car -- wearing out; -- like an old car -- just wearing out.”
Well Paul’s vocation was a tent maker. -- And he refers to the body as an old tent -- a sagging tent -- ready to be torn down.
In vs. 1-- Paul speaks of our current bodies described as “our earthly house of this tabernacle” -- this old house; -- this old tent.
But he also speaks of our future resurrected glorified bodies described as “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven.”
We need to understand that -- the body is very important to the Christian faith.
Most religions say that the soul is captured inside the body -- & the great genius of their religion is getting that soul out -- & getting away from the body that limits the soul. -- But that is not so with Christianity!
Christians are vitally interested & concerned about the body.
And this is true for a couple reasons: --
It’s true first of all because of creation.
God made you; -- God made me; -- God made our bodies.
The Bible tells us that we are wonderfully made!
We are made in the image of God.
God is interested in the body! -- He constructed you.
He made you by forming you even prior to your conception.
We are also concerned with the body because of the incarnation.
The Eternal Son of God -- when He entered time & history -- took upon Himself a body. -- God put upon Himself a human body in JC.
John’s Gospel says: -- “The Word became flesh & dwelt among us.”
The Word became flesh -- & blood -- & muzzle -- & tissue.
Even now we are told that Jesus lives forever in a body -- in His resurrected & glorious body.
Therefore -- as Christians we are interested in the body.
It’s one of the distinctives of our Christian faith!
It is one of the things that distinguishes us from most of the pagan religions of the world.
For this reason -- Paul talks about the body.
The truth of the fact is -- that if you & I get a proper understanding of the body -- nothing in this life will ever baffle us.
We can come to accept whatever happens to our bodies with confidence & with courage! -- knowing we will soon have a new body.
And as Christians -- we can have confidence even in the face of death!
I would entitle this passage: -- Moving Day!
Moving out of this earthly body of ours -- into our new heavenly body.
Moving Day! -- Oh what a grand & glorious day that can be for you & I.
Paul begins in vs. 1 with the words -- “For we know!”
I like people who know something!
So many times we hear: -- “I think; -- I believe; -- don’t worry about it, --I'm almost sure.” -- Now that one unnerves me!
Or -- “Perhaps; -- the odds are with us.”
But Paul says: -- “We know!” -- I like that!
I like the way Paul begins talking about death -- & says, “We know!”
People do not generally like too talk much about death.
A lot of people try avoid the subject of death as much as possible.
But I like what Bernard Shaw said about death: -- “The statistics about death are most revealing. -- One out of every one die.”
More books have been written about death in the last decade than have been written about death in the last 100 years.
But if you really want to understand death -- read the Bible!
Study death from God’s perspective; -- the Biblical perspective.
The Bible says: -- “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).
Paul says three things about our bodies & about death in these vs.
In vs. 1-4 -- the theme is our ‘groaning’!
Vs. 5-8 -- we will look at our guarantee!
Vs. 9 -- we look at our goal!
In fact if you have the NIV -- you have those very words.
In the KJV it is not as clear -- but those three thoughts are still there!
So lets look at -- our groaning; -- our guarantee; -- our goal.
1. Our Groaning!
Vs. 2 -- “For in this (this earthly tent -- this earthly house -- this earthly body) -- we groan -- (have you done any groaning lately?) -- earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven;” --
Vs. 4 - “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened.”
Paul is saying -- “We grow weary in our present bodies -- (Oh, do we ever!) -- & we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing! -- Our dying bodies make us groan. -- We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life!” -- My friends -- can you identify with that today?
Some of you really rather enjoy the groaning part!
I’ve heard a lot of this groaning part -- from lots of people over the years.
And I have probably done my fair share of groaning.
Can everybody here identify with the sagging tent groaning?
Being the tent maker that he was Paul is saying: -- “This house -- this body we now have -- is sagging like an old tent. -- It’s being torn down.”
I look around - & I notice that’s true! -- It applies to many of us here today
And doctors make their living - caring for our sagging tents!
This doctor works on one part of the tent; -- that doctor works on another part of the tent.
One doctor looks at the tent pegs; -- another notices the canvas; -- the surgeon repairs problems & holes & deteriorating parts of the tent.
The general practitioner just looks at the whole thing -- & tries to keep the groaning in check. -- We are all part of an aging process!
Somebody describes what he observes about this aging process: --
Everything is farther away than it used to be.
It’s twice as far from my house to the station now.
In fact they have added a hill; -- I just now noticed it.
The trains leave sooner -- & I’ve given up running for them,
because they go faster now than they use too.
They are making stairs steeper these days.
Have you noticed the small print they are using lately?
Newspapers are getting farther & father away when I hold them.
Now it is ridiculous to think that someone my age needs reading glasses -- but it’s the only way I can find out what’s going on --
unless someone reads aloud to me --
& that’s not enough help because every-body seems to speak in such low tones I can scarcely hear them.
Times are changing. --
The material for clothes shrinks in certain places.
Shoe laces are so short that they are next to impossible to reach.
Even the weather is changing.
It’s getting colder in the winter & hotter in the summer.
People are changing too.
They are younger than they use to be when I was their age.
On the other hand -- those people who are my own age --
are so much older than I am.
This is a classic! -- I ran into my room mate the other night --
& he had changed so much he didn’t even recognize me.
My friends -- we live in a sagging tent! -- And we groan in this tent!
Our bodies become disobedient servants, refusing to carry out the trash
What was once elegant coordination -- abandons us -- & we find our-selves lurching from place to place!
You work in the yard Saturday afternoon -- & wake up Sunday morning feeling like you’ve been mugged in the night.
But Paul contrasts these sagging tents -- in which we groan -- with a building not made with hands -- eternal in the heavens.
This is our heavenly body; -- our resurrected glorified body.
And there will be no comparison between our sagging tent bodies -- & our new glorious glorified resurrected heavenly body!
2. But along side of our groaning -- there is also Our Guarantee!
Listen carefully to what Paul is saying in vs. 5. -- “Now he that has wrought us -- (that is -- God has prepared us -- through all our groaning, -- this same God) ... also has given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.”
Notice in the KJV that word -- earnest!
You have heard of “earnest money” -- haven’t you?
Earnest-money; -- that is what we give when we are making a major purchase; -- we give ‘earnest-money’ -- which is then forfeited if the purchase is not completed! -- We would speak of it as a “down payment.”
Some would call this the engagement ring!
The NIV makes it clearer with the words -- “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose -- & has given us the Spirit as a deposit -- ‘guaranteeing’ what is to come.”
My friends -- God has given us His HS as a guarantee!
The HS is the guarantee, -- the pledge, the assurance -- of our eternal home in heaven -- & of our glorified body in which we will dwell throughout eternity!
The HS is the Source of our life in Christ here & now -- & also a pledge of the life to come!
The Holy Spirit’s personal indwelling in our hearts is a guarantee that the process of our salvation will be completed!
The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead
He puts a little bit of heaven in our hearts -- so that we’ll never settle for anything less!
The HS gives us a glimpse of the real thing -- our true home -- our heavenly home -- our resurrected & glorified bodies!
That’s why we are able to live with such good cheer & happiness!
We should never be drooping our heads -- or dragging our feet!
We have a guarantee! -- we have the HS as God’s promise -- as God’s earnest money -- as God’s guarantee -- that an eternal home -- an eternal glorified body -- is in fact ours!
A heavenly body so much better than this earthly body!
There will be no comparison.
This is what we have now! -- A guarantee!
My friends -- that’s what gives us the courage to keep on keeping on!
That’s what gives us confidence in the midst of all our groaning!
So Paul says in vs. 6 -- “Therefore we are always confident -- knowing (there’s that word again!) -- knowing that while we are at home in the body (our earthly body) -- we are absent from the Lord.”
Vs. 8 -- “We are confident, I say, & willing rather to be absent from the body -- & to be present with the Lord.”
You may say: -- “Now wait a minute Paul. Speak for yourself.”
Paul just said -- that if we had a choice -- we would rather be with the Lord in our resurrection body -- than on this earth & in our human body.
If we were going to take a poll today -- & say how many of you want to be a part of that “we” -- I don’t believe we would get a lot of hands.
The old question about how many people want to go to heaven?
One little boy did not raise his hand.
They said: “What’s the matter Billy. You don’t want to go to heaven?”
He said: -- “I thought you were leaving today!”
That’s an old joke -- but that is how we think.
You may say: “I don’t know any body who wants to go on ahead.”
Oh yes you do. -- Go to the hospital; -- go to the nursing homes.
You see people who are suffering -- who are in pain -- & sickness -- & privation -- & separation -- & the horror of it all -- regardless of how we camouflage it today in our modern society - you’ll find a lot of people.
My own dear mother would often say: -- “O Lord, I prefer that I could go on to be with You -- than to continue living in this old body!”
Now Paul had an advantage over us. -- Because in 2 Cor. 12 -- he tells us about how he’s been up to the 3rd heaven.
Remember? -- He says: “When I was up there I didn’t know if I was in my human body or my resurrected body. -- It didn’t make any difference. I didn’t want to leave!”
He liked it. -- See he’s ahead of us. -- He’s already been there.
If we’d had that experience we’d probably been exactly like Paul.
We’d say: -- “Hay, I prefer to go on ahead -- to be with the Lord.”
Have you ever lived for very long in a sagging tent?
Some of you are Army people; -- I was a Boy Scout.
Two weeks in a tent was just about enough for me camping -- because in a tent it to hot in the day time -- & it’s to cold at night.
It sags -- it leaks; -- the tent pegs come up.
As a tent maker Paul is saying -- “All it is to die is to strike your tent; -- to take your tent down.” -- That’s all it is!
And the minute you do -- you have an eternal building! -- An eternal dwelling place; -- a glorified resurrected body.
He says: “As for me -- & for those who understand it -- I prefer to go on to be with the Lord. -- I’ll stay around here if I must -- but that’s what I rather do. -- That’s where I’d rather be.”
Therefore be of good courage!
Don’t faint -- don’t lose heart -- for we have this guarantee!
The Christian has this blessed hope -- this assurance -- this confidence
The guarantee of the final resurrection; -- the guarantee of a new body -- a new world -- in which the problems of pain & suffering will seem like a distant memory!
Joseph Parker was a beloved English preacher in the Congregational Church -- about a century ago.
When his wife died -- he didn’t have the customary wording inscribed on her gravestone.
Instead of the word died -- followed by the date of her death -- he chose the word ascended! -- ‘Ascended’ -- I like that!
J. Parker found great comfort in being reminded that though his wife’s body had been placed in the grave -- the real Mrs. Parker had been transported to heaven -- ascended into the presence of her Savior!
When Parker himself died -- it’s no wonder that his friends made sure his gravestone read: -- “Ascended --
When a loved one dies in the Lord -- or when we face dying ourselves -- there is great comfort in the fact that -- ‘to be absent from the body’ -- is ‘to be present with the Lord.’ -- ascended!
Death for us is not a dark journey into the unknown.
It is not a lonely walk into a strange & friendless place.
Rather -- it is a glorious transition from the trials of earth -- into the joys of heaven -- where we will be reunited with our loved ones in Christ who have gone on before us!
Best of all -- we will enjoy the presence of the Lord forever!
God has given us His HS as a guarantee -- an assurance -- a pledge that this is true! -- It will happen some grand & glorious day!
3. One more thing; -- we also have Our Goal!
Vs. 9 -- “Wherefore we labor -- that whether present or absent -- we may be accepted of him.” -- to please Him!
Our aim -- our goal -- is to please Him -- our Lord & Savior!
We make it our goal to please our Lord!
Whether I’m in this body on earth -- whether I’m in my resurrected body in heaven -- I have one responsibility - one goal - one aim - one destiny -- & that’s to be pleasing to God!
We are to strive to love & to honor the Lord at all times!
We are to be ready & anxious to do anything & everything to the glory of God! -- Are you living in a way that is pleasing to the Lord Jesus?
As Christians -- we need to realize that Jesus may come at any second of any minute! -- Are you waiting & watching for His coming?
Occasionally I hear that song -- “Lord, just build me a cabin in the corner of Gloryland.”
My friends -- such a request is unbecoming to a Christian!
You’ve heard some well-meaning person say: -- “If I can just get to Heaven -- I’ll be willing to take a back seat.”
What a poor goal for a child of the King!
We should earnestly aspire to so live our lives for the Lord -- so that when we enter those heavenly portals -- we will receive rich rewards from the Savior’s hand! -- Live in a way that is pleasing to God!
Paul wrote to the Church in
Our ambition - our goal - should always be to do that which is pleasing to our Lord & Savior - JC - to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!
I read about a brilliant young concert pianist who was performing for the first time in public. -- The audience sat enthralled as beautiful music flowed from his disciplined fingers.
The people could hardly take their eyes off this young pianist.
As the final note faded -- the audience burst into applause!
Everyone was standing -- except for one old man up front.
The young pianist walked off the stage crest-fallen.
The stage manager praised the performance -- but the young man said -- “I was no good; -- it was a failure.” -- The manager replied: - “Look out there; everyone is on his feet except that one old man.”
“Yes” -- said the youth rather dejected -- “but that one old man is my teacher.”
My friends -- do we have the same desire -- the same ambition -- the same goal -- for God’s approval -- as that pianist had for his teacher’s approval? -- Our Lord’s approving smile is what really matters!
Let’s make it our goal -- as we enter each new day to please our Lord!
Whether we work in the limelight - or labor unnoticed behind the scenes -- let us labor with faith -- & diligence -- & thanksgiving -- & love -- so that God is pleased!
Conclusion: -- We are talking here about Moving Day!
Moving Day - moving out of this earthly body & into our heavenly body.
Along the path of life we have our groanings! -- But we find courage & strength & comfort -- in that we have our guarantee -- the HS!
As we keep our eyes steadfast on Jesus -- & our eternal home -- keep in mind our goal -- to do that which is pleasing unto God!
The bottom line root question under all of this is: --
Are you prepared to die?
You’re not prepared to live -- really live -- until you are prepared to die!
Vs. 10 reminds us that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” -- someday! -- Saints & sinners alike!
Ask yourself -- how would you feel if all your secret thoughts & emotions were published for everyone to read?
Standing before Christ at the judgment seat is going to be a solemn event.
Every unconfessed sin will be exposed -- & the quality of our works will be revealed.
If we have been faithful -- we will hear His words -- “Well done you good & faithful servant. -- Enter into your reward.”
But if we have lived in spiritual defeat -- we’ll feel rebuked -- & filled with regrets.
Are you prepared? -- Are you ready, ready to enter into your resurrected glorified heavenly body?
You’re not prepared to live -- really live -- until you are prepared to die!