"This Earthly Tent" - 2nd Corinthians 4:13-5:1 - Sermon, Thursday June 7th, 2018

Last Thursday night the Scripture that I chose to preach over is found in the book of 2nd Corinthians, the fourth chapter verse thirteen through to the fifth chapter verse one.  Here we are continuing on from last Thursday's sermon which looked at the verses immediately prior to those selected for this sermon.

The title for the sermon was "This Earthly Tent", last week we focused upon the "Clay Jars" which of course referenced all of us and our many flaws and failings; the "Earthly Tent" is again our flawed and failing bodies.  All of us will wither and pass from this world in which we find ourselves today, but... we are called here in these verses penned by Paul to "live by faith".  We know that this world is transient, it is temporary, it's imperfect because we humans have been given the free will to either accept God or to reject Him.

I considered three different angles to look upon this scripture from; first - Paul and his broken and battered body, second - ourselves and our aging and imperfect bodies, and third - the Church and the decline that we see among our faith in both numbers and focus.  I'll invite you to listen to the sermon and see what you think...

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His Grace,
Roy

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
13 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and so we speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. 15 Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Living by Faith
16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.