Raise you up from the evil sleep, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to What's up? Chester A.R.P. Church Devotional Podcast. Bobbie Ann brings us in. Lord does indeed raise us up on eagle's wings. We are in 2 Corinthians chapter four. I'm gonna pick it up in verse 16 and work my way through verse 10 of chapter five. That's three paragraphs in my Bible. So let's read, see what God has to say for us today. So we do not lose heart, Paul says, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly house is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. If indeed by putting it on, we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened. Not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life, He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whatever good or evil." Now, this is Paul speaking here in the context of 2 Corinthians. We've been through this. If you've been with us in our study of 2 Corinthians, the context is the suffering that Paul and his companions are facing, not just on behalf of the Corinthian church, but on behalf of the gospel itself. They are those who are pursuing righteousness. In our church, we just started a series on Matthew several weeks ago, and we've made our way to the first part of Matthew chapter five in the Beatitudes, and Jesus says, blessed are you when others revile or persecute you, for they persecuted the prophets before you. The reality of it is is that you and I, if we follow Christ closely and we pursue him, we are going to be persecuted, harassed for our faith. And the reason for that is because when the gospel is proclaimed, the life of the follower of Christ is lived out in righteousness before other people who are sinners, the conscience is pricked. And when the conscience is pricked, you have one of two options. You can either submit to Christ and let go of the pride and submit to Christ and find hope and healing for your conscience when you recognize that you are at odds with God, at enemy with God because of your sin. And so you can confess your sins and submit to Christ or you attempt to silence the voice of God. And the way you silence the voice of God in the world is to silence those who speak it, those who carry it, those who live it. And so Paul says we've been persecuted because they've been proclaiming the good news of Jesus. Paul says that's okay. as this outer nature is wasting away. The persecutions have had significant effects. He'll deal with that in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians. This outer nature is wasting away, the significant effects on his body, physical, long-lasting effects of the persecution on his body. It is wasting away. Our inner self is being renewed day by day. For the Lord is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory through this momentary affliction. Now, we can take that and apply it not just in the context of persecution, and being beaten or isolated or starved or thrown in prison as Paul would later testify to what happened to him. But we certainly can talk about it in terms of the body failing, health deteriorating, disease taking over, et cetera. Hardships, difficulties, broken consciousness, anxiety building up within us and so on and so forth. We could talk about all of those different ways in which the outer body, the body itself, is being destroyed. It is wasting away. But the inner nature, the spirit of God, the spirit that God has worked within us, our nature, our soul, is being renewed every day in the glory of Jesus Christ because we are given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. The Holy Spirit is ministering to us and reminding us that that which is eternal is that which awaits us. That which is transient, that which is mortal, will fade away. But that which is eternal, the things that are unseen, through the ministry of the Spirit are confirmed to us and that reality awaits us. And we long for that day, we look forward to that day. And so though this earthly home, this body tent is being destroyed by the effects of sin, We do not lose hope because we have a building waiting for us in heaven, a new body that will be ours. We go to be with the Lord, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord. We long for that day when that which is mortal is swallowed up by life. We long for the return of Christ and that eternal kingdom. when that which is mortal, our bodies, are swallowed up in life and we live eternally with him in the second resurrection. So Paul says we are always of good courage and I hope that you're of good courage as a follower of Jesus today. This same statement can be made about your life and your situation and you long for that day and so we are of good courage. We know that while we are at home in this body, we are away from the Lord physically. And we're there by faith now, but we aren't there by sight. But we're still of good courage. We'd rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. But whether we're home or away, we know the reality of that which awaits us. And our aim, therefore, is to please God. Because whether we're at home with the Lord, we're going to please God. Or whether we're at home in the body and away from the Lord, We're longing for the day we'll be at home with the Lord, and as such, we live our lives to please God, to bring glory to his name. And so he says, we all come before the judgment seat of Christ, and those who are in Christ will be received by the goodness and grace of God into the eternal rest, and those who are not will receive the eternal reward for their destruction and their sin and their violation and rebellion against God. and as a result of that, they will be cast away. So Paul says, we will stand before the judgment seat, we'll receive what is ours, and we must be pursuing Christ in faith, walking in him, being of good courage, and seeking to please him in all that we do. This outer body's wasted away, but it is being renewed, my spirit is being renewed day by day, so we may know the hope of everlasting glory. You guys take care, God bless you, catch you next time. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet