As some of you know, I’ve been experiencing a fun visit with bacterial pneumonia for the better part of a month this summer. I’m finally feeling a little better and able to again do things I need to do.

And many, if not all of you, know that it’s a discouraging thing to be struggling in life, whether it’s illness or financial concerns or marriage trouble or some other kind of trial. It can be very demoralizing. Because life isn’t easy.

But a few weeks ago when I was in the thick of it, I was blessed and encouraged by a passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. It’s the passage we’re going to be looking at this morning, and I hope that all of you will be encouraged by it as I was. Because there we find a wonderful revelation from God, first that He knows exactly what is going on right now in your life and my life, He is with us, and second He has a purpose and a prescription for us right now as we live this life.

We need to grab hold of the fact that the Bible promises us struggle. Whether you’re a Christian here this morning or whether you’ve never entrusted and surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, we’re all going to struggle. There’s suffering and difficulty and confusion in this world. Because we as human beings introduced sin into humanity and with it we brought decay and destruction and death. People get sick. People hurt other people. People die. All because of the sin that Adam and Eve brought into the world and the sin that continues to multiply today.

But, even as Christians who have been saved from sin, we’re promised that in this life we will have tribulation and struggle and difficulty. There are a number of reasons why. First of all, Jesus said plainly that since the world hated Him, of course the world is going to hate the people who follow after Him. But second, the Bible explains that God allows His people to experience suffering because it benefits and evaluates our faith. Our faith is tested to discover if it is genuine. When a storm comes, will I be the kind of person that cuts and runs or do I have a faith that endures? The Bible says that when our faith is tested our endurance has a chance to grow and our lives are purified. And, of course we understand that faith untested is not faith at all. We are called to live by faith and not by sight.

And so we each come here this morning with different struggles. Different difficulties in our lives. Some are to a greater degree, some are to a lesser degree. But every person comes here today with some confusion, some hurt, some trial either presently impacting your life or one that’s about to show up. That’s something for us to remember as we interact with one another.

But, luckily for us, just as we are promised suffering in God’s word, God’s people are also promised the strength and the ability to rise above our suffering and our struggles in newness of life. We’re promised that our trials and difficulties can have a purpose and that they can be used by God. We’re promised a route to glory if we’re willing to put our trust not only in God but in the things He asks us to do.

So, this morning, as we look at a text which talks about suffering, we’ve been given an invitation to evaluate how we are responding to the difficulties of life. Because, yes we’re promised suffering in God’s word, and yes, God’s people are promised the tools and empowering needed to live above that suffering, but we have a part to play, we have a response to make to this gracious God.

And our response is key. Because in the midst of this life we can respond different ways to the Lord, especially during times of trial and suffering. Like Job, are we saying to God, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”? Or, like Job’s wife, when struggle comes along, are we saying, “Curse God and die”?

Our text is 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 1 through 10, which say:

2 Corinthians 5.1-10 – For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

This text was an encouragement to me as I saw God saying, “I know what you’re going through.” But, more than that, it’s an exciting passage of Scripture because of the promises and the look into the future that we receive.

But, like we’ve already talked about, intertwined in all those promises is the idea that we have a part to play. There is a call to action for us.

So, this morning the 2 ideas we’re going to be looking at from this text are these: Are we longing for the Lord and are we living for the Lord?

First, in these verses we see our longing for Christ.

As Paul wrote to the Corinthians a second time, he gets into this section and talks to them about suffering. Back in chapter 4 he talks about how fragile we are, here in these mortal bodies. And, now, in our text, he talks about our bodies sighing and groaning. And, of course we understand that suffering isn’t just limited to physical illness. There are all sorts of problems and hurts that we face.

But Paul points out that we have something very definite and very real to look forward to as Believers. He talks about an eternal body we will receive, made by God Himself. A body free from weariness and sickness. A perfect, eternal body crafted by the Creator. We think about that and we can’t help but think about another promise Jesus made that, after His resurrection, He would ascend into heaven where He would prepare a home for us. God is fashioning for each of His people a body and a home to live in when we meet with Him in heaven.

But not only that, throughout Scripture we learn more about what is waiting for us in eternity. Heaven itself is described not as harps and clouds, but a massive, beautiful city with unimaginable depth and detail. A place where there is no sorrow and there is no pain.
On top of that, in eternity we will be finally, fully set free from sin. No more desire to sin. No more effects of sin. No more temptation or anger or resentment. No more decay. Perfect freedom.

If that weren’t enough, the Bible says that God’s people don’t just get entrance into heaven, but that we will be rewarded for the service to the Lord that we render in this life. Lavish, Kingly rewards.

But more than all those things, more than the body and the city and the reward, we know waiting for us in heaven is Jesus Himself, the One who saved our lives. The One who gave Himself that we might not have to pay the debt that we owed.

Everyone’s talking about the federal debt right now. It’s estimated that if you divided the federal debt evenly to every man, woman and child in America right now, every one of us would owe more than $45,000, not including personal debt like houses, cars, students loans, credit cards.

Now, let’s say someone came to you tomorrow morning and said, “You have to the end of the day to pay me all of that debt.” I’m guessing most of us wouldn’t be able to settle the score. Maybe some, but not many.

But, spiritually speaking things are much worse for us. Because the Bible says that the wages or, in our analogy, the debt for every individual sin is death. That is the penalty for one sin. Just one. And as we think about what is piled into our account, the judgment we deserve, and then to realize that Jesus Christ came, died and rose again on our behalf so He could take that debt away Himself, is amazing. He is who waits for us in heaven. That Person. That Savior. That Forgiver and Friend.

As Christians, knowing what we know about heaven and eternity, there should be an expectation in our lives and a longing for eternity.

1 Peter 1.3-4 – All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

Our struggles and our sufferings serve as a reminder to us that there is something waiting for us. And, like Paul said in verse 4, it’s not that we want to die, it’s that we eagerly await the moment when we will be swallowed up by life. A longing to thirst no more. A longing expectation to be perfected and completed and united with Christ in eternal life.

And so the question that comes to us is this: Right now, today, what am I longing for? Can I evaluate my life and honestly say that I have a longing for eternity, not just philosophically, but actively?

Or, put it this way – what does my heart desire right now?

The things we long for, the things we desire, set the course of our lives.

It’s clear from Scripture that God is sovereign and that He has a plan and a will for your life and for my life, but He also allows us to set our own course either toward Him or away from Him. We’re given free will to do so.

Jonah is the prime example. God said go right, Jonah went left. God followed him and worked to get his attention with a storm on the sea, Jonah tried to kill himself. God intervened and set Jonah on a beach. Jonah finally went and followed in the way God had made for him.

Or, think about it this way – Abraham and Lot. Both are considered righteous men in the New Testament. There came a point where they had to choose which direction they would move in their lives with their families. Lot desired wealth and power and luxury above other things. Abraham desired God. Lot moved toward Sodom. Abraham moved wherever the Lord wanted him to go.

The things we long for and desire in our hearts will determine the course of our lives. God will never abandon us, but He will allow us to go left when He wants us to go right. And that mis-direction can cause incredible tragedy in our lives. Look at Adam and Eve. Look at Jonah. Look at Lot.

Mark 4.18-19 – (Some seed fell among thorns) The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.

Contrast that with:

Psalm 37.4 – Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

When flying an airplane, the accuracy of your course is very important. For every degree that you fly off course, you miss the place you want to land by 92 feet for every mile you fly.

92 feet may not seem like much until you think about it this way – fly 60 miles just one degree off course and you’ll miss your target by an entire mile. So if you were flying from JFK to LAX just one degree off course would put you about 40 miles out in the Pacific Ocean.

A Christian who doesn’t long for eternity, who doesn’t delight in the Lord is in trouble. Because, like Jonah or the plane from JFK, they’re on course toward the ocean. They’re moving their lives toward something that is temporal and tragic and dying. Not toward the abundant life God wants for them.

God wants life for you. He wants your life to have eternal value.

2 Corinthians 5.5 – God Himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee, He has given us His Holy Spirit.

Our Creator and Savior and Friend and Lover has guaranteed us the future hope by giving us His Holy Spirit, to dwell within us, reminding us of where we’re headed.

Do we long for the Lord?

Remember when you were in middle school and it was Valentine’s Day? Remember being excited about getting valentines from people?

Or when you’ve had to spend some time away from your spouse and there’s that card or that email that comes through and you get that excitement to hear from them and think about being reunited with them?

If there’s no spark when that happens, we understand that a marriage is in trouble.

Now think about your relationship with Jesus. The ultimate Friend and Lover and Savior. If there’s no spark, no longing, no desire, then there’s something wrong. God has written us and told us that He’s coming back soon. Does that make a difference to us or have we become detached from our relationship with Him?

Charles Spurgeon once said:

“My horse invariably comes home in less time than he makes the journey out. He pulls the carriage with a hearty good will when his face is towards home. Should not I also both suffer and labour the more joyously because my way lies towards heaven, and I am on pilgrimage to my Father’s house, my soul’s dear home and resting place?”

If we evaluate our longings, we will find whether we’re distracted by some suffering, deceived by some worldly pursuit or right where we need to be. The Bible says that you are a slave to whatever controls you. Whatever fills your life, that’s what controls you.

Don’t be swallowed up by bitterness from suffering or materialism in this world, but be swallowed up by the life God has offered to you.

How do we do that? By living for Christ.

The Christian life isn’t just about looking forward to heaven. It’s about carrying out God’s will for us and setting a course toward Him in our daily lives.

It’s the second half of our verses, but it’s all brought home and given right to us in verse 9:

2 Corinthians 5.9 – So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Him.

Our goal is to please God. That is the Christian life.

How do we do that? God sets the standard, but He also gives us the instructions.

First, from our text (verse 7):

2 Corinthians 5.7 – We live by believing and not seeing.

We live by believing what God has said about Himself and what He has said about how we are to go about our daily lives.

The Bible is not just the detailing of who God is, but it is also the explanation of how we please the God who made us and saved us. And as we go to the Scriptures, we discover who God really is. Not who we’d like Him to be or who our culture says He is, but who He actually is. And then we learn what honors Him, what angers Him, what pleases Him, what He has required of us, what is good and what is evil.

Right now, because of the revelation of God and because of the Holy Spirit that God the Father sent for my benefit, I am able to evaluate my life and know whether I am pleasing God or whether I am not.

And, here’s the thing we need to remember as Christians who live in a time and place where it isn’t very hard to be a Christian: Being a disciple isn’t just about flying under the radar. What I mean by that is, being a Christian isn’t just about not murdering people. We see something like that on cop shows a lot, right? The ex-con gets let out and the authorities tell him something like, “Just keep your nose clean and out of trouble.”

But the Christian life isn’t about flying under the radar. Our goal is to please God.

Jesus once told a parable about 3 different servants. The master gave each one money and ability to do business for him and then the master went on a journey.

When the master returned he found that 2 of the servants had gone out and worked with that money, creating a profit from what they had. The 3rd servant took the money he was given and just buried it in the ground. When the master came to him the servant said, “Here’s your money back. I didn’t do anything with it.” That master wasn’t happy.

If you were the master, would that have pleased you? A dormant Christian does not please God. Remember, when someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, He said, “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Those are action commandments. Those are callings. The Bible says, “Those who love God keep His commandments.”

We know how to please God, because He’s told us how. We’re given 66 books of instruction. We’re given the life of Jesus, which we are to follow. His teachings and His methods and His example.

Paul, one chapter over from our text, explains how he lived life to please God:

2 Corinthians 6.3-10 – We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

And so the question is: Am I doing any of those things? Am I actually living for Christ? Am I following God’s commands or am I ignoring the ones that I find inconvenient? Am I loving my neighbor or am I avoiding them? Am I enduring troubles and hardships or am I blaming God for them? Do I ever preach in the sense of sharing my faith or do I hide it? Am I living the Christian life or am I just trying to fly under the radar?

These can be challenging questions, but God doesn’t want us to feel defeated and He doesn’t want every one of His people to be martyred. That’s not the point. So let’s talk about today.

Today, do I see my life as an opportunity to lay bricks in the Kingdom of God? The Bible says I can.

Today, am I enduring the struggles I’m facing to bring God glory and show the world that I have a hope and future? The Bible says I can.

Today, am I praying and sharing and working to help snatch the lost from the grip of sin? The Bible says I can.

Today, am I hastening the coming of Christ by the way I live my life? Because the Bible says I can.

Our culture and our generation has too many undead Christians. Christians who are like zombies. Brought out of the grave, but uninterested in becoming truly alive. Uninterested in pleasing God. Not thinking about the future. Living for the pleasures and pursuits of this world instead of the next.

Here’s where we close. As this text points out, life isn’t easy. We all struggle. We all suffer. We all have to contend with the sin in and around us. We all can feel confused at times about what’s going on in our lives.

But God knows all about what is going on in your life and my life. He knows your hurts and your pains. He knows what’s coming down the road. And He is with us so that our lives can have purpose and passion, even when we’re suffering. And how we respond to those struggles is key. Because our response is the difference between rising above those difficulties or falling down underneath them.

Here in this text we see that God has given us light to see life clearly and properly. He’s guaranteed His love for us and His plan for the future by giving us the Holy Spirit.

None of us want to be like Lot or Jonah or the 3rd Servant in the parable, but when we struggle, it’s possible for us to react like they did. To stop longing for Christ and to stop living for Christ.

2 Corinthians 4.16-18 – That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Our part is to open our lives to God. To fix our eyes on Him. To long for Christ and live for Christ.

We don’t do these things perfectly, but that’s not what we’re called to. God doesn’t expect perfection from us. That’s why He provides all that we need. He provides the help and the vision and the filling. That’s what He’s promised.

We may not do these things perfectly, but are we doing them presently? That’s the question. Today, right now, am I living to please God or am I living for something else? Only you can answer that question in your heart as you spend time in prayer with the Holy Spirit.

This life, though difficult, is full of promise and hope for those people who are willing to please God and follow after Him. People who the Bible describes this way:

1 Peter 2.9-10 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.