We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
4 sermons cite this verse
… and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. Paul showed us in 2 Corinthians 5.8, essentially, if you belong to Jesus, death isn't the end. He said, we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. You may remember the two thieves on the cross. Jesus was hanging there, and one of the thieves looked at Jesus and said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus looked on at the man who did nothing to deserve salvation, but his repentance heart, Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Not someday, but today. In other words, when you breathe your last breath here, the next moment you're with Jesus. So Paul calls it being home with the Lord. Jesus called it paradise. We call it heaven. Whatever you call it, death is not the end. When Jesus returns, those who are in Christ, your dead bodies, you'll be with the Lord, your dead bodies are resurrected, which is going to be really amazing if you're by a cemetery. Like, whoa, just saw that. And then they're not going to be like disembodied spirits. You're not going to be like naked baby angel bald playing a harp on a cloud. No, Paul says this. Paul says of those who are raised again, he says in 1 Corinthians 15, it is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, they're buried, but they will be raised to live …
This is what the Bible teaches. Second Corinthians 5.8 says we're fully confident We'd rather be away from these bodies and then we'll be at home with the Lord. Coming back to the cross, remember that thief that was crucified next to Christ. And he says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. John Bunyan, the writer, said, and I quote, death is but a passage out of a prison into a palace, end quote. When death strikes the Christian, they fall into heaven. God allowed Stephen's life to be taken because he had fulfilled his task. He had fulfilled his calling in his generation. Now here's the thing. None of us has a guarantee we will live a long life. Coming back to Jim Elliot. Another entry in his journal went as follows. and I quote, I seek not a long life, but a full one like you, Lord Jesus, end quote. …
… is it to you that's the issue this morning is a close personal enjoyment of christ your greatest hope so you could say that with paul better to depart and be with him he adds this in second corinthians 5 8 yes we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord, with the Lord, at home with the Lord. I live a 10 minute walk from here. I was walking over today and somebody picked me up. Bless your heart. Because they had not plowed the sidewalk on the bridge. And I was giving thanks for this car that stopped. And also wondering about the people who tramped all the way to the North Pole. like I was so tired I lived 10 minutes from here and I lived there for 42 years for two we raised five kids in that house we went through the deepest marital waters in that house we goodness knows spread dozens of Thanksgiving feasts with 12, 16, 18 people around the table. It's home. I love this house. God help me not love it too much. I love this house. I love coming home to the neighborhood and to the house. …
… while we are home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight. We're of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. The apostle Paul is saying, you know, there will come a time we lay these bodies down. We'll have a new body, a resurrected body, which our Lord promised and which he certainly demonstrated in his own resurrection. Paul says, we have the privilege of living by faith. We walk by faith. Therefore, we're not worried about death. We're not afraid of death. We're not concerned about what's going to happen to these bodies. We have the awesome promise of a resurrected body and a heavenly home. And he says, therefore, we're not walking by sight. We're not walking by feeling. We're not walking by the people's opinions. We're not walking according to reason. We are walking simply by faith. It is the will and purpose and plan of God that all of us learn to walk by faith. …