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Sermon Outline - Facing Death as a Christian, 2 Corinthians ch.5 vv.1-5

Date23/11/2003
Time11:00
PreacherRev. Maurice Roberts, Inverness
Sermon TitleFacing Death as a Christian
Text2 Corinthians ch.5 vv.1-5
Sermon ID714

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Introduction

  1. Illustration: a friend's wife who got a job in a school.
  2. Rel: To help others and yourself too.
  1. THINGS WHICH THE CHRISTIAN KNOWS

    * The Christian knows many things that others do not know (from Bible, Sermons, Sabbath School, etc.) It is valuable knowledge.

    1. That our body is like a tent
      1. A tent is not so good as a house
      2. It is flimsy and liable to be torn
      APPLICATION: Don't be obsessed by it.
    2. The soul lives in this tent
      1. We are souls in a body.
      2. The soul is far more important.
      ILLUSTRATION: We can live in a partial body.
    3. The 'tent' will one day collapse
      1. Illustration: a tent in rough weather.
      2. Ill-health affects the body.
      3. One day it will fall down.
    4. We have a replacement house
      1. The Christian will at once go up.
      2. The 'house' - what is it?
    5. That house will never collapse
      1. It is eternal - unlike the body.
      2. Illustration: The Greeks who saw 'the SEA'
    6. It is waiting for us in heaven
      1. "In my Father's house..."
      2. Christ has prepared it for us.

    APPLICATION: How different the Christian is from the non-Christian! He has no such house.

  2. THE WAY THIS KNOWLEDGE AFFECTS US

    *Knowledge has an effect on us - e.g. (i) death of relative (ii) a birth.
    So, this knowledge affects us:

    1. In this body the Christian now "groans"
      1. "groan" = experience. Cp. Romans 8:26
      2. because of life's burdens: 4:8-10
      APPLICATION: Do we not know it?
    2. We look forward to heaven
      1. "desiring..." to be in glory
      2. every Christian feels it, especially those who are elderly.
    3. This is an intense feeling ("yearn")
      1. yearn = vehement desire.
      2. we greatly long for heaven.
      APPLICATION: Is not this partly why God puts many burdens on His people here?
    4. Our supreme desire is more than to die ('be found naked')
      1. "naked" = the state of death.
      2. The soul is naked till resurrection.
      APPLICATION: We long for glory IN FULL.
    5. Rather, it is to be "clothed". (Explain)
      1. The state of death -> resurrection.
      2. Death not so good as resurrection.
    6. We are now "burdened" (v.4)
      1. Different for each Christian.
      2. "Bear one another's burdens..."
      APPLICATION: Life is, for the Christian, a greater problem than death.
  3. HOW DO WE KNOW ALL THIS IS TRUE?

    * Can we be sure? Is there proof?

    1. Yes, God has changed us (v.5)
      1. God has "wrought" this change.
      2. Conversion alters us totally.
    2. We have the Holy Spirit (v.5)
      1. Proved by our love for God.
      2. and by our many experiences.
    3. The Spirit is the "earnest" of glory
      1. "earnest" = first payment
      2. The Spirit gives us a foretaste of the coming glory, especially a sense of God's love.

APPLICATION

  1. We all have a fear of death.
    Illustration: a child scalded by hot water bottle.
  2. The non-Christian's approach is to shut his mind.
    Illustration: "More Champagne".
  3. The Christian has this wonderful knowledge and experience.
    Application: You and I are going to need this knowledge - let us be fully assured of its truth.

This sermon outline has been downloaded from http://www.bible-sermons.org.uk