2 Corinthians 5 (2)

Pray Psalm 25.1-3.
To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
Let not my enemies triumph over me.
Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

Sing Psalm 25.1-3.
(Festal Song: Rise Up, O Men of God)
I lift my soul to You; O LORD, in You I trust.
Let me not come to shame, nor let my foes o’er me exult.

All they who wait on You shall never come to shame.
Yet they to shame shall come who stand against Your holy Name.

Read 2 Corinthians 5.1-8; meditate on verses 6-8.

Preparation
1. Of what was Paul confident?

2. How must we walk while we are still in the body?

Meditation
Our passage begins with the word “so” or “therefore”, and this tells us that what follows is building on what went before. Paul has just said that God has given us His Spirit as a down payment on our living eternally with Him in glory. Because we can know the Spirit as He is at work within us, willing and doing of God’s good pleasure (Phil. 2.13), we are confident that what God has promised, He will perform. For now, we dwell in this bodily tent, this earthen vessel; one day we will dwell in the Presence of the Lord (v. 6).

So we are confident now in God and His Word and promises. But we will be “well pleased” when we have left this body and are “present with the Lord” (v. 8).

But the Lord even now is present with us, dwelling in us by His Word and Spirit. We cannot see Him there, but we believe God’s Word to be true. So we walk “by faith”, that is, trusting in what God has spoken to us in His Word, rather than “by sight” (v. 7). But what does that mean?

“Walk” is one of Paul’s favorite tropes for the life of faith. It suggests a journey on which we make progress toward a destination which we can only see in our mind’s eye. We go forward step by step, day by day, as we keep that destination in mind and pay careful attention to the map provided for our way. Our journey is not defined by the things we can “see” along the way; it is defined by our destination—the eternal Presence of the Lord. We conduct our lives each day with that end in view, making steady progress toward that end and preparing to be received in that home as we go. There we will be “well pleased” indeed, glad to leave this frail flesh behind to be clothed with glory and face-to-face with the Lord.

So walk on, brethren, keeping one eye on the far horizon and one on the map of God’s Word.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
When we are able to walk this way, to be more desirous of being with the Lord than to be living here on earth, certainly the things of earth will hold less sway and import over our lives.

“Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail; but God
is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73.25, 26).

“No one is holy like the LORD, for there is none besides You,
nor is there any rock like our God” (1 Sam. 2.2).

“You are my portion, O LORD;
I have said that I would keep Your words” (Ps. 119.57).

You have heard the trope, “He’s so heavenly minded that he’s no earthly good”;
but I would like to suggest, that if this heavenly minded person was so focused on, and in love with Jesus Christ, with his mind and desires and goals and purpose all wrapped up in Him, then he would be the person I would most like to know on earth.

This person would be set on pilgrimage, from earth to heaven, and living to please only the “High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity” (Is. 57.15). He would have inclined his heart to follow God’s decrees to the very end (Ps. 119.112). He would be imitating Paul (1 Cor. 11.1) and God (Eph. 5.1).

He would be the best this world had to offer.
He would be walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5.7).

He would be pleasing to God. For “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11.6).

“Walk This Way” and know the peace of God, and confidence (2 Cor. 5.6, 8) to carry you through the earthly here and now to the eternal, heavenly there and then.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
(Helen H. Lemmel, 1922)

For reflection
1. What will it mean for you to walk by faith and not by sight today?

2. What do you do to turn your eyes upon Jesus throughout the day?

3. How would you explain to a new believer what it means to walk by faith?

And though God is with us here, by his Spirit, and in his ordinances, yet we are not with him as we hope to be. Faith is for this world, and sight is for the other world. It is our duty, and it will be our interest, to walk by faith, till we live by sight. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on 2 Corinthians 5.1-8

Pray Psalm 25.4-9.
Pray for the Lord’s guidance. Ask Him to unfold His Word before you so that you walk by faith in what He commands and promises. Ask Him to instruct and guide you for all this day’s work.

Sing Psalm 25.4-9.
(Festal Song: Rise Up, O Men of God)
Make me to know Your ways, teach me Your paths, O LORD!
My Savior, all day long I wait and seek You in Your Word.

Remember mercy, LORD, and steadfast love to me!
But all my sins before You let them not remembered be!

My sins have been of old, Your love is new each day;
according to Your goodness, LORD, regard my sinful way.

Upright and good are You, You lead us in Your way.
The humble You instruct in truth and guide him day by day.

T. M. and Susie Moore

Want to learn more about encouragement? Download the six installments of our free ReVision study on “Encouragement” by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter, available by clicking here.