Verse 1 of chapter 5, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed we have a building from
God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands.”
We know…we know.
The Christian faith engages our minds. This is something that we ought to keep reminding
ourselves of, so that we don’t allow our minds to fossilize, and that we continue to
be sharpened and to make progress.
I was at a church in California just a few weeks ago now—back in August I think it
was, time flies—and I went there. I had a Sunday free and I was staying with friends,
and I went down to the church and I was excited because I get to go now, and I don’t have
to do anything at all except do whatever they tell me to do. And so I sat there and I waited
for it to begin. And it was quite fascinating actually. They had big screens, and they had
a clock on the screens. And when I got in it said “5 Minutes” and I had only been
in about 2 seconds, and you won’t be surprised, it said “4 Minutes, 58 Seconds.” And then
it counted down, and eventually it counted down, “10, 9, 8, 7, 6…”. And just right
on the moment of time, the band began…and I was waiting for David Letterman at that
point. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. And then eventually the band did what
it did, and then the person who was to lead the praise, his opening gambit was this, “Hey!
How do y’all feel this morning?” Well that was enough for me. We could have had
the benediction right there that was so good. I thought, what kind of New Testament question
is that? How do y’all feel this morning?
If I told you how I feel, especially in light of the last 5 minutes, you would question
whether I was even a Christian at all. So don’t ask me that question. Ask me what
I know. Ask me what I know. Don’t ask me what I feel about myself. Ask me what I know
about God. Ask me what I know about His Word. Ask me what I know to be of verity that can
deal with my soul. That’s what I need. Don’t make me sing songs about how I feel. Don’t!
These silly repetitive songs again and again, ‘I just want to praise you, lift my hands
and say I love you, you are everything to me’. Goodness, at half past eight on a Sunday
morning I’m barely ambulatory. I can’t start there. And you want me to say that?
I just kicked the dog. I don’t even have a dog. I got in an argument with someone because
they took my parking space. I spilled my coffee, I didn’t read my Bible, I’m a miserable
wretch, and now you want me to start here—‘how do you feel?’ I feel rotten, that’s how
I feel! What do you got for me? The answer, nothing. I got nothing for you.
That’s why you have to get yourself under the control of the Scriptures. That’s why
it is what we know—the verities of the Scriptures which then fuel our hearts and our emotions, and
lead us on. Hence, ‘praise my soul the King of heaven, to His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. Who like thee His praise should sing?’
Okay, now we’ve got something to sing about, for we have been reminded of truth. You have
been ransomed; you have been healed; you have been restored; you have been forgiven. You’re
looking away from yourself now. You’re looking out and to Christ. And it is in this that
we have something that fuels our praise.