Second Corinthians 4:18

The Bible says in Second Corinthians 4:18 “While we look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” In this verse we are on the subject of the difference between the physical and the spiritual. That which is physical is physical. That which is spiritual is spiritual. Both exist. Both are real, but there are differences between them. Material things are temporal: in other words they are governed by time and are therefore temporary. Spiritual things are not limited by time, and they are therefore timeless: spiritual things are eternal.

Another difference between the material and the spiritual is that you can see with your eyes that which is material, but you cannot see with your eyes that which is spiritual. That is why you cannot see God. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit.” And the Bible also says, “No man has seen God at any time.” Physical eyes cannot see spiritual beings. That is not the way that it works. If you were able to see spiritual beings with your physical eyes, then you would see angels, and you would see demons, and you would see God. You would see Jesus right now because He is everywhere.

Even though you cannot see God or anything or anyone else that is spiritual, you can still perceive them with spiritual eyes. That is why Paul said that he actually looked “at the things which are not seen.” In order to be able to see the things which cannot be seen, the spiritual things, you must become a spiritual person. That is partly what Jesus was talking about in John 3:5-7 where the Bible says, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

Unless you have the spiritual birth and become born again through faith in Christ, you will never have spiritual eyes and you will become an easy target for spiritual lies. But even if you have been born again, you still must have your heart and your priorities right if you are going to do what Paul did and Paul said about himself, “We look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” In other words there is a certain effort or a certain choice on your part. It is a principle that is very similar to what Jesus taught when He said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

You had better have your priorities right, and you had better be careful what you look at with your physical eyes. It just might keep you from looking for what you should be looking for spiritually. The Bible says in First John 2:15-16, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Be careful of the lust of the eyes: the physical eyes. When you see something and desire it and go after it, it may cause you to have the wrong priorities, and to fail to go after that which is spiritual instead.

In Second Corinthians 5:1-4 Paul wrote of his desire to leave this present material life and to finally be with the Lord forever. It says, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

Concerning the difference between the physical and the spiritual, in these verses the Bible gets more specific and speaks of the individual human being and the difference between the spiritual you and the physical you. When Paul speaks of “the earthly house of this tabernacle,” he is speaking of the body. The real you is the spiritual you. You live inside your body, but your body is not the real you: it is just your house: where you live for a short period of time. This is a good principle to remember because in our society there is too much emphasis on the external and the outward appearance. I agree with the preacher that I heard when I was a kid who said when talking about women wearing make-up: “If the barn needs paint, then go ahead and paint it.” But it is what is inside the barn that really counts.

Paul said that he knew that the house that he lived in, his body, was going to be “dissolved” one day. He was talking about death. But he knew that once he died his existence would be outside of the body and so he said that when that happened, he would “have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Paul said that he longed for the day when he would leave his body and be with God. The word that he used was “groan.” He said, “For we that in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened.” To groan in this context is to have a deep and a great longing in the soul. Paul was not saying that he was hoping to die: he was just saying that he was really looking forward to being in heaven. That is what he meant when he said, “not for that we would be unclothed.” He did not wish for death. He understood that life was precious and that it should be lived to its full and complete conclusion. No, he was not talking about death, but he was talking about the life that he would have after death with God.

Notice that when Paul spoke about death, he did so with complete assurance of where he would be after death. He would be with God and with Christ. But notice also the statement where there is not so much confidence. Paul wrote, “If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.” Here the word “naked” has the sense of being barren. When Paul spoke of being unclothed and then clothed again, he was speaking of death and then new life in heaven. But when he spoke of not being sure of how well clothed he would be, he meant that he did not know the exact nature of the life that would be given to him in heaven. He knew that he would be in heaven, but he did not know what his role and responsibilities would be there. That will not be known until the judgment when believers are judged for their accomplishments for Christ. There is a lot more at stake than the question: are you going to heaven or not. There is also the question of what will your rewards be and what kind of opportunities and responsibilities will you be given in heaven. Paul will speak in more detail on this subject later in this chapter.

The Bible says in Second Corinthians 4:5-8, “Now he that has wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also has given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” There are three things to notice about the current life that we have in this body on this earth. 1. The first thing is the confidence that Paul had that once he left this body, he would be with the Lord. Hopefully you have that same confidence. If you do not, you can obtain it by finding salvation through Jesus Christ. 2. Until we get heaven the one thing that God has given to every believer is the “earnest of the Spirit.” The word “earnest” means down payment. Thank God for the Spirit that He put in you when you were born again. The Spirit will comfort you. The Spirit will guide you. The Spirit will give you understanding of the Word. The Spirit will teach you to pray. The Spirit will give you one or more gifts to use in His service. Thank God for the Spirit that He has put into your heart if you are a believer in Jesus. 3. The Christian life that we have in this world is described very clearly by Paul here. He said, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” That is how to live life if you want to live it the way that it was meant to be lived: by faith. You trust in God and in Christ and in all of their wonderful promises. In each circumstance of your life you rely upon God and what He will do to work things out. God has made precious promises and He always keeps them.

Concerning the confidence that Paul had that he would be present with the Lord as soon as he departed his mortal body, Paul wanted to emphasize the fact that a very important event would take place when he got to heaven and he wanted to be ready for that event: the judgment of the believers. Even though Paul was going to go to heaven by grace through faith in Christ and by grace only; Paul knew that he would be judged according to his works for the purpose of rewards and he wanted to do everything he could to get ready for that judgment.

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 5:9-10, “Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Here is one reason where good works are extremely important for the Christian. It has nothing to do with the salvation of the soul because it is true that we are saved by grace alone just as Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.” But once a Christian gets to heaven, the good works that he did will become a very hot topic. Every Christian will be judged according to his works, not to get heaven, but to determine the rewards that he will win or lose.

The same subject is taught in First Corinthians 3:11-15 where the Bible says, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Once you have the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, you are saved. You will go to heaven. But just as precious metal is refined by fire, you will be refined at the judgment seat of Christ. All of your works that were bad will be burnt up. What will be left is only the precious metal. The goal is to have as much precious metal as possible, knowing that it will all be made manifest at the judgment seat of Christ.

Paul wanted to be ready for that judgment. That is why he said in Second Corinthians 5:9 that he “labored” in order to be “accepted” by Christ. He was not talking about the salvation of his soul. He was talking about what the Lord would say about Paul’s performance and effort at the judgment seat of Christ. Paul was concerned about the rewards that he would receive or fail to receive from the hand of Christ. That is what Paul was talking about in Second Timothy 4:7-8 when he wrote, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Some people might say, “I don’t care about rewards. I only care about getting to heaven.” Well, that is not all that Paul cared about. He wanted to hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” from the One who died for him. The judgment seat of Christ may prove to be a difficult time for some believers. It will be for me. Some will win great rewards, but some will lose much of what they could have won. There is a lot to lose of you do not have the good works that God wants you to have for the glory of Christ. The Bible says that God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Maybe some of those tears will be tears of shame and sorrow that we did not do more for Jesus the Savior when we had the chance. There is only one life; ‘twill soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last.

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