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All right, so in 2nd Corinthians chapter number 5 the part of the scripture I really want to focus in there is it kind of that beginning half and begins in verse 1 it says For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved We have a building of God and house made not with made not with hands eternal the heavens jump down to verse 6 Therefore we are always confident knowing that while we are yet at home in the body We are absent from the Lord go to verse 8. He says we are confident I say Willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord and the title of the sermon this morning is willing to be absent willing to be absent and That title will make more sense near the end of the sermon but I want to start out in the sermon here this morning is pointing out the fact that That Paul here is expressing a great deal of confidence over about what is to come, you know And that's a confidence that we all have, you know, if we're saved We know that we're on our way to heaven that nothing can change that That no matter what happens in this life Jesus Christ has shed his blood for us that he has died for us that he was buried that he rose again That we have put our faith in him and then we've received the free gift of salvation and nothing can separate us from the love That is in Christ Jesus. That's the confidence that we have and that's the confidence here that Paul is expressing He says we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved. We have a building of God He's talking about the terrestrial body Dissolving away and receiving that celestial body that that home for our spirit in heaven that is not made with heads That is eternal in the heavens it's not going to fade away and he says that we are always confident knowing this and he says in verse 8 again that we Are confident that if we were to be absent from this body that if we were to die That we would be immediately present with the body or excuse me, and we be immediately present with the Lord in that new body And you see what this confidence does for Paul If you would keep something there all morning and for 2nd Corinthians 5, we'll come back later a couple times this morning But go back one chapter to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and you'll see what this confidence did with policy This confidence ought to move us to do something this confidence that we have that we're saved that we're on our way to heaven You know that should inspire us to serve God that should make us bold to serve the Lord And that's what it did for Paul. If you look there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 look at verse 7 He said we have this treasure in earth and vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us Look at verse 8. We are troubled on every side yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair Persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body For we which are live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake that the life of Jesus Also might be made manifest in our mortal flesh so then that death work in us in us but life in you He's saying look we're confident here. He has this confidence Expressed there in 2nd Corinthians 5 that allows him to go and face these persecutions That's why he's able to say in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 that he's persecuted But he's not he's not forsaken that he's cast down But he's not destroyed that he's always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus Look there in verse 13. He said we having the same spirit of faith as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore speak Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall up shall raise up also us Excuse me shall raise up all us also by Jesus and shall present us with you So Paul is very confident here and he was so confident that he was willing to die. He was so sure that The fact that he had a tabernacle in heaven a new body waiting for him that to be absent from the body was to be Present with the Lord that he was willing to die. He was willing to suffer all these things He said in verse 11 we which live are always delivered unto death For Jesus sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our flesh and he said he's always delivered I mean persecution for Paul wasn't a maybe it wasn't some far-off thing that might happen one day It was his life I mean he lived a life of persecution we can go read the the latter half of Acts where Paul Suffered great, you know suffered greatly for the Lord being beaten being stoned to death being whipped being imprisoned I mean shipwrecked and you know at the sea for a night and a day. I mean he went through so many things Suffering for Christ. Why was he able to go through that? Because of the confidence that he had that if he were to die, he would be immediately present with the Lord He was always delivered unto unto death, you know Paul he consistently knocked on death's door didn't he? He was right there serving the Lord just constantly knocking on the death's door. They said speak no more in his name They'd beat him they'd stone him. He'd pick himself up dust himself off and go to the next town I mean he lived a life of persecution And all he had to do if you think about it Paul could have spared all himself all of that He didn't have to go through that he could have Just made it all in what did he all he would have to do is just shut up All he had to do was just say, you know what? You're right I won't speak anymore in his name and just not said another word and he could have had a nice Peaceful life with man. I'm sure God would have been pleased with them They probably would have made it even worse for him, but humanly speaking. He could have just you know, clammed up and gone about his life That's not what he did. He said there in verse 13 we having the same spirit of faith as it is written I believed and Therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore speak Now it's that's an interesting quote and that's actually a quote from Psalms 116 if you turn over there Psalms 116 he's saying we having the same spirit of faith the same spirit of faith as who as The person who wrote Psalm 116 the person he's about to quote as it is written. I Believed and therefore have I spoken and we also believe in therefore speak You say we're the same we had the same spirit of faith as the guy that said I believed and therefore I have spoken You're going to Psalm 116 You know Paul in regards to this life that he lived of always being persecuted being willing to die for the Lord's sake You say why was he so able to do that? Well part of it was his confidence, you know I mean the major part was the confidence they had that he was going to be with the Lord and He knew that the best that the they could threaten him with was the You know the worst they could threaten him with rather Let me let me say that again the worst that they could threaten him with was the best that heaven had to offer I mean think about it, you know But the Bible says that we should not fear them which can destroy the body but fear much just can destroy the body and soul in hell I Mean the best the worst they can do is send you to heaven Folks it reminds me that story of you know, brother Bill Rice an old-time preacher You know this I don't know if this is just Baptist lore, you know, this is certainly within the realm of possibility I'm sure it happened But the story I heard the way it goes is he had God been at some meeting somewhere and he was preaching something and he was Sitting down after the service and some guy who was disgruntled didn't like the things he had to say came up to him and pulled the gun on him and Said I'm gonna kill you for the things you say or something to that effect And if the story goes that brother rice just looked him right back in the eye and said you threaten me with heaven And that was the worst you got you're gonna shoot me and send me to glory Well, you know, but that's that's the the spirit that Paul had that's the attitude that Paul had that's the attitude we should all have is This confidence that if the worst they can do to us is send us to heaven And Paul quite frankly getting ahead of myself a little bit I mean he almost seems like the type that was welcoming it like he was like, you know what? I almost prefer to die and go to glory. We'll look at that a little bit But he's saying here in 2nd Corinthians 4 that he has the same spirit of faith as This is written. I believed and therefore also have I spoken and if you look there in Psalm 116 look at verse 7 the psalmist writes return unto thy rest on my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee for I was Delivered for thou has delivered my soul from death. So this sounds like a man who was going through some persecution He was delivered from death. God delivered him mine eyes from tears You know, he was going through some persecution. There was some grief in his life. There was some you know, he was he was being persecuted Mine mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling people were trying to trip him up people were trying to cause him to stumble And he goes on and says in verse 9. I will walk before the Lord and in the land of the living I believed that therefore have I spoken So the faith of the psalmist here is the same faith of Paul That he they will serve the Lord in the face of adversity and that's the faith that we need to have I Believe therefore I will speak even unto death and Trust that the Lord will deliver us But if we perish we perish he goes on in verse 10 there if you look he says I believed therefore I have spoken I was greatly afflicted They couldn't shut him up. He was gonna go ahead and say what he had to say. I Said in my haste all men are liars Now when he says I said that in my haste, I don't think he's saying I was you know, I was hasty I shouldn't have said that. No, he was quick to say all men are liars That's what he's saying because that's a true statement Let God be true in every man a liar. That's scripture He said I you know, I was greatly afflicted but you know what all men are liars and he didn't hold back What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people Precious in the sight of Lord is the death of his saints. Of course that last part. There's a very famous verse but it's inferred here in this passage that what makes the the the death of a saint so precious isn't just the fact that they Died, I mean we can all do that. All right. In fact, we're all gonna do that one day But what makes it so precious is that he was willing to die That they would will be willing to die in service to the Lord That even when persecution came they were going to continue to serve God even if it cost them their neck That's what makes it so precious. I mean, that's what he's saying here. I was greatly afflicted I was greatly afflicted, but you know what? I will take the cup of the salvation. I will pay my vows They're not gonna stop me from serving God, even though they afflict me have afflicted me, you know I believe therefore I will speak you're not gonna shut me up. That's what he's saying here And this confidence that he has like Paul the psalmist and Paul this confidence comes from faith You know, it's something that we receive because of the fact that we have believed I believed therefore I have spoken, you know our faith should give us confidence our faith should not cause us to become timid or Want to draw back or hide our light under a bushel. We should be bold with our faith and telling others about it I believe therefore I have spoken Go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 he said in verse 6 Therefore we are always confident Knowing that whilst we are at home in the body. We are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith and not by sight Again that confidence comes through faith The fact that you know, we don't we don't see heaven and we haven't been there But we know we're going and Therefore, you know, we walk by faith and not by sight and that walk is not us tiptoeing through life You know being a Secret Service Christian Being an under-the-radar Christian That's it's a bold walk that pro that proclaims our faith that goes out and lets the world know That we have believed and therefore we speak That confidence comes through faith, but that confidence, you know is there to make us bold and that confidence also comes through the spirit You know, this isn't I don't think I have to spend a lot of time convincing anybody in this room this morning That's saying that they're on their way to heaven Because you have the spirit in you and when we just read these words in the Bible They speak to you and you know, this is the truth. That's the witness of the spirit that confidence comes through the spirit He says in 2nd Corinthians 5 verse verse 5 there now He that wrought for us the self same thing is God who has also given on us the earnest of the spirit Therefore we are always confident what makes us confident the fact that we have the earnest of the spirit We have the down payment of the spirit. We're sealed. We've been purchased by God We know that we're on our way to heaven that should make us confident not bashful not shy The Bible says go over to Romans chapter 8 It says in first let's in chapter 4 first let's only in chapter 4 But I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not You know, what is the confidence that we have as Christians is that if someone dies in the Lord they've gone to be with God in heaven and That should be a source of you know, great comfort to the Christian that we don't mourn as others He says, yeah that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope, you know, some people pass on in this life And it's a grief to people because we don't know where they went But when a person dies even tragically even suddenly even unexpectedly, you know I'm not saying it's gonna that that it's just you know, uh, you know a You know a walk through the roses It's still difficult. There's a lot of difficulties and grief mourning we understand But you know what the edge is taken off the blunt isn't there though The blunt trauma isn't there from the fact that if we that person died and we didn't know what they were saved or not You know, what's the hope there? But when that person's dies, you know, we have this hope that they've gone to be with with the Lord Why because they have the earnest of the spirit that's what gives us that confidence the spirit Says in Romans chapter 8 look at verse 16 It says the spirit bear itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God That's why I don't need to spend a lot of time here convincing you that you're God's child You know if you believed if you put your faith in Christ, you're born again. You just read that and you know, it's true and That you have the witness within you and that's what's going to keep you You know living for the Lord if you dwell in that and don't let yours your faith be shaken from that And he said we are the children of God and if children then heirs We're gonna go to heaven. We're gonna have an inheritance heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ If so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together You know that inheritance is going to be made better by your suffering and that's why Paul embraced it That's why Paul didn't didn't shy away from it. That's why Paul wasn't going to shut up That's why Paul having believed was going to continue to speak That by any means he might attain a better resurrection Not attain the resurrection but a better one. Look the resurrections coming folks If you're saved you're getting you're going But some folks the resurrection is going to be better than others because of the reward that they will receive That's what second Corinthians 5 goes on and teaches us if you would go back there second Corinthians chapter 5 See we have this confidence through the spirit and it's there to make us bold We have this confidence by faith and I believe everybody has that It's not it's not a difficult thing to have. I don't think there's anybody in the room that would say Well, I'm not willing to die for the Lord and of course We never really know until we're put in that position and it's easy to talk and say that right But I mean, let's give everybody the benefit of the doubt likely Everyone would be willing to go through with that if they had to push came to shove we hope so But you know what having that confidence is not enough to guarantee you That you will that confidence is not enough to guarantee that we would endure what Paul endured He says there in second Corinthians chapter 5 look at verse 6 Therefore we are always confident knowing that whilst 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 see what with Paul. It wasn't just he was confident. He was willing He wasn't just sure that he was saved. He wasn't just sure that he was on his way to heaven He wasn't he wasn't he was willing to go there And he was willing to say yeah, go ahead destroy this body and he was like the Lord the same faith that the Lord had Destroy this temple in the three days. I will raise it up He that's the confidence that he had but he also had the willingness to go with it Willing rather what to be absent from the body and to be present from the Lord You see Paul's confidence is What moved him to lay down his life if needed it was his confidence But he that confidence gave him the willingness to be to be able to do that If you go over to Philippians chapter 1 look at verse 23, this is a pretty famous passage We see how willing Paul was I mean when I read it I start to scratch my head wonder maybe Paul You know was more than willing. He it was actually his preference. In fact, that's what Philippians 1 tells us He would rather have died and gone home to be with the Lord. That was his preference That's how willing he was to be absent from this body He said in verse 23 in Philippines 1 23 for I am in a straight betwixt two You know what he's talking about being a straight. He's caught, you know, like between a rock and a hard place He's he's being pulled in two directions He's stuck having a desire to depart. That was his desire Saying look, I'm willing to be absent from the body. I'm not only confident. I'm willing rather To be absent from the body He says having a desire to part and to be which Christ which is far better and that's a true statement You know, and that's not a knock on the Philippians or anybody else To prefer the Lord's company over anybody else on earth. That's just a fact matter. We should all be able to say that That you know what going to be with God is better than anything you can get down here. There's no fellowship sweener. There's no There's no place you'd rather be than in heaven and Paul's so willing here that it was his preference to living he's saying I would rather depart and go and The only thing that kept him here is the work that needed to be done. That's the only thing that kept him here That's the only reason that stuck that God kept him around look at verse 24 nevertheless to buy the flesh is more needful for you and Having this confidence that I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for the furtherance and joy of faith That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by coming my coming to you again Saying look the only reason I'm sticking around here is not for me because I'd rather go I'm willing to be absent That's my preference. But he's saying I'm gonna stick around for your sake because that's what's needful for the Philippian people That's what that's what needful hey that folks no matter how willing we get to go that is why we're here You know, we might be just ready to just Lord taking I'm ready. Let's let's just end it all, you know Let's go. I'm not advocating anything. You know, we're we're not gonna roll out some kool-aid or things You know, but I'm just saying hey if that if you get to that place like Paul did where you're just I'd rather go be With the Lord understand this you still have a job to do. We still have work that it's others. That's why we're still here Go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 He said in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 beginning in verse 6 again Therefore we are always confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body We are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith and not by sight We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord You know, that's and you know, that's the interesting this isn't Paul despairing of life, you know as he started in the beginning there First Corinthians 5, you know You got to take note of this. This isn't this macabre death wish that he has, you know This wasn't because Paul is just so down in the dumps that he's ready to just off himself he's saying He's saying here that we would for verse 2 of second is 5 for this we groan earnestly Desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. If so being a clothed we shall not be found naked For we that are in this tap and angle do groan being burdened Not that we would be unclothed. He's saying look it's not because I just want to get out of this this You know sack of skin and go to heaven He's saying not that we'd be unclothed but clothed upon his desire for was for what was to come That's what why he wanted to go to heaven and that's what he's saying here. He's saying You know, we're and we're willing to be absent and to be present with the Lord It wasn't just I want to get out of this situation. It was I just would rather be with God But he says in verse 9 wherefore we labor That whether present or absent we may be accepted of him He's saying that's the reason why we labor is that we can be accepted of him whether we're there with him or not You know what that tells me is it's possible to not be accepted of the Lord. I'm not saying unsaved We know we understand that I'm just saying that not everyone's gonna hear those words Well done thou good and profitable servant enter thou in the joy of the Lord Some people just keep me like well I made it Thanks Lord, and he's say you're welcome. I'm glad you're here You know and you can you can go over there and sweep the floor or something, you know, you're not gonna rule over ten cities You're not gonna rule over five cities Some people are gonna you know, shine brighter than others. They're gonna be given more responsibilities So he's saying look we labor I'm sticking around here and I'm doing the work that whether I'm there or here I'm gonna be accepted of the Lord For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body According to the we've done whether it be good or bad again. This isn't talking about sin This is talking about whether your works are going to be wood Hey a stubble or gold silver and precious stone That's the difference there and we're all gonna have a mix of both and I don't want to go into all of that this morning But you see the confident person like Paul who's confident in the fact that when he's gonna go that he's going to heaven when he dies That he desires to be with the Lord that that is his desire That is his confidence that person is the one who puts in the work that's how you can tell the person who really believes that they're on their way there and It's this is very real to them That they understand that they're gonna stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day and they're gonna have their works, you know You know doled out to them They're gonna receive reward or they're not they're gonna suffer loss or they're gonna receive the word. They understand that that's their focus That's the person that puts in the work like Paul who is willing to labor that they would be accepted And why is it that some people do more than others Why does it seem like some people are more on fire for the Lord than other people? Why is it some people are more faithful to serving God than other people? And I scratch my head I think well, maybe it's because some people are just more willing to be absent Some people it's like they're already there some people are just more willing to be absent and by that I mean willing to be absent in the sense of not so caught up in the things of this life Not so invested in the things of this life that it's as if they're they're willing to go There's nothing holding them back other than the work of God You see when we're willing to be absent from the body that really puts life in perspective We get to the place to say look I'm willing to go and die for the Lord and that's if that's as well I'm willing to do that that puts the rest of life in perspective How are we gonna spend our time then if that's our if that's our attitude? What are we gonna invest in if that's our attitude that I'm willing to be absent from this life? But I'm not gonna let things you know get me caught up go over to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter 6 I See the confident person he's the one who's gonna put in the work the one who knows that I'm on my way to heaven that there's a reward waiting for me So I might as well get busy serving God because that's the only thing that's gonna matter in all of eternity All the things that I do down here all the fun. I have all the work I do all of that you know it's woodhaying stubble, and there's nothing inherently wrong with those things They're not even sinful, and there's a time and place for him But when we make our life all about just the pleasures and the cares of this life friend We're missing out on the bigger picture, and we have to step back and ask ourselves Are we really willing to be absent from the body or? Will we get to heaven and say you know Lord? I would have liked to stuck around because there's you know there's a few more weekends on the lake. I would have enjoyed Where was it like Paul? All right? I would have stuck around if you wanted me to to do the work He Says in Matthew chapter 6 verse 31 Therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or with all shall we be clothed for after all these? things do the Gentiles seek For your heavenly Father knoweth what things you have need of But seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be add unto you Take no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of the self Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. What's he saying? There's enough to worry about today to sit there and get don't get so caught up in tomorrow over to Matthew chapter 13 That's the perspective we have to have That we're not going to get that that we're going to seek first the kingdom of God. I know this is a familiar passage I know we heard that quoted all the time. We might even know it by heart But is that the way we're living our life are we really seeking the things of God first are we putting them first in our life? Are we seeking first the kingdom of God or are we are we more worried about what we're gonna eat now I know we're Baptist and it's a struggle But are we more worried about we're gonna eat or what we're gonna drink or we're gonna clothe are we worrying about these things? More than what God would have us to do today Are we more worried about that than the the evil of today the worries and the cares that are That are going to be sufficient for today Like there's enough to worry about today that it doesn't do any good to sit there and fret about tomorrow Look at Matthew chapter 13 verse 21, of course, it's the parable of the sower very famous And he talks about the fact that he goes out and he's so seen on different types of ground and we all know the story here That that ground that the sea takes root and it brings forth different results in different types of ground, right? And he says in verse 21 yet He hath not rude himself but doerth for a while for in tribulation of persecution Ariseth because of the word by and by and he is offended So the one type of ground right is the rocky ground. He receives that scene on rocky soil. It takes root. It's there It's not though It's not the wayside where it doesn't even have a chance to get in there and germinate It gets down in the soil and it's there but you know what? It's too rocky and it doesn't have any root and by and by you know, he's offended when the persecution comes You can't say that a Paul Paul certainly not that not type of that type of ground. He welcomed the persecution I mean he knocked on death's door and he lived on persecutions porch folks. That's where he was That was his life He was not offended. He embraced it and he goes on it says in verse 22 he says he also that received seed among the thorns is he that here at the word and the in the care of this world and The deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful But he that received the seed into good ground is he that here at the word and understandeth it Which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some in hundred fold some 60 and some 30 Look, they all heard the word. They all received it. But the last guy what did he do? He understood it. He embraced it It was his he was like Paul. Look I'm confident of this I'm so confident the fact that when I'm when I die, I'm gonna be with the Lord. I know what's coming I'm so confident this that I'm even willing to be absent and He's the one that got to work and he's the one that was bearing fruit He's not the one that got caught up, you know worried about the persecution that might come got caught up worrying about all the cares of this life Notice the things that prevent people from bearing fruit in their life You know, we would say the persecution That's that's a big one, right? And look a lot of us can make it through that a lot of us will stand by the man of God will stand for The Word of God will proclaim our faith will will let the chips fall where the man will be there And we'll be faithful and we'll make it through there. But you know, that's not the only thing that stops people from serving God a Lot of times even the people that are willing to go through that the things that get them are the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches That's a big one That's what the the second ground was there He said the deceitfulness is of riches could choke the word and it become with unfulfilled You know, what's interesting about that soil is there's nothing wrong with the soil They both brought forth life, didn't they? It was good It was a received that received in a good soil good soil doesn't yield anything You know if it's got about a bunch of rocks and everything. Nothing's gonna grow there good or bad The problem with this guy was not the soil. It's not the things It wasn't the fact that things couldn't grow there is the fact that they let the wrong things grow He allowed all these things other things to grow in it He allowed the the deceitfulness of riches the cares of this world to choke the word in his life and he became unfruitful So the point is this and really this is the thrust of the message this morning is that If we are unwilling to separate from this life while we live We're not going to accomplish all that we can for Christ You know, we're not willing to be absent now Even though that you know, we might live a long natural life died in a ripe old age in good health If you're not willing to be absent from the body now In spite of that fact, you're not going to accomplish everything you could for Christ We could do so much more for God if we would just be willing to be absent From the body be willing to be absent from everything that's trying to pull us away from serving God, you know I'm gonna be absent from Whatever else is going on. That's gonna take it was gonna take the time that I have for the Lord away The things that want to you know, lure us away from serving God. Those are the things we need to be absent from in this life Go over to Acts chapter 20 x chapter 20 And He says in Acts chapter 20 verse 22 and now behold I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem Not knowing the things that shall befall me there say that the Holy Ghost Witnesseth in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me, but none of these things move me neither count I might my life dear unto myself that I may finish my course with joy and The ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of grace What was Paul's joy in his life? What was gonna bring Paul joy? Was it gonna you know go him hanging out? Well at the bar or you know Having all of his hobbies and everything else. No, that's not what his joy was. He said I might that I might finish my course with joy and The ministry which I have received the Lord to testify the gospel of grace of God the joy that he was going to have was Going to come from the fact that he lived as he ran he ran the race and he finished his course That he kept the faith that he didn't let the cares of this world creep in and choke out the word in his life That he you know that he didn't allow persecution To you know to sway him. He said, you know these things none of these things move me and I don't count my life dear I think sometimes the problem we have as Christians is that We think our time we think our time is our time Look, it's not your time. I Mean, I'm not saying we have to give every waking moment, you know to just knocking doors and reading our Bible I understand God wants us to enjoy things in life That this is the good of man to enjoy the fruit of his labor There is that but when that becomes all of our life Something's wrong And he's saying look The the he doesn't count his life dear unto himself because he understood something it's not his time It's not his life and we've talked about this, you know recently you you're not your own You're about with the price as the precious blood of a lamb without spot or wrinkle You know, we've been we've been God has redeemed us unto himself. Ye are not your own the Bible says So here's the question this morning are we willing to be absent While we're present if that makes sense Are we willing to be absent from the cares of this life all the things that are vying for our attention all the things? That want to rob us of our reward in heaven. Are we willing to be absent from those things? While we're here in this life to do the work of God. The answer is is in the works You know, we could tell one another that we can say we are But the works will do all the speaking for us You know the works that we do or the works that we leave undone are going to answer that question of whether or not we Were willing to be absent. Let's go ahead and pray