Sexual Purity

Theme: Guard Your Heart

Objectives (from the D6 Sunday School Lesson)

Know: Each Christian must take great effort to guard his or her heart.

Think: Condition myself to take thoughts captive and think right thoughts.

Do: Walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh to enable myself to guard my heart.

Scriptures: Philippians 4:7-8, 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, and 1 Corinthians 16:13

Notes and questions:

Philippians 4:7-8: and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things [are] noble, whatever things [are] just, whatever things [are] pure, whatever things [are] lovely, whatever things [are] of good report, if [there is] any virtue and if [there is] anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:7-8, NKJV)

2 Corinthians 10:1-6: Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ–who in presence [am] lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. But I beg [you] that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:1-6, NKJV)

1 Corinthians 16:13: Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13, NKJV)

B1 Outline

• What to think Philippians 4:7-8
• What to fight 2 Corinthians 10:1-6
• What to live 1 Corinthians 16:13

B2 “Sexual intercourse is rapidly becoming the one thing venerated in a world without veneration.” ― C.S. Lewis, Miracles

B3 Sexual promiscuity affects (Source  Disclaimer--I cannot vouch or necessary recommend this site. Use at your own discretion).

• Physical health
• Mental health
• Marital health
• The desire for abnormal sexual behaviors
• A person’s soul
• Society

B4 Carolyn C. Ross M.D., M.P.H.has an article entitled Overexposed and Under-Prepared: The Effects of Early Exposure to Sexual Content.”  (Link.  This is a non-Christian source showing the dangers of the sex saturated society on youth.)

B5 Some quotes (Source)

• "We have bartered holiness for convenience, ... wisdom for information, joy for pleasure, tradition for fashion." (Abraham Herschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, p. 200.)
• “Nakedness has become the hallmark of much public entertainment. It reaches beyond this into the realm of sadistic perversion. As one seasoned New York critic remarked, "It's not only the nudity; it's the crudity." (Gordon B. Hinckley)
• “Can there be any reasonable doubt that in sowing the wind of pornography, we are reaping the whirlwind of decay?” (Gordon B. Hinckley)

B5 Christian, there is a problem. What is happening

• To us
• Our churches
• Our families
• Our children
• Our society

B6 What is the core of this problem?

• Sin
• “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (Matthew 12:35, NKJV)
• “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. (Matthew 15:18-19, NKJV)
• Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Galatians 6:7-8, NKJV)
• There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:11-12, NKJV)
• Romans 1:18-31 shows the downhill course of humanity starting with the rejection of truth and an attitude of ingratitude. This downhill course leads to physical death,eternal death, and punishment.

B7 Some Scriptures we need. There are many but here are three.

• Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22, NKJV)
• Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NKJV)
• Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [who is] in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20, NKJV)

B8 How to handle temptation

• No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God [is] faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear [it.] (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV)
• For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord [is] the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects [this] does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, NKJV)
• Sexual immorality (fornication) is wrong
• Avoid the passion of lust
• Brother is used in the sense of neighbor. See But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; (1 Thessalonians 4:9, NKJV)
• Uncleanness as God defines it.
• Holiness
• Rejecting this teaching is rejecting God Himself

B9 Be Aware of the appeal to lust

• Consider: For when they speak great swelling [words] of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. (2 Peter 2:18-19, NKJV). Two other translations:
• They make proud and stupid statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to trap those who are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error. They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of destructive habits—for we are slaves of anything that has conquered us. (2 Peter 2:18-19, GNB92))
• They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. (2 Peter 2:18-19, NLT)
• The appeal to lust, which we see in advertizing, movies, books, music, parades, protests, etc.
• Temptation
• How to fight it?
• Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. (James 1:13-16, NKJV)
• God does not entice us to sin
• Desire leads to enticement
• Enticement leads stronger desire
• Getting stronger temptations leads to sin
• Sin leads to death
• Temptation itself is not sin. If we are tempted, we can resist or not resist. We can sin or not sin. Jesus was tempted but did not sin. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all [points] tempted as [we are, yet] without sin. (Hebrews 4:15, NKJV)
• Recognize it as a temptation (The Holy Spirit convicts (John 16:8) and the Scriptures teach what is right and wrong (2 Timothy 3:16-17)).
• Be alert. Don’t use things that lower judgment and discernment. Consider: [It is] not for kings, O Lemuel, [It is] not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes intoxicating drink; Lest they drink and forget the law, And pervert the justice of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart. Let him drink and forget his poverty, And remember his misery no more. (Proverbs 31:4-7, NKJV)
• “Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. (Hosea 4:11, NKJV)
• Face the truth
• Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; (2 Timothy 3:8, NKJV). These men did resist truth. We are to do the opposite.
• “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:19-20, NKJV). Jesus teaches us that our natural self does not like the truth. We, however, are regenerated, born again, and have a new heart.
• Humble ourselves.
• But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6, NKJV)
• Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12, NKJV)
• Avoid, run, turn away. ...that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. (Genesis 39:12, NKJV). Joseph fled.
• Ask (pray) for help. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV)
• Realize God’s help.
• No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God [is] faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear [it.] (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV)
• [then] the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, (2 Peter 2:9, NKJV)
• Sometimes it is more than I think I can bear. We need each other. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who [are] spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1, NKJV)
• If alcohol is my temptation (For we [have spent] enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles–when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. (1 Peter 4:3, NKJV), then we must not be where that is and resist any want of it. Leave.
• If lying is my temptation, then speak the truth. If we lie, go back to that person and tell them the truth.
• If we sin, repent. Psalm 51
• David confesses. He does not evade the truth.
• David realizes that all sin is sin against God.
• David asks for forgiveness.
• David asks to be given a clean heart. So he asks not only for mercy but also grace. He wants a heart that does not do this again and a heart that can serve God.
• David realizes that sacrifices do not cleanse from sin, only God can cleanse. The sacrifice that God wants is “...a broken spirit;A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
• The devil wants us to sin. He is a rebel in its worst sense.
• Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8, NKJV)
• “You are of [your] father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [resources,] for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:44, NKJV)

B10 Questions

• Philippians 4:7-8
• How will thinking pure things in Philippians help us in temptation?
• How can we think the pure things of Philippians?
• What are some things that are _____ that we can think about?
• True
• Noble (the Greek word means something honorable)
• Just (the Greek word means equitable, impartial)
• Pure (the Greek word means clean)
• Lovely (the Greek word means pleasing, sweetly charming)
• Good report (the Greek word means commendable, well spoken of)
• Virtue (the Greek word means excellence (mental, spiritual, physical, etc.))
• Praise (the Greek words means something praiseworthy)
• 2 Corinthians 10:1-6
• What kind of warfare is Paul speaking of?
• What kinds of warfare do we face?
• Does 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 describe an apologetic ministry?
• If so, what are we to do to be apologists for Jesus Christ?
• 1 Corinthians 16:13
• What we are to do to?
• Watch (be alert)
• This homeowner is alert: “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. (Matthew 24:43, NKJV)
• The evil are alert: But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. (Acts 9:24, NKJV)
• We should be alert:
• “Blessed [are] those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down [to eat,] and will come and serve them. (Luke 12:37, NKJV)
• Be of sober [spirit,] be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8, NASB77)
• Stand fast in the faith
• Be brave
• Be strong
• Remember: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present [you] faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise,[ Be] glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25, NKJV)

B11 Next week

• The Way God Made Us
• Theme: God’s Design
• Scriptures: Matthew 19:4-6 and Genesis 2:18

Embracing Purity

Theme: Biblical Purity

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 and Romans 12:1-2

Objectives (from the D6 Sunday School Guide)

Know: The Scriptures indicate that what the Christian does with his or her body involves Christ.

Think: Be conscious that real intimacy is more spiritual than physical.

Do: Flee from sexual sin and commit to honoring God with a pure lifestyle.

Notes and questions:

B1 Introduction

• The Corinthian church had many problems.
• Paul was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ and as an Apostle sought to correct attitudes and lifestyle issues.
• Corinth
• Major city
• Commercial
• Religious
• Most famous god was Aphrodite
• Most well known worship was sex
• Church was mostly Gentile converts
• Church too often brought and kept cultural aspects of Corinth into the church.
• Paul needed to teach and discipline them to know and do God’s way, not Aphrodite’s and/or Corinth’s way.
• See Acts 18:1-18 for some of Paul’s experiences in Corinth.
• Paul was there teaching for about 1.5 years

B2 Our passage mainly deals with the sins of the flesh

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are: adultery, fornication, immorality, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envies, murders, drinking bouts, revelries, and the like; which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 EMTV)

B3 Outline

• Permissible--some unimportant things as foods 1 Corinthians 6:12
• Not permissible--sexual sins 1 Corinthians 6:13-20

B4 Physical relationship

• Permissible--what God wants humans to do
• Not permissible--what human’s evil flesh wants to do

B5 True love, spiritual, emotional, and physical, are not known without God’s revelation of it.

B6 Song of Solomon is our source of God’s description of proper physical love.

B7 What is permissible? (Physical love only between DNA male and female who are married). What is not permissible? (Anything else).

B8 Someone will say, “I am allowed to do anything.” Yes; but not everything is good for you. I could say that I am allowed to do anything, but I am not going to let anything make me its slave. Someone else will say, “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.” Yes; but God will put an end to both. The body is not to be used for sexual immorality, but to serve the Lord; and the Lord provides for the body. God raised the Lord from death, and he will also raise us by his power. You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ's body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible! Or perhaps you don't know that the man who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? The scripture says quite plainly, “The two will become one body.” But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him. Avoid immorality. Any other sin a man commits does not affect his body; but the man who is guilty of sexual immorality sins against his own body. Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory. (1 Corinthians 6:12-20, GNB92)

B9 The word for prostitute is πόρνη porne.

• It means [Source: Mickelson's Enhanced Strong's Dictionaries of the Greek and Hebrew Testaments]
• a prostitute
• a sex worker (by extension)
• one who deliberately stimulates or fulfills unwedded sexual desire by dress, speech or conduct (figuratively) an idolater
• Question
• Why use the word prostitute? (Corinth was famous for its temple prostitutes).
• Why use the wording “temple of the Holy Spirit?” (The false temple of a false god versus the true temple of the living God. This temple to us Christians is our body).
• Is porn allowed? (No, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28, WPNT)

B10 What does it mean when Paul says that everything is lawful?

B11 What is the meaning of the words not brought under the power of any?

B12 How are our bodies members of Christ?

• Temple of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:30)
• Since His Body is holy, He wants us to be holy.

B13 How does the previous question apply to sexual sins?

• Using our body in ways God does NOT want
• Makes our body unholy
• The only acceptable joining is ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,  (Mark 10:7, NKJV)
• Consider
• I speak in human [terms] because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members [as] slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness [leading] to [more] lawlessness, so now present your members [as] slaves [of] righteousness for holiness. (Romans 6:19, NKJV)
• Utley in his commentary on this verse writes: My colleague at East Texas Baptist University, Dr. Bruce Tankersley, reminded me that in cultic prostitution the prostitute is a surrogate for the deity. Therefore, sexual relations were not only immoral, but idolatrous.

B14 What type of temple did the Jews have? What is the Christian temple?

B15 What was the price that we were bought with? 1 Peter 1:19

B16 According to 1 Corinthians 6:20, what are we to be doing with our bodies? Name some practical examples.

B17 The words and in your spirit, which are God’s are not in most translations. Wilbur Pickering writes: The eclectic Greek text currently in vogue omits, “and in your spirit, which are God’s”, following 3.7% of the Greek manuscripts—this includes the earliest ones, that are of objectively inferior quality (it is followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

B18 Romans 12:1-2

• Why does Paul beg of us by the mercies of God?
• How do Christians sacrifice our living body?
• For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be [in the likeness] of [His] resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him,] that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For [the death] that He died, He died to sin once for all; but [the life] that He lives, He lives to God. (Romans 6:5-10, NKJV)
• How do Christians conform to this world?
• How was our mind renewed? What can we do to maintain this renewal?
• He saved us—not because of righteous deeds that we ourselves had done but according to His mercy, by means of the bath of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:5, WPNT)
• as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, (1 Peter 2:2, NKJV)
• All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV)
• Ironside in his commentary writes: We are not to suppose that non-conformity to the world necessarily involves awkwardness of behavior, peculiarity of dress, or boorishness in manner. But the entire world system is summed up in three terms: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, or the ostentation of living. Therefore non-conformity to the world implies holding the body and its appetites in subjection to the Spirit of God, subjecting the imagination to the mind of Christ, and walking in lowliness of spirit through a scene where self-confidence and boasting are the order of the day.
• The word prove means to test, examine. How are we to examine ourselves and the actions we might do?
• There are different wills in the world. Which one do we choose and why?

B19 Next week

• On Guard
• Theme: Guard Your Heart
• Scriptures
• Philippians 4:7-8
• 2 Corinthians 10:1-6
• 1 Corinthians 16:13

Death is sure

Death, in the Bible, is called

• Sleep
  
  • These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” (John 11:11, NKJV)
    
  • Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:60, NKJV)
    
  • and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:4, NKJV)
    
• Putting off
  
  • For we know that if our earthly house, [this] tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1, NKJV)
    
  • knowing that shortly I [must] put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. (2 Peter 1:14, NKJV)
    
• Requiring the soul
  
  • “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ (Luke 12:20, NKJV)
    
• Going into silence
  
  • The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down into silence. (Psalms 115:17, NKJV)
    
• Yielding up the spirit
  
  • Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying [her] out, buried [her] by her husband. (Acts 5:10, NKJV)
    
• Returning to dust
  
  • In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you [are,] And to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19, NKJV)
    
  • You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. (Psalms 104:29, NKJV)
    
• Departing
  
  • For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, [which is] far better. (Philippians 1:23, NKJV)
    

Regarding the term sleep

• A cultural term of Jews ( Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; 2:10; 11:21,43; 14:20, and others). For example, And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2, NKJV)
  
• Appears as sleep. When the body is in the casket, it appears to be sleeping.
  

We are more than a body. We are body, soul, and spirit. If one cannot accept this, we have a physical part and a spiritual part.

• Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, [Yes,] my soul and my body! (Psalms 31:9, NKJV)
  
• Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn [for] my transgression, The fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul? (Micah 6:7, NKJV)
  
• And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, Both soul and body; And they will be as when a sick man wastes away. (Isaiah 10:18, NKJV) Even if the word body is translated creature, the word body means flesh. It would make no sense to translate this as both creature and flesh. Many modern translations simply interpret soul and body as person.
  
• “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28, NKJV)
  
• Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV)
  

People are seen living, thinking, and doing after the flesh is in the grave.

• Luke 16:18-31. Even if one takes this as a parable, the parable shows consciousness after death.
  
• For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, (1 Peter 3:18-19, NKJV)
  
• And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on [God] and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59, NKJV). It would make no sense for Stephen to pray, “Lord Jesus receive my breath.” The Lord Jesus also had a spirit: And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:46, NKJV)
  
• For we know that if our earthly house, [this] tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in [this] tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:1-4, NKJV)
  

Jesus and the thief of the cross: Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43, NKJV). It makes no sense to tell someone that you are talking today. They are not stupid. So, “Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise” is totally nonsense. What sense it is to tell someone that you are talking to them today, when they already can figure that out. Also, where Jesus will be, the thief will also be. If Jesus went to Paradise at death, so will the thief.