年事已高，难有可为？
哥林多后书五章1至10节
1我们原知道，我们这地上的帐棚若拆毁了，必得神所造，不是人手所造，在天上永存的房屋。
2我们在这帐棚里叹息，深想得那从天上来的房屋，好像穿上衣服；
3倘若穿上，被遇见的时候就不至于赤身了。
4我们在这帐棚里叹息劳苦，并非愿意脱下这个，乃是愿意穿上那个，好叫这必死的被生命吞灭了。
5为此，培植我们的就是神，他又赐给我们圣灵作凭据（原文是质）。
6所以，我们时常坦然无惧，并且晓得我们住在身内，便与主相离。
7因我们行事为人是凭着信心，不是凭着眼见。
8我们坦然无惧，是更愿意离开身体与主同住。
9所以，无论是住在身内，离开身外，我们立了志向，要得主的喜悦。
10因为我们众人必要在基督台前显露出来，叫各人按着本身所行的，或善或恶受报。
信息分享
近年来，坊间有很多书籍，都是以死亡、弥留之际，以及来生作为主题。其中一些更是依据一些人在弥留之际，出现所谓「灵魂出窍」的经验写成。然而，保罗写这段经文的时候，却完全不是出于臆测或推想。反之，它是新约中论及死亡与复活之间的「居中状态」的最重要经文。
当信徒离开地上的肉身，他的灵魂就会立即与基督同在。而他留下的身体便归于尘土。然而，到基督再来的时候，神便会给那灵魂一个新的身体；换句话说，当基督再来的那一刻，灵魂便与新的身体连合起来。
当然，我们还有很多未解的困惑。例如：信徒的灵魂如今在天堂里面，既没有身体，那如何辨认呢？我们只能相信，它们终归可以借着某种方式被辨认。无论情况将会是怎样，保罗仍坚定地告诉我们，与基督同在是好得无比和满有喜乐的。神已借着圣灵的同在向我们保证，我们必会进入天堂的美景（5节）。
我们如今是凭着信心来接受这些真理，并深信神的应许必定成就（6-8节）。终有一天，我们将亲身经历这一切，而且肯定比我们想像的更加美好。
当我们与基督我们的救主面对面时，那面对面的情景将会如何？
GROWING OLDER? WHAT'S AHEAD?
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
1 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 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.
4 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.
5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Message
What is ahead for the Christian who is growing older? Old age? Physical weakness? Death? The answer could be all three, or perhaps yes and no. Death is something that comes to everyone, but for Christians it is a doorway into a more wonderful life in heaven with Christ. Then there is the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection of our bodies when Christ returns. Paul says in verse 1 "we know" what is ahead of us.
Many books have been written on death and dying or on the hereafter in recent years. Some of it is doubtful evidence, based on so called "out-of-the-body-experiences". But in this chapter there is no speculation, no uncertainty. It is one of the greatest teaching chapters in the New Testament on the "Intermediate State" between death and the Resurrection.
What does it happen when a believer slips away from his or her earthly body? The soul of the believer goes immediately into the presence of Christ. The body, left behind, goes back to the earth. Yet, somehow, when Christ returns, God will give that soul a new body. The soul and the new body will be united in the moment of Christ's coming.
There are still many questions unanswered. Are the souls of believers now in heaven, visible without a body? They must certainly be seen and known in some way. Whatever the situation is, Paul is holding before us the wonder and joy of being with Christ. God has given us the absolute assurance that is where we will be. He has given us now as a pledge, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (v.5).
We accept now these truths by faith, and are confident (vv.6-8) that God's promises will be fulfilled. Some day these things will be our actual experience and it will be even more wonderful than we could ever have imagined.
FACE TO FACE WITH CHRIST MY SAVIOUR, FACE TO FACE WHAT WILL IT BE?