BLESSED EXHORTATIONS (PART 10)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Hebrews 13:14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There isn’t any better life than being a Christian, saved by Jesus who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

It’s true in this worldly life and it’s definitely true for the life yet to come, the eternal life where we will be made new and liberated from every single thing that could ever afflict us where we are now.

No more sickness or disease, physical or mental.

No more heartbreak from strained or broken relationships.

No more difficulty or hardship

No more concerns about finances.

No more temptation or sin.

Who wouldn’t want that?

Seriously.

And yet, people still shun and reject the free offering of God’s gift of salvation through Jesus, His Son, the only One who can bring someone to Him (again, John 14:6). It’s amazing to me but true.

So in my saying this, my brother and sister Christ believers, there’s so much work to be done and we can’t afford to give up the fight. Jesus called us to go and make disciples, and that Great Commission has no expiration date while we still have a heartbeat and breath. As Jesus told His selected Twelve, the harvest is (still) plenty and the workers (remain to be) few (Matthew 9:37). And just as Jesus promised, we’re never laboring alone because He is always with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

As we engage people every day, we need to make sure we talk about the future hope we have, the promise of the kingdom of Heaven where we are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17) and will take up residence in the place He prepared for us (John 14:1-4). This is a component of today’s blessed exhortation from verse 14 of Hebrews, chapter 13. Look again at these words here:

For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

The point is that this earth is not our home. No matter where we live, our location is not an “enduring city” but rather a temporary address that will one day give way to our permanent one as we go to “the city that is to come”.

Need a glimpse of that city?

We find it in the Book of Revelation that says this about the New Jerusalem:

“...he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

“The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.”

“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

I don’t know about you but this passage blows me away and always excites me about the glory that is ahead through my Savior, Christ Jesus. When things in life get challenging (and we all go through them), knowing I can turn to this chapter and be reminded of the best life that is coming is such an incredible encouragement to me and I pray it is for you as well.

Christian friends, we have the blessed hope of Heaven and we can look forward to relocating there someday. Let’s let everyone know the hope we have in Jesus with every opportunity the Lord gives.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.