May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in His Word. Let
us turn to the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 13, and
we'll read verse 14. The epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter 13, and reading verse 14. For here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come." These were, of course, the words
of the Apostle Paul who, as he wrote to the Hebrew people, the
Jewish nation, and they are, of course, important words for
us to think upon, and they're very true words, and they were
very true words, of course, when the Apostle wrote them. to tell
us and to tell the people then and all the Church of God really
down through the ages with this simplicity explained here for
here we have no continuing city but we seek one to come and of
course that's very evident isn't it in our lives today we look
around and we know of course that sometimes people live to
what we think is a great age of over a hundred years sometimes,
but in actual fact each person comes to that time when their
life on this earth finishes. And therefore such a statement
is so accurate. They and we have no continuing
city. We don't live forever. And it's
interesting, isn't it, that human nature always thinks that somehow
other people are going to die before us. It's never actually
going to be us. But of course, the truth is,
one day it will be us. And as we look around the congregation
this evening, one of us will be the next person to be taken
from this earth in death. And none of us know precisely
who that will be. We know that the old must die,
but we know the young may. And we are aware of sometimes
young people, children who are taken from this earth. And so
we should not think that such a statement as this is untrue. And also, we shouldn't really
think it's a morbid statement, because it is that which comes
to everyone. And of course, to the Church
of God, to God's children, it is a wonderful occasion. because we shan't be leaving
our home, but we shall be going to our eternal home in glory. And of course those who are not
the children of God, they will be leaving their home, the home
on this earth, and they will not be going to their eternal
home in glory. They will be going to their eternal
home in a dire and sad and terrible position and condition. But let
us realise and be encouraged, therefore, that such a word as
this does have a gracious application. May we today, as we journey on,
be found amongst those who are seeking one to come. Really it's a separating and
it's a dividing word. because many people don't really
want to consider that which is before them. I remember years
ago when I was abroad and we had a meeting and there was a
woman there whose birthday it was and she said, oh she said,
I hate birthdays. And she hated birthdays very
simply because she realised that every birthday brought her a
birthday nearer to her last birthday on this earth. And this earth
was her home, this is where she wanted to remain forever, and
of course she realised that she would not be able to remain on
this earth forever, and that the days of her life were numbered
and they would soon expire. And then where would she go and
what would happen to her? So this word is very apt and
very true, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek
one to come. Now the Apostle Paul was very
clear in this, and as we read through the epistles, the letters
that he wrote, again and again he really refers to this situation. And he tells us very clearly
He says, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. It was an eternal gain, because
he would then be in heaven, he would be in glory with his Saviour,
a place where there would be no sin, no crying, everything
perfect joy and peace. So it was a wonderful prospect
for him. When he wrote to the Corinthians,
he tells us in the second epistle to the Corinthians of an experience
he had, a very unique experience. You may realise that the Apostle
Paul, of course, was not one of the original Twelve Apostles. And we know that, of course,
Judas actually committed suicide, he took his own life, he hung
himself, and there were therefore eleven apostles and there was
a need to increase those to twelve apostles and the Apostle Paul
really was that person that God called to fulfill that position. And of course all the apostles
had naturally seen Jesus. Well, the Apostle Paul perhaps
had seen Jesus Indeed, when he was crucified, but not actually
in a, you might say, a special and a saving way. And he tells
us about this very special experience he had in the twelfth chapter
of the second epistle to the Corinthians. He says, It is not
expedient for me, doubtless, to glory. I will come to visions
and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ. Now he's
therefore relating this in the third person. He is saying, I
knew a man in Christ, it was of course himself, about fourteen
years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out
of the body I cannot tell. God knoweth such an one caught
up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether
in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, however
he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which
it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I
glory, yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to
glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth But
now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which
he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." Now it's just
interesting just to run on perhaps a few verses in this chapter
because he tells us then about this wonderful occurrence in
his life. And of course he was very wonderfully
blessed with many revelations, although he had a very difficult
and hard life, and you can read that in the previous chapter
of what he had to face. But in this chapter he also tells
us, and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance
of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. It was because he might have
been to use a current expression, he might have become very big-headed
because of all these revelations. And so God gave him what he terms
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I
should be exalted above measure. For this thing I sought the Lord
thrice. You might think, well, we have
a situation and we pray to God that He will answer us. We may
pray and He doesn't answer. We may pray twice and expect
a new answer. We may pray three times, just
like the Apostle did here, and the Lord didn't see fit to answer
him. So we must realise that sometimes
God does not answer our prayers. Perhaps we should say He does
answer our prayers, but instead of saying yes, He says no, and
we may not always like that. But you see, God has a perfect
way for us. But what the Lord did say to
him was this, My grace, and that means the unmerited favour of
God, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I
strong. So he was relying upon the Lord's
blessing and the Lord's favour to him. And then also in this
same epistle, in an earlier chapter, He directs us to, really, the
blessings of eternal life in glory. And he speaks about what
he terms his light affliction. And I think it's a very useful
term which he uses. Because he says, for our light
affliction, which is, but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory what he's doing here
he's drawing an analogy between the things of time which you
and I can understand we understand years and months and weeks we
understand time but we don't of course understand eternity
because it goes on forever and ever and it's beyond our comprehension
so he gives us this as an analogy and says for our light affliction
on the one side, and on the other side, the eternal weight of glory. That's the comparison. And he
had light afflictions. And we perhaps have, we might
think they're heavy afflictions, but in reality they're light
afflictions, especially when we compare them with an eternal
weight of glory. it's really like putting these
things on a scale isn't it? on one side the light affliction,
on the other side an eternal weight of glory and of course
the eternal weight of glory is so much heavier than the light
affliction and it goes on while we look not the things which
are seen but the things which are not seen for the things which
are seen are temporal the things that you and I can see with our
natural eyes But the things which are not seen are eternal, which
of course we cannot see. And that's the comparison again,
bringing into view the eternal reality. And so, as we run on
to chapter 5, it gives us this picture. For we know that if
our earthly house of this tabernacle He means the earthly body, our
body, referred to as a tabernacle. Our earthly house and this tabernacle
were dissolved. We have a building of God, a
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 are in this tabernacle,
that's in our earthly body, do groan, being burdened." Well,
we do groan often, for a number of reasons. Often because of
our sinful nature, which is so very far from being a holy nature,
and it's full of evil. And we don't like it, and we
hate it, but we live with it. And so he says, for we that are
in this tabernacle to groan, being burdened, not for that
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life. That means the mortality means
that we only have our own life to live, and it's a mortal life.
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who
also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are
always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the
body, we are absent from the Lord. I'm sure that's a pretty
obvious statement, isn't it? For we walk by faith and not
by sight. How we naturally always want
to be able to see things physically, to grab hold of things physically.
But no, the Church of God walk by faith. And faith isn't something
we see naturally, it's that which God gives to us. And so he says,
we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from
the body and to be present with the Lord. Well that may be a
statement which we perhaps don't feel we're able to agree with. Perhaps we don't think we can
say, well, I really want to be absent from this body, I really
want to come to this place, when I leave this world, to go and
to be present with the Lord. So it's a great statement, isn't
it? And it's that which the Apostle
Paul, who had been wonderfully blessed, he knew how glorious
it would be to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that not just
for a short amount of time, but for eternity. And he'd had that
view of paradise when he was caught up into the third heaven.
So he knew what he was talking about. He knew the truth. And
we therefore have this record in the Bible to encourage us
today. And we should be thankful that
God has given us such a record. And so this statement is very
relevant. For here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. Well, this evening, it would
be a wonderful, wonderful blessing if the Holy Spirit enables us
to stand on the same ground that the Apostle Paul does. and to
realize how the things of heaven are far superior to the things
on this earth. Especially when we're younger,
we have our life naturally before us, and we have our plans, don't
we? What we're going to do, and where
we're going to live, and all these kind of things, and they
occupy us, occupy our minds. And it's not wrong, obviously,
as we live in this earth to look forward to those things which
God provides for us and remember God has given us such things
to enjoy and we should enjoy them and we should thank God
he's given them to us but we are not to set our hearts upon
them we are really to set our hearts upon those things which
are above You may remember that the Apostle Peter really, in
his first epistle, he really draws our attention to that. In the first chapter he says,
in the third verse, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath forgotten
us again unto a lively hope That means given us the new birth,
given us a new nature, begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance. Again, what is an inheritance?
Well, we probably understand what an inheritance is, because
when somebody dies, if they're close to us, perhaps it's their
parents or such like and they have property or money to leave
behind and they make a will and that is distributed among certain
people and it is an inheritance it's not something that we've
worked for it's something which is given to us through the death
of somebody somebody's made a will or a testament and therefore
it's given to us. Well says the Apostle Peter to
an inheritance incorruptible the things of heaven are incorruptible
the things of earth are corruptible you know whatever you and I might
receive from an inheritance well if it's a property crumble and
decay if it's not looked after, and if it's money it will lose
value. So you see it's not incorruptible. But God's inheritance is incorruptible
and undefiled and that fate is not away. It doesn't vanish. It's eternal. reserved in heaven
for you." I think that's a lovely word. As you know, I often refer
to it to think that God has reserved a place in heaven for all of
his people. To think that there's a place
reserved in heaven for you and me. And it's not a place, therefore,
that can be occupied by anyone else. And to think that Almighty
God has reserved a place." Well, it's really beyond our comprehension,
isn't it? To think that the great God who
has created all things and rules over everything, in His great
love and mercy, has in glory reserved a place for you and
me, if we are indeed His children. And so, what a wonderful statement
this is. in heaven for you and then it's qualified who that
you are, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. It's a great
statement, isn't it? Kept by the power of God. You
and I can't keep ourselves. Sin is about us and in us. And
so easily we sin, don't we? Thoughts, sinful thoughts, so
easily we sin. And yet to realize that Almighty
God can keep us, keep our minds, keep our mouth, keep our words,
keep our actions. And so he says here, kept by
the power of God, through faith as we believe in God. Remember, every believer is one
who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no believers,
there's no one who gets to heaven who is not a believer. Everyone
who gets to heaven is a true believer, who believes on the
Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, as their salvation. And so here
we have this statement, through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last time, wherein ye greatly rejoice."
Well, that's a good statement, isn't it? I wonder tonight if
we greatly rejoice. It doesn't say rejoice. It says
greatly rejoice and the prospect of having a reserved place in
glory, and to one day be found there with the Saviour and the
whole Church of God for ever and ever. Well, says the Apostle,
wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold many temptations. Often we are
in heaviness. Often we are bound down because
of the many temptations that we face, the many sinful thoughts
which crowd into our mind, which are not God-glorifying. But you
know we have the adversary, the devil, who goes about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. And the Word of God tells us
to resist steadfast, and by the grace of God to turn away from
wrong, evil things, from temptations, and to seek that our minds and
our hearts may be set upon things above." And so he says, that,
the trial of your faith, faith is tested. Why is it tested? It's tested to make sure that
we don't have a false faith. We don't have a faith which is
not given of God. We just have a faith which is
our own imagination. And therefore, God tests our
faith. That's why we have this statement.
That the trial of your faith being much more precious than
of gold that perishes. We know the value of gold, don't
we? We know that gold is a very valuable commodity. But it doesn't
bear any comparison with a blessing of God-given faith. Because?
Gold perishes. Because? We're not to leave all
our valuable things when we leave this earth. But faith is eternal. See the difference? See the value? It perishes though it be tried with
fire. That means all the rubbish will
be burnt up. It may not be a very happy experience. Especially sometimes you may
be relying upon something which you thought emanated from God. It's very easy to think things
emanate from God when they don't. When they are just of the flesh,
they're just our imagination. It's just that we want something
to come to pass and therefore we latch on to a word which is
suitable and think, oh, that's a confirmation. It may not be
at all. That's why we need such things
tested. The trial of your faith being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be
tried with fire, might be found under praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ. That means when the Lord appears
to either take us from this earth to glory, or when He comes at
the end of time, when time shall be no more, and then the whole
Church of God will be gathered together to be forever with the
Lord. And so he goes on, Whom having
not seen, ye love. We've never physically seen the
Savior, have we? Never physically seen Him. But
what a blessing if we love the Saviour. And why? It's not that we loved God, but
that God loved us. It's His love to us which produces
our love to Him. And as we see God's amazing love
to unworthy sinners, to think, why should God have loved me?
Whatever! Should God have loved such an
unbeliever, such a sinful person as me? Well, it's a wonderful thought,
it's a wonderful realisation to know that God has indeed loved
us, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him
not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. These are lovely words, aren't
they? They're words which only fit a believer. And they are
words that you and I should desire to know about, to rejoice in,
to have this in our hearts, to truly rejoice with joy unspeakable
Unspeakable to think that Almighty God should have so favoured us,
to given us this evidence that here we have no continuing city,
but we seek one to come, an eternal home. It's the grace and gift
of Almighty God. And so he goes on, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. That's what it's all about, isn't
it? The salvation of our souls. To know that our soul is saved. To know that our soul is safe. To know that all our sins are
taken away. To know that we are a forgiven
sinner. All these things are so important. and they all emanate from the
love of God. Loved of God. It's a very humbling
and very wonderful truth and a glorious experience. A very humbling experience. A
very important experience. And so he goes on with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. It's an expression really which
is very grand and glorious, isn't it? Receiving the end of your
faith, even the salvation of your souls. You see, there is
faith given to believe. And if faith is given to believe,
we can look beyond this life to that eternal state of happiness
in glory with the Saviour forever and ever and ever. Of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you? Yes, the prophecy of
preaching the Gospel in Old Testament times still directed us to this
glorious plan of salvation. Searching what, or what manner
of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that
not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things
which are now reported unto you by them, that have preached the
gospel unto you, with a Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into. Well, the Apostle
Peter sets before us there, doesn't he, really very clearly the wonder
and blessing of the great gift of eternal life. And what a mercy
therefore it is for us today to have such statements and to
have that desire and have that prayer that we may be found amongst
such a company, a company of true believers. As I said to
begin with, such a word is really a very dividing word. It separates between true believers
and false believers. And the real test for each of
us is to lay our life alongside the testimony of the Word of
God. Isn't it a blessing that we today
have the Bible to read, which testifies and explains to us
in detail those things which the Lord has done and will do
for His people, so that we can really rejoice in such truths. For here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. And again, all of us, we need
to be very honest, don't we? Before God. Sometimes, you know,
we may be ashamed. We may be very fearful. We may
have to come and if somebody said to you or said to me, look,
hold on a minute, is this true? that you have no continuing city
here, but you're seeking one to come, and you might hesitate. You might think, hmm, I'm not
sure whether I could really say that. I'm not sure whether really
that is a word that I could agree with. I'm not sure whether I'm
really saying that this world is nothing to me because I'm
seeking a city yet to come. Well, it's always good to be
honest. And never pretend to be what
we're not. Never pretend to be what we're
not. Never pretend to say what is not true. But also, never
be satisfied with anything that is less than the great truths
set down in the Word of God. I sometimes have spoken and sometimes
I have said from this pulpit if we examine ourselves we may
find it difficult to be able to find in our heart a real desire
after heavenly things we may not really want to come to a
position like this and say I've got no place in this world that
I really want because I'm looking for heaven at last. And as you
may stand before God, you may not be able to really say that. And you may have to say, well,
I don't really desire it like that. Well, if that's the case,
then don't despair because the situation is this. If you are
like that, and I guess perhaps virtually
every child of God is in their beginning, then that's to pray
that God would give you a desire after such spiritual blessings. A desire after these things. If you haven't got them now,
don't pretend you have when you haven't. That's disaster. But if you haven't, pray to God,
and He will give you a real desire. So you will be able to say, for
me, I have no continuing city here, but I'm seeking one to
come. I'm seeking that eternal glory
with all my heart, and I'm looking forward to that great and glorious
day to be with Christ, as the Apostle Paul said, which is far
better And it is. But you see, we have a natural
body. And a natural body is earthbound. A natural body lives on this
earth. A natural body is keen on the things of the earth, the
things of time. And it's a great blessing that
God gives us grace to earnestly seek for eternal realities, eternal
things, and to have these things first in our lives. Other things will be there. We
will still have a natural body. We will still have a sinful body. We still will find there's a
battle between our old nature and our new nature. But what
a blessing it is to know there is a battle and there is within
us that living desire after spiritual realities. I guess you all have
heard about Job, a man that lived many, many years ago. We're not
precisely sure when he lived, but we know he lived a long time
ago. And God blessed him with many, many riches and a large
family, flocks and everything else. And then Monday, Satan
came and asked the Lord if he could tent Job, if he could afflict
Job. And the Lord gave him permission,
but said to Satan, touch not his soul. So he wasn't able to
touch his soul, which of course was under God's glorious control. But he was able to touch his
body so that he lost virtually everything, his family, his flocks,
his farm workers, lost them all. And he had boils all over his
body. And yet, you see, in the midst
of all these trials, he was able to say, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. He knew that there was a God
who was his Redeemer. And he can look beyond the things
of this world. And he also said, I would not
live always. However comfortable he was in
this earth, he said, I would not live always. It's good, isn't
it, to be able to realise the truth of such words as this. For here have we no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. Now, the earlier verses in this
chapter dictate to us the reality of our religion. Because the
Apostle tells us, verse 12 in the 13th chapter, wherefore Jesus
also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered
without the gate. Calvary was without the city
wall of Jerusalem, it was outside. and there the cross was erected
and there the Lord Jesus suffered without the gate and of course
in that time of suffering he was mocked and spit upon and
everything. How much the Saviour endured. What does the Apostle God say?
Let us, you and me, let us go forth therefore unto him without
the camp bearing his reproach. We should not therefore think
that we have a very easy and a very comfortable type of life
on this earth. Not at all. But we are to go
forth bearing his reproach. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp, without Jerusalem, without the place
of natural comfort, and to testify of whose we are, bearing his
reproach. We're not to hide. We're not
to try and get in some place where no one realises that we're
a Christian, no one realises our belief in the Saviour. No,
we are to go forth, therefore unto Him, To be united, to stand
there, as it were, by the cross and acknowledge who we are and
who it is that owns us and who it is that has died for us, who
it is that has removed all our sin. What a blessing it is to
be united to Christ. is one of unity with Christ. It's not one of disunity. It's not one of separation. It's
one of being united to the Blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Apostle tells us here
very clearly, let us, you and me, go forth therefore unto Him,
to go to the Saviour, to stand, as it were, with Him. without
the camp bearing his reproach. We don't like bearing reproach,
do we? We don't like being cast out.
Jesus was cast out, wasn't he? The disciples were cast out.
We don't like being cast out. But it is a privilege to me amongst
those who are cast out, and that he might sanctify the people
with his own blood, suffered without the gate, Let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. Tonight we ought to really ask
ourselves, are we? You must answer before God. I can't answer for you, can I?
And you can't answer for me. But can we say, by the grace
of God, this world, this city, perhaps the place you and I live
in, is not our rest? In the prophecy of Micah, we
read, it is polluted. This is not your rest, it is
polluted. And the world is. The world's
polluted with sin, isn't it? And yet you see heaven is not
polluted. It's pure. There's no sin. There's perfection. And there's
nothing to make us sad. There are many things, aren't
there, in this world. Death of one and another. The
loss of this and another. Aches and pains here and there. Many things to make us sad. make
us sorrowful but to realise in glory there is only eternal happiness
and perfect peace and to be with the Saviour and the whole Church
of God for eternity. I suppose it always is very difficult
for us to imagine that scenario, isn't it? To think that that
perfect situation exists forever. It will never change. It'll never
get worse. It'll never get worse. It will
always be glorious. It'll always be beautiful. It
always will be lovely. What a place that will be, to
get safely home to glory. Word is the prospect which the
Church of God, the people of God, should look forward to. And if we are amongst those who
are able to testify that we have been redeemed, the blessed Lord
Jesus Christ has died on our behalf. He's taken away our sin. We're clean. We're washed in
the blood of the Lamb. so that we have no sin before
Almighty God, and that we shall be in that place of perfect peace,
nothing to upset us, nothing to cast us down. It's hard, isn't
it, for us to envisage such a perfect situation, but that's what glory
is. No sin, no sorrow, no crying,
perfect happiness. So let's rejoice tonight in such
a statement as this. For here have we no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. Amen.