Go with me, if you would, back
to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, let's read these three verses one more
time. Verse 8, By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed, and he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith he
sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." The title
of this message is, We're Looking for a City. We are looking for
a city. The world loves this world. It does. The world wants this
world. The world does not want to let
go of this world. It does not. That is not the
case for God's people. Now, before we go any further,
I will say the flesh And the sin. Still loves this world. The flesh and the sin still wants
this world. It still does not want to let
this world go. The old man is still of the world. And that's why we feel it. That's
why we know what we're prone to is because the old man is
still here. And the old man is still of the
world, but the new man. There is a new man that has been
called of God. And that new man has been given
faith to see salvation, something that this old man has never cared
about. You talk about salvation and
this old man could care less. But this new man has seen salvation. He has seen. True righteousness. He has seen life. Life in Christ,
he has seen life. That new man. Looks around in
the world that he lives in. Here this new man is and everywhere
he turns. He looks around in this world
and he sees all of the sin. And he sees all of the suffering
and he sees all of the rebellion and he's so sick of it. He's
so sick of it. He is so ready to be rid of it. He just wants rid of it. In God's Word, this new man keeps
hearing about a new heaven. in a new earth, a new city, a
holy city, a city and a life that has no sin, no suffering,
no rebellion, no bondage. And he's so ready for it. He
wants it so badly that new man wants it so badly. And that new man in the child
of God, he feels like he's just killing time down here. You know
what I'm talking about? The new man, not the old man.
The old man's trying to get all he can get before this ride is
over. But the new man feels like he is just killing time. Spinning
wheels, killing time. until he actually physically
receives this inheritance that he's been given in the blood
of Christ. That pretty well sums up the
life of a believer. Doesn't it? That pretty well
sums up our life on this earth. Every child of God can relate
to Abraham. Every child of God. Every one
of them says, that right there is exactly what I'm doing, and
that's exactly what I'm looking for. Verse 8 says, By faith Abraham,
when he was called to go out into a place, which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out not knowing
whither he went. He walked through this earth
having no idea where he was going. Now let me ask you this. Do you? I don't. I don't. Now, my plan is, I have
a plan. You know, sometimes plans don't
work out. And I'm so glad our God doesn't have a plan. My plan
is, to stay in Kingsport, Tennessee for the rest of my life. This
is it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm
done. I'm done. I would love if the Lord would
be so kind to me. I would love for him to allow
me to die right here. It'd be fine if it happened right
here. Literally. All right. Now, with that being
said, I'm at the mercy and guidance and the leadership of his will.
Isn't that right? I believe he has convinced me
that it is not mine to say today or tomorrow, I'm going to do
this or I'm going to do that. Turn over about three or four
pages to James chapter four. James 4 verse 13 says, Go to
now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and
continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain, whereas
you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your
life? Well, I'll tell you what my life
is. My life is full of big plans. I got big ideas. I got big places
to go, big things to do. No, God says it's a vapor. It's a vapor. It appears for
a little time and then it vanishes away. For that you ought to say,
if the Lord will, we shall live. First of all, let's say if he
even lets us live. We're not promised. We say we're
not promised tomorrow. We're not promised the next breath.
For that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live. and do this or that. We're going
to do whatever he has purposed for us to do. Isn't that right? Our steps are ordered. Our lives have been predestinated. For that reason, we walk through
this earth just like Abraham did. He went out not knowing
whether he went. We don't have a clue what's around
the corner. But we know that our God does.
We know He does. We know He does. Every step we
take, we know that one was ordered. That was on purpose. That was
predestinated. We know He does, and so we just
look to Him. And we wait on Him for His leadership
on our next step. We completely look to Him and
wait on Him. Now, back in Hebrews 11, Verse
9 says, By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. God's people sojourn, they live
with. They dwell with, they congregate
with the heirs of the same promise. That's what God's people do. They sojourn through the rest
of their days on this earth with the heirs of the same promise. They are in a strange and temporary
country to them. This world. Very strange, very
temporary. And as the end of verse 13 says
right here, they confess that they're strangers and pilgrims
on this earth. And because of that, because
they're strangers and pilgrims here, the only comfort they find
here is huddling together with the heirs of the same promise.
That's the only comfort they find, because as soon as they
leave that, they realize I'm a stranger. I'm a pilgrim here. Look over at 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. This is wise counsel from our
God. We need to teach our children
when it comes time to get married, marry a believer. Marry someone
who confesses the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be unequally yoked
with unbelievers. When it comes to business, don't
be unequally yoked with unbelievers. When it comes to vacation and
worldly things, don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Don't
be unequally yoked. with unbelievers. Verse 14 says,
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers? For what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light
with darkness? There is none. There's no fellowship,
there's no communion. And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? That means unbeliever. And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the
temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you,
and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
Christ in God's people makes God's people want to be with
God's people. Christ in God's people makes
God's people want to be with God's people. They want to be
with Him. That's what it is. They want
to be with Him. And that's what glory is going
to be. We're going to be with Him. That's
why it's going to be so wonderful. That's why God's people are going
to be so happy and content. We're going to be with Him. And
our God said while we're here, He said, I dwell in my people.
Now, are God's people proud of that? Do they see themselves
as being better than other people? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Paul said, Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. I'm the chief. I'm the chief. God's people know for a fact
that they're not better than anybody. Nobody. We are what we are by the grace
of God. We were just separated by God.
That's it. But because of His grace, because
of His promise now, we're looking for a city. And we are. We are looking for a city, one
that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. If God does
not build it, we don't want any part of it. The Tower of Babel was man's
building. We know the story of the Tower
of Babel. They're in that city, Babylon. They all decided to get together
and they were going to build themselves up all the way into
heaven. We're not just going to build
a tower. We're not stopping until we reach into heaven. And the
only thing that man can do is build up his own works. That's
all man can build up is his own works. And every single time,
they're going to fall. Every single time. Can you imagine
how miserable it was in that city? Until they did that, until
they tried to build themselves all the way up, there was one
language. God had one language on the earth.
But as soon as they tried to build themselves up all the way
into the presence of God, He confused their language and He
shut it down. The whole thing fell. Except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. We are looking for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Now, our Lord
told us in Matthew 7, and it's also in Luke 6, that the foundation
is everything. The foundation is everything. Some of you men are in the building
trade. You know that so. The foundation is everything. Isn't that right? If the foundation
is not right, none of it's right. Our Lord said, if it's built
on the wrong foundation, when the rain descends, and the floods
come, and the winds blow, it will not stand. It will not stand. But he said, if it's built on
the right foundation. It's all about the foundation.
And if it's built on the right foundation, if a man's hope is
built on a sure foundation, then he has reason to rejoice. He has much reason to rejoice. And we do have much reason to
rejoice. We are looking for a city which
hath foundations, and these foundations are worth shouting over." These
are worthy to shout over. I want to show you something
that's just precious. Go to Ezra chapter 3, page 653 in my Bible. It's before Job, just before
Nehemiah. Ezra chapter 3. Now King Nebuchadnezzar went
to war with Israel and he won. And he took them captive. They
were held in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. Jerusalem was destroyed. The temple was destroyed. Everything
was destroyed. And after they were in captivity
for 70 years, they were set free and they went back to Jerusalem
to start rebuilding it. Okay, that's what Ezra is writing
about. They've gone back and they're
ready to rebuild Jerusalem. Now, Ezra 3 verse 6, it says,
from the first day of the seventh month, began they to offer burnt
offerings unto the Lord. The first thing they did is they
built an altar. Before they did anything, they built an offer
and they made a sacrifice to God. And verse 6 says, From the
first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings
unto the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was
not yet laid. They gave money also unto the
masons, and to the carpenters, and meat, and drink, and oil
unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees
from Lebanon to the Sea of Joppa according to the grant that they
had of Cyrus king of Persia. Now in the second year of their
coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month
began Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Yeshua, the son
of Josedach, and the remnant of their brethren, the priests
and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity
unto Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from twenty years
old and upward to set forward the work of the house of the
Lord. Then stood Yeshua with His sons and His brethren, Kadmiel
and his sons, the sons of Judah, together to set forward the workmen
in the house of God, the sons of Hinnadad, with their sons
and their brethren, the Levites. And when the builders laid the
foundation of the temple of the Lord..." Now, let's see if we
can enter into this, okay? They hired all of these masons
and they hired all these carpenters. They received some money. And
they sent it all out, and they hired these men to come in, and
they gave food and drink and oil to these other cities to
bring in cedars from Lebanon. Okay, now here they are. They're
all standing there, watching these masons and carpenters start
laying the foundation. Okay, the foundation's going
down. Verse 10. When the builders laid
the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priest
in their apparel with trumpets. As soon as they saw the foundation
of the house of the Lord going down, all the priests in all
of their priestly apparel lined up with trumpets. The priests
in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites, the sons of
Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord after the ordinance
of David, king of Israel. And they sang together by course
in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because He is
good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all
the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord,
because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. They
were so grateful. They are all standing there watching
those workers work. And there goes the foundation
of the house of the Lord again. And all the priests started blowing
trumpets and crashing cymbals and singing praises to the Lord.
And all the people started singing and shouting and they were crying,
thank God for the foundation. They'd been in captivity for
70 years. And you know, that kind of describes
us. Three score and 10, isn't that right? Here we are in the
captivity of this world and the bondage of this world. And now
they've been set free and the foundation, they're watching
it go down and they're all giving praise and crying. Thank God
for the foundation. We are looking for a city. that has foundations, and I want
to show us what they actually are. All right? Just for the
next few minutes, that's what I want to focus on. What are
the foundations that we're looking for? What are the foundations
this city is built on? Here's the first one. Go to Isaiah
28. Isaiah 28, verse 16 says, Therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation
He that believeth shall not make haste. He won't go anywhere.
Now, we know what that means, don't we? The Apostle Paul said
in Ephesians 2.20, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
the stone that was tried, the stone that was smitten. Verse
17 says, Judgment also will I lay to the line. and righteousness
to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of
lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." The hail of
God's judgment and His wrath beat down on that stone, and
it stood firm. All the sin that was laid on
that stone. Our Lord said, if we fall on
this stone, It'll break us. If that stone falls on us, it's
going to grind us to powder. All the sin that God laid on
that stone. When that when that judgment
came down, it was swept away in the flood. Completely gone,
swept away. And the stone stood firm that
tried precious corner stone. We are looking for a city that
is built on Christ. We're looking for a city that
is completely built on Christ. We could travel to every city
on this globe and we'd never find what we're looking for.
City after city. Some cities are more honest than
other cities. Some of them just come right
out and tell you. We call ourselves Sin City. This city was built
on sin. Thanks for letting me know. I'll
just move along. Every city is sin city. Isn't that right? Every
city is built on sin here on this earth. But we're looking
for a city. There is a new city where every
soul in that city plainly confesses this right here. Go over to first
Corinthians chapter three. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 11, For other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. There is a city where every soul
in that city cries, no other foundation can be laid than the
foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only true God, Jesus
Christ. The only mediator between God
and man, Jesus Christ. God's people are standing on. They are founded on everything
that He is, everything that He's done, founded on His blood, founded
on His righteousness, founded on His cross. founded on His
payment, founded on His love. They're standing there founded
on His love. Greater love hath no man than
this, than a man to lay down his life for his friend. When the question is asked, what
gives you the right to stand in this holy city? The love and
the forgiveness and the mercy that was freely given to me in
the blood of Jesus Christ. Well, welcome in. Welcome in. Every soul in that city is going
to cry for all eternity, thank God for the foundation. Thank
God for the Lord Jesus Christ, the one my hope is built on. All right, here's another layer
of the same foundation. Look at 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 19 says, Nevertheless the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are His. He knows. He knows. God's people are standing on
this right here. No matter how fickle I am, no matter how weak
I am, no matter how sinful, no matter how doubtful, no matter
how prone to wonder I am, He knows me. He remembers my frame. He remembers I'm dust. He chose
me. He died for me. He'll keep me.
God's people are founded on the fact that the Lord knows them
which are His. What causes you to stand? The
Lord knows them that are His. Am I one of His elect? Am I one of His elect? Is Gabe
Stoniker one of His elect? Am I one of His elect? Here's
my answer to that. God has caused me to see and
believe that He has an elect. He has convinced me and He's
caused me to say, if God chose me, I'm saved. And if God didn't
choose me, I'm damned. He has caused me in my heart
to bow to it, no matter which one He purposed to do. And because
of that, he has also convinced my heart that if he were going
to kill me, he would have never revealed those things to me. God revealed himself to Manoah
and his wife. And as soon as they saw who he
was, and as soon as they saw his holiness and righteousness
and all these things, Manoah said, we're going to die. We've
seen God. We see what we are, we see what
he is, and we're going to die. And his wife said, no, if he
was going to kill us, he never would have revealed these things
to us. Never. That's what I'm standing on.
That's what I'm standing on. Am I one of his elect? Well,
God has revealed to me that he has an elect. And he's caused
me to bow to his purpose and will in it. And that's what I'm
standing on. I'm standing on his kindness
in revealing who he is to me, who I am to me and what he's
done for centers. And I'm a center. I know that
God's people are looking for a city that stands on this foundation. The Lord knows them that are
his. He knows. Look with me at Hebrews
six. Hebrews 6 verse 1 says, Therefore,
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go
on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation. And what
he's saying there is, this foundation has already been laid. These
foundations, they've already been laid. Not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works. Could you imagine
a city where every soul in that city had been granted repentance
from dead works? Every soul, every soul there
completely condemned and rejected his own dead works. Everyone,
verse one goes on to say, and of faith toward God, could you
imagine a city where every soul in that city was looking to Christ?
Every soul. Verse 2 says, Of the doctrine
of baptisms, every soul there has been immersed in the blood
of Christ. Verse 2 says, And of laying on
of hands, every soul has received the work of Christ. And of resurrection
of the dead, every soul has risen with Christ. And of eternal judgment,
every soul there endured the wrath of God. in the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Eternal judgment. All the judgment
is passed. Could you imagine that? We need to imagine that because
it's a real city. It is a real city. This is not
metaphorical. It is a real city full of real
people who are founded on Christ. believing with all their hearts
that He knows them that are His and He will save them that are
His. They completely reject all their dead works. They totally
look to Christ. They've all been immersed in
His blood. And we are going to be in that
city if God chose us. Go with me to Revelation 21. Revelation 21, verse 1 says,
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall
be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their
God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away, And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for
these words are true and faithful. The final word of this message
is keep looking. We're looking for a city. Keep
looking. Keep looking. These words are
true and faithful. That means they're not going
to fail. Our God will gather us to himself. He will bring
us into his holy city to dwell with him there forever. Our jobs
are going away. Everything you do for a living
is going away. All of these relationships we have in the world, they're
going away. And we're going to dwell with
God and we're going to dwell with His people. We are going
to live in this city. We live in Kingsport for real. And we are going to live in New
Jerusalem for real. Look at verse 22 right here in
Revelation 21. And I saw no temple therein.
We're not going to walk up to a temple. For the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it. We're going to be in God's
temple at all times, worshiping God. We're going to be at the
altar at all times. Verse 23, And the city had no
need of the sun, there's not a sun there, neither the moon to shine in
it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof. And the nations of them which
are saved shall walk in the light of it. We're going to walk around.
And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into
it. Who are the kings of the earth? God has made His people
kings and priests unto Him. And the gates of it shall not
be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. I love
that. I don't ever want to leave. I don't believe I'm ever going
to want to walk out of those gates, but they're wide open.
Verse 26, And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations
into it, and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that
defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh
a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. The
only thing that will walk through those gates are the souls of
those who were written in the Lamb's book of life. covered
in His blood. Nothing that can defile will
be able to enter into the gates of that city. Chapter 22 says,
And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the
midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river,
was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits,
and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of nations. All that's Christ. Nobody needs
to be healed there. Everybody's healed. And there shall be no more curse.
You know how this book started? Cursed. You're cursed. Eve, you're cursed. Adam, you're
cursed. Eve, everything you do is going
to be in pain and travail. Adam, the ground is just going
to Curse you. Thorns are going to come out
of you. It's all going to be hard. Everything you do is going to
be hard. Nothing you do is going to be easy. There's going to
be no more curse. But the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it. The throne of God is in it, sitting
in the middle of it. The Lamb is on the throne. We're
all going to look and sitting on the throne, we're going to
see a Lamb as it had been slain. The Lamb's going to be in it,
and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face."
That's my favorite part of this. They're going to see His face.
I can't wait to see His face. His name shall be in their foreheads
at all times. There shall be no night there. They need no candle, neither
light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light. They shall
reign forever and ever. He said unto me, These sayings
are faithful and true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets
sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must
shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed
is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book,
holds to these things, keeps them, holds to them, looks to
them, trusts them, believes them. He said in verse 20, he which
testifies these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Let's
all stand together.