July 16, 2016: SOAP #2417: Isaiah 25-28; Hebrews 13

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 13:14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Observation: A lot of effort has gone into digging up the ruins of cities once filled with people. They try to learn about the people who lived in the city and the culture of their time. In looking at everything they can discover; they can overlook the most obvious thing: the city did not last. The economy changed, the rulers changed, the people changed and the city was overgrown by its environment. Cities may outlast their inhabitants but on earth there is no “enduring city.”

God who created man with an eternal soul also created eternal destinations to which we will go when we die. We can go to a place of eternal judgment (hell) or eternal bliss (heaven). The child of God has citizenship in an eternal city, the New Jerusalem. They have something special for which to look forward!

Application: The house in which I live is temporal. The city in which I live is not an “enduring city.” The government under which I live will not last. My only hope is in Jesus. He has prepared a mansion for me in the New Jerusalem, the eternal city.

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, when I get frustrated with my house, my government, remind me that this world is not my home.   I am looking for a city whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:10) Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!