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Scripture Reading

*A Heritage of Faith

(be a bit a reading this week)

*Story of the Walker Camp

A legacy of faith is no accident, it is intentional.

*It is faith… What is faith?

*11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

Assurance of… things… all things in life.

Assurance - Inner belief that it is already complete.

Conviction - Inner confidence that will bring about an action.

Side note… action is either active or inactive

*13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen *(assurance)* them and having welcomed them *(conviction)* from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

‌What is it, what is the mindset of faith? (seen at the end of the verse).

Tale of two countries.

*14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

*15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

*16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

Every hear of the statement: “Do not be too heavenly minded, so as to be any earthly good.” ( in other-words... head in the clouds).

The contrary is Paul (Philippians 3:12-14):

*12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

*13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

*14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

A better statement would be…

“We must be heavenly minded to be any earthly good.”

In this mindset we think of ourselves as sojourners, travelers, this as our temporary home.

Where is our real home?

What is heaven like?

(where the prior saints are today, right now!)

Let the Word of God Speak

Chapter 21

21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.

16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.

17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.

18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;

20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;

26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;

27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Are you one of these?

Those written in the Lamb’s book of life?

Not 100% sure?

If you want to make sure that you will be joining the saints, we need to talk.

This is nothing to be unsure about, or prideful or fearful about.

This is eternity and we all want you with us… forever in the Heavenly City, in the presence of the greatest love and greatest lover in human history.

There is no place else you will ever want to be!

At the end of the service today we would love to discuss this with you, help you become a disciple of Christ and truly understand His Gospel!

Now the remembrance of the saints who have gone before.