Setting Our Gaze on Our Heavenly Zion

For lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it and so they marveled. They were troubled and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them there and pain as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever.

We have thought of thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. Thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion and go round about her. Tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces that you may tell it to the generation following.

For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto death. Amen. What’s the theme? Did anybody notice a particular theme that’s repeated over and over in the psalm? Zion. Zion. Zion. This psalm is mostly about Zion. So I want to look at that tonight and just look at it from, of course, the point of view of the psalmist, but also a point of view from our point of view as well. So let’s pray together and then we’ll get into our study.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the opportunity, Lord, for meeting together and studying your word. Thank you for the people of God. What a blessing it is to be with your people, to fellowship, to share good times together and to pray for one another and to see one another’s face and study your word together. We know, Lord, that we will be with you in Zion for all of eternity, with one another, and be able to enjoy one another’s fellowship forever without the burden and the hindrance of sin at all.

We rejoice in that fact. Lord, we also rejoice that you protected Nathaniel and that you kept him, Lord, and you were watching over him. Thank you, Lord, that we have good news tonight. And Lord, we just pray that you bless our study now. We ask you to meet with us and teach us. In Jesus’ name, amen. So this psalm is about Zion. And this is not the only one, but where the psalmist is really going on about, he talks about counting the towers and walking about, notice what he says in verse number 12, walk about Zion, go around it, walk around it, tell the towers thereof, and that’s the count.

And so the emphasis is on Zion. Now why is Zion so important that a psalmist would write a psalm about Israel? Now we know that, I’m sorry, write a psalm about Zion. Now we know there’s an association with God because that’s mentioned in verse number one, it’s also mentioned in the last verse, and there’s a connection between God and Zion. Now that’s clear, we’ll see that in a minute. But in the mind of the psalmist, Zion is an important place. It is an important place to the people of Israel.

Now I want to look at a few verses and I want to kind of get a definition of what we’re talking about when we’re talking about Zion. Second Samuel, second Samuel chapter 5, second Samuel chapter 5, verse 7. This is of course when David will read verse 6, second Samuel chapter 5 verse 6. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, which spake unto David, say, Except thou take away the blind and lame, thou shalt not come in hither, thinking David cannot come in hither.

Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion. This is the first mention of Zion as a place. And this is before Jerusalem was occupied by the Hebrews. And so this is the first mention of Zion. He took the stronghold of Zion the same as the city of David. Now before there was a temple, before there was a temple, the Solomon’s temple, there was of course the city of Jerusalem already existed at the time of David.

And David invaded the city of Jerusalem and took it. But the city of Jerusalem was not centered around the temple mount like it is today and like it was later. And so David took the stronghold of Zion, which actually if you look at a map, you have the city of Jerusalem is kind of like a square. And at the top right, mostly the top right, you have the temple mount, but that didn’t exist.

But you go south of that and there’s a ridge that runs down. That ridge is where the city of David was. This was called the city of David to this day. It’s called the city of David. And it’s a particular section of Jerusalem because that was the original part that David conquered. There was a fortress there. But that was the original location of Zion. That the city of David, that place south of Jerusalem.

Now look at look back in the psalm, psalm number nine, psalm number nine. Psalm nine verse 11 says this, Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion. Declare among the people his doings. So here God dwells in Zion. Look at Psalm 132, psalm 132.

Psalm 132 verse 13. Psalm 132 verse 13. For the Lord hath chosen Zion. He hath desired it for his habitation. Now you remember in the history of Israel, there was a big thing. Remember even in the law, the Lord said to Moses, you remember in Deuteronomy and in Numbers, he said when you go into the land, paraphrasing, when you go into the land and I choose a place to set my name there.

Do you remember that verse, those verses? There are several occurrences of it. The Lord said this is when they were outside of Canaan, before they had gone in with Joshua. The Lord says when you go into this land, I’m going to pick a place and I’m going to set my name there. That place that God picked was Jerusalem. That place that God picked was Zion. Because that’s the place where God would dwell.

That’s the place where God would have his habitation with his people, which is a reference to the temple. Look at the next verse, verse 14. The Lord goes on, this is my rest forever. Will I dwell for I have desired it. So here’s what, think about what God is saying here. God is choosing a physical and geographical location on the face of the planet that he will call his habitation.

Everybody with me? This is, and of course we know that would later be the Tabernacle and then the temple once Solomon built it. And that would be the place where he would place his name there. And that is the place that God has chosen even to this day. Even to this day. The end of the history of Jerusalem has not happened yet. There is more to come about that city.

That’s why it’s such a hot bed right now and has been for a long time. Look at Psalm 147. 147. You’ll see a little bit of a nuance about Zion. We’re looking at what is Zion. Psalm 147, look at verse 12.

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. Praise thy God, O Zion. This is what’s called a parallelism. In other words, two sentences that are structured the same. But the word Zion is used in place of the word Jerusalem. And this is also what you see in the scripture. I’m just giving you an example. Zion is also synonymous with Jerusalem, the whole city. So originally it was that place south of Jerusalem where David conquered.

And then later it was referred to the entire area. But also, it’s also referred to the place where God dwells, which is the temple. So all three of those are called Zion in scripture.

Now look at Isaiah, one more. Isaiah 24. Isaiah 24, verse 23. Now this is looking into the future. This is the millennial kingdom information. Now what you might remember from last week, week before, is when we’re going through these psalms, Psalm 46, 47, and now 48, have a lot of information that deals with the kingdom. In other words, there’s talk about how God reigns over the heathen to the ends of the earth and all of these things that we studied already.

And the reason it says that is because all of these things are in the future. And the reason it says that is because although there’s an aspect of the psalm that is contemporary, it’s present, there’s an aspect of the psalm that is future, that’s not yet fully fulfilled, and will not be fully fulfilled until God literally reigns over all the heathen from Zion. Alright, look at Isaiah 24, because this is what this says, verse 23.

This is kingdom, this is millennial kingdom information. This is not God reigning spiritually over everything, although that’s true. In the context, this is talking about his literal reign from Mount Zion. Of course, that hasn’t happened yet. And notice it says Lord of Hosts, but we know who the actual person is sitting on the throne, and who is that? It’s Jesus. So that’s the actual person who is sitting on the throne.

And who is that? It’s Jesus. So that lets you know that Jesus is the Lord of Hosts indeed. And so going back to our psalm, that’s what this psalm is referring to. It’s talking about Zion with kind of an eye looking forward to the kingdom. How do I know that? Psalm 48, look at verse number two. Well, that’s not exactly true now. Not everybody respects and loves the city of God.

Then it talks about the kings being assembled, troubled when they came near Zion, and hasting away. If you would look at verse number 10, According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. And so this idea that Zion is the center of worship, the center of praise, the center of a rule and a reign, this is consistent with other parts of scripture.

Now why is that so important? Here’s what I want you to see. The people of Israel had so many promises given to them that dealt with physical places. They had promises in Deuteronomy that dealt with their health and their welfare and their riches. God said that they would not get sick, they would not miscarry their babies. God said that he would allow them to rest under every man under his fig tree and under his vine tree.

Remember that? He promised them the land, and part of the promise of the land was Zion. In other words, God promised them that he would pick a place where he would put his name there, and he would dwell among them. And the fulfillment of that was when God dwelt in the temple, in Zion, in Jerusalem, with his people in the center of the nation. You notice all of those things are physical.

All of those things are physical. Because the promises that God made to Israel were largely physical. In other words, the promises of Abraham that he would have children, a multitude of children, remember that? That’s all physical. That’s all physical things. And so this is the way that Israel then is viewing, and this is the way they view it to this day. This is the way they view their relationship to God.

Their relationship to God is understood in their relationship to physical things, physical places, physical kingdoms, because that’s what God promised them. To this day, that’s what they look forward to. They look forward to the Messiah coming, literally ruling. That’s what Jews believe. That is the ones that believe the Bible. So it’s no wonder then, seeing that’s what God promised them, it’s no wonder then that when you read the Psalm, they’re making such a big deal over Zion, and over towers, and over fortresses, and they’re walking around this city, and they’re looking at it, and they’re like, wow.

Why are they wowed? Because this is the place where God promised to dwell with them. So this physical place is a part of their relationship to God, and rightly so, because this is what God promised. That’s why the Psalmist is talking about that. They’re looking forward in the Psalm, looking forward to the day when God reigns from Zion. The law goes out of Zion, and they are with God in Zion.

We can go into this. Ezekiel, you go to the last, say, ten chapters of Ezekiel, there’s a lot of talk about how the land in the Millennial Kingdom will be divided, and every tribe will have a portion, little strips of land. If you follow the map, it’s little strips. And then in the middle is a portion dedicated to the King, to the Prince, that’s Jesus. And then in the middle of that is Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is the place where the Lord dwells, but he dwells among the tribes, physically, in the land of Israel.

You see all that? This is why they view it like that in the Psalms. This is what the Psalmist is thinking, but here’s the kicker, here’s the kicker, and this is what I want you to see, is there’s another layer of this. Israel was promised all of these physical things, and they received part of that, but not the complete fulfillment, yet they will. That is, those that believe, they will, but they haven’t received the whole thing, and that won’t happen until the Millennium.

But there’s another layer of this that is even greater. Let me show you. Look if you would at Exodus chapter 25. We’ll try to hurry, I don’t want to keep you too long, but if we look through these scriptures I think it’ll be a blessing to you, Exodus 25. And if you want to, you can go ahead and go to Exodus and then flip to the New Testament with your right hand and go to Hebrews chapter 8.

Exodus 25 and Hebrews 8. Exodus 25 and Hebrews 8. Exodus 25 verse number 40. The Lord is giving these instructions to Moses about all the different vessels of the tabernacle. And here’s the key, verse 40. The Lord speaking to Moses says, and look that thou make them, all these vessels, after their pattern which was showed thee in the mount. Okay, Moses is making all these vessels for the tabernacle, which is on earth.

But while Moses is in mount Sinai, the Lord pulls the curtain back and shows Moses the real thing. Moses sees it and God tells him in this verse, and among others, what you make down here, you make it to look like what you saw, what I showed you. Look at Hebrews chapter 8. Look at Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews 8 verse 5 says this, who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.

As, now this is a shadow of heavenly things. In other words, there’s a heavenly thing and the thing down here that Moses was making is just a shadow. There’s a really interesting illustration with a shadow I used in Bible college that maybe I’ll just take the time to tell you in just a minute. As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for, see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.

See that? In other words, what we read in Exodus 25-40 was the proof that the things that Moses was making were not the real things, but were just shadows of the real things. God showed him the real things. That’s what Hebrews 8 is telling us. Now follow this. Now a shadow. Now if I were to have a bright spotlight, I don’t know if you can see it, maybe you can see it like this.

Some of you can see, some of you can’t. Maybe I can go to the other side. So if I put, if these spotlights are shining up here and if you look right here, you can see the shadow of the microphone. Do you see it? See the shadow of the microphone? Several shadows actually. Now what can you discern from this shadow? You can discern that, you can discern the rough shape of it, of the microphone.

You can discern a few features of it, but you’re limited. You can basically see the rough outline, you can see the general characteristics, maybe you can even identify it, but you can’t tell the color of the foam windscreen, you can’t tell the color of the mic, you can’t tell the brand, you can’t tell if it’s on or off. There’s a lot of things you can’t tell by just looking at the shadow, because the shadow doesn’t give you enough information.

It gives you some information, but not all the information. Here’s what this means. The Lord showed Moses the real thing and said, Moses, when you make the shadow of the thing down there, you make it like you saw on the real thing. So obviously it’s not going to be full featured like the real. You with me? Now, everybody following me? Now look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 11, but Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say not of this building.

A greater tabernacle? That’s the one Moses saw. The real one, when he looked into heaven. Look at chapter 9 verse 24. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true. The word figure, same as shadow, the outline, the shape, the form, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. So in heaven there’s a tabernacle, there’s a temple, there’s an ark.

Here’s what I want you to see. The people of Israel had a city and in that city they had a city that God chose to put his name there and in that city there was a temple and in that temple was the ark of the covenant. The temple was God’s temple, but that temple was just a shadow. It wasn’t the real thing. It served for their purpose, for God’s relationship to them at the moment.

But we have something greater. Follow me. Alright, there’s another thing that I want you to see. Look at Revelation 11. Revelation 11. Revelation chapter 11 verse number 19. I won’t get it too much into the context, but this is part of John’s vision. Revelation 11 verse number 19, the Bible says this, and the temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his temple, we’ve already seen that Moses saw the temple and the different things in the temple, but there’s something specifically mentioned in this verse, which is there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.

You know what that is? That’s the ark of the covenant. The real one in heaven where God dwells. Everybody with me? That’s not the one Moses made. That’s the one that was the pattern for what Moses made. And there were lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail. So as you can see, there’s a heavenly temple and there’s an earthly temple. There’s a heavenly ark and there’s an earthly ark.

Look back at Hebrews chapter 9 again. I’ll show you another. Hebrews 9. Look at verse 11. We’ve already read part of that. I’ll read verse 11 and verse 12. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect We’ve already covered that. That not made with hands. That is to say not of this building. Now it goes on. Neither by the blood of goats and calves.

Now where was that done? Where were these sacrifices done? They were done down here. You know what they were? Just shadows, just figures, forms. They weren’t the real thing. They weren’t the real thing. But by his own blood. That’s the real thing. That’s the real thing. He entered in once into the holy place. That’s the real one up there. Having obtained eternal redemption for us. So Christ is not a shadow.

Christ is the real. Christ is the real. So what’s better? To operate in a sacrificial system of shadows and figures or to have the true and the real as the way that we interact with and know and relate to God. The real obviously is better. The Jews had no idea about that at that point. So there’s a heavenly temple, an earthly temple. A heavenly ark, an earthly ark.

A heavenly sacrifice and an earthly sacrifices. Now go to Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. Verse 12. We’ll also be in chapter 21 if you want to go there. Revelation 3 verse 12. The Lord’s speaking to the church in Philadelphia. He says this. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. We’ve seen that. And he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God.

Now this is not talking about Zion down here anymore. This is not talking about Jerusalem down in earth. He says which is new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name. Look at 21. Chapter 21 verse 2. 21 verse 2 says this. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for a husband.

Why is it called new Jerusalem? Well because there’s a Jerusalem down here and then there’s a Jerusalem up there. Right? You see it? Now in Psalm 48 which one are they looking at? They’re looking at the one down here. Right? Walking about it, counting the towers, telling the towers. Alright? Now go to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. I’m going somewhere with this. Hang with me. Hebrews 11. You think what in the world is he talking about?

I got five minutes. I got five minutes. Hebrews 11 verse 16. Or let’s look at verse 14. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. It’s on by Abraham now, the patriarchs, when they sojourn from place to place looking for that place that God had promised them. And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned.

But now they desire a better country, that is, and heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a what? Is that down here? No, that’s a heavenly city. Let’s look at chapter 12. Just one page over. Verse 22. Verse 22. But ye are come unto mount, what does it say? Sion. This is where I wanted to get. This verse is where I want to go.

To mount Sion and unto the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem. You notice all that? And unto an innumerable company of angels. So what do you see? You see a heavenly temple, an earthly temple. A heavenly ark, an earthly ark. A heavenly sacrifice, an earthly sacrifice. Heavenly Jerusalem, an earthly Jerusalem. A heavenly Zion and an earthly Zion. So you see, so here’s what it comes out to.

God, God dwelt with Israel on earth in the city of Jerusalem, in Zion, in the temple, with the ark of the covenant, where his presence was manifested. But that was all just a shadow. Here’s a problem I want to warn you about. It’s in vogue and it’s trendy. These days to read these Old Testament things like Psalm 48 and to spiritualize them all. And to say, well that’s just talking about, you know, it’s not actually talking about the city of Jerusalem, it’s actually talking about the heavenly Jerusalem.

And there’s no physical city that’s in view. And especially they do that in the New Testament. Here’s the thing. It’s actually both. Because what I’m trying to show you going through the verses is that there’s a principle where all of these earthly things that God promised Israel were real. There’s not their fake, they’re real. They’re real, they’re true. An earthly city, an earthly temple, earthly sacrifice, earthly priesthood, earthly everything.

All these earthly things, earthly inheritance, all those things that God promised to them and they received that and will complete, will receive it in total one day at the Millennium. But those things were shadows of the true. The city of Jerusalem, Zion, Psalm 48, all the, you notice how the people, the Israelis go on, they go around the city and they’re looking at this and they’re looking at that.

You know why they’re doing that? Because that’s what God promised them. That physical city. But beyond that, there’s a hint there. Every shadow in scripture is supposed to be pointing to something else and that’s what I’m trying to show you because we have no relationship with the city of Jerusalem now. We don’t. We have no relationship at all with the city of Jerusalem. But we do have a relationship with the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

We have no claim on Zion. But we do have a claim on the heavenly Zion. We have no claim on a temple that they will, the people, the Hebrew people will build before it’s all said and done. We have no claim whatsoever on that. But we have absolute, unfettered access to the very presence of God in the real one. That’s the real, not the shadow. Now, let’s run through a few verses and the New Testament will be done.

Look at Colossians, starting Colossians 3. Colossians 3. Notice, I just want to remind you before we read these, remember, the psalmist is going around looking at that city and in that city there’s shadows, there’s hints at the real. Because even the city itself is a shadow. But they’re looking at that and they’re like, wow, look at these towers and walking around. They just love this place because this is where their God is.

Right? Colossians 3 verse 1. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth. The New Testament Christian has no business doing a Psalm 48 with the earthly Zion. No business at all. We have no claim. Every bit of our claim as a believer is found in heaven with the real.

With the real. You can get into a lot of theological trouble. I’ll tell you something, there is a trend these days to take Old Testament verses that deal with physical blessings. No weapon formed against thee shall prosper. And put it on a nice little calendar. For William Tyndale, when he was strangled and burned at the stake, poor guy, a weapon prospered against him. The martyrs all through the years, weapon prospers against them.

All those poor Christians in Nigeria who are being slaughtered by Muslim radicals, weapons are, AK-47s are certainly prospering against them. You know why? Because they’re taking physical promises to the people of Israel and they’re applying it to themselves. But those promises don’t apply to us because our promises deal with the real. So you’ve got to be very careful about taking random Old Testament verses and saying, oh well this means us.

Well hold on. Psalm 48 does mean us if you’re looking at the real, not the shadow. That’s how you have to understand it. Because for the people of Israel that was what God promised them. But to us, he says we are come to the heavenly Zion. That’s our Zion. This is why the Lord says everything you have, everything regarding your relationship to God is up there. Your eyes need to be up there, not down here.

Up there. You shouldn’t be looking for health and wealth and prosperity down here. You might get it, you might not. It’s irrelevant because all that you have, all of your inheritance is up there where the real things are. And all of this is just a passing shadow. Now look at Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3 verse 19. Speaking of those who are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

And then Paul follows up with this, for our conversation is where? In heaven. It’s in heaven. From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Ephesians. Go back one more book to Ephesians chapter 1. And we’ll look at Ephesians 1 and 2. Ephesians 1 verse number 3. Blessed be the Godfather of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in...where are the blessings?

Look at the verse. Where are the blessings? They’re in heavenly places. That’s where the blessings are. I want to tell you something. We got to get this through our head. You as a Christian, you as a child of God, the greatest blessings you have cannot be, cannot be seen with the eye. I was thinking about little Nathaniel. Man, I rejoice. I mean, I mean it with all my heart.

I rejoice in the Lord protecting him. But did you know there are blessings far, far greater than that even? That are eternal, with the real, not even to make light of that, and nobody in this room does. Yet all the blessings we have down here are nothing to be compared with the spiritual blessings we have in heaven. Look at chapter 2 verse 6. Verse 5 says this, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace you are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

That’s where we are now. Can I explain that? No. Can you? Probably not. Look at Hebrews chapter 4. No, let’s go to 10 first. Let’s go to 10 first. We’re almost done. Hebrews 10 verse 34. Hebrews 10 verse 34. For ye had compassion of me and my bonds, that’s down here on earth, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, that’s down here on earth. How can a Christian endure the spoiling of his goods with joy?

The only way is if his head is in the clouds. That’s the only way. That is the only way a Christian can take with joy the removal and the forfeiture of his earthly blessings, because his eyes are set on where all the true things are. Right? That’s the only way it works. If you’re a Jew in the Old Testament and your goods are spoiled, something’s wrong with your relationship to God.

That’s what you read in the Old Testament. But to a Christian in the New Testament, the Lord says the very opposite. He says, blessed are ye when men shall persecute you, when you forfeit your goods, because great is your reward in heaven. That is the total reverse, because all of our inheritance, all of our blessings are with God in the true. He says, verse 34, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

You see where our eyes are supposed to be? That’s how someone can die at the stake, can be burned at the stake, and somehow have joy, because his eyes are set on something not down here in this world. Because that’s where all of our relationship and blessings to God, our relationship to God and blessings from him lie. Look at chapter 4, and we’ll be finished. Chapter 4, verse number 16.

Look at 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens way better of the priest down here on earth. Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not in high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

There is no throne on earth. There is no throne down here. The seat of where God dwells, it’s not down here. Let me explain to you. Think about this. Could a Hebrew person, could a Jew in the time of Moses or in the time of David or in the time of Solomon or Hezekiah, could he go to the throne of God? Could he just waltz himself right into the holiest place where the Ark of the Covenant was and make his petition to God?

Absolutely not. It was not permitted and that was the shadow. So the Jew had a blessing because they had God’s presence among them, but we have something far greater than that. We have the real and the true and God says to us, come into my presence. Come before my throne. Come walk right into my temple. Go past the first veil and past the second veil and kneel right in front of the Ark.

Now we don’t have a physical place to do that. He’s talking about prayer, but here’s the thing. That’s what we do when our eyes and our heart and our mind are set on the heavenly things because that’s where all of our spiritual blessings lie. So a Christian is supposed to be someone whose heart is set on heavenly things and that is what enables him or her to endure the earthly things that often are so contrary.

Did you know some people lose their husband or wife because they want to serve the Lord? But they depart from them. How do you endure that? You have your heart and your mind set on heavenly things. The spoiling of your goods I’ve mentioned, the suffering of the body. How do you do that? How do you deal with that? Because our heart and our mind are set on those things, not on things down here on earth.

But he’s given us an enormous, immeasurable inheritance over there. And we right now, it’s not something we’re waiting on, it’s something that is waiting on us. And we have rights to it right now. We are seated there with him right now. We have access now, not in the shadow, but in the truth. Let’s pray.