[SUB12] A CIDADE DO CÉU - Luciano Subirá

Guys, right behind me it's the biggest building in the World, the Burj Khalifa. And I chose this place here in Dubai to talk about Abraham's faith, that waited for The One who is the architect and builder of The City that is to come. If buildings made by humans can impress us, and Dubai is a city Built in the desert and a part of it in the sea, if buildings made by humans can impress us, can you imagine what is waiting for us that was prepared by The Eternal God?

in the following minutes we will talk it. In Hebrews 11: 8 to 10 , we read this: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would latter receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ” The Bible says that he lived as a nomadic. The Bible says that, Abraham and his descendants, have inhabited in tents.

But the Bible says that his faith would go far beyond of what God had intended to do for him here in this Earth. His faith projected itself for the future, for eternty. The Bible says that he was waiting for the city that has fundamentals, city which God is the architect and the builder, other version says “The Constructor” we need to stop and think in a faith Like abraham’s faith, once he is the “Father of Faith”, having in mind that in Romans 4:16 The Bible says that we must walk in these same footsteps of Abraham's faith.

He left a railroad to be imitated, he left a railroad to be followed. And his faith wasn't only in that wich God can do in the Earth, it wasn't only in that wich God could do in this lifetime. In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul says: "if only for this life we hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

" Another version says: "the most miserable. " He isn't saying that we can't wait for God to do something in this life. Of course that more tha the salvation we hold on to, we can count on with all the benefits of redemption.

We can talk about God's promises, we may talk about the possibility of living interventions and miracles trought faith and prayer. By any means I'm underestimating the things God can do in our lives here, while we are in this place and in this Earth, but the Bible says that if we wait only for this life, only for this Earth we are the most miserable. It may be extraordinary that wich God can do in my lofe and yours, while we are here we have a declaration saying that what God is preparing is eternal.

We heve something far more grater than the earthly things. There is a city. The apostle Paul declares to the philippians: "but our citizenship is in Heaven, and we eagerly wait a saviour from there.

" The book of Revelation talks about this city, it's called "New Jerusalem". An interesting fact is that in the book of Hebrews 13:14, the author says: "for here we do not have and enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. " Do we have cities here?

Yes, but not enduring. The one that is to come, the city that waits for us The one wich God is the architect and constructor, this one endures forever, this city os the one that worth fighting for, investing our time, investing our best, because is our eternity that is at stake. It's about it that we are talking about A lot of people sometimes invest in the best quality of life that they could have here on Earth and they miss the perspective that they should work focused on the Eternal issues.

The Lord Jesus sad to His disciples: "Work not for the food that perishes. " We must understand that there is no way of living this life, there is no way of living in the Earth and not having to work. The Word of God is crystal clear when it says: "the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.

" To work is a God's order, it's a part of our subsistence, bever the less, Jesus sad: "do not work for what is earthly only. " We must have a bigger perspective, a wider comprehension of life and living according to the Eternal perspective. What is this city?

What is waiting for us? The Word of God describes a place where there is no more curse, no more pain, a place with no diseases, and no more death. .

. the Word of God describes an extraordinary place, prepared by God. When we read about the details of what is waiting for us, I keep trying with my limited mind, because with our mind we will never get the depth of the understanding ir quer ir os tais placas that os waiting for us.

And The Bible testifies it saying "things wich eye has not seen and ear has not heard and wich have not entered the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who love him". Nevertheless what God has prepared, cab we talk about things concerning Christianity? Yes, but we cannot delete this city that has fundamentals wich God, God himself is the architect and the builder.

There will not have any kind of corruption, will not have any kind of damage. The quality of life is one of the main reasons why people choose the place where they are going to live and we must understand when The Bible mentions this city, that has a its architect and builder, God himself. The Bible describes a place where there will be no more corruption, there will be no more personal issues, and no more collective issues eighter, where we will live the fullness of the manifested presence of God and of our relationship with him.

We must cultivate in our hearts this hope for eternal values, of this reality that is waiting for us. Do we need to keep on fighting to bring the "best of God" to the Earth? Absolutely.

Do we need to pray as Jesus preyed "your Kingdom come", desiring to establish The Kingdom here? Absolutely. When I talk about thinking about eternity it doesn't mean that we're abandoning the possibility of living "the best of God" here on Earth, but what I desire to emphasize is, even if you live "the best of God" here on Earth, even so you're not in the permanent city, you're in a temporary period of time.

Even if you make efforts to develop an apparently better World and Society for the next generation, even so they will not be in a permanent place. Sometimes, we forget the fact that, waiting for The Eternal City doesn't mean neglecting life here on Earth, on the other hand pursuing "the best of God" here on Earth doesn't mean neglecting the Eternal Hope that The Bible teaches us to have. Because what I see is an unbalanced church, that during a period of time, for the sake of eternity, seemed not to be worried about seeing "the best of God" here on Earth.

Than one other group rises, other generation saying: "no, we cannot leave The Earth forsaken, giving it to the enemy, we must fight to enjoy of what it's ours. . .

" and I agree with it. But, this doesn't give us the right to neglect Eternity, because we should have been doing both of them. And, if I had to choose one of them, and I'm not saying that I should, would be better to choose the Eternity, because this is what lasts forever, this is what matters.

Now, if we can bring "the best of God" to us here on Earth without losing the perception of Eternity. . .

Why The Word of God calls us foreigners, we are here just passing by, we are here for a very short period of time, mainly if we manage to comprehend what Eternity is all about. I perceive a lot of people extremely rooted in the earthly things. When The Word of God says: "think about the things from above, not in the earthly things; pursue the things from above and not the things from the Earth", I believe that obviously we can enjoy of good things while we are here, but we must not make this our main goal in life.

We cannot be focused into it, being concerned about it, cannot be the objective that will consume all my energy. We must have in our hearts the consciousness that there is a place waiting for us. Our Lord Jesus Christ sad: "I will go and prepare a place for you", in the gospel of John, chapter 14.

He says: "if I go and prepare a place for you, and will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. " When The Lord Jesus makes this word living through signs "prepare a place", He is saying "you can count on something extraordinary". Let's think, if in the Earth where we live so few years, The Word of God testifies that the life of man is 70, sometimes, 80 years old more than this is bothersome, if for living such a short period of time here on Earth God has made such a beautiful work, Creation is something extraordinary, Planet Earth, even with man "working" against it, destroying it, not taking care of it, even so still an extraordinary place, can you imagine the place that God created and prepared for us to spend the hole eternity?

Can you realize what what God is doing in this Eternal Place when He made such an extraordinary investment in this place that is temporary and fading away? Yes, there is place waiting for us, there is a city that has fundamentals in wich God is the architect and the builder, and this city is the city in which we must put our focus on, not only as our destiny not only as the place we will be for all eternity but we must look for this City understanding that there we will receive rewards according to the proportion of how each one worked concerning the Eternal things. When you and I dedicate ourselves to serve The Lord, when you and I dedicate ourselves to work for The Lord, when you and I give up on things that are important and valuable to us, considered important things in the natural perspective of people, when sacrifice ourselves regarding the Eternal Kingdom, We are building up a rewards, an Eternal Reward.

And this hole scenario, the city that is waiting for us, The God that we will enjoy in this city permanently, The God that is the architect and the builder of this city, The God that is doing extraordinary investments in it and the rewards that it will give to us, I believe it: it will be worth it making us to redirect our way of living life, our lifestyle, our way of conducting things, our goals. Our energy must be directed to the thing that really matters and our heart must be filled with hope. The apostle Paul says that when our Lord Jesus returns those who died in Christ will be resurrected, those of us alive will be transformed and all together we will encounter Jesus in the air.

He says: "comfort one another with these words. " So fight and make efforts to bring and live "the best of God" in the Earth but don't allow yourself to be rooted. Remember that you will never have here a permanent city, remember that you are just passing by.

While you make efforts to live a good life here put even more strength and energy, much more than just to live "the best of God" here on Earth, put way more strength and energy to live focused in eternity. And allow yourself not only to be awakened by these realities, but be an instrument in the hands of God to awake many others calling their attention to eternity, being like Abraham, that they may believe with us that there is a city wich God is the architect and the builder. God bless you.