Anchor Text: Hebrews 13:14 KJV
“For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”
1. THE PENETRATING TRUTH
This verse is a brutal reality check.
The phrase “no continuing city” – in Greek, ou menōsan polin – means we have no permanent capital, no lasting headquarters, no city that will remain. You are not a citizen here. You are a tenant.
We live like landlords in a world where we are only squatters. We build, we decorate, we accumulate, we fight for land titles and family houses in a city that is already marked for demolition.
God is saying: Don’t get too comfortable. Port Harcourt is not your home. That office is not your home. Your body is not even your home. You are on a visa that will expire.
Every man who thought this world was permanent has been disgraced by time. The question is not IF you will leave this city, but WHAT you have secured in the one to come.
- THE DECEPTION OF PERMANENCE
Why do we live so carelessly? Because the present city offers three illusions:
a) The Illusion of Stability: Your salary, your connections, your health today makes you feel this will continue. But cities fall overnight. Jobs disappear. Health fails. Hebrews says “here” – this present system – has no capacity to continue.
b) The Illusion of Ownership: We say “my house, my car, my company.” The KJV says “we have” – present tense – but we do not HAVE it. We are only holding it. At death, your title deeds become waste paper.
c) The Illusion of Time: We think we have time to secure our future later. The man who builds only in a city that is passing is a fool building mansions on a sinking ship.
If your entire investment is in a city with no future, you have no future.
3. HOW TO SECURE YOUR FUTURE
The verse doesn’t end with despair. “…but we SEEK one to come.” Your future is secured not by holding tighter to this city, but by seeking the next one.
- Transfer Your Citizenship Early:
Philippians 3:20 says our conversation is in heaven. Have you actually transferred? Many are still trying to have dual citizenship – loving Christ on Sunday and loving this world on Monday. Heaven does not accept dual citizenship.[citizenship]
Ask: If God called you today, does your passport carry heaven’s stamp? Have you truly repented and received Christ?
- Transfer Your Investments:
Matthew 6:19-20 – Lay not up treasures on earth… but lay up treasures in heaven. The only money that crosses over is the money you gave away for the Kingdom.
Your tithes, your giving to the poor, your sponsorship of the gospel, your life poured into souls – that is the only estate that has a continuing city.
What percentage of your income is building in the city that remains?
- Live Like a Pilgrim, Not a Settler:
A settler builds to stay. A pilgrim builds to move. Abraham in Hebrews 11:10 looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. He lived in tents to keep his heart mobile.
Live light. Forgive quickly – grudges are too heavy for pilgrims. Hold possessions loosely. Let your daily decisions be filtered by one question: “Will this matter in the city to come?”
- REFLECTION & PRAYER
Take 10 minutes alone today:
Open your hands and name 3 things you have been gripping as if they are permanent. Surrender them to God.
Ask: If this city ended today, what would I have in the next city? Any souls? Any service?
Pray this:
Father, forgive me for living like this world is my home. I confess I have built too much in a city with no foundation. Today I re-align. I am a pilgrim. My heart seeks the city to come – the New Jerusalem where righteousness dwells. Teach me to secure my future by investing my life, my love, and my resources where moth and rust cannot touch. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Final Charge: Don’t decorate your cabin on the Titanic. Secure a mansion in the city that will never pass away.