calling in character, but in sphere and destiny, linked with the right hand of God where the Lord Jesus Christ is

exalted `far above all'.

In any case as we have indicated, there is no usable nation of Israel today into which they could be grafted. The

Body of Christ is a calling and constitution where there is neither Jew or Gentile. In this church the status of each

has disappeared and out of the two companies, Jew and Gentile, God has created one new man (Eph. 2:15,16) with

the hope of the `upward calling' (Phil 3:14) to the glory of heaven's holiest of all where the Lord Jesus is now

enthroned and where God now reckons them to be seated with Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6) and this sphere

is above all that the mind can conceive (Eph. 1:19-23).

Before we leave the consideration of the kingdom purpose of God as revealed in the Acts of the Apostles, there

is another aspect of truth that must be examined. While the hope of Israel is dominant all through this period as we

have seen, God revealed something greater and higher for the response of faith. Genesis 13:14-17 and 15:18 define

the extent of the earthly inheritance of Abraham and his seed, which was secured for them in and through Christ.

But in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews an inheritance is revealed concerning which the Old Testament is silent:

`By faith Abraham ... sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country ... for he looked for a city which

hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God' (Heb. 11:8-10).

And not only Abraham, but those of his seed who are listed in this chapter and others previously who lived and

exhibited the loyal faith of the overcomer, emulated him and his example. Of them it is said, `they desire a better

country, that is an heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a

city' (verse 16). This city is named in the twelfth chapter, verse 22:

`Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem'.

The Book of the Revelation describes this heavenly city in detail with all its glory and gorgeous colouring

(21:10-27). There is a feature which we do well to notice. Though a heavenly city, it does not remain in heaven.

Three times in this book we are reminded of this fact by the Holy Spirit:

`Him that overcometh ... I will write upon him ... the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem,

which cometh down out of heaven from My God'.

`And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven'.

`And he ... shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God' (Rev. 3:12;

These verses describe the heavenly Jerusalem as descending from heaven to the new earth, so that its final goal is an

earthly one, although it is distinct from the new earth. It is therefore unscriptural to regard this city as the equivalent

of heaven, although it is most certainly heavenly in character.

Here is a sphere of blessing for the redeemed who are regarded by God as faithful and rewarded by Him as such.

Surely we cannot doubt, as we read the stupendous words of Revelation 21, that this sphere is higher and more

wonderful than the piece of land promised to Abraham, and it is confirmed by Hebrews 11:16:

`Now they desire a BETTER country, that is, an heavenly'.

God Himself describes this as being better, and therefore it must be so. He must have revealed the glories of this

city to Abraham, as He did later to the apostle John. Being strong in faith, Abraham responded by believing all that

God had showed him of this higher sphere of glory. The epistle to the Hebrews urges us `to go on to full growth' (or

maturity; perfection in the A.V.) and not to `draw back to loss' (perdition in the A.V. 10:39) and God's people have

always been divided into two classes. There are those believers who grow in grace and knowledge of God's Truth

and whose faith reaches out to the best and highest that God has revealed in His Word. These go forward in

faithfulness, regardless of any suffering or loss that this course of action entails.

The other class of believers, though saved, do not grow spiritually. They are more attracted by the world and all

it offers. It is the NOW that they want; the hereafter with its divine rewards is unreal and means little to them. Such

are described in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. They, by grace, are on the One Foundation - Christ, but are building upon

Him with the shoddy materials of the flesh and the world, and in the day when `every man's work will be tested' by