In this moving episode of The Sound of Faith, Sharon Otts shares a powerful message of hope and longing for the heavenly city, referencing her late father’s deep-rooted faith. Inspired by Hebrews 11 and Apostle Paul’s teachings, Sharon explores the concept of heavenly citizenship and the promise of a city where there is no pain or sorrow. With the realities of life’s afflictions and earthly challenges, she encourages listeners to find solace in the assurance of God’s eternal promise. Tune in to be uplifted and reminded of the glorious future reserved for pilgrims and strangers in the faith.
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. This is Sharon Otts thanking you for tuning in today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I preach today’s message, Pilgrims and Strangers, Heaven on the Horizon, the Sunday after my precious daddy, R.G. Hardy, went to glory to be with our Lord. on August 28th, just shy of his 91st birthday. Like the elders of Hebrews 11’s Faith’s Hall of Fame, by faith he obtained a good report. In Pilgrims and Strangers, Heaven on the Horizon. The last three days he was really, really going down and he was having a hard time really communicating the way he wanted to. His body was so weak and his voice was very low. I thought in a way it was kind of funny that I would pray for him. I would pray for him and then I would say, amen. And he would say, amen. And then a couple of days before he passed, he would say, amen, amen. Amen. So we started singing. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. You know what he did right there? He said, everybody say. He got that part in. Me and mom and Benny, we sang amen a couple times and a couple verses of it. He was just loving it. He was just eating up. And when we stopped, he kept saying amen, amen, amen, amen. He was stretching out. Stretching out. Because he had that heavenly city on the horizon. That heavenly city on the horizon. Amen. Oh, we’re stretching out. And here we just read it said that now they desire this better country. A heavenly country. Now we have to like figure it out and read between the lines. Now he just flat out tells you. It’s a heavenly country. Up until this point, he hasn’t said it clearly. But now he’s no longer ambiguous. He says it’s a heavenly country. Wherefore, God’s not ashamed to be called their God because he’s prepared for them a city. Hallelujah. God has prepared for us a city. Amen. And he allowed Paul to go up and see it and John to go up and see it. Now, he didn’t let Paul tell us about it. Paul said, I was caught up in the paradise into the third heaven. I saw things that it’s not lawful for me to tell you. Because God was saving it for John to tell us. But this much he could tell us. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. Hallelujah. The sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory. Amen. that was Romans 8 18 and then I believe in 2nd Corinthians I believe it’s in the fourth chapter he talked about that we have our light affliction somebody say ha ha easy for you to say our light affliction works for us a far more Eternal and heavy weight of glory. So see what he’s doing here? See what Paul’s doing? Light affliction, heavy glory. Light affliction, heavy glory. When you consider the glory that is to come, the affliction by comparison is light. Amen? The glory. I imagine my father being greeted by, I just can’t imagine all the people that he’ll get around to greeting because, you know, obviously the immediate family comes to mind. You know, my brother Chachi and his mother Mary and his brother Billy. And then think of all the faith tabernacle saints that’s going on to be with the Lord. Some recently, just 2020, but some going all the way back when he began in 1958. We had a lot of elderly people on William Street that went to be with the Lord back then. And I just can’t imagine all the people that’s coming to see him. And I even thought about, you know, he really loved Brother A.A. Allen. And I think about Brother A.A. Allen saying, well, Brother Hardy, you finally made it here. I’ve been waiting up here 50 years. He died in 1970. Amen? I can just imagine all the welcoming party and just getting to see everybody. And you know, my mom kind of was lamenting a little bit because of the fact of the COVID. We cannot really give Brother Hardy the real homegoing celebration service we want to. We would like to say, everybody, everybody, everybody come and invite everybody here and have all different people say things and all of that, but we’re not able to do that. And so my mother was kind of lamenting that we’re not going to be able to give him the service that she feels he deserves. I told mom, I said, mom, the service is for us, not him. He’s having one up there. I said, do you really think he cares what kind of service we’re having down here when he’s got a welcoming committee up there? Hallelujah. Showing him around heaven. Glory to God. Oh, no, he’s not worried about whether we have a good service or not. Amen. And she said, yeah, you’re right. The service is to make us feel better. But he’s having his own celebration on streets of gold. Because when John told us about that city, he told us, he said, hey, I’m going to tell you what the foundations look like. That Abraham and Sarah were looking for that city with foundations that were made by God. I’ll tell you what, they are foundations and 12 foundations. And every one of them is a different precious stone. Amen. Oh, we got sapphire. We’ve got emeralds. We’ve got jasper. We’ve got topaz. We’ve got amethyst. And a bunch of other ones too. Amen. Oh, that’s the foundations of this city. That’s the city they were looking for. This city has 12 gates. 12 gates to the city. And every one of them is one solid pearl. Think about that. One solid pearl. I’m sure they didn’t come from no oysters either. If they did, I don’t know what size those oysters would be. But I don’t think they need oysters up there because they don’t have need of oysters to filtrate dirty water. Like we have here on earth. Amen. Oh, that city. John said it has streets that are made of plated gold. What? Oh, not plated gold. What is it? Pure gold. Streets of pure gold. How many know, ladies, you can buy necklaces that are plated gold. And they’re a lot cheaper than the real gold. Amen. And even when you do buy jewelry that’s gold, it’s usually 14 carat. And now a lot of jewelry is done dropped down to 10 carat. But up there, it’s pure gold. Hallelujah. The streets are pure gold. Glory to God. Brother Hardy is walking around heaven on streets of pure gold. Hallelujah. He might be doing some running too. You know, I’m getting a lot of comments on Facebook and forgive me if I don’t answer all your comments. I’m just right now. I’m overwhelmed with all that’s on my plate, but I try to look at some of them and several of them have said, if there are pews in heaven, if there are pews in heaven, brother Hardy is jumping them. Amen. Hallelujah. That’s the city that Abraham and Sarah were looking for. Flip over to chapter 13. Read one verse. Hebrews 13 and 14. For we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. So what that’s saying is we’re not going to remain in this city wherever we live. Amen. People move around. My children were all born here in Baltimore. But today one son lives in Florida and one son lives in West Virginia. So we move around. We come and go different places. Amen. We don’t have necessarily a continuing city. Oh, but we are seeking one to come. All I can say is thank God I’m not going to remain in this city. Amen. Because Baltimore is a troubled city. Don’t misunderstand me. I love Baltimore. I’m a Baltimorean and I’m proud of many, many things about Baltimore. But let’s just tell the truth. Baltimore is a troubled city to live in. The cities of America across this nation are full of trouble. Under attack. Filled with violence and lawlessness. Amen. Full of anarchy and looting and vandalism and mayhem. mean even before all the things that are happening right now currently many of our big cities in this country like you take New York now everybody says I love New York and they all want to go up there and they want to see Broadway and they want to see the Statue of Liberty and they want to shop on Fifth Avenue and all those sort of things but New York has a lot of problems Amen? Lots of problems. Our cities, regardless, have a lot of crime and murders and drugs and drive-by shootings and all that going on. But I’m going to a city. I’m going to a city where nothing unclean can enter in. I’m going to a city where there will be no hospitals. Amen? And no mental wards. No abortion clinics. Amen. Where there’ll be no prisons. Where there’ll be no drug rehab centers. And there’ll be no funeral homes. that’s the city I’m going to amen John said in that city God will wipe all tears from their eyes and there’ll be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain I’m looking for that city that John saw that is the land of my birth Not just this earth. No, I was born in Lutheran hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, but this is not the land of my birth. The land of my birth is the city of God in heaven. Amen. I’m looking for that city that Paul saw. Amen. And he didn’t tell us about it, but he did tell us this in Philippians chapter three and read verse 20. For our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the word conversation in the Greek is politouma. And you can hear the word politic in there. And polis in there. And how many know there are a lot of cities in America that the name of the city, the ending of it is polis. You know, the capital of Maryland is Annapolis. And you’ve got Indianapolis and Minneapolis. And so you see the word polis on there. Because it’s referring to citizens. The citizens of these particular cities. And so that’s what the word means. So here where Paul is saying our conversation, he’s not talking about our verbal speech. He’s talking about our citizenship. Citizenship. And you ought to write that in the margin of your Bible if you have the King James. Our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior. Amen? I am a citizen of heaven. I’ve got a born again birth certificate. And it says that I’ve been born from above. Amen? Because Paul said in Galatians 4.26, Jerusalem that is above is the mother of us all. Think about that. Now, I have been blessed to go on a Holy Land tour. And I’ve been blessed to go to the city of Jerusalem twice in my lifetime. And see all the many biblical sites and places and places where Jesus… had his ministry as well as the patriarchs. I’ve been to Jerusalem and there’s no city like Jerusalem. There is a presence there. There’s just a feeling that you have when you’re there. And I love that place. And I had always, you know, I’ve been twice, but I always wanted to go back again. I always wanted to say, I’d like to go again another time. I’ve been to that Jerusalem, but that’s not the Jerusalem I’m looking for. And that’s not the Jerusalem where I was born. I was born from the Jerusalem above. Amen. Because John said when he saw that city, it was a beautiful dazzling. There’s no word to describe the glory, the light of that city. It was a satellite city coming down the new Jerusalem where all the saints of God. the citizens thereof amen so my born-again birth certificate says that I was born in the New Jerusalem amen verse 21 who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself So when we get in that new city, hallelujah, I should say on the way up. On the way up. Amen. We’re not going by airplane. We’re not going by space rocket. We’re going in a moment of a twinkling of an eye. Amen. Hallelujah. We’re going to shed this earthly body. The word vile there means humiliated. It’s been humiliated by Adam’s fall. Humiliated came under the curse because God redeemed our eternal soul and spirit but he didn’t redeem this body. It’s still going to age. It’s still going to get weak. And eventually, if Jesus doesn’t come before, it’s going to die. Amen. But he’s going to change this body that has been humbled, humbled by sickness, humbled by aging, humbled by diseases and infirmities. And sometimes like what happened to me, accidents and injuries. It’s been humbled. But he’s going to change it. Metamorpho. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye. He’s going to transform this body. And it’ll be like unto his glorious body. Hallelujah. Are you on your way? Come on. Let’s stand together. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Amen. Could we sing a little bit of that? My heavenly home is bright and fair. I feel like traveling on.
SPEAKER 02 :
No pain nor death can enter there. I feel like traveling on.
SPEAKER 01 :
Everybody!
SPEAKER 02 :
You know I feel like traveling on. Yes, I feel like traveling on. You know my heavenly home is bright and fair. I feel like traveling on.
SPEAKER 01 :
The Lord has been so good to me.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know the Lord has been so good to me. I feel like traveling on. Until his blessed face I see. I feel like traveling on. You know I feel like traveling on. Yes, I feel like traveling on. My heavenly home is bright and fair. I feel like traveling on. You know I feel like traveling on. I feel like traveling on. I have one thing to say to all of you today here and those watching. When I get to heaven…
SPEAKER 01 :
I want to see you there. How many promise I’ll see you there. Amen. How many can say sister Sharon look for me. Because I’ll be there. And if you’re watching today. And you’re not ready. And you don’t know if you would go to heaven. If you were to die today. And you know tomorrow is not promised to anyone. My father was almost 91 years old. And he knew his time was coming. But you know young people die too. Young people die unexpectedly. You could be in a car accident. And in the day that we live in, if you live in Baltimore City, You have a risk of being shot on the street. And that’s just the truth. Amen. We’ve seen little children, innocent children sitting in the car being shot by drive-by shooters. You don’t have a promise of tomorrow. Amen. Jesus said you’ve got to RSVP. He’s going to have a great banquet. We’re going to go to a great banquet. But he’s invited whosoever will. Let him come. Whosoever. Black and white and brown and red and yellow. Rich and poor. Whosoever. Let him come. But you’ve got the RSVP. And you do that. By confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Amen. Don’t let people trick you and fool you and think you can go another way. And you can figure it out on your own. And you’ll try this and you’ll try that. And this religion or that religion. Don’t let people fool you. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes unto the Father but by me. And here’s what I would say to you. If you’re not sure and you’re skeptical, try him. Try him. If he’s not who he says he is, if you don’t realize that he is Jesus, he is Lord, if he does not come and wash you of your sins and change you and give you his joy and his peace, forget about him. But don’t just throw him aside and you haven’t even tried him. You try everything else. I mean, your friends say, hey man, let’s try this. Let’s try that. You try everything else. Why don’t you give Jesus a try today? Amen. So if that’s you, we’re going to pray. Say, Jesus, I believe you are the son of God. That you died on the cross for my sin. And today, I’m asking you, wash me, cleanse me from all my sin. Deliver me from the power of Satan. Set me free from all of my habits and bondage. Give me your free spirit. And I will serve you. by your grace all the days of my life in jesus name we ask it and lord i pray you will reveal yourself to every honest and sincere heart everyone who is truly searching and wants to know the truth i pray right now that you would reveal yourself to them in a way that is personal and undeniable That you are who you say you are. And I take authority over the powers of darkness. That’s going to fight those souls from coming to you. And I take authority over a relying spirit. Over every hindering spirit. And every human vessel that Satan would try to use. To turn them away from the truth. I bind them in the authority of Jesus name. And you give them Lord the right to choose. You said choose you this day whom you will serve. Give them the right to choose, Lord, that they can choose life and live. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. I hope you’re inspired by this heartwarming herald. Pilgrims and strangers, heaven on the horizon. On August 28th, my dad, R.G. Hardy, went to be with the Lord six days before his 91st birthday. The following Sunday, I was in the pulpit preaching this soulful sermon, missing my dad but rejoicing in his long-awaited homecoming. He loved to preach on Abraham and Sarah. He wrote a book, Abraham’s Kind of Faith, that chronicled their journey from Ur of Chaldees in modern Iraq to Canaan in modern Israel. Hebrews 11, Faith’s Hall of Fame, reveals that they were looking for a city with foundations whose architect and builder was God. This does not describe any city on earth. It certainly was not the city of their birth or they could have returned, nor was it Canaan. While a beautiful place flowing with milk and honey and lush resources, it was not built by God. We are plainly told that they look for a better country, a heavenly country. Thus, their confession was, we are pilgrims and strangers on the earth. Likewise, Apostle Paul said, for our citizenship is in heaven. The past few years, my dad was longing for heaven, and if you are a citizen of heaven, you are too. Pilgrims and strangers, Heaven on the Horizon can be ordered on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for our radio ministry. Request SK215. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. If you order by mail, we will include Brother Hardy’s book, Abraham’s Kind of Faith. This offer is only good for mail-in orders. Send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. You can also view Brother Hardy’s beautiful home-going service, including my eulogy, on YouTube, Sound of Faith Ministries. That’s www.youtube.com, Sound of Faith Ministries. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
