by T. Austin-Sparks
First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazines in 1935-1936, Vol. 13-2 - 14-4, then published as a book by Witness and Testimony Publishers, 1937. This version is from the book.
Meditations on the Spiritual Background of Jerusalem
"For he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder (Architect) and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). Where did he find it? He never found it on this earth at all! When we turn to Hebrews 11 we find that Abraham did see something a long, long way off, and hailed it. The Lord Jesus said "...Abraham rejoiced to see my day..." (John 8:56). He saw by faith. "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed... and he went out..." (Hebrews 11:8). His citizenship was not a citizenship of this earth at all, it was a heavenly citizenship. The New Testament makes that perfectly clear. The necessity for our time is for the Lord's people to come to a spiritual understanding of what heavenliness means.
