The City Which Hath Foundations

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.
Chapters
Chapter 1 - An Introductory Review
The Land of Syria. (1) The Centrality of Jerusalem - The Anti-type - The New Jerusalem. (2) The Heavenliness of Jerusalem - Features in the Life of Abraham. (1) Heavenly Vision. (2) Separation from Earth. (3) Heavenly Citizenship. (4) A Pilgrim and a Stranger. (5) No Earthly Patronage or Rewards. (6) No Natural Resources or Energies. (7) No Merely Earthly Fruit for God. (8) No Place in the Heavenly for the Hand of Man.
Chapter 2 - Heavenly Features in the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Church
Zion Contrasted with Egypt, Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia - The Constituents of Heavenliness. (1) Spirituality. (2) Elevation. (3) Faith.
Chapter 3 - The Outcome of Departure from a Heavenly Vision
The Heavenliness of Christ and His Own - The Earthboundness of Judaism - The Earthboundness of Christendom.
Chapter 4 - The Features of the Overcomer
Typical Relationships of Melchizedek with Christ. (1) Kingship. (2) Priesthood. (3) Righteousness. (4) Peace. (5) The Endless Life.
Chapter 5 - Features of the Overcomer (continued)
Jerusalem in the Days of the Judges - David and the Capture of Jerusalem - Resurrection is a Separating Thing.
Chapter 6 - The City - The Seat of Heavenly Government
(1) The Mystery. (2) The Heavenliness of Everything. (3) The Governmental Feature - The Factor of Election - Ruling in the Heavens Now - Heavenly Government as Seen in Elisha and Daniel.
Chapter 7 - Jerusalem in Relation to Universality
The Exclusiveness and Universality of the Church as Typified in Jerusalem - This Two-fold Character of the Church Seen in and Derived from: (a) The Head, (b) The Cross, (c) The Life, (d) The Holy Spirit. - The Counterfeit of the Truth.
Chapter 8 - The Light of the City
Clearness of Life and Testimony - Dimming the Fine Gold - Poison Gas from the Enemy - "The Wiles of the Devil".