“WE SEEK A CITY OUT OF SIGHT.”
By W. N. G.
In course of a recent patriotic Sunday service in Los Angeles, Cal., the minister is credited with the remark that “he who is most loyal to his God will be most loyal to his country.” If this sentiment be true, it is just as true in one country as another. So the Spaniard who is “most loyal to his God” and the American who is “most loyal to his God” will just now be the most eager to kill each other. Such, however, is the logic of the popular delusion that patriotism and Christianity are synonymous terms. Abraham is called the father of the faithful, heir of the promised eternal inheritance, and any one who will be a partaker of that inheritance must come in as the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29); yet in this life God called Abraham to come out from his country, and he was a pilgrim and sojourner in this world. He died without realizing the actual fulfilment of the promises, but he saw them by faith “afar off,” and embraced them; “for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” See Heb. 11:8–16. The words of Christ to the Jews apply also to those who profess Christianity to-day: “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39. “We’ve no abiding city here;
Sad truth were this to be our home;
But let this thought our spirits cheer,
We seek a city yet to come.”
W. N. G.