For they that say such things
That they are strangers and pilgrims on earth:
declare plainly that they seek a country;
heaven, so called, for the largeness of it; it is a good land, a
land of uprightness; a pleasant land, a land of rest, though a
land afar off; here the Father of Christ, and Christ himself, and
all his people dwell: the Syriac version renders it, "their own
city"; the place of their nativity, of which they were citizens:
the act of "seeking" it supposes some things, with respect to the
place where they were, as that they were in a strange land, had
no settlement there, nor satisfaction in it, and that they sat
loose to the world, and the things of it; and some things
respecting the country sought after, as that they were not in it;
that it was at a distance from them; that they had some knowledge
of it, and of the way to it; that their desires were after it,
and that they had a strong affection and value for it: the right
way to this country is not mere civility and morality, nor legal
righteousness, nor birth privileges, nor submission to outward
ordinances, nor a mere profession of religion, but the Lord Jesus
Christ; he is the true way to eternal life; it is his
righteousness which gives a title to it, and on account of which
believers expect it, though not without holiness, nor without
trouble. The right manner of seeking it is, in the first place,
above all things else, with the whole heart, by faith, and by
patient continuance in well doing. Many are the reasons which may
induce believers to seek it; it is their own, and their Father's
country; it is a better one than that in which they are; and
because of the company they shall there enjoy, and the work they
shall be employed in; and because of the happiness they will be
possessed of; and because their inheritance, riches, and
treasures, lie here.