The Passport

BOYS AND GIRLS: I suppose you all know that we live in the United States of America. Most likely all who are in this audience this morning are citizens of this great country. To be a citizen, is not simply to live in a country, but to be so related to that country as to be entitled to all its benefits and to its protection, both at home and abroad.

I hold in my hand this large document, which is called a passport. When any citizen of the United States desires to travel through the countries of Europe or Asia, or any part of the world, he can secure one of these passports from the Secretary of State at Washington, and by carrying this with him wherever he goes it may prove of great service to him.

This is a document by which the United States Government officially announces to all the nations of the world that the person to whom it has been given is a citizen of this country. Being a citizen of the United States, through whatever nation we may pass, we are therefore to be regarded, not as citizens of those countries, but to belong to the United States, and also to be entitled to its protection, even to so great an extent that if we were unlawfully held a prisoner, or suffered wrong of any kind, this nation of ours, if necessary, would even send its great warships and soldiers to make war against any nation that did not respect and honor the rights which, as citizens of the United States of America, we are justly entitled to enjoy.

This document secures to its owner very great rights and privileges, and lest it might be counterfeited or imitated, you will see when I spread it wide open, and hold it toward the light, how there is impressed in the paper itself a very large eagle, representing our national emblem. In his claws are several arrows; beneath his feet are the stars, which represent the several states; and on the scroll the Latin words “E Pluribus Unum.” All this, beautifully resting upon a shield, above which in large letters, are the words “United States of America,” and below, “Department of State.”

This passport not only declares the owner a citizen of the United States and entitled to its protection, but here at one side is a description of the owner, so that it cannot be stolen away and be used by any person for whom it was not intended. It tells the name, age, height, whether the forehead is high or low, the color of the eyes, whether the nose is low and flat, or high and Roman. And so it goes on to describe also the mouth, chin, hair, complexion and face.

But, boys and girls, we are citizens also of an heavenly country. Paul says, “We are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” (Ephesians, ii: 19.) The Bible tells us that we are “Strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews, xi: 13) and that this is only “The house of our pilgrimage.” (Psalms, cxix: 54.)

We are more than simply citizens of America. We are “sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.” Now, if we are citizens of Heaven, you and I also have the passport of that country and are entitled to the protection of Heaven. As citizens of that heavenly country the Bible declares that although we are in this world, yet we are not of it—do not belong to it.

God in Heaven stands pledged to defend and protect us against all wrong. Even though we may suffer a brief injustice, yet God will place all the universe under tribute to secure for us justice and protection. Individuals may do us wrong and try to harm us, but all the wrongs which we suffer will be set right in the great Day of Judgment.

We are simply passing through this world on our journey to our Father’s house in the heavenly country, and you and I should be careful to remember that we are “the children of the King.” We should not lead wicked and sinful lives, and become worldly and wicked, like those who are only of this world. If I were in Italy, or any other country, and was unlawfully dealt with, I should at once telegraph my wrong to the Secretary of State at Washington, and I could be sure that he would immediately interfere, and greatly interest himself in my behalf.

So when we suffer wrong, when Satan and wicked people who would do anything against us, you and I can go immediately to God in prayer, and He will hear us, and if He does not entirely place us beyond the present power of our enemies, He will at least give us grace to bear our wrong until the day when He shall finally deliver us out of their power. If we ask Him, He will also give us wisdom so that we may know how to act.