Io F, R VI O N XIV. Good Men Strangers and Sojourners upon Earth °. H E B. XI. 13. And confeffed that they were. Strangers and Pilgrims The whole Verfe runs thus; Preached at White- hall befog. the Forma'', Nov. z. x686. The Fill Sermon on this Text. on the Earth. Thefe all died'in Faith, not having received the Promifes, but having feen them afar off, and were perfmaded of them, and embraced them, and confeffed that they were Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth. THE Apoftle having declared at the latter end of the foregoingChapter, that Faith is the great.Principle whereby Good Men are afted, and whereby they are fupported under all the Evils and Sufferings of this Life, Verfe 38: Now the ;Jo (hall live by Faith ; in this Chapter he makes it his main bu(ìnefs, to fet forth to us at large the Force and Power of Faith; and to this Purpofe, he firft tells what kind of Faith he means ; viz. a firm Perfwafion of things not Prefent and Vifible to Senfe, but Invifible andFu- ture ; Ver. i. Now Faith ( faith he) is the confident expeftation of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not feen. Faith Reprefents to us the Reality of Things which are invifìble to Senfe, as the Exiftence of God and his Providence; and of Things which are at a great diftance from us, as the Future State of Re- wards and Punifhments in another World. And then he proceeds to thew, by particular and famous Inftances, that the firm Beliefand Perfuafìon of thefe Things, was the.great Principle of the Piety and Virtue of the Saints, and ofGood Men in all Ages of the World ; by this Abel and Enoch, and Noah; Abraham, Ifaac, and 7acob 7ofeph and Mofes, and all the Famous Heroes of the Old Teftament, obtained a good Report, and pleafed God, and did all thofe eminent Ads of Obedience and Self-denial which are re- corded ofthem. They believed the Being of God, and that he is ,a Rewarder of them that diligently leek him. They dreaded his Threatnings, and relied upon his Promifes of Future and Invifble good Things. They lived and died in a full Perfwafion and Confidence of the Truth of them; tho' they did not live to fee them actually fulfilled and accomplifhed. All thefe (faith he, fpeaking of thofe eminent Saints which he had inftanced in before) itg thefe died in Faith, not having received the Promifes, but having feen them afar off, andwere perfmaded ofthem, and embraced them. This is fpoken with á more particular Regard to Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, to whom the Promifes ofthe Conqueft, and Poffeffion of a' Fruitful Land, were made, and of a Numerous Offspring, among whom should be the Melbas, in whomall the Nations of theEarth should be bieffed., Thefe Promifes they did not live to fee accomplilhed and made good in their Days; but they heartilybelieved them, and rejoiced in the Hope and Expectation of them, as if they had embraced them in their Arms, and been put into the actual Poffeflion of them : And they confefd that they were Pilgrims and Stran- gers in the Earth. This Saying and Acknowledgment more particularly and immediately refers to thofe Sayings of the Patriarchs Abraham and 7acob, which we find recorded, Gen. 23. 4. where Abraham fays to the Sons of Heth, I am a Stranger and a So- journer withyou : And Gen. 47. g. where Jacob fays to Pharaoh, The Days 'of the Tears of ny Pilgrimage are an hundred and thirtyTears ; few and evil have the Days ofthe Tears of nay Life been. Thefe Good Men were Strangers and So- journers i
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