Secondly, More particularly, I shall speak to the several acts of faith, and they are three —
1. Apprehension — Theij saiu them afar off.
2. Firm assent — They loere persuaded of them.
3. Affection — They embraced them.
First, The first act of faith is apprehension of the blessings — ' They saw them afar off.' Hence I observe —
Doct. It is the property of faith to eye the blessings promised at a distance.
So Abraham : John viii. 56, ' Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad.' Faith hath an eagle eye ; it is the perspective of the soul by which it can see things at a distance. There were many ages between Abraham and Christ, and yet he saw Christ's day. So Moses, Heb. xi. 26, ' He had respect,' iirijBXerre he had an eye to the recompense of the reward.' As the devil showed Christ the glory of the present world in a map or representation ; so doth faith, which is the evidence of things not seen, represent to the soul the glory of the world to come ; there is a view of heaven and happiness. Let me show you what there is in this view of faith.
1. It apprehends the blessing as a real thing, which without faith we can never do. The promises are but as a golden dream to a carnal man ; they hear of these things as if they were in a dream, and do not look upon them as real objects : 2 Peter 1, 9, ' He that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off' — tv^\6^ kuI /xvcoird^cov, — ^the word signifies short-sighted. Fancy and reason cannot out-look time, and see beyond death ; men have a guess and general traditional know- ledge ; but there is no serious apprehension of the reality of these great blessings ; heaven doth not come in view to them, as it doth to a believer. Carnal men may have a dream of such things as Elysian fields, and happy mansions in another world, but they have not an eye open to see God and Christ at his right hand ; as Stephen's eyes were opened : Acts vii. 55, ' He being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus stand- ing at the right hand of God.' There might be something of special dispensation there, but it is temperately done by faith. The sight oJ: faith difiereth from that of fancy and reason, as the sight of the eye doth from report. A man that hath seen a foreign country is more affected at the mention of it than he that knows it only by a map, or by the report of others. Carnal men s hearts are only possessed with an empty notion of heaven ; but they do not see it as a real thing, worthy of their choice and pursuit.
2. It pondereth the worth of the blessings. Faith is a considerate act, it takes a view of heaven ; as Abraham was to travel through the land of promise, and take a view of it, and Moses from Mount Pisgah
YeE. 13.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 299
was to take a view of the land of Canaan. As the prophets of old not only believed that Christ was to come in the flesh, but they dihgently inquired into the salvation that was to come : 1 Peter i. 11, ' Of "which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you ; ' so doth faith em- ploy the thoughts, and sends them out as spies into the other world to bring tidings of the state of the other country. Faith langnisheth for want of meditation ; for the promises are the food of faith, and medita- tion is, as it were, the chewing and the digesting of our food. View them then often, let us be creating images and suppositions of our future happiness. If a poor man were adopted into the succession of a crown, he would be pleasing himself with the thoughts of it ; so should we mind and ponder on the things that are above, tliinking be- forehand what a welcome there will be between us and Chi'ist, wlien the angels shall bring us to Christ ; and in what a manner we shall be brought by Christ, and presented to the Father, as the fruits of his purchas3 ;. what a pleasure it will be to see their fellow-saints with crowns of righteousness upon their heads. Faith is a steady view.
3. There is actual expectation. Faith, having a promise, looketh out after the blessing. This the scripture expresseth by airoKapahoKi.a, a lifting up the head ; as a man looks after the messenger he hath sent about some business, to see if he be coming back again . Eom. viii. 19, 'AiroKapaooKLa tPi<; /cTto-eto?, <fec., • The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. So David. Ps V. 3, ' In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up,' that is, to see if I can spy the blessing coming. Faith not only looks up in prayer, but it looks out to see if anything be coming from God in a way of answer ; as Elijah when he had prayed earnestly for rain, sent his servant to look towards the sea, whether the rain was a-coming: Hab. ii. 1, 'I will stand upon my watch, and set me on the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me.' He was resolved to wait for an answer of grace, withdrawmg the mind from things visible, and elevating it to God, and looking above the mists and darkness of inferior accidents. So faith, as from a watch-tower, looks and sees if it can spy the mercy afar off : 2 Peter iii. 12, ' Looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God ' Faith, or medita- tion on the certainty of the promise (for that is faith), doth thus erect the soul, and sets it in a posture of expectation, to behold if there be any tokens of God's coming, if they can hear the soundings of his feet, any approach of the mercy they look for. As a man that hath bills or bonds due at such a day, waits for the time when they will come due ; so is faith watching when the time will expire, that he may come to the fruition of that he looks for. So much for the fii'st act of faith, apprehension.