{tate of hchteving. Faith was 1nmortal in tie ing thetr Death a Covenant-DUiliobition, / he 2. 2% ay! hopeful blefled Death, as 2 ©:7 5.5. 1 7hell 4. 13. an N actuallv, and in ſ[en{e, = tins T5emted, winch were a 1 Oif-ſpring, the litteril Can wn, thee 3 fr. in the Hieth, and ; ous Reſurretion, but Sh d rump!:tn7, and in the Fitch of at and that they would be. made rod to ther: an this they dif ed by the Blcffings they tft on each ofthor, is four on Font, 1d Zacob on the Patriarch. n But Faith brougitt ai theſe Pronifls wn. their view though to far af; {o did Abraham ſecby it the TJ; 7 John 8.58 They all had a re»!, clear, and {iron ch Of tim the Inheritance temporal 11 1fs time to come, and the heavenly t beyond the Grave, ſcetnz the PeſurreRtion, Heaven, and Glor. by Faith when they died, Ger. 43. 18. 0 Eva powertul tmpreffion of Faith on their Souls, cf the Truth, Goodnetfs, and cortainty of the thins 'S promiſed, on toeir Minds, with a mizhty &Anprehention of.
and Afent to them on their Wills, to the chuiinz of, and clof:ns with them on their Atiecions ; eleavin rn tofhenia Love, Defire and Dclizht, as ſurely to be accompliſ cd, hiv 1: ther Souls thankt(u!!
receivins them, gractoutly returning to God for them, with the areatcſt Satisiaftion imbracing them, as are welcome Friends or Re- lations long abſent from us, huv 1h nes {xlutins Heaven, an imbracing Glory in the Promiſes by Fitch, wi en dvinze Þ In Word and Deed; while they lived they pi with d if to the Worid, as 4- braham, Gen. 23. 4. and ac", Gen keep!r 5 oy miclves free from all Intanglements cf th1+ earth, : as = ime fhofe who are Stran-
scrs, having no poſlcifion of, nr intimicy ith this earth; 1ncor- porating with no other P« ople, but as Pil-rims wandred f from 1ce to place, took up anil pit! their Tents when and wh re God would have them unpcovplcd as to tis World, and defirins to be nen- pled with the Lord, 7/7. 35. 12. and 105. 12, 13. compare 2 Cor, the famie Mind, lo IJ irom, and 3ho ve
5. 6, 8 They were es of this World, and longing to remove to their own Country, 2:1 te with GOD.
14 For 9 thcy thar fay ſuch things, declare plainly thar they ſeck a country.
q The Reaſon of Faiths Effe& in their dying, view a better Life, State, and Place, than any carthlv one: rc; * theſe Believers by Word and Life proteſſing wr ne © fo he Strangers and Pilgrims on this Earth, and fectnz God's Promntes, and unbr.:-
Cinz them, declare and fhew plainly t0 al who fee them, or convo; with them, that thev /-ught a Country, and a place of Rett, wich
is the bring: 02 1n
child when ſhe was p2:il 170, becauſe the juc ky 2d i him
tiichful who had £ By the fame Drvuine 1
mromill b ith in Ab aham and Sarh was brov; -ht 1
they were not pofleſt of. For no pe rfon is a Stran: er or Vih-iim
in his own Country ; but thcte inquired the wav and watlud in tt,
which led thein to a better than any this cart! afte did tio:
and ſo the Apoſtle brings us hick to that whic!: be 1.4 coli. d
"before, verſe Io. and immcciatelv prevents the Go #tHor, that this ſ!
C "oy ſhould _ be their tormer Country, aud clcais it to ber 1: x- | __ if I5 nd
Chap. xL.
AC. 7.2.
HEBREWSYS.
15 And» truly if they had been mindful of that ;
e177 trom whence they came
our, they might have hb 4onDorm untty to have returned :
w
» Thouzh they were Strangers ih Canaan, yet they might ſeck an |
earthly Country, ever U-z of the Chaldees, from whence they came torth, and which was their native Country, and ſo might be dearer ) them than anv other; but it was not that, but a better Country 14 were mindful of, which they viewed by Faith; whereas the 0- er they might have ſeen with their Eves ; if that had been all they detired, they wanted neither means nor opportunity of returning to It, but they remained tixed in Obedience to the Heavenly Call: and when 7.95 returned to it for a Wife, yet he left it again when God ſummoned Him, as appears, Sen. ch. 29, and 39, and 31. They did willingly leave it, and kept trom it, and never Jookt back there, but lookt tor a better. : 16 Bur « now they :dcfire a hetter co, that 15, an heavenly : Wherefore God 7 is not aſhamed * robe called their God : For he harh s prepared tor them a C!LV, | s Havins deſerted this Worle, as Strangers in it, they ſought, de- ſired and hoped tor with the greateſt earneſtneſs and fervency, a C1- ti in the Country of Keaven, te-/? 10, in comparifon with which they contemned and defpited all others; a Country where there 15 pericetion of Lite, and tulnefs of Glory : It excelleth all others as far ac Heaven doth Earth, 2 T:m. 4. 18. 1 Pet. 1. 4 The State, So- ciety, Enjovments and Place, they longed for, were all heavenly, Phil, 2. 2.21, nothins lower than this World would fatishe them. t Faith havinz carried them thus eſtranged from this World to the Grave, indearin;z to them the Fromiſes and engaging of them for Heaven only, therefore God did nyt diſdain them, he did not think 1t anv diſrepute to him to own them his, but eſteemed it an Honour and Reputation to him, took up his Joy and Delight in them; fee him owning them when dead, Exod. 3.6.15. Matth. 22. 31, 32. tirnaming himſelfby them, and adopting them as his own, as Facob
did Foſeph's Sons, Gen. 48, 55. ſo that though they are dead, as to their Bodies, vet they are alive as to their Souls, and are owned by God in his Nime and Title, and are affured, as to their Duſt, of a Reſurrection ; for he will do it, giving them that rgft that they ne- ver had in their Pilgrimaze. «u That heavenly State and Place v. hich they ſouzht for, terſe 10. which infinitely tranſcended Canaan, and the 7erizlem 1n it, of which they were Denizens while here, Fobel, 2. 10. Phil. 3. 20. the pleaſant, peaceful, rich, and glorious BMeotropols of the living God, Chap. 12. 22. and 13. 14. which ſhall make abundant amends for all their Sorrows, Sufferings, and reſtlets \Wandrings on Earth, where they ſhall enjoy Pleaſures, Riches, Ho- nours, and Reſt for ever more, 1 Pet. I. 4. ;
17 By faith Abraham when he w was tried, oftered up Iſtac : And he that had x received the promites, otiered up his only begotten /o-7.