_Preached June 9, 1850._

THE ILLUSIVENESS OF LIFE.


"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which
he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went
out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God."--Hebrews xi. 8-10.

Last Sunday we touched upon a thought which deserves further
development. God promised Canaan to Abraham, and yet Abraham never
inherited Canaan: to the last he was a wanderer there; he had no
possession of his own in its territory: if he wanted even a tomb to
bury his dead, he could only obtain it by purchase. This difficulty is
expressly admitted in the text, "In the land of promise he sojourned
as in a strange country;" he dwelt there in tents--in changeful,
moveable tabernacles--not permanent habitations; he had no home
there.

It is stated in all its startling force, in terms still more explicit,
in the 7th chapter of the Acts, 5th verse, "And He gave him none
inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He
promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his
seed after him, when as yet he had no child."

Now the surprising point is that Abraham, deceived, as you might