<p>11:13 <i>These all died in faith- </i>The point is that they continued believing until the end of their lives; they did not give up. And that was a necessary exhortation for the Hebrew Christians who were giving up their faith in Abraham's seed.</p><p><i>Not having received the promises, but having seen them, and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth</i>- All the faithful went through the same process: persuaded - embraced - confessed to the world around them. Confessing was part of the natural response to belief of the promises. Hearing God's word in faith is associated with declaring it (Jer. 9:12). The confession of being a stranger was surely that made by Abraham publicly to the local inhabitants of Canaan that he was a stranger and sojourner amongst them (Gen. 22:4).</p><p>When we read that the faithful &lsquo;saw&rsquo; the promises although they didn&rsquo;t receive them, we are surely meant to understand that they &lsquo;saw&rsquo; the <i>fulfilment of</i> the promises. This is the faith which sees that which cannot be seen in natural visible terms (:1). &lsquo;The promises&rsquo; are so sure of fulfilment that the phrase is put by metonymy for &lsquo;the fulfilment of the promises&rsquo;. And because of their utter certainty, we are to be strangers and pilgrims, and unworldly (Heb. 11:13,14). There is therefore an obvious link between doctrine and practice. A doctrine believed leads to us coming out of this tangled world and unashamedly speaking of our secular lives as not being what we really identify with. Believing the promises to Abraham involves open confession to the world around us.</p>