VOL. XVII. M
SERMON UPON ROMANS IV. 18-21.
Wlio against hope helieved in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that lohich was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not iveah in faith, he considered not his oion body now dead, lohen he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's ivomb : he staggered not at the pro- mise of God through unbelief ; but loas strong in faith, giving glory to God ; and being fully persuaded that lohat he had promised he loas able also to perform. — Rom. iv. 18-21.
We are now come to. handle the other branch of Abraham's faith. A believer hath but two works to do — to open the eye of faith, and to shut that of sense. I shall speak of this latter now. This instance deserveth to be considered by us — (1.) Because he is called once and again, 'The father of the faithful,' ver. 11, 16, meaning thereby that his faith is the pattern according to which our faith is to be cut out, or the copy to be transcribed by us ; or, as the apostle's expression is, ver. 12, 'That we should walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham.' (2.) Because this was great and grown faith. It is nega- tively expressed, ver. 19, ' He was not weak in faith ; ' and affirmatively, ver. 20, ' That he was strong in faith, giving glory to God.'
Now in Abraham's faith we shall consider three things —
First, The ground of it.
Secondly, The excellency and strength of it, set forth by four expres- sions—
1. That ' he believed in hope against hope,' ver. 18.
2. That he considered not the difficulties, ver. 19, ' He considered not his own body now dead, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.'
3. That ' he staggered not at the promise through unbelief,' ver. 20.
4. That he had a full persuasion of God's power, ' Being fully per- suaded that what God had promised he was able to perform,' ver. 21.
Thirdly, The fruit and effect of it, an exact, ready, and self-denying obedience to God, not spoken of in the text, but to be supplied from other scriptures, especially in those two eminent acts of self-denial, his leaving his country, and offering his son. Thus was Abraham's faith tried, by promises of things strange and incredible, and by commands of the hardest duties.
First, The ground of his faith was the promise of God, as is often implied in the text ; for it is said, ver. 18, * That he might become the
ISO SERMON UPON ROMANS IV. 18-21.
father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be ; ' and ver. 20, ' He staggered not at the promise of Grod ; ' and ver. 21, ' Being fully persuaded that what he had promised,' &c. There were many promises made to Abraham, but those to which the apostle alludeth are contained in Gen. xv., as appeareth by his dispute all along, and the comparing the two chapters. Now the promise was either general or particular.
1. The general promise : Gen. xv. 1, ' I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.' That God would take him into his pro- tection, and abundantly reward his obedience. The like promise is made to all the faithful : Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' The Lord God is a sun and a shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' The only one and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, will exercise all his wisdom, power, and goodness to protect us, and deliver us from all evil, and to give us all those blessings which are necessarily required to make us fully and eternally happy. He will be a shield to save us and protect us, either by way of prevention or removal of all evil, both temporal and spiri- tual, and he will be a reward to give us all good things, yea, ' a great reward,' yea, again ' an exceeding great reward,' which cannot come short of heaven's glory and eternal happiness, which is the aggregation of all blessings. It is implied also in the metaphor of being a sun to us. Here he is as a sun at its first rising, shining upon us with his morning beams of favour and compassion, which are very cherishing and comfortable ; but then our sun shall be in its meridian, when he shall directly, fully, and for ever shine upon the saints.
2. The other promise was particular, and thus occasioned : When God had told Abraham that he would be his shield and exceeding great reward, he replied, ' Lord what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus ? ' and again, ' Behold thou hast given to me no seed ; and lo, one born in my house is mine heir,' Gen. xv. 2, 3. These words of Abraham imply some diffidence, or conflict with unbelief, or a weakness of faith at least ; though they also may be conceived to represent his condition to God, and revive the remembrance of an old promise made to him some time before : Gen. xii. 3, * In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' And they in effect speak to this sense: Lord, how can I take comfort in the promised rewaid, since I do not see the ful- filling of thy promise touching my seed ? But now mark the Lord's reply : ver. 4, * This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir ; ' that is, thou shalt have posterity, the promised seed shall at length come of thy loins. And then God led him forth : ver. 5, ' And he brought him forth abroad, and said. Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.' Ocular demonstration leaveth a stronger impression upon the mind : ' And he said uiito him. So shall thy seed be ; ' upon this * Abraham believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness,' ver. 6 ; that is, upon this he began to grow stronger in the faith, more and more overcoming the doubts of tlie flesh, and embracing the great promises which God had made him. He was a believer before, but now he commenceth a strong believer; this is