Some from their occupations in society must be more conver- sant with the world than others : but in heart and affection all must be withdrawn from it; "not partaking of its sins, lest they should receive also of its plagues "."]
There will not appear to be anything harsh in the command given to Abram, if we consider,
II. The inducements offered him —
These were far more than equivalent to any sacri- fice he could make —
[He was to be blessed in himself, and a blessing to others. In respect of temporal things, he was blessed in a very signal manner to the latest hour of his life °. He was loaded also with spiritual and eternal benefits, being justified and accounted righteous before God, and being exalted after death to the highest seat in his Father's house. He was also a blessing to many : for his children and household were governed by him in a way most conducive to their best interests. The people amongst whom he sojourned could not but be edified by his instructions and conduct: and to this clay the whole of his life affords a stimulus to the church to serve God after his example. But most of all was he a blessing in being the Progenitor of the Messiah, " in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed p :" and every person will be blessed or cursed according as he accepts or rejects that promised Seed'1.]
Similar inducements are offered to us also —
[Every one who, for Christ's sake, will renounce the world, shall be blessed. He may not possess opulence and honour ; but " the little that he hath, shall be better to him than all the riches of the ungodly." In his soul he shall be truly blessed. View him in the state least enviable according to human ap- prehension ; see him weeping and mourning for his sins ; yet then is he truly blessed1": he shall have pardon and acceptance with his God : he shall experience the renewing and sanctify- ing influences of the Holy Spirit: he shall have "joys and consolations which the stranger intermeddleth not with :" and in due time " he shall be blessed with faithful Abraham," in the eternal fruition of his God.
He shall be a blessing too to all around him. View him in his family connexions ; view him as a husband, a parent, a master, a friend ; who so kind, so benevolent, so anxious to promote the happiness of those connected with him ? View him in the church, or in the state ; what blessings does he com- municate by the light of his example ! what evils does he avert
n Rev. xviii. 4. ° Gen. xxiv. 1, 35.
p Acts iii. 25. and Gal. iii. 8, 16. i ver. 3. r Matt. v. 3, 4.