John viii. 39. If ye were Abrahams children, ye would do the
zvorks of Abraham.
THERE is in men an extreme readiness to deceive themselves in reference to their state before God. Any delusion, however absurd, shall serve them for a ground of hope ; and they will cling to it with as much confidence as if it were an express declaration of God himself. The Jews conceived that the mere circumstance of their descent from Abraham was suf- ficient to justify their expectation of the Divine favour, at the very time that they were living in all manner of iniquity. John the Baptist expostulated with them upon this head : " Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father ; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." St. Paul also warned them, that " all were not Israel who were of Israel ; neither, because they were all the seed of Abraham, were they therefore, in a higher and more refined sense, his children a." No : " if they were Abraham's chil- dren, in this se?ise," they, as our blessed Lord here told his persecutors, would do the works of Abraham. Here we have a test whereby our spiritual relation to Abraham may be ascertained : and we shall do well to consider it,
I. For the informing of our judgment —
The more we enter into the true import of this declaration, the more shall we be convinced that it contains,
1. A reasonable test —
[There are enthusiasts in the world who will persuade themselves that they are the Lord's people, because they have had a revelation of it from heaven, or a dream whereby it has been made known to them ; or, because they have had some portion of the Holy Scriptures applied to their souls in so forcible
a Rom. ix. 6, 7.