far we resemble him. Now, our Lord complained of his hearers, that, instead of believing his word and obeying his voice, they sought to kill him : " Now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham." No :
Abraham believed all that God revealed to him, and obeyed all that God commanded him —
[God revealed to him, that he should have, by Sarah, a son, from whom should proceed a progeny numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sands upon the sea-shore ; and, finally, a seed, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed. But no less than five-and-twenty years did he wait for this promised seed ; even till, according to the course of nature, he could not have a child ; he being one hundred years old, and Sarah ninety. But did his faith fail him? No : " he never once staggered at the promise through unbelief;" but against hope, he believed in hope ; " being fully persuaded, that what God had promised, he was able also to perform0."
At the same time that this revelation was given him, a command was also issued, that he should " leave his country, and his kindred, and his father's house ; and go to a land which should in due season be pointed out to himd:" and without hesitation did he yield obedience to this strange mandate e. Another more remarkable command was given him afterward, even to take this very child of promise, and offer him up for a burnt-offering on a mountain that should be pointed out to him. Instantly, without so much as communicating with his wife upon the subject, he took the lad, and prosecuted his journey with him, for the space of three days, to the place appointed ; and there proceeded to offer him up, in the way that had been enjoined. Here was another act of obedience that never had its parallel since the foundation of the world f.]
Now, then, see whether you do these works of
Abraham —
[Of course, we have not ourselves received either the same revelations or the same commands. But we may see whether we have the same principle of faith as he, and whe- ther it operate to produce the like obedience. To us is that Promised Seed revealed ; and we are told to look for all bless- ings from him. Yes, Christ is that Promised Seed, in whom alone can any child of man obtain the blessings of salvation.
c Rom. iv. 16—21. d Gen. xii. I — 4,
e Heb. xi. 8. f Heb. xi. 17—19.