1. The authority of God should in our minds be paramount to every other authority —
[As he " consulted not with flesh and blood," when once the Divine will was intimated to him, so neither should we : it should be sufficient for us that God hath commanded any thing : there should then be no inquiry whether the command be easy or not ; nor should there be any regard to consequences in obeying it : there should be in us a fixed determination of heart to fulfil his will at all events. If, for instance, the Lord Jesus Christ say to us, " If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me ;" we must not stand to inquire into the extent of the self-denial that may be requisite, or the weight of the cross which we may have to bear, but leave that to his wise and gracious disposal, being intent on nothing but the performance of our duty to him. If he add, that we must " forsake all, and follow him," not only not
« Heb. xiii. 14.
loving, but actually hating, in comparison of him, our own nearest and most honoured relatives, yea, and " our own lives also," we must not reply, " This is an hard saying ; who can hear it?" but must set ourselves instantly to fulfil in all its extent whatever he has required of us. If men, who know not God, despise, and revile, and persecute us, we must be ready to welcome it all for his sake ; and to reply to the menaces of the most ferocious adversaries, " Whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." In a word, we must spare no pains to ascertain the mind of God ; and, that once learned, neither men nor devils should deter us from labouring to fulfil it.]
2. The interests of the eternal world should be paramount to every other interest —
[Abraham had never seen the heavenly city ; but, in the hope of reaching it, he counted all earthly possessions, interests, or pleasures, as unworthy of notice. We too are ignorant of what awaits us in the eternal world : we have no conception of the glory that shall be revealed to us at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But by faith we may even now get such views of it, that all earthly glory shall vanish before it, as the stars before the meridian sun. How empty did all the glory of Egypt appear to Moses, when he had respect unto the recompence of reward which awaited him in a better world ^! And to St. Paul all his accumulated afflictions appeared light- ness itself, whilst he looked, not at " the things which are visible and temporal, but at those which are invisible and eternal^." And thus it will be with us : it will be a small thing to us that we have no inheritance here, or even that we are called to give up an inheritance we already possess. We shall even " take joyfully the spoiling of our goods, knowing that we have in heaven a better, and an enduring, substance^." We shall contentedly live as pilgi'ims and sojourners here, and seek our rest only in the world above.]
Let us then take occasion from this subject to inquire,
1. Whether we be children of Abraham — [Our blessed Lord has told us, that, " if we be Abraham's children, we shall do the works of Abraham'." Do we then these works ? Do we in these respects " walk in the steps of Abraham^?" Inquire what authority has God's word with you ? Do you set yourselves to obey every command of his as soon as you know it? and are you anxious to know his will in
f ver. 26. k 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18. ^ Heb. x. 34.
' John viii. .39. ^ Rom. iv. 12.