HOMILIES BY V.ARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 1-5.-The preparations of grace. We may call this the genesis of the kingdom of God. I. It is FOUNDED in the word of the Divine covenant, the faith given by Divine grace to individuals, the separation unto newness of life. II. The one man Abram gathers round him a small SOCIETY, kindred with him by the flesh, but bound to him doubtless by spiritual bonds as well. Thus God has sanctified the family life by making it as the nidus of the spiritual genesis. When the new kingdom began its course in the Messiah, he drew to himself those who were previously associated by neighbourhood, relationship, and familiar intercourse in Galilee. The Divine does not work apart from the human, but \vith it and by it. III. 'l'he PROMISE was that of Abr11.m should be made a great nation, that he should be blessed and a blessing, and his blessing should be spread through all families of the earth. The structure which Divine grace rears on the foundation which itself lays is a structure of blessed family and national life. IV. The land of CANAAN may not have been indicated with positiYe certainty to the migrating children of God, but it was enough that he promised them a land which he would hereafter show them. "A land that I will show thee." There was the certainty that it ,vas a better land: Get thee out of thy country, because I have another for thee. The day-by-day journey under Divine direction was itself a help to faith to make the promise definite. The stay at Haran, from whence the pilg·rimage might be said to make a true start, wus itself a gathering of "souls'' &nd "substance" which predicted a lurge blessing in the future. ·when once we have followed the word of God's grace and set our face towards Canaan ,ve soon begin to get pledges of the future blessings, laid-lip riches of soul and substauce, which assure us of the full glory of the life to come. V. Even in that first beginning of the kingdom, that small Church out of Ur of the Chaldees, there is the evidence of that individual vAI:IETY OF CHARACTER A:ND ATTAINMENT e.nd history which marks the whole way of the people of God. Lot was a very different man from Abram. As the story of this little company of travellers develops itself we soon begin to see that the grace of God does not obliterate the specialities of human cha.racter. Out of the varieties of men's lives, which to us may seem incapable of reconciliation, there may yet be brought the onward progress of a Divine order and a redeeming purpose.-R. Vet. 1.-The voices of God at t!te opening of the worl<£s eras. I . .AT THE OPENING OD' CREATION. "And God said, Let there be light." II. A•r '!'HE OPENING OF REDEMPTION. "And God said, I will put enmity between thee and the womnn," &c. Ill. A.·1• 'l'IIE OPENING OF THE OLD DISPENSATION. "And Go l said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country." 182 TilE BOOK OF GENESIS. [cm. x11. 1-3,
IV. AT THE orENING OF THE CDRISTIAN EllA, "And God snid, This is my beloved Son." V. AT THE OPENrNG OF 1'HB ETERNAL STATE God will say," Come, ye blessed of my Fnthcr.''-~r. Yer. 1.-Ab,-aham caJ,led. "Now the Lord God had snid unto Abrnhnm, Get thee o_ut o~ _thy country," &~. The record of Abraham's life is second only in beautiful s1mphc1ty to that of Chnst. There are certain coJTespondences between the two. I. A 8Ullfl!ONS WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM, It w11s from the Lord. We know not tho form. It wos explicit.. He was to leave all. It was nn unmistakable summons and it wns repeated. Such calls are genernlly opposed to cnrnnl inclinations'. Dangers beset the one who should respond to the call, for " the Canaanite was then in the land." II. THE SUMMONS "WAS SUSTAINED llY A PROMISE of guidnnce to tlie land. The first call was to a land, the second to a definite pince. God did not nt first tell .Abraham that he would give him the knd, but only "show" it. God docs not reveal all the riches of his grace at once. The promise was sufficient. Abraham went forth from the plain of Chaldea to the land which God would make through him nnd his de- scendants the most renowned in the world. Ever listening to a voice unheard by others Abraham was led. Sublime faith of the patriarch; he looked for "a city that bad foundations. "-H Ver. 2.-Abrakam useful. "And thou sbnlt be a blessing." This is part of the sixfold promise given to Abraham. He was to be II blessing to all nations. It is a very great joy to a devout soul to becorue a blessing temporally or spiritually to others. I. EVERY MAN OF FAITH JS A CENTRE OF DLESSING. Men wllo yield to their carne.l natures cannot bless others. The Christian should not incidentally, but intentionally, bless others. "Where a man is corrupt bis working will be injurious ; purity is a benediction to man.kind. JI. A DEVOt'T A!\'ll FAITHFUL MAN IS A llLESSING CHIEFLY TO THOSE WHO CAN RECEIVE Hrs INFLUENCE. The light of the sun causes one substance to decay, another to fructify. The life of a servant of God may only provoke a sneer and oppoeitio'n in some souls; but in otllers joy, thankfulness, love, and effort at imitation. To some nn apostle was "a savour of death unto death." III. THE lfliSURE OF OUR FAITH IS THE MEASURE OF THE DLESSING WE SHALL T.ll.ANSMIT TO OTHERS. We sometimes binder the operntion of God's promise by our self-righteous humility, which ignores the fact that God often uses the "weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty.'' There must be faith in God's continued working. He can make the future fruitful in proportion to our faith. Look nt what he ma.de of Paul, Luther, Wesley, and Whitfield because they were all men of strong faith. JV. To llE A DLESSING THROUGH THE POWER AND FAVOUR OF GOD JS TilE HIGHEST HONOUR IN THE WORLD. It was God who "made" Abraham a blessing; be gave him the power, fostered his faith, and perpetuated hie influence. What honour could Abraham have comparable w-ith this? It is probable tha~ Abrah~m thought li~tle o~ the honour which would come to him; but God adapted his promise to the.t winch he knew to be the desire of the secret soul of Abraham. Seeing II longing in the heart to lift men to a higher level, he gratifies it by making Abraham a blessing. All should cherish such desires. Tbe help we ca.n give to o.thers morally is far greater than that we can bestow materially. To live an aimless life is a disgrnce and ~in, but to live to bless others is Divine.-H. Vers. 2, 3.-Sevenfold promues. I. OF TIIE PRE-INCARNATE JEHOVAH TO ABRAM, 1. A great inheritance. 2. A great posterity. 3. A great name. 4. A great blessing, 5. A great alliance. 6. A great defence. 7. A great influence. II. 0f' THE INCA.RNATE WORD TO HIS DISCIPLES. 1. The kingdom of heaven. 2. Divine consolation. 3. Inheritance <Jf the earth. 4. Divine satisfaction. 6. Divina mercy. G. The vision of God. 7. A place in God's family (see Matt. v. 1-9). CH, XII. 6-9.] THE BOOK OJ! GENESIS. 183