HOMILETICS. Vcrs. 14-18.-Jlagnanimity rewarded, or Dimne comperwatims. I. A RP:VRLA- 'I'ION GJVE:-r. Immediately on Lot's departure Jehovah approfl.ches, the appearnnce of the heavenly Friend compensating for the loss of the earthly kinsmfl.n, as often happens in tho Divine dealings with men and saints. The revelation now afforded to the pntriarch was-I. Personal. Essentially a self-revealing God, onl_y throug-h the medium of o. person can Jehovah give a full and clear unveilment of himself. Of this description was the theophany accorded to the solitary flock-master on the Bethel plateau; and in the man Christ Jesus have the saints a like di8closure of the person nnd character of the unapproachable Supreme. 2. Gracious. The dignity of him who thus appeared to the patriarch, the all-sufficient and self-existent Deity, nncl the character of him to whom such revelation was vouchsafed, the father of the faithful, but still a mere creature, and, apart from Divine grace, exposed to just condemnation, attest its stupendous condescension. Yet" such honour have all the enints" to whom, notwithstanding their personal insignificance and deep unwortl,i- r1ess, tl1e supreme Deity has approached and unveiled himself in Christ. 3. 01,por- tune. At the time when it was made the patriarch's heart, we can imagine, was tha sent of Il)ingled emotions. Saddened by the loss of a kinsman wl,o hurl been lung his companion, and perhaps pained by the recollection of that kinsman's av~ricP, dejected as he realised his solitude among hostile neighbours and in a foreign land, though, doubtless, also sustained by a consciousness of having acted well in parting with his nephew, the patriarch was much in need of Divine consolation and succour. And so _are Christ's visits to his people ever seasonable (Luke n:iv. 15; John vi. 20) and suitable to their wants. 4. Comforting. This was proved by his subsequent behaviour. Plucking up the stakes of his tent, he resumed his travels, and at his next encampment built an altar for the worship of the Lord. It is a good sign that gracious visits to needy souls are having their desired effect when those souls are able to attend to the ordinary but necessary duties of life, and to preserve their relish fur the public and private rites of religion. II. A LAND ORANTED. - For the loss of the Jordan circle the patriarch receives an express donation of the entire territory of Canaan. So Christ promises to rewanl hi~ self-sacrificing followers in kind· as well as quantity, and in the life that now is a.~ well as in that which is to come (Matt. xi.x. 29). The grant made to Abram was- 1. Magni,fi,cent. The grant of a land ; of the land of Palestine in the first instance, nnd in the second of the better country, even an heavenly, of which the earthly Canaan was a type (Heh. xi. 8-10). The like grant is made to believers in the gospel (Matt. v. 5; 1 Cor. iii. 22; 2 Tim. ii. 12). 2. Certain. The complete isola- tion of the patriarch, the occupation of the land, nnd especially the barrenness of Sarai, were all calculated to make the Divine donation of the country before him but n doubtful gift after all. And so sometimes to Christians may the heavenly inherit- ance nppear highly problematical. But the ground of certainty for them is precisely what it was to Abram, the word of the living God ; nnd as Abram staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, so neither should they. 3. Perpetual. Tu thee, and to thy seed for ever, were the terms in which the earthly Canaan was con- veyed to the patriarch. That is, so long as the seed of Abram according to the flesh existed as a separate nation they should occupy the land of Canaan; while for his spiritual posterity the heavenly Canaan should continue an inalienable possession. So earth to the believer is a perpetual inheritance in the sense that "the work! is his,'' ·vhile heaven is an eternal country from which he shnll go no more out. III. A BEED PROMISED. The magnanimity of the patriarch had deprived him oE a brother's son; the grace of God rewarded him by promising e. child of his own. No man ever comes off a loser who makes sacrifices for God. The seed promised was to be-1. Numerous. A multitude instead of one; exemplified in the untold million~ of Abmm's naturnl descendants. So God delights to reward his people, returning to them a hundredfold for what they give to him (l\Iutt. xix. 20; Ephes. iii. 20). 2. Spi'l'itual. An offspring united to him by bonds of grnce in lieu of a kinsman con- nected with him by ties of blood; a prediction realised in the myriads of his believi11g THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [err. XIV, 1-12.
cl1il<lrC'n. Another principle which rcgnl.\tcs the Divine compensations bestowed on saints is to tnkc the less and give the greater, to remove the material and impart the spiritual (John xvi. 7; xix. 26). 3. Eminent. 1£ Lot was renowned for wenlth and worldly prudence, the unborn seed of Abram should be distinguished in the nnmils of both Church and world for riches of a more enduring character and 11"isdom of a nobler kind ; a prophecy fulfilled in Israel after the flesh, which as n nation has always been more distinguished for intelligence and capacity than for numbers; in Israel a.fter the spirit, or the Church of God, whose chnrncteristics hnve el'er been rare spiritual illumination and high moral potency; and in Israel's Saviour, "in whom &re hid nll the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," and "in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Lenm-1. That God is the ever-present thoug·h unseen Spectator of• noble deed~. 2. Thnt every net of self-sacrifice performed for his sake elicits his approbation. 3. Th1tt while he who keeps his life shall lose it, he who, for Christ's sake and the 1;ospel's 1 losos it shall ultimately find it.