The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 338

desire 6 better country, that is, a heavenly." Heaven is better than the best of earthly countries or homes. It is better: (1) In its society. 'fhe Christian will not feel himself a stranger there; for he will be with kindred spirits. Good people here are not al ways agreeable; but in heaven the society ie always genial and refreshing. (2) In its services. The _ser~ice of God is delightful 9:t present, th_ou~h that ~hich we render is very imper- fect m its character, and often mterrupted m its exercise, and very contracted in its sphere. But hereafter we ehall consecrate our perfected powers to him, am[ "serve him day and night in his temple," without weariness and with joy unspeakable. (3) In its enjoyments. "In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." The heavenly enjoyments are distin~uished for their purity, t1eir pleni- tude, and their perpetuity. (4) In its security. Sickness, sorrow, death, and sin, the prolific parent of suffering, cannot enter heaven. Verily, the heavenly is a better country. 2. The propriety of their desire. They who have received the Divine call, as the patriarchs had and the sinc~re Christian has, should aim at the end of their call- ing; they should seek to realize it, and endeavour to act up to it. In seekin"'0 the better country Christians are doing so; "wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God." It is fitting that the children should long for their Father's house ; "wherefore God is not ashamed of them," etc. 3. The ble8sedness of their desire. It will end in full fruition. The longing which is never satisfied is only a protracted pain. The longing for what is worthy, and which is lost in its fulfilment, issues in blessedness. Such is the desire of the Christian. "God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for be bath prepared for them a city." If God by his promises had kindled their hopes only to disappoint them, he might be "ashamed to be called their God.n If he was their God and Father, yet provided no home for his children, he might be "ashamed to be called their God." But he has provided for the satisfaction of the hopes which he has awakened ; and the home for which they long he has established. " He bath pre- pared for them a city." Since we are journeying homeward: 1. Let us not be much concerned for either the pleasures or the possessions of this world. 2. Let us not count it a strange thir.g if we have some discomforts on the way. 3. Let 'U8 not dread death, for it is tlie gate of admission into the city which God hath prepared/or his people.-W. J. Vere. 17-19.-Faith sorely tried and sublimely triumphant. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac," etc. Our subject naturally divides itself into two branches. I. FAITH SORELY TRIED. The supreme trial of Abraham's faith will appear if we consider the sacrifice which he was summoned to make. He was commanded : 1. 1 o offer up as a, burnt offering his only and much-loved son, Isaac. "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." "By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac; yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son." Isaac was called his "only son " because Ishmael had been finally sent forth from the paternal home, and b~cause Isaac was the only son which Sarah the wife of Abraham bare unto him. He was oow a young man, and inexpressibly dear to the hearts of his parents; and his father is com- manded by God to offer him up as a sacrifice. Being a human sacrifice, Abraham's conviction of the sacredness of human life would rise up against the fulfilmeot of the command. Can such a behest proceed from him who had so solemnly asserted the sacredness of human life (Gen. ix. 5, 6)? Being his own son, his only son, his Isaac, the laughter of his heart, his deep and pure nnd strong paternal instincts would rebel against the dread summons. Is it possible that the holy and Divine Father can mako such a demand upon any human father? 2. To o_ffer up his son :vho was in a special sense the gift of God to him. Isaac was the child of Di\'ine pr,m11se, and he was boru when his parents were far advanced in years, and when in the or~1?ary course o_f nature his birLh was impossible (cf. vers. 11, 12; Gen. xvii. 16-19; xvm. 10, 14; xx1. 1-3). For twenty-five years Abraham had waited for the fulfilment of the promise; twenty- fivo years more had elapsed since the birth of Isaac, duri~g wh!ch he had been growing ever more aod more precious and beloved; and now Gotl 1s asking back the gift so long waited for, and wMch had become so inexpressibly dear. Cau Sl!Ch a demand proceed.  330 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [err. xr. 1-40.