Ver. B.-T!1efailh of Abraham going forth info the unknown. We have to notice what Abraham's faith rested on. I. ON A DIVINE CALL. It was not an impulse of his own. Not in ambition, not in discontent, not in self-will, did he go forth. Kor was it a suggestion fo,m some other human being. The voice came from above, speaking to what was inm(,st in him. Jehovah had chosen him for a purpose of his own, and therefore made the authority of the summons indisputably clear. It is the fact of this Divine call at the beginning which makes the observation of Abraham's subsequent course so interesting. We desire to see what God will make out of a man to whom he gives a special summons. It is a great deal when any of us can be quite sure, amid the difficulties and perplexities of life, that we are where God has put us. II. ON A DIVINE PROMISE. The promises of God give a better resting-place for faith than any projects of our own. God had said definitely to Abraham that there was a land of inheritance for him. Abraham, so far from going out on the great journey of life with nothing better than a peradventure, really had the best of prospect.•. All he had to do was to show the obedience of faith. God always presents us with a. hope when he calls us to a. duty. He sets before us great ends corresponding to our nature and to his interest in us. III. ON DIVINE GUIDANCE, This was the element in the Divine call which would try Abraham most, that he knew not where he was going. This would expose him to the wonder and the ridicule of his neighbours. Human prudence seems such an excel- lent principle of action, seems to keep men out of so many troubles, seems to achieve such satisfactory results, that men can hardly think of a higher and a better one. But then human prudence has its value only in a certain path. We cannot begin by choosing our path according to God's directions and then going on in it according to our own judgment. Everything must be begun, continued, and ended in God.-Y.
Vere. 9, 10.-The tent and the city. I. OBSERVE THE CONTRAST m.--oEaLYING THESE VERSES. 'fhe tent is in one place in the morning, and may be miles away at night. 'l'he city always remains in the same place. Thus there is forcibly indicated an altogether different kind of occupation and interest for the dweller in tents from that for the dweller in cities. As the one class of men increases the·other must decrease. '!'he fathers dwell in tents; the children in cities. He who dweils in a tent can have no particular interest in the land where he happens to be at the time. If it supptie;, his wants for the passing day, that is all he needs to care for. But he who has a house built in that land must feel the deepest interest in its fame, prosperity, and development. II. 'l'BE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF A PROMISE. He who called Abraham gave him a promise, and guided him, brought him at last into the land of promise. He dwelt in the land of promise, in however imperfect and fugitive a way. Thus we see huw God gives us all that can be given under present conditions. The time had not yet come to possess the land-the seed of Abraham had to be immensely increased and vigorously disciplined before that was possible-but, nevertheless, Abraham could dwell in the land. Satisfaction and joy would begin the moment obedience began. And have not we also entered in part on our inheritance? Do not the blessings of. the hea venl,Y state stream down upon us even now? Abraham enjoyed Canaan; he himself and his dependants got food, and there was abundant herbage for his cattle. ~e wa~ happier in Canaan, even as a wanderer, than he could have been anywhere else lll this world, for he was there by the will of God. III. THE FIRMER GRASP oF A PI\OMISE. Abraham probably had always led a nomadic life. Even in the la.ad of his nativity and earlier days he would, be mo'.e, or kss of a wanderer. 'l'he wandering spirit wonl<l be in him by ~ature, habit, trad1t.10n. 'l'herefore ns far as he personally wa.s concerned, Can11an gave huu all that earth could THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [on. XI, 1--40.