God, then, did enter into covenant with Abraham. In that covenant He promised that Abraham, although nearly a hundred years old, should have a son. He promised that his descendants, through Isaac, should be as numerous as the stars in heaven ; that He would give them the land of Canaan for a possession ; that He would be their national God, and that the Hebrews as a nation should be His peculiar people ; and above all He promised the patriarch that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. By seed was not meant his descendants collectively, but one person, that is, Christ. (Gal. iii. 16.) The blessing promised, therefore, was the blessing of redemption through Christ, his promise to Abraham was a repetition of the prom- ise made to our first parents after the fall, this promise was the Gospel. The Gospel or euayyc'Aiov has a definite meaning in the Scriptures. It means the announcement of the plan of sal- vation through Christ, and the offer of that salvation to every one that believes. This Gospel, Paul says, was preached before unto Abraham. The pious Hebrews are, therefore, described as (tovs TTporjkTriKOTaq lv t<3 X/o«rr<3) those who hoped in Christ before his advent. (Eph. i. 12.) This promise of redemption made to Abraham was that " unto which," Paul says, " our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come." (Acts xxvi. 7.) The condition of all these Abrahamic promises was faith. This the Apostle abundantly teaches, especially in the fourth chapter of Romans and the third chapter of Galatians. Abraham believed in the promise of the birth of Isaac. (Rom. iv. 19, 20.) Those of his descendants who believed in the prom- ises of national blessings made to the Hebrews, received those blessings, those who believed in the promise of redemption through Christ were made partakers of that redemption.
Such being the nature of the covenant made with Abraham, it is plain that so far as its main element is concerned, it is still in force. It is the covenant of grace under which we now live, and upon which the Church is now founded. This cannot be doubted by any who admit the account just given of the Abrahamic cove- aant. This is clear because the promise is the same. Paul says ^Gal. iii. 14) that the blessing promised to Abraham has come apon us. In his speech before Agrippa, he said : " I stand, and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. .... For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews." (Acts xxvi. 6, 7.) As the promise is the same, so also the condition is the same. The Apostle argues that men now