GENESIS, Section 2 of 2, (Gen. 16-end).
C. H. Mackintosh.

Genesis 16
Here we find unbelief casting its dark shadow across the spirit of Abraham, and again
turning him aside, for a season, from the path of simple, happy confidence in God. "And
Sarai said unto Abram, Behold the Lord hath restrained me from bearing." These words
bespeak the usual impatience of unbelief; and Abraham should have treated them
accordingly, and waited patiently on the Lord for the accomplishment of His gracious
promise. The poor heart naturally prefers anything to the attitude of waiting. It will turn
to any expedient—any scheme—any resource, rather than be kept in that posture. It is
one thing to believe a promise, at the first, and quite another thing to wait quietly for the
accomplishment thereof. We can see this distinction constantly, exemplified in a child. If
I promise my child anything, he has no idea of doubting my word; but yet, I can detect
the greatest possible restlessness and impatience in reference to the time and manner of
accomplishment. And cannot the wisest sage find a true mirror in which to see himself
reflected, in the conduct of a child? Truly so. Abraham exhibits faith, in Gen. 15 and yet
he fails is patience, in Gen. 16. Hence the force and beauty of the apostle's word, in
Hebrews 6, "followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." God
makes a promise, faith believes it; hope anticipates it; patience waits quietly for it.

There is such a thing, in the commercial world, as "the present worth" of a bill or
promissory note, for if men are called upon to wait for their money, they must he paid for
waiting. Now, in faith's world, there is such a things as the present worth of God's
promise; and the scale by which that worth is regulated, is the heart's experimental
knowledge of God; for according to my estimate of God, will be my estimate of His
promise; and moreover, the subdued and patient spirit finds its rich and full reward in
waiting upon Him for the accomplishment of all that He has promised.

However, as to Sarah, the real amount of her word to Abraham is this, "the Lord has
failed me; it may be, my Egyptian maid will prove a resource for me." Anything but God
for a heart under the influence of unbelief. It is often truly marvellous to observe the
trifles to which we will betake ourselves, when once we have lost the sense of God's
nearness, His infallible faithfulness, and unfailing sufficiency. We lose that calm and
well-balanced condition of soul, so essential to the proper testimony of the man of faith;
and, just like other people, betake ourselves to any or every expedient, in order to reach
the wished-for end, and call that "a laudable use of means."

But it is a bitter thing to take ourselves out of the place of absolute dependence upon
God. The consequences must be disastrous. Had Sarah said, 'Nature has failed me, but
God is my resource,' how different it would have been! This would have been her proper
ground; for nature really had failed her. But, then, it was nature in one shape, and
therefore she wished to try nature in another. She had not learnt to look away from nature
in every shape. In the judgement of God, and of faith, nature in Hagar was no better than
nature in Sarah. Nature, whether old or young, is alike to God; and, therefore, alike to
faith; but, ah! we are only in the power of this truth when we are experimentally finding
our living centre in God Himself. When the eye is taken off that Glorious Being, we are
ready for the meanest device of unbelief. It is only when we are consciously leaning on
the only true, the only wise, the living God, that we are enabled to look away from every
creature stream. It is not that we shall despise God's instrumentality. By no means. To do
so would be recklessness and not faith. Faith values the instrument, not because of itself,
but because of Him who uses it. Unbelief looks only at the instrument, and judges of the
success of a matter by the apparent efficiency thereof, instead of by the sufficiency of
Him who, in grace, uses it. Like Saul, who, when he looked at David, and then looked at
the Philistine, said, "thou are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for
thou art but a youth." Yet the question in David's heart was not as to whether he was able,
but whether Jehovah was able.

The path of faith is a very simple and a very narrow one. It neither deifies the means, on
the one hand, nor despises it, on the other. It simply values it, so far as it is evidently
God's means, and no further. There is a vast difference between God's using the creature
to minister to me, and my using it to shut Him out. This difference is not sufficiently
attended to. God used the ravens to minister to Elijah, but Elijah did not use them to
exclude God. If the heart be really trusting in God, it will not trouble itself about His
means. It waits on Him, in the sweet Assurance that by what means soever He pleases,
He will bless, He will minister, He will provide.

Now, in the case before us, in this chapter, it is evident that Hagar was not God's
instrument for the accomplishment of His promise to Abraham. He had promised a son,
no doubt, but He had not said that this son would be Hagar's; and, in point of fact, we
find from the narrative, that both Abraham and Sarah "multiplied their sorrow," by
having recourse to Hagar; for "when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was
despised in her eyes." This was but the beginning of those multiplied sorrows, which
flowed from hastening after nature's resources. Sarah's dignity was trampled down by an
Egyptian bond-woman, and she found herself in the place of weakness and contempt.
The only true place of dignity and power is the place of felt weakness and dependence.
There is no one so entirely independent of all around, as the man who is really walking
by faith, and waiting only upon God; but the moment a child of God makes himself a
debtor to nature or the world, he loses his dignity, and will speedily be made to feel his
loss. It is no easy task to estimate the loss sustained by diverging, in the smallest
measure, from the path of faith. No doubt, all those who walk in that path will find trial
and exercise; but one thing is certain, that the blessings and joys which peculiarly belong
to them are infinitely more than a counterpoise; whereas, when they turn aside, they have
to encounter far deeper trial, and nought but that.

"And Sarai said, My wrong be upon thee." When we act wrong, we are, oft-times, prone
to lay the blame on some one else. Sarah was only reaping the fruit of her own proposal,
and yet she says to Abraham, "My wrong be upon thee;" and then, with Abraham's
permission, she seeks to get rid of the trial which her own impatience had brought upon
her. "But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth
thee. And when Sarah dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face." This will not do.
"The bond-woman" cannot be got rid of by hard treatment. When we make mistakes, and
find ourselves called upon to encounter the results thereof, we cannot counteract those
results by carrying ourselves with a high hand. We frequently try this method, but we are
sure to make matters worse thereby. If we have done wrong, we should humble ourselves
and confess the wrong, and wait on God for deliverance. But there was nothing like this
manifested in Sarah's case. Quite the reverse. There is no sense of having done wrong;
and, so far from waiting on God for deliverance, she seeks to deliver herself in her own
way. However, it will always be found that every effort which we make to rectify our
errors, previous to the full confession thereof, only tends to render our path more
difficult. Thus Hagar had to return, and give birth to her son, which son proved to be not
the child of promise at all, but a very great trial to Abraham and his house, as we shall
see in the sequel.

Now, we should view all this in a double aspect: first, as teaching us a direct practical
principle of much value; and secondly, in a doctrinal point of view. And, first, as to the
direct, practical teaching, we may learn that when, through the unbelief of our hearts, we
make mistakes, it is not all in a moment, nor yet by our own devices, we can remedy
them. Things must take their course. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the
Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." This is an unalterable principle, meeting
us, again and again, on the page of inspiration, and also on the page of our personal
history. Grace forgives the sin and restores the soul, but that which is sown must be
reaped. Abraham and Sarah had to endure the presence of the bond-woman and her son
for a number of years, and, then, get rid of them in God's way. There is peculiar
blessedness in leaving ourselves in God's hands. Had Abraham and Sarah done so, on the
present occasion, they would never have been troubled with the presence of the bond-
woman and her son; but, having made themselves debtors to nature, they had to endure
the consequences. But, alas! we are often "like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke,"
when it would be our exceeding comfort to "behave and quiet ourselves as a child that is
weaned of his mother." No two figures can be more opposite than a stubborn bullock and
a weaned child. The former represents person senselessly struggling under the yoke of
circumstances, and rendering his yoke all the more galling by his efforts to get rid of it;
the latter represents one meekly bowing his hand to everything, and rendering his portion
all the sweeter, by entire subjection of spirit.

And, now, as to the doctrinal view of this chapter. We are authorised to look at Hagar and
her son, as figures of the covenant of works, and all who are thereby brought into
bondage. (Gal. 4: 22-25) "The flesh" is, in this important passage, contrasted with
"promise;" and thus we not only get the divine idea as to what the term "flesh" implies,
but also as to Abrahams effort to obtain the seed by means of Hagar, instead of resting in
God's "promise." The two covenants are allegorised by Hagar and Sarah, and are
diametrically opposite the one to the other. The one gendering to bondage, inasmuch as it
raised the question as to man's competency "to do" and "not to do," and made life entirely
dependent upon that competency. "The man that doeth these things shall live in them."
This was the Hagar-covenant. But the Sarah-covenant reveals God as the God of promise,
which promise is entirely independent of man, and founded upon God's willingness and
ability to fulfil it. When God makes a promise, there is no "if' attached thereto. He makes
it unconditionally, and is resolved to fulfil it; and faith rests in Him, in perfect liberty of
heart. It needs no effort of nature to reach the accomplishment of A divine promise. Here
was, precisely, where Abraham and Sarah failed. They made an effort of nature to reach
a certain end, which end was absolutely secured by a promise of God. This is the grand
mistake of unbelief. By its restless activity, it raises a hazy mist around the soul, which
hinders the beams of the divine glory from reaching. "He could there do no mighty
works, because of their unbelief." One great characteristic virtue of faith is, that it ever
leaves the platform clear for God to show Himself; and truly, when He shows Himself,
man must take the place of a happy worshipper.

The error into which the Galatians allowed themselves to be drawn, was the addition of
something of nature to what Christ had already accomplished for them by the cross. The
gospel which had been preached to them, and which they had received, was the simple
presentation of God's absolute, unqualified, and unconditional grace. "Jesus Christ had
been evidently set forth crucified among them." This was not merely promise divinely
made, but promise divinely and most gloriously accomplished. A crucified Christ settled
everything, in reference both to God's claims and man's necessities. But the false teachers
upset all this, or sought to upset it, by saying, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner
of Moses, ye cannot be saved." This, as the apostle teaches them, was, in reality, "making
Christ of none effect." Christ must either be a whole Saviour, or no Saviour at all. the
moment a man says, "except ye he this or that, ye cannot be saved," he totally subverts
Christianity ; for in Christianity I find God coming down to me, just as I am, a lost,
guilty, self-destroyed sinner; and coming, moreover, with a full remission of all my sins,
and a full salvation from my lost estate, all perfectly wrought by Himself on the cross.

Hence, therefore, a man who tells me, "you must be so and so, in order to be saved," robs
the cross of all its glory, and robs me of all my peace. If salvation depends upon our
being or doing ought, we shall, inevitably, be lost. Thank God, it does not; for the great
fundamental principle of the gospel is, that God is ALL—man is NOTHING. It is not a
mixture of God and man. It is all of God. The peace of the gospel does not repose, in
part, on Christ's work;, and, in part, on man's work; it reposes wholly on Christ's work,
because that work is perfect—perfect for ever; and it renders all who put their trust in it
as perfect as itself.

Under the law, God, as it were, stood still to see what man could do; but, in the gospel,
God is seen acting, and as for man, he has but to "stand still and see the salvation of
God." This being so, the inspired apostle hesitates not to say to the Galatians, "Christ is
become of no effect unto you; whosoever of you are justified by law, (en nomw,) ye are
fallen from grace." If man has anything to do in the matter, God is shut out; and if God is
shut out, there can be no salvation, for it is impossible that man can work out a salvation
by that which proves him a lost creature; and then if it be a question of grace, it must be
all grace. It cannot be half grace, half law. The two covenants are perfectly distinct. It
cannot be half Sarah and half Hagar. It must be either the one or the other. If it be Hagar,
God has nothing to do with it; and if it be Sarah, man has nothing to do with it. Thus it
stands throughout. The law addresses man, tests him, sees what he is really worth, proves
him a ruin, and puts him under the curse; and not only puts him under it, but keeps him
there, so long as he is occupied with it so long as he is alive. "The law hath dominion
over a man so long as he liveth;" but when he is dead, its dominion necessarily ceases, so
far as he is concerned, though it still remains in full force to curse every living man.

The gospel, on the contrary, assuming man to be lost ruined, dead, reveals God as He
is—the Saviour of the lost—the Pardoner of the guilty—the Quickener of the dead. It
reveals Him, not as exacting ought from man; (for what could be expected from one who
has died a bankrupt) but as exhibiting His own independent grace in redemption. This
makes a material difference and will account for the extraordinary strength of the
language employed in the Epistle to the Galatians: "I marvel"—"Who hath bewitched
you"—"I am afraid of you"—"I stand in doubt of you"—"I would they were even cut off
that trouble you." This is the language of the Holy Ghost, who knows the value of a full
Christ, and a full salvation; and who also knows how essential the knowledge of both is
to a lost sinner. We have no such language as this in any other epistle; not even in that to
the Corinthians, although there were some of the grossest disorders to be corrected
amongst them. all human failure and error can be corrected by bringing in God's grace;
but the Galatians, like Abraham in this chapter, were going away from God, and
returning to the flesh. What remedy could be devised for this? How can yon correct an
error which consists in departing from that which alone can correct anything? To fall
from grace, is to get back under the law, from which nothing can ever be reaped but "the
curse." May the Lord establish our hearts in His own most excellent grace!

Genesis 17
Here we have God's remedy for Abrahams failure set before us." And when Abram was
ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, I am the
Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect."* This is a most comprehensive
verse. It is very evident that Abraham had not been walking before the Almighty God
when he adopted Sarah's expedient in reference to Hagar. It is faith alone that can enable
a man to walk up and down before an Almighty One. Unbelief will ever be thrusting in
something of self, something of circumstances, second causes, and the like, and thus the
soul is robbed of the joy and hence, the calm elevation, and holy independence, which
flow from leaning upon the arm of One who can do everything. I believe we deeply need
to ponder this. God is not such an abiding reality to our souls as He ought to be, or as he
would be, were we walking in more simple faith and dependence.
{*I would here offer a remark as to the word "perfect." When Abraham was called upon
to be "perfect," it did not mean perfect in himself; for this he never was, and never could
be. It simply, meant that he should be perfect as regards the object before his heart that
his hopes and expectations were to be perfectly and undividedly centred in the "Almighty
God."
	In looking through the New Testament, we find the word "perfect" used in, at
least, four distinct senses. In Matt. 5: 48, we read, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect." Here we learn from the context that the word
"perfect" refers to the principle of our walk. At verse 44, we read, "love your enemies,......
that ye may be the sons of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh the sun to rise
upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust" Hence, to be
"perfect" in the sense of Matt. 5: 48 is to act on a principle of grace toward all, even
toward those who are injurious and hostile. A Christian going to law, and asserting or
contending for his rights, is not "perfect as his Father" for his Father is dealing in grace,
whereas he is dealing in righteousness.
	The question here is not as to the right or wrong of going to law with worldly
people, (as to brethren, 1 Cor. 6 is conclusive.) All I contend for is, that a Christian so
doing is acting in a character the direct opposite to that of his Father; for assuredly He is
not going to law with the world. He is not now on a judgement-seat, but on a mercy-
seat—a throne of grace. He showers His blessings upon those who, were He to go to law
with them, should be in hell. Wherefore it is plain that a Christian, when he brings a man
before the judgement-seat, is not "perfect as his Father which is in heaven is perfect."
	At the close of Matt. 18 we have a parable which teaches us that a man who
asserts his rights is ignorant of the character and proper effect of grace. The servant was
not unrighteous in demanding what was due to him; but he was ungracious. He was
totally unlike his master. He had been forgiven ten thousand talents, and yet he could
seize his fellow by the throat for a paltry hundred pence. What was the consequence? He
was delivered to the tormentors. He lost the happy sense of grace, and was left to reap the
bitter fruits of having asserted his rights, while being himself a subject of grace. And,
observe further, he was called a wicked servant," not because of having owed "ten
thousand talents, "but because of not having forgiven the "hundred pence." The master
had ample grace to settle the former, but he had not grace to settle the latter. This parable
has a solemn voice for all Christians going to law; for although in the application of it, it
is said, "so shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you, from your heart, forgive not every
one his brother their trespasses," yet is the principle of general application, that a man
acting in righteousness will lose the sense of grace.
	In Hebrews 9 we have another sense of the term "Perfect." Here, too, the context
settles the import of the word. It is "perfect, as pertaining to the conscience." This is a
deeply important use of the term. The worshipper under the law never could have a
perfect conscience, for the simplest reason possible, because he never had a perfect
sacrifice. The blood of a bullock and a goat did well enough For a time, but it could not
do for ever and, therefore, could not give a perfect conscience. Now, however, the
weakest believer in Jesus is privileged to have a perfect conscience. Why? Is it because
he is a better man than the worshipper under the law Nay; but because he has gotten a
better sacrifice. If Christ's sacrifice is perfect for ever, the believer's conscience is perfect
for ever. The two things necessarily go together. For the Christian not to have a perfect
conscience is a dishonour to the sacrifice of Christ. It is tantamount to saying that His
sacrifice is only temporary, and not eternal in its effect; and what is this but to bring it
down to the level of the sacrifices under the Mosaic economy.
	It is very needful to distinguish between perfection in the flesh and perfection as
to conscience. To pretend to the former, is to exalt self; to refuse the Latter, is to
dishonour Christ. The babe in Christ should have a perfect conscience; whereas St. Paul
had not, nor could have, perfect flesh. The flesh is not presented in the word as a thing
which is to be perfected, but as a thing which has been crucified. This makes a wide
difference. The Christian has sin in him, but not on him. Why? Because Christ, who had
no sin in Him, ever, had sin on Him, when He was nailed to the cross.
	Finally, in Phil. 3 we have two other senses of the word "perfect." The apostle
says, "not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect," and yet a little
further on he says, "Let as many as be perfect be thus minded." The former refers to the
apostles full and everlasting conformity to Christ in glory. The latter refers to our having
Christ as the all-engrossing object before the heart's affections.}

"Walk before me." This is true power. To walk thus, implies our having nothing whatever
before our hearts save God Himself. If I am founding my expectation upon men and
things, I am not walking before God, but before men and things. It is of the utmost
importance to ascertain who or what I have before me as an object. To what am I
looking? On whom or what am I leaning, at this moment? Does God entirely fill my
future? Have men or circumstances ought to do therein? Is there any space allotted to the
creature? The only way in which to get above the world is to walk by faith, because faith
so completely fills the scene with God, that there is no room for the creature, no room for
the world. If God fills up my entire range of vision, I can see nothing else; and then I am
able to say with the Psalmist, "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is
from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence, I shall not be moved."
(Ps. 62: 5, 6) This word "only" is deeply searching. Nature cannot say this. Not that it
will, save when under the direct influence of a daring and blasphemous scepticism,
formally shut out God altogether; but it, assuredly, Cannot say, "He only."

Now, it is well to see that, as in the matter of salvation, so in all the details of actual life,
from day to day, God will not share His glory with the creature. From first to last, it must
be "He only;" and this, too, in reality. It will not do to have the language of dependence
upon God on our lips, while our hearts are really leaning on some creature resource. God
will make all this fully manifest; He will test the heart; He will put faith into the furnace.
"Walk before me, and be thou perfect." Thus it is we reach the proper point. When the
soul is enabled, by grace, to get rid of all its fondly-cherished creature expectations, then,
and only then, it is prepared to let God act; and when He acts all must be well. He will
not leave anything undone. He will perfectly settle everything on behalf of those who
simply put their trust in Him. When unerring wisdom, omnipotent power, and infinite
love combine, the confiding heart may enjoy unruffled repose. Unless we can find some
circumstance too big or too little for "the Almighty God," we have no proper base on
which to found a single anxious thought. This is an amazing truth, and one eminently
calculated to put all who believe it into the blessed position in which we find Abraham in
this chapter. When God had, in effect, said to him, "leave all to me and I will settle it for
you, beyond your utmost desires and expectations; the seed and the inheritance, and
everything pertaining thereto, will be fully and everlastingly settled, according to the
covenant of the Almighty God"—then "Abram fell on his face." Truly blessed attitude!
the only proper one for a thoroughly empty, feeble, and unprofitable sinner, to occupy in
the presence of the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the possessor of all
things, "the Almighty God."

"And God talked with him." It is when man is in the dust, that God can talk to him in
grace. Abraham's posture here, is the beautiful expression of entire prostration, in the
presence of God, in the sense of utter weakness and nothingness. and this, be it observed,
is the sure precursor of God's revelation of Himself. It is when the creature is laid low
that God can show Himself in the unclouded effulgence of what He is. He will not give
His glory to another. He can reveal Himself, and allow man to worship in view of that
revelation; but until the sinner takes his proper place, there can be no unfolding of the
divine character. How different is Abraham's attitude in this and the preceding chapter!
There, he had nature before him; here, he has the Almighty God. There, he was an actor;
here, he is a worshipper. There, he was betaking himself to his own and Sarah's
contrivance; here, be leaves himself and his circumstances, his present and his future, in
God's hands, and allows Him to act in him, for him, and through him. Hence, God can
say, "I will make" "I will establish" "I will give" "I will bless." In a word, it is all God and
His actings; and this is real rest for the poor heart that has learnt anything of itself.

The covenant of circumcision is now introduced. Every member of the household of faith
must bear in his body the seal of that covenant. There must be no exception. "He that is
born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and
my covenant shall be in your flesh, for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised
man child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from
his people, be hath broken my covenant." We are taught in Romans 4, that circumcision
was "a seal of the righteousness of faith." "Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness." Being thus counted righteous, God set His "seal" upon him.

The seal with which the believer is now sealed is not a mark in the flesh, but "that Holy
Spirit of promise, whereby he is sealed unto the day of redemption." This is founded
upon his everlasting connection with Christ, and his perfect identification with Him, in
death and resurrection; as we read, in Colossians, "And ye are complete in him, which is
the head of all principality and power. In whom also ye are circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the
circumcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him,
through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. And you,
being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." This is a most glorious passage, unfolding
to us the true idea of what circumcision was meant to typify. Every believer belongs to
"the circumcision" in virtue of his living association with Him who, by His cross, has for
ever abolished everything that stood in the way of His Church's perfect justification.
There was not a speck of sin on the conscience, nor a principle of sin in the nature of His
people, for which Christ was not judged on the cross; and they are now looked upon as
having died with Christ, lain in the grave with Christ, been raised with Christ, perfectly
accepted in Him—their sins, their iniquities, their transgressions, their enmity, their
uncircumcision, having been entirely put away by the cross. The sentence of death has
been written on the flesh; but the believer is in possession of a new life, in union with His
risen Head in glory.

The apostle, in the above passage, teaches that the Church was quickened out of the
grave of Christ; and moreover, that the forgiveness of all her trespasses is as complete,
and as entirely the work of God, as was the raising of Christ from the dead; and this
latter, we know, was the result of "God's mighty power," or, as it may be rendered,
"according to the energy of the might of his power" (Eph. 1: 19)—a truly wonderful
expression, calculated to set forth the magnitude and glory of redemption, as well as the
solid basis on which it rests.

What rest—perfect rest—for the heart and conscience is here! What full relief for the
burdened spirit! All our sins buried in the grave of Christ—not one—even the smallest—
left out! God did this for us! All that His searching eye could detect in us, He laid on the
head of Christ when He hung upon the cross! He judged Him there and then, instead of
judging us, in hell for ever! Precious fruit, this, of the admirable, the profound, the
eternal counsels of redeeming love! And we are" sealed," not with a certain mark cut in
our flesh, but with the Holy Ghost. The entire household of faith is sealed thus. Such is
the dignity, the value, the changeless efficacy of the blood of Christ, that the Holy Ghost
can take up His abode in all those who have put their trust therein.

And, now, what remains for those who know these things, save to "be steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." Thus may it be, O Lord, through
the grace of Thy Holy Spirit.

Genesis 18
This chapter affords a beautiful exemplification of the results of an obedient, separated
walk. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the
door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me." (Rev. 3: 20) again, we
read, "Jesus answered, and said unto him, If a man love me he will keep my words, and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."
(John 14: 23) From these passages, taken in connection with our chapter, we learn that an
obedient soul enjoys a character of communion entirely unknown to one who moves in a
worldly atmosphere.

This does not touch, in the most remote manner, the question of forgiveness or
justification. All believers are clothed in the same spotless robe of righteousness-all stand
in one common justification, under the eye of God. The one life flows down from the
Head in heaven through all the members on earth. This is plain. The doctrine, in
reference to the above important points, is fully established in the word; and has been,
again and again, unfolded through the foregoing pages of this volume. But we should
remember that justification is one thing, and the fruit thereof quite another. To be a child
is one thing, to be an obedient child is quite another. Now, a father loves an obedient
child, and will make, such a child more the depository of his thoughts and plans. And is
this not true, in reference to our heavenly Father? Unquestionably. John 14 puts this quite
beyond dispute; and, moreover, it proves that for one to speak of loving Christ, and not to
"keep his words," is hypocrisy. "If a man love me, he will keep my words." Hence, if we
are not keeping Christ's words, it is a sure proof we are not walking in the love of His
name. Love to Christ is proved by doing the things which He commands, and not by
merely saying, "Lord, Lord." It is of very little avail to say, "I go, sir," while the heart has
no idea of going.

However, in Abraham we see one who, however he may have failed in detail, was,
nevertheless, characterised, in the main, by a close, simple, and elevated walk with God;
and in the interesting section of his history now before us, we find him in the enjoyment
of three special privileges, namely, providing refreshment for the Lord! enjoying full
communion with the Lord, and interceding for others before the Lord. These are high
distinctions; and yet are they only such as ever result from an obedient, separated, holy
walk. Obedience refreshes the Lord, as being the fruit of His own grace in our hearts. We
see in the only perfect man that ever lived, how He constantly refreshed and delighted the
Father. Again and again, God 'bore testimony to Him from heaven, as His "beloved Son;
in whom he was well pleased." The path of Christ furnished a continual feast to Heaven.
His ways were ever sending up a fragrant incense to the throne of God. From the manger
to the cross, He did always the things which pleased His Father. There was no
interruption, no variation, no salient point. He was the only perfect One. There only can
the Spirit trace a perfect life below. Here and there, as We look along the current of
inspiration, we find one and another who occasionally refreshed the mind of Heaven.
Thus, in the chapter before us, we find the tent of the stranger at Mamre affording
refreshment to the Lord Himself—refreshment lovingly offered, and willingly accepted.
(Ver. 1-8)

Then we find Abraham enjoying high communion with the Lord, first, in reference to his
own personal interests, (ver. 9-15) and, secondly, in reference to the destinies of Sodom.
(Ver.16, 21) What confirmation to Abraham's heart in the absolute promise (Sarah shall
have a son!" Yet this promise only elicited a laugh from Sarah, as it had elicited one from
Abraham in the preceding chapter.

There are two kinds of laughter spoken of in scripture. There is first, the laughter with
which the Lord fills our mouth, when, at some trying crisis, He appears in a signal
manner for our relief. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like
them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing:
then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them; the Lord hath
done great things for us, whereof we are glad." (Ps. 126: 1, 2)

Again, there is the laughter with which unbelief fills our mouths, when God's promises
are too magnificent for our narrow hearts to take in, or the visible agency too small, in
our judgement, for the accomplishment of His grand designs. The first of these we are
never ashamed or afraid to avow. Zion's sons are not ashamed to say, "then was our
mouth filled with laughter." (Ps. 126: 2) When Jehovah makes us to laugh, we may laugh
heartily. "But Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid." Unbelief makes us
cowards and liars; faith makes us bold and truthful. It enables us to "come boldly," and to
"draw near with true hearts."

But, further, Abraham is made the depository of God's thoughts and counsels about
Sodom. Though having nothing to do with it personally, yet he was so near the Lord that
he was let into His mind in reference to it. The way to know the divine purposes about
this present evil world, is not to be mixed up with it, in its schemes and speculations, but
to be entirely separated from it. The more closely we walk with God, and the more
subject we are to His word, the more we shall know of His mind about everything. I do
not need to study the newspaper, in order to know what is going to happen in the world.
God's word reveals all I want to know. In its pure and sanctifying pages I learn all about
the character, the course, and the destiny of the world; whereas, if I go to the men of the
world for news, I may expect that the devil will use them to cast dust in my eyes.

Had Abraham visited Sodom in order to obtain information about its facts, had he
applied to some of its leading intelligent men, to know what they thought of Sodom's
present condition and future prospects, how would he have been answered? Doubtless,
they would have called his attention to their agricultural and architectural schemes, the
vast resources of the country; they would have placed before his eyes one vast, mingled
scene of buying and selling, building and planting, eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage. Doubtless, too, they would never dream of judgement, and if any one
had made mention thereof, their mouths would have been filled with infidel laughter.
Hence, then, it is plain, that Sodom was not the place in which to learn about Sodom's
end. No; "the place, where Abraham stood before the Lord," afforded the only proper
point from whence to take in the whole prospect. There he could stand entirely above the
fogs and mists which had gathered upon Sodom's horizon. There, in the clearness and
calmness of the divine presence, he could understand it all. And what use did he make of
his knowledge and his elevated position? How was he occupied in the Lord's presence?
The answer to these inquiries leads us to the third special privilege enjoyed by our
patriarch in this chapter, namely,—

Intercession for others before the Lord. He was enabled to plead for those, who were
mixed up in Sodom's defilement, and in danger of being involved in Sodom's judgement.
This was a happy and a holy use to make of his place of nearness to God. Thus it is ever.
The soul that can "draw near to God," in the assurance of faith, having the heart and
conscience perfectly at rest, being able to repose in God as to the past, the present, and
the future—that soul will be able and willing to intercede for others. The man, who has
on "the whole armour of God," will be able to pray for all saints." And, oh I what a view
this gives us of the intercession of our Great High Priest, mho has passed into the
heavens! What infinite repose He enjoys in all the divine counsels! With what conscious
acceptance He sits enthroned amid the brightness of the Majesty in the heavens! And
with what efficacy He pleads, before that Majesty, for those, who are toiling along, amid
the defilement of this present scene! Happy, ineffably happy, they, who are the subjects
of such all prevailing intercession! At once happy and secure. Would that we had hearts
to enter into all this hearts enlarged by personal communion with God, to take in more of
the infinite fullness of His grace, and the suitability of His provision, for all our need.

We see, in this scripture, that, how blessed soever Abraham's intercession might be, yet it
was limited, because the intercessor was but a man. It did not reach the need. He said, "I
will speak yet but this once," and there he stopped short, as if afraid of having presented
too large a draft at the treasury of infinite grace, or forgetting that faith's cheque was
never yet dishonoured at God's bank. It was not that he was straitened in God. By no
means. There was abundance of grace and patience in Him to have hearkened to His dear
servant, had he proceeded even to three or one. But the servant was limited. He was
afraid of overdrawing his account He ceased to ask, and God ceased to give. Not so our
blessed Intercessor. Of Him it can be said," He is able to save to the uttermost,..... seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession." May our hearts cling to Him, in all our need, our
weakness, and our conflict.

Before closing this section, I would offer a remark, which, whether it may be regarded as
properly flowing: out of the truth contained therein, or not, is nevertheless worthy of
consideration. It is of the utmost importance, in the study of scripture, to distinguish
between God's moral government of the world, and the specific hope of the Church. The
entire body of Old Testament prophecy, and much of the New, treats of the former, and,
in so doing, presents, I need hardly say, a subject of commanding interest to every
Christian. It is interesting to know what God is doing, and will do, with all the nations of
the earth. Interesting to read God's thoughts about Tyre, Babylon, Nineveh, and
Jerusalem; about Egypt, Assyria, and the land of Israel. In short, the entire range of Old
Testament prophecy demands the prayerful attention of every true believer. But, let it be
remembered, we do not find therein contained the proper hope of the Church. How could
we? If we have not therein the Church's existence directly revealed, how could we have
the Church's hope? Impossible. It is not that the Church cannot find there a rich harvest
of divine moral principles, which she may most happily and profitably use. She
undoubtedly can; but this is quite another thing from finding there her proper existence
and specific hope. And yet, a large portion of the Old Testament prophecies has been
applied to the Church; and this application has involved the whole subject in such mist
and confusion, that simple minds are scared away from the study, and, in neglecting the
study of prophecy, they have also neglected that which is quite distinct from prophecy,
properly so called, even the hope of the Church, which hope, be it well remembered, is
not anything which God is going to do with the nations of the earth, but to meet the Lord
Jesus in the clouds of heaven, to be for ever with Him, and for ever like Him.

Many may say, I have no head for prophecy. Perhaps not, but have you a heart for Christ
Surely if you love Christ, you will love His appearing, though you may have no capacity
for prophetic investigation. An affectionate wife may not have a head to enter into her
husband's affairs; but she has a heart for her husband's return. She might not be able to
understand his ledger and day-book; but she knows his footstep, and recognises his voice.
The most unlettered saint, if only he has affection for the Person of the Lord Jesus, can
entertain the most intense desire to see Him; and this is the Church's hope. The apostle
could say to the Thessalonians, "ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true
God, and to wait for his Son from heaven." (1 Thess. 1: 9, 10) Now, evidently, those
Thessalonian saints could, at the moment of their conversion, have known little, if
anything, of prophecy, or the special subject thereof; and yet they were, at that very
moment, put into the full possession and power of the specific hope of the Church—even
the coming of the Son. Thus is it throughout the entire New Testament. There, no doubt,
we have prophecy-there, too, we have God's moral government; but, at the same time,
numberless passages might be adduced in proof of the fact, that the common hope of
Christians in apostolic times—the simple, unimpeded, and unencumbered hope was,
THE RETURN OF THE BRIDEGROOM. May the Holy Ghost revive "that blessed
hope" in the Church—may He gather in the number of the elect, and "make ready a
people prepared for the Lord."

Genesis 19
There are two methods which the Lord graciously adopts, in order to draw the heart away
from this present world. The first is, by setting before it the attractiveness and stability of
"things above." The second is, by faithfully declaring the evanescent and shakeable
nature of "things on the earth." The close of Hebrews 12 furnishes a beautiful example of
each of these methods. After stating the truth, that we are come unto mount Zion, with all
its attendant joys and privileges, the apostle goes on to say, "see that ye refuse not him
that speaketh: for if they escaped not, who refused him that spake on earth, much more
shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven; whose voice
then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once I shake, not only the
earth, but also heaven. Now this word Once signifieth the removal of the shakeable
things, as of things that are made, that the unshakeable things may remain." Now it is
much better to be drawn by the joys of heaven, than driven by the sorrows of earth.. The
believer should not wait to be shaken out of present things. He should not wait for the
world to give him up, before he gives up the world. He should give it up in the power of
communion with heavenly things. There is no difficulty in giving up the world when we
have, by faith, laid hold of Christ; the difficulty would then be to hold it. If a scavenger
were left an estate of ten thousand a year, he would not long continue to sweep the
streets. Thus, if we are realising our portion amid the unshakeable realities of heaven, we
shall find little difficulty in resigning the delusive joys of earth. Let us now look at the
solemn section of inspired history here set before us.

In it we find Lot "sitting in the gate of Sodom," the place of authority. He has evidently
made progress. He has "got on in the world." Looked at from a worldly point of view, his
course has been a successful one. He, at first, "pitched his tent toward Sodom." Then, no
doubt, he found his way into it; and now we find him sitting in the gate—a prominent,
influential post. How different is all this from the scene with which the preceding chapter
opens! But, ah! my reader, the reason is obvious. "By faith Abram sojourned in the land
of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles." We have no such statement,
in reference to Lot.* It could not be said, "By faith Lot sat in the gate of Sodom." Alas!
no; he gets no place among the noble army of confessors—the great cloud of witnesses to
the power of faith. The world was his snare, present things his bane. He did not "endure
as seeing him who is invisible." He looked at "the things which are seen, and temporal:"
whereas Abram looked at "the things which are unseen and eternal." There was a most
material difference between those two men, who, though they started together on their
course, reached a very different goal, so far as their "public testimony was concerned. No
doubt Lot was saved, yet it was "So as by fire," for, truly, "his work was burned up." On
the other hand, Abraham had "an abundant entrance ministered unto him into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
{*It would furnish a very searching question for the heart, in reference to every
undertaking, were we to ask, "Am I doing this by faith?" "Whatever is not of faith is sin;"
and, "Without faith it is impossible to please God.}

Further, we do not find that Lot is permitted to enjoy any of the high distinctions and
privileges with which Abraham was favoured. Instead of refreshing the Lord, Lot gets his
righteous soul vexed; instead of enjoying communion with the Lord, he is at a lamentable
distance from the Lord; and, lastly, instead of interceding for others, he finds enough to
do to intercede for himself. The Lord remained to commune with Abraham, and merely
sent His angels to Sodom; and these angels could, with difficulty, be induced to enter into
Lot's house, or partake of his hospitality: "they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street
all night." What a rebuke! How different from the willing acceptance of Abraham's
invitation, as expressed in the words, "So do as thou hast said."

There is a great deal involved in the act of partaking of any one's hospitality. It expresses,
when intelligently looked at, full fellowship with him. "I will come in unto him, and sup
with him, and he with me." "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my
house and abide." If they had not so judged her, they would not have accepted her
invitation.

Hence, the angels' word to Lot contains a most unqualified condemnation of his position
in Sodom. They would rather abide in the street all night, than enter under the roof of one
in a wrong position. Indeed, their only object in coming to Sodom seems to have been to
deliver Lot, and that, too, because of Abraham; as we read: "And it came to pass, when
God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of
the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt." This is
strongly marked. It was simply for Abraham's sake that Lot was suffered to escape: the
Lord has no sympathy with a worldly mind; and such a mind it was that had led Lot to
settle down amid the defilement of that guilty city. Faith never put him there; a spiritual
mind never put him there; "his righteous soul" never put him there. It was simple love for
this present evil world that led him, first, to "choose," then to "pitch his tent toward," and,
finally, to "sit in the gate of Sodom." And, oh! what a portion he chose. Truly it was a
broken cistern which could hold no water; a broken reed which pierced his hand. It is a
bitter thing to seek, in any wise, to manage for ourselves; we are sure to make the most
grievous mistakes. It is infinitely better to allow God to order all our ways for us, to
commit them all, in the spirit of a little child, to Him, who is so willing and so able to
manage for us; to put the pen, as it were, into His blessed hand, and allow Him to sketch
out our entire course, according to His own unerring wisdom and infinite love.

No doubt, Lot thought he was doing well for himself and his family, when he moved to
Sodom; but the sequel shows how entirely he erred; and it also sounds in our ears a voice
of deepest solemnity—a voice telling us to beware how we yield to the incipient
workings of a worldly spirit. "Be content with such things as ye have." Why? Is it because
you are so well off in the world? Because you have all that your poor rambling hearts
would seek after? Because there is not so much as a single chink in your circumstances,
through which vain desire might make its escape? Is this to be the ground of our
contentment By no means. What then? "For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee." Blessed portion! Had Lot been content therewith, he never would have
sought the well watered plains of Sodom.

And, then, if we need any further ground of inducement to the exercise of a contented
spirit, truly we have it in this chapter, What did Lot gain in the way of happiness and
contentment Little indeed. The people of Sodom surround his house, and threaten to
break into it; he seeks to appease them by a most humiliating proposition, but all in vain.
If a man will mingle with the world, for the purpose of self-aggrandisement, he must
make up his mind to endure the sad consequences. We cannot profit by the world, and, at
the same time, bear effectual testimony against its wickedness. "This one fellow came in
to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge." This will never do. The true way to judge is to
stand apart, in the moral power of grace, not in the supercilious spirit of Pharisaism. To
attempt to reprove the world's ways, while me profit by association with it, is vanity; the
world will attach very little weight to such reproof and such testimony. Thus it was, too,
with Lot's testimony to his sons-in law;" he seemed as one that mocked." It is vain to
speak of approaching judgement, while finding our place, our portion, and our
enjoyment, in the very scene which is to be judged.

Abraham was in a far better position to speak of judgement, inasmuch as he was entirely
outside of the sphere thereof. The tent of the stranger at Mamre was in no danger, though
Sodom were in flames. Oh! that our hearts longed more after the precious fruits of a
realised strangership, so that instead of having, like poor Lot, to be dragged, by main
force, out of the world, and casting a lingering look behind, we might, with holy alacrity,
bound forward, like a racer, towards the goal.

Lot, evidently, longed after the scene which he was forced, by angelic power, to abandon;
for not only had the angels to lay hold of him, and hasten him away from the impending
judgement, but even when exhorted to escape for his life, (which was all he could save
from the wreck,) and flee to the mountain, he replies, "Oh! not so, my Lord: behold, now,
thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou
hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some
evil take me and I die: behold, now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: oh I
let me escape thither, (is it not a little one) and my soul shall live." What a picture! He
seems like a drowning man, ready to catch even at a floating feather. Though
commanded by the angel to flee to the mountain, he refuses, and still fondly clings to the
idea of "a little city,"—some little shred of the world. He feared death in the place to
which God was mercifully directing him—yea, he feared all manner of evil, and could
only hope for safety in some little city, some spot of his own devising. Oh! let me escape
thither, and my soul shall live." How sad. There is no casting himself wholly upon God.
Alas! he had too long walked at a distance from Him; too long breathed the dense
atmosphere of a "city," to be able to appreciate the pure air of the divine presence, or lean
on the arm of the Almighty. His soul seemed completely unhinged; his worldly nest had
been abruptly broken up, and he was not quite able to nestle himself, by faith, in the
bosom of God. He had not been cultivating communion with the invisible world; and,
now, the visible was passing away from beneath his feet with tremendous rapidity. The
"fire and brimstone from heaven" were about to fall upon that in which all his hopes and
all his affections were centred. The thief had broken in upon him, and he seems entirely
divested of spiritual nerve and self-possession. He is at his wits' end; but the worldly
element, being strong in his heart, prevails, and he seeks his only refuge in "a little city."
Yet he is not at ease even there, for he leaves it, and gets up to the mountain. He does,
through fear, what he would not do at the command of God's messenger.

And, then, see his end! His own children make him drunk, and in his drunkenness he
becomes the instrument of bringing into existence the Ammonites and the Moabites—the
determined enemies of the people of God. What a volume of solemn instruction is here
Ohl my reader, see here what the world is! see what a fatal thing it is to allow the heart to
go out after it! What a commentary is Lot's history upon that brief but comprehensive
admonition, "love not the world" This world's Sodoms and its Zoars are all alike. There is
no security, no peace, no rest, no solid satisfaction for the heart therein. The judgement
of God hangs over the whole scene; and He only holds back the sword, in long-suffering
mercy, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Let us, then, seek to pursue a path of holy separation from the world. Let us, while
standing outside its entire range, be found cherishing the hope of the Master's return. May
its well-watered plains have no charms for our hearts. May its honours, its distinctions,
and its riches, be all surveyed by us in the light of the coming glory of Christ. May we be
enabled, like the holy patriarch Abraham, to get up into the presence of the Lord, and,
from that elevated ground, look forth upon the scene of wide-spread ruin and
desolation—to see it all, by faith's anticipative glance, a smoking ruin. Such it will be.
"The earth, also, and the things that are therein, shall be burned up." ALL that about
which the children of this world are so intensely anxious-after which they are so eagerly
grasping-for which they are so fiercely contending—all—all will be burned up. And who
can tell how soon? Where is Sodom Where is Gomorrha? Where are the cities of the
plain—those cities which were once all life, and stir, and bustle! Where are they now?
All gone! swept away by the judgement of God. Consumed by His fire and brimstone.
Well, His judgements now hang over this guilty world. The day is at hand; and, while
judgements impend, the sweet story of grace is being told out to many an ear. Happy
they, who hear and believe that story. Happy they, who fled to the strong mountain of
God's salvation! who take refuge behind the cross of the Son of God, and therein and
pardon and peace!

God grant that the reader of these lines may know what it is, with a conscience purged
from sin, and his heart's affections purged from the defiling influence of the world, to
wait for the Son from heaven.

Genesis 20
We have two distinct points in this chapter: first, the moral degradation to which the
child of God sometimes subjects himself, in the view of the world; and, secondly, the
moral dignity which always belongs to him in the view of God. Abraham again exhibits
the dread of circumstances, which the heart can so easily understand. He sojourns in
Gerar, and fears the men of that place. Judging that God was not there, he forgets that He
is always with him. He seems to be more occupied with the men of Gerar than with the
One who was stronger than they. Forgetting God's ability to protect his wife, he has
recourse to the same stratagem which, years before, he had adopted in Egypt. This is very
admonitory. The father of the faithful was carried away, by taking his eye off God. He
lost, for a little, his centre in God, and, therefore, gave way. How true it is, that we are
only strong as we cling to God in the sense of our perfect weakness. So long as we are in
the path of His appointment, nothing can harm us. Had Abraham simply leaned on God,
the men of Gerar would not have meddled with him; and it was his privilege to have
vindicated God's faithfulness in the midst of the most appalling difficulties. Thus, too, he
would have maintained his own dignity, as a man of faith.

It is often a source of sorrow to the heart to mark how the children of God dishonour
Him, and, as a consequence, lower themselves before the world, by losing the sense of
His sufficiency for every emergency. So long as we live in the realisation of the truth,
that all our springs are in God, so long shall we be above the world, in every shape and
form. There is nothing so elevating to the whole moral being as faith: it carries one
entirely beyond the reach of this world's thoughts; for how can the men of the world, or
even worldly minded Christians, understand the life of faith? Impossible: the springs on
which it draws lie far away beyond their comprehension. They live on the surface of
present things. So long as they can see what they deem a proper foundation for hope and
confidence, so long they are hopeful and confident; but the idea of resting solely on the
promise of an unseen God, they understand not. But the man of faith is calm in the midst
of scenes in which nature can see nothing. Hence it is, that faith ever seems, in the
judgement of nature, such a reckless, improvident, visionary thing. None but those, who
know God, can ever approve the actings of faith, for none but they really understand the
solid and truly reasonable ground of such actings.

In this chapter we find the man of God actually exposing himself to the rebuke and
reproach of the men of the world, by reason of his actings, when under the power of
unbelief. Thus it must ever be. Nothing but faith can impart true elevation to a man's
course and character. We may ,it is true, see some, who are naturally upright and
honourable in their ways, yet nature's uprightness and honour cannot be trusted: they rest
on a bad foundation, and are liable to give way at any moment. It is only faith which can
impart a truly elevated moral tone, because it connects the soul in living power with God,
the only source of true morality. And it is a remarkable fact, that, in the case of all those
whom God has graciously taken up, we see that, when off the path of faith, they sank
even lower than other men. This will account for Abraham's conduct in this part of his
history.

But there is another point of much interest and value brought out here. We find that
Abraham had harboured an evil thing for a number of years: be had, it seems, started
upon his course with a certain reserve in his soul, which reserve was the result of his
want of full, unqualified confidence in God. Had he been able fully to trust God in
reference to Sarah, there would have been no need of any reserve or subterfuge whatever.
God would have fenced her round about from every ill; and who can harm those, who are
the happy subjects of His unslumbering guardianship? However, through mercy,
Abraham is enabled to bring out the root of the whole matter—to confess and judge it
thoroughly, and get rid of it. This is the true way to act. There can be no real blessing and
power till every particle of leaven is brought forth into the light and there trampled under
foot. God's patience is exhaustless. He can wait. He can bear with us; but He never will
conduct a soul to the culminating point of blessing and power, while leaven remains
known and unjudged. Thus much as to Abimelech and Abraham. Let us now look at the
moral dignity of the latter, in the view of God.

In the history of God's people, whether we look at them as a whole, or as individuals, we
are often struck with the amazing difference between what they are in God's view, and
what they are in the view of the world. God sees His people in Christ. He looks at them
through Christ; and hence He sees them "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."
They are as Christ is before God. They are perfected for ever, as to their standing in
Christ. "They are not in the flesh but in the spirit."

But, in themselves, they are poor, feeble, imperfect, stumbling, inconsistent creatures;
and, inasmuch as it is what they are in themselves, and that alone, that the world takes
knowledge of, therefore it is that the difference seems so great between the divine and
the human estimate.

Yet it is God's prerogative to set forth the beauty, the dignity, and the perfection of His
people. It is His exclusive prerogative, inasmuch as it is He Himself who has bestowed
those things. They are only comely through the comeliness which He has put upon them;
and it is, therefore, due to Him to declare what that comeliness is; and truly He does it in
a manner worthy of Himself, and never more blessedly than when the enemy comes forth
to injure, to curse, or accuse. Thus, when Balak seeks to curse the seed of Abraham,
Jehovah's word is, "I have not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither have I seen perverseness
in Israel." "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel. Again, when
Satan stands forth to resist Joshua, the word is, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan,.....is not
this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Thus He ever puts Himself between His people and
every tongue that would accuse them. He does not answer the accusation by a reference
to what His people are in themselves, or to what they are in the view of the men of this
world, but to what He Himself has made them, and where He has set them.

Thus, in Abraham's case, he might lower himself in the view of Abimelech, king of
Gerar; and Abimelech might have to rebuke him, yet, when God comes to deal with the
case, He says to Abimelech, "Behold, thou art but a dead man;" and of Abraham he says,"
He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee." Yes, with all "the integrity of his heart, and
the innocency of his hands," the king of Gerar was "but a dead man;" and, moreover, he
must be a debtor to the prayers of the erring and inconsistent stranger for the restoration
of the health of his household. Such is the manner of God: He may have many a secret
controversy with His child, on the ground of his practical ways; but directly the enemy
enters a suit against him, Jehovah ever pleads His servant's cause. "Touch not mine
anointed, and do my prophets no harm." "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of
mine eye." "It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? No dart of the enemy
can penetrate the shield, behind which the Lord has hidden the very feeblest lamb of His
blood-bought flock. He hides His people in His pavilion, sets their feet upon the rock of
ages, lifts their heads above their enemies round about, and fills their hearts with the
everlasting joy of His salivation.

His name be praised for evermore!

Genesis 21
And the Lord visited Sarah, as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had
spoken." Here we have accomplished promise—the blessed fruit of patient waiting upon
God. None ever waited in vain. The soul, that takes hold of God's promise by faith, has
gotten a stable reality which will never fail him. Thus was it with Abraham; thus was it
with all the faithful from age to age; and thus will it be with all those, who are enabled,
in any measure, to trust in the living God. Oh! it is a wonderful blessing to have God
Himself as our portion and resting-place, amid the unsatisfying shadows of this scene
through which we are passing; to have our anchor cast within the veil; to have the word
and oath of God, the two immutable things, to lean upon, for the comfort and tranquillity
of our souls.

When God's promise stood before the soul of Abraham, as an accomplished fact, he
might well have learnt the futility of his own effort to reach that accomplishment.
Ishmael was of no use, whatever, so far as God's promise was concerned. He might, and
did, afford something for nature's affections to entwine themselves around, thus
furnishing a more difficult task for Abraham to perform afterwards; but he was in no
wise conducive to the development of the purpose of God, or to the establishment of
Abraham's faith—quite the reverse. Nature can never do ought for God. The Lord must
visit and the Lord must "do," and faith must wait, and nature must be still; yea, must be
entirely set aside as a dead, worthless thing, and then the divine glory can shine out, and
faith find in that outshining all its rich and sweet reward. "Sarah conceived and bare
Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him." There is
such a thing as God's "set time," His "due season," and for this the faithful must be
content to wait. The time may seem long, and hope deferred may make the heart sick; but
the spiritual mind will ever find its relief in the assurance, that all is for the ultimate
display of God's glory. "For the vision is for an appointed time, but at the end it shall
speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
. . . . . but the just shall live by his faith." (Hab. 2: 3, 4) This wondrous faith! It brings into
our present all the power of God's future, and feeds upon God's promise as a present
reality. By its power the soul is kept hanging upon God, when every outward thing seems
to be against it; and,"at the set time," the mouth is filled with laughter. "Abraham was an
hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him." Thus nature had nothing to
glory in. "Man's extremity was God's opportunity;" and Sarah said, "God hath made me to
laugh." All is triumph when God is allowed to show Himself.

Now while the birth of Isaac filled Sarah's mouth with laughter, it introduced an entirely
new element into Abraham's house. The son of the free-woman very speedily developed
the true character of the son of the bond-woman. Indeed, Isaac proved, in principle, to be
to the household of Abraham, what the implantation of the new nature is in the soul of a
sinner. It was not Ishmael changed, but it was Isaac born. The son of the bond-woman
could never be anything else but that. He might become a great nation, he might dwell in
the wilderness, and become an archer, he might become the father of twelve princes, but
he was the son of the bond-woman all the while. On the contrary, no matter how weak
and despised Isaac might be, he was the son of the free-woman. His position and
character, his standing and prospects, were all from the Lord. "That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Regeneration is not a change of the old nature, but the introduction of a new; it is the
implantation of the nature or life of the Second Adam, by the operation of the Holy
Ghost, founded upon the accomplished redemption of Christ, and in full keeping with the
sovereign will or counsel of God. The moment a sinner believes in his heart, and
confesses with his mouth, the Lord Jesus, he becomes the possessor of a new life, and
that life is Christ. He is born of God, is a child of God, is a son of the free-woman. (See
Rom. 10: 9; Col. 3: 4; 1 John 3: 1, 2; Gal. 3: 26; Gal. 4: 31)

Nor does the introduction of this new nature alter, in the slightest degree, the true,
essential character of the old. This latter continues what it was, and is made, in no
respect, better; yea, rather, there is the full display of its evil character in opposition to
the new element. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and
these are contrary the one to the other." There they are in all their distinctness, and the
one is only thrown into relief by the other.

I believe this doctrine of the two natures in the believer is not generally understood; and
yet, so long as there is ignorance of it, the mind must be utterly at sea, in reference to the
true standing and privileges of the child of God. Some there are, who think that
regeneration is a certain change which the old nature undergoes; and, moreover, that this
change is gradual in its operation, until, at length, the whole man becomes transformed.
That this idea is unsound, can be proved by various quotations from the New Testament.
For example, "the carnal mind is enmity against God." How can that, which is thus
spoken of, ever undergo any improvement? The apostle goes on to say, "it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be." If it cannot be subject to the law of God, how
can it be improved How can it undergo any change? Again, "that which is born of the
flesh is flesh." Do what you Will with flesh, and it is flesh all the while. As Solomon
says, "Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar, among wheat with a pestle, yet will
not his foolishness depart from him." (Prov. 27: 22) There is no use in seeking to make
foolishness wise: you must introduce heavenly wisdom into the heart that has been
heretofore only governed by folly. Again, "ye have put off the old man." (Col. 3: 9) He
does not say, Ye have improved, or are seeking to improve, "the old man;" but, Ye have
put it off. This gives us a totally different idea. There is a very great difference between
seeking to mend an old garment, and casting it aside altogether, and putting on a new
one. This is the ides of the last-quoted passage. It is a putting off the old, and a putting on
of the new. Nothing can be more distinct or simple.

Passages might easily be multiplied to prove the unsoundness; of the theory, with respect
to the gradual improvement of the old nature—to prove that the old nature is dead in sins,
and utterly unrenewable and unimproveable; and, moreover, that the only thing we can
do with it is, to keep it under our feet in the power of that new life, which we have in
union with our risen Head in the heavens.

The birth of Isaac did not improve Ishmael, but only brought out his real opposition to
the child of promise. He might have gone on very quietly and orderly till Isaac made his
appearance; but then he showed what he was, by persecuting and mocking at the child of
resurrection. What then was the remedy? To make Ishmael better? By no means; but,
"cast out this bondwomen and her son; for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir
with my son, even with Isaac." (8-10) Here was the only remedy. "That which is crooked
cannot be made straight;" therefore you have only to get rid of the crooked thing
altogether, and occupy yourself with that which is divinely straight. It is labour lost to
seek to make a crooked thing straight. Hence all efforts after the improvement of nature,
are utterly futile, so far as God is concerned. It may be all very well for men to cultivate
and improve that which is of use to themselves; but God has given his children something
infinitely better to do, even to cultivate that which is His own creation, the fruits of
which, while they, in no wise, serve to exalt nature, are entirely to His praise and glory.

Now the error into which the Galatian churches fell, was the introduction of that which
addressed itself to nature. "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye
cannot be saved." Here salvation was made to depend upon something that man could be,
or man could do, or man could keep. This was upsetting the whole glorious fabric of
redemption, which, as the believer knows, rests exclusively upon what Christ is, and
what He has done. To make salvation dependent, in the most remote manner, upon
anything in, or done by, man, is to set it entirely aside. In other words, Ishmael must be
entirely cast out, and all Abrahams hopes be made to depend upon what God had done,
and given, in the person of Isaac. This, it is needless to say, leaves man nothing to glory
in. If present or future blessedness were made to depend upon even a divine change
wrought in nature, flesh might glory. Though my nature were improved, it would be
something of me, and thus God would not have all the glory. But when I am introduced
into a new creation, I find it is all of God, designed, matured, developed by Himself
alone. God is the actor, and I am a worshipper; He is the blesser, and I am the blessed; He
is "the better," and I am "the less;" (Heb. 7: 7) He is the giver, and I am the receiver. This
is what makes Christianity what it is; and, moreover, distinguishes it from every system
of human religion under the sun, whether it be Romanian, Puseyism, or any other ism
whatsoever. Human religion gives the creature a place more or less; it keeps the bond-
woman and her son in the house; it gives man something to glory in. On the contrary,
Christianity excludes the creature from all interference in the work of salvation; casts out
the bond-woman and her son, and gives all the glory to Him, to whom alone it is due.

But let us inquire who this bond-woman and her son really are, and what they shadow
forth. Galatians 4 furnishes ample teaching as to these two points. In a word, then, the
bond-woman represents the covenant of the law; and her son represents all, who are "of
works of law," or on that principle (ex ergwn nomou). This is very plain. The bond-
woman only genders to bondage, and can never bring forth a free man. How can she? The
law never could give liberty, for so long as a man was alive it ruled him. (Rom. 7: 1) I
can never be free so long as I am under the dominion of any one. But while I live, the law
rules me; and nothing but death can give me deliverance from its dominion. This is the
blessed doctrine of Rom. 7. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law
by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another, even to him that is raised
from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." This is freedom; for, "If the
Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.'' (John 8: 36) So, then, brethren, we are
not children of the bond-woman, but of the free." (Gal. 4: 31)

Now, it is in the power of this freedom that we are enabled to obey the command, cast
out this bondwoman and her son." If I am not consciously free, I shall be seeking to attain
liberty in the strangest way possible, even by keeping the bond-woman in the house: in
other words, I shall be seeking to get life by keeping the law; I shall be establishing my
own righteousness. No doubt, it will involve a struggle to cast out this element of
bondage, for legalism is natural to our hearts. "The thing was very grievous in Abraham's
sight, because of his son." Still, however grievous it may be, it is according to the divine
mind that we should abidingly stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hat made us free,
and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Gal. 5: 1) May we, beloved
reader, so fully and experimentally enter into the blessedness of God's provision for us in
Christ, that we may be done with all thoughts about the flesh, and all that it can be, do, or
produce. There is a fullness in Christ which renders all appeal to nature utterly
superfluous and vain.

Genesis 22
Abraham is now in a fit moral position to have his heart put to a most severe test. The
long-cherished reserve being put forth from his heart, in Gen. 20—the bond-woman and
her son being put forth from his house, as in Gen. 21, he now stands forth in the most
honoured position in which any soul can be placed, and that is a position of trial from the
hand of God Himself. There are various kinds of trial-trial from the hand of Satan; trial
from surrounding circumstances; but the highest character of trial is that which comes
directly from the hand of God, when He puts His dear child into the furnace for the
purpose of testing the reality of his faith. God will do this: He must have reality. It will
not do to say "Lord, Lord," or, "I go, sir." The heart must be probed to the very bottom, in
order that no element of hypocrisy, or false profession, may he allowed to lodge there.
"My son, give me thine heart." He does not say, "give me thine head, or thine intellect, or
thy talents, or thy tongue, or thy money;" but "give me thine heart:" and in order to prove
the sincerity of our response to this gracious command, He will lay His hand upon
something very near our hearts. Thus he says to Abraham, "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." This was coming
very close to Abraham's heart. It was passing him through a searching crucible indeed.
God "requires truth in the inward parts." There may be much truth on the lips, and much
in the intellect, but God looks for it in the heart. It is no ordinary proof that will satisfy
God, as to the love of our hearts. He Himself did not rest satisfied with giving an ordinary
proof. He gave His Son, and we should aim at giving very striking proofs of our love to
Him who so loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins.

However, it is well to see that God confers a signal honour upon us when He thus tests
our hearts. We never read that "the Lord did tempt Lot." No; Sodom tempted Lot. He
never reached a sufficiently high elevation to warrant his being tried by the hand of
Jehovah. It was too plainly manifest that there was plenty between his heart and the Lord,
and it did not, therefore, require the furnace to bring that out. Sodom would have held out
no temptation whatever to Abraham. This was made manifest in his interview with
Sodom's king, in chapter 14. God knew well that Abraham loved him far better than
Sodom; but He would make it manifest, that He loved him better than any one or
anything, by laying his hand upon the nearest and dearest object. "Take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac." Yes, Isaac, the child of promise; Isaac, the object of long-deferred
hope, the object of parental love, and the one in whom all the kindreds of the earth were
to be blessed. This Isaac must be offered as a burnt-offering. This, surely, was putting
faith to the test, in order that, being more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be
tried with fire, it might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory. Had Abraham's
whole soul not been stayed simply on the Lord, he never could have yielded unhesitating
obedience to such a searching command. But God Himself was the living and abiding
support of his heart, and therefore he was prepared to give up all for Him.

The soul that has found all its springs in God, can, without any demur, retire from all
creature streams. We can give up the creature, just in proportion as we have found out, or
become experimentally acquainted with, the Creator, and no further. To attempt to give
up the visible things in any other way, save in the energy of that faith which lays hold of
the invisible, is the most fruitless labour possible. It cannot be done. I withhold fast my
Isaac until I have found my all in God. It is when me are enabled, by faith, to say "God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," that we can also add, "therefore
will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea." (Ps. 46: 1, 2)

"And Abraham rose up early in the morning." There is ready obedience. "I made haste
and delayed not to keep thy commandments." Faith never stops to look at circumstances,
or ponder results; it only looks at God; it expresses itself thus; "But when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son
in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood." (Gal. 1: 1, 5, 16) The moment we confer with flesh and blood, our
testimony and service are marred, for flesh and blood can never obey. We must rise early,
and carry out, through grace, the divine command. Thus we are blessed, and God is
glorified. Having God's own word as the basis of our acting will ever impart strength and
stability to our acting. If we merely act from impulse, when the impulse subsides, the
acting will subside also.

There are two things needful to a course of steady and consistent action, viz., the Holy
Ghost, as the power of action, and the word to give proper direction. To use a familiar
illustration: on a railway, we should find motive-power of little use without the iron rails
firmly laid down; the former is the power by which we move; and the latter, the
direction. It is needless to add that the rails would be of little use without the steam.
Now, Abraham was blessed with both. He had the power of action conferred by God; and
the command to act given by God also. His devotedness was of a most definite character;
and this is deeply important. We frequently find much that looks like devotedness, but
which, in reality, is but the desultory activity of a will not brought under the powerful
action of the word of God. ALL such apparent devotedness is worthless, and the spirit
from which it proceeds will very speedily evaporate. We may lay down the following
principle, viz, whenever devotedness passes beyond divinely appointed bounds it is
suspicious. If it comes not up to these bounds it is defective; if it flows without them it is
erratic. I quite admit that there are extraordinary operations and ways of the Spirit of
God, in which He asserts His own sovereignty, and rises above ordinary bounds; but, in
such cases, the evidence of divine activity will be sufficiently strong to carry home
conviction to every spiritual mind; nor will they, in the slightest degree, interfere with the
truth of the principle that true devotedness will ever be founded upon and governed by
divine principle. To sacrifice a son might seem to be an act of most extraordinary
devotedness; but, be it remembered, that, what gave that act all its value, in God's sight,
was the simple fact of its being based upon God's command.

Then, we have another thing connected with true devotedness, and that is a spirit of
sonship. "I and the lad will go yonder and worship." The really devoted servant will keep
his eye, not on his service, be it ever so great, but on the Master, and this will produce a
spirit of worship. If I love my master, according to the flesh, I shall not mind whether I
am cleaning his shoes or driving his carriage; but if I am thinking more of myself than of
him, I shall rather be a coachman than a shoe black. So is it precisely in the service of the
heavenly Master: if I am thinking only of Him, planting churches and making tents will
be both alike to me. We may see the same thing in angelic ministry. It matters not to an
angel whether he be sent to destroy an army, or to protect the person of some heir of
salvation. It is the Master who entirely fills his vision. As some one has remarked, "if two
angels were sent from heaven, one to rule an empire, and the other to sweep, the streets,
they would not dispute about their respective work." This is most true, and so should it be
with us. The servant should ever be combined with the worshipper, and the works of our
hands perfumed with the ardent breathings of our spirits. In other words we should go
forth to our work in the spirit of those memorable words, "I and the lad will go yonder
and worship." This would effectually preserve us from that merely mechanical service
into which we are so prone to drop; doing things for doing's sake, and being more
occupied with our work than with our Master. ALL must flow from simple faith in God,
and obedience to His word.

"BY faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the
promises, offered up his only-begotten." (Heb. 11: 17) It is only as we are walking by
faith that we can begin, continue, and end our works in God. Abraham not merely set out
to offer his son, but he went on, and reached the spot which God had appointed. "And
Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took
the fire in his hand, and a knife: and they went both of them together." And further on we
read, "And Abraham built an altar there; and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his
son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and
took the knife to slay his son." This was real work, "A work of faith and labour of love,"
in the highest sense. It was no mere mockery no drawing near with the lips, while the
heart was far off—no saying "I go, sir, and went not." It was all deep reality, just such a
faith ever delights to produce, and which God delights to accept. It is easy to make a
show of devotedness when there is no demand for it. It is easy to say, "though all shall be
offended because of thee, yet will never be offended . . . . . . though I should die with
thee, yet will not deny thee;" but the point is to stand the trial. When Peter was put to the
test, he entirely broke down. Faith never talks of what it will do, but does what it can in
the strength of the Lord. Nothing can be more thoroughly worthless than a spirit of empty
pretension. It is just as worthless as the basis on which it rests. But faith acts "when it is
tried;" and till then it is content to be unseen and silent.

Now, it needs hardly to be remarked that God is glorified in those Holy activities of faith.
He is the immediate object of them, as He is the spring from whence they emanate. There
was not a scene in Abraham's entire history in which God was so much glorified as the
scene on Mount Moriah. There it was that he was enabled to bear testimony to the fact
that he had found all his fresh springs in God—found them not merely previous to, but
after, Isaac's birth. This is a most touching point. It is one thing to rest in God's blessings,
and another thing to rest in Himself. It is one thing to trust God when I have before my
eyes the channel through which the blessing is to flow; and quite another thing to trust
Him when that channel is entirely stopped up. This was what proved the excellency of
Abraham's faith. He showed that he could not merely trust God for an innumerable seed
while Isaac stood before him in health and vigour; but just as fully if he were a smoking
victim on the altar. This was a high order of confidence in God; it was unalloyed
confidence; it mss not a confidence propped up, in part, by the Creator, and in part by the
creature. No it rested on one solid pedestal, viz, God Himself. "He accounted that God
was able." He never accounted that Isaac was able. Isaac, without God, was nothing;
God, without Isaac, was everything. This is a principle of the very last importance, and
one eminently calculated to test the heart most keenly. Does it make any difference to me
to see the apparent channel of all my blessings dried up? Am I dwelling sufficiently near
the fountain-head to be able, with a worshipping spirit, to behold all the creature streams
dried up? This I do feel to be a searching question. Have I such a simple view of God's
sufficiency as to be able, us it were, to "stretch forth my hand and take the knife to slay
my son." Abraham was enabled to do this, because his eye rested on the God of
resurrection. "He accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the dead."

In a word, it was with God he had to do, and that was quite enough. He was not suffered
to strike the blow. He had gone to the very utmost bounds; be had come up to the line
beyond which God could not suffer him to go. The Blessed One spared the father's heart
the pang which He did not spare His own heart, even that of smiting His Son. He, blessed
be His name, passed beyond the utmost bounds, for "he spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all." "It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief."
There was no voice from heaven when, on Calvary, the Father offered up His only-
begotten Son. No; it was a perfectly accomplished sacrifice; and, in its accomplishment,
our everlasting peace is sealed.

However, Abraham's devotedness was fully proved, and fully accepted. For now "I know
that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."
Mark it is "now I know." It had never been proved before. It was there, no doubt, and, if
there, God knew it; but the valuable point here, is, that God founds His knowledge of it
upon the palpable evidence afforded at the altar upon Mount Moriah. Faith is always
proved by action, and the fear of God by the fruits which flow from it. "Was not Abraham
our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar" (James 2: 21)
Who could think of calling his faith in question Take away faith, and Abraham appears
on Moriah as a murderer, and a madman. Take faith into account, and he appears as a
devoted worshipper—a God-fearing, justified man. But faith must be proved. "What doth
it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works" (James 2: 14)
Will either God or man be satisfied with a powerless and profitless profession? Surely
not. God looks for reality and honours it where He sees it; and as for man, he can
understand nought save the living and intelligible utterance of a faith that shows itself in
acts. We are surrounded by the profession of religion; the phraseology of faith is on every
lip; but faith itself is as rare a gem as ever-that faith which will enable a man to push out
from the shore of present circumstances, and meet the waves and the winds, and not only
meet them, but endure them, even though the Master should seem to be asleep on the
pillow.

And here I would remark: the beautiful harmony between James and Paul, on the subject
of justification. The intelligent and spiritual reader, who bows to the important truth of
the plenary inspiration of holy scripture, knows full well that, on this question it is not
with Paul or James we have to do, but with the Holy Ghost, who graciously used each of
those honoured men as the pen to write His thoughts, just as I might take up a quill pen or
a steel pen to write my thoughts, in which case it would be quite preposterous to speak of
a discrepancy between the two pens, inasmuch as the writer is one. Hence it is just as
impossible that two divinely-inspired penmen could clash, as that two heavenly bodies,
while moving in their divinely appointed orbits, could come into collision.

But, in reality, as might be expected, there is the fullest and most perfect harmony
between these two apostles; indeed, on the subject of justification, the one is the
counterpart or exponent of the other. Paul gives us the inward principle, James the
outward development of that principle; the former presents the hidden life, the latter the
manifested life; the former looks at man in relation to God, the latter looks at him in his
relation to man. Now we want both: the inward would not do without the outward; and
the outward would be valueless and powerless without the inward. "Abraham was
justified" when "he believed God;" and "Abraham was justified" when" he offered Isaac
his son." In the former case we have his secret standing; in the latter, his public
acknowledgement by heaven and earth. It is well to understand this distinction. There
was no voice from heaven when "Abraham believed God," though in God's view he was
there, then, and that "counted righteous;" but "when he had offered his son upon the
altar," God could say, "now I know;" and all the world had a powerful and unanswerable
proof of the fact that Abraham was a justified man. Thus will it ever be. Where there is
the inward principle, there will be the outward acting; but all the value of the latter
springs from its connection with the former. Disconnect, for one moment, Abraham's
acting, as set forth by James, from Abraham's faith as set forth by Paul, and that justifying
virtue did it possess? None whatever. All its value, all its efficacy, all its virtue, springs
from the fact that it was the outward manifestation of that faith, by virtue of which he
had been already counted righteous before God. Thus much as to the admirable harmony
between Paul and James, or rather, as to the unity of the voice of the Holy Ghost, whether
that voice be uttered by Paul or James.

We now return to our chapter. It is deeply interesting to mark here how Abraham's soul is
led into a fresh discovery of God's character by the trial of his faith. When we are enabled
to bear the testings of God's own hand, it is sure to lead us into some new experience
with respect to His character, which makes us to know how valuable the testing is. If
Abraham had not stretched out his hand to slay his son, he never would have known the
rich and exquisite depths of that title which he here bestows upon God, viz., "Jehovah
Jireh." It is only when we are really put to the test that we discover what God is. Without
trial we can be but theorists, and God would not have us such: He would have us entering
into the living depths that are in Himself-the divine realities of personal communion with
Him. With what different feelings and convictions must Abraham have retraced his steps
from Moriah to Beer-sheba ! from the mount of the Lord to the well of the oath! What
very different thoughts of God! What different thoughts of Isaac! What different thoughts
Of every-thing! Truly we may say, "Happy is the man that endureth trial. It is an honour
put upon one by the Lord Himself, and the deep blessedness of the experience to which it
leads cannot be easily estimated. It is when men are brought, to use the language of
Psalm 107, "to their wits' end," that they discover what God is. Oh! for grace to endure
trial, that God's workmanship may appear, and His name be glorified in us.

There is one point which, before closing my remarks on this chapter, I shall notice, and
that is the gracious way in which God gives Abraham credit for having done the act
which he had showed himself so fully prepared to do. "By myself have I sworn, saith the
Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son,
that in blessing, I will bless thee, and in multiplying, I will multiply thy seed as the stars
of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: because
thou hast obeyed my voice." This beautifully corresponds with the Spirit's notice of
Abraham's acting, as put before us in Heb. 11 and also in James 2, in both of which
scriptures he is looked upon as having offered Isaac his son upon the altar. The grand
principle conveyed in the whole matter is this: Abraham proved that he was prepared to
have the scene entirely cleared of all but God; and, moreover, it was this same principle
which both constituted and placed him a justified man. Faith can do without every one
and everything but God. It has the full sense of His sufficiency, and can, therefore, let go
all beside. Hence Abraham could rightly estimate the words, "by myself have I sworn."
Yes, this wondrous word," myself," was everything to the man of faith. "For when God
made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by
himself...... For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them
an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of
promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath." The word and oath of
the living God should put an end to all the strivings and workings of the human will, and
form the immovable anchor of the soul amid all the tossing and tumult of this stormy
world.

Now, we must condemn ourselves consistently, because of the little power which the
promise of God has in our hearts. There it is, and we profess to believe it; but ah! it is not
that deep, abiding, influential reality which it ought ever to be; we do not draw from it
that 'strong consolation" which it is calculated to afford. How little prepared are we, in
the power of faith, in the promise of God, to slay our Isaac! We need to cry to God that
He would be graciously pleased to endow us with a deeper insight into the blessed reality
of a life of faith in Himself, that so me may understand better the import of that word of
John, "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith." We can only
overcome the world by faith. Unbelief puts us under the power of present things; in other
words, it gives the world the victory over us. A soul that has entered, by the teaching of
the Holy ghost, into the sense of God's sufficiency, is entirely independent of things here.
Beloved reader, may we know this, for our peace and joy in God, and His glory in us.

Genesis 23
This little section of inspiration furnishes much sweet and profitable instruction to the
soul. In it the Holy Spirit sets before us a beautiful exhibition of the mode in which the
man of faith should carry himself toward those that are without. While it is true, divinely
true, that faith makes a man independent of the men of the world, it is no less true that
faith will ever teach him to walk honestly toward them. We are told to "walk honestly
toward them that are without;" (1 Thess. 4: 12) "to provide things honest in the sight of
all;" (2 Cor. 8: 21) "to owe no man anything." (Rom. 13: 8) These are weighty precepts—
precepts which, even before their distinct enunciation, were duly observed in all ages by
the faithful servants of Christ, but which, in modern times, alas! have not been
sufficiently attended to.

The 23rd of Genesis, therefore, is worthy of special notice. It opens with the death of
Sarah, and introduces Abraham in a new character, viz, that of a mourner. "Abraham
came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her." The child of God must meet such things;
but he must not meet them as others. The great fact of resurrection comes in to his relief,
and imparts a character to his sorrow quite peculiar. (1 Thess. 4: 13, 14) The man of faith
can stand at the grave of a brother or sister, in the happy consciousness that it shall not
long hold its captive," for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." The redemption of the soul secures the
redemption of the body; the former we have, the latter we wait for. (Rom. 8: 23)

Now, I believe that in purchasing Machpelah for a burying-place, Abraham gave
expression to his faith in resurrection. "He stood up from before his dead." Faith cannot
long keep death in view; it has a higher object, blessed be the "living God" who has given
it. Resurrection is that which ever fills the vision of faith; and, in the power thereof, it
can rise up from before the dead. There is much conveyed in this action of Abraham. We
want to understand its meaning much more fully, because we are much too prone to be
occupied with death and its consequences. Death is the boundary of Satan's power; but
where Satan ends, God begins. Abraham understood this when he rose up and purchased
the cave of Machpelah as a sleeping place for Sarah. This was the expression of
Abraham's thought in reference to the future. He knew that in the ages to come, God's
promise about the land of Canaan would be fulfilled, and he was able to lay the body of
Sarah in the tomb, "in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection."

The sons of Heth knew nothing about this. The thoughts which were filling the patriarch's
soul were entirely foreign to the uncircumcised children of Heth. To them it seemed a
small matter where he buried his dead, but it was by no means a small matter to him. "I
am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying-place with
you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight." It might, and manifestly did, appear
strange to them to make so much ado about a grave; but, "beloved, the world knoweth us
not, even as it knew him not." The finest traits and characteristics of faith are those which
are most incomprehensible to the natural man. The Canaanites had no idea of the
expectations which were giving character to Abraham's actings on this occasion. They
had no ides that he was looking forward to the possession of the land, while he was
merely looking for a spot in which, as a dead man, he might wait for God's time, and
God's manner, viz., the MORNING OF RESURRECTION. He felt he had no controversy
with the children of Heth, and hence he was quite prepared to lay his head in the grave,
and allow God to act for him, and with him, and by him.

"These all died in (or according to) faith, (kata pistin,) not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced
them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Heb. 11: 13)
This is a truly exquisite feature in the divine life. Those "witnesses," of whom the apostle
is speaking in Heb. 11 not merely lived by faith, but even when they arrived at the close
of their career, they proved that the promises of God were as real and satisfying to their
souls as when they first started. Now, I believe this purchase of a burying place in the
land was an exhibition of the power of faith, not only to live, but to die. Why was
Abraham so particular about this purchase? Why was he so anxious to make good his
claim to the field and cave of Ephron on righteous principles? Why so determined to
weigh out the full price "current with the merchant" Faith is the answer. He did it all by
faith. He knew the lend was his in prospect, and that in glory his seed should yet possess
it, and until then he would be no debtor to those who were yet to be dispossessed.

Thus we may view this beautiful chapter in a twofold light; first, as setting before us a
plain, practical principle, as to our dealings with the men of this world; and secondly, as
presenting the blessed hope which should ever animate the man of faith. Putting both
these points together, we have an example of what the child of God should ever be. The
hope set before us in the gospel is a glorious immortality; and this, while it lifts the heart
above every influence of nature and the world, furnishes a high and holy principle with
which to govern all our intercourse with those who are without. "We know that when he
shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." This is our hope. What
is the moral effect of this? "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even
as he is pure." (1 John 3: 2, 3) If I am to be like Christ by and by, I shall seek to be as like
Him now as I can. Hence, the Christian should ever seek to walk in purity, integrity and
moral grace in the view of all round.

Thus it was with Abraham, in reference to the sons of Heth. His whole deportment and
conduct, as set forth in our chapter, would seem to have been marked with very pure
elevation and disinterestedness. He was "a mighty prince among them," and they would
fain have done him a favour; but Abraham had learnt to take his favours only from the
God of resurrection, and while he would pay them for Machpelah he would look to Him
for Canaan The sons of Heth knew well the value of "current money with the merchant,"
and Abraham knew the value of the cave of Machpelah. It was worth much more to him
than it was to them. "The land was worth to them "four hundred shekels of silver," but to
him it was priceless, as the earnest of an everlasting inheritance, which, because it was an
everlasting inheritance, could only be possessed in the power of resurrection. Faith
conducts the soul onward into God's future; it looks at things as He looks at them, and
estimates them according to the judgement of the sanctuary. Therefore, in the
intelligence of faith, Abraham stood up from before his dead, and purchased a burying-
place, which significantly set forth his hope of resurrection, and of an inheritance
founded thereon.

Genesis 24
The connection of this chapter, with the two which precede it, is worthy of notice. In
Gen. 22 the son is offered up; in Gen. 23 Sarah is laid aside; and in Gen. 24 the servant is
sent forth to procure a bride for him who had been, as it were, received from the dead in
a figure. This connection, in a very striking manner, coincides with the order of events
connected with the calling out of the Church. whether this coincidence is to be regarded
as of divine origin, will, it may be, raise a question in the minds of some; but it must at
least be regarded as not a little remarkable.

When me turn to the New Testament, the grand events which meet our view are, first, the
rejection and death of Christ; secondly, the setting aside of Israel after the flesh; and,
lastly, the calling out of the Church to occupy the high position of the bride of the Lamb.

Now, all this exactly corresponds with the contents of this and the two preceding
chapters. The death of Christ needed to be an accomplished fact, ere the Church, properly
so called, could be called out. "The middle wall of partition" needed to be broken down,
ere the "One new man" could be developed. It is well to understand this in order that we
may know the place which the Church occupies in the ways of God. So long as the
Jewish economy subsisted there was the most strict separation maintained between Jew
and Gentile, and hence the idea of both being united in one new man was far removed
from the mind of a Jew. He was led to view himself in a position of entire superiority to
that of a gentile, and to view the latter as utterly unclean, to whom it was unlawful to
come in. (Acts 10: 28)

If Israel had walked with God according to the truth of the relationship into which He had
graciously brought them, they would have continued in their peculiar place of separation
and superiority; but this they did not do; and, therefore, when they had filled up the
measure of their iniquity, by crucifying the Lord of life and glory, and rejecting the
testimony of the Holy Ghost, we find St. Paul is raised up to be the minister of a new
thing, which was held back in the counsels of God, while the testimony to Israel was
going on. "For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have
heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to you-ward: how that
by revelation he made known unto me the mystery which in other ages was not made
known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets
(i.e., New Testament prophets, toi" aJgioi" apostoloi" autou kai profhtai") by the
Spirit; that the gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his
promise in Christ by the gospel." (Eph. 3: 1-6) This is conclusive. The mystery of the
Church, composed of Jew and Gentile, baptised by one Spirit into one body, united to the
glorious Head in the heavens, had never been revealed until Paul's day. Of this mystery
the apostle goes on to say, "I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of
God, given unto me, by the effectual working of his power." (Ver. 7) The apostles and
prophets of the New Testament formed, as it were, the first layer of this glorious
building. (See Eph. 2: 20) This being so, it follows, as a consequence, that the building
could not have been begun before. If the building had been going on from the days of
Abel, downwards, the apostle would then have said, "the foundation of the Old
Testament saints." But he has not said so, and therefore we conclude that, whatever be
the position assigned to the Old Testament saints, they cannot possibly belong to a body
which had no existence, save in the purpose of God, until the death and resurrection of
Christ, and the consequent descent of the Holy Ghost. Saved they were, blessed be God;
saved by the blood of Christ, and destined to enjoy heavenly glory with the Church; but
they could not have formed a part of that which did not exist for hundreds of years after
their time.

It were easy to enter upon a more elaborate demonstration of this most important truth,
were this the place for so doing; but I shall now go on with our chapter, having merely
touched upon a question of commanding interest, because of its being suggested by the
position of Genesis 24.

There may be a question, in some minds, as to whether we are to view this deeply-
interesting portion of scripture as a type of the calling out of the Church by the Holy
Ghost. For myself, I feel happier in merely handling it as an illustration of that glorious
work. We cannot suppose that the Spirit of God would occupy an unusually long chapter
with the mere detail of a family compact, were that compact not typical or illustrative of
some great truth. "whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our
learning." This is emphatic. What, therefore, are we to learn from the chapter before us? I
believe it furnishes us with a beautiful illustration or foreshadowing of the great mystery
of the Church. It is important to see that, while there is no direct revelation of this
mystery in the Old Testament, there are, nevertheless, scenes and circumstances which,
in a very remarkable manner, shadow it forth; as, for example, the chapter before us. As
has been remarked, the son being, in a figure, offered up, and received again from the
dead; the original parent stem, as it were, being laid aside, the messenger is sent forth by
the father to procure a bride for the son.

Now, in order to the clear and full understanding of the contents of the entire chapter, we
may consider the following points, viz., 1, the oath; 2, the testimony; 3, the result. It is
beautiful to observe that the call and exaltation of Rebekah were founded upon the oath
between Abraham and his servant. She knew nothing of this, though she was, in the
purpose of God, so entirely the subject of it all. So is it exactly with the Church of God as
a whole and each constituent part. "In thy book were all my members written, which in
continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them." (Ps. 139: 16)
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love." (Eph. 1: 3, 4) "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he
also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Rom. 8: 20, 30) These
scriptures are all in beautiful harmony with the point immediately before us. The call, the
justification, and the glory of the Church, are all founded on the eternal purpose of
God—His word and oath, ratified by the death, resurrection, and exaltation of the Son.
Far back, beyond the bounds of time, in the deep recesses of God's eternal mind, lay this
wondrous purpose respecting the Church, which cannot, by any means, be separated from
the divine thought respecting the glory of the Son. The oath between Abraham and the
servant had for its object the provision of a partner for the son. It was the father's desire
with respect to the son that led to Rebekah's after-dignity. It is happy to see this. Happy to
see how the Church's security and blessing stand inseparably connected with Christ and
His glory. "For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the
man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." (1 Cor. 11: 8, 9) So it is in the
beautiful parable of the marriage supper; "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain
king which made a marriage for his son." (Matt. 22: 2) The Son is the Grand object of all
the thoughts and counsels of God: and if any are brought into blessing, or glory, or
dignity, it can only be in connection with Him. ALL title to these things, and even to life
itself, was forfeited by sin; but Christ met all the penalty due to sin; He made Himself
responsible for everything on behalf of His body the Church; He was nailed to the cross
as her representative He bore her sins in His own body on the tree, and went down into
the grave under the full weight of them. Hence, nothing can be more complete than the
Church's deliverance from all that was against her. She is quickened out of the grave of
Christ, where all her trespasses were laid. The life which she has is a life taken up at the
other side of death, after every possible demand had been met. Hence, this life is
connected with, and founded upon, divine righteousness, inasmuch as Christ's title to life
is founded upon His having entirely exhausted the Power of death; and He is the Church's
life. Thus the Church enjoys divine life; she stands in divine righteousness; and the hope
that animates her is the hope of righteousness. (See, amongst many other scriptures, John
3: 16, 36; John 5: 39, 40; John 6: 27, 40, 47, 68; John 11: 25; John 17: 2; Rom. 5: 21;
Rom. 6: 23; 1 Tim. 1: 16; 1 John 2: 25; 5: 20; Jude 21; Eph. 2: 1-6, 14, 15; Col. 1: 12-22
Col. 2: 10-15; Rom 1: 17; Rom 3: 21-26; Rom 4: 5, 23-25; 2 Cor. 5: 21; Gal. 5: 5)

These scriptures most fully establish the three points, viz., the life, the righteousness, and
the hope of the Church, all of which flow from her being one with Him who was raised
from the dead. Now, nothing can be so calculated to assure the heart as the conviction
that the Church's existence is essential to the glory of Christ. "The woman is the glory of
the man." (1 Cor. 11: 7) And again, the Church is called "the fullness of him that filleth
all in all." (Eph. 1: 23) This last is a remarkable expression. The word translated
"fullness" means the complement, that which, being added to something else, makes up a
whole. Thus it is that Christ the Head, and the Church the body, make up the "one new
man." (Eph. 2: 15) Looking at the matter in this point of view, it is no marvel that the
Church should have been the object of God's eternal counsels. When me view her as the
body, the Bride, the companion, the counterpart, of His only-begotten Son, we feel that
there was, through grace, wondrous reason for her being so thought of before the
foundation of the world. Rebekah was necessary to Isaac, and therefore, she was the
subject of secret counsel while yet in profound ignorance about her high destiny ALL
Abrahams thought was about Isaac. "I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of
heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell." Here we see that the all-important
point was, "a wife unto my son." "It is not good that the man should be alone." This opens
up a very deep and blessed view of the Church. In the counsels of God she is necessary to
Christ; and in the accomplished work of Christ, divine provision has been made for her
being called into existence.

While occupied with such a character of truth as this, it is no longer a question as to
whether God can save poor sinners; He actually wants to "make a marriage" for his Son,"
and the Church is the destined bride—she is the object of the Father's purpose, the object
of the Son's love, and of the testimony of the Holy Ghost. She is to be the sharer of all the
Son's dignity and glory, as she is the sharer of all that love of which He has been the
everlasting object. Hear His own words, "And the glory which thou gavest me, I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and
hast loved them as thou hast loved me." (John 17: 22, 23) This settles the whole question.
The words just quoted give us the thoughts of Christ's heart in reference to the Church.
She is to be as He is, and not only so, but she is so even now, as St. John tells us, "Herein
is love perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as
he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17) This gives full confidence to the soul. "We
are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." (2
John 5: 20) There is here no ground for uncertainty. Everything is secured for the bride in
the bridegroom. ALL that belonged to Isaac became Rebekah's because Isaac was hers;
and so all that belongs to Christ is made available to the Church. "ALL things are yours;
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or
things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." (1 Cor. 3: 21-23)
Christ is "head over all things to the Church." (Eph. 1: 22) It will be His joy, throughout
eternity, to exhibit the Church in all the glory and beauty with which He has endowed
her, for her glory and beauty will be but the reflection of His. Angels and principalities
shall behold in the Church the marvellous display of the wisdom, power, and grace of
God in Christ.

But we shall now look at the second point for consideration, viz., the testimony.
Abraham's servant carried with him a very distinct testimony. "And he said, I am
Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed My master greatly, and he is become greet;
and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and men servants, and
maid servants, and camels, and asses. and Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to my
master when she was old; and unto him hath he given all that he hath." (Ver. 34-36) He
reveals the father and the son. Such was his testimony. He speaks of the vast resources of
the father, and of the son's being endowed with all these in virtue of his being "the only-
begotten," and the object of the father's love. With this testimony he seeks to obtain a
bride for the son.

ALL this, I need hardly remark, is strikingly illustrative of the testimony with which the
Holy Ghost was sent from heaven upon the day of Pentecost. "When the Comforter is
come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (John 15: 26) Again, "Howbeit when
he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to
come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you." All things
that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show
it unto you. (John 16: 13-15) The coincidence of these words with the testimony of
Abraham's servant is instructive and interesting. It was by telling of Isaac that he sought
to attract the heart of Rebekah; and it is, as we know, by telling of Jesus, that the Holy
Ghost seeks to draw poor sinners away from a world of sin and folly into the blessed and
holy unity of the body of Christ. "He shall take of mine and show it Unto you." The Spirit
of God will never lead any one to look at Himself or His work; but only and always at
Christ. Hence, the more really spiritual any one is, the more entirely will he be occupied
with Christ.

Some there are who regard it as a great mark of spirituality to be ever looking in at their
own hearts, and dwelling upon what they find there, even though that be the work of the
Spirit. This is a great mistake. So far from its being a proof of spirituality, it is a proof of
the very reverse, for it is expressly declared of the Holy Ghost that "He shall take of mine
and show it unto you." Therefore, whenever one is looking inward, and building on the
evidences of the Spirit's work there, he may be assured he is not led by the Spirit of God,
in so doing. It is by holding up Christ that the Spirit draws souls to God. This is very
important. The knowledge of Christ is life eternal; and it is the Father's revelation of
Christ, by the Holy Ghost, that constitutes the basis of the Church. When Peter confessed
Christ to be the Son of the Living God, Christ's answer was, "blessed art thou, Simon
Barjonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven. And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. 16: 17, 18) What rock?
Peter? God forbid. "This rock" (tauth th petra) simply means the Father's revelation
of Christ, as the Son of the living God, which is the only means by which any one is
introduced into the assembly of Christ. Now this opens to us, very much, the true
character of the gospel. It is, pre-eminently and emphatically, a revelation—a revelation
not merely of a doctrine, but of a Person—the Person of the Son. This revelation being
received by faith, draws the heart to Christ, and becomes the spring of life and power—
the ground of membership—the power of fellowship. "When it pleased God.....to reveal
His Son in me," &c. Here we have the true principle of "the rock," viz., God revealing His
Son. It is thus the superstructure is reared up; and on this solid foundation it reposes,
according to God's eternal purpose.

It is therefore peculiarly instructive to find in this 24th of Genesis such a marked and
beautiful illustration of the mission and special testimony of the Holy Ghost. Abraham's
servant, in seeking to procure a bride for Isaac, sets forth all the dignity and wealth with
which he had been endowed by the father; the love of which he was the object; and, in
short, all that was calculated to affect the heart, and draw it off from present things. He
showed Rebekah an object in the distance, and set before her the blessedness and reality
of being made one with that beloved and highly favoured object. ALL that belonged to
Isaac would belong to Rebekah too, when she became part of him. Such was his
testimony. Such, also, is the testimony of the Holy Ghost. He speaks of Christ, the glory
of Christ, the beauty of Christ, the fullness of Christ, the grace of Christ, "the
unsearchable riches of Christ," the dignity of His Person, and the perfectness of His work.

Moreover, he sets forth the amazing blessedness of being one with such a Christ,
"members of His body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Such is the Spirit's testimony
always; and herein we have an excellent touchstone by which to try all sorts of teaching
and preaching. The most spiritual teaching will ever be characterised by a full and
constant presentation of Christ. He will ever form the burden of such teaching. The Spirit
cannot dwell on ought but Jesus. Of Him He delights to speak. He delights in setting forth
His attractions and excellencies. Hence, when a man is ministering by the power of the
Spirit of God, there will always a be more of Christ than anything else in his ministry.
There will be little room in such ministry for human logic and reasoning. Such things
may do very well where a man desires to set forth himself; but the Spirit's sole object be
it well remembered by all who minister—will ever be to set forth Christ.

Let us now look, in the last place, at the result of all this. Truth, and the practical
application of truth, are two very different things. It is one thing to speak of the peculiar
glories of the Church, and quite another thing to be practically influenced by those
glories. In Rebekah's case the effect was most marked and decisive. The testimony of
Abraham's servant sank down into her ears, and into her heart, and entirely detached her
heart's affections from the scene of things around her. She was ready to leave all and
follow after, in order that she might apprehend that for which she had been apprehended.
It was morally impossible that she could believe herself to be the subject of such high
destinies, and yet continue amid the circumstances of nature. It the report concerning the
future were true, attachment to the present was the worst of folly. If the hope of being
Isaac's bride, joint-heir with him of all his dignity and glory, if this were a reality, then to
continue to tend Laban's sheep would be practically to despise all that God had, in grace,
set before her.

But, no, the prospect was far too bright to be thus lightly given up. True, she had not yet
seen Isaac, nor yet the inheritance, but she had believed the report, the testimony of him,
and had received, as it were, the earnest of it, and these were enough for her heart; and
hence she unhesitatingly arises and expresses her readiness to depart in the memorable
words," I will go." "She was fully prepared to enter upon an unknown path in
companionship with one who had told her of an object far away, and of a glory connected
with him, to which she was about to be raised. "I will go," said she, and "forgetting the
things which were behind, and reaching forth toward the things which were before, she
pressed toward the mark for the prize of her high calling." Most touching and beautiful
illustration this of the Church, under the conduct of the Holy Ghost, going onward to
meet her heavenly Bridegroom. This is what the Church should be; but, alas! there is sad
failure here. There is little of that holy alacrity in laying aside every weight and every
entanglement, in the power of communion with the Holy Guide and Companion of our
way, whose office and delight it is to take of the things of Jesus, and show them unto us;
just as Abraham's servant took of the things of Isaac, and showed them to Rebekah: and
no doubt, too, he found his joy in pouring fresh testimonies concerning the son into her
ear, as they moved onward toward the consummation of all her joy and glory. Thus it is,
at least with our heavenly guide and companion. He delights to tell of Jesus, "He shall
take of mine and show it unto you;" and again, "he shall show you things to come." Now,
this is what we really want, this ministry of the Spirit of God, unfolding Christ to our
souls, producing earnest longing to see Him, as He is, and be made like Him for ever.
Nought but this will ever detach our hearts from earth and nature. What, save the hope of
being associated with Isaac, would ever have: led Rebekah to say, "I will go," when her
"brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least ten." And
so with us: nothing but the hope of seeing Jesus as He is, and being like Him, will ever
enable or lead us to purify ourselves, even as He is pure.

Genesis 25
In the opening of this chapter, Abrahams second marriage is set before us, an event not
without its interest to the spiritual mind, when viewed in connection with what we have
been considering in the preceding chapter. With the light furnished by the prophetic
scriptures of the New testament, we understand that after the completion and taking up of
the elect bride of Christ, the seed of Abraham will again come into notice. Thus, after the
marriage of Isaac, the Holy Ghost takes up the history of Abrahams seed by a new
marriage, together with other points in his history, and that of his seed, according to the
flesh. I do not press a