Mature Faith–Illustrated By Abraham's Offering Up Isaac
A sermon
(No. 868)
Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, MAY 2, 1869, by
C.H.SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"And He said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,
and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of."- Genesis
22:2.
I DO not intend to enter into this narrative in its bearing upon our
Lord, although we have here one of the most famous types of the
Only-Begotten, whom the Great Father offered up for the sins of His
people. Perhaps that may be the subject this evening. But as I have, in
the recollection of some of you, already given you three sermons upon
the life of Abraham, [See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit–Volume
14–Nos. 843, 844, 845–"Effectual Calling–Illustrated by the Call of
Abram" "Justification by Faith–Illustrated by Abram's Righteousness."
"Consecration to God–Illustrated by Abraham's Circumcision."]
illustrating his effectual calling, his justification and his
consecration to the Lord, we will now complete the series by dwelling
upon the triumph of Abraham's faith when his spiritual life had come to
the highest point of maturity.
Opening your Bibles at this chapter, you will please observe the time
when God tried Abraham with the severest of his many ordeals. It was
"after these things," that is to say, after nine great trials, each of
them most searching and remarkable. After he had passed through a great
flight of affliction and had through the process been strengthened and
sanctified, he was called to endure a still sterner test. From which
fact it is well to learn that God does not put heavy burdens upon weak
shoulders and He does not allot ordeals fit only for full-grown men to
those who are but babes. He educates our faith, testing it by trials
which increase little by little in proportion as our faith has
increased.
He only expects us to do man's work and to endure man's afflictions
when we have passed through the childhood state and have arrived at the
stature of men in Christ Jesus. Expect then, Beloved, your trials to
multiply as you proceed towards Heaven! Do not think that as you grow
in Divine Grace the path will become smoother beneath your feet and the
heavens serener above your heads. On the contrary, reckon that as God
gives you greater skill as a soldier, He will send you upon more
arduous enterprises. And as He more fully fits your boat to brave the
tempest and the storm, so will He send you out upon more boisterous
seas and upon longer voyages, that you may honor Him and still further
increase in holy confidence.
You would have thought that Abraham had now come to the land Beulah,
that in his old age, after the birth of Isaac and especially after the
expulsion of Ishmael, he would have had a time of perfect rest. Let
this warn us that we are never to reckon upon rest from tribulation
this side of the grave. No, the trumpet still sounds the note of war.
You may not yet sit down and bind the wreath of victory about your
brow–no garlands of laurel and songs of victory for you, yet–you have
still to wear the helmet and bear the sword. You must still watch and
pray, and fight, expecting that, perhaps, your last battle will be the
worst and that the fiercest charge of the foe may be reserved for the
end of the day.
Having thus observed the time when God was pleased to try the great
pattern of Believers, we shall now look at the trial itself. We shall
next see Abraham's behavior under it, and shall, in conclusion, spend a
little time in noting the reward which came to him as the result of his
endurance.
I. And first, THE TRIAL ITSELF. Every syllable of the text is
significant. If George Herbert were speaking of it, he would say the
words are all a case of knives cutting at Abraham's soul. There is
scarcely a single syllable of God's address to him, in the opening of
this trial, but seems intended to pierce the Patriarch to the quick.
Look. "Take now your son." What? A father slay his son! Was there
nothing in Abraham's tent that God would have but his son? He would
cheerfully
have given Him sacrifices of bullocks and flocks of sheep! All the
silver and the gold he possessed he would have lavished from the bag
with eager cheerfulness!
Will nothing content the Lord but Abraham's son? If one must be offered
of humankind, why not Eliezer of Damascus, the steward of his house?
Must it be his son? How this tugs at the father's heartstrings! His
son, the offspring of his own loins, must be made a burnt offering!
Will not God be content with any proof of his obedience but the
surrender of the fruit of his body? The word only is made particularly
emphatic by the fact that Ishmael had been exiled at the command of
God. Very much to Abraham's grief Hagar's child had been driven out.
"Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." So said Sarah–and God
bade the Patriarch regard the voice of his wife, so that now Isaac was
his only son.
If Isaac shall die, there is no other descendant left and no
probabilities of any other to succeed him. The light of Abraham will be
quenched and his name forgotten. Sarah is very old, as he himself is
also–no infant's cry will again gladden the tent–and Isaac is his
only son, a lone star of the night, the only son, the lamp of his
father's old age. Nor is that all–"Your only son, Isaac." What a
multitude of memories that word, "Isaac," awoke in Abraham's mind! This
was the child of promise, of a promise graciously given, of a promise,
the fulfillment of which was anxiously expected, but long, long, long
delayed.
Isaac, who had made his parents' hearts to laugh–the child of the
Covenant–the child in whom the father's hopes all centered, for he had
been assured, "In Isaac shall your seed be called." What? After all
must the gift of God be retracted? Must the Covenant of God be
nullified, and the channel of the promised blessings be dried up
forever? Oh, trial of trials! "Your son." "Your only son." "Your only
son, Isaac." And it was added, "whom you love." Must he be reminded of
his love to his heir at the very time when he is to lose him? Oh, stern
word that seems to have no heart of compassion in it! Was it not enough
to take away the loved one, without at the same instant awakening the
affections which were so rudely to be shocked?
Isaac was very rightly beloved of his father, for in addition to the
ties of nature and his being the gift of God's Divine Grace, Isaac's
character was most lovely. His behavior on the occasion of his
sacrifice proves that in his spirit there was an abundance of humility,
obedience, resignation and gentleness–indeed, of everything which can
make up the beauty of holiness! And such a character was quite sure to
have won the admiration of his father, Abraham, whose spiritual eyes
were well qualified to discern the excellences which shone in his
beloved son. Ah, why must Isaac die? And die, too, by his father's
hand! Oh, trial of trials!
Contemplative imagination and sympathetic emotion can better depict the
father's grief than any words which it is in my power to use. I cast a
veil where I cannot paint a picture! But note, not only was this tender
father to lose the best of sons, but he was to lose him in the direst
way. He must be sacrificed–he must be sacrificed by the father
himself! If the Lord had said, "Speak with Eliezer and charge him to
offer up your son," it would have softened the trial. But so far as
Abraham could understand the command, it seemed to say, you Abraham,
you must be the priest. Your own hand must grasp the sacrificial knife
and you must stand there with breaking heart to drive the knife into
the breast of your son and see him consumed, even to ashes, upon the
altar.
All this appeared to him to be involved in God's word, although the
Lord meant not so, but meant to accept the will for the deed.
Everything was designed to make the trial severe. The friend of God was
tried in such a way as probably never fell to the lot of man before or
since. In addition to the sacrifice, Abraham was commanded to go to a
mountain which God would show him. It is easy, on the spur of the
moment, and under the influence of sacred impulse, to hastily perform
an heroic deed of self-sacrifice. But it is not so easy for men of
passions, such as ours, to deliberate over the sacrifices demanded of
us.
But Abraham must have three days to chew this bitter pill which was,
indeed, hard enough, merely, to swallow and all the more unpalatable
when a man is made to learn in detail the wormwood and the gall–he
must journey on with that dear son before his eyes all day–listening
to that voice so soon to be silent and gazing into those bright eyes so
soon to swim with tears and to be dimmed in death. Abraham would have
to remember in him his mother's joy and his own delight, and all the
while meditating upon that fatal stroke which, so far as he knew, God
required of him. Oh, this laying siege to us by long and careful
barricade is that which tries us! A sharp assault we might far better
bear!
To be burnt to death quickly upon the blazing firewood is comparatively
an easy martyrdom. But to hang in chains roasting at a slow fire–to
have the heart, hour by hour, pressed as in a vice–this it is that
which tries faith! And this it was that Abraham endured through three
long days! Only faith, mighty faith, could have assisted him to look in
the face the grim trial which now assailed him. The Patriarch was, no
doubt, moved and tried and exercised not merely by the words which God
pronounced in his hearing, but by natural and painful suggestions
which, however readily they may have been disposed of, were, it would
appear to us, certain to arise.
He might have said, "I am called upon to perform an act which violates
every instinct of my nature, I am to offer up my child! Horrible!
Murderous! I am to burn my slaughtered child as a religious
act–terrible, barbarous, detestable! I am, myself, to offer him upon
the altar deliberately. How can I do it? How can God ask me to do that
which tears up by the roots every one of the affections which He
Himself has implanted–which runs counter to the whole of my noblest
humanity? How can I do this?"
Brothers and Sisters, coming home to ourselves and trying to make a
personal application of this, we may be called by the Word of God to
acts of obedience which may seem to us to do violence to all our
natural affections. Christians are sometimes commanded to come out from
the world by decided acts which provoke the hatred of those who are
nearest and dearest. Now, if they love God, they will not love father
nor mother, nor husband, nor brother, nor sister in comparison with
Him. And though Christians will ever be among the most tender-hearted
of men, they will count their allegiance to God to be such that they
must give up all for His sake, and deny every natural affection sooner
than violate the Divine Law.
Perhaps today you are suffering under an affliction which is grieving
all the powers of your nature. Perhaps the Lord has been pleased to
take away from you one dearer than life–for whom you could have been
well content to die. Oh, learn with Abraham to kiss the rod! Let not
Isaac stand before God! Let Isaac be dear, but let Isaac die sooner
than God should be distrusted! Bow your head and say, "Take what You
will, my God. Slay me, or take all I have, but I will still bless Your
holy name." This was a main part of Abraham's trial–that it appeared
to crush rudely all the tender outgrowths of the heart. And it may have
suggested itself to Abraham that he would in this way, by the slaughter
of his son, be rendering all the promises of God futile.
A very severe trial, that, for in proportion as a man believes the
promise and values it, will be his fear to do anything which might
render it of no effect. Brethren, there are times with us when we are
called to a course of action which looks as though it would jeopardize
our highest hopes. A Christian man is sometimes bound by duty to
perform an action which, to all appearances, will destroy his future
usefulness. I have often heard men urge, as a plea for remaining in a
corrupt Church, that they would lose the influence they had obtained in
its midst by reason of their position if they followed their conscience
and were true to God. But they are bound to lose all their supposed
influence and renounce their apparent vantage ground sooner than commit
the least trespass upon their conscience! As much bound to do so as
Abraham was bound to offer up Isaac–in whom all the promises of God
were centered.
It is neither your business nor mine to fulfill God's promise, nor to
do the least wrong to produce the greatest good. To do evil that good
may come is false morality and wicked policy! For us is duty–for God
is the fulfillment of His own promise and the preservation of our
usefulness. Though He dash my reputation into shivers and cast my
usefulness to the four winds, yet if duty calls me, I must not hesitate
a single second–for in that hesitation I shall be disobedient to my
God! At the behest of God, Isaac must be offered though the heavens
fall! And faith must answer all polite suggestions by the assurance
that what God ordains can never, in its ultimate issue, produce
anything but good! Obedience can never endanger blessings, for commands
are never in real conflict with promises–God can raise up Isaac and
fulfill His own decree.
Further, Abraham may have felt–one would think must have felt–the
thought that the death of Isaac was the destruction of all his comfort.
The tent shall be darkened for Sarah and the plain of Mamre barren as a
wilderness for her lamenting heart. Alas for the wretched parent who
has lost the hope of his old age and the stay of his decrepitude! The
sun grows black at noon and the moon is eclipsed in darkness if Isaac
dies. Better that all calamities should have happened than this dear
child be taken away! He must have felt thus, but it did not make him
hesitate. Sometimes the course of duty may lie right over the dead body
of our dearest comfort and our brightest hope. It may be our duty to do
that which will involve a succession of sorrows all but endless.
But you must do right come what may. If the Lord bids you, you must
seek faith to do it, though from that moment never should another joy
make glad your heart until you are fully compensated for the loss of
all by entering into the joy of your Lord at the last. It must also, I
should think, have occurred to Abraham, though he did not let it weigh
with him, that from that time forth he would make himself many enemies.
Many would distrust his character. Many would count him a perfect
wretch–he would find wherever he went that he was shunned as a
murderer of his own child. How should he bear to meet Sarah again?
"Where is my son? Surely a bloody husband are you to me," she would
say, with far greater truth than Zipporah to Moses.
How could he meet his servants again? How could he bear their looks
which would say to him, "You have slain your son! Embraced our hands in
the blood of your own offspring!" How could he face Abimelech and the
Philistines? How would the wandering tribes which roamed about his tent
all hear of this strange massacre and shudder at the thought of the
monster who defiled the earth on which he trod! And yet observe the
holy carelessness of this godlike man as to what might be thought or
said of him. What mattered it to him? Let them count him a devil–let a
universal hiss consign him to the lowest Hell of hatred and
contempt–he reckons not of it. God's will must be done! God will take
care of His servant's character, or if He does not, His servant must
suffer the consequences for his Lord's sake.
Abraham must obey! No second course is open to him. He will not think
of disobedience. He knows that God is right and he must do God's will,
come what may. This, mark you, is one of the most grand points about
the faith of the father of the faithful–and if you and I shall be
called to exhibit it, may we never be found lacking–but brave calumny
and reproach with cheerfulness, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
How Luther's lips must at first have trembled when he ventured to say
that the Pope was Antichrist! Why, Man, how can you dare to say such a
thing? Millions bow down before him! He is the vicar of God on earth!
Do they not worship our Lord God the Pope? "Yet he is Antichrist and a
very devil," said Luther. And at first he must have felt his ears burn
and his cheeks grow red at such a piece of apparent wickedness. And
when he found himself shunned by the ecclesiastics who once had courted
Doctor Martin Luther's company, think of what emptiness he must have
felt!
And when he heard the common howl that went up–even from the refuse of
mankind–that the monk was a drunkard and, inasmuch as he chose to
marry a nun, was filled with lust and sold to Satan and I know not what
beside, it must have been a grand thing when Luther could feel, "They
may call me what they will, but I know that God has spoken unto my soul
the great Truth that man is to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ and
not by ceremonies which the Pope ordains, nor the indulgences which he
grants. And if my name is consigned to the limbo of the infernal, yet
will I speak out the Truth of God which I know, and in God's name I
will not hold my tongue." We must be brought to this–to be willing to
put aside the verdict of our times and of all times past or future and
to stand alone, if need be, in the midst of a howling and infuriated
world, to do honor to the command of God which is the only necessity to
us. It is imperative for us to obey, even though it should bring shame
or death itself.
Here, then, was Abraham's faith made perfect, that, inasmuch as the
outward circumstances were severe and the suggestions arising out of
the circumstances were peculiarly perplexing, he put aside both and
dared the ills of all in order that he might, without delay or
objection, fulfill his Master's will to the full extent–firmly
believing that no hurt would come of it, but rather he, himself, should
be more blessed and God more glorified.
II. We shall now notice THE PATRIARCH UNDER THE TRIAL. In Abraham's
bearing during this test everything is delightful. In trying to mention
each detail, I fear that I may mar the effect of the whole. His
obedience is a picture of all the virtues in one, blended in marvelous
harmony! It is not so much in one point that the great Patriarch excels
as in the whole of his sacred deed.
First notice the submission of Abraham under this temptation. His
submission, I say, because you will observe that there is no record
kept of any answer which Abraham gave to God, verbally, or in any other
form. I suppose, therefore, that there was none. Strange and startling
command, "Take your only son and offer him for a burnt sacrifice!" But
Abraham does not argue the point. It is natural to expect that he
should have said, "But, Lord, do You really mean it? Can a human
sacrifice ever be acceptable to You? I know it cannot. You are love and
kindness–can You take delight, therefore, in the blood of my dear son?
It cannot be."
But there is not a word of argument! Not one solitary question that
even looks like hesitation. "God is God," he seems to say and it is not
for me to ask Him why, or seek a reason for His bidding. He has said
it. "I will do it." There
does not appear to have been a word of entreaty or prayer. Prayer
against so dread a trial might not have been sinful. If the man had
been less a man it might have been not only natural, but right for him
to say, "O my God, spare my child! Put me on some other trial, but not
on this, so strange, so mysterious. My Lord, for Sarah's sake and for
Your promise sake, test me not so."
I say that such a prayer as that might not have been sinful from an
ordinary man. It might have been, perhaps, even virtuous and
commendable–but from this grand soul there is no such prayer! He does
not ask to escape. He does not pray to be delivered when he once knows
God's will. Much less is there the semblance of murmuring. The man goes
about the whole business as if he had been only ordered to sacrifice a
lamb ordinarily taken from the flock. There is a coolness of
deliberation about it which does not prove that he was a stoic, but
which does prove that he was gigantic in his faith! "Not staggering,"
says the Apostle–and that is just the word.
You and I, if we had done right, would have done it in a staggering,
hesitating manner–but Abraham–not a nerve quivers, not a muscle is
paralyzed. He knows that God commands him and with awful sternness, and
yet with childlike simplicity, he sets about the sacrifice. The lesson
I gather from this (and we may as well collect these lessons as we go,
as gleaners who gather the ears as they walk down the furrows)–the
lesson is this–when you know a duty, never pray to be excused but go
and do it in God's name in the power of faith. If ever you clearly see
your Master's will, do not begin to argue it or wait for better
opportunities and so on–do it at once!
I know not how much of joy and honor some of you may have missed by the
evil habit of beating around the bush with your consciences. It is a
very terrible thing to begin to let conscience grow hard, for it soon
sears as with a hot iron. It is like the freezing of a pond. The first
film of ice is scarcely perceptible–keep the waters stirring and you
will prevent the ice from hardening it. But once let it film over and
remain so, it thickens over the surface and it thickens still and at
last it is so solid that a wagon might be drawn over the solid water.
So with conscience. It films over gradually and at last it becomes
hard, unfeeling–and it can bear up with a weight of iniquity. Ah, it
is not for us to delay obedience under the pretense ofprayer, but to
yield prompt service.
I have been sometimes surprised and staggered with Christian people who
have said in the matter of Baptism, for instance, "I am persuaded that
it is my duty as a Believer to be baptized, but it has never been laid
home to my conscience." Never laid home to your conscience?! You know
that God commands and yet you dare confess your conscience has become
so base that you do not feel it your duty to obey?! "Oh, but I have not
felt that it is impressed on me." Felt! And is feeling to be the
measure of your allegiance to God, the clipper and the cutter of God's
Law? If you know it to be the right, I charge you on your faith, obey!
O Sirs, this world has come to a sad pass because of the tricks men
play with their consciences! This is the cause of all those unnatural
senses that people give to texts and creeds! This is the secret reason
why the religion of this land which claims to be Protestant, is
becoming Popish to its very core–because evangelical men have sworn to
a Popish catechism and given it another sense–and instead of coming
out of a corrupt Church, have dallied with their consciences and so by
their practice have nullified their preaching and taught men to lie!
Small wonder is it that traders rob and cheat when men professing
godliness use words in senses which they can never bear to
unsophisticated minds. If professing men were but jealous for the glory
of God and exact and precise in all their walking before the Most High,
they would have more of the honor, more of the blessedness of
Abraham–and their influence upon the world would be more like salt and
less like the evil leaven which corrupts the mass.
But we must pass on to notice next Abraham's prudence. Prudence, some
of us heard this last week, may be a great virtue, but often becomes
one of the meanest and most beggarly of vices. Prudence rightly
considered is a notable handmaid to faith. And the prudence of Abraham
was seen in this, that he did not consult Sarah as to what he was about
to do. Naturally, Prudence, as we call it, would have said, "This is a
strange command. You had better consult with the wise about it. You
believe it comes from God, but you may be mistaken in your impression.
At least, it is due to Sarah, having such an interest in her own child,
to take her judgment in the matter. Moreover, there is that good man
Eliezer– he has often helped and guided you in a dilemma–you had
better have a talk with him."
"Yes," but Abraham probably thought, "these beloved ones may weaken me.
They cannot strengthen my resolution or alter my duty," and, therefore,
like Paul, he did not consult with flesh and blood. After all, my
Brethren, what is the good of consulting when we know the Lord's mind?
If I go to the Bible and see very plainly there that such-and-such a
thing is my duty–for me to consult with man as to whether I shall obey
God or not is treason against the Majesty of Heaven! It is vile for us
to consult with men when we have the plain command of God! Fancy an
inferior officer in an army, when ordered in the hour of battle to lead
an attack, turning round to a fellow soldier to ask his opinion of the
orders he has received from the commander-in-chief! Let the man be
tried by court-martial, or shot down upon the field–he is utterly
unloyal! It needs no overt act. The thought is mutiny! The words of
enquiry a flat rebellion. When God commands, we have nothing left but
to obey. Consultations with flesh and blood are sins of scarlet dye.
Notice, further, Abraham's alacrity. He rose early in the morning. Oh,
but the most of us would have taken a long sleep! Or if we could not
nave slept, we would have lain till dinner time at least, tossing
restlessly. "What? Slay my son– my only son Isaac? The command does
not specify the hour–there is no peremptory word as to the time of
starting upon the awful journey. At least let us postpone it as long as
we may, for the dear young man's sake! Let him live as long as
possible." But no. Delay was not in the Patriarch's mind. Is it not
grand? The holy man rises early! He will let his God see that He can
trust him and that he will do His bidding without reluctance.
O Believers, always be prompt in doing what God commands you! Hesitate
not! The very pith of your obedience will lie in your making haste and
delaying not to keep the Lord's commandment. He showed his alacrity,
again, by the fact that he prepared the wood himself. It is expressly
said that he "split the wood." He was a sheik and a mighty man in his
camp, but he became a wood-splitter, thinking no work menial if done
for God and reckoning the work too sacred for other hands. With
splitting heart he splits the wood. Wood for the burning of his heir!
Wood for the sacrifice of his own dear child! Herein you see the
alacrity of Abraham and may it be ours to obey God with such a ready
zeal that in every little circumstance of our obedience it shall be
seen that we are not unwilling slaves chained to the oar of duty and
flogged to service by the threats of the Law, but loving children of a
Father whom we count it our highest joy to serve, even though that
service should involve the sacrifice of our dearest Isaacs.
Further, I must ask you to notice Abraham's forethought. He did not
desire to break down in his deeds. Having split the wood, he took with
him the fire and everything else necessary to consummate the work. Some
people take no forethought about serving God and then if a little hitch
occurs, they cry out that it is a Providential circumstance and make an
excuse of it for escaping the unpleasant task. Oh, how easy it is when
you do not want to involve yourselves in trouble, to think that you see
some reason for not doing so! "You know," says one, "we must live."
"Ah," says another, "why should I throw myself out of a situation
merely because of a small point of conscience? And, indeed, there has
just now happened a circumstance which almost compels me to act against
my belief, at least for a time. Indeed, Providence dearly bids me
remain as I am. I know the Bible says I ought to act differently, but
still, you know, we must take circumstances into consideration, and if
they do not quite alter the commandments, they may, you know, be an
excuse for postponing obedience."
Abraham, the wise, thoughtful servant of God, takes care, as far as
possible, to forestall all difficulties that might prevent his doing
right. "No," he says, "there is no compromise for me, my duty is clear.
Does God command it? I will provide all that is necessary for the
fulfillment of His will. I want no excuse for drawing back, for draw
back I will not, come what may." Observe, further, Abraham's
perseverance. He continues three days in his journey, journeying
towards the place where he was as much to sacrifice himself as to
sacrifice his child. He bids his servants remain where they were,
fearful, perhaps, lest they might be moved by pity to prevent the
sacrifice.
Now you and I would have liked to provide ourselves with some friend
who might have stepped in to prevent and have taken the responsibility
off our shoulders. But, no, the good man puts everything aside that may
prevent him going to the end. Then he puts the wood on Isaac. Oh, what
a load he placed on his own heart as he lay that burden on his dear
son! He carried the fire himself in the censer at his side, but what a
fire consumed his heart! How sharp was the trial when the son said, "My
Father, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?" Was there
no tear for the Patriarch to brush away? He made but a short reply.
We have every reason to believe that other replies followed which are
not recorded, in which he explained to his son how the case stood and
what it was that God had commanded. It is hard to suppose that Isaac
would have blindly yielded, unless first an explanation had been given
that such a command had come from the highest Authority and must be
obeyed. Oh, the unhappiness of the father's mind! But let me rather say
the majesty of the father's faith that he puts
down all his feelings and though Nature speaks, yet Faith speaks
louder, still. And if the deep of his affliction calls out loud, yet
the deeper faith in his God calls louder still.
Now see him! See the holy man as he gathers up the loose stones which
lie upon Mount Moriah! See him take them and with the assistance of his
son, place them one upon another till the altar has been built. Do you
see him next lay the wood upon the altar in order? No signs of flurry
or trepidation. See him bind his son with cords! Oh, what cords were
those binding his poor, poor heart! He lays his son upon the altar as
though he were a victim! Now he unsheathes the knife and the deed is
about to be done!
But God is content. Abraham has truly sacrificed his son in his heart
and the command is fulfilled. Notice the obedience of this friend of
God–it was no playing at giving up his son–it was really doing it. It
was no talking about what he could do and would do, perhaps–his faith
was practical and heroic. I call upon all Believers to note this! We
must not only love God so as to hope that we should be ready to give up
all for Him, but we must be literally and actually ready to do it! We
must ask for more faith, that when the trial comes, we shall not be
proved to have been mere windbag pretenders–mere wordy talkers–but
true to God in very deed.
"Ah," said one the other night, "I thought I had great faith, but now
that I am racked with pain, I find I have scarcely any." "Oh," might
some of us say, "my God, I thought I had faith in You, but now it comes
to the endurance of this affliction which You put upon me, I am ready
to kick against You and cannot say, 'Your will be done.'" Ah, how many
professors love God until it comes to losing their pence and their
pounds! They will obey God until it involves penury and poverty. They
will be faithful to God till it comes to scoffing and shame and then
straightway they are offended and thereby prove who is their god–for
they turn away from the unseen and look for what they call the main
chance–for the interest of time and their own gain and their own
pleasures. God is no God of theirs except to talk about. Let Christ's
commands be pleasing and men will accept them. Let them grind a little
too severely and men turn aside, for, after all, most professors serve
their God up to a certain point, but no further and so show that they
love not God at all.
I have but very feebly brought out into the light the obedience of
Abraham. I must not, however, leave the picture till I have mentioned
what was at the bottom of it all. Paul tells us in the 11th chapter of
Hebrews, that "by faith Abraham offered up Isaac." Now what was the
faith that enabled Abraham to do this? Although many expositors think
not, I adhere to the opinion that Abraham felt in his own mind that God
could not lie and God's Word could not fail, and therefore hoped to see
Isaac raised from the dead. "Now," he said to himself, "I have had an
express promise that in Isaac shall be my seed. And if I am called to
put him to death, that promise must still be kept and perhaps God will
raise him from the dead. Even if his body is consumed to ashes the Lord
can yet restore my son to life."
We are told in the New Testament that he believed in God, that He could
raise Isaac from the dead, from which he also received him in a figure.
Some have said, "But this lessens the trial." Granted, if you will, but
it does not lessen the faith–and it is the faith which is most to be
admired. He was sustained under the trial by the conviction that it was
possible for God to raise his son from the dead and so to fulfill His
promise. But under that, and lower down, there was in Abraham's heart
the conviction that by some means, if not by that means, God would
justify him in doing what he was to do–that it could never be wrong to
do what God commanded him–that God could not command him to do a wrong
thing! And therefore doing it he could not possibly suffer the loss of
the promise made in regard to Isaac.
In some way or other, God would take care of him if he did but
faithfully keep to God's command. And I think the more indistinct
Abraham's idea may have been of the way in which God could carry out
the promise, the more glorious was the faith which still held to it
that nothing could frustrate the promise and that he would do his duty,
come what might. Brethren beloved in the Lord, believe that all things
work together for your good, and if you are commanded by conscience and
God's Word to do that which would bankrupt you or cast you into
disrepute, it cannot be a real hurt to you! It must be all right!
I have seen men cast out of work owing to their keeping the Lord's-Day.
Or they have been, for a little time, out of a situation because they
could not fall into the tricks of trade and they have suffered awhile.
But, alas, some of them have lost heart after a time and yielded to the
evil! O for the faith which never will, under any persuasion or
compulsion, fly from the field! If men had strength enough to say, "If
I die and rot I will not sin. If they cast me out to the carrion crow,
yet still nothing shall make me violate my conscience, or do what God
commands me not to do, or fail to do what God
commands me to perform!" This is the faith of Abraham! Would to God we
had it! We should have a glorious race of Christians if such were the
case!
III. I have left myself only a few minutes for the last point, which
is, let us OBSERVE THE BLESSING WHICH
CAME TO ABRAHAM THROUGH THE TRIAL OF HIS FAITH. The blessing was
sevenfold. First, the trial was
withdrawn–Isaac was unharmed. The nearest way to be at the end of
tribulation is to be resigned to it. God will not try you when you can
fully bear any trial. Give up all and you shall keep all. Give up your
Isaac and Isaac shall not need to be given up! But if you will save
your life, you shall lose it.
Secondly, Abraham had the expressed approval of God–"Now I know that
you fear God." The man whose conscience bears witness with the Holy
Spirit enjoys great peace and that peace comes to him because under
that trial he has proved himself a true and faithful servant. O
Brothers and Sisters, if we cannot stand the trials of this life, what
shall we do in the Day of Judgment? If in the common scales held in the
hand of Providence we are found wanting, what shall we do before that
Great White Throne where every thought shall be brought into judgment
before the Most High? How will you run with the horsemen at the last if
you cannot run with the footmen now? If we are afraid of a little loss
and a little scorn, what should we have done in days of the
martyrs–when men counted not their lives dear to them that they might
win Christ?
Abraham next had a clearer view of Christ than ever he had before–no
small reward. "Abraham saw My day," said Christ–"He saw it and was
glad." In himself, ready to sacrifice his son, he had a representation
of Jehovah who spared not His own Son. In the ram slaughtered instead
of Isaac, he had a representation of the great Substitute who died that
men might live. More than that, to Abraham God's name was more fully
revealed that day. He called Him Jehovah-Jireh, a step in advance of
anything that he had known before. "If any man will do His will, he
shall know of the doctrine." The more you can stand the test of trials,
the better instructed shall you be in the things of God. There is light
beyond if you have Grace to press through the difficulty.
To Abraham that day the Covenant was confirmed by oath. The Lord swore
by Himself! Brothers and Sisters, you shall never get the Grace of God
so confirmed to you as when you have proved your fidelity to God by
obeying Him at all costs. You shall then find how true are the
promises, how faithful is God to the Covenant of Grace. The quickest
road to full assurance is perfect obedience! While assurance will help
you to obey, obedience will help you to be assured–"If you keep My
commandments, you shall abide in My love. Even as I have kept My
Father's commandments and abide in His
love."
Then it was that Abraham had, also, a fuller promise with regard to the
seed. Out of 10 promises which Abraham received, the first are mainly
about the land. But the last are concerning his seed. We get to love
Christ more, to value Him more, to see Him and to understand Him better
the more we are consecrated to the Lord's will. And last of all, God
pronounced over Abraham's head a blessing, the like of which had never
been given to man before! And what if I say that to no single
individual in the whole lapse of time has there ever been given,
distinctly and personally, such a blessing as was given to Abraham that
day?! First in trial, he is also first in blessing! First in
faithfulness to his God, he becomes first in the sweet rewards which
faithfulness is sure to obtain!
Brothers and Sisters, let us ask God to make us like Abraham, His true
children, that we may gain such rewards as he obtained. May He help us
to make a surrender this morning in our hearts of all that we have of
the dearest objects of our affections. May we by faith take all to the
altar today in our willingness to give all up, if so the Lord wills.
This day may we feel the spirit of perfect faith, believing that God's
promises must be kept though circumstances of outward Providence and
even our own inward feelings should seem to belie the sure Word of God.
Let us labor to know the reality of life by faith! May we believe God
in the same literal way in which we believe our friends–but only after
a higher and surer sort!
Let us from this day so believe in God that we shall never ask a
question about consequences whenever we have a conviction of duty. May
we never pause to ask whether this shall make us rich or poor,
honorable, or despised–whether this will bring us peace or bring us
anguish–but onward, right onward, as though God had shot us from the
eternal bow, let us go right on in the full conviction that if there is
temporary darkness it must end in everlasting light! If there is
present loss, it must end in eternal gain! Let us set to our seal that
God is true, that the rewards are to the righteous, and
true peace to the obedient! Let us believe that in the end it must be
our highest gain to serve God though that service should, for the
present, bring with it dire loss!
O that there may be trained in this House a race of much enduring
Believers, who can endure hardness, but cannot endure sin! May you, my
Brothers and Sisters, obey your convictions as constantly as matter
obeys the laws of gravitation and may you never sell your birthright
for the world's wretched pottage. Could this House be filled with such
men and women, London would shake beneath the tramp of our army! This
whole land would perceive that a new power had arisen up in the land!
Truth and righteousness would exalt their horn on high and then would
deceitful trading and greed for gold and Jesuitical faltering with
words–this flirting with the Popish harlot–would be put to an end
once and for all. O that the flag of truth and righteousness might be
unfurled by a valiant band–for that banner shall wave in the day of
the last triumph when the banners of earth shall be rolled in blood!
May our God thus bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
The Lord make us true men like Abraham, true because believing, and may
He help us to sacrifice our all, if need be, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Genesis 22.