Abraham’s Trial–a Lesson for Believers

Abraham's Trial–a Lesson for Believers

(No. 2223)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1891,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 12, 1891.

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham,
and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am." Genesis
22:1.

WE may regard the father of the faithful as being a pattern of his
children. As God dealt with Abraham, so will He deal in measure with
all those who, as Believers, are the children of believing Abraham.
Everything that will abide the fire shall go through the fire, that it
may be both proved and improved. We clearly understand that when God is
said to "tempt" Abraham, the word used does not carry its ordinary
meaning. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for
God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man." But
Jehovah is accustomed to try and test His people and this is what we
are here to understand. The Revised Version renders the words, "God did
prove Abraham" and, as I have said, God works by the same method with
all His saints.

Of course, we shall not all attain to the same stature that Abraham
reached, neither shall we all be tried by the same tests that were
applied to him, but every one of us shall be tested, like Abraham, if,
indeed, we are Believers in God. He was the Columbus who, by faith,
went out and discovered a better country, that is, a heavenly–and his
track has been followed by many other voyagers. Not without storms did
he cross the sea and we, too, who venture after him on the voyage of
faith, must expect to meet with contrary winds and waves sweeping high.
We may look for a considerable measure of conformity in our lives to
the life of the great Patriarch and we must not be astonished, as
though some strange thing had happened to us, if great and severe tests
should be put upon us before the chapter of life is over.

None of us ought to object to this. Shall the child of faith be
otherwise than the father of the faithful? I may say of Abraham what
our Lord said of Himself–"The disciple is not above his master, nor
the servant above his lord." Shall the Believer, saved and justified by
faith, as Abraham was, rebel against sharing in Abraham's lot? We shall
sit down, by-and-by, at the same table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in
the Kingdom of our God. Surely we may be content to fare on the road as
they fared. In fact, I hope you will say, concerning Abraham, "Where
you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall
be my people and your God my God." We are willing to take the portion
of the righteous. We will not say, with wretched Balaam, "Let me die
the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" We would
have a far better desire than that–"May my way be the way of the
righteous, that my end may be like his! May I have a portion with Your
people, O God: and do You deal with me as You do with all those who
love Your name!"

Let us look at our text. It is a kind of preface to this unique, this
unparalleled story of Abraham's test. First, "It came to pass after
these things, that God did tempt (or "prove") Abraham"–here we see the
Lord's way with Believers. And, secondly, when God, "said unto him,
Abraham," the Patriarch instantly answered, "Behold, here I am"–here
we learn the Believer's way with the Lord. These two heads will not be
difficult to remember–the Lord's way with Believers and the Believer's
way with the Lord.

I. First, THE LORD'S WAY WITH BELIEVERS. He deals with His own people
as He does not with the world. To be loved by God with the love He
bears to His chosen is a wonderful honor, but it carries with it the
Father's authority. "Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges
every son whom He receives." All disciples are subject to this blessed
discipline.

First of all, then, let us notice that God does deal with His people,
He is never far away from them. He leaves them not to themselves, but
is always near those who are truly His. God did test Abraham. It is a
great thing that God should take any notice of us, poor creatures that
we are. "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the
noon and the stars which You have ordained; what is man, that You are
mindful of him? And the son of man, that You visit him?" Job wondered
that God dealt with him in the way of affliction, for he says, "Am I a
sea, or a whale, that You set a watch over me?" We are so insignificant
that it is a great wonder that God should come to deal with us at all.
If you saw some tall archangel, whose wand might make a mast for some
great man-of-war, bending down over an ant's hill, or talking with an
ant, you might wonder at his stoop. But this would be nothing compared
with the infinite God, the Maker of all things, condescending to deal
with us worms of the earth! Yet He does so. We are precious in His
sight, therefore, as the goldsmith assays the metal, as the silversmith
refines the silver again and again in a furnace of earth, so does God
test, purify and try us–He sets a high value upon us and, therefore,
He tests us. O child of God, be glad that God comes near you! I would
sooner feel His hand heavy upon me than be forgotten of Him! I would
rather see His face wreathed in frowns than never see Him at all! Oh,
what an awful thing it will be for those who will be cast away from
Him! To hear Him say, "Depart," will be like an infinity of
wretchedness. But if He even calls us to Him that He may chasten us,
His voice has music in it! Lord, blessed be Your name, You think upon
Your servants! You think upon them even when You chasten them and when
You test them–for this we would bless Your holy name.

Notice, next, that God not only deals with Believers very intimately,
but He tests them. "God did tempt Abraham." "God did prove Abraham."
Abraham was a man whose life gave good evidence of his faith in
Jehovah, but the Lord is a jealous God and He loves to have still more
evidence of the fidelity of His people. He hungers after clear proofs
from them that they really are His–and He works in them, by His Grace,
until He casts out all other loves and all other confidences that He
may have the whole of their hearts–and that they may love Him and
trust Him supremely.

Some of you have nothing to do with my text tonight. God does not test
you because He knows very well what you are and He knows that you are
not precious metal. The spurious coin is nailed down on the counter, or
cast into the fire–and they that are not true people of God and have
none of the silver of Grace in them will come to such an end one day
and be, with shame and everlasting contempt–nailed down on the counter
as counterfeits, or thrown into the fire that never shall be quenched!
"Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord has rejected
them." It is the true coin that we try and test–and God, because He
loved Abraham, valued him and saw His Grace in him, tested him.

He tested, first of all, his fear of God. That was the main point, as
you will see in the 12th verse–"Now I know that you fear God." The
Lord delights in a man who has a holy reverence for his God. I do not
hesitate to say that this is a very scarce article nowadays. When I
hear of one saying that he has received "a straight tip" from God, I
feel that a man capable of speaking in such a manner was never spoken
to by the Infinite Jehovah! Communion with God bows a man to the dust
and causes him to use lowly and reverent language. No, God never comes
near to us and then leaves us in a frame of mind in which we could
speak flippantly or irreverently of Him!

When I hear professing Christians arraigning God's conduct and setting
up to criticize God's Word, I stand in doubt of them. O Sirs, God's
true children tremble at His Word–they never question Him! "Why do you
strive against Him? For He gives not account of any of His matters."
"Who are you that replies against God?" The spirit of criticism is
altogether alien to the spirit of the child of God! It is not what they
say in their criticism that I care about. It is the spirit that dares
to say it that is the evil thing. The Lord will try each one of us
whether we really fear Him or not–and if the test is not so severe as
that which Abraham was called to endure, still the test will come. If
we say, "No, I cannot do that. I am afraid of the consequences," that
shows that we do not fear God enough, for the man who fears God fears
nothing else. The path of duty made clear, he says, "I must do it, cost
what it may, for it would be infinitely more costly not to do it." His
fear of God ejects all fear of men and all fear of consequences–it is
the backbone of all real holiness and all true godliness. And God tries
us to see whether we have this holy awe of Him and leads us to follow
in the steps of Abraham, His friend.

God also tried Abraham's faith. Could he believe that God was right
when He commanded him to slay his son? All the promises were wrapped up
in Isaac! If Isaac dies, how can Abraham have a seed? He had been told,
"In Isaac shall your seed be called," not in Ishmael! What, then, if
Isaac shall die? All hope of a seed must pass away. How can it be? But
it was not any matter of question with Abraham. "He staggered not at
the promise of God through unbelief." You know

what a man does when he staggers. Perhaps he does not go quite down,
but he can hardly keep his feet. Abraham was never in that condition.
He believed God and, therefore, he stood firm. His faith was able to
face difficulties and to surmount them. When the promise of the birth
of Isaac was given, we read that, "being not weak in faith, he
considered not his own body now dead."

This was, indeed, a triumph of trust–but he went further than that.
The Revised Version shows that he fully faced the difficulty and yet
believed as much as ever. "Without being weakened in faith he
considered his own body now as good as dead." The faith that was
undismayed when the promise of a son was uttered was still undaunted
when the Lord demanded the life that He had so strangely given. Perhaps
God gave such a supreme test because of its very grandeur. The trial
was terrible, but still, Abraham believed. Possibly he did not
understand the trial–he did not need to understand. He believed and he
took God at His word and he would do what God bade him do, whatever
that might be. He would leave the Lord to extricate him out of any
difficulties into which his obedience might bring him. Thus God tried
his faith.

Above all, God tried Abraham's love. It may be that Isaac, though a
gift from God, began to usurp God's place. An Isaac may became an idol.
The dearest thing we have, the most precious, the most beloved, may
still become an abomination by being made an idol to keep us away from
God. Some of the heathen worship gods of mud, others worship gods of
gold, but there is no difference in the idolatry, whether the image is
made of mud or of the most precious metal. Have you any idols, dear
Friends? I will not press the question too closely, but whatever your
idols may be, they will bring you a world of trouble, for you must love
nothing in comparison with God. He must be first and everything else
far away in the background. He will endure no rivals. He will permit no
Dagon to stand in the place where the Ark of the Covenant abides. So
God tests Abraham to see which has most of his heart's love–Jehovah
who gave Him Isaac–or Isaac whom Jehovah asked from him back again.

Thus God deals with Believers and tests them.

But the next point here is that, in some cases, God Himself tests
Believers. "It came to pass after those things, that God"–"Elohim,"
that is the word–"Elohim did tempt Abraham." This does not always
occur. Job is tried by the devil and the devil tests him, though even
then God is permitting the devil to be His instrument. But God Himself
was here, He, Himself, testing His servant, Abraham. I never read that
He tested Lot. Poor Lot! He was a poor "lot," indeed! There was just
enough Grace in him to keep him alive and no more–but he could not
stand any tests. Lot failed wretchedly in Sodom. He was a righteous man
and proved that he was so by being grieved with the filthy conversation
of those round about him, but still, God did not test him. There was
not enough true metal in him for God to try him–He left the Sodomites
to do that. They were quite good enough to test Lot, but Abraham was a
man of very different metal, or, at least, there was a much larger
percentage of gold in Abraham than was to be found in Lot. Therefore
God tested Abraham.

O Friends, there is something here to think of! Here is a peculiar
character whom God, Himself, deals with. Here is a special honor put
upon the servant when Elohim, Himself, tests Abraham. Have you ever
prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting"? Invite Divine inspection and, if God shall come and
by some extraordinary trial, test you, be not cast down on that
account, but rather take it as a very choice favor that the King,
Himself, should put you to the proof to know whether you are, indeed,
His!

Further, I want you to notice that, in God's dealings with Believers,
He tests them again and again. Read the text through, "It came to pass
after these things, that God did tempt Abraham." After all his life of
holy obedience, he was still not free from trials! God still tested
him. He had received great and precious promises, more than any other
man of his time–and He believed them and sucked the sweetness out of
them–but after these things God did try Abraham! He had had rare
enjoyments. Did not angels come and sit at his table? Did not the great
Melchizedek, himself, come forth with bread and wine to feast him? But
after these things God tested Abraham. He had been tested before. He
had left his country. He had sent away Ishmael, whom he loved, when the
command came, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son." He had been
tested, but, after all this, he must still be tested!

These things are an example to all the people of God. We are not yet
out of the wilderness and we may, even at the very last, have our
highest test yet to come. "After these things, God did tempt Abraham."
Abraham had reached a very high point of faith and, after a time, he
had enjoyed great quiet of spirit. Everything went well with him. By
faith he had

fought four kings and led captivity captive. By faith he had trampled
on the riches of the world and told the king of Sodom that he would
"not take from a thread even to a shoelace" of him. By faith he had
become great with God and God had put part of His own name into Abram's
name, and made Him Abraham, blending the name of God with the name of
His servant! And yet God tested Abraham–not Abram only–but even
Abraham!

Note here, that God did not try Abraham like this at the beginning. It
is "after these things" God tried Abraham. There was a course of
education to prepare him for this great testing time and the Lord knows
how to educate you up to such a point that you can endure, in years to
come, what you could not endure today–just as today He may make you to
stand firm under a burden, which, ten years ago, would have crushed you
into the dust! After all the tuition that God had given to him–after
close communion with God, receiving the Spirit of God into his soul in
rich abundance– "after these things" God tested Abraham.

And here I go further and say that God tests His people by actual
experience. He did not test Abraham only by words. He did not say to
him, "Will you do this? Are you willing to do that?" It is always easy
to say that we will do a thing if we do not expect to be compelled to
do it. We can make large promises when we think we shall never be
called upon to fulfill them. We can even think large things today about
what we intend to do tomorrow. It is always easy to rise up early
overnight. But God does not prove His people in only word, but in deed
and in truth. The plain command came to Abraham which must at once be
obeyed. He must go into the land of Moriah and he must offer his son
there for a burnt offering. It must come to real action. How big you
and I are in words! How great some people are in profession! "Oh," they
say, "we will never fail our Lord!" Like Peter they swear that, "Though
all men shall be offended because of You, yet will we never be
offended." They become bold in their boasts and proud in their own
conceit, "professing themselves to be wise, they become as fools." They
may even turn the very Grace of God, which has enriched them, into an
occasion of vainglory. "I am perfect," says one, "and completely dead
to the world. Therefore there is no fear that I shall fall. In time of
trial I shall be strong–if only the martyr times were here, again, how
gloriously would I testify for God!" But, after all, it is the test of
real life, the test of actual experience that will show what a man is.
When God comes to real filing and hammering–and puts us into the
crucible, then it is that He proves how much is dross and how much is
true metal!

Some Believers are tested more thoroughly than others. In this case,
the Lord tried Abraham most severely. I cannot imagine a greater test
than that which the Lord applied to Abraham. The Jews usually say that
Abraham was tried 10 times. Surely on this occasion he was tried 10
times in one. Here you have trial carried to the 10th degree. Here the
furnace is made 10 times hotter than it was known to be heated. There
was no other in the whole universe that ever, by Divine command,
offered up his only son, save One, and that One was He who commanded
this sacrifice and who consummated such a sacrifice, Himself, for He
will never ask of us what He will not Himself do! He gave freely for us
His only-begotten Son and Abraham stands alone, the only one of woman
born, that in this was called to be a close imitator of his God. God
tried him because he could bear it. He tried him in this way because of
him it was said, he was the friend of God. He was the father of the
believing family and, because of his high position, he must have the
very greatest of troubles, trials and tests!

My last thought, under this head, shall be that if God does thus try
Believers, He blesses them greatly thereby. All this testing was meant
to be a great blessing to Abraham. Do I see you start back? Do you seem
to say that I have used terrible language in speaking thus about God's
testing His people? Oh, but, Beloved, the tests and trials of God's
servants, though they rumble a little in our ears, as did the wagons
that Joseph sent from Egypt to fetch Jacob, bring blessings to us!
Those wagons came to take Jacob down to a land where he would behold
the face of his Beloved and should be with him all his life! And our
trials come to prepare us for the glorious meeting with our Lord. God
sends us letters in black-edged envelopes, but they are all love
letters! And the blacker the letters look outside, the brighter they
are inside! The Lord paints the galleons of His Grace with dark colors
and we dream that they bear us evil–but they are loaded down to the
water's brim with gold and rare and precious things! Therefore, be
confident, tried Believers–

"Trials make the promise sweet.

Trials give new life to prayer.

Trials bring me to His feet,

Lay me low and keep me there." The first blessed effect of God's test
of Abraham was that thus he avoided evil. This trial prevented him from
thinking too much of Isaac and allowing Isaac to divide him from his
God. Perhaps he was in danger of falling into that sin

and God saw it–and He sent this test in order to put Isaac into his
right place, that Isaac might not die. He would have Abraham offer him
up that he might keep him. He would have him offer Isaac up to God,
that he might receive him back, for he was not Abraham's son in a
spiritual sense, until that day. Isaac was his son after the flesh,
but, when he received him back, again, by faith, he became his son in
the new Covenant of Grace, one of the seed of Abraham after the Spirit.
He received his son that day in the highest sense from God.

Do you not think, also, that it did Abraham great good in assuring his
own heart and enabling him to know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that
he really did fear and love God? Some of you get to doubting whether
you really do fear God. Would it not be worth while to pass through
some tremendous trouble, to get that settled once and for all? I think
that the Lord gives some of His people full-assuring tribulations so
that when once these are past, all doubts and fears are at an end. I
spoke to a child of God the other day, who said, "I do not know that,
for 20 years, I have had the slightest hesitation in saying that I know
whom I have believed. But," he said, "I had an awful fight just before
that time." It is good to kill the lion and have done with him and then
go and find honey in his carcass! It is an ordinary lion, however, that
only needs killing once, for some lions I have met with have been
killed a good many times, but they seem to come to life again very
quickly! This test, however, Abraham needed only once and, after that,
since God Himself said, "Now I know that you fear God," He doubtless
enabled Abraham to say, "Now I know that I fear God."

The trial blessed him further in revealing Christ. Do you not think
that, on this occasion, Abraham had a clearer view of Christ than he
ever had before? Our Savior says, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and
he saw it, and was glad." When did Abraham see Christ? He may have seen
Him at other times, but on the top of Moriah, when his own son was on
the wood and his own hand was lifted up, he must have seen the Son of
God and the uplifted hand of God offering the Great Sacrifice. When He
took the ram from the thicket and so saved the life of his son, how
clearly he must have understood that blessed doctrine of Substitution
which is the very center of the Gospel! I have no other hope than this.
Nor can I conceive anything else that would be good news to me but the
fact, "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," that
there was offered another Life instead of mine through which I live! By
a life I do not live and by a death I do not die, I am saved! So it was
with Isaac when he was saved by the ram taken in the thicket. It was
worth while for Abraham thus to be tested to have a view of Christ!

And, lastly, Abraham was blessed by the test in communing with the
Father. To this day, perhaps, Abraham enters more into the heart of God
than any other man in Heaven. I will not speculate, but it seems to me
that none of us can ever know such fellowship with the great Father as
Abraham has known, now, these thousands of years–for when he thinks of
the great Father who surrendered His Son for the salvation of men, he
humbly adores the infinite mind. But he seems to say, "And I, too, was
helped in my little way, as small things may be compared with great, to
stand and offer up my son as a burnt offering unto the Most High." I
think that he is still the father of the faithful. I think that Abraham
still holds wonderful pre-eminence. I do not wonder that we read of
being in Abraham's bosom–to get as near to Abraham as we can is one of
the things to be desired–that we may have sympathy and fellowship with
the eternal Father forever.

I notice that some of the old translators render the passage, "It came
to pass, after these things that God did lift up Abraham." It is a
strange translation and probably inaccurate, but it is wonderfully
true, for all that–for God did lift up Abraham to a higher platform,
altogether, and brought him into a greater nearness to Himself than he
could have known in any other way.

So far, I have occupied your mind on a grand subject, the Lord's way
with Believers.

II. My second subject is a very practical one. THE BELIEVER'S WAY WITH
THE LORD–for if God has dealings with the Believer, the Believer also
has communion with the Lord.

It takes two to make communion and fellowship. Is it not a wonderful
thing that men can thus meet God and commune with Him face to face?
This is the glory of faith, for, "he that comes to God must believe
that He is." This is not an arbitrary condition, but arises from the
nature of things. Just as in a map of the two hemispheres, the circles
only touch and only can touch at one point, so God can only meet men by
faith. Thus, to be a Believer in God is to have a faculty by which we
can touch the Eternal.

It is not enough, however, merely to know God as the Creator. "You
believe in God, believe also in Me," says the Lord Jesus. "No man comes
unto the Father, but by Me." Better be a Believer in Christ than have
all the wealth of the Indies rolled to your feet and all the thrones of
the world at your disposal, for you then possess the unsearchable
riches of

Christ and will, one day, share His Throne of Glory! Oh, that all who
now hear my words were, indeed, among those who believe! Why should you
not venture at this moment to launch out on the ocean of Divine Truth?
It is no venture, for a Believer in Christ is one who cannot be lost!
God deals with those who believe as He dealt with Abraham and only
those who believe can have dealings with Him. How, then, does the
Believer act towards God? Let us look at the case before us.

God said to the Patriarch, "Abraham," and he said, "Behold, here I am."
When God speaks to the Believer, he, on his part, is honored by the
call. Have you ever heard God speak to you? I do not mean that with
your ears you have heard any audible voice, but has He not spoken to
your heart in such a way that, if there were no other men alive, God
could not have spoken more pointedly and definitely to you? God called
Abraham. It is the way with Him to say, "Samuel, Samuel." It is the way
with Him to call, "Saul, Saul." "I have called you by your name; you
are Mine." "He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out." What
greater honor can we have than this? The King knows our name and
addresses us! In a law court, one day, a man who was quite at the back
began to struggle and press his way forward. And the people angrily
told him to be quiet. "Did you not hear?" he said, "I am called."
Instantly they opened a way for him to the front and admired his prompt
action. How much readier we should be to reply to the voice of God,
recognizing the privilege and honor thus bestowed upon us! Have you not
had such a call and responded to it?

Next, the Believer shows himself ready to be taught. As soon as God
said, "Abraham," he answered, "Here I am." He seemed to say, "Here I
am, Lord, all attentive. Master, say on! Speak, Lord, for Your servant
hears." Are you always in that condition, ready to be taught of God? Is
His Word precious to you? Is His Holy Spirit greatly reverenced by you,
so that the moment you hear Him call, you wait to hear what God the
Lord will speak to you, knowing that "He will speak peace unto His
people and to His saints"? Happy is the man who is thus ready to be
taught!

Moreover, the Believer must be ready to obey as well as ready to be
taught. He must be willing to say, "Here I stand as Your servant. I
know not what the orders are going to be, but here I am. Send me where
You will with what burden You will, as long as You will. Here I am." If
you are not willing to obey, you may be quite sure you are not a
Believer, for obedience is the natural outcome of belief. You remember
the last verse of the third of John–"he that believes on the Son has
everlasting life. "And then, immediately, another word is used which
bears a stronger sense and may be rendered, "He that obeys not the Son
shall not see life." For, truly, if we believe on Christ, we shall also
obey Him. Are you, dear Friend, willing to say to God, "Here I am. Send
me–let me be actively engaged in Your service. Or, if it pleases You
better, bid me go up to my bed, lie there and suffer sickness and pain.
I am ready to obey, just as You will"? Abraham was ready to be taught
and ready to obey.

And, more than that, the Believer will be equally ready to surrender.
"Abraham." "Here I am." He does not know what God is going to ask of
him. It may be Sarah. It may be Isaac. I dare say that Isaac was the
last person that he expected would be asked of him, seeing that all his
hopes were bound up in him and he was the child of promise. God often
does the unexpected with His servants. However, there was no reserve
about it. Abraham said, "Here I am"–

"Yes, should You take them all away, Yet will I not repine. Before they
were possessed by me They were entirely Thine."

And they are still entirely Yours! Oh, what a glorious state of
mind–to be ready to learn, ready to obey and ready to surrender!

And Abraham was also ready to be inspected. He says, "Here I am." Adam
went and hid himself in the garden and God had to call after him,
"Where are you?" Abraham was ready when God called him. It will be well
if you can say, when you kneel at your bedside tonight, "Lord, I have
nothing to conceal. I am sincere before You. I would have You
acquainted with all my faults and sins, that You may wash them away. I
would have You know all my mistakes and errors, that You may correct
them all. You know all things. You know that I love You. I am no
hypocrite. I have made no pretence of being Your servant while I have
been serving self and sin." O blessed man, that dares to open his
bosom, to lay bare his very heart and say, "Shine into me, O Lord, and
let Your searching light go through and through me, for in truth I am
Your servant!"

The Believer who is prepared to respond to the Lord in such a way has
much cause to praise, for he has been made ready by the Grace of God.
Abraham could not have said, "Here I am," with all this promptness, if
it had not been for the

education of Divine Grace that had brought him up to it. Beloved, you
may think yourself ready for any service or any trial, but you are not
unless Divine Grace has done great things for you. Then every act
performed by Grace becomes, through Grace, an apprenticeship for a
greater one!

For God's sake, Abraham had left his country and his father's house.
Have you come out from the world? If you have not, you cannot say,
"Here I am." Poor Soul, still siding with the world, you are where you
ought not to be! "Come out from among them, and be you separate, says
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and
will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says
the Lord Almighty." Abraham had boldly obeyed God's command and
separated himself from his old companions.

Next, Abraham had yielded to Lot. He let him take his choice of the
best part of the land, even the well-watered plain of Sodom. He had not
disputed with him. Are you willing to let the worldling have the best
of it here, below, and to take your portion, by-and-by, in the Promised
Land? If not, you cannot say, "Here I am," because you will probably be
up to your neck in worldliness and as greedy after gain as anybody
else! You are taking your portion among the men of Sodom and
Gomorrah–how can you say, "Here I am"? Lot could not have said it, but
Abraham could.

Moreover, Abraham had defied foes. Four kings came into the country and
he had only a handful of servants and friends, yet he went after them
like a flash of lightning and smote the four kings. Well, now, if you
are a cowardly fellow and have never dared to, "Stand up, stand up for
Jesus," you cannot say, "Here I am." Where are you? Hiding away, trying
to save your precious skin and to avoid being laughed at for Christ?
You will not be ready for the Lord's call till you come out and "fight
the good fight of faith."

But God had trained His servant Abraham to do yet more. He had despised
the world when he told the king of Sodom that he would not take
anything of his, "from a thread even to a shoelace." And now he can
say, "Here I am." Until we get free from all worldly entanglements and
cease, even in the least thing, to rely on an arm of flesh, or to
resort to worldly expedients, we shall not be prepared to respond
instantly to the call of God!

Abraham had gone even further. He had cast out the bondwoman and her
son and now he could say, "Here I am." As long as you hold on to
legalism and trust in your own good works, you dare not rise to meet
God, for you are under the Law and not under Grace! But when that is
all gone, you can say, "Here I am, in the Covenant of Grace, standing
in Christ Jesus, ready for anything."

Again, Abraham had prevailed with God in prayer. You remember how he
had pleaded for the wicked cities of the plain and God had allowed him
to continue his intercessions with great boldness? O Beloved, you
cannot say, "Here I am," if God has never known you as a suppliant at
His Throne of Grace! Sometimes I have said to myself, "The Lord Jesus
Christ can never say to me at the last, 'I never knew you: depart from
Me,' for He has known me as I know a poor man in the street who has
begged of me every day." 1 am always begging of my Lord, clamoring at
Him for one thing or another. He knows me well enough. Why, when I was
but a youth, I trusted Him for my eternal salvation! He called me to
Himself and blessed me. I know that He will never be able to say to me,
"I never knew you." Beloved, this is why Abraham was so quick in
responding to God's call, because he was God's friend who was on such
intimate terms with his Lord that he could intercede with Him on the
behalf of guilty men!

My last thought is most precious. Since the Believer is thus prepared
by Grace to respond to the Lord's call, as Abraham did, when he said,
"Here I am," he will be kept ready to the end. My great desire is that
you and I should be ready for anything that the Lord wills and keep
always ready for it, so that if Christ should come at cock-crowing, or
should come at midday, or midnight, we would be ready! And if death
should come, we would be ready. And if we should lose our dearest
friend, our choicest treasure, our health–anything or everything–yet
still we would, each one, say, "Lord, I never made any bargain with
You. I never had anything reserved from You. If it is Your will, it is
my will. If You say it, so be it, for who am I, and what is Your
servant, that I should dare to dispute with the Infinite Wisdom of

Infallible Love?"

Happy is the man who can say, "Here I am." The Lord put you into that
frame of mind and then it shall be said of you, "He shall not be afraid
of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." You shall
go merrily through life and joyfully to death–and you shall rise
triumphantly in the glad morning–for when God shall call you, then you
will each one answer, "Here I am, for You did call me."–

"From beds of dust and silent clay,"

we shall arise with songs in our mouths to answer to the Resurrection
trumpet and so shall we be forever with the Lord. Thus shall all the
children of faith be blessed with faithful Abraham! God bless these
words to you, dear Friends, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Genesis 22.