"Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abraham was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran." (Genesis 12: 1-4.)

ONCE heard a very intelligent man, well educated, and the president of a college, say that, next to the reading and study of the Holy Scriptures, he had derived more profit, more moral and spiritual quickening, from reading the biography of John Wesley than from any other book he had ever read. I state in your hearing this testimony, because, in the judgment of one who knew whereof he affirmed, it shows the value of reading biography--i. e., the story or narrative of the lives of eminent men, wise, great and good; who, by their spirit and deportment, pleased God, won His favor and approbation, and were made the instruments of good to their fellow-men. Now, a considerable portion of the Bible, the volume of divine inspiration, is biography--a personal history of the lives of distinguished men, whose names are inscribed on the roll of true and lasting fame, who, though not perfect, stood high in the divine favour, and had the testimony that they pleased God. Extract from the sacred volume what is said of Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon and Paul, and its dimensions would not only be greatly reduced, but its unity and harmony would be essentially destroyed; and it would no longer answer the purpose for which it was designed. The object of the Bible is not to teach certain doctrines concerning [124] either man or God, but to unfold the mystery of redemption through the Messiah, the Son of the living God; all is subordinate to that. Doctrinal teaching is very important; the doctrine which is according to godliness and is intended to make men godly in their spirit and lives, it is embedded in the lives of Scripture characters. It is thus presented to us, not in the abstract, but in the concrete--in the lives of men chosen of God, guided and protected by his overruling hand. Hence, the study of sacred biography is not only interesting to those who engage heartily in it, but immensely profitable. It brings an abundant blessing to the mind and heart. Again, every young person who desires to live a good life, to be useful, to be made a blessing to his fellow-creatures, to attain life's great end, and at last win the home in heaven, should set out with the avowed determination to do just one thing, viz., to please God; and we please Him by cultivating those traits of character and cherishing those dispositions of mind which were exemplified by the men whom God chose, loved, honoured, and made a blessing to the world; we please Him by obeying His will, by following Him, by conforming to truth, righteousness, purity and goodness; and to such as please Him God will give the witness, testimony, assurance, that He is pleased with them. This supreme purpose to please God in all things, to be counted worthy of his love and affection, gives simplicity, unity, moral grandeur, and a high religious tone to the life, and makes it a glorious and most desirable thing to live in this world. As one has said: "It is never either too early or too late to serve and follow God." The child of tender years may please Him; the patriarch, venerable with age and wisdom, may please Him. Good character and righteous acts, the fruit thereof, are sure to please Him who searches all hearts, and who will judge the world in righteousness.

      I speak to you to-night of one of the three most prominent characters of sacred history--Abraham, the founder of the Jewish nation, the father of the faithful, and the friend of God forever. Abraham, Moses, and [125] Jesus are the three most distinguished men in all Scripture story; Abraham of the Patriarchal age, Moses of the Jewish, and Jesus of the Christian age. In the Bible, viewed as one great whole, what do we find? What generalization of its contents may we make? The following: The Promises, the Law, the Gospel. These, in their full development, constitute the entire revelation of God. The promises were spoken to Abraham, the law was given through Moses, and the gospel through the Christ. Abraham Jehovah "chose, and brought him forth out of the land of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham, and found his heart faithful before him, and made a covenant with him," and spoke to him promises. Abraham was born A. M. 2008, i. e., 1996 B. C. He was the twentieth generation from Adam, and was a descendant of Noah through Shem, whose posterity settled in the country which afterwards became known as Asia. In the 11th chapter of Genesis a brief account of his family connections is given by the inspired writer. He is called Abram and Abraham. Abram means, in the Hebrew language, father of height, i. e., a great father, or father of a nation. In the book of Genesis as far as to the 17th chapter he is called Abram; after that, Abraham. He was not renowned either as a conqueror or as a lawgiver; he was not a monarch, nor a poet, nor a philosopher; but he was what is far better--a good man, and the friend of God forever. Jehovah spoke to him; appeared to him, let Himself be seen by. him, disclosed to him His will and purposes; knew him, i. e., regarded him with favour; made him an object of attention and care; made choice of him for Himself, admitted him to near and intimate relationship. Moses, the Jewish lawgiver; Jehoshaphat, one of the kings of Judah; David, the psalmist of Israel; Isaiah, the great evangelic prophet; Jesus, Paul, and James, all speak of this man in terms of the highest respect and esteem. Consider his great faith. In this cardinal and important virtue he is a bright and illustrious example to all succeeding generations. He walked by faith; under [126] the influence of faith he obeyed the divine will; and his faith, confidence, abiding trust in Jehovah--in His existence, providence, wisdom, and controlling power--was to him a source of perpetual inspiration, peace, and hope. He looked beyond the present life to the future, and for the city prepared of God--"the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Of him our Lord says: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad."

      In the 4th chapter of Romans, the apostle speaks of his faith as the type of that faith by which the sinner is justified, saying repeatedly. "His faith was reckoned to him for righteousness." "Against hope he believed in hope, that he should be the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be;" "and in respect to the promise of God he wavered not through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." His native place was Ur of the Chaldees. While living there, in the midst of a people given to idolatry, Jehovah appeared to him and said: "Go forth from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, into a land that I will shew thee." To these commands were given promises of personal honor and happiness: "I will bless thee, and make thy name great." In Scripture biography, what name is more revered or held in higher esteem than Abraham's? A numerous and thriving posterity, who to latest ages should recognise him as their founder, and glory in their relation to him: "I will make of thee a great nation, and thou shalt be a blessing." The father of a multitude of nations shalt thou be. That is literally true. The Jewish nation of to-day, numbering from five to seven millions, are the direct descendants of Abraham. And other oriental nations, especially in Arabia, are descended from him. Great is his name in history! Universal benefit accruing to the human race from him: "In him shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Now notice his faith, the strength of it. He started toward the land of which God spoke to him, saying: "I will show it thee." He obeyed the divine [127] command. In Scripture, Abraham is set forth as the bright pattern of a prompt, cheerful, active faith in God. "By faith when called, he obeyed to go forth into a place which he should afterwards receive for an inheritance." Here is given us the best of all definitions of faith--a definition in action. Faith has been bewildered much by men who meant to make it plain: it has been speculated about, and subdivided into this, that, and the other thing; but Abraham's conduct furnishes us an excellent definition. Such a degree of confidence in God and His word spoken as leads to obedience thereto. Faith is trust, confidence in Jehovah and His Messiah, exhibiting itself into action, in submission, in self-devotion to God and His service. There are other instances in the Patriarch's life that manifest the strength, sincerity and genuineness of his faith. He had no child, yet it was said to him: "Unto thy seed I will give this land." The years were passing away; probably, through hope deferred, his faith began to fail, and he needed a new revelation from God to sustain it. "The Lord brought him forth abroad, and said to him, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou art able to number them; and he also said to him, So shall thy seed be. Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever." An old man, and childless, yet it is said, "He believed in the Lord, and his faith was counted unto him for righteousness." Before God he was justified because of his great faith. To realise the strength of Abraham's faith, you must, in imagination, place yourself in the circumstances by which he was surrounded, and thus bring the whole case before your mind. Standing where we do to-day, we can look back over the history of the past, and see that the promises made to Abraham have been literally fulfilled. He is the father of two great peoples--one according to the flesh and one according to the spirit--each of which peoples is so numerous that they cannot be computed [128] by figures. The Hebrew nation, of which he is the founder, has had an existence in the world for nearly four thousand years. Who can estimate the number of Jews that have lived in all the bygone ages? Abraham, is the father of them all. Again, consider the number of Christian believers since the church began on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of our Lord; Christians gathered out of all nations during the lapse of eighteen centuries. They are as the stars of heaven in numbers, and as the sands which are on the seashore, innumerable; yet Abraham is the father of all believers. "If you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise." The Jewish nation and the whole Christian Church are both monuments of the truth of the religion of the Bible, and of God's faithfulness to His promises. I cite another instance showing the greatness of Abraham's faith. In obedience to the divine command, he left Ur, the place of his nativity, and came to Haran; thence to Shechem, thence southward to a mountain between Bethel and Ai; thence he went on still toward the south. "But a wandering life through Canaan is not the worst of his condition. His faith is put to a new and severe trial." A famine comes upon the land, by which he is compelled to leave it and seek subsistence elsewhere. The country so plainly promised as an inheritance to his seed when increased to the number of sand upon the sea shore, refuses subsistence to his family in its present diminutive state. It is scourged by a famine. What then? With the peevish prophet, who said "I do well to be angry," does Abraham sit down and murmur? Nay, his faith surmounts the obstacles that nature or providence raises, and he retires to Egypt to obtain the means of relief; and after the famine is over, he returns to the land of promise, all the time believing in some way or other the promise would in due time be fulfilled, and the Lord would provide.

      But to a still severer trial is his heart put. Having patiently endured, he obtained the promise of a son, Isaac, who is grown to manhood. In him all his hopes [129] centred, because it was said to him, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." But, behold, he is commanded to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering on a distant mountain! "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 is the most striking exhibition of faith on record. I know of nothing in all history that equals it. "By faith, when tried, Abraham offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son." Now the moral of the subject: Have faith in God; walk by faith; walk by faith in youth, in manhood, in old age; in sickness and health; in adversity and prosperity; in trial, in weakness, in sorrow; at all times and in all circumstances have faith in your Heavenly Father, in His providence, truth, goodness and love. Obey Him: do whatever He bids you; whether He gives you a reason for it or not, do just what He tells you. In no other way can you have any assurance that your faith is genuine, or saving. Obedience is both the manifestation and evidence of faith. He who obeys thereby gives scriptural and satisfactory proof that his faith is acceptable, and well pleasing to God. [130]

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