This chapter is the chronicle of faith, or a record of the heroical acts which that grace had produced in all ages; or, if you will, the history of the most eminent believers, that ever have been in the world. When he had spoken of the patriarchs in common, he cometh to speak of them in particular, and beginneth with Abraham, who in this glorious constellation shineth forth as a star of the first magnitude, and therefore is fitly styled the father of the faithful. And among all the acts of Abraham's faith nothing was more eminent than the offering of his son Isaac, that I have chosen to propound to your imitation; and the rather because Abraham was tried, not only for a proof of his own sincerity, but for a rare example to all future generations.
In these verses you have three circumstances.
1. An occasion for the exercise of Abraham's faith - When he was tried.
2. The greatness of the trial - He offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
3 The work of faith or his behaviour under this trial - Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
[1.] The occasion - 'When he was tried.' peirazomenos - when he was tempted and that by God: Gen xxii 1 'God did tempt Abraham,' &c. But now God tempts no man: James 1 13, 'Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man,' that is by inward suggestion and solicitation, but only by presenting the outward occasion, or by some extraordinary command. By presenting an outward occasion: Exod. xvi. 2, 'I will rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out, and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no. Or else, by an extraordinary command, as God here tried Abraham, or as Christ tried the young man: Mat. xix. 21, 'Go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor.' There is no injustice in these extraordinary commands; the lawgiver may make what exception to his own laws he pleaseth. We are bound to the law but the lawgiver himself is not bound. But why should God try Abraham? Austin saith. Non ut ipse hominem inveniat, sed ut homo se inveniat - Not that he might know Abraham, but that Abraham might know himself, God knows already what we are; but he tries us that we may be manifest to ourselves, and to others for their example. It is true, he saith, Gen. xxii. 12, 'Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thy only son from me.' But that is humanitus dictum; God speaketh as a man that knoweth not till after trial, as if he should say, Now there is a sufficient proof of thy sincerity, I have caused it to be known, and will accept of it as a good and sufficient proof.
[2.] The greatness of the trial, or the occasion amplified from the person offering, the person offered, and the work itself; and in all these respects it will appear that the trial was very great.
(1.) The person offering, Abraham, who is looked upon here as a father, and as one that had received the promises - ho has epangelias anadexamenos which noteth not only the revelation of the promises concerning a numerous issue, and the Messiah to come of his loins, but his entertaining of them and cordial assent to them, he received them not only as a private believer, but as a feoffee in trust for the use of the church. In the first ages of the world, God had some eminent persons who received a revelation of God's will in the name of all the rest. This was Abraham's case; he is here considered as a father, a loving father, and as one that hath received the promises as a public person, and father of the faithful - the person whom God had chosen in whom to deposit the promises.
(2.) The person offered - Isaac, not bullocks, or goats, or rams, or lambs, but Isaac - a son, and a son whom he loved: Gen. xxii. 2, '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 shall tell thee of.' He was the son of Sarah, his legitimate wife, the heir of the lawful bed. Ishmael was cast out of doors, and Isaac's posterity was only to be reckoned to Abraham, as the blessed seed, among whom God would have his church. He was given to Abraham, after he had long gone childless, and when Sarah's womb was dead, and therefore he had never hopes of more children. But all this was nothing to what follows - 'Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called;' a child upon whom the accomplishment of the promises depended. Nature and grace concurred to incline Abraham's heart to favour Isaac. Nature; for love is descending, and the children of age are most loved: Abraham's age, when almost expired, was wonderfully renewed in the birth of Isaac, and an only son in whom he might hope to survive. Grace concurred also, the promises pitched on him; there was no possibility in nature, or promise above nature, that he should have any more children by Sarah; and Isaac himself was without children, and there was a plain affirmation, that the people which should be accounted his seed should spring from Isaac; not only natural affection, but faith was against it - to kill Isaac was to cut off all his hopes. There is sometimes a quarrel between lust and lust, but here between grace and grace, between faith and obedience; Isaac being lost, all hopes of the promise seemed to be lost, which was confirmed to him by God's own mouth - the same mouth that gave him the promise, gave him the command to slay the son of the promise. Abraham was now to put all the promises to slaughter; to cut off Isaac was in effect to cut off all hope of eternal life by Christ, who was to descend of him. Christ was included in in Isaac, and in Christ all the hopes of the church. If the conflict had only been with natural affection, it had been no such great matter; but the command and promise seemed to clash; if he had disobeyed the command, he had not been faithful Abraham and if he had disbelieved the promise, still he had not been faithful Abraham.
[3.] The act itself. All this was to be done by his own hand - an aged father to kill his own son! the father of the faithful to sacrifice the son of the promise! A jewel lately given was now demanded again. If God had told Abraham that his son must die, it had been grievous, but that he must offer him, here was the trial.
3. Let us now look upon Abraham's behaviour under this great trial. Here is no disputing; he never questioned the oracle; it is God's will, and I must obey; he will provide for his promise well enough. 'In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen,' Gen. xxii. 14. Here is no delay, Gen. xxii 3, 'And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.' Here is no shifting, though he carried the matter closely, concealing it from Isaac, and his servants. 'By faith he offered Isaac;' faith is the root and principle of the action. 'He offered,' but Abraham did not offer him; God interposed and prevented him. Yet God counts it done: James ii. 21, 'Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?' And God said, Gen. xxii. 12, 'Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.' Partly because of his purpose, and partly because it was not a naked purpose; all things were ready, if God had not interposed - his son bound, and laid upon the altar.
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Doct. 1. It is the property of faith to carry us through the greatest trials, with a ready, and cheerful, and acceptable obedience, and submission to the will of God.
To draw forth the marrow of the text, I shall branch this doctrine into some lesser propositions.
First I observe, - Ere we come to heaven, we all have our trials. It is the common lot of the saints to he tried. God's trials, which he suffereth to befall us, are in scripture compared unto two things - to the winnowing of wheat, and to the refining of gold. To the winnowing of wheat: Luke xxii. 31, 'And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.' The devil may shake and toss us as the wheat is tossed from sieve to sieve, but all to purge away our chaff. Then it is compared to the refining of gold: 1 Peter i. 7, 'That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, when it is tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Gold is melted, and loseth nothing of its substance but its dross; so it is for our improving and bettering, that God permits us to be tossed and shaken by Satan and bitter afflictions. There is need of trials, or else God would not make use of this dispensation: 1 Peter i. 6, 'Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.' All of us take our turn and share. God trieth some of his people to discover their weakness to themselves, and he trieth others to manifest the grace that is in them.
1. God will have the weakness of his own servants tried, that they may not conceit they have more grace than they have; and that the evil which before lay hid, may be discovered and cured. Thus God tried Hezekiah: 2 Chron. xxxii, 31, 'God left him to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.' And Christ tried Philip: John vi. 6, 'This he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do.'
2. He will have their grace tried; and that for our comfort and for his own glory.
[1.] For our comfort. We have not ordinarily so clear a proof of the reality of grace, as under sore trials: Rom. v. 4, 'Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience,' dokimèn, trial, and dokimè, experience, or trial, hope then is any grace most seen. By knocking upon the vessel we see whether it be full or empty, cracked or sound, so by these knocks of providence we are discovered. Stars that lie hid in the day shine in the night. The rose is not so sweet on the tree as in the still. A sore tempest discovereth the goodness of the ship and the skill of the pilot, so in the night of afflictions the splendour of grace is best seen. When we are set over the fire, our fragrancy is discovered, and a christian's skill in a tempest is obedience.
[2.] It is for God's glory, that our ready self-denial and submission, and dependence on his wisdom, should be known, as the centurion said of his servants: Mat. viii. 9, 'I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.' There was an exact discipline in the Roman camps; so the Lord is honoured when his servants are tried, and they discover what a spirit of God and glory resteth upon them: 1 Peter iv. 14, 'If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.' God will have the world know that he hath a people who are at his beck, as he is said, Isa. xli. 2, 'To raise up the righteous man from the east, and call him to his foot.' Abraham went to and fro at God's command, as God did appoint him. The Lord hath a people that love him better than their lives, than their choicest comforts, and will endure any misery rather than deny any part of their duty. At the last day, by trial our faith will be found to praise and honour: 1 Peter i. 7, 'That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ;' then it will be found to be such a faith as Christ will accept and reward. Now these trials are manifold: 1 Peter i. 6, 'Ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations;' and diverse: James i. 2, 'Count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations;' because diverse things are to be tried. As, -
(1.) Our sincerity. We have but notions about the comforts of christianity till we are cast into great afflictions. The word of God cometh to us in word only, but then we prove our belief and sense of it. A gilded potsherd may shine till it cometh to scouring, then the varnish is worn off. When all things are prosperous, and our interest leads us to the profession of religion, the truth of grace is not so much discovered, but in deep troubles it is seen: 2 Cor. vi. 4, 'But in all things approving ourselves the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses.' When God searcheth men, and trieth men to the purpose, hirelings become changelings. The stony ground seemed fruitful till the sun did arise with a burning heat, Mat. xiii. 20, 21., and then it withered away, and all that comfort and joy which they formerly had by the word is lost. The blade on the stony ground made as fair a show for awhile as any of the rest, but it had no rooting.
(2.) Faith is tried: 1 Peter i. 7, 'That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.' So Abraham was here tried; so the woman of Canaan was tried, Mat. xv. 25 - 28. While all things are quiet and comfortable, we live by sense rather than by faith. As the worth of a soldier is not known in times of peace, and when he is out of action. Ad fortiter faciendum opus est aliqua rerum difficultate; when we are put to some difficulty and strait, then is faith seen; but we do but brave it, and word it at other times.
(3.) Our patience, humility, and submission to God are tried. When his mighty hand is upon us, then it is seen whether we are content to be what God would have us to he. The devil accused Job for an hypocrite, and would fain have him put upon this kind of trial: Job i. 9 - 11, 'Doth Job serve God for nought? Hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.' It is no wonder to see us without murmuring, when our houses are filled with good things; or cheerful, while we have increase and plenty - what have we to complain of? But then is the trial, if we can suppress mur-muring and discontents when God's hand is against us.
(4.) Our ready obedience in the most difficult points of duty. So Abraham was tried here; and so Moses was tried when God sent him to Pharaoh, Exod. iii. 10.
(5.) Our contempt of earthly things. This is never so much seen as in a patient submission to the loss of them: Heb. x. 24, 'They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing in themselves that they have in heaven a better, and a more enduring substance.' When a man can take losses not only patiently, but joyfully, as reckoning upon a happiness elsewhere, it is a notable proof how little we set by outward things. God's children know not how to judge of their mortification when they abound in plenty, and all things flow in upon them according to their heart's desire.
(6.) Our dependence and trust in God: Hab. iii. 18, 'Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation;' Ps. cxii. 7, 'He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.'
Use. Seeing we must have our trials, let us look for them, and prepare for them; and when they come, see that we discover nothing but what will become obedience and submission to God.
1. Let us look for them, partly that we may not be perplexed at God's dispensation when it cometh: 1 Peter iv. 12, 'Beloved! think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you' - mè xenizesthe. We are amazed and perplexed, as men that meet with some new and strange thing, when God cometh to try us in our sweetest earthly comforts, and to blast that which is dearest to us - as credit, liberty, life. We should make these things familiar to us before they come. But, alas! we are secure when trials are nearest us, as the disciples were astonished when God was about to smite the shepherd and scatter the sheep, Mat. xxvi. 31. We are ready to dream of much worldly ease and comfort: Acts i. 6, 'Lord! wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israël?' We get a little breathing time from trouble, and promise ourselves perpetual exemption: Ps. xxx. 6, 'In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved;' so loth are we to forecast for trials, or to put ourselves out of our fool's paradise. We promise ourselves too much when we dream of nothing but pleasure and contentment, as if we would go to heaven without exercise, without warnings within and fightings without. God hath but one Son without sin, but he has none without a cross. We must all be tried before we get to heaven. Partly, that we may try how we can bear them in imagination. It is good to suppose the worst; it hurts not. See the suppositions of faith, Ps. xxiii. 4, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley and shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' He compares himself to a sheep. Suppose I should be like a poor sheep wandering in the night when beasts of prey come out, ready to be devoured every moment. Presumption is a coward, and a runaway; it cannot endure to think of evil, or to look the enemy in the face; but faith meets it in the open field, provides for it when evil is not present; it makes suppositions: Hab. iii. 17, 'Suppose the fig-tree should not blossom,' &c. Suffer fear to prophesy, that faith may be the better prepared. Suppose the Lord should turn the tables, and bring on such a sad condition - nothing to help me, no friends to stand by me, all my children and near relations taken from me, all the supports and comforts of the present life should fail me, - what then? Thus faith supposeth evils that are feared, and then they are more comportable. Before we take up a burden we poise it, and are wont to make an essay of our strength, that we may fit our back and shoulders to it; so it is good to poise our burdens before God lays them upon our backs. What if God put me upon such a trial? And as we should look for it; so -
2. Prepare for it: let us get soundness of grace, and strength of grace.
[1.] Get soundness of grace into your hearts. A hireling, when he comes to trial, will be changeable: guile of spirit will never hold out. Many have made a fair profession, but when put to trial, they have fallen foully. God loves to unmask hypocrites, to take off their disguise: Prov. xxvi. 26, 'The wicked shall be showed before the congregation;' and therefore it is good to prepare for them, to get soundness of grace, that you may be able to bear them. They that have no root cannot endure scorching weather. When the tree is soundly shaken, rotten apples fall to the ground; so in great trials guile of spirit will fail. And then -
[2.] Get strength of grace. Why? we cannot set bounds to trouble; we know not what God may do, and we must prepare for the worst. A little grace and a strong temptation will not do well together; therefore take heed, be not overlaid, and overcome. We are to look after not only truth, but growth of grace; to grow more holy, heavenly, humble; but above all, to increase in faith every day - 'I have prayed that your faith fail not,' Luke xxii. 52. Chaff is lost in tossing from side to side, but full-eared corn remains behind. This is our Saviour's direction to the apostles: Mat. xxvi. 41, 'Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.' They had not received as yet the promise of the Spirit; they were weak, they had not such soundness of grace as was fit for trial; therefore 'watch and pray.' that is, look for trial and pray for grace, for the full measures of the Spirit, that you may not be overcome. As, you know, the steward, Luke xvi. 3, was preparing - What if I should be turned out of my stewardship? how shall I live then? So it is good to see how you shall live in a dear year when creatures fail, when the Lord turns the tables, when the course of his providence alters. Have I a God to trust to? have I grace to bear me out?
3. When you are upon your trial, see that you discover nothing but what will become obedience and submission to God - no impatience, no murmuring, no worldliness, no distrust of God. God taketh much notice of your behaviour then, and your sincerity is put to the test. What doth the trial bring forth? Hab. ii. 21, 'Behold his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.' If it bring forth pride, swelling against God's sovereignty, censures of his providence, distrust of his fatherly love, it is a sad case; but if it produce a lively exercise of faith, oh what a confirmation will this be to you! So that it is of great importance to your peace to see how you carry yourselves. When the vessel is pierced, it discovereth the liquor that is within whether it be thick, or dreggy, or musty. Now God cometh to pierce us, to give vent to that which is within us.
Doct. 2. Observe, - the greater the faith, the greater the trial.
Abraham is put to offer his only son. Look, as Jacob drove, as the little ones were able to endure, Gen. xxxiii. 14, such is the conduct of providence: God proportions our trials as he hath given in strength of grace: 2 Cor. x. 13, 'There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man, for God is faithful, he will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able.' God doth not love to put an angel's work upon a man, nor a man's work upon children, nor the work of strong faith upon a weak believer; but still, according to our particular strength, he proportions our work. We count him a cruel man that overdrives or overlades his beast; and will the gracious and wise God seek to crush you? His trials are not that he may destroy, but that he may prove But then, on the other side, strong faith must look for strong trials, and after God hath richly furnished us with comfort and the graces of the Spirit, God will put us upon expense. When he hath laid in much there will be a time of laying out. Satan's rage is against the best: Heb. x. 32, 'After ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions.' When the castle is victualled, then he suffers the devil to lay siege; when God hath provided us with a stock of grace and of the comforts of the Holy Spirit, he calls us to a time of trial. As Paul, after his rapture, had his buffetings: 2 Cor. xii. 7, 'Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.' It is notable, in the story of Christ's own life, when he received a voice from heaven, Mat. iii. 17, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Then he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil,' Mat. iv. 1; and Luke iv. 1, 'Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.' So when we have the highest assurances of God's love, and are feasted with the comforts of his Spirit, we must look for trials and exercise.
Use. Let not the weakest despond and be discouraged, and let not the best be secure. Let not the weakest despond: there is a proportion between your graces and afflictions; when God hath fitted you, he will call you out to battle, and not before. Let not the best be secure: Satan's rage is most against you, Satan labours mightily to regain his hold - 'He hath desired to sift thee as wheat,' Luke xxii. 31. He is very jealous of his kingdom, and he loves to foil God's champions. He had a special spite against Job, and therefore he moved the Lord against him. Hos quaerit dejicere quos videt stare, saith Cyprian. The devil doth not look after those that are tottering and falling of their own accord; but when he sees God's champions, for his cause, honour, and truth, his spite is against them.
Hebrews
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