better country, that is, an heavenly; and on account of which God is not ashamed to be called their God; and to reward which he is said to have prepared for them a city; or in other words heaven*.. The faith, then, with which Abraham went out to the land of Canaan, was the faith of the Gospel.

The whole of the chapter is employed in unfolding the nature of this Virtue. The manner, in which this is done, will, I am persuaded, be found, upon a thorough examination, to be singularly wise and happy. Faith is here described by its effects, and by effects, which it has actually produced. These are chosen with great felicity and success. The persons selected are

persons, who lived long before the appearance of Christ, Of course they knew very little concerning this glorious person, in the strict sense of the term, knowing. Their faith was, therefore, not at all confused, and obscured, by any real, or apprehended, mixture of knowledge. It existed simply, and by itself; and for that reason is seen apart from all other objects. In each of these persons it is seen in a new situation; and therefore, in some respects, in a new light. It appears in strong and efficacious exercise; and is therefore seen indubitably. It is exhibited as producing obedience in very many forms; and is thus exhibited as the source of obedience in every form. It is seen in many situations, and those highly interesting and difficult; and is therefore proved to be capable of producing obedience in every situation, and of enabling us to overcome every difficulty. In a word, it is here proved beyond debate, that faith is, in all instances, the victory, which overcometh the world.

The faith of Abraham, exercised on this occasion, was, then, the faith of the Gospel. To understand its nature, as exhibited in this passage, it will be useful to consider the whole situation and conduct of Abraham, at the time specified.

When Abraham was called to go out of his own land, he knew not whither he was going; to what country, or to what kind of residence. He knew not whether the people would prove friends or enemies, kind or cruel, comfortable or uncomfortable, neighbours to him: nor whether his own situation, and that of his fa

M See Heb. xi. 6, 16, 17, 26:

mily would be happy or unhappy. Wholly uninfluenced by these considerations, and all others, by which men are usually governed in their enterprises, he still adventured upon an undertaking, in which his own temporal interests and those of his family, were finally embarked. Why did he thus adventure? The only answer to this question is, he was induced to go by a regard to the character of the person who called him. This regard was of a peculiar kind. It was not reverence, love, nor admiration. Neither of these is assigned by the Apostle as the cause of his conduct. They might, they undoubtedly did, exist in his mind; but they did not govern his determination.

The emotion, by which he was compelled to leave his home, was confidence. God summoned him to this hazardous and important expedition; and he readily obeyed the summons. The true and only reason was, he confided entirely in the character and directions of God. God, in his view, was a being of such a character, that it was safe, and in all respects desirable, for Abraham to trust himself implicitly to his guidance. Such were his views of this glorious Being, that to commit himself, and all his concerns, to the direction of God was, in his estimation, the best thing in his power; best for him, and best for his family. He considered God as knowing better than he knew, and as choosing better than he could choose for himself. At the same time he experienced an exquisite pleasure in yielding himself to the direction of God. The Divine character was, to his eye, beautiful, glorious, and lovely; and the emotion of confiding in it was delightful. Sweet in itself, it was approved by his conscience, approved by his Creator, and on both accounts doubly delightful.

The prime object of this confidence was the moral character of God; his goodness, mercy, faithfulness, and truth. Unpossessed of these attributes, he could never be trusted by us. His knowledge and power would, in this case, be merely objects of terror, and foundations of that dreadful suspense, which is finished misery. The confidence of Abraham, therefore, was, evidently, confidence in the moral character of God.

It ought here to be observed, that the Person, to whom Abraham's confidence was immediately directed, was the Lord Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God the Father at any time. The

person appearing under the name of God to the Patriarchs, was the Lord Jesus Christ. This is decisively proved in many ways; and, particularly, by the direct declaration of St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. 9, Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. The passage, here referred to, and the only one in which this event is recorded by Moses, is, Numb. xxi. 5, 6: And the people spake against God, and against Moses; Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. The God, the JEHOVAH, here mentioned, is unequivocally declared by St. Paul to be Christ: and that it was the same God, who destroyed the Israelites on this occasion, that appeared throughout the Old Testament to the Patriarchs and their descendents, will not be questioned. Christ, therefore, was the immediate object of confidence to Abraham.

Let me endeavour to exhibit this subject with greater clearness by a familiar example. A parent sets out upon a journey, and takes with him one of his little children, always accustomed to receive benefits from his parental tenderness. The child plainly knows nothing of the destined journey; of the place, to which he is going; of the people, whom he will find; the entertainment, which he will receive; the sufferings, which he must undergo; or the pleasures, which he may enjoy. Yet the child goes willingly, and with delight. Why? not because he is ignorant; for ignorance by itself is a source to him of nothing but doubt and fear. Were a stranger to propose to him the same journey, in the same terms, he would decline it at once; and could not be induced to enter upon it without compulsion. Yet his ignorance, here, would be at least equally great. He is wholly governed, as a rational being ought to be, by rational considerations. Confidence in his parent, whom he knows by experience to be only a benefactor to him, and in whose affection and tenderness he has always found safety and pleasure, is the sole ground of his cheerful acceptance of the proposed journey, and of all his subsequent conduct. In his parent's company he feels delighted; in his care, safe. Separated from him, he is VOL. II.

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at once alarmed, anxious, and miserable. Nothing can easily restore him to peace, or comfort, or hope, but the return of his parent. In his own obedience, and filial affection, and in his father's approbation and tenderness, care and guidance, he finds sufficient enjoyment, and feels satisfied and secure. He looks for no other motive, than his father's choice, and his own confidence. The way, which his father points out, although perfectly unknown to him, the entertainment which he provides, the places at which he chooses to stop, and the measures, universally, which he is pleased to take, are, in the view of the child, all proper, right, and good. For his parent's pleasure, and for that only, he inquires; and to this single object are confined all his views, and all his affections.

No characteristic is by common sense esteemed more amiable, or more useful, in little children, more suited to their circumstances, their wants, and their character, than confidence. Nor is any parent ever better pleased with his own little children, than when they exhibit this characteristic. The pleasure of receiving it, and that of exercising it, are substantially the same.

In adult years, men of every description reciprocate the same pleasure in mutual confidence, whenever it is exercised. Friends, husbands and wives, rulers and subjects, demand, experience, and enjoy, this affection in a manner, generally corresponding with that I have described.

The second passage, from which I propose to show, that this confidence was the faith of Abraham, is Rom. iv. 20-22, He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded, that what he had promised he was able also to perform; and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. The faith of Abraham, here described, in which he was strong, giving glory to God, and which was imputed to him for righteousness, was faith in the promise of God concerning the future birth of Isaac, through whom he was to become the progenitor of Christ, and the father of many nations, especially of believers of all ages. This faith was built on the moral character of the promiser. But faith in a promise, when it is directed to the disposition of the promiser, as is plainly the case here, because the fulfilment of the promise

must depend entirely on this disposition, is the very confidence, of which I have been speaking.

2dly. This is the faith of the Old Testament.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, says Job, chapter xiii. 15.

I will trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. Psalm lii. 8. I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Psalm lxi. 4.

The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him. Psalm lxiv. 10.

They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. Psalm cxxv. 1.

Who is among you that feareth the Lord? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Isaiah 1. 10.

Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, aud whose hope the Lord is. Jer. xvii. 5, 6.

No person, acquainted with the Scriptures, can, I think, hesitate to admit, that the exercise of mind, mentioned in these passages under the name Trust, is the same with that, which in the New Testament is called faith. It is the character of the same persons; viz. the righteous; and their peculiar and pre-eminent character. The importance, and the obligations assigned to it, are the same; and the blessings promised to it are the same. All, who possess and exercise it, are pronounced blessed; and all who do not possess it, are declared cursed.

In the Verse, following that last quoted from Jeremiah, the peculiar blessings of faith, are declared to be the blessings of the man, who trusteth in the Lord. For he shall be as a tree, planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the River, and shall not see when heat cometh; but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful, in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. The peculiar character, as well as peculiar blessing, of faith is, that he, who is the subject of it, shall abound in the work of the Lord.

Such, precisely, is the glorious blessing, here annexed to him, who trusteth in the Lord; a blessing, which is evidently the greatest of all blessings: for our Saviour informs us, that it is