THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
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medans, and by about five hundred mil lions of professing Christians. Not even the Lord Jesus, Himself, is revered by so many. God has also fulfilled His promise of making Abram a blessing. The knowledge of the one true God was preserved for the human race through Abram and his descendants. Our Lord Jesus, Himself, was a son of Ahram according to the flesh. It is said that on one occasion, a member of the House of Commons taunted DTsraeli with his Jewish birth, and Britain’s great statesman replied: “ So long as one half of the Christian world worships a crucified Jew, and the other half His Jewish mother, I am not ashamed to be called a Jew.” 2. His Posterity. His descendents were to be numer ous. Remember that not only are the eleven or twelve millions of Jews descendents of Abram, but that the Arabs, descendents of Ishmael, and the sons of Keturah and of Esau, are all descendents of Abram, also. Remember, too, that under David and Solomon Israel was a great nation, one of the greatest of the times. To Abram’s posterity, also, was prom ised the land in perpetuity. Gen. 13:15. Though Israel is dispossessed of her land at present, thank God for the signs that seem plainly to presage her restoration to it again. Even her tem porary dispossession of the land was foretold hy God. But this does not make void the promise. V. How Abram Lived in The Land. 1. He reached the land at last. cp. Ps. 84:7; Phil. 1:6. Thank God that when He calls a man out, He sees to it that the man gets n. A lady remarked to Dr. Jas. H. Brookes, one day, that he seemed from his ser mon to be a .great believer in the per severance of the saints. Dr. Brookes replied that he did not know about the perseverance of the saints, hut that he was a great believer in the persev erance of God-. ,
2. Ahram Passed Through the Land. He was a traveller and a sojourner. “ He pitched his tent.” cp. 1 Pet. 2:11. The Christian, like Abram, is only a sojourner and pilgrim down here. He is a citizen of another and a better country, toward which he is journey ing. A tent is easily folded up and moved on. 3. Abram Worshipped In The Land. He built an altar at Sichem, and he built another altar near Bethel. Notice that the altar was built, while the tent was only pitched. The altar is a con fession of sin and of the need of an atoning sacrifice, and of the worship due to God, and of the longing for fel lowship with God. What would God not he able to do for us over in France if in even the Christian homes of our country, the, family altar was re-built. Contrast,, in closing'' Abram the idolater in his old home at Ur, of the Chaldees, and Abram the friend of God in the promised land. Abram, the man of faith and the faithful man. God’s commentary on this, great man is found in the 11th chapter of Hebrews where elevfen verses are set apart to HEART OF THE tell of this man LESSON . as God saw him. PRACTICAL PO INTSFrom Genesis 11:10 to 14:24, we have the obedience of faith, and from Ch. 15 to 21, we have the conflict of faith. Ahram was a real man, and his life is the story of God’s dealing with a human being who, without precedents such as we have who possess the Bible and know the history of God’s dealing with men, measured up in a marvellous manner to God’s call and command. “ The Call of God” ; “ The Covenant of God,” and “ The Communion with God” affords a simple outline for the lesson. These nine verses are big with great lessons. We stand on the threshold of
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