Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." There was the secret. This, and this alone, was what led to the change in Abraham. It was the fact that the But for this, Abraham

Lord had spoken unto him. would have remained where he was, and what he was. He would have neither seen nor cared for his condition. Though bound, he would have embraced his bonds, and sought to have bound them tighter.

The same truth applies to men universally. If there come a change in them, that change is wholly and solely of God. It does not in the least wise originate in man. As well could the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots, as those do good that are accustomed to do evil (Jer. xiii. 23). All vitality in religion is identified with the newbirth; hence the Lord said, in His conversation with Nicodemus, as given in the 3rd chapter of John, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And, so far from man of himself having aught to do with this new-birth, or new creatureship, it would be an easier matter (if a comparison may be used) for him to beget himself naturally than spiritually.

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In the 11th of Ecclesiastes, and 5th verse, we read, "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." From the merely natural the Lord Christ proceeds to that which is strictly

spiritual: hence He says to Nicodemus, still further, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

Well is it for the reader-especially in these days of avowed infidelity, formalism, pharisaism, and superstition-to be well versed in these essential truths. They have to do, indispensably, with the fundamentals of our most holy faith. If we are wrong upon the necessity and the nature of the new-birth, we are wrong altogether.

Another truth we would insist upon in regard to Abraham, and which is verified and confirmed in every soul that is quickened by the Holy Ghost from a death in trespasses and sins: it is this; that it was not on account of any goodness seen by God in Abraham, either prospectively or retrospectively, that induced Him to exercise His love and mercy towards him. It was solely of His sovereign good will and pleasure. He did it because He chose to do it. Precisely upon the same principle as that on which the Apostle Paul greeted the Ephesians, when he said, "And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath,

even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. ii. 1-9).

Such was the Apostle's testimony with respect to the nature of salvation, and the way by which alone a sinner could be justified and accepted of God. How satisfactory is the concurrence between the fact recorded as to the belief of Abraham (of whom it is said that "he believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness") and the faith for which the Apostle ever seeks to contend. Thus the writings of Moses and the epistles of Paul (though penned at such remote intervals, and under such very different circumstances) are in perfect harmony one with the other.

The grand Gospel scheme of salvation, moreover, as based upon these principles, becomes so much more adapted to man as a fallen sinner, and so much more acceptable to his otherwise helpless and hopeless condition. As long as he seeks to commend himself to God by any doings of his own, or as long as he seeks to have the mastery over himself, in regard to what he sees and feels within himself, and which his conscience tells him is contrary to the purity of a holy

God, and adverse to the requirements of His most righteous law, so long will he meet with nothing but disappointment. In Christ, and Christ alone, is to be found that which he seeks in vain to find in himself. Yea, if Jehovah sought to exhibit mercy when, and only when; the sinner showed sorrow, salvation were a hopeless matter, and mankind at large were for ever undone. How forcibly was this fact revealed in Eden; for where was there the slightest betrayal of repentance upon the part either of Adam or Eve? Shame there was, but no sorrow; guilt, but not a particle of grace; there was light, as reflected by conscience, but love was wholly void. Consequently, this sorrow, this grace, this love, must come from a source altogether independent of the creature: that source, that fountain, that spring, was God Himself! Hence we hear the Apostle Peter testify in Jerusalem to this great fact, "Him (that is, the Lord Jesus Christ) hath God exalted with His right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (Acts v. 31).

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CHAPTER VI.

THE LORD'S DEALINGS WITH ABRAHAM IN PERFECT ACCORDANCE WITH HIS DEALINGS WITH ALL HIS PEOPLE-THEIR CALL TO COME OUT FROM THE WORLD-THE PROMISES WHICH ARE ANNEXED THERETO JESU'S ENCOURAGING WORDS-THE NEW TESTAMENT CONFIRMING THE OLD-THE MARTYRED STEPHEN'S TESTIMONY-SACRIFICES FOR GOD AND HIS TRUTH ABUNDANTLY RECOMPENSED-APPEAL TO THE READER-FURTHER MOVEMENTS OF ABRAHAM-HIS PITCHING BETWEEN BETHEL AND HAIABRAHAM'S TRIAL-HIS WANT OF FAITH-INDULGENCES CRITICAL -MISTAKEN STEPS OF BELIEVERS-ABRAHAM'S GOING DOWN INTO EGYPT-A WAITING FAITH A GOD-HONOURING FAITH.

WE have already intimated that the nature and blessedness of salvation were most strikingly opened out in regard to Jehovah's dealings with Abraham. Moreover, the very character of the Lord's command to Abraham is precisely that which He enjoins upon every poor sinner whom the Lord the Spirit is pleased condescendingly and graciously to take in hand. It was God's first work, as to manifestation, with Abraham; so it is His first work, manifestively, with all His people. It was "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house," with Abraham; and it is, as regards His people, whom He finds, as He did Israel of old, in a