The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-03-29
Rev. B. Fay Mills Sermon Of
Thursday Afternoon Last
ON I" ENTIRE CONSIDERATION"
The Noble Example Furnished by
abraham in His Willingness 70 Give
Up Isaac, His Only Child, as Sac
riicc in Obedience TO God.
[coneIuded.l

IL he had. You mothers know. We DO
not read anywhere about God asking a
mother TO give up her child. 4 DO not
fhink Sarah would have done IL. And i
think that IL A braham had told her what
he was going TO do, she would have found
some way TO keep him from doing II. And
he didn't tell Isaac. How pathetic are
those words, /" You stay here, ana
i and the lad will 60 yonder and
worship Worship Oh is that worship
That act OF sublime sacrifice Worship
81 and the lad will go yonder and worship
and come again To you" SO they ootn
went, and as they go the lad says "My
father" and Abraham says: "llere am 1,
my SON. And the son says: "Here Is the
wood and the fire, but where Is the
lamb for the burnt oiiering?" And Abra-
ham said, "My son, God will provide him
self lamb for burnt Offering" lie did
not dare 20 tell Isaac, but had 10 bear i all
alone. O my friend, when you get on the
cross YOU Will have to hang there alonel
And then notice that his agony was
prolonged through three days. Where
There are thousand men that would rush
INSTANTLY into the fray and cast away their
Lives for the sake of their country, there
certainly is not more than one that
for three days would offer himself a
living sacrifice. Every step that Abraham
took was a part OF the sacrifice. And
during these days and nights of journey
|Oi what time II must have beenl Isaac,
Isaac" His mind goes back TO the time
|of the promise; he remembers when he
WELCOMED the little babe into the world,
land how he thanked God for IL; he
Remembers his sons childhood, his
baby prattle and his sweet ways; he
|remembers how loyal Isaac has been 10
him, and how obedient; he remembers
how his mind has run into the future;
|hoW he has thought that Isaac should be
married and have children of his own.
|And now it is to be all swept away. 1t
|is his only son. And as he goes
lover this for three days he keeps thinking
|it over, aud thinking it over. . FRIENDS,
LIT must have been great lover OF God,
this man, to go for three days Offering
this living sacrlficel
And then notice another thing, which
Ito me indicates the deepest severity OF
this awful death; and that is, that he
Twas brought to the place where he had TO
|count the things that were not as the
Things that were. lie was brought TO
|choice between believing God and
|disobeying, or obeying God and
laval. i wish l could use some language
THAT would stir some OF us to thinking of
|What an awful alternative was offered this
IMAM. God said: "Thy seed shall be as
|tho stars of heaven, and as the sand of the
|seashore, and in thy seed shall all the ma
|tions OF the earth be blessed.
I'm Isgac shall thy seed be
called. And also of the son OF a
bond woman will i make nation, be-
|cause he is thy seed" And now while
Isaac was still a young and unmarried
Imam, God said, "Abraham, you must cast
AWAY the promise OF God, and make the
|promise OF God seemingly of none avail"
And he had TO choose between obeying
|GOd and seeming TO disobey Him; or else
Ito cast Himself back on the promise
|of God and refuse to obey Him. o learn
lesson from what Abraham did, my
friend. He stopped not at the promise of
|God through pnbelief, but he counted
THAT God was able even from the dead TO
|raise up children unto him.. Life, death,
the possibility OF the ivr. tu'ureL,hese re,onnss
Ito Abraham was to say, "Here am
|I,p and offer himself as a willing sacri-
dcc. Beloved, IL ii seems TO you as though
Gods kindness and love and charity and
|compassion would have to go, If it seems
|fo You as though every hope that you
have had in God would have to be thrown
would have TO make himself
II liar, then in the name OF God l
beg of you TO obey Him, although IL seems
las II il would shatter all the faith you
lever had. You will get into the place
|Whcre yon Will have your life built on a
{1rm foundation il you do this. Then you
Twill be in place where you will be
God is not looking for people that can
instruct Him, but He is looking for those
|who, through the path OF obedience, may
|cnter into life.
And now what was the result OF this
|supreme test and the way that Abraham
|met II. In the first place there was the
that ne had toward God. "Trib-
AL Iutl l..stI Itsf hail fa
Experience; and experience, hope; and
hope maketh not ashamed; but the love
|of God Is shed abroad in our hearts
| by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto u.s." IL was SO with Abraham.
God said, /" Abraham, stay thine hand,
for now know that thou fearest Me"
And am sure that when any other test
came TO this man in later days, he could
say, " Lord, thou knowest." / am sure
that when the Devil came to him and
tested him. saying. "Abraham, are YOU
sure that you are loyal TO Godgn ne could
point back to Mount M0riab. You may
have flashes Of Joy by fragmentary acts
OF obedience toward God, but the only
way 10 abide in the JOY OF God as Abra ham
| did after this, is TO be entirely
given unto Hin, 90 have the last thing
0iven up to God. Then you may abide in
the fullness OF His Joy and the Rowing OF
HIS rivers of peace.
1lr. Meyer, the 0uthOr OF the little book
(which will be given to You today, points
us 10 the fact that the bride i'm the Song Of
Solomon seems at first only TO bethinking
Of what she has received: "My beloved is
mine, and am his.' But If you read on
YOU Will find that she changes that and
says. 81 am my beloved's, and my beloved
| r. mine" Aud II you read on down TO
almost the last verse, you Will find that
| fhe leaves of the latter part entirely
and she Just says; 81 am my beloyed's, and
| his desire Is toward me-" That is
enough. What You want TO do is TO
|try TO get God, and let God get
you. The trouble with a good many j.
| that when they say they want TO walk
with God, they mean that they want God
' 10 walk with them. Ny friend, lie will
never turn around TO walk your way. All
your peace and hope viii come, not from
fhe cOnsc iousness that God is yours,
but that you are His and that He
| will care for that which Is 60 mmitted
INTO Him. 81 am His, / am His.m And
40 nt any time after this when Abrnham
might be t-stcd, he could say, "Iord, you
<aid TO me that day that you knew me,
| md that was yours, body and soul and
spirit. Lord, thou knowosi, thou know
est.D
Then. in the second place, notice that
@Inrn rarIir 10 him great trmrrraf urnt-