The Raymer enterprise. (New Raymer, Weld County, Colo.) 1910-19??, 1919-11-06

found In many of Gods dealings with
his people today.
First. II was wholly unexpected. II
came after these things "These
things" are the events of Abraham's
life up to this point. They include his
call and his separation from his coun-
try and his fathers house; his expert
ence with Lot and Sodom and the de-
feat Of the kings; the promise that his
family should increase and the expert
ence with Hagar and Ishmael; the
change Of his name and the coming OF
the promised son Isaac. II looked to
human sight as though his active life
was over and he had but to rest quiet
~ through the few years left on earth.
II looked as though his life was COM
plete. He may have been thinking as
Job was when he said In Job % :l8, II
shall die In my nest" But we are re-
minded that perfection is never
reached in this life, and therefore the
training Is never finished. No matter
how far advanced In Christian expert
ence, new lessons are to he learned
and unexpected trials of our faith are
to be looked for as long as We abide in
the flesh
Secondly, 1t was unexplained. God
did not tell Abraham why he was put
ting this test upon him. Any explana-
ton would have robbed the test Of its
value. II Abraham knew just why God
asked him to offer up Isaac he would
have seen what God saw and there
could be no proper test of faith. We
are continually asking "Why?" at
every turn In Gods dealings and are
frequently In danger of dlsobeylng God
because he does not condescend to
give us an answer to the why" We
know that all things work together for
good to those that love God, and this
knowledge Of the ultimate issue In
good should make us more and more
hesitant in questioning the motives Of
Gods dealings with us. II we knew
why things are as they are, or II things
always went In way we could ex-
plain, the trial Of our faith. (which is
precious would lose all value.
In the third place, II was unreas0n-
able. or 50 II would seem from the hui
man viewpoint Abraham was asked
to offer up his son, Isaac. Now think
who Isaac was and what he represent.
ed. God had declared that his prom
ises would center In Isaac. II anything
should happen to this boy what would
become of the promises? How could
Gods word be fulfilled? II God was
not true to his Word the whole founda-
tlon Of faith would be destroyed and
Abraham would be found to have fol-
lowed false voice. 1t must certainly
have seemed to be unreasonable to
Abraham. and very often Gods deal.
ings seem unreasonable to us. We are
so often afraid. though perhaps we do
not give the thought words, that God
is making a mistake In some loss Of
friend or relative. or In the taking
away Of some strong pillar OF the
church, we say one to another: This
Is a great loss-this Is irreparable.' II
We act and talk as though In reality
God was making mistake because his
dealings and provldences seem unrea.
sonable. But the event always proves
the reasonableness of his actions and
we find he has ways above our reason
The action Of Abraham under test
holds an example for us. His obedI,
ence was prompt; no dragging Of feet
as he went to do the Lords bidding
Putting of doing usually results In moi
doing at all. 1t was unquestioning
When questioning comes In. human
reason usually triumphs over divine
revelation. It was unstinted. Partial
obedience gives God little chance OF
bestowIng blessings.
The secret Of Abraham's obedience
Is to be found. think, in verse u
where the Lord says: Nov ] know
that thou fearest God" Abraham's
faith had received the promises and
now his fear obeys the precepts. MOI
the servile fear Of the criminal afrait
Of the vengeance Of the broken law
but the godly reverence yielded to Je
hovah leading to putting him In thu
supreme place of authority in the life
Abraham's fear which issued In obedi
ence is the proof Of Abraham's faith
| As lanes nuts IL nEaiIh Withnul