The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1919-11-14

found in many of Gods dealings with
bis people today.
First, it was wholly unexpected. 1t
came latter 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. 1t looked to
human sight as though his active life
was over and he had but to rest quiet
ly through the few years left on earth.
1t looked as though his life was COM
plete. He may have been thinking as
Job was when he said in Job 20 :1S, Il
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 be learned
and unexpected trials Of our faith are
to be looked for as long as we abide in
the flesh.
Secondly, it 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. If 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 disoheying 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 If 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, it was unreason-
able, or so it 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
Uses would center in Isaac. If anything
should happen to this boy what would
become Of the promises? How could
Gods word be fulfilled? If God was
not true to his Word the whole fOunda-
ton 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 great loss-this is irreparable."
We act and talk as though in reality
| God was making a mistake because his
| dealings and providences 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 Obedf-
ence was prompt; no dragging of feet
as he went to do the Lords bidding.
| Putting off doing usually results in not
doing at all. 1t was unqueStioning.
When questioning comes in, human
reason usually triumphs over divine
revelation. 1t 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: "Now 1 know
| that thou fearest God" Abraham S
faith had received the promises and
now his fear obeys the precepts. Not
the servile fear of the criminal afraid
of the vengeance of the broken law,
but the godly reverence yielded to Je-
hovah leading to putting him in the
supreme place of authority in the life.
Abraha1n's fear which issued in obedi-
ence is the proof of Abraham's faith.
| AS James puts it, Faith without
works is dead