him, and said, Abraham, and he answered, Behold, here I am. And the Lord said unto him, Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burntoffering upon one of the mountains that I will tell thee of."

O! what a command was this! Must Isaac, his son, his only and beloved son, must he be offered as a burnt-offering? and must this be done by Abraham himself? May not the offering be made by another hand? No, Abraham must do it himself-and do it without delay! "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of Moriah, and offer him for a burntoffering, upon one of the mountains that I will tell thee of." What a trial to parental feeling, and what a severe trial of his faith! Was not Isaac the child of promise, and if he were slain, how could the promise be fulfilled? Abraham could not tell, nor did he trouble himself about the matter. God had promised; that was enough. Is any thing too hard for God? Could he not do all things? Could he not even raise Isaac again from the dead? At any rate, Abraham was resolved to obey his Maker, and trust his word.

And what did Abraham? "He rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass, and took

two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto the young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again unto you. And Abraham took the wood of the burntoffering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" What a question from a darling boy! How it must have pierced the heart of the old patriarch! "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood; and he took the knife to slay his son." What an act of triumphant faith was this! But this is enough. "And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham! Abraham! and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou

any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.

And the

angel of the Lord called unto Abraham the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me, therefore, in blessing I will bless thee; and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." Thus Abraham honoured God, and pleased him. Yes, faith not only honours God, but pleases him. This idea must not be left out of view. What says the apostle concerning Enoch? "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God; but without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The case of Enoch, according to a Jewish tradition, was this: Enoch lived in a time of abounding iniquity. He was a bold reprover. His life was threatened; but God commanded him to denounce judgments upon the wicked around

him; assuring him that they should not be permitted to do him any harm. Accordingly he, in the midst of a raging multitude, lifted up his voice, and said: "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon you all." Upon this they rushed upon him, to put him to death; but suddenly the heavens were opened, and in the view of all he was snatched away! "was translated that he should not see death."

Now that faith which thus honours and pleases God, must surely be of great value; must be precious indeed! O! that we had more of this precious faith in this our day! Let each Christian now lift up his heart, and say: Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief! Lord increase my faith! Precious faith! But again:

V. Faith unites to Christ, in our effectual calling. It binds the soul of the believer to Christ in bonds never to be broken. This is its chief excellence-this is its crowning glory; for what can the ivy do without the oak? and what can such poor sinners as we are do without a Saviour? But faith not only links the soul to Christ, but creates a union, mysterious and divine. Is Jesus Christ the vine? Believers are the branches. Is Jesus Christ the head? Believers are the members. Is Jesus Christ the bridegroom? Believers are the bride. Nay,

the apostle uses language, if possible, stronger still; for, says he, "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones!" Precious faith! uniting us to Christ, it makes us partakers of his righteousness; and possessed of this, our peace is made with God, and we are safe and happy for ever, for thus it is written: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." And again: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Precious faith! How precious it must be in a day of trouble! O! how precious in a dying hour!

And now, in closing:-How very simple and beautiful is the way of salvation! of salvation! We are not required to traverse oceans, nor scale mountains, nor study abstruse sciences. We are not required to go on a pilgrimage to the tomb of some prophet, or the shrine of some martyr. What says the Saviour? "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." And again, the Saviour, knowing how prone many persons are to stumble at the simplicity of the way of salvation, comes over the same ground, in the very next verse; for, says