fuddenly disappear, were not thefe men ignorant of the Scriptures and of the grace of God. Is it any way inconfiftent with divine holiness to call men from fin unto grace? Can any finner come out of his natural and finful state till he be powerfully drawn by divine influences? The fact is, Abram is fet up as a pattern of divine fovereignty towards them who are called in every age; for in him free grace was exalted, and human pride abased. "Look unto the rock whence ye were hewen (faid God to Ifrael), and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham, your father; and unto Sarah who bare you: for I called him alone, and bleffed him, and encreased him *." The Jews piqued themfelves not a little on account of their ancestors; they frequently boafted, that they had Abraham to their father: But, faid Jehovah, look back to the first years of this patriarch's life, and you will find he was far from having any thing which may afford you the leaft ground of gloriation: He was as deeply drenched in idolatry as any of his father's family; and fovereign grace alone fingled him out from among them. -In his natural ftate, then, he was a vile idolater; in his gracious ftate, he was the friend of God, and father of the faithful: He was a pattern of faith and many other graces, indeed, notwithstanding his numerous infirmities

* If. li. 2.

and

and manifold fins. More particularly, he fuftained a two-fold character: First, he was a type of the Meffiah promised to Adam and Noah, under the notion of an illuftrious SEED. The Covenant of Grace was made from eter nity with the Redeemer, as the reprefenting head of his feed; and this covenant was made with the patriarch, as the representative of his feed in like manner: "Now, to Abraham and to his feed were the promises made (viz. the promises of this covenant); he faith not of SEEDS as of many, but as of one; and to thy SEED, which is Chrift*." Again, he stood in the capacity of a Saint, a distinguished member of the Church, as then conftituted; as well as an eminent example of the Church to the latest age.

* Gal. iii. 16.

The fame doctrine was taught at the very dawn of the Reformation from Popery: Said Jerom Zanchius, "Nunc tenemus quæ fint fœderis capita. Ad primum "vero caput, feu ad promiffionem Dei quod attinet, not"andum eft, totam eam effe gratuitam, absolutum, et "citra omnem conditionem. Ac proinde Deum illam "in omnibus confederatis ex fua mifericordia ac boni-, "tate implere." He adds, "Ac certum eft, hunc fuiffe "Scopum Domini, in hac fœderis obligatione: qua fefe ob"ftrinxit Chrifto homini in perfona Abrahami, et in eo "omnibus electis, qui omnes fimul cum Chrifto funt ip"fum, ut antedictum eft, Semen Abraha: certum eft, in

quam, hunc fuifle Scopum Dei, ut fcilicet animos no"ftros in fide, et omni Fiducia erga fe confirmaret.” De Nat. Dei, p. 401.

SECONDLY,

SECONDLY, We are next to enquire, What are the PARTS which belong unto each of thefe Parties refpectively.

ON the PART of GoD are the following exceeding great and precious promises:

1. GOD promifeth to MAKE OF HIM AN EXCEEDING GREAT NATION *. This promise received its accomplishment, both in the literal and mystical fenfe, in agreeableness to the double capacity of the patriarch. At the time when this promife was made, there was little prospect of either the literal or myftical feed : But, beyond all human expectation, God has accomplished, and is accomplishing it ftill. In the former fenfe, the promife was accomplish ed, not only in the Ifhmaelites and Arabians, the fons of Keturah, but also in the nation of Ifrael: When the promife was made, he had not fo much as one fon; but, when Ifrael came out of Egypt, they were not fewer than fix hundred thousand men, befides women and children. In the latter fenfe, the promife is ftill accomplishing, in the NATIONS OF THEM WHO ARE SAVED: This will be an exceeding great nation, indeed, whom no man can, or fhall be able to number.

2. GOD promifeth TO BLESS HIM. In the infpired writings, the word BLESS is fome

Gen. xii. 2.

+ lbid.

t

P

times

times ufed in an inferior fenfe, indeed; but here it must be taken in its moft fublime and fpiritual import: It denotes a free and full juftification, with all the precious fruits which enfue upon it. So the Apoftle explains it, "The Scripture, forfeeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached the gofpel before unto Abraham, faying, In thee fhall all nations be bleffed; fo they which be of the faith are BLESSED with faithful Abraham *." This promife comprehends all other privileges, even the gift of the Holy Ghoft, and eternal life: Juftification, however, is chiefly intended, though those must not be excluded; and it is fitly styled BLESSING, as it frees the finner from the cURSE of the law, and entitles him to everlasting BLESSEDNESS in heaven.

3. GOD engageth to MAKE HIM A GREAT NAME. A name, in Old Teftament language,

* Gal. iii. 8. 9.-CAMPEG. VITRING. explains this phrafe in the following terms: "Per BENEDICTIONEM "intelligenda fit Juftitia Dei, gentibus in Chriftum cre"dentibus gratuito imputanda, et fola obtinenda fide, "ad exemplum et in communione Abrahami, qui hoc "beneficio, a Deo fingulari gratia impetrato, in Hifto"ria Sacra infignis fuifle tradatur, et amicus Dei appel“lari meruerit: quamn ἐνλογίαν comitaretur ἡ ἐυλογία τέ “Avivμatos, five dona Spiritus S. aliaque beneficia gratiæ "olim promiffa, virtute Juftitiæ Chrifti in Ecclefiam con"ferenda." Ob. Sac. Lib. 5.

Gen. xii. 2.

imports

imports FAME; especially fuch as is perpetuated by the offspring, or reprefentative of perfons or families. The original phrafe is, I will MAGNIFY THY NAME; that is, I will raise and maintain thy renown, not only among the Jewish nation, but also among the Gentiles, in gofpel days. The name of Abraham was peculiarly aggrandized when God himself pro

nounced him THE FATHER OF THEM WHO BELIEVE: And it is still magnified by fuch as are brought into his fpiritual family.

4. GOD faid to Abram, "THOU SHALT BE A BLESSING?" Some expofitors view this promife as an amplification of the fecond fpecífied, and explain it thus, Thou shalt be bleffing itself; that is, abundantly blessed. But this exposition can by no means comport with the emphasis of the infpired original: The facred text, when strictly rendered, is, BE THOU A BLESSING. This is the ftrongest manner of expreffing predictions. To give them out by way of command, fays, that he who announceth them is alfo able to command their performance. When the infinite Jehovah faid unto Abram, BE THOU A BLESSING, it could not imply less than an appointment of him to that effect. But ftill it has been difputed, Whether he was conftituted a BLESSING in his