Living faith.
Abraham is well called "the father of the faithful;" nowhere, in the Old Testament or in the Newt do we meet with any one whose life was such an illustration of implicit trust and holy confidence in God as was his. If faith be not merely the acceptance of a creed, or the utterance of sacred phrases, or the patronage of religious institutions; if it be a living power in the soul, it will manifest itself in—
I. CHEERFUL OBEDIENCE. (Acts 7:2-4.) God bade Abraham leave his home and kindred, and he left them. He did not know whither he was going (Hebrews 11:8), but at the call of God he set forth promptly and willingly. So Matthew at the summons of the Savior (Matthew 9:9). So many thousands since his day; men and women who have heard the Master say, "Go," and they have gone, relinquishing all that is most cherished by the human heart. When God distinctly speaks to us, whatever he may bid us do, at whatever cost we may be required to obey, it behooves us to comply instantly and cheerfully.
II. TRUST IN THE DARKNESS. (Verse 5.) There is little faith in trusting God when everything is bright and hopeful. When we can see our way we can easily believe that it is the right one. Living faith shows itself when we "do not see and yet believe" (John 20:29). Abraham was promised the land of Canaan "for a possession," yet God "gave him none inheritance in it." "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country" (Hebrews 11:9). This might have seemed to him as a "breach of promise" (Numbers 14:34) on the part of him who brought him out of Chaldaea, but he does not seem to have entertained any doubts or misgivings. Moreover, he believed that the land would be the property of his seed, though "as yet he had no child." "By faith also he offered up Isaac," etc. (Hebrews 11:17). Even in the thick darkness, when he could not see one step before him, Abraham trusted God. We profess to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7), but we are often fearful and doubtful when the way is clouded. But it is in the night of adversity that the star of faith must shine.
"When we in darkness walk,
Nor feel the heavenly flame,
Then is the time to trust our God
And rest upon his Name."
III. CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE. (Verses 6, 7.) God told his servant that, after being in bondage four hundred years, his seed should serve him in that country. It was a long time to look forward to. But the believing patriarch rested in God and was satisfied. We are impatient if our schemes do not come to maturity in a very brief time; we cry "failure" when only a small fraction of four centuries is passed without the redemption of our hope. We are bound to remember that we "have to do" with the Eternal One. We must wait his time, whether it be a day or a thousand years.—C.