3 68 Faiths Triumph, DvifIoL ofthe words. Doi`ír. t. Strong trials b'efal (irong Chùfüans. t. 3. A fecond thing that he is to part wits, is with his Son, his only fon,his fill be- gotten fon,in this aEl ofFaith ; Abraham failsagainft wind and tide,where he breaks through the contentments of the world, not only of fence and reafon,but ofnatural affc6tion. The flory in a word is this, God after many years patience; at length gave Abraham a fon in his old age, he was the child of many prayers, and ofmany tears, the parents delight, and to . brabams thinking an heir of life, becaufe a child of the Promife ; he hadnot long (pent his gray hairs in a orange land , bit Godon a fudden calls upon Abraham to give backhis fon, his very fon lfaae, as we may read in the as of Clenejir. Now what Both oAbraham do ? how doth he behavehimfelf ? doth he expoftulate with God? Any thing,Lord,but fpare my fon Ifaac. Nay, the Text faith, he offeredup bisfon ; Loth he murmur and grumble againft God in this manner ;, Lord, why doll thou fingle mil this delight of thine ? why dolt thou teem toenvy this blefling ofmine? 2Ko heofferedup hu Ifaac ; as if the Text had expreffed Abrahams language thus; O LordmyGod, what is it that thou calleít for ? whom is it that thou calleftfor ? is it for my onlyfoil Ifaac, the ion of my love, the fon ofthy promife, the fonofmy age ? verilyLord thou !halt have him ; it î: true, I love him dearly well, but I love thee better; I got hitn by believing,andI (hall never lofe him byobeying : if rfaac were a thoufand foils Thou fhouldcft have them all, though I am afather, yet Lord thou art a God, if 1 give him, he is a facrifice acceptable, and though I kill him, yet thoucan't quicken him andraife him again ; I(hall never lofe my Ifaac, though Ipart withmy fon,for thou haft faid, in Ifaac (hall thyfeedbecalled. Now the parts of theft weirds are two ; Firft , we have' eiibrabamt great trial. Secondly, we have e..ibrahams acquitment. Firft his trial, Abrahamwas triedwhen he offered up hisfan: Secondly his acquitment, B)Fd th Abraham offered upbrafon.' In the former we mayobferve three particulars; Firft, thé'perfon that is tried, Abraham. Secondly, thePerfon that triedhim, God. Thirdly, the thing wherein he was tried, it was no ordinary thing,it wasto part with a partof himfelf, to offer up his dear fon Ifaac, In thelatter part two thingsare obfervable Firft, his quickning up himfelf inhis obediential ad, bt'offered up /fibre, faith the Text. Secondly, the powerful caufe whichdid finable Abraham to fo difficult a work; ay faithAbraham when hewas triedoffered tip his fan, and he that had received the promifè offered upbisonly begottenfon. . Now I cannot handleall thefe parts by feve'ral pieces as they lie, therefore I' will deliver to you the juice and fubftance ofallthat I have to fay, in two Propofitions, there might be manymore colleEted fromthefe words, but I will fpeak ofno more, the fitft is this : That ftrong and great trialsmay befit frong and greatChriftians. The fecond Propofition is this: That faith will make aman acquit himfelf in great trials. Now for the 6rff. That (prongandgreat trialsma, befal,firing andgreat Coriflians. The Text clears it in Abraham, about his fon, his only fon, a great trial, there are ten remarkable fteps inthis trial of aAbraham in offeringup his Son. Firft, had it been topart with a dutiful fervant, this had been fomething, but to part with a Son, this is much more, this we know that the relationof a fervant is much letsthan that of a child. Again, if hehad been to part with a faithful friend, fuck a one as Jonathan was to David, this would have tried him, but to part with a tender Ifaae, this ismuch more. Again, if it were an adopted fon that he weretopartvvith,it vverenot fomuch, but
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