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SUBJECT: 06 GEN 17:1-2 Consecration to God--
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Consecration to God-Illustrated by Abraham's
Circumcision
December 13th, 1868
by
C. H. SPURGEON
(1834-1892)
"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the
Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am
the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou
perfect. And I will make my covenant between me
and thee, and will multiply thee
exceedingly."- Gen_17:1-2.
We commenced our exposition of the life of Abram with
his calling, when he was brought out of Ur of the
Chaldees, and separated unto the Lord in Canaan. We
then passed on to his justification, when he believed
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness; and
now you will bear with us if we continue to the same
subject to a further stage, and attempt to describe the
fuller development of Abram's vital godliness in the
open and clear revelation of his consecration to God.
In the chapter before us we see his sanctification unto
the Lord, his ordination to service, and purification
as a vessel fitted for the Master's use. All the called
are justified, and all the justified are by a work of
the Holy Ghost sanctified, and made meet to be
afterwards glorified with Christ Jesus.
Let me remind you of the order in which these blessings
come. If we should speak of sanctification or
consecration, it is not as a first thing, but as an
elevation to be reached only by preceding stepping-
stones. In vain do men pretend to be consecrated to God
before they are called of God's Spirit; such have yet
to be taught that no strength of nature can suffice to
serve the Lord aright. They must learn what this
meaneth, "Ye must be born again," for assuredly until
men are brought into spiritual life by effectual
calling of the Holy Spirit, all their talk about
serving God may be answered in the words of Joshua, "Ye
cannot serve the Lord." I speak of consecration, but it
is not as a first thing, nor even as a second thing,
for a man must be justified by faith which is in Christ
Jesus, or he will not possess the grace which is the
root of all true sanctity; for sanctification grows out
of faith in Jesus Christ. Remember holiness is a
flower, not a root; it is not sanctification that
saves, but salvation that sanctifies. A man is not
saved by his holiness, but he becomes holy because he
is already saved. Being justified by faith, and having
peace with God, he walks no longer after the flesh, but
after the Spirit, and in the power of the blessing
which he has received by grace he dedicates himself to
the service of his gracious God. Not then the due order
of heavenly benefits, consecration to God follows
calling and justification.
Recalling your minds to Abram's history, let me remind
you that thirteen years had elapsed after the time in
which God had said that Abram's faith was counted to
him for righteousness, and those thirteen years, so far
as we can gather from Scripture, were not at all so
full of brave faith and noble deeds as we might have
expected them to have been. How sure is that truth that
the best of men are but men at the best, for that very
man who had accepted God's promise and had not
staggered at it through unbelief, within a few months
afterwards, or perhaps a few days, was taken with a fit
of unbelief, and at the instigation of his wife,
adopted means which were not justifiable, in order that
he might obtain the promised heir. He used means which
may not be so vicious to him, as they would be in men
of modern times, but which were suggested by an
unbelieving policy, and were fraught with evil. He
takes Hagar to wife. He could not leave it to God to
give him the promised seed; he could not leave it with
God to fulfil his promise in his own time, but
justifies himself in turning aside from the narrow path
of faith to accomplish by doubtful methods the end
which God himself had promised and undertaken to
accomplish.
How shorn of splendour is Abram seen when we read of
him, "and Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sarai!"
That business of Hagar is to the patriacrch's deep
discredit, and reflects no honour at all upon either
him or his faith. Look at the consequences of his
unbelieving procedure! Misery soon followed. Hagar
despises her mistress; Sarai throws all the blame on
her husband; the poor bond-woman is so hardly dealt
with that she flees from the household. How much of
real cruelty may be meant by the term "dealing hardly,"
I cannot tell, but one marvels that such a man as Abram
allowed one who had been brought into such a
relationship with him, to be heedlessly chased from his
house while in a condition requiring care and kindness.
We admire the truthfulness of the Holy Ghost that he
has been pleased to record the faults of the saints
without extenuating them. Biographies of good men in
Scripture are written with unflinching integrity, their
evil recorded as well as their good. These faults are
not written that we may say, "Abraham did so-and-so,
therefore we may do it." No, brethren, the lives of
these good men are warnings to us as well as examples,
and we are to judge them as we should judge ourselves,
by the laws of right and wrong. Abram did wrong both in
taking Hagar to wife and in allowing her to be badly
used.
In after years the child of the bond-woman mocked the
child of the free-woman, and an expulsion of both
mother and child was needful. There was deep sorrow in
Abram's heart, a bitterness not to be told. Polygamy,
though tolerated under the Old Testament, was never
approved; it was only endured because of the hardness
of men's hearts. It is evil, only evil, and that
continually. In the family relationship there can be
opened no more abundant and fruitful source of misery
to the sons of men than want of chastity to the
marriage-bond made with one wife. Disguise that
unchastity by what name you will. All these thirteen
years, so far as Scripture informs us, Abram had not a
single visit from his God. We do not find any record of
his either doing anything memorable or having so much
as a single audience with the Most High. Learn from
this, that if we once forsake the track of simple
faith, once cease to walk according to the purity which
faith approves, we strew our path with thorns, cause
God to withhold the light of his countenance from us,
and pierce ourselves through with many sorrows.
But mark, beloved, the exceeding grace of God. The way
to recover Abram from his backsliding was that the Lord
should appear to him; and, consequently, we read in our
text that at ninety-nine years of age Abram was
favoured with a further visit from the Most High. This
brings to my remembrance the words in the book of
Revelation, concerning the church in Laodicea: "Though
art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or
hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth"-a very
solemn declaration; but what follows? "Behold, I stand
at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with me," which means just this, that for
recovery out of a horrible state of languishing and
lukewarmness there is no remedy but the coming of Jesus
Christ to the soul in near and dear intercourse. Truly
it was so with Abram. The Lord would bring him out of
his state of distrust and distance into one of high
dignity and sanctity, and he does it by manifesting
himself to him, for the Lord talked with Abram.
"Midst darkest shades, if he appear,
My dawning is begun;
He is my soul's bright morning star,
And he my rising sun."
Breathe a prayer, my brethren and sisters. "Lord,
reveal thyself to my poor backsliding, languishing
spirit. Revive me, O Lord, for one smile from thee can
make my wilderness blossom as the rose."
On the occasion of this gracious manifestation, God was
pleased to do for Abram what I think is to us an
admirable and instructive illustration of the
consecration of our redeemed spirits entirely to his
service. I shall, this morning, as God may help me,
first lead you to observe the model of the consecrated
life; secondly, the nature of the higher life; and,
thirdly, its results.
I. First, then, let us notice in the words of God to
Abram, THE MODEL OF THE SANCTIFIED OR CONSECRATED LIFE.
Here it is: "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and
be thou perfect." For a man to be thoroughly sanctified
to the Master's service, he must first realise the
almightiness and all-sufficiency and glory of God.
Brethren, the God whom we serve filleth all things, and
hath all power and all riches. If we think little of
him we shall render little trust to him, and
consequently little obedience, but if we have grand
conceptions of the glory of God, we shall learn to
confide in him most thoroughly, we shall receive
mercies from him most plentifully, and we shall be
moved to serve him most consistently. Sin at the bottom
of it very frequently has its origin in low thoughts of
God. Take Abram's sin; he could not see how God could
make him the father of many nations when Sarai was old
and barren. Hence his error with Hagar. But if he had
remembered what God now brings to his recollection,
that God is El Shaddai, the allsufficient One, he would
have said, "No, I will remain true to Sarai, for God
can effect his own purposes without my taking tortuous
means to accomplish them. He is allsufficient in
himself, and not dependent upon creature strength. I
will patiently hope, and quietly wait, to see the
fulfilment of the Master's promises." Now, as with
Abram, so with you, my brethren and sisters. When a man
is in business difficulties, if he believes that God is
allsufficient to carry him through them, he will not
practise any of the common tricks of trade, nor
degenerate into that shiftiness which is so usual among
commercial men. If a man believes, being poor, that God
is sufficient portion for him, he will not grow envious
of the rich or discontented with his condition. The man
who feels that God is an all-sufficient portion for his
spirit, will not look for pleasure in the pursuits of
vanity; he will not go with the giddy multitude after
their vain mirth. "No," saith he, "God hath appeared
unto me as God all-sufficient for my comfort and my
joy. I am content so long as God is mine. Let others
drink of broken cisterns if they will, I dwell by the
overflowing fountain, and am perfectly content." O
beloved, what glorious names our Lord deservedly wears!
Whichever of his names you choose to dwell upon for a
moment, what a mine of wealth and meaning it opens up
to you! Here is this name, "El Shaddai;" "El," that is,
"the strong one," for infinite power dwells in Jehovah.
How readily may we who are weak become mighty if we
draw upon him! And then, "Shaddai," that is to say,
"the unchangeable, the invincible." What a God we have
then, who knows no variableness, neither shadow of
turning, against whom none can stand! "El," strong;
"Shaddai," unchangeable in his strength; always
therefore strong in every time of need, ready to defend
his people, and able to preserve them from all their
foes. Come, Christian, with such a God as this why
needest thou abase thyself to win the good word of the
wicked man? Why gaddest though abroad to find earthly
pleasures where the roses are always mixed with thorns?
Why needest thou to put thy confidence in gold and
silver, or in the strength of thy body, or in aught
that is beneath the moon? Thou hast El Shaddai to be
thine. Thy power to be holy will much depend upon thy
grasping with all the intensity of thy faith the
cheering fact that this God is thy God for ever and
ever, thy daily portion, thine all-sufficient
consolation. Thou dares not, canst not, wilt not,
wander into the ways of sin when thou knowest that such
a God is thy shepherd and guide.
Following up this model of the consecrated life, notice
the next words-"walk before me." This is the style of
life which characterises true holiness; it is a walking
before God. Ah! Brethren, Abram had walked before
Sarai; he had paid undue respect to her views and
wishes; he had walked, too, in the sight of his own
eyes and the inclinations of his own heart when he was
allied to Hagar; but now the Lord gently rebukes him
with the exhortation, "Walk before me." It is
remarkable that on the former divine visit to the
patriarch (which we tried to interpret last Lord's-
day), the Lord's message was "Fear not." He was then,
as it were, but a child in spiritual things, and the
Lord gave him comfort, for he needed it. He is now
grown into a man, and the exhortation is practical and
full of activity-"walk." The Christian man is to put
out and use the strength and grace which he hath
received. The pith of the exhortation lies in the last
words, "Walk before me," by which I understand an
habitual sense of the presence of God, or doing the
right thing and shunning the wrong, out of respect to
the will of God; a consideration of God in all actions,
public and private. Brethren, I deeply regret when I
see Christian men, even in religious societies, in
their calculations leaving out the greatest item in the
whole calculation-namely, the divine element, the
divine power and faithfulness. Of the most of mankind I
may say, without being censorious, that if there were
no God their course of action would not be different
from what it is, for they do not feel themselves either
restrained or constrained by any sense of the divine
presence. "The transgression of the wicked saith within
my heart, that there is no fear of God before his
eyes." But this is the mark of the truly sanctified man
of God, that he lives in every place as standing in the
presence chamber of the divine Majesty; he acts as
knowing that the eye which never sleeps is always fixed
on him. His heart's desire is that he may never do the
wrong thing, because he has respect to worldly
greatness, and may never forget the right thing because
he is in evil company, but may reckon that God being
everywhere, he is always in company where it would be
impudent rebellion to sin. The saint feels that he must
not, dare not, transgress, because he is before the
very face of God. This is the model of the sanctified
character, for a man to realise what the Lord is, and
then to act as in the immediate presence of a holy and
jealous God.
The next words are, "and be thou perfect." Brethren,
does this mean absolute perfection? I shall not
controvert the belief of some, that we may be
absolutely perfect on earth. Freely do I admit that the
model of sanctification is perfection. It were
inconsistent with the character of God for him to give
us any other than a perfect command, and a perfect
standard. No law but that of absolute perfection could
come from a perfect God, and to give us a model that
were not absolutely perfect, were to ensure to us
superabundant imperfections, and to give us an excuse
for them. God sets before his servants no rule of this
kind, "Be as good as you can," but this, "Be you
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect." Hath any man ever attained to it? Truly we
have not, but for all that, every Christian man aims at
it. I would far rather my child had a perfect copy to
write by, though he might never write equal to it, than
that he should have an imperfect copy set before him,
because then he would never make a good writer at all.
Our heavenly Father has given us the perfect image of
Christ to be our example, his perfect law to be our
rule, and it is for us to aim at this perfection in the
power of the Holy Spirit, and, like Abram, to fall upon
our faces in shame and confusion of face, when we
recollect how far we have come short of it. Perfection
is what we wish for, pant after, and shall at the last
obtain. We do not want to have the law toned down to
our weakness. Blessed be God, we delight in the
perfection of that law. We say with Paul, "The law is
holy, and just, and good, but I am carnal, sold under
sin." The will of God is that which we would be
conformed unto; and if we who are believers had but one
wish, and it could be granted to us at once, it should
be this, to make us perfect in every good work to do
his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in
his sight. However, the word "perfect," as I have said,
bears commonly the meaning of "upright," or
"sincere"-"walk before me, and be thou sincere." No
double dealing must the Christian man have, no playing
fast and loose with God or man; no hypocritical
professions, or false principles. He must be as
transparent as glass; he must be a man in whom there is
no guile, a man who has cast aside deceit in every
shape, who hates it, and loathes it, and walks before
God, who sees all things with absolute sincerity,
earnestly desiring in all things, both great and small,
to commend himself to the conscience of others as in
the sight of the Most High.
Brethren, here is the model of the consecrated life. Do
you not long to attain to it? I am sure every soul that
is moved by God's grace will do so. But if your feeling
about it is like mine, it will be just that of Abram in
the text, "Abram fell on his face before the Lord." For
oh, how far short we have come of this! We have not
always thought of God as all-sufficient; we have been
unbelieving. We have doubted him here, and doubted him
there. We have not gone to work in this world as if we
believed the promise, "I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee." We have not been satisfied to suffer, or
to be poor, and we have not been content to do his will
without asking questions. We might often have had
addressed to us the rebuke, "Is the Lord's hand waxed
short? Is his arm shortened at all? Is his ear heavy,
that he cannot hear?" Brethren, we have not always
walked before the Lord. If one may speak for the rest,
we do not always feel the presence of God as a check to
us. There are angry words perhaps at the table; there
is wrong-doing in the place of business; there are
carelessness, worldliness, pride, and I know not what
beside of evil to mar the day's labour; and when we
come back at night we have to confess, "I have gone
astray like a lost sheep, I have forgotten my
Shepherd's presence. I have not always spoken and acted
as if I felt that thou wast always looking upon me."
Thus it has come to pass that we have not been perfect.
I feel ready to laugh, not the laugh of Abram, but that
of thorough ridicule, when I hear people talk about
their being absolutely perfect. They must be of very
different flesh and blood from us, or rather they must
be great fools, full of conceit, and utterly ignorant
of themselves; for if they did but look at a single
action, they would find specks in it; and if they
examined but one single day, they would perceive
something in which they fell short, if there were
nothing in which they had transgressed. You see your
model, brethren, study it in the life of Christ, and
then press forward to it with the zeal of the apostle
who said, "Not as though I had already attained, either
were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may
apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
II. Secondly, THE NATURE OF THIS CONSECRATION as
illustrated in this chapter. On each point briefly.
Genuine spiritual consecration begins with communion
with God. Note the third verse:-"Abram fell on his
face, and God talked with him." By looking at Christ
Jesus, his image is photographed upon our mind, and we
are changed from glory to glory, as by the presence of
the Lord. Distance from God's presence always means
sin: holy familiarity with God engenders holiness. The
more you think of God, the more you meditate upon his
works, the more you praise him, the more you pray to
him, the more constantly you talk with him, and he with
you, by the Holy Ghost, the more surely are you upon
the road to thorough consecration to his cause.
The next point in the nature of this consecration is
that it is fostered by enlarged views of the covenant
of grace. Read on: "As for me, behold my covenant is
with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations."
This is said to help Abram to walk before God and to be
perfect; from which we conclude that to grow in
sanctification a man should increase in knowledge, and
also in the tenacity of the faith which grasps the
covenant which God has made with Christ for his people,
which is "Ordered in all things and sure." With your
Bibles open, notice attentively that Abram was
refreshed as to his own personal interest in the
covenant. Note the second personal pronoun, how it is
repeated: "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee,
and thou shalt be a father of many nations." Take the
sixth verse, "I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and
I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out
of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me
and thee, and thy seed after thee . . . .to be a God
unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." Thus Abram has
the covenant brought home to himself; he is made to
feel that he has a part and a lot therein. If you are
ever to be sanctified unto God's service, you must get
a full assurance of your interest in all the convenant
provisions. Doubts are like wild boars of the wood,
which tear up the flowers of sanctification in the
garden of the heart; but when you have in your soul a
God-given assurance of your interest in the precious
blood of Jesus Christ, then shall the foxes which spoil
the vines be hunted to death, and your tender grapes
shall give a good smell. Cry to God, beloved brethren
and sisters, for strong faith to "Read your title clear
to mansions in the skies." Great holiness must spring
from great faith. Faith is the root, obedience the
branch; and if the root decays the branch cannot
flourish. Ask to know that Christ is yours, and that
you are his; for here you will find a fountain to water
your consecration and make it yield fruit to Christ's
service. Some professors act as if this were not the
case. They foment their doubts and fears in order to
perfect holiness. I have known Christians, when they
are conscious that they have not lived as they ought to
live, begin to doubt their interest in Christ, and, as
they say, humble themselves in order to reach after
fuller sanctification of life. That is to say, they
starve themselves in order to grow strong; they throw
their gold out of window in order to become rich; they
pull up the very foundation-stone of their house to
make it stand secure. Beloved believer, sinner as thou
art, backslider as thou art, still believe in Jesus,
let not a sense of sin weaken thy faith in him. He died
for sinners, "in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
Cling to that cross still: the more furious the storm
the more need of the life-buoy-never leave it, but make
your hold the firmer. Confide alone in the virtue of
that precious blood, for thus only will you slay your
sins and advance in holiness. If you say within your
heart, "Jesus cannot save such a one as I am; if I had
marks and evidences of being God's child, I could then
trust in compense of reward; you have cast away your
shield, and the darts of the tempter will wound you
terribly. Cling to Jesus even when it is a question
whether you have a grain of grace in your hearts.
Believe that he died for you, not because you are
consecrated or sanctified, but died for you as sinners,
and saves you as sinners. Never lose your simple trust
in the Crucified, for only by the blood of the Lamb can
you overcome sin and be made fit for the Lord's work.
Note, in reading these words, how this covenant is
revealed to Abram peculiarly as a work of divine power.
Note the run of the passage, "I will make my covenant
between me and thee." "I will make thee fruitful." "I
will establish my covenant." "I will give unto thee."
"I will be thy God," and so on. Oh! those glorious
"wills" and "shalls." Brethren, ye cannot serve the
Lord with a perfect heart until first your faith gets a
grip of the divine "will" and "shall." If my salvation
rests upon this poor, puny arm, upon my resolves, my
integrity, and my faithfulness, it is shipwrecked for
ever; but if my eternal salvation rests upon the great
arm which bears up the universe, if my soul's safety is
altogether in that hand that wheels the stars along,
then blessed be his name, it is safe and well; and now
out of love to such a Saviour I will serve him with all
my heart. I will spend and be spent for him who has
thus graciously undertaken for me. Mark this, brethren,
be very clear about it, and ask to have the divine
working made apparent to your soul, for that will help
you to be consecrated to God.
Further, Abraham had a view of the covenant in its
everlastingness. I do not remember that the word
"everlasting" had been used before in reference to that
covenant, but in this chapter we have it over and over
again. "I will establish my covenant for an everlasting
covenant." Here is one of those grand truths which many
of the babes in grace have not as yet learned, namely,
that the blessings of grace are blessings not given to-
day to be taken back to-morrow, but eternal blessings.
The salvation which is in Christ Jesus is not a
salvation which will belong to us for a few hours,
while we are faithful to it, and will then be taken
away, so that we shall be left to perish. God forbid,
"He is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man
that he should repent." "I am God," saith he, "I change
not: therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
When we put ourselves into the hands of Christ, we do
not confide in a Saviour who might suffer us to be
destroyed, but we rest in one who hath said, "I give
unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never
perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand."
Instead of the doctrine of the security of the saints
leading to negligence of life, you will find that, on
the contrary, where it is thoroughly well received in
the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost, it begets
such a holy confidence in God, such a flaming gratitude
to him, that it is one of the best incentives to
consecration. Treasure up these thoughts, dear
brethren, and if you would grow in grace and in
conformity to Christ, endeavour to perceive your
personal interest in the covenant, the divine power
which guarantees its fulfilment, and the
everlastingness of its character.
In considering the nature of this consecration, I would
observe next, that they who are consecrated to God are
regarded as new men. The new manhood is indicated by
the change of name-he is called no longer Abram, but
Abraham, and his wife is no longer Sarai, but Sarah.
Ye, beloved, are new creatures in Christ Jesus. The
root and source of all consecration to God lies in
regeneration. We are "born again," a new and
incorruptible seed is placed within us which "liveth
and abideth for ever." The name of Christ is named upon
us: we are no longer called sinners and unjust, but we
become the children of God by faith which is in Christ
Jesus.
Note further that the nature of this consecration was
set forth to Abraham by the rite of circumcision. It
would not be at all fitting or decorous for us to enter
into any detail as to that mysterious rite, but it will
suffice to say that the rite of circumcision signified
the taking away of the filthiness of the flesh. We have
the apostle Paul's own interpretation of circumcision
in the verses which we read just now in his epistle to
the Colossians. Circumcision indicated to the seed of
Abraham that there was a defilement of the flesh in man
which must for ever be taken away, or man would remain
impure, and out of covenant with God. Now, beloved,
there must be, in order to our sanctification to
Christ, a giving up, a painful relinquishing of things
as dear to us as right eyes and right hands. There must
be a denying of the flesh with its affections and
lusts. We must mortify our members. There must be self-
denial if we are to enter upon the service of God. The
Holy Spirit must pass sentence of death and cutting
away upon the passions and tendencies of corrupt
humanity. Much must perish which nature would cherish,
but die it must, because grace abhors it.
Notice, with regard to circumcision, that it was
peremptorily ordained that it should be practised on
every male of the race of Abraham, and if it were
neglected, death followed. So the giving up of sin, the
giving up of the body of the filth of the flesh is
necessary to every believer. Without holiness no man
shall see the Lord. Even the babe in Christ is as much
to see death written upon the body of the filth of the
flesh as a man who, like Abraham, has reached advanced
years and come to maturity in spiritual things. There
is not distinction here between the one and the other.
"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord;" and where
a supposed grace does not take away from us a love of
sin, it is not the grace of God at all, but the
presumptuous conceit of our own vain natures.
It is often said that the ordinance of baptism is
analagous to the ordinance of circumcision. I will not
controvert that point, although the statement may be
questioned. But supposing it to be, let me urge upon
every believer here to see to it that in his own soul
he realises the spiritual meaning both of circumcision
and baptism, and then consider the outward rites; for
the thing signified is vastly more important than the
sign. Baptism sets forth far more than circumcision.
Circumcision is putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but baptism is the burial of the flesh altogether.
Baptism does not say, "Here is something to be taken
away," but everything is dead, and must be buried with
Christ in his tomb, and the man must rise anew with
Christ. Baptism teaches us that by death we pass into
the new life. As Noah's ark, passing through the death
of the old world, emerged into a new world, even so, by
a like figure, baptism sets forth our salvation by the
resurrection of Christ: a baptism of which Peter says,
it is "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience toward God." In
baptism, the man avows to himself and others that he
comes by death into newness of life, according to the
words of the Holy Spirit, "Buried with him in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of
the operation of God, who hath raised him from the
dead." The most valuable point is the spiritual
meaning, and on that we experience what it is to be
dead to the world, to be dead and buried with Christ,
and then to be risen with him. Still, brethren, Abraham
was not allowed to say, "If I get the spiritual
meaning, I can do without the outward rite." He might
have objected to that rite on a thousand grounds a
great deal more strong than any which the hesitating
have urged against baptism, but he first accepted the
rite, as well as the thing which it intended, and
straightway was circumcised; and so I exhort you, men
and brethren, to be obedient to the precept upon
baptism, as well as attentive to the truth which it
signifies. If you be indeed buried with Christ, and
risen with him, despise not the outward and instructive
sign by which this is set forth. "Well," saith one, "a
difficulty suggests itself as to your views," for an
argument is often drawn from this chapter, "that
inasmuch as Abraham must circumcise all his seed, we
ought to baptise all our children." Now, observe the
type and interpret it not according to prejudice, but
according to Scripture. In the type the seed of Abraham
are circumcised; you draw the inference that all
typified by the seed of Abraham ought to be baptised,
and I do not cavil at the conclusion; but I ask you,
who are the true seed of Abraham? Paul answers in
Romans ix. 8, "They which are the children of the
flesh, these are not the children of God: but the
children of the promise are counted for the seed." As
many as believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they
be Jews or Gentiles, are Abraham's seed. Whether eight
days old in grace, or more or less, every one of
Abraham's seed has a right to baptism. But I deny that
the unregenerate, whether children or adults, are of
the spiritual seed of Abraham. The Lord will, we trust,
call many of them by his grace, but as yet they are
"heirs of wrath, even as others." At such time as the
Spirit of God shall sow the good seed in their hearts,
they are of Abraham's believing seed, but they are not
so while they live in ungodliness and unbelief, or are
as yet incapable of faith or repentance. The answering
person in type to the seed of Abraham is, by the
confession of everybody, the believer; and the believer
ought, seeing he is buried with Christ spiritually, to
avow that fact, by his public baptism in water,
according to the Saviour's own precept and example.
"Thus," said Christ, "it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness," as he went down to the river Jordan. At
the Jordan was he sprinkled? Why go down to a river to
be sprinkled? Why went he down into the water to be
sprinkled? "Us." Did he mean babes? Was he a babe? Was
not he, when he said "us," speaking of the faithful who
are in him? "And thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness," that is, all his saints. But how does
baptism fulfil all righteousness? Typically thus:-It is
the picture of the whole work of Christ. There is his
immersion in suffering; his death and burial; his
coming up out of the water represents his resurrection;
his coming up the banks of Jordan represents his
ascension. It is a typical representation of how he
fulfilled all righteousness, and how the saints
fulfilled it in him. But, brethren, I did not intend to
go so far into the outward sign, because my soul's
deepest desire is this, that like as Abraham by the
outward sign was taught that there was a putting away
of the filth of flesh, which must be, or death must
follow, so are we taught by baptism that there is an
actual death to the world, and a resurrection with
Christ, which must be to every believer, however old or
however young, or he hath not part or lot in the matter
of consecration to God, or, indeed, in salvation
itself.
III. I have a third head, but my time is gone, and,
therefore, just these hints. THE RESULTS OF SUCH A
CONSECRATION.
Immediately after God's appearing to Abraham, his
consecration was manifest, first, in his prayer for his
family. "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" Men of
God, if you are indeed the Lord's, and feel that you
are his, begin now to intercede for all who belong to
you. Never be satisfied unless they are saved too; and
if you have a son, an Ishmael, concerning whom you have
many fears and much anxiety, as you are saved yourself,
never cease to groan out that cry, "O that Ishmael
might live before thee!"
The next result of Abraham's consecration was, that he
was most hospitable to his fellow men. Look at the next
chapter. He sits at the tent door, and three men come
to him. The Christian is the best servant of humanity
in a spiritual sense. I mean that for his Master's sake
he endeavours to do good to the sons of men. He is of
all men the first to feed the hungry and to clothe the
naked, and as much as lieth in him to do good unto all
men, especially unto such as be of the household of
faith.
The third result was, Abraham entertained the Lord
himself, for amongst those three angels who came to his
house was the King of kings, the infinite One. Every
believer who serves his God doth, as it were, give
refreshment to the divine mind. I mean this, God took
an infinite delight in the work of his dear Son. He
said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased," and he takes a delight also in the holiness
of all his people. Jesus sees of the travail of his
soul, and is satisfied by the works of the faithful,;
and you, brethren, as Abraham entertained the Lord, do
entertain the Lord Jesus with your patience and your
faith, with your love and your zeal, when you are
thoroughly consecrated to him.
Once more, Abraham became the great intercessor for
others. The next chapter is full of his pleadings for
Sodom. He had not been able to plead before, but after
circumcision, after consecration, he becomes the King's
remembrancer, he is installed into the office of a
priest, and he stands there crying, "Wilt thou not save
the city? Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the
wicked?" O beloved, if we do but become consecrated to
God, thoroughly so, as I have attempted feebly to
describe, we shall become mighty with God in our
pleadings. I believe one holy man is a greater blessing
to a nation than a whole regiment of soldiers. Did not
they fear more the prayers of John Knox than the arms
of ten thousand men? A man who lives habitually near to
God is like a great cloud for ever dropping with
fertilising showers. This is the man who can say, "The
earth is dissolved, I bear up the pillars thereof."
France had never seen so bloody a revolution had there
been men of prayer to preserve her. England, amidst the
commotions which make her rock to and fro, is held fast
because prayer is put up incessantly by the faithful.
The flag of old England is nailed to her mast, not by
the hands of her sailors, but by the prayers of the
people of God. These, as they intercede day and night,
and as they go about their spiritual ministry, these
are they for whom God spareth nations, for whom he
permitteth the earth still to exist; and when their
time is over, and they are taken away, the salt being
taken from the earth, then shall the elements dissolve
with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that
are therein, shall be burnt up; but not until he hath
caught away the saints with Christ into the air shall
this world pass away. He will spare it for the
righteous' sake. Seek after the highest degree of
sanctity, my dear brethren and sisters, seek for it,
labour for it; and while you rest in faith alone for
justification, be not slack concerning growth in grace,
that the highest attainments be your ambition, and God
grant them to you, for his Son's sake. Amen.
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