Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n
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A36887
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Abraham's faith stated and applied a sermon preached February 16, 1695/6 / by Geo. Duncumb ...
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Duncumb, George, 1661 or 2-1743.
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1697
(1697)
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Wing D2609; ESTC R14747
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11,585
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30
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present and so may well be called by him as tho' they were should wait the issue and event and therefore he foreseeing certainly at the time when Abraham believed the Promise concerning receiving a Son that he would readily resign him up or frankly surrender him back by making an Oblation of him whenever he should call for him I say this being as perfectly known unto God then as at any time afterwards he might very well make the imputation beforehand And now that God has really an Eye to this very thing in imputing righteousness unto Abraham is very evident from the words immediately foregoing and following my Text So that we have an infallible Interpretation to warrant the Application for in the Two Verses next before the Text we read expresly that Abraham our Father was justified by Works and that particularly when he had offer'd his Son Isaac upon the Altar whereby his Faith was made perfect Whence the Apostle makes this Inference or Conclusion And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness How was the Scripture fulfilled how did it receive its completion By the bare believing the Promise No but by his Expression of Obedience to God's Command in being ready to offer up his only Son The Design of St. James is to prove That Christians are justified by Works and not by Faith only For which purpose he alledges the Example of Abraham the Father of the Faithful affirming that he was therefore justified because he obey'd Ye see then says the Apostle just after the passage cited in my Text how that by Works a man is justified and not by Faith only Which is as much as to say 'T is apparent from the forementioned Example that Obedience to God's Commands as well as Belief of his Promises must concur to the making any person accepted or approved of God So that either the Apostle did not rightly understand the Saying of Moses Either he mistook the meaning and misapplied it which no good Christian can say or else it must be taken as you have heard it now explained namely in conjunction with that after-Act which God saw would be performed in its season in the proper time appointed for it But because it may be objected That St. Paul seems to have been of another mind and in his Relation of it to put a different or rather a clean contrary construction upon it 't is necessary I should attempt a clear solution of this difficulty by shewing their real Concord notwithstanding this appearing contradiction The Apostle of the Uncircumcision having declared in Rom. 3.28 That a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law he proceeds in the Fourth Chapter to illustrate this point at large where at the 3d v. he cites the same passage that St. James does here in my Text and thence argues against the boasted righteousness of the Jews in observing the Mosaick Law especially the discriminating parts of it which they were wont to press as necessary to Justification and shews that as Abraham was justified without them so shall his Seed be after him But in all this there is nothing inconsistent with St. James's assertion for St. Paul does not exclude Works or suppose that Abraham's Faith was not approved by them But he only rejects those Legal deeds which the Jews obtruded and cried up for righteousness such as Circumcision Sacrifices the Mosaick differences of clean and unclean Meats as also their setting up a meer human Righteousness in consisting in outward Acts and the like These he knew would never commend any man to God these therefore he condemns as superseded or set aside by the Gospel And that these are what he means by Works is evident from his declaring to those who laid so much stress upon them as to trust wholly to them that Abraham's righteousness was imputed when uncircumcised and consequently could not be on the account of any such Works as were before specified But rather such as he would have Christians or all that believe in God charged carefully to maintain Tit. 3.8 The Law of Moses being the Law of their Commonwealth whose breaches were triable in their own Courts the manner of the Jews was to esteem themselves righteous in the Eye of their Law as the World does in case of other Political and State Laws when they are not liable to be brought in trouble or indicted upon them before any of their own Tribunals Hereupon measuring themselves only by external Acts which alone are cognizable in human Courts the orderly Livers among them made no more scruple of asserting their Righteousness in the Eye of their Law than any good Subjects do in pleading their innocence as to the Laws of their respective Countries As we find St. Paul himself did in setting off his Jewish Confidences saying That touching the righteousness which is in the Law he was blameless that is had done nothing that could be alledg'd against him before any of their Tribunals Phil. 3.6 So that upon the whole matter when St. Paul affirms that Abraham was justified by Faith and not by Works without all peradventure he means such a lively Faith as did constantly demonstrate its sincerity by suitable affections and actions a Faith working by love and so made acceptable to God through Christ the Promised Seed even without performing perfect unsinning Obedience and without Conforming to the Rites of the Mosaick Precepts Which are the Two things that St. Paul certainly means by Works whereever he explodes them or sets up Faith in opposition to them and particularly in the instance before us Agreeably hereunto it is observable That when the same Apostle speaks of Abraham's Faith in another Epistle where he makes it his business to magnify and extol it exceedingly and so cannot be thought to have omitted what was most praise-worthy he takes no notice of his believing the Promise but makes mention only of his obeying the Command as may be seen in Heb. 11.17 18. By Faith saith he Abraham when he was tried offer'd up Isaac and he that had received the promises offer'd up his only-begotten Son Of whom it was said That in Isaac shall thy seed be called The Story is related more fully in Gen. 22. and the Substance of it is this It seems some time after the Promise to Abraham was fulfilled in that Sarah his Wife conceived and brought forth a Son it pleased God as he had purposed of old to make a further trial of his Faith such as might deserve to be a standing Monument throughout all Ages to the end of the World God said unto him v. 2. 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 burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of Abraham did not more easily believe the strange Promise than he readily obey'd this hard Command for instead of murmuring like
Abraham 's Faith Stated and Applied A SERMON PREACHED FEBRUARY 16. 1695 6. By GEO. DUNCUMB M. A. Rector of Albury in Surrey LONDON Printed for Tim. Goodwin at the Queens-Head against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCXCVII TO HIS PARISHIONERS THE Inhabitants of ALBURY Beloved IF one may make a Judgment of Mens Principles and Opinions by their most usual Practices nothing is more apparent than that the generality of Christians are persuaded That a Right Faith will Atone for an Irregular Practice for otherwise 't is hardly possible that Persons who are Orthodox in their Creed should so easily separate the Commandments from it Wherefore that you may not be deluded and fatally mis-led by any such false Notion which makes our Faith a matter of Speculation I do earnestly recommend the following Discourse to your Serious Perusal in hopes that by God's Blessing accompanying it it may prove a means to convince you effectually what little Reason there is to boast of having Abraham for your Father by living under the Profession of a most Holy Faith unless you likewise approve your selves his faithful Children by leading a Godly Righteous and a Sober Life This is my Aim and if I may but be so happy as to succeed in it I shall not matter what Strangers say of it in passing any uncharitable Censure on it The Publication indeed is somewhat unusual for though what you lately heard from the Pulpit comes now from the Press 't is altogether a Voluntier If this render it contemptible to other Readers as proceeding from an overweening Opinion of a plain Sermon it ought not to be the less acceptable to You for being a Freewill-Offering humbly presented and put into your Hands by Your faithful Minister Geo. Duncumb JAM II. 23. And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness And he was called the friend of God AS very Excellent Things are spoken of Faith and many Noble Acts have been done by it so there is none in whom this Saving-grace was more eminent than the person Characterized in my Text even Abraham who has the high Honour to be Intituled The Friend of God And since he seems to be set forth as a Pattern and Precedent for our imitation I shall 1. Enquire what kind of Faith or Belief Abraham's was And 2. Shew particularly what ours must be in order to be justified Tho' probably the Scripture here referred to may principally respect the Special Promise of God made unto Abraham touching a numerous Issue when stricken in Years according as it is written in Gen. 15. where upon this assurance when Sarah his Wife was naturally past Child-bearing it is said v. 6. That he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness I say tho' Abraham's thus believing in hope against hope may be reckon'd or counted the ground of his justification yet is it not sufficient to support the confidence of such presumptuous Believers as rely upon a speculative Faith expecting to be justified and saved by it For this passage is not to be consider'd singly and alone but must be taken in conjunction with an antecedent and a subsequent Act with what went before it and what follow'd after it whereby Abraham gave full proof of his Faith's being no less Obediential than Fiducial I mean no less forward to observe God's Precepts than to depend on his Promises You must note then that besides God's knowing the sincerity and stedfastness of Abraham's Faith at the time when he counted it to him for righteousness upon his not staggering at the strange Promise through Unbelief He had already experienc'd it God had long before made trial of it by a Command of some difficulty even that of leaving his Native Countrey and going into a strange Land with which he complied without the least hesitancy or reluctance he did not hang back and object its being a hard case to quit a certainty for an uncertainty but made haste and delayed not to fulfil the Commandment of his God not scrupling to part with his present possessions in considence of God's provision he readily forsook his Kindred and his Father's House thereby approving himself the friend of God under whose conduct he took his journey and followed not knowing whither he should be led as we read in Gen. 12. This was such a signal instance of his resignation to the Divine Will in an intire dependance upon God that the Inspired Apostle ranks it amongst the most worthy fruits of a true Faith saying Heb. 11.8 By faith Abraham when he was called to go into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obey'd and he went out not knowing whither he went That is he believed God that he would be as good as his word and in consequence of such belief was not disobedient to the heavenly Voice but did as he was bidden and repaired to the place appointed tho' he had no knowledge of it no Kindred or Acquaintance in it After he had long dwelt or rather sojourn'd here in the Land of Promise as in a strange Country the word of the Lord came unto him in a vision saying Gen. 15.1 Fear not Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward which is as if he should have said Let nothing daunt or discourage thee forasmuch as I will still stand by thee I will never leave thee nor forsake thee but will surely defend thee and always plentifully provide for thee Abraham it seems had already more wealth than he well knew what to do with having no Son to inherit it So that a Child was the only Blessing that he wanted and therefore he takes this occasion not out of any diffidence but from a longing desire to see the accomplishment I say he takes this occasion with humble confidence to put God in mind of a former Promise thitherto expected by his Servant even that of giving him a Son Whereupon this Ancient promise was graciously renewed and notwithstanding Ahraham was now grown old and his Wife both barren and also past the Age of Child-bearing yet being not weak in Faith he consider'd not his own Body now dead when he was about an Hundred years old neither the deadness of Sarah's Womb but knowing him to be faithful that promised and able also to perform it he believed God and it was imputed or accounted unto him for righteousness Not that we are to look upon this single act to be in it self the sole ground of Abraham's justification for unless he had justified this his professed Faith by a suitable action in time of trial we have no reason to think he would have been justified by himself Had he refused to obey the Special Command of God requiring him to Sacrifice his Son his only Son Isaac his bare believing the Promise could never have been imputed to him for righteousness There was no need that God to whom all things future are