women, and the people, were rescued from the spoilers' hands. And Melchisedec king of Salem blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth! And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hands!"

And

But, if his valour achieved much, his piety effected more. He was called the friend of God; and, as the friend of God, he was intrusted with the secrets of the Most High." And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" The Lord did not hide it. he heard, and he answered, the reasonings, expostulations, and intercessions, of his faithful servant. In that wonderful dialogue, it is difficult whether more to admire, the righteous boldness of the triarch (5), or the gracious condescension of the Judge of all the earth. The result you well know. well know. Had there been ten righteous found within Sodom, that city had been saved.

ра

He that was thus permited to converse with God, might possess indeed, but could not over-estimate, the wealth of "The Lord blessed him greatly (6),

man.

and he became great ; and the Lord gave him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels, and asses.' But what were all the riches of the East to him, whose conversation was in heaven? Little, doubtless, for himself, but much for humanity. In all his expenditure, he distributed the gifts to the glory of the giver. In the plains of Mamre, in his tent-door, in the heat of the day, he loved to sit, and to invite the fainting traveller. And once, as he thus sat," he lifted up his eyes, and looked, and lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw ́them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door; and bowed himself down to the ground; and said, My lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray you, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched; and wash your

feet; and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and

comfort ye your hearts.

shall

pass on.

hearts. After that, ye

For therefore are ye come
Such was the hospi-

to your servant."

tality of Abraham (7); courteous, delicate, unostentatious, flowing from the generosity of his heart. And it was rewarded by the gracious visitation of his God. He entertained angels unawares : he entertained the angel of the covenant. And then was promised the victorious seed and then was renewed the cheering declaration, that " in thee, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

II. Such virtue, and such happiness, must have been the result of no ordinary principle. A A pure and salutary stream can flow from no ignoble fountain. What, then, was the principle, which led Abraham thus to act? What the disposition, which was thus signally rewarded? Saint Paul acquaints us, in the text, that it was faith. And, in that animating chapter from whence the text is derived, he tells

us, that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen." Not, we may be sure, a cold conviction of the understanding (8), but the grateful assurance of an impressed and interested heart. For, it is "with the heart," says the same apostle, “that man believeth unto righteousness. The nature of this divine principle, we are now briefly to consider. And our consideration may, perhaps, be aided, by a reference to natural and human feelings. Throughout the Scripture, it is the delight of God, to reveal himself, as the friend and father of mankind. Let us, then, ascertain, how we are, or ought to be, affected towards our mortal friends and parents; and we shall have advanced a step nearer to the apprehension of that faith, or that affiance, due to our immortal friend, the gracious God, and Father of our spirits.

Let us, then, descend into our own hearts. Why is it that we confidently rely upon the fidelity of an attached

friend; that we calmly repose in the tenderness of a good parent? Not, assuredly, from any laboured proof, that our friend is an honest man, that our parent is not unnatural. No, my brethren. It is not by reasoning that we esteem our friends, or reverence our parents. Happily for the world, there is, in these matters, a sort of human faith; a moral and affectionate persuasion, which is, undoubtedly, the noblest instinct of our nature. where God, and religion, and eternity, are the objects; and where divine grace is the originative fountain, the holy and happy principle of faith, resembles in kind, though it infinitely excels in degree, the confidence, complacency, and calm repose, with which we receive the instructions of a wise friend, or imbibe the lessons of a venerable parent.

And

Such was the faith of Abraham. And is it wonderful, that such a faith should produce the richest and most imperishable fruits? Let those reply, for they alone are worthy or competent to answer,