But let us observe with what accuracy Abram lays hold of the great principle afterwards brought out by the Spirit in Romans viii. "_If children, then heirs._" Abram felt that sonship and heirship were inseparably connected, so much so, that without the former the latter could not be. This is the meaning of his question, "Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?" Abram rightly judged that to have "_no seed_" was to have _no inheritance_, for the word is, not if _stewards or servants_, then heirs, but "if _children_, then heirs" (Rom. viii. 17).
How very important it is that we should ever bear in mind, that all our present privileges and future prospects stand connected with our character as "_sons_." It may be all well and very valuable, in its right place, to realize our responsibility to act as "faithful and wise stewards," in the absence of our Master; still the most ample privileges--the highest enjoyments--the brightest glories, which belong to us through the grace and mercy of our God, stand intimately connected with our character and place as "_sons_." (Comp. John i. 12; Rom. viii. 14, 19; 1 John iii. 1, 2; Eph. i. 5; v. 1; Heb. xii. 5.)
In the vision presented to us in the close of our chapter, and which was granted to Abram as an answer to his question, "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" we have a further illustration of the teaching of Romans viii. Abram is taught by the vision, that the _inheritance_ was only to be reached through _suffering_--that _the heirs_ must pass through _the furnace_, previous to their entering upon the enjoyment of that which God was reserving for them; and I doubt not that, were we more deeply and experimentally taught in the divine life, we should more fully apprehend the moral fitness of such training. Suffering then, is not connected, in this chapter, with _sonship_, but with _heirship_; and so we are taught in Romans viii. "If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that _we suffer_ with Him, that we may be also _glorified_ together." Again, we must, "through much _tribulation_, enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts xiv. 22). The Lord Jesus Himself, likewise, stands as the great illustration of the principle upon which we are dwelling. He occupied the place and enjoyed the favor of a Son from before all worlds, (Prov. viii.) yet ere He could lay His hand upon the inheritance He must pass through suffering. He had a baptism to be baptized with, and was straitened ({ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) until it was accomplished. So also when He remembered that "a corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die," or else abide _alone_, His soul was "_troubled_." Now, we are to "know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings," before we can know Him in the fellowship of His glory; hence it is that the palmed multitude mentioned in Revelation vii. had to pass through "great tribulation" ({ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) ere they reached their peaceful, heavenly home. Passages of Scripture might be multiplied in proof of this point, but I will merely refer to the following, viz.--Phil. i. 29; 1 Thess. iii. 4; 2 Thess. i. 5; 1 Tim. iv. 10; 2 Tim. ii. 12; 1 Peter v. 10.