There is one point, which, before closing my remarks on this chapter, I shall notice, and that is, the gracious way in which God gives Abraham credit for having done the act which he had showed himself so fully prepared to do. "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because _thou hast done this thing_, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of _his enemies_; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: because thou hast obeyed my voice." This beautifully corresponds with the Spirit's notice of Abraham's acting, as put before us in Heb. xi. and also in James ii., in both of which scriptures he is looked upon as having offered Isaac his son upon the altar. The grand principle conveyed in the whole matter is this: Abraham proved that he was prepared to have the scene entirely cleared of _all_ but God; and, moreover, it was this same principle which both _constituted_ and _proved_ him a justified man. Faith can do without every one and every thing but God. It has the full sense of his sufficiency, and can, therefore, let go all beside. Hence Abraham could rightly estimate the words, "_by myself_ have I sworn." Yes, this wondrous word, "myself," was every thing to the man of faith. "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.... For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath." The word and oath of the living God should put an end to all the strivings and workings of the human will, and form the immovable anchor of the soul amid all the tossing and tumult of this stormy world.
Now, we must condemn ourselves constantly, because of the little power which the promise of God has in our hearts. There it is, and we profess to believe it; but ah! it is not that deep, abiding, influential reality which it ought ever to be; we do not draw from it that "strong consolation" which it is calculated to afford. How little prepared are we, in the power of faith, in the promise of God, to slay our Isaac! We need to cry to God that he would be graciously pleased to endow us with a deeper insight into the blessed reality of a life of faith in himself, that so we may understand better the import of that word of St. John: "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith." We can only overcome the world by faith. Unbelief puts us under the power of present things; in other words, it gives the world the victory over us. A soul that has entered by the teaching of the Holy Ghost into the sense of God's sufficiency, is entirely independent of things here. Beloved reader, may we know this, for our peace and joy in God and his glory in us.