Genesis 12:6 And Abram passed through the land to the place of Sichem, to the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.… I. UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DID ABRAHAM BEAR HIS WITNESS FOR GOD? 1. He did it as a stranger in a foreign land. It is emphatically said Of Abraham, that when he came "unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh," "the Canaanite was then in the land." When he first came among them, he came as a man who was utterly unknown. There was nothing whatever to introduce him, nothing whatever to give him authority and influence among them. He was a mere stranger, whose history, whose life, whose conduct was altogether strange. 2. But not only so: he was surrounded by wicked men. Abraham, then, bare his witness for God under the most unfavourable circumstances. He bare his witness where he was a stranger, where all that were around him were opposed to God, and enemies of that faith which he professed and that practice which he displayed. Let no man after this fancy that he will find an excuse in not witnessing for God by the difficulties of the circumstances in which he is placed. II. OF WHAT DID HE BEAR WITNESS? 1. In the first place, he bare witness to the paramount importance of godliness. His chief thought was to testify that he was the servant of God; and the first thing he did after he pitched his tent was this — to erect an altar, and to call upon the name of the Lord. Oh! brethren, this was a testimony that "godliness is profitable to all things," that it has "the promise of the life that now is" as well as "of that which is to come." It was as much as to say, "All my prosperity and all my success, all that I have gained and all that I have achieved, is absolutely nothing unless I am a servant of Almighty God." 2. Again: he was a witness to the love, the power, and the providence of God. He was a witness to these things in that he openly addressed himself to God. 3. Moreover, Abraham bare witness to His faithfulness. When was it that he erected his altar, and called upon the name of the Lord? Just when he had received His promise. God said unto Abraham, "I will give thee this land"; and Abraham "builded an altar unto the Lord." He showed that he depended upon God's promise. 4. But Abraham did more than merely witness to these general truths. Much indeed it was to witness to the importance of godliness; much to witness to a wondering and a hating world the love, the power, and the providence of God; much to bear witness to the faithfulness of His promise; but Abraham did more — he was a "preacher of righteousness." He "rejoiced to see the day of Christ, and he saw it, and was glad; " and the great fundamental truths that lie at the very foundation of the scheme of man's redemption, were by his altar and by his prayer preached and proclaimed unto mankind. It is the duty, brethren, of every child of God to bear witness to the same truths; and exactly in proportion to any influence or authority we possess does the duty become more imperative, and the obligation upon us the more binding. III. TO WHOM DID ABRAHAM BEAR WITNESS? 1. In the first place, he bare witness to the world around. He did not go amongst ungodly men, and hear the Master whom he served profaned, and think that he would keep his sentiments for another time; he bore his witness openly, boldly, undauntedly, in the face of day. And this is just the course that all of us, if we are sincere in our profession, are bound to pursue No man will give us credit for sincerity unless we do so. 2. Not only, however, did Abraham testify to the world around him, but he testified especially to the members of his own household. His own household partook most of the influence of that genial piety. Their ears it was that listened oftenest to the accents of his fervent prayers; their hearts gathered in the mild and holy effects of that blessed teaching, which taught them to took down the line of time for a sacrifice and atonement for their guilt. (H. Hughes, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. |
    |