CONTENTS
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Abraham made every preparation to carry into execution this command of God. He had gone to the place pointed out, erected his altar, bound his son and laid him on it. He then stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. At this point, "The Angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven," forbidding him to proceed any farther. Then followed a second call out of heaven saying, "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 the 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." -Gen. xxii.
This promise was renewed to Isaac, Ge 26:4, as follows, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," etc. The same was more fully confirmed to Jacob, Ge 28:14, "In thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Thus it is seen, by the language used by the LORD, that all nations embraced all the families of those nations. Peter, in referring to this matter, Ac 3:25, says, "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." Here all families of the earth are embraced. Paul, also, saith, "The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." - Ga 3:8. Here is no limitation-"all nations," and of course "all the families of the earth" are to be "blessed" with the gospel proclamation in order that they may be "justified by faith," that is by believing the message of God's love to the world, or to all the families of the earth. In order to believe it, they must have it proclaimed to them. How can a man believe in that of which he has never heard? Have all the families of the earth heard of the love of God, to "the world," in any age or dispensation past or present? Certainly no man living can prove that they have, and the evidence is clearly against any such assumption. If any age could boast of such a result it is the present century in which we live; but what are the facts?
In a work of a late date by Mr. Shimeall, of this city, who has written and preached much on prophecy, he gives the following statistics:
This promise was renewed to Isaac, Ge 26:4, as follows, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," etc. The same was more fully confirmed to Jacob, Ge 28:14, "In thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Thus it is seen, by the language used by the LORD, that all nations embraced all the families of those nations. Peter, in referring to this matter, Ac 3:25, says, "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." Here all families of the earth are embraced. Paul, also, saith, "The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." - Ga 3:8. Here is no limitation-"all nations," and of course "all the families of the earth" are to be "blessed" with the gospel proclamation in order that they may be "justified by faith," that is by believing the message of God's love to the world, or to all the families of the earth. In order to believe it, they must have it proclaimed to them. How can a man believe in that of which he has never heard? Have all the families of the earth heard of the love of God, to "the world," in any age or dispensation past or present? Certainly no man living can prove that they have, and the evidence is clearly against any such assumption. If any age could boast of such a result it is the present century in which we live; but what are the facts?
In a work of a late date by Mr. Shimeall, of this city, who has written and preached much on prophecy, he gives the following statistics:
"The aggregate population of the earth is twelve hundred and twenty-five millions. They may be divided into the following religious systems, namely:
1. Of Brahminical Pagans, in Asia-650,000,000.
2. Mohammedans, in Asia and Africa, .- 150,000,000.
3. Pagans in a purely savage state, .- 100,000,000.
4. Jews, the kingdom of Judah, dispersed, .- 14,000,000.
In Christendom there are:
1. Of the Western, or Roman Church, -170,000,000.
2. Of the Eastern, or Greek Church, -60,000,000.
3. of Protestants, throughout the world, - 80,000,000.
Total population, 1,224, 000,000"
He then adds: "It results from the statistics, first, That less than one fifth of the earth's population are included within the pale of Christendom. Second, That of these latter, only about one-third bear the Protestant name. Third, computing, as we must, the real numerical strength of Protestant Christianity by the communion statistics of all the various branches of the Protestant Church, scattered over the world, they do not yield a total of over 15,000,000, of the 1,224,000,000]. What a picture."
All this, notwithstanding the promise and oath of God that in Abraham all the families of the earth shall be blessed. From facts like these, one of two things seem inevitable. First, there is an age or ages yet to come, in which the promise and oath of God will be fulfilled; or, Second that promise and oath of God does not mean what it says, and it is impossible to tell what it does mean; and so, the "two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie" cannot be relied on to teach what truth is. No wonder if men are made infidels under the teaching which involves the possibility of the promise and oath of God meaning something entirely different from what is expressed, or is never to be fulfilled at all.
All this, notwithstanding the promise and oath of God that in Abraham all the families of the earth shall be blessed. From facts like these, one of two things seem inevitable. First, there is an age or ages yet to come, in which the promise and oath of God will be fulfilled; or, Second that promise and oath of God does not mean what it says, and it is impossible to tell what it does mean; and so, the "two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie" cannot be relied on to teach what truth is. No wonder if men are made infidels under the teaching which involves the possibility of the promise and oath of God meaning something entirely different from what is expressed, or is never to be fulfilled at all.
