118
Patriarchs and Prophets
pity and love for the sinner. All around us are souls going down to
ruin as hopeless, as terrible, as that which befell Sodom. Every day
the probation of some is closing. Every hour some are passing beyond
the reach of mercy. And where are the voices of warning and entreaty
to bid the sinner flee from this fearful doom? Where are the hands
stretched out to draw him back from death? Where are those who with
humility and persevering faith are pleading with God for him?
The spirit of Abraham was the spirit of Christ. The Son of God is
Himself the great Intercessor in the sinner’s behalf. He who has paid
the price for its redemption knows the worth of the human soul. With
an antagonism to evil such as can exist only in a nature spotlessly pure,
Christ manifested toward the sinner a love which infinite goodness
alone could conceive. In the agonies of the crucifixion, Himself bur-
dened with the awful weight of the sins of the whole world, He prayed
for His revilers and murderers, “Father, forgive them; for they know
not what they do.”
Luke 23:34
.
Of Abraham it is written that “he was called the friend of God,”
“the father of all them that believe.”
James 2:23
;
Romans 4:11
. The tes-
timony of God concerning this faithful patriarch is, “Abraham obeyed
My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and
My laws.” And again, “I know him, that he will command his children
and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to
do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that
which he hath spoken of him.” It was a high honor to which Abraham
was called, that of being the father of the people who for centuries were
the guardians and preservers of the truth of God for the world—of that
[141]
people through whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed in
the advent of the promised Messiah. But He who called the patriarch
judged him worthy. It is God that speaks. He who understands the
thoughts afar off, and places the right estimate upon men, says, “I
know him.” There would be on the part of Abraham no betraying of
the truth for selfish purposes. He would keep the law and deal justly
and righteously. And he would not only fear the Lord himself, but
would cultivate religion in his home. He would instruct his family in
righteousness. The law of God would be the rule in his household.
Abraham’s household comprised more than a thousand souls.
Those who were led by his teachings to worship the one God, found a
home in his encampment; and here, as in a school, they received such