A Voice from the Past: Sonship And Heirship -- By: C. H. Mackintosh
Journal: Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Volume: JOTGES 10:1 (Spring 1997)
Article: A Voice from the Past: Sonship And Heirship
Author: C. H. Mackintosh
JOTGES 10:1 (Spring 97) p. 61
A Voice from the Past:
Sonship And Heirshipa
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Gen 15:1).
The Lord would not suffer His servant to be a loser, by rejecting the offers of the world. It was infinitely better for Abraham to find himself hidden behind Jehovah’s shield than to take refuge beneath the patronage of the king of Sodom. The position into which Abraham is put, in the opening verse of our chapter, is beautifully expressive of the position into which every soul is introduced by the faith of Christ. Jehovah was his “shield,” that he might rest in Him; Jehovah was his “reward,” that he might wait for Him. So with the believer now: he finds his present rest, his present peace, his present security, all in Christ. No dart of the enemy can possibly penetrate the shield which covers the weakest believer in Jesus.
JOTGES 10:1 (Spring 97) p. 62
And then, as to the future, Christ fills it. Precious portion! Precious hope! A portion which can never be exhausted, a hope which will never make ashamed. Both are infallibly secured by the counsels of God and the accomplished atonement of Christ. The present enjoyment thereof is by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us. This being the case, it is manifest that if the believer is pursuing a worldly career, or indulging in worldly or carnal desires, he cannot be enjoying either the “shield” or the “reward.” If the Holy Spirit is grieved, He will not minister the enjoyment of that which is our proper portion—our proper hope. Hence, in the section of Abraham’s history now before us, we see that when he had returned from the slaughter of the kings, and rejected the offer of the king of Sodom, Jehovah rose before his soul in the double character, as his “shield” and his “exceeding great reward.” Let the heart ponder this, for it contains a volume of deeply practical truth.
In it we have unfolded to us the two great principles of sonship and heirship.
I. Sonship
But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” (Gen 15:2-3).
Abraham desired a son, for he knew, upon divine authority, that his “seed “ should inherit the land (13:15). Sonship and heirship are ins...
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