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. No, Abraham was a Gentile. His father was a worshipper of 'idols. He not only worshipped idols, but he taught others to indulge in the same abomination. And yet God loved Abraham. Indeed, so great was God's love for this remarkable man, that He honored him by calling him "my friend." An~ A,b raham has . come down to us in 'history as the only person in all creation whom God ever called "friend." What _would you not give, dear reader, if you too could be called the friend of God? Sometimes we Jews get the false idea that just because we are Jews, we are therefore entitled to some sort of charmed existence, and that some.how God owes us eternal care and eternal life. Nothing could ·be further from the truth than this. Jews in the times of the Lord Jesus Christ used to boast of this false security, but one day the prophet John the Baptist said t.o . them: "And think not to say within' your.s elves, We have Abraham to our father: for- I say unto you, that God is able of th-ese stone·s to r aise up children unto Abraham" (Matt. 3:9'). The ' ' I In the days of Abraham, the word, "Jew" was unknown. Stich a thing as a Jewish natian was unheard of, and on every side were only Gentiles. And yet, God loved Abraham, a Gentile: It is of supreme importance that every thinking .Tew should find out why God loved Abraham. The answer is not hard to find, nor far to ,seek. It is found in our own Toj ah, in Genes_is 16:6"And he believed in the Lord; and he counted.: it to him for righteousness. . . . • . " :At that time·. Abraham was one hundred years old, an.d Sarah liis wife wa.s ·ninety, years -old. Both of the!ll w;ere beyond all ·human poss'ibility ·of . ever becomrpg parents. Yet God came. to :Abraham and �told him, "He that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." And Abraham was just simple enoug.h and trusting enough to believe that what God had said would come to pass, even though all human nature indicated that it would be an utter scientific impossibility. Long before this incident, our Jewish Talmud tells us that Abraham had become disgusted with his father's and mother's idols; and although he had been brought up in his parents' religion, _his own mind realized that that religion was vile and was in direct disobedience to the will of God. And Abraham as a young boy set his teeth, and turned his feet away from his father's home, and away from 4is own kindred, and went forth wherever God would lead him. If Abrahani had not done that-if he had stayed by his father and mother, which was the easiest thing to do-would there be a Jewish nation today? Listen, you rabbis! Hear us, you so-called Jewish leaders, who mislead thousands of innocent Jews! Don't ever again describe a Jew who becomes a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as a "traitor to his mother's religion." If Abraham had not been a "traitor" to his mother's religion you would not be a rabbi today, and you would not be a Jewish leader today. It is only because we have had such "traitors" among us-men who have dared to stand for what is right, and who have gone down to death because of their fath-it is only because of such ir.ien among us that God did not destroy the Jewish nation many, many years ago because of the fulness of their iniquity. God sent his only begotten Son into the world nearly two thousand years ago, thus providing an answer to Augur's question in the Hebrew Proverbs, "What is his (God's) son's name?" (Prov. 30:5). God asks us to believe in His Son as the only Saviour from our sins, as the only person through whom we may have eternal life. In asking us to do this, God has required from us exactly the same exercise of faith which He asked from Abraham nearly four thousand years ago. Abraham believed God, but we Jews of today are so much smarter than Abraham that we refuse to believe God; and we quibble as to whether the Lord Jesus Christ could scientifically have been born of a virgin! Thousands of Gentiles today are actually believing God, just as A.braham did of old. They are willing to believe God could and did cause the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Virgin Mary. In so believing, these Gentiles are exercising exactly the same kind of faith that Abraham exercised, and so they have become, and God has called them, "the spiritual seed of Abraham." They are truly God's children, and they are putting to shame our Jewish nation, because they believe God, and our Jewish nation does not believe God. The synagogues were crowded this Yorn Klppur as in previous Yorn Kippurs, and thousands of Jews fasted and prayed and cried to God the whole day long. But when the day was finished, did they have any a ssurance that their sins were forgiven? Did God answer their prayers? No! Listen to what God says in Isaiah 1 :15. "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood." So, dear reader, you can keep on praying and fasting until the crack of doom, and your prayers will get no higher than the beautiful dome of your synagogue. The reason is that God has provided for you a way by which your prayers can be a nswered. If you will not take it, He cannot r eceive you. That way is through the Lord J esus Christ, who said in John 14:6. " I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." How long then will our Jewish people remain blind? How long will you allow only Gentiles to enjoy �-all. the .blessings that God bas promised'to· those who believe in ·the Lord Jesus Christ? Why . not put God to the test? Just say in your own heart that you bonestly. do..-want to be .a child of; God, and that you honestly warit to believe. in the Lord J esus Christ if God want::; you so to believe. If you will do this sincer ely, ·and then ask God from the bottom · of y.o ur heart to show you whether or not the Lord Jesus Christ is truly your Saviour; we are satisfied to abide by the reimlts you will receive. Will you try it? Then you will truly be a child of Abraham, because you will have the same faith in · Go.d's promises that Abraham had. I wou)d be l_ielping some brother today; Help him to ·sing as he goes on his way; Help him to pray when the burden is there;. ~elp , ~im' to trust in God's in_finite care. 1 ·would . be t elling what Jesus has done; Tell of the wonderful love of God's Son; Tell of His mercy forgiv:ing our sin; Tell of His blood, and of cleansing within. · I wo'uld .. be doing, fro~ morni~g till night; .Finding His service my joy and delight; Doing His will when the la st shadows fall; Waking at dawning to answer His call. -'-Howard T. N. Ussher . I do l:ere and now accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour and his sacrificial death on Calvary as an atonement for all my past sins. I purpose to s eek a church that believes, preaches and practices the teachings of this tract, and will worship and work with them. Signed ............:.............:............................................ . The S,i·Jv ntion T ract Society. P ittsLu rgh ' 5. P a . �