A most explicit ratification of it, with _superadded_ favours, Gen. xii. 3.—_In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. And I will_ establish my covenant _between me and thee, and thy_ seed _after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant_; To be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. _ver._ 10. _This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you_, and thy seed _after thee_: every man-_child among you shall be_ circumcised, _ver._ 12. _He that is_ eight days old _shall be circumcised among you, every_ man-_child in your generations; he that is born in the house_, or bought with money of any stranger, _which is not of thy seed_. _ver._ 24-27. _And Abraham was_ ninety years old and nine, _when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was_ thirteen years old, _when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the_ self-same day _was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. And_ all the men of his house, _born in the house, and_ bought with money of the stranger, _were circumcised with him_. Hence we learn, The _nature_ and _extent_ of the _Abrahamic covenant or promise_. Whatever _blessings_ are _promised_ to ruined man, must be _in virtue_ of the covenant of grace. All promised blessings, therefore, must _imply_ an _exhibition_ of _gospel grace_. And the glad tidings of salvation through Christ preached to the _gentile world_, is expressly called—_The blessing of Abraham_ (Gal. iii. 14.) Not that this _link_ is the _first_ in the chain of exhibited mercy to the fallen race _in general_, or with an universal and unlimited aspect, if the reasoning in the last sections be just: but for its _explicitness_, and _precious_ (because expressly diffusive) intendment, it may be justly termed a _golden link_. In this respect Abraham may well be styled—_The Father of us all_; not to the disavowal of Noah, with whom the covenant was before ratified, or Eve, who received the _first_ intimation of it, and who in _this_ respect eminently may be called—_The mother of all living_. The _covenant_ of grace, in its external manifestation, containing _an exhibition of exceeding great and precious promises_ to every human being on the face of the globe, to whom providence directs the joyful news, may be compared to a flowing stream: it proceeds ultimately from the immense ocean of sovereign grace in Christ; its _first_ visible source we trace to paradise, where it rises in a small spring, and glides on to Noah. During this part of its progress, there were but few comparatively who participated of its cleansing and healing virtues, though none were debarred from it. This continuing to glide along, without interruption, (notwithstanding God’s awful visitation of a corrupt world by the deluge) we discern through the person of Noah _another_ source, whence is poured forth a second stream which empties itself