39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham[339] is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If[340] ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. [339] Matt. 3:9. [340] Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:7; Gal. 3:7, 29. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this[341] did not Abraham. [341] Rom. 4:12. =39, 40. Abraham is our father.= They recognize, as we all recognize, that there is a source from which are drawn the ideas and the influences which mould our character. This fountain is, according to their conception, Abrahamic. It is true that character is moulded by national influences; but these are not the profoundest nor the most potent.--=If ye were Abraham’s children ye would do the works of Abraham.= Seed they are, children they are not. Descendants? yes! disciples? no! They do not do that which they have heard from Abraham. We are the children of a noble ancestry, the Reformers, the Puritans, and the like, only as we show their spirit in dealing with the men and the problems of our own time.--=This did not Abraham.= Called of God to leave his country, and his kindred, and his father’s house, he did not resist, but left all to go out, not knowing whither he went. Abraham obeyed the divine message; the seed of Abraham would kill the divine messenger. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we[342] have one Father, _even_ God. [342] Isa. 63:16; 64:8. 42 Jesus said unto them, If[343] God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but[344] he sent me. [343] Mal. 1:6; 1 John 5:1. [344] ch. 17:8, 25.