should induce us to deviate. We must walk always as in the immediate presence of God. We must not for a moment allow ourselves in guile of any kind. Little do we know whither we may be drawn, if once we depart from the path of truth and honesty. Who would have thought that Jacob should have been drawn from dissimulation and falsehood to the most horrid blasphemy, even that of making God himself his con- federate in sin; and that Rebekah should go farther still, even to the very braving of the curse and wrath of God d ? Beware then of evil in its very first approaches. Pray to God that you may not be led into temptation of any kind. " Cease from man ;" and learn not to follow him, any further than he follows Christ. If Satan can assume the form of " an angel of light," and " his ministers appear as ministers of righteous- ness," so may our relations and friends appear. Not that this consideration should induce us to disregard good advice ; but it should lead us to try all counsels by the word and testimony of God : for " if men speak not according to the written word, there is no light in them."]
3. How vain is it to hope for happiness in the ways of sin !
[Jacob was successful in his impious device. But what fruit had he of his success? " He sowed the wind, and he reaped the whirlwind." Soon was he forced to flee from his brother's wrath : and years of trouble followed his departure from his father's house. Similar measure too was meted out to him both by Laban and his own children. Say, Jacob, what didst thou not suffer from the thought that thy beloved Joseph was devoured of wild beasts : yet was that only a deception of thine own sons for the purpose of gaining thy favour to themselves. Nearly did they bring thy grey hairs with sorrow to the grave ; and thou deservedst it all, for thy treachery to thy father, and thy cruelty to thy brother. And let all know, that the sin which they roll as a sweet morsel under their tongue, shall prove gall in their stomach. Thou didst succeed, Gehazi ; and thoughtest thyself exceeding rich when thou hadst deposited thine ill-gotten wealth in the house. But what was thy gain at last? or who envies thee thy newly- acquired wealth? So it will be with all who seek their happi- ness in the ways of sin. They behold, and covet, the bait : but ere long they shall feel the hook. Jacob for the space of twenty years was still under alarm and terror for the conse- quences of his deceit. In the first instance he was forced to flee in haste, and to go, unprovided, and unprotected, a journey of four hundred miles ; and, when he got there, was doomed to
d ver. 13.
42. J JACOB OBTAINING THE BLESSING. ggl
experience evils to which in his father's house he was an utter stranger. But where will your evils end, if you live and die impenitent and unrenewed? Consider this, Brethren, ere it he too late : and beg of God to keep your feet in the ways of holiness and peace.]
Address,
1. Those who despise their Birthright —
[Esau had despised his birthright, and sold it for a mess of pottage: and now " he could not recover it, though he sought it carefully with tears e." Nor was it any mitigation of his grief that he had been defrauded of it. So neither will it be any comfort to the sinners of mankind that Satan has beguiled them, or that they have been brought to ruin by the fraudulence of others. Dear brethren, what will it avail you to say, My mother, and my brother, were the instruments of my destruction ? the loss is still your own, and must be your own to all eternity. If you duly value your Birthright, God will watch over you, and will preserve both it for you, and you for