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31 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty eight. We have here Roman I Jacob parting
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Speaker 1: with his parents to go to paddan Aram. The charge
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Speaker 1: his father gave him Verses one and two, the blessing
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Speaker 1: he sent him away with Verses three and four. His
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Speaker 1: obedience to the orders given him Verses five and ten,
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Speaker 1: and the influences had upon esau Verses six to nine.
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Speaker 1: Roman two Jacob meeting with God and his communion with
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Speaker 1: him by the way, and there one his vision of
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Speaker 1: the latter Verses eleven and twelve. Two. The gracious promises
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Speaker 1: God made him Verses thirteen to fifteen. Three, the impression
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Speaker 1: this made upon him Verses sixteen to nineteen, and four,
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Speaker 1: the vow he made to God upon this occasion Verse
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Speaker 1: twenty and et cetera. Jacob dismissed with a blessing BC
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Speaker 1: seventeen sixty, Verses one two five. And Isaac called Jacob
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Speaker 1: and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him,
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Speaker 1: thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of
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Speaker 1: canaan Arise, go to padame Aram, to the house of
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Speaker 1: bethul Thy, mother's father, and take thee a wife from
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Speaker 1: thence of the daughters of laban Thy mother's brother. And
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Speaker 1: God Almighty, bless THEE, and make THEE fruitful, and multiply THEE,
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Speaker 1: that thou mayest be a multitude of people. And give
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Speaker 1: THEE the blessing of Abraham to THEE and to thy
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Speaker 1: seed with THEE, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein
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Speaker 1: thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And
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Speaker 1: Isaac sent away Jacob, and he went to padan aram
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Speaker 1: unto Laban, son of Bethul the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca,
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Speaker 1: Jacob's and Esau's mother. Jacob had no sooner obtained the
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Speaker 1: blessing than immediately he was forced to flee from his country.
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Speaker 1: And as it if were not enough that he was
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Speaker 1: a stranger and a sojourner there, he must go to
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Speaker 1: be more so and no better than an exile in
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Speaker 1: another country. Now Jacob fled into Syria Hooseiah, chapter twelve,
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Speaker 1: verse twelve. He was blessed with plenty of corn and wine,
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Speaker 1: and yet he went away poor, was blessed with government,
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Speaker 1: and yet went out to service a hard service. This
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Speaker 1: was one, perhaps to correct him for his dealing fraudulently
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Speaker 1: with his father. The blessing shall be confirmed to him,
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Speaker 1: and yet he shall smart for the indirect course he
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Speaker 1: to obtain it. While there is such an alloy as
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Speaker 1: there is of sin in our duties, we must expect
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Speaker 1: an alloy of trouble in our comforts. However, two, it
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Speaker 1: was to teach us that those who inherit the blessing
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Speaker 1: must expect persecution. Those who have peace in Christ shall
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Speaker 1: have tribulation in the world. John chapter sixteen, verse thirty three.
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Speaker 1: Being told of this before, we must not think it stray,
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Speaker 1: and being assured of a recompense hereafter, we must not
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Speaker 1: think it hard. We may observe likewise that God's providences
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Speaker 1: often seem to contradict his promises and to go cross
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Speaker 1: to them. And yet when the mystery of God shall
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Speaker 1: be finished, we shall see that all was for the best,
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Speaker 1: and that cross providences did but render the promises, and
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Speaker 1: the accomplishment of them the more illustrous. Now Jacob is
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Speaker 1: here dismissed by his father Roman one with a solemn charge.
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Speaker 1: He blessed him and charged him Verses one and two.
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Speaker 1: Note those that have the blessing must keep the charge
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Speaker 1: annexed to it, and not think to separate what God
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Speaker 1: has joined. The charge is like that in Second Corinthians,
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Speaker 1: Chapter six, verse fourteen. Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers,
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Speaker 1: and all that inherit the promises of the remission of
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Speaker 1: sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost must keep
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Speaker 1: this charge which follows those promises. Save yourselves from this
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Speaker 1: untoward generation Acts Chapter two, Verses thirty eight to forty.
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Speaker 1: Those that are entitled to peculiar favors must be a
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Speaker 1: peculiar people. If Jacob be an heir of promise, he
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Speaker 1: must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
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Speaker 1: Those that profess religion should not marry those that are irreligious.
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Speaker 1: Roman Io with a solemn blessing Verses three and four.
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Speaker 1: He had before blessed him unwittingly. Now he does it
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Speaker 1: decidedly for the greater encouragement of Jacob in that melancholy
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Speaker 1: condition to which he was now removing. This blessing is
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Speaker 1: more express and full than the former. It is an
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Speaker 1: entail of the blessing of Abraham. That blessing which was
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Speaker 1: poured on the head of Abraham like the anointing oil,
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Speaker 1: thence to run down to his chosen seed, as the
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Speaker 1: skirts of his garments. It is a gospel blessing, the
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Speaker 1: blessing of church privileges, that is, the blessing of Abraham,
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Speaker 1: which upon the gentiles through faith Galatians three, verse fourteen.
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Speaker 1: It is a blessing from God Almighty, by which name
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Speaker 1: God appeared to the patriarchs. Exodus, chapter six, verse three.
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Speaker 1: Those are blessed indeed whom God Almighty blesses, for He
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Speaker 1: commands and affects the blessing. Two great promises Abraham was
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Speaker 1: blessed with, and Isaac here In tells them both upon
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Speaker 1: Jacob one the promise of heirs, God, make thee fruitful
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Speaker 1: and multiply thee verse three. Sub One, through his loins
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Speaker 1: should descend from Abraham, that people who should be numerous
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Speaker 1: as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea,
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Speaker 1: and who should increase more than the rest of the nations,
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Speaker 1: so as to be an assembly of people, as the
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Speaker 1: margin reads it, and never was such a multitude of
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Speaker 1: people so often gathered into one assembly, as the tribes
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Speaker 1: of Israel were in the wilderness. And afterwards Sub two,
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Speaker 1: through his loins should descend from Abraham that person in
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Speaker 1: whom all the families of the earth should be blessed,
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Speaker 1: and to whom the gathering of the peace people should be.
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Speaker 1: Jacob had in him a multitude of people. Indeed, for
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Speaker 1: all things in heaven and earth are united in Christ
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Speaker 1: Ephesians Chapter one, verse ten. All center in him that
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Speaker 1: corn of wheat, which falling to the ground produced much fruit.
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Speaker 1: John twelve twenty four two the promise of an inheritance
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Speaker 1: for those heirs, that thou mayest inherit the land of
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Speaker 1: thy sojournings verse four. Canaan was hereby entailed upon the
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Speaker 1: seed of Jacob, exclusive of the seed of Esau. Isaac
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Speaker 1: was now sending Jacob away into a distant country to
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Speaker 1: settle therefore some time, and lest this should look like
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Speaker 1: disinheriting him, he here confirms the settlement of it upon him,
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Speaker 1: that he might be assured that the discontinuance of his
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Speaker 1: possession should be no defeasance of his right observe. He
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Speaker 1: is here told that he should inherit the land wherein
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Speaker 1: he sojourned. Those that are sojourners now shall be heirs forever.
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Speaker 1: And even now those do most inherit the earth, though
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Speaker 1: they do not inherit most of it, that are most
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Speaker 1: like strangers in it, those have the best enjoyment of
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Speaker 1: present things that sit most loose to them. This promise
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Speaker 1: looks as high as heaven, of which Canaan was a type.
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Speaker 1: This was the better country which Jacob with the other patriarchs,
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Speaker 1: had in his eye when he confessed himself a stranger
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Speaker 1: and a pilgrim upon the earth. Hebrews, Chapter eleven, verse thirteen. Jacob,
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Speaker 1: having taken leave of his father, was hastened away with
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Speaker 1: all speed, lest his brother should find an opportunity to
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Speaker 1: do him a mischief. And away he went to Paddan
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Speaker 1: Aram verse five. How unlike was his taking a wife.
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Speaker 1: Thence to his father's Isaac had servants and camels sent
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Speaker 1: to fetch his Jacob must go himself, go alone, and
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Speaker 1: go afoot to fetch his He must go, too, in
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Speaker 1: a fright from his father's house, not knowing when he
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Speaker 1: might return. Note. If God, in his providence disables us,
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Speaker 1: we must be content though we cannot keep up the
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Speaker 1: state and grandeur of our ancestors. We should be more
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Speaker 1: in care to maintain their piety than to maintain their dignity,
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Speaker 1: and to be as good as they were than to
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Speaker 1: be as great. Rebecca is here called Jacob's and Esau's mother.
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Speaker 1: Jacob is named first, not only because he had always
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Speaker 1: been his mother's darling, but because he was now made
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Speaker 1: his father's heir, and Esau was in this sense set aside.
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Speaker 1: Note the time will come when piety will have presidency
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Speaker 1: whatever it has now Verses six to nine. When Esa
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Speaker 1: saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away
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Speaker 1: to padan Aram to take him a wife from thence,
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Speaker 1: and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge,
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Speaker 1: saying thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters
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Speaker 1: of Canaan. And that Jacob abaid his father and his mother,
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Speaker 1: and was gone to bedan Aram. And Esau, seeing that
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Speaker 1: the daughters of kingam pleased not. Isaac's father, then went
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Speaker 1: Esa unto Ishmael and took unto the wives which he
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Speaker 1: had Mahalath, a daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister
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Speaker 1: of Nebojath, to be his wife. This passage concerning Esau
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Speaker 1: comes in in the midst of Jacob's story, either one
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Speaker 1: to show the influence of a good example Esau. Though
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Speaker 1: the greater man now begins to think Jacob the better man,
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Speaker 1: and disdains not to take him for his pattern. In
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Speaker 1: this particular instance of marrying with the daughter of Abraham,
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Speaker 1: the elder children should give to the younger an example
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Speaker 1: of tractableness and obedience. It is bad if they do not,
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Speaker 1: but it is some alleviation if they take the example
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Speaker 1: of it from them, as esa here did from Jacob
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Speaker 1: or two to show the folly of an after wit.
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Speaker 1: Esau did well, But he did it when it was
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Speaker 1: too late. He saw that the daughters of Canaan pleased
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Speaker 1: not his father, and he might have seen that long
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Speaker 1: ago if he had consulted it with his father's judgment
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Speaker 1: as much as he did his palate. And how did
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Speaker 1: he now mend the matter? Why? Truly as to make
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Speaker 1: bad worse? Sub One he married a daughter of Ishmael,
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Speaker 1: the son of the bond woman, who was cast out
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Speaker 1: and was not to inherit with Isaac and his seed,
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Speaker 1: thus joining with a family which God had rejected, and
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Speaker 1: seeking to strengthen his own pretensions by the aid of
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Speaker 1: another pretender. So two, he took a third wife, while
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Speaker 1: for aught that appears his other two were neither dead
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Speaker 1: nor divorced. SOB. Three he did it only to please
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Speaker 1: his father, not to please God. Now that Jacob was
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Speaker 1: sent into a far country, Esau would be all in
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Speaker 1: all at home, and he hoped so to humor his
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Speaker 1: father as to prevail with him, to make a new
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Speaker 1: will and entail the promise upon him revoking the settlement
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Speaker 1: lately made upon Jacob. And thus one he was wise
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Speaker 1: when it was too late, like Israel that would venture
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Speaker 1: when the decree had gone forth against them Numbers chapter fourteen,
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Speaker 1: verse forty, and the Foolish Virgins Matthew Chapter twenty five,
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Speaker 1: verse eleven two. He rested in a partial reformation, and thought,
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Speaker 1: by pleasing his parents in one thing, to atone for
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Speaker 1: all his other miscarriages. It is not said that when
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Speaker 1: he saw how obedient Jacob was, and how willing to
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Speaker 1: please his parents, he repented of his malicious designs against him. No,
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Speaker 1: it appears afterwards that he persisted in that and retained
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Speaker 1: his malice. Note Carnal Harts are apt to think themselves
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Speaker 1: as good as they should be, because perhaps in some
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Speaker 1: one particular instance, they are not so bad as they
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Speaker 1: have been. Thus Micah retains his idols, but thinks himself
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Speaker 1: happy in having a levite to be his priest Judges
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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, verse thirteen. J Keop's Vision at Bethel b. C.
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Speaker 1: Seventeen sixty, Verses ten through fifteen. And Jacob went out
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Speaker 1: from behr Sheba and went toward hern. And he lighted
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Speaker 1: upon a certain place and tarried there all night because
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Speaker 1: the sun was set. And he took of the stones
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Speaker 1: of that place and put them for his pillows, and
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Speaker 1: lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed,
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Speaker 1: and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and
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Speaker 1: the top of it reached to heaven. And behold the
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Speaker 1: angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold
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Speaker 1: the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord,
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Speaker 1: God of Abraham, thy Father, and the God of Isaac.
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Speaker 1: The land whereon thou liest to THEE, will I give it,
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Speaker 1: and to thy seed, And thy seed shall be as
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Speaker 1: the dust of the earth. And thou shalt spread abroad
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Speaker 1: to the west and to the east, and to the
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Speaker 1: north and to the south, and in thee, and in
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Speaker 1: thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
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Speaker 1: And behold, I am with THEE, and will keep THEE
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Speaker 1: in all places whither thou goest and will bring THEE
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Speaker 1: again into this land. For I will not leave THEE
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Speaker 1: until I have done that which I have spoken to
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Speaker 1: THEE of. We have here Jacob upon his journey towards Syria,
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Speaker 1: in a very desolate condition, like one that was sent
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Speaker 1: to seek his fortune. But we find that although he
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Speaker 1: was alone, yet he was not alone, for the Father
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Speaker 1: was with him. John chapter sixteen, verse thirty two. If
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Speaker 1: what is here recorded happened as it should seem it did.
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Speaker 1: The first night he had made a long day's journey
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Speaker 1: from the Ayrsheba to Bethel, above forty miles, providence brought
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Speaker 1: him to a convenient place, probably shaded with trees, to
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Speaker 1: rest himself in that night, and there he had Roman
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Speaker 1: I a hard lodging verse eleven, the stone for his pillows,
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Speaker 1: and the heavens for his canopy and curtains, as the
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Speaker 1: usage then was. Perhaps this was not so bad as
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Speaker 1: it seems now to us. But we should think one
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Speaker 1: he lay very cold, the cold ground for his bed,
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Speaker 1: and which one would suppose made the matter worse, A
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Speaker 1: cold stone for his pillow, and in the cold air,
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Speaker 1: two very uneasy. If his bones were sore with his
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Speaker 1: day's journey, his night's rest would but make them soreer three,
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Speaker 1: very much exposed, he forgot that he was fleeing for
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Speaker 1: his life, or had his brother, in his rage, pursued
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Speaker 1: or sent a murderer after him. Here he lay, ready
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Speaker 1: to be sacrificed and destitute of shelter and defense. We
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Speaker 1: cannot think it was by reason of his poverty that
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Speaker 1: he was so ill accommodated, but sub one it was
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Speaker 1: owing to the plainness and simplicity of those times when
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Speaker 1: men did not take so much state and consult their
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Speaker 1: ease so much as in these Las times of softness
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Speaker 1: and effeminacy. So two. Jacob had been particularly used to hardships.
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Speaker 1: As a plain man, dwelling in tents and designing now
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Speaker 1: to go to service, he was the more willing to
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Speaker 1: inure himself to them. And as it proved it was
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Speaker 1: well Chapter thirty one, verse forty sob. Three. His comfort
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Speaker 1: in the divine blessing and his confidence in the divine
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Speaker 1: protection made him easy even when he lay thus exposed.
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Speaker 1: Being sure that his God made him to dwell in safety,
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Speaker 1: he could lie down and sleep upon a stone. Roman two.
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Speaker 1: In his hard lodging he had a pleasant dream any
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Speaker 1: Israelite indeed would be willing to take up with Jacob's pillow,
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Speaker 1: provided he might but have Jacob's dream. Then and there
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Speaker 1: he heard the words of God and saw the visions
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Speaker 1: of the Almighty. It was the best night's sleep he
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Speaker 1: ever had in his life. Note. God's time to visit
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Speaker 1: people with his comforts is when they are most destituted
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Speaker 1: of other comforts and other comforters. When afflictions in the
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Speaker 1: way of duty, as these were, do abound, then shall
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Speaker 1: consolation so much the more abound. Now observe here one
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Speaker 1: the encouraging vision Jacob saw verse twelve. He saw a
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Speaker 1: ladder which reached from Earth to Heaven, the angels ascending
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Speaker 1: and descending upon it, and God himself at the head
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Speaker 1: of it. Now this represents the two things that are
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Speaker 1: very comfortable to good people at all times and in
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Speaker 1: all conditions, except one, the providence of God, by which
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Speaker 1: there is a constant correspondence kept up between Heaven and Earth.
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Speaker 1: The counsels of Heaven are executed on Earth, and the
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Speaker 1: actions and affairs of this earth are all known in
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Speaker 1: Heaven and judged there. Providence does its work gradually, and
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Speaker 1: by steps. Angels are employed as ministering spirits to serve
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Speaker 1: all the purposes and designs of Providence, and the wisdom
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Speaker 1: of God is at the upper end of the latter,
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Speaker 1: directing all the motions of second causes to the glory
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Speaker 1: of the first cause. The angels are active spirits, continually
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Speaker 1: ascending and descending. They rest not day nor night from service,
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Speaker 1: according to the posts assign them. They ascend to give
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Speaker 1: account of what they have done and to receive orders,
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Speaker 1: and then descend to execute the orders they have received.
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Speaker 1: Thus we should always abound in the work of the Lord,
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Speaker 1: that we may do it as the angels do it,
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Speaker 1: Psalm one hundred and three, verses twenty twenty one. This
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Speaker 1: vision gave very seasonable comfort to Jacob, letting him know
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Speaker 1: that he had both a good guide and a good
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Speaker 1: guard in his going out and coming in, that though
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Speaker 1: he was made to wander from his father's house, yet
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Speaker 1: still he was the care of a kind providence and
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Speaker 1: the charge of the holy angels. This is comfort enough,
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Speaker 1: though we should not admit the notion which some have
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Speaker 1: that the Tutelar angels of Canaan were ascending having guarded
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Speaker 1: Jacob out of their land, and the angels of Syria,
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Speaker 1: descending to take him into their custody. Jacob was now
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Speaker 1: the type and representative of the whole Church, with the
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Speaker 1: guardianship of which the angels are entrusted sep. Two. The
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Speaker 1: mediation of Christ. He is this ladder, the foot on
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Speaker 1: earth in his human nature, the top in heaven in
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Speaker 1: his divine nature, or the former in his humiliation, the
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Speaker 1: latter in his exaltation. All the intercourse between Heaven and earth,
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Speaker 1: since the fall, is by this ladder. Christ is the
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Speaker 1: way all God's favors come to us, and all our
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Speaker 1: services go to him by Christ. If God dwells with
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Speaker 1: us and we with him, it is by Christ. We
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Speaker 1: have no way of getting to Heaven, but by this ladder.
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Speaker 1: If we climb up any other way, we are thieves
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Speaker 1: and robbers. To this vision our savior alludes when he
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Speaker 1: speaks of the angels of God ascending and descending upon
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Speaker 1: the son of Man. John chapter one, verse fifty one.
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Speaker 1: For the kind offices the angels do us, and the
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Speaker 1: benefits we receive by their administration, all are owing to Christ,
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Speaker 1: who has reconciled things on earth and things in heaven Colossians,
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Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse twenty and made them all meet in himself. Aphesians,
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Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse ten two. The encouraging words Jacob heard,
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Speaker 1: God now brought him into the wilderness and spoke comfortably
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Speaker 1: to him, spoke from the head of the latter. For
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Speaker 1: all the glad tidings we receive from Heaven come through
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. Sub one. The former promises made to his
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Speaker 1: father were repeated and ratified to him Verses thirteen fourteen.
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Speaker 1: In general, God intimated to him that he would be
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Speaker 1: the same to him that he had been to Abraham
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Speaker 1: and Isaac. Those that tread in the steps of their
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Speaker 1: godly parents are interested in their covenant and entitled to
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Speaker 1: their privileges. Particularly one, the land of Canaan is settled
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Speaker 1: upon him, the land whereon thou liest, as if by
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Speaker 1: his lying so contentedly upon them the bare ground he
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Speaker 1: had taken livery and seison of the whole land. Two.
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Speaker 1: It has promised him that his posterity should multiply exceedingly
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Speaker 1: as the dust of the earth, that though he seemed
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Speaker 1: now to be plucked off as a withered branch, yet
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Speaker 1: he should become a flourishing tree, that should send out
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Speaker 1: his boughs unto the sea. These were the blessings with
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Speaker 1: which his father had blessed him Verses three and four.
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Speaker 1: And God here said amen to them, that he might
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Speaker 1: have a strong consolation. Three it is added that the
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Speaker 1: Messiah should come from his loins, in whom all the
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Speaker 1: families of the earth should be blessed. Christ is the
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Speaker 1: great blessing of the world. All that are blessed, whatever
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Speaker 1: family they are of, are blessed in Him. And none
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Speaker 1: of any family are excluded from blessedness in Him, but
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Speaker 1: those that exclude themselves. Two fresh promises were made him
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Speaker 1: accommodated to his present condition. Verse fifteen. One. Jacob was
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Speaker 1: apprehensive of danger from his brother Esau, but God promises
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Speaker 1: to keep him. Note those are safe whom God protects
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Speaker 1: whoever pursues them. Two. He had now a long journey
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Speaker 1: before him, had to travel alone in an unknown road
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Speaker 1: to an unknown country. But behold, I am with thee,
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Speaker 1: says God. Note wherever we are, we are safe and
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Speaker 1: may be easy if we have God's favorable presence with us.
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Speaker 1: Three He knew not, but God foresaw what hardships he
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Speaker 1: should meet in his uncle's service, and therefore promises to
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Speaker 1: preserve him in all places. Note God knows how to
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Speaker 1: give his people graces and comforts accommodated to the events
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Speaker 1: that shall be, as well as to those that are. Four.
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Speaker 1: He was now going as an exile into a place
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Speaker 1: far distant, but God promises him to bring him back
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Speaker 1: again to this land. Note. He that preserves his people's
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Speaker 1: going out will also take care of their coming. In
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Speaker 1: Psalm one hundred and twenty one, verse eight five, he
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Speaker 1: seems to be forsaken of all his friends, but God
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Speaker 1: here gives him this assurance. I will not leave thee.
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Speaker 1: Note whom God loves, he never leaves. This promise is
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Speaker 1: sure to all the seed. Hebrews Chapter thirteen, verse five
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Speaker 1: and six. Providences seem to contradict the promises. He is
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Speaker 1: therefore assured of the performance of them in their season.
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Speaker 1: All shall be done that I have spoken to thee
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Speaker 1: of Note saying and doing are not two things with God,
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Speaker 1: whatever they are with us. Jacob's vow b. C. Seventeen sixty,
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Speaker 1: verses sixteen two twenty two. And Jacob awakened out of
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Speaker 1: his sleep, and he said, surely the Lord is in
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Speaker 1: this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid,
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Speaker 1: and said, how dreadful is this place. This is none
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Speaker 1: other but the house of God. And this is the
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Speaker 1: gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the
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Speaker 1: morning and took the stone that he had put for
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Speaker 1: his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and
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Speaker 1: poured oil upon the top of it. And he called
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Speaker 1: the name of that place beth El. But the name
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Speaker 1: of that city was called luz At the first. And
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Speaker 1: Jacob vowed avow, saying, if God will be with me
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Speaker 1: and will keep me in this way that I go,
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Speaker 1: and will give me bread to eat and raiment to
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Speaker 1: put on, so that I come again to my father's
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Speaker 1: house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.
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Speaker 1: And this stone which I have set for a pillar
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Speaker 1: shall be God's house. And of all that thou shalt
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Speaker 1: give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
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Speaker 1: God manifested himself and his favor to Jacob when he
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Speaker 1: was asleep and purely passive. For the spirit like the
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Speaker 1: wind blows when and where he listeth, and God's grace
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Speaker 1: like the dew tarrieth not for the sons of men
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Speaker 1: Mygah Chapter five, verse seven. But Jacob applied himself to
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Speaker 1: the improvement of the visit. God had made him when
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Speaker 1: he was awake, and we may well think he awaked
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Speaker 1: as the prophet did Jeremiah, Chapter thirty one, verse twenty six.
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Speaker 1: And behold his sleep was sweet to him. Here is
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Speaker 1: much of Jacob's devotion on this occasion. Roman one. He
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Speaker 1: expressed a great surprise at the tokens he had of
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Speaker 1: God's special presence with him in that place. Surely, the
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Speaker 1: Lord is in this place, and I knew it not
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Speaker 1: Verse sixteen. Note one. God's manifestations of himself to his
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Speaker 1: people carry their own evidence along with them. God can
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Speaker 1: give undeniable demonstrations of his presence, such as give abundant
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Speaker 1: satisfaction to the souls of the faithful that God is
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Speaker 1: with them, of a truth, satisfaction not communicable to others,
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Speaker 1: but convincing to themselves. Two. We sometimes meet with God
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Speaker 1: where we little thought of meeting with him. He is
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Speaker 1: where we did not think he had been, is found
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Speaker 1: where we asked not for him. No place excludes to
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Speaker 1: by Visits Chapter sixteen, verse thirteen. Here also, wherever we
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Speaker 1: are in the city or in the desert, in the
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Speaker 1: house or in the field, in the shop, or in
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Speaker 1: the street, we may keep up our intercourse with Heaven,
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Speaker 1: if it be not our own fault. Roman too it
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Speaker 1: struck an awe upon him verse seventeen. He was afraid,
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Speaker 1: so far was he from being puffed up and exalted
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Speaker 1: above measure with the abundance of the revelations. Tewod Corinthians,
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Speaker 1: chapter twelve, verse seven, that he was afraid. Note the
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Speaker 1: more we see of God, the more cause we see
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Speaker 1: for holy trembling and blushing before him. Those to whom
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Speaker 1: God is pleased to manifest himself are thereby laid and
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Speaker 1: kept very low in their own eyes, and see cause
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Speaker 1: to fear even the Lord and his goodness. Hooseiah chapter three,
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Speaker 1: verse five. He said, how dreadful is this place? That is,
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Speaker 1: the appearance of God in this place is never to
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Speaker 1: be thought of, But with a holy awe and reverence.
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Speaker 1: I shall have a respect for this place, and remember
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Speaker 1: it by this token as long as I live. Not
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Speaker 1: that he thought the place itself any nearer the divine
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Speaker 1: visions than other places. But what he saw there at
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Speaker 1: this time was as it were the House of God,
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Speaker 1: the residence of the Divine Majesty, and the gate of Heaven,
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Speaker 1: that is the general rendezvous of the inhabitants of the
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Speaker 1: upper world, as the meetings of a city were in
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Speaker 1: their gates, or the angels ascending and descending were like
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Speaker 1: travelers passing and repassing through the gates of a city.
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Speaker 1: Note one, God is in a special manner present where
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Speaker 1: his grace is revealed, and where his covenants are published
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Speaker 1: and sealed as of old by the ministry of Angels.
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Speaker 1: So now by instituted ordinances Matthew Chapter twenty eight, verse
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Speaker 1: twenty two, where God meets us with his special presence,
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Speaker 1: we ought to meet him with the most humble reverence,
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Speaker 1: remembering his justice, holiness, and our own meanness and vileness.
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Speaker 1: Roman three. He took care to preserve the memorial of
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Speaker 1: it in two ways. One he set up the stone
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Speaker 1: for a pillar verse eighteen, not as if he thought
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Speaker 1: the visions of his head were in any way owing
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Speaker 1: to the stone on which it lay. But thus he
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Speaker 1: would mark the place against He came back and erect
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Speaker 1: a lasting monument of God's favor to him. And because
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Speaker 1: he had not time now to build an altar here,
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Speaker 1: as Abraham did in the places where God appeared to
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Speaker 1: him Chapter twelve, verse seven, he therefore poured oil on
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Speaker 1: the top of this stone, which probably was the ceremony
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Speaker 1: then used in dedicating their altars, as in earnest of
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Speaker 1: his building an altar when he should have the conveniences
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Speaker 1: for it, as afterwards he did in gratitude to God
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Speaker 1: for this vision Chapter thirty five, ver seven. Note grants
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Speaker 1: of mercy, call for returns of duty, and the sweet
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Speaker 1: communion we have with God ought ever to be remembered.
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Speaker 1: Two he gave a new name to the place verse nineteen.
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Speaker 1: It had been called luz and almond tree, but he
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Speaker 1: will have it henceforward called Bethel, the House of God.
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Speaker 1: This gracious appearance of God to him put a greater
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Speaker 1: honor upon it, and made it more remarkable than all
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Speaker 1: the almond trees that furnished there. This is that bethal where,
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Speaker 1: long after, it is said, God found Jacob, and there
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Speaker 1: in what he said to him he spoke with us
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Speaker 1: Hoseiah Chapter twelve, verse four. In process of time, this Bethel,
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Speaker 1: the House of God became beth Aven, a house of
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Speaker 1: vanity and iniquity. When Jereboam set up one of his
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Speaker 1: calves there Roman iov. He made a solemn vow upon
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Speaker 1: this occasion verses twenty to twenty two. By religious vows,
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Speaker 1: we give glory to God our own dependence upon him,
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Speaker 1: and lay bond upon our own souls to engage and
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Speaker 1: quicken our obedience to him. Jacob was now in fear
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Speaker 1: and distress, and it is seasonable to make vows in
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Speaker 1: times of trouble, or when we are in pursuit of
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Speaker 1: any special mercy. Jonah Chapter one, verse sixteen, Psalm sixty six,
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Speaker 1: Verses thirteen and fourteen. First Samuel Chapter one, verse eleven,
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Speaker 1: numbers Chapter twenty one, verses one three. Jacob had now
29:26
Speaker 1: had a gracious visit from heaven. God had renewed his
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Speaker 1: covenant with him, and the covenant is mutual. When God
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Speaker 1: ratifies his promises to us, it is proper for us
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Speaker 1: to repeat our promises to him. Now in this vow
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Speaker 1: observe one Jacob's faith. God had said verse fifteen, I
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Speaker 1: am with THEE and will keep THEE. Jacob takes hold
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Speaker 1: of this and infers, seeing God will be with me
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Speaker 1: and will keep me as he hath said, and which
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Speaker 1: is implied in that promise, will provide comfortably for me.
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Speaker 1: And seeing he has promised to bring me again to
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Speaker 1: this land that is to the house of my father,
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Speaker 1: whom I hope to find alive at my return in peace.
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Speaker 1: So unlike was he to Esau, who longed for the
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Speaker 1: days of mourning for his father. I depend upon it.
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Speaker 1: Note God's promises are to be the guide and measure
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Speaker 1: of our desires and expectations. Two Jacob's modesty and great
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Speaker 1: moderation in his desires. He will cheerfully content himself with
30:27
Speaker 1: bread to eat and raiment to put on. And though
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Speaker 1: God's promise had now made him heir to a very
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Speaker 1: great estate, yet he intense not for soft clothing and
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Speaker 1: dainty meat. Augur's wish is his feed me with food
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Speaker 1: convenient for me. And see for Timothy Chapter six, verse eight.
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Speaker 1: Nature is content with a little, and grace with liss
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Speaker 1: Those that have most have in effect no more for
30:53
Speaker 1: themselves than food and raiment of the overplus. They have
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Speaker 1: only either the keeping or the giving, not the enjoyment.
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Speaker 1: If God give us more, we are bound to be
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Speaker 1: thankful and to use it for him. If He give
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Speaker 1: us but this, we are bound to be content and
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Speaker 1: cheerfully to enjoy Him in it. Three Jacob's piety and
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Speaker 1: his regard to God, which appear here sub One in
31:16
Speaker 1: what he desired, that God would be with him and
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Speaker 1: keep him. Note we need desire no more to make
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Speaker 1: us easy and happy wherever we are than to have
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Speaker 1: God's presence with us and to be under his protection.
31:30
Speaker 1: It is comfortable in a journey to have a guide
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Speaker 1: in an unknown way, a guard in a dangerous way,
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Speaker 1: to be well carried, well provided for, and to have
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Speaker 1: good company in any way. And those that have God
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Speaker 1: with them have all this in the best manner. So two,
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Speaker 1: in what he designed his resolution is one in general,
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Speaker 1: to cleave to the Lord as his god and covenant.
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Speaker 1: Then shall the Lord be my God, not as if
31:59
Speaker 1: he would desire own him and cast him off if
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Speaker 1: he should want food and raiment. No, though he slay us,
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Speaker 1: we must cleave to him. But then I will rejoice
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Speaker 1: in him as my God. Then I will more strongly
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Speaker 1: engage myself to abide with him. Note every mercy we
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Speaker 1: receive from God should be improved as an additional obligation
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Speaker 1: upon us to walk closely with Him as our God. Two,
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Speaker 1: in particular, that he would perform some special acts of
32:28
Speaker 1: devotion in token of his gratitude. First, this pillar shall
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Speaker 1: keep possession here till I come back in peace, and
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Speaker 1: then it shall be God's house, that is, an altar
32:39
Speaker 1: shall be erected here to the honor of God. Secondly,
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Speaker 1: the house of God shall not be unfurnished nor his altar,
32:48
Speaker 1: without a sacrifice of all that thou shalt give me.
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Speaker 1: I will surely give the tenth unto thee, to be
32:54
Speaker 1: spent either upon God's altars or upon his poor, both
32:58
Speaker 1: of which are his receivers in the world. Probably it was,
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Speaker 1: according to some general instructions received from Heaven, that Abraham
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Speaker 1: and Jacob offered the tenth of their acquisitions to God.
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Speaker 1: Note one, God must be honored with our estates, and
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Speaker 1: must have his dues out of them. When we receive
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Speaker 1: more than ordinary mercy from God, we should study to
33:20
Speaker 1: give some signal instances of gratitude to him. Two. The
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Speaker 1: tenth is a very fit proportion to be devoted to
33:27
Speaker 1: God and employed for him, though as circumstances vary, it
33:31
Speaker 1: may be more or less as God prospers us. First Corinthians,
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Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen, verse two, Second Corinthians, Chapter nine, verse seven,
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Speaker 1: end of chapter twenty eight