persist in sin, and harden ourselves in it, we provoke God to take signal vengeance on us. God is not indif

ferent to sin; his eye is upon it; and he, as a righteous Governor, will punish it. If we do not repent, forsake sin, and seek pardon through our Lord Jesus Christ, our sins will be our ruin. Such is the character of Sin: it is contrary to God, and ruinous to ourselves.

II. Let us consider the Conduct of God in the punishment of it. We may observe,

1. The equity of his proceedings. In the history before us, he is represented as examining the case. "And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know." God is always present in all places, and he knows all things: but this language shows, that he examines the conduct of sinners, and does not punish them without cause. He is righteous in all his ways. Let' careless sinners tremble; though they triumph for a time in their sins and vanities, yet is the awful eye of God upon them, taking an account of all their doings.

2. The mercy of his proceedings. This is manifested. in the preservation of Lot. One good man was in Sodom; and shall he perish in the overthrow of the wicked city? Hear what Saint Peter says. "And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day, with their unlawful deeds." The deliverance of Lot does not indeed prove that God always delivers the good from the temporal judgments with which he may visit the nngodly; but it proves, that God regards the good, that they are the especial subjects of his favour, and that he will be always with them, and preserve them unto eternal life.

3. The fixedness of his proceedings. There is no

trifling with God. Thoughtless sinners may abuse his patience awhile; but justice, in such cases, will take its course at last. What is said respecting Sodom? "For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.' Let every one tremble to continue in sin, lest he should provoke the Almighty to 66 swear in his wrath that he shall not enter into his rest." When God arises to judgment, who shall change his determinations?

4. The awfulness of his proceedings. When God manifests his displeasure on account of sin, he is terrible in his doings. In this history we see how Nature is subject to his controul: he rains fire from above; the earth beneath is set on fire: and the fruitful and beautiful plain remains a perpetual monument of his power and anger. How awful must it be to fall into the hands of the living God!

5. The suddenness of his proceedings. This is a reflection to which we are led by the language of our blessed Lord. "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." The punishment of their sins may overtake guilty nations and guilty individuals when they least expect it, and

are most secure.

We may observe, 1. The conduct of God. All his measures are full of justice and holiness, of mercy and compassion. He is willing to spare; but if sinners be incorrigible, he will soon pour upon them his tremendous wrath.

2. The folly and madness of ungodliness. He who visited the Cities of the plain with such destruction is always the same holy and just Being, and will consign to eternal punishment the impenitent and unbelieving. 3. The happiness of being truly pious. Let us be

what Lot was; righteous in an evil world. If we be thus truly good, holy in heart and life, it will be well with us amidst all events; for the eye of God will be upon us for good. "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him."

THE PRAYER.

Great and Glorious Lord God, let me meditate on thy judgments with solemnity of mind. How terrible art thou in thy doings, when thou visitest incorrigible transgressors according to their sins! I am a sinful creature, O Lord; and I deserve thy wrath: O be merciful to me, and pardon all my sins through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; and give me grace, that, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, I may walk before thee unto all well-pleasing, and finally obtain everlasting life; through our blessed and only Redeemer. Amen.

LECTURE X.

JACOB'S VOW.

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Genesis xxviii. 20, 21, 22.

JACOB, having left his father's house, was now on his journey to his maternal uncle. He had been dismissed with the blessing of his aged and venerable father. Pursuing his journey, he was overtaken with the shades of night, and obliged to sleep in the open air, with a

stone for a pillow. He had no attendants, no pleasant accommodations: but God was with him, and that was sufficient. He rests softly, though the ground be his bed and a stone his pillow, who has the eye of God upon him for good.

In the night Jacob was favoured with a remarkable vision. "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." This ladder might be an emblem of God's providence, which orders all things on earth; or it might point out that intercourse which Angels, as ministering spirits, have with our world; or it might shadow forth our Redeemer, by whom heaven and earth are, as it were, united. Whatever its precise meaning might be, it was calculated to comfort the benighted wanderer, and to give him the fullest proof that he was under the care and guidance of God. The pious are favoured with peculiar visitations of divine goodness when they are most needed.

On this occasion the Almighty gave Jacob an assurance which must have been highly pleasing to him; namely, that the promises which had been frequently made to Abraham and Isaac belonged to him. His posterity was to possess the land in which he was; it was to be numerous; in him and in his seed all the families of the earth were to be blessed; and he himself was to be favoured with the divine presence, protection, and blessing, until he returned home. How blessed is the case of those who have God for their portion! What is the happiness which the wicked enjoy, their pleasure, laughter, and revelry, compared with that of a Jacob, travelling in a strange country with a staff in his hand, sleeping on the ground, leaning his head on a stone, and receiving the tokens of God's merciful regard?

But see the conduct of Jocob. He rises; thinks; cherishes devout and solemn awe; anoints the stone on which he had reclined his head, thus making it a monu

ment of the vision, and consecrating it to God; he gives it a name, Bethel, God's house; and then utters a vow. In this vow we see Jacob's wish, and Jacob's resolve. Let us briefly consider each.

I. Jacob's wish. "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace." God had assured him in the vision that all this should be done: we must not therefore consider this language as the language of doubt. He in fact, utters all his desire; he expresses his satisfaction.

1. He wished for the divine presence. "If God will be with me." It is true that God is always with us; for in him we live, and move, and have our being. What Jacob desired, evidently was, the favour of God; to have God with him as a friend, lifting upon him the light of his countenance, and giving him those spiritual enjoyments which proceed from communion with him: and from a believing persuasion of his love and providential care. If God be with us, filling our souls with peace and comfort, we have the best portion.

2. He wished for the divine protection. "And will keep me in this way that I go." We are always surrounded with evils, both as to body and soul. We are exposed, as to our bodies, to various calamities, diseases, and to death itself. We are exposed, as to our souls, to the artifices and operations of the devil, the world, and the flesh. Can we keep ourselves? No: God alone, by his providence and grace, is our defence. He only can keep us in body and soul; and this preservation we must seek at his hands.

"And will

3. He wished for temporal sufficiency. give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on." His wishes were moderate. They were confined to the necessaries of life. What does Saint Paul say? "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can