For I will not leave thee, until I bave done that which I bave spoken to thee of. T the laft facramental folemnity of this fort, I fpoke a little upon the great plea and prayer of faith upon the divine promife, in the words of David, 2 Sam. vii. 25." Lord, do as thou haft faid." We may now look upon this text that I have read, as the gracious anfwer of God to that prayer of faith, in the words of the great God himself to Jacob, I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have Spoken to thee of; or, Till I bave done as I have faid. What God faid once to Jofhua, chap. i. 5." I will not fail thee, nor forfake thee." Even fo, what God faid to Jacob here, doth equally belong to all believers in Chrift; I will not leave thee, till I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. Hath God condefcended to speak to you, and caufed you to hope in his word of grace, or promife, at this, or any former occafion? Here is good. * This fermon was preached on a thanksgiving-day, immediately after the celebration of the facrament of the Lord's fupper, at Abbot's-hall, October 22d, 1733. VOL. VI. + B. news news to take away with you, that the promifing God, will, in due time be a performing God, and that you may not think long, and weary or faint in your mind, apprehending what a weary time it may be between the promife and the performance. Here is fupporting encouragement in the mean time, I will not leave thee, until I bave done that which I bave spoken to thee of What I have faid I will do, and will not leave thee till I have done it. In the preceding part of this chapter, you find Jacob was forced to flee from his father's houfe, upon the account of the wrath of his brother Efau: he is haftened away to Padanaram; and on his way he comes to Luz, which afterwards, on the account of a notable emergent, was called BETHEL, where God fignally appeared and difcovered himfelf to him in great glory, fuitably, to his ftrait. Here he was benighted, ver. 11. and was ob liged to ly in the open field. Some of the faints and fervants of God have been put to great hardships, through the violence and rage of their perfecuting brethren. But though Jacob's bed was hard, yet his reft was fweet; while he had a hard pillow of ftone under his head, the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and fpake comfortably to him. God's time of speaking comfort to his ple, is readily when they are most destitute of other comforts; then he is inoft kind, when brethren come to be moft unkind. peo You may obferve two things, firft, what God fhewed to Jacob; and then, what he faid to him. I. 1. What he fhewed to him; he manifefted to him his glory, as the God of providence, and the God of grace in Chrift, who is here reprefented to him by the ladder reaching from heaven to earth, ver. 12.; and all the intercourfe between heaven and earth is by this ladder. 2. What he spake to him, ver. 13. "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder fet upon the earth, and the top of it "reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God afcending and defcending on it." As the vifion was fuitable to his prefent cafe, letting him understand that he had a good guide and a good guard, not only the angels of God, but but the Lord of angels; fo the words that God fpake to him were fuitable to his prefent need. The Lord fpake from the top of the ladder; for all the glad tidings we receive from heaven, come thro' Jefus Chrift. Here are former promises made to Abraham and Isaac, his father and grandfather, repeated and ratified to Jacob; whereby God intimated, that he would be the fame to him that he had been to them. Here are frefh promises made to him fuited to his prefent condition. He was to leave his kindred, and to want their prefence; God promifed to be prefent with him; I am with thee." He was in the fear of Efau: God promifed, faying, I will keep thee." He was journeying to an unknown place: God promifed to keep him in all places whitherfoever he went. He was apprehenfive he would never fee his own country again: God promifed he would bring him again to that land. He feemed to be left of all his friends and relations: God promifed, faying, "I will not leave thee." Providence feemed to cross the promife, while he is thus going as an exile to a place far diftant God affures him of the performance of all he had faid, in due feafon; I will not leave thee, till I bave done that which I bave spoken to thee of. When God fpeaks to his people, he speaks to the point; he speaks to the cafe; his words are fuited to their prefent exigencies and not only fo, but to their future ftraits alfo. Jacob knew not, but God knew and forefaw what hardships he would meet with in his uncle Laban's fervice; and in a fuitablenefs to the event that was to take place, he affures him, faying, I will not leave thee, until I bave done that which I have Spoken to thee of. This was fuch a gracious manifestation, and fuch a wonderful intercourfe that God had with Jacob, as obliged Jacob to put a remark upon the place, and call it BETHEL, the house of God, the gate of heaven. The text is not fo much a new promise, as a repeated confirmation of what he had before promised, for establishing and fortifying of Jacob's faith; for, fays God, I will not leave thee, until I have done that Bz which which I HAVE Spoken to thee of. Where we may ob ferve two things. 1. A confirming word concerning the iffue; or what he would bring out of thefe promifes, that they fhall not be mere fayings, but doings; "I will do what I bave spoken to thee of. Have I faid it, and will I not do it?" In the end the vifion fhall fpeak.", 2. A fupporting word in the interim, that faith may not faint in the mean time before the accomplishment come, I will not leave thee, until I have done it. Jacob might think, Alas! it may be a long time between the promise now made, and the accomplishment of it. What will become of me in the mean time? And, indeed, he had dark days, and hard fervice before his hand; and there was long twenty years between Bethel-vifit here, where he met with God, and God fpake to him in this manner, and Peniel-vifit, when he wreftled with God and prevailed, and when God came to do for him fome of the great things he had here fpoken to him of. And in that interval of twenty years, between Bethel and Peniel, many viciffitudes and changes, trials and difficulties occured in Jacob's lot; but for his fupport in the mean time, God affures him that he would never leave him, until he had done that which he had fpoken to him of. Hence the doctrine I would fpeak a little unto, is, OBSERV. That whatever dark and difmal days may befal the children of God, upon the back of fweet Bethel-vifits, that he allows to them; yet he will not leave them, till he hath accomplished all the Bethel-promifes that he made to them. He will never leave them, till he do what he hath spɔken to them of. He will go on, till he hath done as he hath faid. We may fay of our Lord Jefus, when once he hath spoken to a foul, and begun to do graciously, as Naomi faid to Ruth concerning Boaz, Ruth iii. 18. "Sit fill, my daughter, till thou knoweft how the matter will fall; for the man will not reft, till he hath finished the thing this day." Even fo, when Chrift hath begun to fpeak fpeak kindly, the poor believer may fit ftill and wait pa tiently, till the appointed time of accomplishing his word; for, the God-man will not reft until he hath finished the thing. We may be confident of this very thing, that he that hath begun the good work in us, and faid the good word to us, will perform it, and finifh it, Phil. i. 6.; I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I bave Spoken to thee of. We find how this doctrine was verified, both in Jacob and his feed. 1. In Jacob's own perfon. After this difcovery of God that he enjoyed at Bethel, many dark days, and much hard fervice he endured, yet God did not leave him. When Laban call down his countenance on him, he faid, putting him in mind of his Bethel vifit he made to him, and the Bethel-vow he caufed him to make, Gen. xxxi. 13. "I am the God of Bethel." Yea, God never left him, till he did what he fpoke to him, both in profpering him in the place where he was a ftranger fo long, and in bringing him back to his own land though he was in great danger; when Laban was purfuing him behind, and his brother Efau meeting him in the face, yet God preferved him according to his word, and brings him back to the land he promifed to bring him to, and then fends him to vifit Bethel, Gen. xxxv. 7. where he built an altar, and called it EL-BETHEL; that is, the God of Bethel; and fo remarked the goodness of God to him, in not leaving him till he had done all that he fpoke to him of. 2. In Jacob's feed this doctrine was verified, particu larly with reference to the promife made to them, concerning their inheriting the land of Canaan, and expelling the Canaanites to make room for them. See and compare Joth. xxi. 43,-45. with Jofh. xxiii. 14, 15. and 1 Kings viii. 56. God will take his own time of doing what he hath fpoken; but he will be fure to do it, whatever difficulties interveen between the promife and performance. In handling of this fubject, I would incline to clferve the following method, thro' divine affiftance. i. What |