regard to other agents we cannot certainly infer the completion from the beginning their views alter; they meet with unexpected difficulties; their purposes are frequently broken off-but it is otherwise here. The foundation of God standeth sure, and the "top stone "shall be brought forth with shoutings; grace, grace 66 unto it." It shall never be said of the God of our salvation-he began to build, but was not able to finish. "We are confident," says the apostle, "of this very "thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will "perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

May you likewise be humbly confident of the same truth. May you be enabled to say with David "the "Lord will perfect that which concerneth me; thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the work "of thine own hands." And " when you are convert"ed" from your doubts and fears, and dejections, "strengthen your brethren. Comfort the feeble mind"ed; support the weak; be patient towards all men. "Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble "knees; and make strait paths for your feet, lest that " which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it ran "ther be healed."

DISCOURSE XVIII.

THE PROFANE EXCHANGE.

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.-Heb. xii. 16, 17.

THE history of the wicked as well as of the righteous

is useful. By their crimes we are cautioned, and by their miseries we are warned. And as the Israelites fled from the tents of Korah, when the ground clave asunder and swallowed them up, saying, lest the earth swallow us up also-so should we abandon the course of the ungodly world, lest we share in their tremendous ruin.

Anxious for our welfare, the scripture addresses our fear as well as our hope, and holds forth instances of divine vengeance, as well as proofs of divine mercy. Hence the command of our Lord: "remember Lot's "wife." And hence the admonition of the apostle, "lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as "Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right. "For ye know how that afterward, when he would have "inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found "no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully "with tears."

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And what is all this to us? Much every way. compare your privileges with his privileges-your sin with his sin-and your doom with his doom.

I. Let us view Esau in his original state-and compare your privileges with his privileges. To stand supreme in the house of the patriarch Isaac, was no trifling prerogative. His house was the house of God, and the gate of heaven. In this family, Jehovah revealed himself; and there he was adored and served, while idolatry prevailed over all the other nations of the globe. And such was once the condition of this unhappy character; accordingly he possessed the birth-right, and stood in a fair way to obtain all the advantages flowing from it. And these were great and numerous.

To the birth-right belonged pre-eminence over the other branches of the family. To the birth-right appertained a double portion of the paternal inheritance. To the birth-right was attached the land of Canaan, with all its sacred distinctions. To the birth-right was given the promise of being the ancestor of the messiah, the "first-born among many brethren," the Saviour "in whom all the families of the earth were to be bless"ed." And to the birth-right was added the honor of receiving first from the mouth of the father a peculiar benediction, which, proceeding from the spirit of prophecy was never pronounced in vain-Such were the prospects of Esau.

And what are yours ? It is true you were not born in the house of Isaac, but you have been brought forth in a christian country, in a "land the Lord careth for," where "the darkness is past and the true light now "shineth." You have the bible; you have sabbaths; you have sanctuaries; you have ordinances; you have ministers; you have the throne of grace, you have the promise of the Holy Ghost; and all things appertaining to your everlasting happiness are now ready. You possess much, but all your present advantages are not to be compared with those glorious hopes to which you are called by the gospel. You have the prospect of becoming "kind of first fruits of his creatures," of joining "general assembly and church of the first born, whose names are written in heaven"-a primogeniture whose

a

"the

privileges far surpass those of the son of Isaac: a birth. right which comprehends a better country than Canaan, even heaven, where we shall reign "kings and priests "unto God," where " the Lord commandeth the bless"ing, even life forevermore." But this pearl is not for the swine, who ignorant of its value tramples it under foot; but for those who conscious of its incomparable worth, prefer it to every thing else, and like the wise merchant are willing to sell all to buy it. These high advantages may be sacrificed.

II. Let us therefore view Esau in the surrender of his privileges, and compare your sin with his sin."For one morsel of meat he sold his birth-right." It is obvious that the loss was voluntary and base. First, it was voluntary. No one forced it from him-he sold it. He was indeed tempted to part with it by the sensation of hunger, and the sight of pottage when he was faint: an object was before him which promised the immediate gratification of his sensual appetite. But he could very soon have obtained food upon far easier terms. And surely the birth-right could not have a ri val in a mess of pottage? Where was reason? Does the man yield to the brute ?-No: he was not compel led to sacrifice his claims. And who compels you to abandon your hopes of heaven? who forces you into perdition?-You say that you live in a world full of enticing objects; that the dominion of sense is strong; that it is not very easy to resist the impulse of the moment. But is it impossible to resist? Have not many overcome, though placed in the same circumstances, and possessed of the same nature with you? What is goodness untried? Have you not reason as well as appetites? and is not grace attainable by you, and sufficient for you? And remember that you can never have so strong a motive to commit sin as to avoid it. The greatest difficulties therefore which you have to overcome, are those which are placed to keep you from hell. What is the applause of a fellow creature to the frown of the Almighty? What is a momentary pleasure to

endless pain? and you know you act freely: you know that all the men in the world cannot force you to will: you know that the tempter can do nothing more than propose the determination rests with you. You cannot justify yourselves even now to your own conscien→ ces, and hereafter unable to allege one excuse, you will be speechless. Yes: here is the true cause of your ruin-“ ye will not come unto me that ye might have "life. You have loved idols and after them you will go."

Secondly, it was equally base. For what is the price of the birth-right? an empire? a crown?-a crown sparkles in the eye of ambition; a throne is the highest pinnacle of human pride.-Nothing like it—but a despicable trifle-one morsel of meat-a mess of pottage the dearest dish says Bishop Hull, that was ever purchased, except the forbidden fruit. But I feel ready to dispute this. Are not you more than like him? Do you not surpass him in folly? For what do you sell the treasures of the soul and eternity-but a thing of nought? a fleeting indulgence, a false point of honor, an imaginary interest? Here is your eternal infamy and disgrace! "You have sold yourselves," says the prophet "for "nought." For what proportion is there between the things which you thus exchange? Duly consider the "unsearchable riches of Christ;" think what it is to be "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places;" what it is to live in pleasure, to die in hope, to obtain "glory, honor, and immortality." These are the blessings you give up-And what do you gain by the surrender? Solomon tells you-" vanity and vexation of spirit." Worldly things are less than the soul and cannot fill it, worse than the soul and cannot satisfy it. They have no relation to our grand wants, or our best interests. They please only to poison, they elevate only to depress. They perish in the using. You can carry nothing of them with you. You are not certain of holding them for life, and if you were: "what is your life, it is even as a vapor that appeareth for a little "time and then vanisheth away." View them in the