clusion of his story! We would place before you another and a very different character for your study, and for your imitation, one who stood as undefiled amidst the soft allurements of pleasure, as he was undaunted beneath the frown of adverse fortune; and we would address to you, on the authority of our high commission, the words of inspiration and encouragement spoken to him: "Fear not, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard: O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee: be strong, be strong."

Most glorious and most gracious God! without whom nothing is strong! nothing is holy! With our whole heart would we seek Thee! Oh, give us grace that we may purify and cleanse our ways, by ruling ourselves after Thy word; through the merits of our only Redeemer and Mediator, Jesus Christ!

See Daniel x.

SERMON XVIII.

PREVAILING

PRAYER.

GENESIS XXXII. 26.

“And He said, let Me go, for the day breaketh; and he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”

FOR full twenty years, Jacob had been absent from his native land, from his aged father, and his family; but by the command of the Lord, he departed from the land of the people of the East, even from Padan Aram, where dwelt his father-in-law, Laban, his mother's brother. As he drew near to Canaan, even to his own country, he thought of his brother Esau, whom he had deceived and cheated, and whose anger he had just cause to fear. He sent a message of peace to him. His messengers, on returning, brought word to Jacob that Esau was coming to meet him

and four hundred men with him.

was greatly afraid and distressed.

And Jacob

He did not make haste to flee away; nor did he go forth to meet his offended and angry brother as an enemy, and in a warlike manner. No, nor did he, as he was too apt to do in former days, imagine and put into execution some crafty scheme, whereby he might deceive his rough and unsuspicious brother. He had learned by bitter experience the weakness and the wickedness of his own deceitful heart, and doubtless he had repented of his former crooked policy. He therefore determined to divide his flocks, and herds, and camels, into two bands, and to remove the women and children from more immediate danger, and to set in order a portion of the flocks and herds as a present for his brother. But before he removed his family, and prepared his gift; humbly, but earnestly he committed his cause to God.

The prayer which he offered up has been written for our learning: it has, indeed, been justly considered as a model for prayer. I do not stop to-day, to dwell upon its several divisions, or to consider them, and comment upon them, though I cannot altogether pass it over. The prayer is this; "And Jacob said; O God of my Father Abraham, and

God of my Father Isaac. The Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee :' I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."-" And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the day. And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with Him. And He said, Let Me go, for the day breaketh; and he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me. And He said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, (which means a supplanter,) but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked Him, and said, Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name? And He said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And He

blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (that is, the face of God); for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh."

I. The first inquiry to be made is; Who was this Man that wrestled with Jacob? Though we do not find whether a direct answer was given to that question of Jacob, "Tell me, I pray thee, Thy name?" we find that Jacob came to the knowledge that he so earnestly desired; for he afterwards said, as I have read to you, "I have seen God face to face:" and we know that this mysterious Person said to Jacob, "As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." He was not a man, 'though He appeared as a man; for the prophet Hosea tells us, that Jacob had power over the Angel and prevailed. But He was not merely an angel; for Jacob, in seeing Him, saw GOD face to face. Was He, then, the Lord God? He was; but not the First Person in the Eternal Godhead; for no man hath seen God at any time,Ӡ and Jacob saw Him face to face. No man could see His face and live, and yet Jacob saw God face to face and was preserved. He whom Jacob saw was the Second Person in the Godhead, the Son + John i. 18.

66

12th chapter, 4th verse.

Exodus xxxiii. 20.