An exposition with practical observations continued upon the eleventh, twelfth, & thirteenth chapters of…

We are to make use of this for our instruction thus, ¹some of you that have had your parents very forward in their youth, betimes some of your Parents were gracious and godly, were greedy of the things of God, now you should make use of that for the humbling of your souls, Oh! how negligent have I been? how careless is my spirit, and slight and vain? yea, though I be come to years, do little regard that which my Parents were greedy upon when they were very young. That's a second thing.

We are to make use of this for our instruction thus, ¹some of you that have had your parents very forward in their youth, betimes some of your Parents were gracious and godly, were greedy of the things of God, now you should make use of that for the humbling of your souls, Oh! how negligent have I been? how careless is my spirit, and slight and vain? yea, though I be come to yeers, do little regard that which my Parents were greedy upon when they were very yong. That's a second thing.

1. 1Use of Instruction.

And then yet further, Jacobs taking his brother by the ¹heel, in the third place, it was a type of the prevailing of the Church, of the people of God against the wicked at last; God made Jacob a famous and notable type in this work; That certainly the Saints though they may seem ⟨p. 224⟩to be low and mean for the present, yet they shall get advantage over the men of the world. The men of the world are set out by Esau, they are ruffling abroad in the world, & of fiery hot spirits as Esau was, & they have great things in the world for a time, and the Saints are under them, as Jacob was under Esau; but certainly the Saints shall prevail against all the Edomites, all the Esaus (as I may so speak) there is a time that they shall supplant them, and get the power over them, this was typified in this work of God upon Jacob in the womb, in taking his brother by the heel, the godly shall prevail at length against all the wicked and ungodly in the world: You should consider it, as if the Prophet should say to them; you are seeking to provide for your selves in the sinful way you are in, Oh! if you did but consider, that the faithful, though they be persecuted for a time, what low condition soever they are, yet they shall get the power over all the great ones in the world, it would be otherwise with you than now it is. So we find in Scripture that though indeed the way of the Saints be such as they are kept low for a long time, yet the Scripture tells us, that at length they shall have the dominion, in