he had not only the fear, but the feeling of Laban's difpleafure: perhaps you had a dark night before the Lord paid you a vifit; but what if a darker night fhall follow upon that vifit, even fome grievous temptation to raze all again. The church was brought to the banquetting-houfe, and his banner over her was love; yet afterwards to the dark fhadow, where he cries, "I fought him, but I found him not." What a fweet communion had the difciples with Chrift at the last supper! yet followed with the darkest night of temptation, trouble, and scattering: the fhepherd of Ifrael himself being fmitten, the sheep were fcattered. When the Lord allows you fweet Bethel-interviews and bleflings, you may miftake them, and think they prefage nothing, but a life of joy and comfort henceforth, and that former trials are at an end; and yet they may be only preparations for approaching trials, and encouragements to faith and hope under future troubles. leads me,

This

II. To the fecond thing propofed, which was to fhew, what dark and difmal days may follow upon thefe Bethel-discoveries. There are thefe following dark days, or rather dark nights, that may follow upon Bethelvifits.

1. A dark night of long abfence, a night of weary defertion may follow. Jacob had not, for twenty years, fuch a night as he had at Bethel: there may be long twenty years travel between Bethel and Peniel. Perhaps you had much heavenly-warmness by a live-coalfrom the altar, when God manifefted himself, and you got a heart to clofe with Chrift. The place was like a heaven upon earth to you; but, perhaps, many a weary day you have had fince that time. May be you have never had fuch a gale fince that time. Or, if this communion hath been a Bethel to you, think it not strange, though a night of abfence and hiding may follow, and though the night be long.

2. A dark night of forgetfulnefs may follow upon? the Bethel-vifit, fo as it is hard to know how fecure people may grow; and they may lofe the fweet im

preffion

preffion of the vifit, and have little or no kindly remembrance of the fweet days they had at Bethel.This dark night followed upon Jacob's meeting with God here; it feems he had much forgotten it, till God puts him in mind of it, faying, Gen. xxxi. 13. "I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedft the pillar, and vowedft the vow." Jacob, might he fay, do you not mind the time? do you not mind the place? do you not mind the two pillars? do you not mind the promife? do you not mind the Bethel, where I fhewed my covenant to thee, and accepted thy vows unto me? Be not difcouraged with the fear of Laban behind purfuing you, and Efau before meeting you; it is enough to drive all fears and difcouragements away, that "I am the God of Bethel;" I am the fame God now, that I was at that day to you: however, Jacob had loft the fweet impreffion, and loft the kind remembrance of Bethel, till God himfelf was the remembrancer. In the dark night of oblivion, all may go out of fight, and out of mind.

3. A dark night of temptations, fears, and difccuragements may follow upon a fweet Bethel-vifit. The gracious encouragement that God gave to Jacob afterwards, fhews, what fears and difcouragements he was under, and under which he was ready to fink, if God had not fupported and comforted him from time to time.Well, even after a Bethel-vifit you may be grievously tempted, to call all that you met with but a delufion; yea, to think it was Satan that was working with you, and not the living God; and to think that your coming to a communion-table was but a taking a feal of your own condemnation. Some may be tempted to fear that God hath a controverfy with them, and does not observe their affliction. It feems this was a part of the dark night that came upon Jacob; and. therefore God fhews him that it was an ungrounded jealoufy; "For, fays he, I have feen all that Laban hath done to thee," Gen. xxxi. 12. Though thou waft not fenfible of my care, yet I have all this time had a special care about thee, and increased thy ftock, notwith

standing

ftanding of what Laban did. It is hard to believe the divine care in a dark day, wherein we apprehend his difpleafure; and yet when he returns, he can make us fee he had a fpecial care of us, when we knew not of it; and that he hath been doing all things well, even when we were fearing all these things were againit

us.

4. A dark night of wants and ftraits may follow u. pon Bethel vifits; both outward and inward wants: temporal wants, fuch as Jacob mention, when he complained that Laban had changed his wages ten times, Gen. xxxi. 41. Spiritual wants, and want of comfort, fuch as Jacob was under, when in his firait he could draw no comfort, even from an old Bethel, till God gave him a new vifit, by telling him, that he was the God of Bethel. Think not ftrange, though, upon the back of Bethel-vifits, you be tryfted with great ftraits, outward and inward, and perhaps can draw no comfort from a back-look upon Bethel; for, whenever you can draw comfort and encouragement from it, you may reckon it a new vifit; when, in a dark day, you can remember him from the land of Jordan, and remember what God did to you at fuch a time.

5. A dark night of perfecution, even by friends and brethren, may follow upon Bethel-visits, as Jacob found after this vifit, when perfecuted by Laban, his father-inlaw, and Efau his brother, that was conceived in the fame womb with him, though God mercifully reftrained their anger and fury, that they got not their will of Jacob; "For the wrath of man fhall praife God, and the remainder thereof he will reftrain." Think not flrange then, even from Bethel-meetings with God, though you fhould be tried with a dark night of perfecution, even from envious friends and falle brethren. The church and fpoufe of Chrift fpeaks of a Bethel, Song i. 4. "The king hath brought me into his chambers, we will be glad and rejoice in thee;" and yet a hot and fcorching perfecution followed, verfe 6. "The fun hath looked upon me." Why? My mother's children were angry with me." There is hardly any perfecution more grievous and viclent, than that of angry brethren;

แ

but

but they are under a restraint; they can go no further than God permits: only we need not think ftrange to fee church-perfecutions, even after Bethel-vifits.

You

6. A dark night of backfliding and relapfe into former unwatchfulnefs, fecurity, and floth may follow u pon the Bethel vifit, though it was folemnly renounced at Bethel. Jacob feems to have been under a lamentable decay, as to the exercife of faith that once he had at Bethel, till once God returned and quickened him again. Chrift faid to his difciples after the communion, "Ye fhall all be offended, becaufe of me this night;" you fhall all turn your backs upon me: you may lamentably relapfe to thefe fins that were renounced. I know not your particular cafe; but whatever it is, it hath been the fad experience of God's remnant. may relapse to the omiffion of known duty; yea, tɔ the embracement of known idols, the very thing that parted between God and you. This is a fad and forrowful night, that you need to take care you bring not upon yourselves through unwatchfulness, in fo provok. ing the Lord to anger with you, as he was with Solomon, 1 Kings xi. 9. It is faid the Lord was angry with him, because his heart turned from the Lord God of Ifrael, which had appeared to him twice. What a fad matter is it, if after a Bethel-interview with God you turn your back upon the God of Bethel!" Will you alfo go away?"

7. A dark night of strange difpenfations may follow upon Bethel-interviews. Various trials, viciffitudes, and changes, fuch as was in Jacob's lot, between the time of Bethel promifes and Peniel performances thereof; Jacob did not want chaftifements: "If his children break my law, I will visit their tranfgreffions with rods, and their iniquities with ftripes; nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor fuffer my faithfulness to fail," Pfal. lxxxix. 30,-33. God may cover your table at Bethel, but behold afterwards the ordinary means of relief may fail you, as it was with Jacob in Laban's family: even fo, the means of fpiritual relief may fail you. You may go to preachings, and return as dark as before. You may go to your clofet,

and

and that mean may fail you. You may go to public ordinances and facraments, and thefe means may fail you. Though at Bethel you, perhaps, thought, Oh! I will never be what I have been; I will never do as I have done; I will never doubt nor fear any more: yet all this may be out of fight, and the Comforter that fhould relieve your foul, may be far from you, Lam.i. 19. Strange difpenfations may befal you: All God's waves and billows may pafs over you, and deeps call unto deeps, Pfalm xlii. 7.

8. A dark night of perplexities amidft thefe ftrange difpenfations may follow upon Bethel-interviews. Thus it was with Jacob, before he came off from Laban's houfe; he knew not what to do, till the Lord directed him to arife and return to the land of his kindred, Gen. xxxi. 13. You may come to fuch a night of perplexities that you know not what to do, or what hand to turn you to. You may come to look upon yourfelf as in a perifhing condition, and to fay your ftrength and hope is perifhed from the Lord: Remembering your affliction and mifery, the wormwood and the gall," Lam. iii. 18, 19. What fhall I fay? May we not obferve, with fear and trembling, that fome who have met with God have afterwards come under dreadful and dark clouds, both in point of fin and mifery!-Some have been fo far left to fin after manifeftations, as defervedly to be called devils: Peter got fuch a discovery of God in Chrift, that the Lord fays to him, "Bleffed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: flesh and blood hath not revealed these things to thee, but my Father that is in heaven." Yet inftantly Peter is left fo far to fin, that Christ says to him, "Get thee behind me Satan; thou favoureft not the things that be of God," Mat. xvi. 17. 23. And what think you of his denying his Mafter with curfes? Let us not imagine they are all strangers to Bethel-interviews with Ged that deny, or do not zealously own the cause, and intereft of Chrift this day. But let us fear and tremble, to confider how far the children of God may be left to depart from him and his way, in a dark time, and in a day of temptation. It is poffible that good men may be

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