Thus far, the duty of a Christian people collectively, under Divine judgments, has been shewn; it remains to consider their duty individually; which involves the consideration of what man owes to his God, his country, his neighbour, and himself, under any general visitation of Divine Providence. The Christian’s duty towards God, when His judgments are abroad, is a recognition of, and submission to, His chastening hand: to his country, unwearied exertion for the removal of the evils which appear to have called down the Divine vengeance: to his neighbour, friendly assistance, religious exhortation, and spiritual consolation: and to himself, through Divine grace, humiliation, repentance, amendment, and daily preparation for death and judgment.
These several duties, being all dependent upon each other, and intimately blended in their operation, may, perhaps, be not unfitly considered, as embraced by the public and private obligations of Christians under afflictive dispensations; which may be briefly stated to be—earnest prayer and incessant labour to effect a PERSONAL REFORMATION, and, as far as in them lies, a NATIONAL REFORMATION; which are proposed to be considered, as follows, more at large.
Let individuals “humble themselves under the mighty hand of God;” [11] let them acknowledge the extent of their sinfulness, and the justice of their punishment; let them confide in God’s mercy, and commit themselves to His safe keeping; let them seek for grace to reform, in their lives and conversation, whatever is at variance with the Gospel; from which, and not from the maxims of men, let them learn what is required of Christians.
Let them publicly bear testimony at once to the justice and mercy of God’s judgments, and strive earnestly to rouse the nation to a sense of its guiltiness, which has exposed it to the Divine displeasure; let them, in dependence on the blessing of Heaven, labour to eradicate all infidel and heretical opinions; to advance a reformation of public morals; and to promote a general diffusion of true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge.
Too justly does the language of Isaiah, addressed to the rebellious and guilty house of Judah, apply to our own times: “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone backward.” [12a] May He, “who alone can order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men,” and convert them from the evil of their ways, “pour upon all flesh the spirit of grace and supplication;” [12b] that individual may extend, until it become national repentance, and the whole nation worship before Him. Then will the scourge of His wrath prove the harbinger of His mercy, and we shall become a chosen people, a holy nation unto the Lord. Then may our gracious and long-suffering God allow us, without presumption, to draw comfort from those words of favour and forgiveness, spoken to His people when humbled and contrite: “Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant; I have formed thee, thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me: I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.” [13a]
I. The Christian’s duty of personal reformation under Divine judgments.
It is from the volume of inspiration—whence he derives all the light which he enjoys, as to the providence, beneficence, and love of God; whence he draws all the knowledge he possesses as to the nature of his own being, the object of his present existence, and the place of his final destination;—man must learn his duty under the Divine dispensations. The Holy Scriptures are to the true Christian “a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his paths.” [13b] When pursuing his heavenward journey through this vale of tears, the prospect often appears uninviting and gloomy, the sky dark and troubled, and the way, always narrow, becomes sometimes a thorny and tangled path. Dangers also, more or less near and alarming, keep the pilgrim often under apprehension, and always on his guard. Still, he pursues a straight-forward course, from which he deviates little—for he possesses a guide more unerring than the compass of the mariner, and that guide is the infallible Word of God. When darkness obscures, difficulties perplex, and dangers environ his road, in his unfailing “lamp” he finds light, guidance, and safety.
At this moment, a dark cloud hangs over this country:—nay, more, the storm of Divine displeasure has already commenced. Lest, therefore, it should burst upon us in its full “fury,” let all betake themselves to that blessed light, which, amid the thickest darkness and most appalling storm, can “guide our feet into the way of peace.” [14a] Let the enquiry be made as to the course to be adopted in the words of a Prophet: “What will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help?” [14b] Let the same Prophet reply: “Trust ye in the lord for ever, for in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength.” [14c]
Trust in God is the necessary fruit of faith, which is the only basis on which religion can rest: “he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him:” [14d] thus, except with one philosophical school of antiquity, a belief in the being of a God has, even amongst the Heathen, always been accompanied by a trust in His Providence. In the Christian scheme, this trust is a fixed, governing principle. “To take notice of the hand of God in every thing that befalls us,” says the learned and excellent Sherlock, “to attribute all the evils we suffer, and all the good things, to His sovereign will and appointment: this is the foundation of all the other duties which we owe to Providence, and the general neglect of this makes us defective in all the rest.” [15a]
This passage supplies a clear view of Christian duty under afflictive dispensations. As faith recognises an Almighty Father’s will in the appointment, and His hand in the direction of events, the believer refers equally national and individual prosperity and adversity, mercies and visitations, to Him, “whose power ruleth over all.” And as he refers all events to the will and appointment of the great Governor of the Universe, he endeavours to receive whatever befalls him, as coming from His hand, with patient submission and humble thankfulness: for he knows how immeasurably his punishment falls short of his deserts; and he is assured, that “God chastens us for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” [15b] At the same time, therefore, that he relies with firm dependence on the tender mercies, the blessed guidance, and sure protection of his Heavenly Father; he seeks for grace to improve to the spiritual advancement of himself and others, the divine chastisements,—“chastisements which originate in love, and are tempered with mercy:” [15c] “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”[16a] He enters, therefore, anew upon a careful review of his past life, and again summons before the bar of conscience, “the sins of his youth, and the offences of his riper age;” he recalls to mind the warnings he has had, the privileges he has enjoyed, and the mercies he has received; and he institutes a rigid scrutiny into his present life, which he tries by the unerring test of God’s holy word. And if he be sincere and honest, and not a dissembler with God, and a deceiver of himself, the language will spontaneously burst from his lips; “It is good for me that I have been in trouble, that I may learn Thy statutes.” [16b] “Oh, Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction,” [16c]—“Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and in misery. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged; oh, bring Thou me out of my troubles; look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin.” [16d]