5. Storms and Tempests. These are nothing more than the violent and unnatural agitation of that circumambient air, in which we live and breathe; and which might at any time be excited to such a degree of fearful perturbation, as to discharge some of the most dreadful artillery of heaven. What secret laws produce these phenomena are only known to that God, whose “way is in the whirlwind and in the storm, who maketh the clouds the dust of his feet, and holdeth the winds in the hollow of his hand.” For their dreadful effects we have no occasion to look very far back. The close of the last year exhibited a scene of desolation in the western islands, which their inhabitants can never forget; and in reviewing which, we ought to be actuated with sentiments of the tenderest commiseration and benevolence towards the unhappy sufferers, as well as with impressions full of reverential awe of that God, who sends his judgments through the earth, that the inhabitants thereof might learn righteousness. A few outlines of the devastation occasioned by the late hurricanes, will, it is presumed, convince us of this.—After the storm began, which had been preceded by weather remarkably calm, but by a sky surprisingly red and fiery; the wind was so impetuous as to bear down every object that stood in its way, with a sudden breaking in of the sea, in some places, which swept every thing away with it, so as not to leave the smallest vestige of man, beast, or house, behind; [215a] and all this scene of horror and desolation heightened by repeated shocks of an earthquake. In one island, [215b] we have been informed, that not ten houses survived the fury of the storm. Whole families were buried in the ruins of their habitations; and many, in attempting to escape, were maimed, and disabled. A general convulsion of nature seemed to take place, and universal destruction ensued. On the one hand, might be seen the ground covered with mangled bodies; and on the other, reputable families wandering through the ruins, seeking for food and shelter. Every building and plantation was levelled with the ground; trees were torn up by the roots, or stripped of their branches; and the most luxuriant spring was changed, in one night, to the dreariest winter. In vain was it to look for shelter, when all was a general wreck before the sweeping tempest. Many fell victims to the violence of the winds; and great numbers were driven into the sea and there perished, to the amount of some thousands. Alarming consequences were dreaded from the multitudes of dead bodies which lay uninterred: while, to complete the dismal scene, inevitable famine seemed to stare the miserable survivors in the face. This description includes the calamities of a single island; and, when to these we add, what other islands belonging to us and our enemies suffered by a similar visitation, how accumulated must the loss be of property and of lives! And who can help, in a reflection upon such events, crying out, “Who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord! who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto Jehovah! Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand; justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.” Psal. lxxxix. 6, 13, 14.
I presume not to decide on the particular designs or intentions of Providence, in selecting some parts of the earth for a manifestation of his power, while others remain untouched; much less do the scriptures warrant us to conclude, that exemplary sufferers are necessarily “sinners above” the rest of the world. A hasty conclusion of this nature would reflect highly on our candor and humility, and involve in it too, a bold usurpation of the prerogative of God, to explore and distinguish the grounds of his own dispensations. And, indeed, the late visitation was so indiscriminate, as to leave us no room to draw inferences, either flattering to ourselves, or insulting to our enemies. And, perhaps, the impartiality and severity, which have marked these recent calamities, in their application, might serve to prove, that powers exhausting blood and treasure in a contest for the empty names of power and sway, are both wrong; when Jehovah seems to take up the controversy, and to punish both. One thing we cannot help seeing; which is, that if the Most High God were to exercise his power, as he is able, or, as we deserve, the necessity of waging or carrying on war would be very soon superseded; for there would exist no belligerent powers to do either the one or the other. We talk of our fleets and armies, and record with triumph the mighty achievements of our heroes; but, behold! the Almighty accomplishes in a few hours, what the armies of the earth are not able to effect in numerous campaigns!
We may, however, safely conclude in general, that if “there be evil in a city, the Lord hath done it,” as the scriptures peremptorily affirm. That is, if any part of the earth is visited with evils or calamities, the agency of God, either permissive or decretive, is to be acknowledged in them. We may with equal safety infer, too, that all the judgments originate from, and imply the existence of, sin; since it would be an impeachment of his justice, to suppose, that he would suffer the elements to conspire to man’s ruin, if there were nothing in human nature to provoke his wrath. But this leads me to consider
II. In what light, and with what temper, we ought to contemplate such portentous dealings.
If we consider the works themselves, they should teach us the great evil of sin; if we reflect on the great author of them, they should impress us with a reverential awe of his tremendous majesty, and a dread of his wrath; or, if we have any just idea of our own character as sinners and mortals, they should preach to our hearts the necessity of seeking the great means of conciliating the divine favor, that we may be prepared for those contingencies, which render our existence upon earth so very precarious, and proclaim the folly of those who seek terrestrial good to the fatal injury of their everlasting interests. If we are Christians, we should contemplate the works of Jehovah, with confidence and joy; and, standing at a distance equally from presumption and unbelief, should rejoice with trembling that the great Ruler of the Universe is our Father and our God; while we feel ourselves encompassed with the most forcible motives to love his name and obey his will. But if, instead of living as Christians, any of us should be sunk in ignorance, dissipated by pleasure, supine in carelessness, and immersed in sin; we should awake from the fatal lethargy, and fly from the wrath to come, ere death overtake us, and judgment fix our miserable and eternal doom.
1. The desolating works of God are intended to display the heinous nature of sin. All the evils which overspread the natural and moral world spring from this source. Sin is the great parent-evil, to which, as to a bitter and common fountain, may be traced every corruption that has depraved the heart, every malady that has invaded the human frame, and every judgment that has rent the earth. All the disorder of jarring elements, all the commotions in contending nations, all the convulsions that shake the globe, and all the dispensations that sweep away its inhabitants, imply its existence, and publish its malignity. The sin of man “is written as with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond, on the tables of the heart,” and stands engraven, in capital characters, upon his words and actions; while all the dispensations of God, directed to the great end of obliterating the writing, shew how enormous that evil must be, which requires the exertions of omnipotence either to punish or reform. Come, ye, who think or speak lightly of sin, and see what desolations it hath occasioned in the earth. Look at the ruins of mighty cities, the depopulation of flourishing states, and the fall of great empires, and then say, whether it be a small thing to sin against God. View the first rebellious pair expelled their earthly Paradise; their sinful progeny swept away with a flood; the earth cursed for the sin of man; and all the generations that are past buried in the promiscuous ruin of the grave; and entertain, if you can, low thoughts of the evil, that has produced these dire effects. Or, if this complex scene of misery and desolation does not sufficiently display sin’s enormity; examine death’s quiver, review the envenomed shafts that fill it; count over the formidable names of war, pestilence, earthquake, famine, tempest, fire, with the numerous train of bodily and mental disorders; and then if you ask, what has given such strength to the arm of the King of terrors, and such execution to the deadly arrows upon the string of this insatiate archer? an apostle informs you, that “the sting of death is SIN, and the strength of sin is the law; 1 Cor. xv. 56; that by one man SIN entered into the world, and DEATH by sin, and so death passeth upon all men, for that ALL HAVE SINNED.” Rom. v. 12. But, should this representation not answer the end of convincing some of you, that sin is an abomination of such enormity, give me leave to ask, “Wherefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure?” Isa. v. 4. What kindled the flames of Tophet? what awakened the wrath of God? or what exposed his Son to the bitter agonies of the cross? In each dreadful view, sin is the instrumental cause. The sufferings of Jesus, the torments of the damned, proclaim its God-provoking nature. Go then, sinner, and after you have in thought traversed the globe, and seen its desolations; after you have dropped a tear over the monuments of the dead, and looked with horror into the chambers of the grave; go, and visit Calvary. See who hangs there in agonies and shame. What means this affecting scene? Wherefore is the sun darkened, and why are the rocks rent? Why does the immaculate Jesus thus suffer and die, while nature feels the shock, and sympathizes with strong convulsions? Sin, thy sin is at the bottom of this tragic scene. This was the bitter ingredient in the Redeemer’s cup, the dregs of which he drank off in our stead. This was the intolerable burden which he bore for us; and which in the bearing sunk him to the grave. Say then, must not that be a great evil, which is the cause of such calamities to man, and of such incomprehensible sufferings to the “Son of man?”
But do we see this? and are we affected at the sight? We are assembled together for the purpose of humbling ourselves before Almighty God, on account of “our manifold sins and provocations.” Do the feelings of our hearts correspond with the profession of our lips? Do we mean what we say? Is it not to be feared, that many content themselves with a repetition of a devotional form, adapted to the present occasion, without ever entering into the spirit of it? and hereby add to that immense load of inconsistency and guilt, which similar conduct has been increasing for numbers of years? And does not melancholy matter of fact demonstrate, that we are guilty of no breach of truth or charity, when we assert, that multitudes mock Jehovah to his face, by loving and living in the secret practice of those very sins, which, on this day, they condemn with their lips? We profess to regret the continuance of war, and to lament the expense of blood and treasure incurred by it. But, if our eyes are shut to the real cause of the evil, the visitation may be lengthened out, until we are at last forced to read our sin in our punishment. For, whatever some may think, war is a grievous scourge of the Almighty, permitted as a chastisement for crying sins, and a loud call to the nations of the earth to repent and turn to God. Hear what the Lord saith by the prophets. “Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart: therefore destruction upon destruction is cried.” Jer. iv. 18, 20. “Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel; therefore the anger of the Lord is kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL.” Isa. v. 25. And, in that long list of threatenings recorded in Lev. xxvi. among other denunciations, is the following:—“If ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary to you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins; and I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant.” Verse 23, 25.
Would to God there were no occasion to apply the following charge to ourselves! “Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.” Jer. v. 3. Whether this scripture is not fulfilled in this day, let facts declare. We have been for some years involved in all the horrors of war. The desolations of it are continually upon the increase. Our enemies are multiplied; and with them our dangers too. Four great powers are uniting their force against us; and we have not one single ally in Europe, that we can call our own. The conjuncture of our affairs is more and more critical; especially if we consider, that an intestine faction still secretly works in the bosom of the state, and labors hard to kindle and keep alive the expiring flame of discord and rebellion. Add to this, that, through the last year, the metropolis of the kingdom was just upon the point of destruction; and with it the wealth and power of the nation. These are loud calls; alarming visitations. The rod hath spoken again and again; yet how few hear its voice, or fear him that appointed it! The rich and poor amongst us go on as usual. Iniquity stalks with brazen front through our streets; and error, in ten thousand forms, vents its unsoftened blasphemies against God and his Messiah. Places of amusement are crowded; and the whirl of dissipation goes on, as if there were nothing to solemnize us, or make us think. Multitudes of our gentry are laughing, at the play-house, or pursuing a more childish farce at the masquerade, while their poor countrymen are groaning in the field of battle, and, at the expense of their blood and lives, are fighting for that which is to keep others in ease and idleness. Thus, while the deepest tragedy is exhibited beyond the Atlantic, on this side the water we are carrying on the grossest farce. Youth are educated in ignorance, or trained up in fashionable vice; by which they fall an easy prey to the first bold invader of their morals and their virtue. Dress, visiting, and various species of dissipation, leave no time for the serious calls of religion; and a knowledge of the truths of revelation forms, in the system of many, no part of modern education. Frothy and lascivious novels occupy the place of God’s word; and there is no book so little read or understood, as the Book of books. The aged lead the way in folly and vanity; and endeavour to initiate their tender offspring, as early as possible, in those “pomps and vanities of a wicked world,” which both promised to renounce. Thus grey hairs give a sanction to evils, which youth want a curb in the pursuit of. And thus many a child has to curse its parent for an initiation into the pride of life and lusts of the flesh, by which his disgrace and ruin have been led on by a sort of necessary gradation. An introduction to the world, that is, to its nonsense, vanity, and dissipation—is deemed, with many, an essential in good-breeding. And, with many, to keep good company, is not to associate with those who fear God, but with those, who are distinguished by no other excellence but the possession of a title or a fortune. These accidental acquisitions are often complimented with the appellation of good; though all beside should be nothing but a compound of wretchedness and vice. Thus no distinction is made between men and their accidents; and adulation frequently offered at the shrine of debauchery and pride. And thus men confound the names of good and evil; put darkness for light, and light for darkness.
And can it be said that God’s desolations have taught us the evil of sin? No. While vice maintains its wonted vigor, pleasure attracts its votaries as usual, and profaneness rears its triumphant crest without control or shame, it can never be said, that we are advancing in reformation. Rather, as our visitations have increased, the stupefaction of sinners has increased with them. The storms, which should rouse, have eventually rocked them to rest. Even the deaf adder is quick of hearing, when compared with numbers, who neglect or refuse to hear that “Charmer,” whose voice, in his promises, is sweeter and more harmonious than all the choristers of heaven; and, in his threatenings, more tremendous than the roaring of the seas, and all the artillery of conflicting elements. Which leads me to observe, that,
2. God’s desolations in the earth should impress us with a reverential awe of his majesty and a dread of his wrath; should make us see his hand and acknowledge his interposition in every event.