Part 13
QL THE SEAMAX'S FAREWELL.
God delights in those acts of mercy most, by which nis ed and comforted; and where there is a common st going, Uke a common adventure in one ship, there prayer, hke the return of such a ship, makes many gla tainly it is of great advantage for the people of Goc many as they can to pray for them. When Daniel was secret fron/the God of heaven, Dan. ii. 17, 18. he m three friends to improve their acquaintance with Go( in God for him upon that occasion. " Then Dan
" house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, jNIis " riah his companions, that they would desire mercies " heaven concerning this secret"." Some Christians h; timacies with God than others, they are special favouri of heaven ; and what an advantage' is it to be upon the: they are with God, judge ye. I remember St. Berna ken of the due frames and tempers that Christians si work their hearts into, when they are engaged in this v concludes with this request, Et quum talis Jueris, And when thy heart (saith he) is in this temper, then Oh ! it is a singular mercy to be interested in their p in special favour with God ! it is true, Jesus Christ i vourite, for whose sake all prayers are heard : and wi cession, the intercessions of an Abraham, a Moses, a nothing, but in the virtue of his intercession, the ii others may be singularly advantageous to us. Job' good men, but yet they must go to Job, and get h them before God would be intreated for them, Job x
And, indeed, upon the contrary, it is a sad sign thj not to give us that mercy which lie takes off our own hearts of others from praying for. When he saith, such a man, or for such a mercy for him, the case hopeless, the mercy is set, and there is no moving it But if once a spirit of prayer be poured upon you, an too in your behalf, you may look upon the mercy ; door, and count it as good as if it were in your ban you see what the mercies are you should pray for ; - prayer hath upon them ; and what assistance the pr, Christians may contribute to the obtaining of them ; hearts may be excited and encouraged, not only to ] selves, but to engage as many as you can to seek the as you see Paul here did, when he was undertakinff '
THE SEAMAN S FAREWELL. 3^
First, Such as do but mock God, and delude themselves by hear less, dead and empty formalities. Some there be that dare n< altogether slight and neglect prayei*?, but pro forma^ they will c something themselves ; and it may be as a compliment, or, at mos as a customary thing, will desire the prayers of others : but, ala< Aere is no heartiness or sincerity in these things ; they are no W£ affected with the sense of their own wants, sins, or dangers ; tht never understood the use, nature, or end of prayer. We blame tl blind Papists, and that justly, for their blind devotions, who reckc their prayers by number, and not by weight ; and truly, there is bi little difference between theirs, and some of our devotions. It is
St Augustine's counsel, " Do you learn to have in your hearts wh
every one hath in his lips.'' O that you would once learn to be earnest with God ! to pray as men that understand with whom y(. have to do ; and what great things you have to transact %\'ith Gck lUi, my friends, you may believe it, that if ever you had felt tl weight of sin upon your consciences, and had had such sick days ai nights for it, as some have had, you would not ask a pardon so cold and indifferently as you do. If you did but know the benefit of Goc presence with you in troubles, how sweet it is ; or could but apprehei how terrible a thing it is to be left of God, as Saul was in the day distress, you would weep and make supplication for his gracious pi sence to go forth with you ; and would say, with Moses, " If tl
" presence may not go with me, then carry me not hence." Bi alas ! these things appear not to you in their reality and iraportani And hence is all that wretched formality and deadness of spirit.
Sccondlij, It rebukes much more such as wholly slight and negh prayer, as a useless and vain thing ; who undertake designs witho prayer, not at all acknowledging God in any of their ways. And it justly to be suspected, there are multitudes of such practical athei; among seamen, as well as other orders of men. Poor men I mv hej mourneth over you ; you are certainly a forlorn set of men, who li without God in the world. It was anciently said, " he that wou
" learn to pray, let him go to sea-f*:"" But now, how long may man be at sea, before he hear a praying seaman ! Let your fami'l from which you part, witness wliat conscience you have made to se
God, as you have been here directed, before your outset : it is sai DeuL xxxiii. 18. to the tribe of seamen, " Rejoice, Zebulun, in tl
" going out." But m this case we may invert the words, and s£ Mourn, Oije seamen, in your going out. How deplorable a case this.'' Let your cabins witness what conscience you make of the diitv
3o4 THE SEAMAk'^S farewell.
deeps, wonders of creation, and wonders o£ preservati time you yourselves are the greatest wonders that ar the sea : men imediately dependhig upon God for th ties, and estates, every moment, and not once ownlno- < ing nun by prayer.
The very * Heathens will rise up in judgment ag condemn you. I remember Plato brings in Alcibia crates, How he ouglit to express his resolution and whom he thus answereth ; " Before every undertaking *' If God will." And we know the eastern nations wc nothing of moment, without first acknowledging G The Greeks auv &iu, by the leave or blessing of God i The Turks will condemn such as you are, for they f five times a day, how urgent soever their business be. superstitious Papists will condemn you, with whom i
Ma,'is and meat hinder no man. Oh ! M'hither will y( who shall comfort you when trouble comes upon you at crosses and disappointments in your business; how it should be otherwise, as long as God is neglected, }
Say not, this is the fruit of ill luck, but of your profai the success of all your business depends upon God (e theists dare deny) then certainly the directest and re; man can take to destroy all, is to disengage God by a s him. The most compendious way to ruin, is to forgel off prayer. " Pour out thy fury (saith the prophet) up
that know thee not, and upon the famihes that cal
name," Jer. x. 25. Will nothing less than extrer cry to God ? Wonder not then, if God bring you u mity which your profaneness makes necessary for yoi
Thirdly and lastly. How much sadder, and more de case of those that not only neglect to call upon the na prayer, but do also wovuid his name through and th] cursed oaths and blasphemies .'' who instead of going < ing, as Paul here did, go on board cursing, swearing, ing his great and dreadful name ; not going from theii but drunken ale-benches, to the ship.
O the admirable patience of God ! O the power of his 1 that ever that ship should swim one hour above watt such loads of sin and guilt within it ! It is noted in Gei days of Seth, " That then men began to call upon tl
THE SEAMAN S FAEEWELL. .3 there is a vile generation in our days, that instead of calling up the name of the Lord by prayer, do call upon it profanely, rendii and tearing that great and terrible name with the language of he Poor man ! with what hope or encouragement can those lips thine, in the day of thy extremity, cry, Mercy ! mercy ! that ha struck through the sacred name of God so many times Avith bh phemy ! O that you would lay it to heart ! O that this day G( would set your sins in order before you.
Is this a beginning that promises a comfortable issue ? Do y( thus prepare yourselves to meet death and danger? O my sou come not thou into their secrets ! O let God rather strike me p( fectly dead whilst I live, than afflict my soul through my ears wi these dreadful dialects of the damned.
Use 2. In the next place, this point is exceeding useful, by way exhortation^ to persuade all men, and particularly seamen, to be mi of prayer ; to imitate that noble pattern in the text, and no long to live in the neglect of a duty so necessary, so sweet, and so ber ncial to them, as the duty of prayer is. O that you did but knc the excellency of this duty ! how would you give yourselves un prayer ! As David speaks, Psal. cix. 4. Now to persuade you be praying men, and no longer to live in the neglect of so excelle a duty, I will offer these motives to your consideration.
Motive 1. God hath st'iled himself a God hearing prayer. F your encouragement to this duty, he hath assumed this title to hii self, Psal. Ixv. 2. " O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall j
" flesh come." You cry not as the Heathens do, to stocks and stone that cannot help or hear them that seek to them, but to the living ai true God, by whom never did any upright soul lose a prayer. Ai to come home to your case more fully, he is a God that hears ti prayers of poor distressed men upon the seas, when all hope ai human help have utterly failed them. So you read in Psalm cv
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. " They that go down to the sea in shij " that do business in great waters ; these see the works of the Lor " and his wonders in the deep : for he cdmmandeth, and raise " the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof: they mou " up to heaven, thev go down again to the depths ; their soul " melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagg " like a drunken man, and are at their wits end. Then they c: " unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of the " distress." So that what the Psalmist elsewhere speaks of tl mystical depths of trouble, is true here even in a proper literal sens
THE seaman's FAHEWELL.
Stressed creatures, that they have sensibly and thanll ledged him according to his name ; " The hope of th " earth, and the confidence of them that are afar off" i Psal. Ixv. 5. Who is there among you, that has not ei or himself been an example, and instance of this truth ? insert many famous examples to confirm it, but the ca to need them, and it would be too great a digression.
Motive 2. Pra7/er is certainly the best relief to the di may say of it, as David said of the sword of Goliath, for there is none like it. You that are seamen, know of the pump is, Avhen the waters leak into your ship, an the scupper-holes are to you, when waves' break and d. necks : why, of the same use is prayer, when sorrow le hearts, and distresses are ready to overwhelm your souls a vent to that which else would quickly sink you. '
shall live that seek the Lord," Psal. Ixix. 32. Praj up your fainting spirits ; it will sensibly ease an opp No fear of fainting, while a man continues praying, wont to call prayers the leeches of his cares and troubl troubles come in upon a man every way, and he have outlet for them when the ordinary vents of reason, cou solution are all choaked (as sometimes they are) an( succour or relief coming in from heaven ; what a wre condition is such a poor creature in ? O therefore get with this excellent duty.
Motive 3. All secondary means of deliverance and a sarily depejid upon the will and pleasure of God, and sis tvlthout hi?n. What the Psalmist saith of an horse, I ship, Psal. xxxiii. 17. That it is a vain thing for sa what a poor defence is it against those giant-hke wave And that men (especially seamen) may be convinced . hath many times caused those stately and strong-built sh -and be dashed all to piecfes, and preserved those that \ in them upon a plank or broken piece of the ship, A( which has carried them more safely to the shore than And will you not yet see that means signify nothing \ and that your dependence upon him is necessary in eve and the acknowledgment thereof so too ? I am persuaded not be half so many shipwrecks aud disappointments as your carnal confidence in the means were less, and a upon the Lord more. Therefore it is that you so ofte"i t I I ( I I I I
THE seaman's farewell. So vou pray not, and success may follow those that seek not Go 1 for it but that which you call deliverance is rather a reservation to future m; serv; and that you call success, is but a snare to your souls. You ha\ the things, but not the comfort and blessing of them. God may gi\ vou your desire to your ruin : your lives may be rescued foratiniefrci Heath, that you may fill up the measureof your iniquities. Your affaii may prosper, and that prosperity may destroy you, Prov. i. 32. A best it is but an effect of common providence ; and of such delivei ances you can never say as Hezekiah said of his ; and every one tha receives the like mercy in the way of prayer, may say of his, Isi xxxviii. 17. " But thou hast in love to ray soul delivered it from th
" pit of corruption ; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back
I deny not, but a deliverance by the hand of common providenc is a niercy in itself; and it may prove a very great mercy to you i the event, if time thereby added to your life be a space of repent ance : else it is but a short reprieval of your damnation, and leave you to perish under greater guilt than was upon you before. JBu on the contrary, how sweet are those mercies that come in the wa of prayer ; that discover God's love to you, and inflame yours t liini ? One such mercy is worth a thousand of the former.
Motive 5. Consider all you that go out without prayer^ hozc soo you may be out of a capacity of prayer. Now you will not, an shortly you may not, have one op]X)rtunity to pray for evermore now unbelief shuts your mouths, and shortly death may do it. Ho' soon may you be past your pravers, both your own and others, an be fixed by death in your unalterable condition ? O seek the Lor therefore whilst he may be found, call upon him whilst he is yet neai Now is your praying season, hereafter there will be no use of praye:
For this (saith the Psalmist) shall every one that is godly pra " unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found : surely in th " floods of great waters, they shall not come nigh unto him." Psa xxxii. 6. i. e. saith Deodate upon the place, in the time of the gent ral destruction of sinners, as it was in the deluge; then there is n coming nigh to God by prayer, nor canst thou come nigh him i the day of thv particular destruction, by the flood of great water 0 therefore live not a dav longer in the profane and sinful negle< of this great duty of prayer !
Object. Why, but I observe those that pray Hot, generally escap as icell as they that do. ■- -
Ansic. This objection was once made by a soldier in the time c fight, when he was pressed by his companion to pray ; and Go
358 THE SEAMAN S FAREVTELL.
Answ. Labour therefore to get into a r^enerate stati persuaded to rest a day longer in so sad a condition. H mean time you must know, that prayer being a part of sliip, all men, even the unregenerate, are obliged to it and law of nature ; otherwise the neglect of it could no
Object. But many pray, and receive not : I mysel done so.
Answ. " You ask, and receive not, because you ask iv. 3. If we were disposed to receive as God is to gi^ not be long without the answer of our prayers.
(1.) If your persons were accepted through Christ, should be accepted too. Gen. iv. 4. But you are in a st destitute of the Spirit, John xv. 7. And so your voice the voice of a child, but a stranger.
(2.) If your prayers were regulated by the will of Go not miss of the desired success ; 1 John v. 14. "If we t
" according to his will, he heareth us."
(3.) If your prayers had more faith and fervency, th return empty ; see Jam. i. 6. and v. 16. Well then, o against your duty, but in the fear of God, apply you and dare not to go forth in any design, until thou hast commended thyself and thy affairs to God. Go alont retire from the world ; and say not you cannot spare tin better any thing else were neglected than this. Te thou art now launching forth into the ocean, and kno\ this voyage may bring forth. Possibly thou mayest to the land of thy nativity any more ; but however i him to dispose the event, beseech him with all earnestn mayest have the pardon of sin sealed to thee before beg him to separate guilt from thy person, before thou from thy habitation and relations ; lest that stroke th rate thy soul from thy body, should eternally separa and body from God.
Desire of the Lord that his presence may go with t thou shalt go. Tell him it is the fountain both of tl comfort. Desire him if his presence may not go with carrv thee hence. All the relief thou hast against troi ped up in that promise of his, / will he with him in tt him, those will be tasteless comforts, and succourlesj which he is not
Intreat the Lord with all importunity, to keep the(
THE SEAMAN IX A STORM.
by which thou mayest be overcome in the absence of lawful rei dies, and presence of alluring objects, except his fear quench temptation, and break the snare. .
Be earnest also with the Lord for his gracious protecticm of t in all thy dangers. Tell him, thou canst not be in safety any wh< but under the shadow of his wings. Tell him, at ichat time ti art afraidy tJtou wilt trust in kim ; and beseech him, that when heart shall be overwhelmed with fears and troubles, he will 1 thee to the rock that is higher than thee. Beseech him also tog thee counsel in all thy straits and difficulties, that thou mayest lean to thine own understanding, but that he will make thy ^ plain before thee.
And if it be his good pleasure, that he would bless thy just and nest enterprizes with success and prosperity ; which if he shall do, him it is thy desire, and b^ the assistance of his grace, that tl mayest improve all thy mercies to his praise. If thus you set fc in the fear of God, you may expect a sweet success, and happy isi
THE SEAMAN IN A STORM.
SERMON II.
PsAL, cviL 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.
Thei/ that go down to tJte sea in ships, thai do bimness in gi waters ; these see tfu works qftJte Lord., and his uonders in deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, zc)
Ufleth up the reaves tliereof. They mount up to heaven, tl' dozen aoyjiu to t/ie deptJis ; tJieir soul is melted because gftr 7 toaridjro, and stagger like a drunken man, and ar tV end. Then tJiey cry unto tfte Lord in their trou and he brings them out of their distress.
A HIS psalm contains an excellent account of the mysterious admirable effects of providence : and this paragraph contains t vein or branch of divine providence which respects seamen ; a ! of men more immediately dependmg upon the favour of provide than any men in the world ; though all do necessarily and c tinually depend upon it.
In these verses we have a description, both (1.) of the pers(
560 THE SEAMAN IN A STOKJf.
are said io^o down to the sea in ships, not because the se the land, but because it is lower than the shore, whic part raised by providence against its inundations. An design in going down into the sea, is not pleasure and r to do business, i. e. to export and import such wares ; ties as are necessary, if not to the being, at least to thi the several kingdoms and countries of the world. ' men here spoken of, who " see (more than any) the
Lord, and his wonders in the deep." Works and v tvd,a, hoiv, an usual figure, is as much as his wonderful w, ot creation, m the strange and monstrous productions o; ot preservation, with respect to themselves, in the drei they there encounter. Thus the person or subject is
Secondly, The danger is likewise described in which th men are sometimes involved : and indeed the Psalmist 1 very rhetorical and elegant description of their con stormy sea ; and shews us how deplorable their state j IS at such a time. Where we are to note both the caus of these tempests.
L The causes; and they are twofold. First, The principal cause, the Avill and pleasure c commandeth and raiseth the stormy winds. This is G tive : none can raise winds but himself, and if devils <
It at any time, yet it is still by his permission ; as you see
19. the Lord is said to hold the wind in his fists, Prov man liolds a wild fierce beast in a chain, or by a collai they blow, "He brings them out of his treasuries," Vi There is indeed a natural cause of winds, of whom phik us this rational account, " That it is a hot and dry exlu
' from the earth by the power of the heavenly bodies, * repelled or forced back by the coldness of the middle r
' obliquely or slantingly, and sometimes ver}- violently ' air.' But though this be the natural cause of the wit doth not at all restrain the absolute sovereignty of Go( Itishethatcommands and raiseth them, as the text speaks: it be said, John iii. 8. " The wind blows where it listctl expression makes it not an arbitrary creature ; but the either thus. It blows where it listeth, for any opposition 1 make to it, though it cannot blow where it listeth in res
Or thus, such is the great variableness and instability o blowing now this way, now that, that it seems to move w
THE SEAMAK IK A STOKXI.
2. We have the instrumental, sulxirdinate and next cause of storm ; and that is, the ' winds Ufting up the waves of the oce There is naturally in the sea a continual agitation and rolling of waters hither and thither ; it cannot rest, as the prophet swaks of but when a violent wind blows upon it, the ocean is incensed i enraged ; and the winds roll moving mountains of water before thi Then, like wild beasts, the waves seem to break loose and rage; only to helatrantcs undas.^ as Virgil calls them, barliing waves, xv/jMTo. ayoia, ramng waves, as Jude speaks, ver. 13. Yea, roar waves, as our Saviour stiles them, Luke xxi. 25. Thus of the cav of the storm principal and subordinate. Next we have.
Secondly, The terrible effects of the tempests, aud that both u] their bodies and their minds.
(1.) External upon their bodies; it tosses them up and down i dreadful manner, which the Psalmist elegantly expresses in the tt
" They mount up to heaven, they go down to the depths,'' a Ic hyperbolical expression ; very near unto it is that of Virgil :
ToUhaur in caelum, curvato gurg-ite ; et udein, Subducta, ad manes imos descendimus, unda 1 Mn.
The)' seem to mix with the very clouds, and then open deep gra for them in the bottom sands. Yea, it moves them not only p pendicularly, lifting them up, and casting them down, but obliqu and circularly also. " They reel to and fro, and stagger like
dnjnken man," or, as some translate, agitantur ingyrurn, thev r round : thev are, indeed, moved according to the unstable motion the waves, on whose proud backs they are mounted. This is the ( ternal effect of the storm upon their bodies.
(2.) The internal effect of it upon their minds, which is far m( terrible. For it is said here. Their soul is melted because oj'trouh and they are at their zcifs end. Both which expressions do impon greater commotion and storm in the passions of the mind, than that in the waves of the sea. The stoutest spirit quails and melts when comes to this; and the wisest artist is at his wit's end. Thus y have the (inscription of the persons, and of their danger, both in t cause and effects upon the body and mind. Next,
(3.) We have their deliverance by the wonderful hand of Divi Providence, in ver. 27. " Then they cry unto the Lord in their tro
ble, and he brings them out of their distress." Their usual c in such extraordinary exigencies, is, m£rcyl mercy ! Now they c; ray that could not pray before. Extremity drives them to thf
THE SEAMAN IK A STORSf.
From all this we observe, Doct. That the preservations and deliverances of sd dreadful storms and tempests at sea, is the wonder Divine Providence.
" The works of the Lord are great, sought out of a]
have pleasure therein ;" Psal. cxi. 2. And, among his works, none greater and more admirable than those wj daily behold in their great and marvellous protectioi sea.
Now the glory of Divine Providence towards seamei displays itself in three things especially, j^r*^, In makin navigable for them at any time. Secondly, in preservm shipwrecks in the fury and stress of weather. Thirdli^ out ways, and strangely providing means of safety, whe are lost, and broken upon the sea.
1. It is a wonderful providence of God to make the gable for men at any time ; that such a fluid body as wa cannot support a stone or bullet of an ounce weight, sh reason of its own saltness, and the innate property of timl to support ships of such vast burden, which are carried place, being mounted on the backs of its proud waves but acknowledge a most wise providence, in gratifying th and desire of man, which fits him for converse and traffic nations; with instruments and materials so fit for his timber, iron, hemp, pitch, the loadstone, and whatever sary for this purpose ? I cannot open the wisdom of God in this respect to better advantage than I find it doneb^ pen of Dr. More, in his Antidote against Atheism, pag<
' gation (saith he) being of so great consequence to th( ' convenience of human life, and there being both wit ar
man to attempt the seas, were he but fitted with rigl * and other advantages requisite ; when we see the * a provision made for him to this purpose, in large ti
building of his ship, a thick seawater to bear the ship' ' the magnet or loadstone for his compass ; in the stead * lei direction of the axis of the earth for his cynosura ; * serve his natural wit and courage to make use of the
that ingenite desire of knowledge and converse, and o ' ing of his own parts and happiness, stir him up to so * sign : we cannot but conclude from such a train of c;
and congruously complying together, that it was reall
THE SEAMAN IN A STORM, !
preserved at sea from immediate ruin in the dreadful tempests t befal them there ; this is a mysterious and admirable work of Gi tliat a poor ship should not be swallowed up by the furious oct •when mountains of water come rolling towards it with an hoi noise, and give it such dreadful stripes : when seas roll over it, ; so cover it with the waves, that for a time they know not whel they sink or swim ; to see it emerge out of such fatal dangers, k up its head, and mount upon the backs of those lofty seas 1 threaten immediately to overwhelm it : O how great is tlie po and care of providence in such a case ! especially if you" consi these following particulars, among many others, which threaten i on every side : and should but one of these many contingencies fal them, in the eye of reason they are lost men.
1. Of how many parts, compared together, doth a ship cons These parts indeed are fastened together vnth bolts of iron ; being in so many planks, what a wonder is it that none springs, 1 no bolt gives way, or seams open, whilst every part works with s violence, and so great a stress of weather lies upon it. Should s a thing fall out, (as it is a wonder it should not), how soon wc the ship swim within as well as without.^
2. How often are they put from their course by stress of weat and know not where they are ; not being able, for many days, to 1 any observation ? so that they must go whither winds and waves drive them : for there is no dropping anchors in the main, nor re ing the course of the seas, to which they can make no more re ance than a child to a giant. And how is it they are not das upon the rocks, or foundered in the sands, seeing the mnds si their course, and not art ? But there is a God that steers your co for you when you cannot.
3. How often are you even fallen upon rocks and shores be you see them, and are almost past fiope before you begin to^ Sometimes almost imbaved, and as much as ever vou can do to ■< ther a rock or head-land, which you discerned not until it was air too late.
I remember Dr. Johnson, in that ingenious and wonderfiil na tive of his voyage to the Sound, when he had survived two s wrecks, and was embarked in the third ship, ' We had not (s
' he) been above two or three hours at sea, but there was a sad
' traction among us in the ship, and the mariners crying, mei
' merci/ ! for we had almost fallen foul on a rock, which lay so < ' ning in the water, that we did not espv it till we were upor t I )
364 THE SEAMA'M IK A STOltM.
are lost men. And how wonderful is it they do not f ble in a storm, but as the new cords with which t\ bound Samson, and as easily would they be snapt a thread of tow, were it not for the care of providen< These, and an hundred other accidents which hourly 1 might, and would send you down to the bottom, but t permits it not so to be.
5. And yet more wonderful than all this ; how oft< suffer ships to founder and sink under you, and to 1 pieces against the rocks, and yet preserve you when means of preservation are cut off and gone ? Who like works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep ?
Tor, first, sometimes a small boat shall save them, ' ship could not : thus many of them have been wonderfull and thus the aforementioned author relates the manner derful preservation. ' Our ship (saith he) had sprung ; * ther a plank, and was ready to sink : O how the face <
was changed at this affrightment ! one was at his pra} * wringing his hands, a third shedding tears, when we ha * more salt-water. After this fit they fell to work, and ( * in such extremes) we were all busy in doing nothing, * knew not what. The master's mate, whom we sent do * out the leak, quickly returned to us with a sad counte
bling hands, gnashing of teeth, a quivering tongue, an ' spoken, signifying unto us, that the wound was incur; * was now no room for counsel, neither had we time to i
ther what was best to be done ; but we presently cast o * boat, and shot off eight or ten guns, which seemed to * tolls of a passing-bell before our death. I leaped into t * leaped short, one leg in the boat, Alterum in Charontis c\ ' were we left in the north seas, which seldom wear a sn^ * but at this time contending with the wind, swelled intc * mountains. It blew half a storm, and we were now in
sel : what credit could we give to our safety in a sma * shallop, when so stately a castle of wood, which we bi
could not defend itself against the insolency of the \ ' were many leagues from any shore, having no compass i * nor provisions to sustain us, and the night grew black u; * Nothing but a miracle could preserve us, being out oft * human helpWe fell to prayer, and our extremity * us: For in this moment of death, when we were ^
THE SEAMAN IN A STORM, I
in the great deep, and his footsteps are not known," Psal. Ixx 19. Secondly, Sometimes they shall be cast upon a rock in the s where tliev shall be preserved until some other way of delivera come ; yea, preserved strangely, God blessing a small matter provision which they saved to sustain them ; though they said
It, as the widow of Sarepta to the prophet, 1 Kings xvii. 12. ' " have but an handful of meal, and a little oil, and I am gather " two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, t
we may eat it, and die." Or if they could save nothing, ye few muscles or birds eggs, with God's blessing, have sustained th until the time of mercy come. This hath been the case of ma Think upon this you that abuse the good creatures of Gtxi drunkenness : how sweet would a cup of fresh water be to vou wl reduced to such extremity.-* Oh ! if your hearts be not harder tl the rocks you lay upon, how would such extraordinary mercies n: you into love and thankfulness .'
Thirdly, Sometimes they have been wafted to the shore safely uj the wreck *, or by making a raft of the broken pieces of the sh and torn sails, and ropes; and upon this (God knows, a poor se rity against the boisterous waves) have they ventured themselvi a sinking man (as we say) will catch at a bulrusli. Paul, and thi that suffered shipwreck with him, were thus saved ; " The cen
" rion commanded, that they which could swim, should cast the " selves first into the sea, and get to land ; and the rest, some
boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship ; and so it came " pass that they escaped all safe to land," Acts xxvii. 43, 44. Oh, the miraculous works of the Lord ! to save by such conten tible and improbable means ! Who can but with great joy see and ; knowledge the finger of God to be here .' " Lo, these are parts " his way ; but how little a portion is heard of him .^" Job xxvi. ]
1. Use qfrepreqf. If your preservation in storms at sea, be t wonderful works of Divine Providence, then divers of you deserve be sharply reproved from this truth. And I beseech Vou suffer t word of reproof meekly and penitently. I shall speak nothing reproach you ; no, it is not to reproach, but to reform you : and you hate reproof, and mock at counsel, God may shortly speak such thundering language to your consciences, as will be terrible i you to bear. I remember, it is said of St. Bernard, That whilst was seriously reproving the profaneness of one (and if I misrememl not, it was his own brother) who was a soldier, and observing h( i i I t I 1
366 THE SEAMAN IN A STORM.
you may be taught by captivities and shipwrecks whai faithful reproofs and wholesome counsel, seasonably g good. You that i-ead these lines, seriously ask your ov these following questions.
(1.) Have you not soon forgotten the works and m Lord, which your eyes have seen ? It may be, for the have been sensibly affected with your danger, and the in your deliverance, but hath it remained upon your he; these mercies have been written in the dust, which sho engraven, as in the rock, for ever. Thus it was with pie that saw as many wonders wrought for them by t finger of God, as ever did any people in the world : an( of them, even after the Reel-sea deliverance, in which '
"the sea for them, when the waves thereof roared," I with which, for the present, their hearts were greatly it is said. Psalm cvi. 12. " That they believed his w< " his praises ;" but in the next verse you read, thai easily wiped out the sense of this mercy ; for it is *' They soon forgat his works, and waited not for his doubt this was not the sin of Israel only, but is the ca you at this day. Well, God did not forget you in th tremity, though you so quickly forgot him. Think i yourselves from this guilt by saying, you do still remeral you may do so, and yet be saitl to forget his mercy : ance may be remembered by him that received it two w speculatively/ and affectingly. A speculative rememb to call to mind the story of such a danger and prese you may do, and yet God account himself forgotten, ( remember it as still to feel the powerful impressions your hearts, softening and melting them into thankfuln dependence upon the God of your salvations.
(2.) Have you not walked very unanswerably to your yea, and to the solemn engagements you made to God your distress ? I fear some of you have walked after God you by a wonderful immediate hand from the jaws of de had been delivered to do all these abominations. As it is J may be the last week or month you were reeling to and stormy sea, and staggering like drunken men ; and this staggering along the streets really drunken. O horrid j do you thus requite the Lord, who pitied you in your distre full of compassion, saved you when you cried to him .? Is lilt
TUE SEAilAN IN A STOIiM.
been better for you that you had gone down to tlie bottom th rather than to live only to treasure up more wrath against the d of wrath, and fill up your measure.
(3.) Are there not a sort of atheistical seamen, who own not pre dence at all, either in the raising of these horrid tempests, or in tli marvellous preservation in them ! but look on all as coming in a i tural way, and their escape to be only by good fortune and ehan< How wonderful a thing is it in the eyes of all considering men, tl providence should take any notice of them in a way of favour, that wickedly disown it, and so directly disoblige it? How can you possil shut your eyes against such clear light, and stopyour ears against st loud and plain language, whereby the power and goodness of G proclaims itself to you in these providences 1 Ah ! methinks y should most readily and thankfully subscribe that great truth, Pj
Ixviii. 20. " He that is our God is the God of salvation ; and ui
God the Lord belong the issues from death." But though men i signs and wonders they will not believe ; yea, though they the selves become wonders to the world by thenmiraculous deliveranc yet so brutish and stupid are they, that they will not see the ha that saves them. Take heed what you do : you set yourselves in t direct way to destruction by this, and highly provoke the Lord abandon and cast you out of the care of his providence : and if once do so, you are lost men.
(4.) And yet more vile (if more vileness can be in sin) than all th is there not a generation of wretched men among you, that fall swearing, cursing, and blaspheming God, even when he is utteri his terrible voice in the tempest, and every moment threateninor intomb them in the deep ? When you should be upon your kn( bewailing your sins, and pleading with God for mercy, (as I dou not but some of you do) to be yet more and more provokinw hi; daring him to his face ; and yet more incensing his indignation, whi is already kindled against you ; who, that hears this can chuse b admire the riches of God's patience and forbearance towards suchme The very heathen mariners in a storm called every vian upon his gc Jonah i. 5. We say, extremity will cause the worst of men to pra and compose the vainest spirit unto seriousness ; but it seems 1 you it will not. Is this the frame and temper you will meet dea in t What ! speaking the language of devils and damned spirits b fore you come among them ; hastening on your own ruin as if were too slack and lingering in its motion ? The Lord open the ey of these miserable creatures, and convince them, that they are n
S68 THE SEAMAX IX A STOllM.
God calls you to by his terrible providential storms, and by your wonderful deliverances.
1. And the first lesson you are to learn from hence the power of God. O what a manifestation of Divine p you are the men that see more than others the works and his wonders in the deep. It is one of God's ends in these wonders, " To make his mighty power known," Pi what a terrible voice doth God utter upon the seas whei are black above you, the furious winds and dreadful thu about you, the seas and waves roaring beneath you ! Is of the Lord full of majesty .? Doth it not awe your heai them tremble.'' In three things his infinite power is disco
First, In raising these terrible tempests, and that fron; weak a beginning as a thin vapour from the earth is wonderful work of God, Psal. cxxxv. 7. " He causetli
" to ascend from the ends of the earth ; he maketh 1 " the rain, he bringeth wind out of his treasures."
Secondly, In limiting and bounding their force and prodigious effects else would follow : The wind is a fierc rous creature, and would (if God did not by his provid it) destroy and overturn all, both by sea and land ; or is stiled The prince, or power of the air, were left at li cute his malice by such an instrument, not a ship shoi seas, nor a house be safe at land; as is evident enough I haste he made to overturn the house with an horrible t
Job's children, as soon as he had received a permission to do it.
And, Thirdly, \o less visible is the power of God in appeasing the stormy winds, and remanding them into Psal. cvii. 29. " He maketh the storm a calm." Yea, ] the very nick of time, when all is concluded lost. Thu Mark iv. 39. " When tlie waves beat into the ship," s now full, and the disciples cried unto the Lord, " Maste
" not that we perish ? He arose and rebuked the wind " the sea, Peace, be still ; and the wind ceased, and " great calm." Just as one would hush a child, Peace the sovereign power of God ! how should it be rev adored by all that behold it, in these marvellous effects
2. The second lesson you are taught by this doctrine is the mercy of God. Mercy is no less discovered than pow power of God is put forth to give his mercy a fair occa
I I I
TH£ SEAMAK IN A STORM. Z
Stances ! I can only hint ymir duty generally in this case ; vou m enlarge upon it, if you have hearts fit for such a blessed work. A mark particularly the multitudes of mercies that are complicated a involved in one deliverance. Observe the season when, the mam how, the means by which your salvation was wrought. It is a th( sand pities that so much of God's glory and your comfort, as any o: even the smallest circumstance may contain, should ever be lost,
3. Lastli/j And above all, See tliat ye ansTver Gods ends in yr deliverance: If those be lost, God may say concerning you, as Da^ did of Nabal, 1 Sam. xxv. 21. " Surely, in vain have I kept all t] " this fellow hath in the wilderness ; so that nothing was missed " all that pertained to him ; and he hath requited me evil for goo So here, in vain I kept this fellow upon the sea, when I suffei others to sink ; in vain have I preserved his life, liberty, and est so often bv an out-stretched arm of power and mercy to him, seei he requites me evil for good-
O let me intreat you to be careful to comply with the designs a ends of God in these your wonderful preser\ations ! If you enqu what God's ends or designs in vour deliverance are, I answer.
First, It is to lead you to repentance. " The goodness of G " (saith the apostle) leadeth thee to repentance," Rom. ii. 4. D thou not know the voice of mercy ? Why, it bespeaks thy return God. It may be thou hast spent all thy life, to this day, in the s vice of sin : Thou never redeemedst one of all thy precious hours consider thine own estate, to bewail thy sin and misery, to seek af an interest in Christ. Why, now here is a providence fallen in tl doth, as it were, take thee by the hand, and lead thee to this gr and necessary work. The end of God in raising this storm was deliver thee from the more dreadful tempest of his wrath, whii without repentance, must shortly overtake thy soul in the blackness darkness for ever. Now God hath awakened thy conscience by t fright, made it charge home thy sins upon thee, terrified thee with c mal apprehensions of death and hell. O what afair opportunitvand i vantage hath he now put into thv hand for repentance, reformatii and gaining an interest in Jesus Christ ! If this season be lost, C( science suffered again to fall into anv dead sleep, and thy heart again hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, thou mayest never hi such an opportunity for salvation opened to thee anv more.
Secondly, If this end be answered, then a farther design God hi in thy deliverance, is to engage and encourage thy soul to a dep< dence upon God in future straits and dangers. This is food
870 THE SEAMAN IN A STORM.
If your first deliverance were a deliverance withoi when you were without Christ, what encouragement depend upon him, when his end is answered in your re conversion ; and, being in Christ, are entitled to all tl
Thirdli/, and lastly, God's end in your marvellous and deliverances is to furnish you for, and to engage of praise. O how should the high praises of God be mouths ! you have seen his works and wonders in the d( is it which the Psalmist presses upon you as a becomi your mercies, in the words following my text ; " O thj ** praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonde
the children of men !"" O with what warm and enlarged affections should you thankfulness to the God of your salvation ! and say as D
am I, O Lord God, and what is my father's hou: *' shouldst do such great things for me .'*" Was such , worth the working of so many wonders to save it ? ( knowest it has been a life spent in vanity. Thy glory 1 precious in mine eyes, but my life hath been precious Many more useful, and less sinful than myself have pe am saved. O Lord, shew me the designs and gracious deliverances. Surely thei'e is some great thing to be d( else so great a salvation had not been wrought for me. saw in what a sad case my poor soul was, to be sum; diately before his judgment-seat : that if I had gone d( my guilt, I had sunk to the bottom of hell: But thou, soul, hast delivered it from the pit of corruption, that enjoy a season for salvation, and be once more entrui precious talents of time and means. O that I may not r( the grace of God in this new instrument, as I have t< in the former ! let me not live as one delivered to con abominations !
And now after all that is come upon me for my evils, my God, hast punished me so much less than my iniqu and hast given me such a deliverance as this, should I break thy commandments? Ezraix. 13, 14. "Olettl
produqe a new heart and life !''
lilt
SEAMAN'S PRESERVATIVE IN
FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
SERMON III.
Psalm cxxxix. 9, 10.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dweUin the uttermost p of the sea ; even there sJuUl thy hand lead me, and thy right he shall hold me.
XN this psalm the omnipresence and omniscience of God are subjects of the Psalmist's meditation ; and these attributes are h promiscuously discoursed, not only because of the near affinity t is betwixt their natures, but because the one is the deraonstrat of the other: It is evident God knows all things, because he fills places. Touching the omniscience of God, he discovers the infii perfection of that attribute by the particular and exact notior takes of all our ways : ver. 3. " Thou compassest my paths, i
art acquainted with all my ways." Of all our words ; vers£ " There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou know
it altogether." Yea, of all our thoughts ; and that not onl\ the instant of their conception, but long before tliey were conceivi
2. " Thou understandest my thoughts afar off," even fr eternity. Thus he displays the omniscience of God : And then make demonstration of the truth and certainty of this doctrine
God's omniscience, he proves it from his omnipresence : q. d. that fills all things cannot but know all things. Now God's prese; fills heaven, yea, and hell too, verse 8. And all parts of the ea and sea, even the remotest, verse 9, 10. And therefore no creatii nor action of any creature, can escape his cognizance. It is not h as among men ; if a malefactor be condemned by the laws of < kingdom, he may escape by flying into another ; but it is far oth wise here ; for saith the Psalmist, (personating a guilty fugitive deavouring to make an escape from the arrest of God's justic *' If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the utterm ** parts of the sea : even there sliali thv hand lead me, and thy ri;
372 THE seaman's preservative.
" If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in t
parts of the sea."* Where two things seem to offer protection.
First, The place ; the remotest part of the sea ; I are to understand the most obscure nook in the creat removed from an inspection or observation.
And, Secondly, his swift and speedy flight after the c sin, to this supposed refuge and sanctuary : It is here si a sinner should fly as swift as the light of the sun, wl ment shines from the east to the west, and so the meai
I flee with a celerity equal to the sun, or his beams o\ breaking forth in the morning, do in an instant enli^ motest parts of the hemisphere : Could I as swiftly fle obscure, remote, solitary place in all the world. Thu security is supposed.
2. This supposed security and encouragement is utter " Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right-ha
me."" "f The leading hand of God is not here to bi as a directing or guiding hand, to shew the fugitive si of his escape; but contrarily, " Thy hand shall le keeper leads his prisoner back to the place of custody he endeavoured to escape. And the following clause
Thy right hand shall hold,"" or detain me, viz. in s So that the sum of all is this :
Doct. That the whole zvorld affords no place of seer t
Jhr a sinner to escape the observing' eye and ri of God. Jonah fled from the Lord to Tarshish ; but could No, the Lord sent a storm after him, which brought 1 live, Jonah i. 3, 4. We read, Isa. xxix. 15. of such ' " to hide their counsels from the Lord," i. e. They ] and study to conceal their wicked designs, to sin M^ith g] and security. But what can possibly be a covering from sight all things are naked and manifest .'' Where can a from him whose presence fills heaven and earth .'* Jer. x scripture gives full proof to this great truth. It is cle XV. 3. " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, behi
" and the good." And again, Job xxxiv. 21, 22. " F '* upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his going *' darkness, nor shadow of death where the workers o
hide themselves." Whoever goes about to conceal
IN FOREIGN' COrXTUIES.
*" For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the wh(
eartli,"" 2 Chron. xvi. 9Now in the handhng of this point I purpose to shew you, 1. That men are often induced to sin upon hopes of secresy a concealment.
2. Tliat to sin upon these encouragements, strongly argues th^ natural atheism : They think they are safe if men know it not ; tli reckon not upon God's discovery of them.
3. That these encouragements to sin are vain things, it being ii possible any place can hide a sinner from God ; and how it appei that the eye of God is, and must needs be upon us, and our actioi wherever we are, and iiow closely soever we endeavour to hide thei And then apply it
First, Men are often induced to commit sin upon the hopes secresy and concealment. Sin (especially some sorts of sin) carry much shame and odium in them, that it restrains men from the op practice of them ; but if Satan can persuade them they shall ne\ be divulged to their reproach, they will venture upon them. S that text, *' The eve of the adulterer waiteth for the twiUght, sayir
no eye shall see me, and disguiseth hisface,^ Job xxiv. 1.5. R( koning himself secure if he can carry his wickedness under a vail darkness, not caring what wickedness he doth, so he may do it u discerned : It is not the acting of sin, but the discovery of it that pi; them into terrors. So it is added with respect both to the adulter and the thief, ver. 1 7. " The morning is to them as the shadow " death, if one know tliem ; they are in the terrors of the shadow
" death," i. e. If a man, especiallv a man in authority, a magistra meet them, it is as if the image of death passed before tiiem in a visio
So those idolaters, Ezek. viii. 12, '• Son of man, hast thou seen wh " the ancients of the house of Israel do in tiie dark^ every man " the house of his imagery ^ For they say, the Lord seeth it no They conclude all is well, if nothing appear. This encourageme of secresy is the great argument by which Satan prevails with m( to commit any sin that hath shame or danger attending it : B his promises of concealment are usually made good, as his promis Hpof great wealth are to witches. This is the encouragemtet. ^■^ Secondli/, Next I will make e^'ident to you, that to sin upon th encouragement argues atheism in him that commits it. This is plai for. did men believe the omnipresence and omniscience of God, sui an encouragement to sin as secresy could have no force with thei Thus, when the ancients of Israel practised their idolatry in the dar
574 THE SEAMAK S f RESF.llVATlVE or, " his heart been secretly enticed, he should have d< " that is above." Every one that is enticed to sin up ragement ofsecresy, doth so far deny the God that is ah a man did really believe there is a God that sees him,
" ai'c as flames of fire," Rev. i, 14. " To whom the " the light are both alike," Psal. cxxxix. 12. it were should be so terrified at the discovery of a creature, and wholly unconcerned at the discovery of God : II that the observation of the great God should not so them, as the observation of a little child.
Thus we find the inward thoughts of men's hearts cc discovered by their bold attempts upon secret sins, I
" Wo to them that seek deep to hide their coimsel ft " and their works are in the dark ; and they say, wh(
" who knoweth us ?^'' They think if their works are sh a vail of darkness, they are safe enough ; if they can c of an earthly god (a magistrate) they shall never be i any other bar. We have another sad instance of the in Psal. Ixxiii. 11. " And they say, how doth God k
there knowledge in the Most High .''" If men die themselves there is no God, or (which is all one) that themselves, one that cannot see in darkness, they coulc rage themselves as they do, to sin upon such a foolisl
Thirdly, But my proper business in this place, is these encouragements to sin are vain things : That no s himself from the eye of God. This is plain both from reason.
The scripture speaks full home to this truth. Prov, " ways of a man are before the Lord, and he pondereth To ponder or weigh our ])aths is more than simply to o them. He not only:sees the action, but puts it into with every circumstance belonging to it, and tries how i gredient in the action weighs, and what it comes to. hath not only an ujiiversal inspection upon every action critical inspection into it also. " The Lord is a God " and by him actions are weighed," 1 Sam. ii. 3. So Jt " Thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood " thy adulteries and thy neighings, the lewdness of tl " and abominations ; q. d. Thou forgettest there is heavens that beheld thee, and didst verily believe all wa secret fi*om man. In this falsehood or cheat put upon th
IN rORriGN' COUNTRtES. t
23. Thus the scripture speaks roundly and fully to tlie point in ha But because the atheism of the world is so great, and it is a h thing to convince men of this great truth, so as to overawe them fi any secret sin by it ; I will, by rational arguments, demonstrate truth to every man's conscience, and give you plain and full evidei that how secretly soever men carry their sinful designs, yet the L must needs be priw to them ; and it is impossible they should esc his cognizance. '*
1. For, First, He that formed all cannot but know all : the wc man cannot be supposed to be ignorant of any part of his own wc Now God is the former of all things ; every place and every per he hath made : where then shall the workers of iniquity hide th( selves ? You have the folly of sinners, in thinking to conceal th( selves from the eye of God, convinced and reproved by this very gunient, Isa. xxxix. 15, 16. " Woe unto them that seek deep to h *' their counsels from the Lord, and their works are in the dark: i
they say, who seeth us ? And who knoweth us ? Surely, y *' turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the pott " clay : for, shall the work say to him that made it, he made me n " Or, shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, he hath
" understanding ?"" q. d. Think ye by deejj-laid designs, by the vantage of darkness, by the moulding and new-moulding your era designs in your heads, as the clay is moulded now unto this, then i tlie shape by the potter's hand, to hide it from me ? O brutish ci lures, and without understanding ! am not I the God that forn you .'' And can it be supposed I should not know the most sec thoughts, plots, and designs of mine own creatures, v.ho can contrive a design, nor conceive a thought with me ? How abst is this ? Find out a place which God made not, or a creature wh he formed not ; and then your pretences to that creature's conct nient from God in such a place, may have some colour : and this gument is again urged to convince the brutish atlieist, Psal. xciv y, 10. " Understand, ye brutish among the people, and ye fools, wl " will you be wise "f He that planted the ear, shall he not het " He that formed the eye, shall he not see ? He that chasten* " the heathen, shall not he correct ? He that teacheth man knc " ledge, sliall not he know ? The Lord knoweth the thoughts *' man, that they are vanity ^ so that it is the vainest of all van in the world, to think of hiding your sins from the Lord.
2. He that sustains all cannot but know and discern all. Y that seek to hide counsel from the Lord, know ve not. " That in h
S76 THE seaman's PRESERVATtVE.
thoughts which you had no power to conceive, but fror ercise but common reason in the case, and it will hiss at designs.
3. He that governs all can be ignorant of nothing. perpetual influence of providence, swaying and govei creatures, and all their actions ; else the very ligamer would crack, and the world break up and disband. vidence extends itself to the least and lowest of creatui actions, Luke xii. 6. a sparrow falls not to the ^ out it. "The great God hath something to do abc
minute * and inconsiderable things ;" yea, the mos and uncertain things, as is the disposal of a lot, Prov. x indeed this omniscience of God is that which is necessar versa! government. How shall he rule that person, or
he knows not ? Indeed earthly governors may do necessary they have a personal immediate cognizance and person in their dominions : it is enough that they be mediately governed by them ; but it is not so with G cessary his eye should immediately see all the parts of He could not rule the world, if he were not an omi
Psal. Ixvi. 7. " He ruleth by his power for ever ; his
the nations ; let not the rebellious exalt themselves.' 4. He that hath set a spy to observe and note wha doth, cannot but know his actions, how secret soever th so it is here ; God sends a spy with you, to observe am most secret actions and thoughts, in every place, I mc consciences, from whose observation none of your way; be exempt. The sense of this made the heathen say ansurus te sine teste time. When thou art attempting a s thyself without any other witness ; conscience is privy secret designs and thoughts ; 1 Kings ii. 44. " Thou k ** wickedness which thine heart (i. e. thy conscience) and if conscience know all, God must needs see and knc apostle reasons, from the lesser to the greater, 1 Join
*' our heart condemn us, (which is there put for consc
greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things." I a man knows the things of a man, much more he tha spirit, and endowed man with it.
5. He that knows things more secret and unsearchf most secret actions can be, must needs know them hov thev be. Now there are many thiners more close and se lilt
IN FOREIGN COUNTEIES. IT
try the reins C i. e. The most obscure, inward and deep secre lodged in the heart ; nay, which is more, he not only knows oi thoughts when they are formed and conceived in the heart, b long before their conception ; Psal. cxxxix. 2. " Thou knowest u
" thoughts afar off." Divines generally interpret it from etemit; even so long before they were actually thought, he foreknew eve thought we should think ; and what can l)e imagined more seci and undiscernible, than a future thought.
Now if this be known to him, how much more are our thougl formed into projects and designs, and these executed by exterr actions? O deceive not yourselves with hopes of secresy ! Nolhi can be a secret to him that knows the counsels of all hearts.
6. He that providentially brings to light the most secret cont vances of men, and publishes them before all Israel, and before t sun, must needs see them, and know them. How closely had Ach covered his wickedness : He never suspected a discovery, yet G ^ brought it to light. With how much contrivance was the i of David covered ! yet God discovered it : " Thou didst this thi ** secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and beft the sun,** 2 Sam. xii. 12. Histories abound with examples of Go bringing to light murders, so secretly committed, that it was irap^ sible they should ever be revealed in this world, without a mlra of providence ; and yet so they have Jjeen brought to light. Bessi having committed such a murder, fancied the swallows that W( chattering in the chimney had said, Bessus killed a man, a thereupon confessed the fact. How secure were the contrivers the popish powder-plot, that Catholic villany, in a double sei having sworn all their accomplices to secresy, and managed t whole design so closely that Guy Faux, upon the discovery of said, The devil must needs be the the discoverer of it. How easy W( it to expatiate upon this theme.'' But I will not be tiresome instances : all ages are the witnesses of this truth. Who can tli deny or question that great or confessed truth, Dan. ii. 28. " Th( " is a God in heaven that reveals secrets :" and if he reveals them, must needs know them.
7. He that will judge all secrets, cannot but know them. " Ni
" God will judge the secrets of men in that great day,'^ Rom. ii, j " God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thir " whether it be good, or whether it be evil," Eccl xii. iilt. T Judge of the whole earth will not judge at random; his judgme will be infallible, because his omniscience is so. " His eyes are up
378 THE seaman's PKESERVATlvr,
The uses follow in these inferences.
1. Inference i If this be so, then time, place, and oppo much soever they seem to promise secresy and conceali never further a temptation to sin.
Suppose all circumstances concurring, so that in the you seem secured from the shameful consequences of sin ; ^ the consideration of this truth should sufficiently detei
"wicked purpose; Prov. v. 20. "And why wilt thou,
" ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the
stranger .'' For the ways of a man are before the eyes " and he pondereth all his goings." There be four strengthen temptations to sin, and particularly the sin o upon seamen. i^iy,j^. The absence of lawful remedies. *S presence of alluring objects. Thirdly, The instigation amples. Fourthly, And the hopes of concealment, beinj their acquaintance : so that their sins, in probability, si grace them. This last circumstance is not the least : hath it prevailed upon ! but I hope you will never yielc tation, whose heart and strength are broken by this coi the eye of God upon you. A chaste woman being oni folly, told him that solicited her, she could never yield 1 until he could find a place where God should not see.