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
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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
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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
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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 ^
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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(
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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
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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
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S68 THE SEAMAX IX A STOllM.
■which 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
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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 !''
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THS
SEAMAN'S PRESERVATIVE IN
FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
8i-x-«<; 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
▼erse 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
•which 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.
Nay, my friends, it should do more than restrain you i acts of sin ; it should powerfully curb the very thou^ motions of sin in your hearts. That was the use hoi)
this truth. Job xxxi. 1. " I have made a covenant wi
*' why then should I think upon a maid ? Doth h(
*' ways, and count all my steps ?" Suppose you should carry your wickedness so close earth should know it ; yet the Lord sees it, and will judgmeilt, and your own conscience is privy to it. I ]
me, is it not a great comfort to a malefactor, that he a so closely, that none but the judge, and one authentic
(whose testimony is as good as a thousand) beheld it ? the case of all secret sinners. But, to press home 1 necessary truth more particularly, I beseech you to C(
1. God doth not only behold you, but beholds you tion and abhorrence in your ways of iniquity : It is a sig him to the heart. Gen. vi. 5, 6. " And the Lord sa
" ness of man was great on the earth, and that every
*' the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually
IN FOREIGN eOUNTRIES. 3
to see your sinful hearts and courses. Nothing can be so contrs
to the pure and holy nature of God as this is : this made the p phet admire how his patience could endure such a sight, Heb. i. *' Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not Ic " upon iniquity ; -wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal tr " cherously ?"' &c. As if he should say, Lord, how canst thou hold thyself affronted by vile creatures, and hold thy hands fr avenging it ? O the stupendous patience of God i
2. It doth not onlv grieve him to the heart, but it puts his patiei to the greatest trial and exercise in beholding it : therefore he is s
" to endure with much long-suffering," Rom. ix. 22. It doth, it were, create a conflict betwixt his patience and justice: he is
provoked by your sin, that he expresses it as a difficulty to bear Amos ii. 13. " I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed tha
" full of sheaves :"' burdened till the axle-tree of infinite patience readv to crack under the weight.
Nay, Thirdly/, He doth not only see your evils, but he regisl and records them, in order to a day of reckoning with you for
together, except ye repent ; Deut. xxxii. 34. " Is not this laid
" in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures ?"" A rrn phor taken from the clerk of the assize, who seals up the bag indictments against the time of trial. You think if you can bl the eves of men, all is well, vou shall hear no more of it : ah ! 1
it is sealed up among God^s treasures; i. e. the things he reco and reserves for the day of account.
4. God doth not only see you, but he will also one day make 3 see yourselves and vour ways, and that with horror and conster tion. You think vou shall taste nothing but the sweet and pleasi
of sin ; but how are you deceived .'' The days are coming when < that is now pleasant, shall be turned into wormwood and gall. \ will not see the evil of it ; and because you see it not, you think G
doth not. " These things (saith God) hast ihou done, and I k
" silence, and thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an om " thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order bef " thine eyes,'" Psal. 1. 21. God sees them now, and he will m; you see them too, by opening your eyes in this world graciously,
in that to come judiciall}'.
5. God doth not only see vour ways, but he will make all world see them too : For, " there is nothing hid that shall not " revealed, nor covered, that shall not be made known," Matth, 26. " There is a day when God will make manifest the hide
^^^ THE seaman's PHESERVATIVE
can hide you from the eye of God. He sees all your ^ sees them with abhorrence; the sight of them is the g cise of his patience. His sight of them is not a transier he sees and records your evils; they are sealed up am sures : He sees, and will make you see them too with ] he shall set them in order before you : he sees them, a angels and men see them in the great day. O then, cresy any more encourage you to sin !
2. Inference. What prodigious sinners must they be, covert from their sin in darkness, but with an impudent yea, glory m their shame; who are not ashamed to sin
a bare face, and a whore's forehead .? These are sinnei magnitude. "They declare their sin as Sodom, and Isa. m. 9. It is as natural to man to endeavour to hi( Adam, and you see from the text, guilty sinners fain were possible, fly to any obscure corner from the observ, and men; and it is a mercy God hath planted such an shame is, in the soul of man, to be a bridle to restrain hi lusts. But yet there is a generation of monstrous sinne so far unmanned themselves, « That they are not at
« when they commit abominations, neither can they VI. 15. If there be any remains of shame left in theui
cise it upon a wrong object : they are ashamed of that ^ be to their glory, and glory in that which is their shami impudence to their sin, and blush not to proclaim that \ study to conceal.
Such a vile temper as this shews a man even ripe foi hath even filled up his measure, and is come to the very point and top of wickedness. There be some men arrlv,
degree of holiness, that all that converse with them judg. ripe for heaven : they speak the dialect, and have the of heaven upon them. Others are come to such a prodif of impiety, that understanding men cannot but conclul nigh unto damnation ; they speak the very languao-e, ai very scent of hell upon them. Such are they that opt their sm as Scdom, and glory in their shame.
Thus we see some drunkards will glory in their strent down wine and strong drink, and can boast of the num' cups : some adulterers can glory in their acts of wickedn( fering themselves to damn their own souls, but labourii and corrupt as many as they can by their filthy tono-ues
I « I • » •I.". .
IN FOUEIGX COITKTniES. 5
S. Inference. If tlie eye of God searches every obscure comer the world, to behold the evil that is committed there, then certair
the eye of God cannot but look into every secret place in the woi
to see the good that is done there. " The eyes of the Lord are
«« even,- place, beholding the evil and the good," Prov. xv. 3. T good as well as the evil ; yea, he beholds with dehght the good dc in secret.
As some sinners seek corners to act their wickedness in, and cam
satisfy themselves to commit sin in the light, (for, as our Savic
saith,' John iii. 20. « He that doth evil hateth the light ;") so, on 1 contrary, a truly godly man seeks comers to pray in, to meditate and to examine his own heart in, and thinks these duties of goc ness can never be managed with too great a privacy ; not that he in the least ashamed of his duty; no, that is not the reason, but is afraid of hypocrisv, when duties lie too open, and exposed to 1 eyes of men. A sinner takes his full liberty to vent his corruptic when he can do it in secret ; and a saint takes his full liberty to V{ and exercise his graces, when no eye but the eye of God sees hi " Thou, when thou prayest (saith our Saviour) enter into thy clo " and shut thv door, and pray to thy Father which is in secret, a
*' thv Father (which seeth in secret) shall reward thee openly." how much better is it, both as to your present comfort and futi
account, to get into a comer to pray, than to whore and drin To pour out your souls to God graciously, than to pour out yc
lusts against God so \*-ickedly ? How contrary are the principles grace and corruption ? The studv of sinners is to hide their evils fr(
the eyes of men : the study of a saint is to hide his duties from 1 eyes of men : The sinner would not have the world suspect what hath been about ; nor would the saint have all the world know wl
he hath been about. The way of an adulterer is as the " way of
" eagle in the air, or as a serpent upon a rock ;" i. e. a secret w; where they leave no prints or tracts behind them. " So is the ^v
" of an adulterous woman; she eateth and wipeth her mouth, a
" saith, I have done no wickedness," Prov. xxx. 19, 20. By wipi the mouth is there meant preventing all suspicion ; suffering no si of the action to remain upon them : So, contrarily, a gracious pen that hath been with God in secret prayer, or fasting, when his di is ended, he labours to avoid all ostentations. And therefore y have the caution from Christ, Matth. vi. 17, 18. " But thou, wl
" thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face ! that thou app *' not unto nipn tn fast-, hut iintrt tViv fiitViAr uliir-Vi is: in sprrpf " T
I t I 1
882 THE seaman's PllESEUVATIVE
prudent and humble concealment. * « Religion dot!
open, as we say :" As sinners have their secret pleasure; waters which are sweet to them ; so the saints have th hghts in God, their hidden rnanna^ which no man knov
eateth of it. And as the eye of God vindictively beh so It delightfully beholds the other ; and so you find it, " O my dove, (saith Christ to the church) that art in " the rocks, in the secret places of the stairs : Let me s " tenance, let me hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy v^ " countenance comely." Let this encourage you to si let not others find more pleasure in secret lusts, than y God and secret duties.
4. Infere7ice. Doth the eye of God see all the evil am that is committed in all the secret corners of the world ! rable then is the patience of God towards the world ! V gine how much wickedness is secretly practised in a town day .? Or if all the villanies that are perpetrated in a sm rence in one day were known to us, we should admire tl not make us like Sodom, for judgment and desolatio next day. What then are the innumerable swarms of si
as the sands upon the sea-shore, from ail the parts and c earth ! Alas, there is not the ten thousandth part of the of wickednesses committed in the world, that ever come
or ear ; and if it did, we cannot estimate the evil of sin, a nor feel with that resentment the burden of it, as he dc the long-suffering God forbears it with infinite patience, power was not more discovered in making the world, forbearing to destroy it again for the wickedness that is the world stands for the church's sake that is in it. " " not that the Lord of hosts had left us a small remn; " been as Sodom, we had been like unto Gomorrha," Isa. is also an elect remnant to be called and gathered by th of it in their several generations : and when that number
conriplished, God will set fire to the four quarters of it, lie in white ashes ; till then the long-suffering of God v
5. Inference. If God sees all the secret wickedness mitted in every corner of the world; how clear is it th{ judgment to come, and that this judgment will be exad
That there is a judgment to come, is by this manifes that there is abundance of sin committed in the world, y comes to liffht here, nor never will in this wnrlf^ Tt i«
IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. l
as it were, in their foreheads, every one sees them ; but others i
low after, are not discovered till the day of the revelation of secrets of all hearts, and then that which is now done in closets si
be proclaimed as upon house-tops : Though they were never pul shame for their sins, in the places where they committed them, God will shame them before men and angels. This is the day judge secrets, 1 Cor. iv. 5.
And, as it is certain there will be such a judgment, so it is CcTt this judgment will be exact ; for the judge of all hath seen t Whatever he charges any man with, hath been acted before his fa
Psal. xc. 8. " Thou settest our secret sins in the light of thy coi " tenance." Here can be no mistake, the omnipotent God i judge for what he hath seen; " For his eyes are upon the wavj
*' man, and he seeth all his goings, for he will not lay upon n " more than right, that he should enter into judgment with Go The meaning is, he cannot mistake in his judgment being omniscie and having seen all the ways of man ; so that there can be no p offered by any man for the reverse of his sentence.
O then let us be exact and careful, as well in our secret as in < public actions ; for God shall bring every work in judgment, w every secret tiling, whether it be good, or whether it be evil, E<
xii. ult.
6. Inference. Lastly, if the eye of God be in every place upon and all our actions ; then let those whose condition of life hath S( them out of the eyes and observations of their parents and mast
keep the sense of God's eye upon their hearts, as ever they woi escape sin and ruin.
It is no small advantage to young unprincipled persons, to 1 under the discipline of pious ana careful governors ; buttit often ft out, that they are early transplanted into another soil, sent ii foreign countries in order to their education or employment ; and often are there corrupted and debauched by the evil examples of i places where they reside; they learn another language, or dr another trade than what their parents or masters designed them f
But if the, sense of this great truth might accompany them where-e they are, O what a sovereign antidote might it prove against th deadly poisons of temptations I This alone would be a suffieient p servative. If our children and servants have but the awful sens*
God's eye upon them, we may turn them loose into the wide wo without fear.
[ If Providence shall dirppt thUfJispmircA tr» vr«iir Imnrlo niTT Viaa<
S84 THE seaman's pkeservative, &c.
Firsts The infecting, catching nature of sin. No ph infectious and insinuating than sin is. Many are the w stratagems, and baits, Satan lays to draw you into sin,
Secondly^ The proneness that is in your own nature the offers and temptations that you are tried with ; it : wonder if you escape, as that one that Hves in a pest4 remain healthy ; or that dry tinder should not catch, wht of sparks fly about, and light upon it. Or,
Thirdly, The absence of all those means by which you ly been preserved from sin. You are now without the c God, the family duties, the admonitions, counsels, exi
observations of your pai'ents, masters, and friends : All been of great use to keep you from sin, and repress th youth. Or, Lastly,
Fourthly^ The manifold furtherance or temptations wh afford; Childhood and youth are vanity. Inconsideraten^ injudiciousness, and the want of experience, do all cast very snare. See how the Holy Ghost hath signified tl persons at your age, in Prov. vii. 7.
All these things do greatly endanger you. And if a them together, prevail to the vitiating and corrupting o what a train of sad consequences will follow upon it ! 1
1. The great God will be dishonoured and reproached I that God whose distinguishing mercies are now before yo should be admired by you ; that caused you to spring u] soil, and not from idolaters in a land of darkness.
2. Conscience will be wounded and polluted with though, at present, you feel not the remorse and gnawir now you are preparing for it. The sins of youth are cor sorrows of old age. Job xiii. 26.
3. The hearts of your friends, if godly, will be grieved troubled to find their expectations and hopes disappoint
those prayers for you, and counsels bestowed on you nothing. If an unequal match by Esau was such a g to Isaac and Rebecca, what will profaneness and unclea your parents ? Gen. xxvi. 34.
4. The servicea])leness and comfort of your whole life probability, be destroyed by the corruption of your you soms be withered, and buds nipt, what fruit can be ex] conclude,
I I I I » « «
THE SUCCSSSF1TL SEAMAN. SI
ration of this point you have now been reading. For if God shall i that truth in your hearts by faith, then,
Firsts Instead of running with others into the same excess of ri( vou will keep yourselves pure and unspotted in an unclean defili world. You will answer all temptations to sin, as Joseph did, G<
xxxix. 9. " How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God
Secondly^ Instead of joining with others in sin, you will mou
for the sins of others. You will say with David, Psal. cxx. 5. " W *' is me, that I sojourn in Meshec, that I dwell in the tents of E
" dar ["^ Your soul, like Lot's, will be vexed from day to day wi the filthy conversations of the wicked, 2 Pet. i. IT, 18.
Thirdly, Instead of returning to your country with a wound name and conscience, you vnW return full of inward comfort ai peace, and to the joy of all your friends and relations.
Fourthly, To conclude, You will give fair encouragements to t expectations of all that know you, of becoming useful instruments the glory of God, and benefit of the world in your generation, therefore beg of God that this truth may be deeply engraven up vour hearts.
SUCCESSFUL SEAMAN.
SERMON IV IB Dect. viii. 17, 18.
And thou say in thine heart, My power, and the might of my hati
hath gotten me this wealth ; but th<yu shalt revicmber the Lot God ; for he it is that giveth thee poicer to get wealth.
X HIS context contains a necessary and very seasonable caution l tlie Israelites, who were now passing out of the wilderness straits inl the rich and fruitful land of Canaan, which abounded with all earth] blessings and comforts. Now, when the Lord was about to gii them possession of this good land, he first gives them some wholeson caveats to prevent the abuse of thpsp mprrifws TTp tnpw linw n^