III. To conclude with our text, that they are strictly and properly divine
judgments; _because he was wroth_.
Ever since the earth began, earthquakes have been look'd on as
extraordinary appearances, among the prodigies of nature, and executioners
of divine justice. In the case of _Korah_, _the earth opened her mouth and
swallowed them up; and their houses, and all the men that pertained unto
them; and all their goods_.
In the miraculous victory obtain'd by _Jonathan_, and his armor-bearer,
over the army of the _Philistines_, I. _Sam._ xiv. There was a panic
terror infus'd into the _Philistines_, and an _earthquake_: it is call'd
_a very great trembling of God_. What the heathen attributed to _Pan_, an
imaginary deity of their own making: the _Hebrews_ rightly refer'd to the
true cause, the first, and supreme.
In the new testament, at our Saviour's death, there was a great
earthquake, which was altogether miraculous; as much as the eclipse of the
sun then. The elements might well sympathize with the God of nature. _The
sun was darkened, the vail of the temple was rent in twain; the earth did
quake, the rocks rent._
Again, at his resurrection, _Matt._ xxviii. 2. _There was a great
earthquake. The angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and rolled back
the stone from the door, and sat upon it._
_And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men._
_Matt._ xxvii. 54. _When the centurion, and they that were with him,
watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, they feared greatly._ See the
consequence of it in one place; and thus in another:
_Acts_ iv. 31. _The Apostles_, in the infant church, _when praying, the
place was shaken, where they were assembled together: and they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost_. The heathen centurion _feared_ upon the
earthquake: The christians praying, were _filled with the Holy Ghost_.
_Acts_ xvi. 26. When _Paul_ and _Silas_ were in prison. _At mid-night when
they pray'd, and sang hymns to God, suddenly there was a great earthquake;
so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the
doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed._
Observe the consequence it had upon the gaoler; _He called for a light,
and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?_
The gaol trembled; and the gaoler trembled, as is observed by a writer on
this head, an earthquake could _soften_ his _hard_ heart, and _open_ what
he had _lock'd_. It awaken'd him out of his spiritual slumber, as well as
his natural sleep, and made his conscience, as well as the foundations of
the prison, to quake. A bad conscience is _as a troubled sea, that cannot
rest, but casteth up mire, and clay_. The gaoler perceiv'd the celestial
warning, and made a proper use of it.
There are many circumstances in the nature of earthquakes, which render
them peculiarly proper to be the instruments in God's hand, to give
warning to a people, to amend their ways.
The _suddenness_ is one. We saw, not long ago, what an effect was produced
by a solar eclipse, tho' it was expected long before. We had the
prediction, and calculations about it in all our almanacs; yet there was
an universal seriousness that followed it. All that morning, we could walk
the street, without hearing an oath, and the churches were full, in time
of prayer. But the _suddenness_ of an earthquake that comes at an instant,
unthought of, without warning, that seems to bring unavoidable death along
with it; is able to touch an adamantin heart. To see death stalking o'er a
great city, ready to sweep us all away, in an instantaneous ruin, without
a single moment to recollect our thoughts; this is fear without remedy;
this is far beyond battle and pestilence. The lightning and thunderbolt,
_the arrow that flieth by day_, may suddenly take off an object or two,
and leave no space for repentance: but what horror can equal that, when
above a million of people are liable to be buried, in one common grave!
Another consideration that inhances the dread of earthquakes, is the
_unavoidableness_ of the calamity. Famine, and war, and rebellion, and
pestilence we may run from, the disease among the cattle, and locusts, and
the like stripes of angry heaven, we may have some chance to escape: but
no means, no precaution, no remedy, no prudence can screen us, from so
universal a desolation as this: 'tis as the presence of God. Whither then
can we go to hide ourselves? Must we call upon the rocks and mountains,
to cover, and shelter us from the divine wrath! _And they shall go into
the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the_
Lord, _and for the glory of his majesty; when he ariseth to shake terribly
the earth_. Alas, those are the very instruments he employs for our
destruction; to be our tombstones!
This _unusual_ kind of death too, strikes us with horror; to be buried
alive. The earth, the common mother of us all, and the common grave; to
eat up her offspring alive; crouds all the images of amazement together,
that can enter into the heart of man.
The greater the terror accompanying earthquakes, the greater a blessing
is our deliverance from the danger of it! What can equal God's power and
judgment but his mercy? Consider the wonderful consequence; that the whole
city of _London_ should so sensibly be shaken, and yet no one inhabited
house to fall; nor one person kill'd. Amazing instance of power, and
goodness, in our preservation! And this not only once, but the second time
also; tho' evidently stronger was the concussion. So strong that almost
every person was throughly persuaded, that some part, at least, of their
houses, was falling down. Can we help admiring, that judgment should be
so temper'd with mercy! Do we look only at the second causes with our
unbelievers; and sport away the divine presence, as if it was an ordinary
occurrence of every day? They want to see a miracle. Nought can affect
them, but a direct, supernatural agency.
I answer, behold a visible, and notorious miracle; plainly obvious, and
before all their senses. For can there be a greater miracle, can any thing
be more directly the finger of God than this, which we ourselves saw with
our eyes; that befell the whole city of _London_.
We know the nature of the building of _London_ houses; which sometimes
fall of themselves, without shaking. Wonderful then is it to be thought,
and a miracle indeed, that every house in this vast city, should twice be
agitated, and rocked to and fro; and not one fall, nor one person receive
any damage.
In vain will the philosophers seek for a solution of this problem, in
natural causes only. By their chymical experiments, they make some little
mimic imitations of tremors and fumes, and explosions. So by gun-powder,
we ape the regal voice of thunder. But where is the discretionary act of
mercy, and benignity, that separates between the vengeful and kind? These
second causes act according to their material nature, like the roaring
waves of the ocean, that flow in, and overwhelm every thing, where a
breach is made. They can observe no distinction between the lands of a
righteous man, and of a sinner: they cannot stop at the breach, and gather
themselves on an heap, and not enter in at all, as the waters of _Jordan_
did.
But in the case before us, the hand of the Lord, that stayed the flowing
of the waters, that quelled the raging of the sea, and its proud waves;
sets bounds to the trembling of the earth. Hither shall its vibrations go,
and no further. When alas, if it went but one inch further (in comparison)
a total ruin must unavoidably follow.
Consider this particular, when apply'd to all the buildings in this
immense city: and wonder and adore, that almighty providence, which
overlook'd us, and prescrib'd the limits; so narrow, so precise; which
sav'd us from universal havoc!
II. Did we escape; how much happier are we, than the millions that have
perished by the like calamity? _Josephus_ the famous _Jewish_ historian
records, that about 29 years before our Saviour's birth, there happened
such an earthquake in the country of _Judea_, that 30,000 men perished.
In the fifth year of the reign of _Tiberius_, so dreadful an earthquake
happened in _Asia minor_, that no less than 13 cities were destroy'd in
one night; many of them great, and Royal: _Sardis_ in particular, said to
be second to _Babylon_.
In _A. D._ 66. Another earthquake happen'd there, which destroy'd
_Laodicea_, _Hierapolis_, and _Colossus_.
_A. D._ 79. Three cities in _Cyprus_ were overthrown.
_A. D._ 114. The city of _Antioch_ suffered extremely; whilst the emperor
_Trajan_ was in it. And in the 7th year of that emperor, nine several
cities were destroy'd in _Asia_, _Greece_, and _Calabria_.
To come nearer home, and our own times: In 1169, _Catania_ in _Sicily_ was
destroyed, and 15,000 people killed.
1692, The whole city destroy'd and 18000 Inhabitants.
1456, At _Naples_ 40,000 perished by an earthquake.
1531, In the city of _Lisbon_, 1400 houses were overthrown there, besides
many damaged.
We know the miserable and deplorable catastrophe of _Port-Royal_,
in _Jamaica_; which fell out in our own days. My blood shudders at
the relation of it. And not many months ago, the populous _Lima_ in
_America_, was wholly swallowed up.
Have we not reason then to fear, for ourselves? 'Tis true, we have
hitherto escaped. But can we tell how soon God shall let loose the
avenging power of another; which may come, for ought we know, while we are
speaking of it. And if it must come, happy may it be for us, that it finds
us in this place, and so doing.
III. And this brings us, to consider the uses of these admonitions; and to
show, that they are the effects of the divine anger. _For the earth shook
and trembled_, says the holy psalmist, _the foundation of the hills moved
and were shaken; because he was wroth_.
And here we cannot possibly have a stronger and more convincing evidence,
of these convulsions of nature, being the immediate finger of God, than
this single consideration. Let us but reflect on what has been said, in
short; that these visitations only happen to great and populous cities, to
great and eminent ports, and maritime _emporiums_ flourishing in trade,
riches, and luxury.
We hear not of barren desarts, uninhabited wildernesses, wide heaths, and
downs, rocky cliffs, and beaches of the sea, to be the usual subject of
earthquakes: but of towns and cities. Not so much of little villages, but
of those immense collections of people. God does not give his warnings
to birds, and beasts of the forest; to flocks of sheep; that punctually
execute the respective offices he has enjoined them: but to us, the lords
of the creation; to whom he has given reason, sense, and faculties, to
reflect, and judge of things, of our own actions, as well as his; of _his_
doings, toward the children of men.
We observed before, a plain and notorious proof of God's hand in these
judgments; that he cou'd move a whole city without throwing down a house.
And this is most assuredly a second proof; that he visits _only_ great
cities, with these judgments. And we must conclude this to be as strong an
argument of a divine interposition in these affairs, as any mathematical
demonstration.
Some free-thinkers, or free-livers, when they find, they cannot set aside
this reasoning, shelter themselves, with the history of God's converse
with _Abraham_; about the cities of _Sodom_ and _Gomorrha_; assuring
themselves, there is no danger. For tho' they can't pretend to be the
meritorious people; yet they think God's mercy will be as signal to us, as
heretofore: and that we have among us, at least ten righteous persons, to
save the rest.
But vain are such hopes: God will say to them, as heretofore to the
_Jews_: _If I bring my great judgments upon the earth, as I live saith the
Lord, tho'_ Noah, Daniel, _and_ Job _were there; they should save neither
sons, nor daughters, but their own souls only_.
God can, if he pleases, by very extraordinary means, preserve such as
he thinks fit. But in general judgments, the righteous must undergo one
common fate, with the wicked. God's mercy will be shown to them after this
life, to make the superabundant amends.
But this is a solid lesson to us, of the necessity of a future life. We
may as well banish God out of the earth, as to deny his attributes of
power, and goodness, and justice, and the like. And these will insure us
of a future state; when an exact return will be made, for our behaviour in
this; otherwise we might justly expostulate, as _Abraham_ did, _Will not
the judge of all the earth do right?_
Good men, who have endeavour'd to do their duty, may say, _God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we
fear, tho' the earth be remov'd; tho' the mountains be carried into the
midst of the sea; tho' the waters thereof roar, and be troubled; tho' the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof._
_Come behold the works of the Lord; what desolations he hath made on the
earth._
In the mean time, let us not think on running _away_ from the danger, so
much as on mending our _ways_; perfecting the christian life; reforming
the abominable crimes, so justly chargeable on great and maritime cities;
overflowing with riches, pride, and luxury, with vanity, pleasure, and
profaneness; with gaming, immorality, infidelity; and especially with the
notorious crime of sabbath-breaking, which is the foundation of all, and
comprehends all others; for it prevents people from amending of any. If
they fail of their duty towards God, in making their regular approaches
to his temple; no wonder they are guilty of all crimes; regard neither
God nor man. If they fail of coming, where they may hope for the kindly
influences of God's holy Spirit; we need not wonder at their egregious
wickedness: they become absolutely irreclaimable.
But of you, my beloved brethren, here assembled, I hope better things.
You shun the degenerate corruptions of this evil age; you are not of the
number of those that frequent our public meetings of folly, from the
morning rendezvouzes to the mid-night assemblies; and _that_ protracted to
the morning light again. As if we ought to banish all serious thoughts of
our immortal interests; and _that_ in the sacred season of lent; destin'd
by the church, for this very serious purpose.
Let us think, how this warning happen'd to us, in the time of lent; when
they were revelling in their places of entertainment, both morning and
evening, as if no such thing had been; and this on the very days; as
if they confronted, and dar'd almighty vengeance. Much of a parallel
case with that of the famous city of _Herculaneum_, which is now the
entertainment of the curious. First it was miserably shatter'd by an
earthquake; whilst the people were at their diversions in the theatre;
where all assembled perished. This was in the first year of _Titus_
the emperor: but such a partial judgment not mending their manners; 9
years after, the whole city was destroy'd by a lake of liquid fire and
brimstone, from mount _Vesuvius_, just in the manner we now find it; 50
foot deep in cinders, and ashes.
_When thy judgments, O God, are abroad, the inhabitants of the earth will
learn righteousness._
_The Lord is the true God; he is the living God; the everlasting King: At
his wrath, the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to
abide his indignation_; says the prophet _Jeremiah_, x. 10.
God give us grace, that instead of these short-liv'd, and unsatisfying
pleasures; instead of palaces and houses here, ornamented in a sumptuous
and elegant _taste_; which may perhaps be swept away, with their owners,
in a moment; we may aspire towards that heavenly city, which is above;
whose foundations are not laid with hands, eternal in the heavens, _&c._
_FINIS._
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