By this it appears, that, in a Seafon of Peril and great Tribulation, it is not enough, that we betake our felves to no unlawful means for Efcape; or that we do not reft entirely upon Human Helps; no, nor yet that we come ftreight to God, and earnestly apply to Him for relief. All this the Difciples did, and yet they were guilty of Something fo blameable, that, notwithstanding the imminent Hazard of all their Lives, our Lord, according to the account here, faw it reafonable to rebuke Them first, and then the Sea. Now it must needs be of great Importance, rightly to understand, wherein this particular Defect lay; that, as their Excellencies provoke our Imitation, fo their Failings may be fo many feasonable Preventions to us. And, from the feveral Hands compared toge

Mark iv. 40.

Luke viii. 26.

ther, who have delivered an Account of Ver. 26.
this matter, it is beyond difpute, that their
Fear was charged upon them, as an Ar-
gument of their wanting Faith.

But doth Faith require, that a Man become blind and infenfible? Or was it reasonable to imagine, when the Winds roared, the Seas raged, the Veffel was finking, Death pouring in upon them with every Wave, and their Master afleep; He, in whom alone any Hope could be left, to their thinking, deaf and unconcern'd all the while: Can it, I fay, be conceived, that Men, in these diftreffed Circumftances, fhould feel no Terror, betray no Disorder? To reproach them for Paffions fo interwoven with, Weakneffes fo infeparable' from, our common Conftitution and Frame, is, in effect, to reproach them for being Men. And, whatever wicked People may fuggeft, or ignorant People fuppofe, we may be very confident, that no Command in the Gofpel, no Difpofition or Duty expected from us, was ever defigned to destroy, but all tend to exalt and perfect, Human Nature.

Fear,

Luke viii. 24.
Mark iv. 38.

Fear, then, in general, could not be their fault, but fome Quality with which their Fear was then attended. In the difcovering whereof, the two other Evangelifts will affift us. St. Luke relates the Manner of their Application to our Lord in these words, Mafter, Mafter, we perish: St. Mark in thefe, Mafter, carest thou not that we perish? In agreement with them St. Matthew must be understood: and then, Lord fave us, we perish, is an Exclamation full of Horror, Confufion, and Defpair, in Men, that gave up all for loft and gone. And this, no doubt, was the Difciples Weakness, and want of Faith, that they fuffered the fenfe of the prefent Danger to drive them to Defpondency: They fufpected either the Goodness, or the Power of Chrift, to help in this Extremity; and feem'd to fay, Either that their Safety was no part of his Concern, and he cared not if they were loft; Or elfe, that this was a Difficulty too mighty for him, notwithstanding thofe many former Miracles, which ought to have perfuaded the contrary. And thus the Language of their fainting Hearts bore fome refemblance to that Reproach at his Crucifixion, He faved others, himself he cannot fave.

The Improvement then, which it behoves Us to make of this Example, is that of condemning, lamenting, and fetting our felves refolutely to struggle with, thofe Dejections and Mifgivings of Mind, which Calamities and Fears are apt to caft us into. We fhould fee and confider our Dangers and our Wants, but fo, as to quicken our Zeal, and take Sanctuary in God, and ftill to believe him a fure Sanctuary, even when Human Helps prove broken Reeds to us. We muft not then limit his Hand, or measure it by the weak Arm of Flesh, but reft affured, that his Power is always invincible, and his Wifdom and Mercy incomprehenfible. We must feek him by Prayer, and qua

lify

lify our felves for his Favour, by a holy Importunity, and a ftrong Faith. In fhort, this One, this most important Truth must be ever fixed upon our Minds; That, let our Enemies be never fo many, or never fo mighty; our Adverfities never fo grievous, our Dangers never fo formidable; ftill nothing can either bind the Hands, or bound the Love, of God. But he always can, and always will, deliver and do, as he knows to be moft for the benefit of them that ferve him faithfully. An eminent Inftance whereof my

III. Third and Laft Head gives us; The Deliverance, I mean, of the Disciples, related in these words, Then be a fe and rebuked the Winds and the Sea, and there was a grt Calm. Upon which I fhall very briefly make Two Remarks; One of the Tenderness and Compaffion, Another of the Extent and Perfection, of the Affiftance we may depend upon, from the Goodness of our God and only Saviour.

Metus qui ca-
dere poteft in
via

conftantem
Cic. Offic

rum.

T.

1. His Compaffion, Firft, is obfervable, in condefcending to the Requests of thefe Difciples, though not recommended by all the Perfection it ought to have had. The Philofophers heretofore, in their Diftinctions of Fear, allowed a fort of it, which it was no Difparagement to a Man of Virtue and Courage to be affected with. And our Bleffed Lord, who made us, and who vouchfafed, in his own Perfon, to feel the Infirmities of Flesh and Blood, does, upon all occafions, fhew himfelf tender and gentle to them, and willing to cherish the first Seeds and Beginnings of a Faith, yet feeble in us. This is evident in fact, that the Men, who, in their cooler Thoughts, have the jufteft Notions of God and his Providence, do nevertheless, in fome Extremities, find their Understandings disturbed, their Thoughts confounded, and Reafon and Religion for a whil: juftled afide. In fuch Cafes, it is our Duty to check

K

the

the Disorders, that we cannot abfolutely prevent; to call up, as foon as may be, the Powers of Confideration and Faith, and lay fast hold on that Hope, which is deservedly styled the Anchor of tofs'd and tempestbeaten Souls. And, provided this be done, our Frailties and Surprises fhall never be charged to our account. They will, on the contrary, not fail to move Pity, and thew us the Truth and Faithfulness of God, by opening the way to a glorious and happy Deliverance, from the Temptations we lie under.

2. And for this Hope my Second Remark furnishes Ground fufficient: For, our Saviour rebuked the Winds and the Seas, and even those deaf and merciless Elements heard and obeyed his Voice. The like effectual Change fhall always follow, when God gives the Word; No Danger, no Oppofition can stand before it. The fiercer and more dreadful these are, the more only they contribute to the rendring his Power fenfible, and his Goodness signal, in that compleat Deliverance, that fucceeding Calm, which at once will refresh us after, and reward us for, our paft Fears and Troubles. So great reafon hath every Chriftian to fupport himself with those words of the Holy Pfal

Pfal. xlvi. xxvii.

mist, What though the Earth be moved, and the Hills carried into the midst of the Sea: Though the waters thereof rage and fwell, and the Mountains shake at the Tempest of the fame? God is in the midst of us, therefore fhall we not be removed; God fhall help us, and our Enemies fhall melt away. The Lord is our Light, and our Salvation, whom then Shall we fear? The Lord is the ftrength of our Life, of what then fhould we be afraid?

To conclude in a word. This Gospel fets before us a lively Emblem of God's dealing with his Servants; and a plain Intimation, both what thofe Servants are to expect from Him, and what they are to do, to juftify their Dependance upon him. Violent Sha

kings

kings and strong Convulfions are incident to the Fortunes, not of Private Men only, but of Communities and Kingdoms. This is the Lot of the Beft, of the Greateft, of the Church, of the whole World. God hath no where engaged to keep off Affaults and Temptations. He thinks it encouragement enough, to fuftain us under, to fuccour us in, and at his own due Time, to deliver us out of, our Dangers and Diftreffes. When therefore these attack us, either in our Perfonal, or our Publick Capacity; our Bufinefs muft be, To feek his Protection by earneft and conftant Prayer; and thus to filence all those wicked Diftrufts, which frail Nature, the Prevalence of fenfual Affections, and the Extremity of Afflictions, are too apt to betray us into: To remember, that though our Selves are weak, yet our Redeemer is mighty: That the ftormy Wind, which cannot rife but at his word, fhall, when he pleafes to command, be immediately laid by it again: That He is difpofed to look upon our Sufferings and Infirmities with a very tender Eye: and, provided we be not wanting to our Duty, he will accept that moft pious and moft neceffary Prayer, which our Church, in allufion to the Paffage now before us, hath taught us to put up this day.

and

Let us come therefore to the Throne of Grace, in an humble sense of being fet in the midst of fo many great dangers, that by reafon of the frailty of our Nature we cannot always ftand upright: and may He grant us fuch Strength and protection, as may fupport us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations, through Jefus Christ our Lord. Amen.