A Token for Mariners, Sermon
THE Seaman's Preacher; OR, Sea-Dangers and Deliverances Improv'd; in a SERMON.
Acts 27. 18, 19, 20.
18. And being exceedingly toſſed with a Tempeſt, the next day they lightned the Ship.
19. And the third day, we caſt out with our own hands, the tackling of the Ship.
20. And when neither Sun nor Stars appeared, and no ſmall Tempeſt lay on us, all hope that we ſhould be ſaved, was then taken away.
IN this Chapter we have a full Narrative of Paul's Voyage to Rome, in all the circumſtances of it; it ſeems Paul kept a Journal, and ſo Recorded this memorable Voyage for the uſe of ſucceeding Generations. 1. We have the occaſion of his Voyage, (viz.) Paul being then a Sufferer and a Priſoner, he appeals to Caeſar, and ſo is ſent to Rome, and there bears a faithful Teſtimony for Jeſus Chriſt, (verſ. 1.) 2. We have the Dangers that occurred in the Voyage, and theſe are alſo carefully Commemorated (verſ. 9.) Now much time was ſpent, and Sailing was now dangerous, becauſe the Faſt was already paſt: This was the yearly Fast of the Jews, on which the attonement for all the people was made by the High-Prieſt, in the holy of holies; which day was the 10. of the 7th Month, (Lev. 16. 29.) which partly agreed with our September and October, in which time the Sea, was not Sailed in, by the Ancients, until the beginning of March, becauſe of the ſhortneſs of the days, and the violence of the Tempeſts, they were prone to in thoſe Parts, this is the ſenſe of Interpreters upon the place. 1. Danger of the Voyage we read of, is this, the winds were contrary, (verſ. 4.) this is ſpoken of the Voyage of the Diſciples, The winds were contrary. 2. Danger, there aroſe not only a contrary wind, but a violent wind, called an Euroclydon, (verſ. 14.) ſome read it a Whirle-wind, but it is ment of an Eaſt-wind, which raiſes the Sea mightily. 3. The Tempeſt was ſo great and violent upon them, that they were glad to let the Ship drive, (verſ. 15.)
3. We have not only the Danger in this Voyage, but their marvelous Deliverance and Preſervation; for they came off all of them with their lives, (verſ. 44.) the particulars whereof you may ſee.
In the Text we have three things obſervable. 1. Their endeavors in this great diſtreſs to preſerve themſelves. 1. They lightned the Ship, and what was it ſhe was laden with? it was Wheat, (verſ. 38.) They lightned the Ship, and caſt the Wheat into the Sea; thus did Jonah's Mariners caſt out the Wares. Alas, what are theſe things, but lumber to lives? if it were Gold, it muſt go for Life. Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life. Then what ſhould a man give for his Soul? what will a man give for his Soul? what will a man give in exchange for his Soul? 2. Endeavor; they caſt out the Tackling of their Ship; any thing they part with to ſave their lives, though never ſo uſeful to them; even that which was neceſſary for their Voyage, they are under a neceſſity to part with it, for the preſervation of their lives.
2. We have their Dangers as well as Endeavors. 1. It is expreſt in the violence of the Tempeſt; they were exceedingly toſſed with a Tempeſt. 2. It was dark weather, neither Sun nor Stars appeared, which uſed to be great comforts and helps to poor men at Sea. 3. Their Danger is expreſt in this, they were brought to the brink of the black pit of Deſpair; all Hope now was taken away. O what a ſad diſtreſſed condition was this! their Hope, which is called the Anchor of the Soul, yea which is the Sheet-Anchor of the Soul, was loſt; they gave all their lives over for gone and loſt: And oh, what could now a company of men do that had loſt their Hopes and Hearts? could theſe that had loſt their Hopes find their hands? they were now ſaying, as the Jews did in their Captivity, Our Hope is loſt, we are cut off for our parts, (Ezek. 37. 11.)
3. We have their Deliverance and Preſervation, coming in at ſuch a time and ſeaſon as this was; now that they are brought to an extremity, God makes it his opportunity; and now that all hope of being ſaved is taken away, ſalvation will be moſt ſeaſonable: and now the Angel appears to Paul, and tells him, all their lives are enſured, only the ſhip ſhall be loſt.
Obſervations are theſe:
1. Dangers and Deliverances are to be carefully recorded and remembred; therefore Paul takes an account of both, here in this Voyage.
2. Salvations and Deliverances many times are not ſent, until perſons be left hopeleſs in themſelves.
I ſhall ſpeak a little to both theſe upon this preſent occaſion, that what you read here, may be remarked and remembred.
1. Dangers and Deliverances are to be carefully recorded and remembred. This Obſervation hath two parts: 1. Dangers are to be remembred. 2. Deliverances are to be remembred.
Thus the Lords poor people uſed to do in all Ages: When Jacob was in danger of his Brother Eſau, you ſee how he commemorates it, and gives us an exact narrative of it, and tells us how he feared him: Lord, I fear my Brother Eſau, (Pſal. 34. 4.) How often was David in danger by Saul, who was his ſworn Enemy? and how many Pſalms have we, taking occaſion to remember what danger he was in, and how comfortably he was brought off: I ſought the Lord, and he heard me; and delivered me out of all my fears. (2 Cor. 1. 9, 10.) As Paul tells the Corinthians what danger they were in; they were preſt out of meaſure, out of ſtrength, in ſo much that they deſpaired of life, &c. And ſo at Sea as well as Land, he would have dangers remembred; how that they go up to the Heaven one while, and ſink into the deeps another; their Soul melted becauſe of trouble, and they at their wits ends, &c. Peter's danger at Sea is recorded, when he began to ſink, and cried out, Maſter, ſave me, or I periſh, (Matth. 14. 28, 29, 30.) And the Diſciples, when they cried o…t, Careſt thou not that we periſh? (Mark 4. 38.) It is obſerved the Ship now was full, and now comes ſalvation and deliverance. Here was their danger recorded, the Ship was full, and Chriſt aſleep in the hinder part of the Ship.
1. Query is, How Dangers ſhould be remembred?
2. How Deliverances ſhould be remembred?
1. Dangers ſhould be remembred, conſidering we may come into them again. Many when dangers are not, they ſing to their Souls that ſong, and delude themſelves, The bitterneſs of Death is paſt; they think they are out of one ſtrom, and they ſhall never come in ſuch another. Juſt as perſons do with their Sickneſs at Land, ſo many do with their Dangers at Sea, if God bring them off: O they grow hardned and ſecure again. But if God hath brought home one dangerous Voyage, we ſhould think, it may be the next will be as dangerous; Have I eſcaped one at Sea, one at Land? if I do not improve it, if I do not walk ſuitable under it, O how eaſily can God bring me into another. You never were in ſuch Dangers, but you may come to the like again, whether at Sea or Land.
2. Dangers ſhould be remembred with conſideration to the greatneſs of them; great things ſhould be remembred, a great God, great Mercies, great Deliverances, great Sins, and great Dangers. How ſhould we think, O what a Danger was I in at this time by ſuch a Storm at Sea! by ſuch a Sickneſs aſhore! not only my Life in danger, but Lord, was not my Soul in danger? was I fit to die at ſuch a time? had I gotten an intereſt in Chriſt, if I had been caſt away at ſuch a time? Men think dangers great for their Bodies, but they do not think them ſo for their Souls; they think them great for their Ships, for their Eſtates, but they do not think them ſo for their Eternal conditions; O, had not my Body, Soul, Ship, and all periſhed together. And was not this a great danger? thy Souls danger was the greateſt danger; hadſt thou been drowned at ſuch a time, thy Soul had been ſhipwrackt to all Eternity.
3. Dangers ſhould be remembred with conſideration to their ſuddenneſs; how many times do they come ſuddenly upon us? As there is ſudden fear, ſo there is ſudden danger. When the Lord ſends the Winds out of his Treaſury ſuddenly, and threatens men at Sea with ſudden deſtruction, when deſolation ſeems to come as a Whirl-wind, &c. we ſhould think, What if ſudden death had come upon me, what a condition was my poor Soul in? what a dreadful thing would it have been if I had been ſurpriſed on a ſudden, and ſent into an Eternal condition, in the twinkling of an eye? I, to be threatned to be ſwallowed up, only with a formal God have mercy upon thee in thy mouth; not to have time to pray, repent, reflect upon thy paſt life: O what a ſad thing is this?
4. We ſhould think of our Danger with conſideration to the frames of our heart… what frames of heart we were then under. 1. To the frames of our hearts when in our dangers. 2. The frames of our hearts when brought from under them. 1. The frames of the heart when in and under them: were not you under great fears and hurries of Soul? it may be, not knowing how it would go with your Souls, if you had gone off the ſtage of this life at the preſent. David when he was in danger, took eſpecial notice of the frame of his ſpirit; Innumerable evils have compaſſed me about. (Pſal. 40. 12. 13.) He was compaſſed about on every ſide with danger; and how was it with him then? he calls to mind, Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, ſo that I am not able to look up, 57. 7.) And what then? O ſee how he prays▪ Be pleaſed, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord make haſt to help me. Remember what the frames of our hearts were in our dangers, in reference to our fears; and ſecondly, what in reference to our faith ſo alſo did David, when purſued in danger by Saul. My heart is fixed, my heart is fixed; I will ſing and give praiſe. We are to remember our fears under our dangers, that we may be prepared better for future tryals; we are to remember our faith under dangers paſt, that we may be encouraged for the time to come in after ſtraits.
2. We are to remember our frames of ſpirit when God brings us out of our dangers; how then we were melted with the preſent ſenſe of the mercy; as thoſe Iſraelites, when God brought them out of danger, they believed God, they ſang and gave praiſe; O what reſolutions were there then upon the Soul to be given up anew to God; to walk before the Lord in the light of the living. Thus alſo did David, when brought out of danger; Thy vows are upon me, O God, &c. and at another time, The Lord preſerveth the ſimple: I was brought low, &c. and thou helpedſt me, (Pſal. 56. 12, 13.) And then what a frame of heart was upon him? Return unto thy reſt, O my Soul, &c. (Pſal. 116. 6, 7.) Then he was all for returning to God: O now there was freſh endearments betwixt the Soul and God. Theſe we are to remember, that we may not wear totally the ſenſe of them off our ſpirits.
5. We ſhould remember our dangers, with conſideration to the frequency of them; how frequently we were in them. Paul remembred this, in Perils by Sea often, in Perils by the Heathen, &c. (2 Cor. 11. 26.) O how often have we been near Drowning, near Taking, near Sinking, near Dying, and yet God brought us off; theſe things we ſhould call to mind often; go out upon dangerous Voyages, and often come home; the oftner and more frequent our dangers, the more ſhould we think upon them.
2. We ſhould Remember our Deliverances, but how? 1. We ſhould Remember them, ſo as to admire them; thus did the people of the Jews in Ezra, Who hath given them ſuch deliverance as this? O! they admire it, and write a Non-ſuch upon the Head of it, as David admired the goodneſs of God, when he had ſpoken of his Houſe to come. Is this the manner of men, O God? He was in an holy Extaſy of Heavenly admiration; ſo ſhould you ſay now; to carry out, and bring home, in ſuch a dangerous time as this; To hide from Enemies, when ſought for in ſuch a time ſuch a Voyage as this: Oh! … am I? And what is my Fathers houſe, that he ſhould bring me hitherto? You ſhould turn the Deliverance on every ſide, and admire the goodneſs of God, the wiſdom of God, the mercy of God, the power of God, the faithfulneſs of God in it, and ſay, O Lord, what a Deliverance is this? What a Voyage is this? God loves to have his Mercies admired by us.
2. We ſhould Remember our Deliverances, to have our Hearts raiſed up in gratitude, and thankfulneſs to God for them; Thus did David, I will pay my Vows unto the Lord, in preſence of all his people: I will take the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord, Pſal. 116. 12, 13, 14. We are to remember to pay our Thank-offerings unto God, after our Deliverance from God: What, forget ſuch a Deliverance as this? What, not be thankful for ſuch a Preſervation as this?
3. We ſhould Remember our Deliverances, ſo as to endear our Hearts to God; Thus we find David, I will love thee, O Lord, I will love the Lord dearly, (…o the Heb.) The Lord is my Rock, my Fortreſs, and my Deliverer, &c. Pſal. 18. 1. O! now how ſhould Souls, after their Deliverance; boil, and burn in Love to God! How are we engaged to a Friend that is at any time but an Inſtrument in God's hand to Deliver us? And ſhall we be endeared to the Inſtrument, and not to the Author? O! How was David endeared to God, when he ſaid, He having Redeemed him, he would walk before the Lord in the Land of the Living, Pſal. 56. ult.
4. We ſhould Remember our Deliverances to improve them in a way of acting Faith, when the next danger and ſtraits comes: I will remember thee from the Land of Jordan, from the Hill Miſſar, Pſal. 42. 6, 7. This was to encourage him from his former Deliverances in his future ſtraits and exigencies. What, now diſtruſt God, who hath delivered in ſix Troubles, and now ſhall we give way to Unbelief in the Seventh? Did not holy David thus? He hath delivered me out of the Paw of the Lyon, and out of the Paw of the Bear, and he will deliver me out of the hand of the uncircumciſed Philiſtine. Thus Paul remembers his Deliverance from Nero. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lyon, and the Lord ſhall delive me from every evil work, 1 Tim. 4. 17, 18.
5. We ſhould remember our Deliverances, to be often inculcating, and imprinting them upon our own hearts: Alas, when we receive them, they are a little freſh it may be upon our ſpirits, but O how ſoon do they die, becauſe they are not written upon our hearts; they are not Engraven there as a Man that would Remember a thing, be it a Notion, or any Reſolution, he will be often turning it over in his thoughts; Alas, if we write our Deliverances, Is it not in the Duſt? whereas we ſhould write them in Marble: We ſhould write them with a Pen of Iron, and the point of a Diamond.
1. We ſhould Commemorate our Dangers with our Deliverances, becauſe God gives them to that end. The Lord doth not give us our Deliverances to caſt them at our heels, nor brings us out of our Dangers, that we might forget them, as tho we had never been in any of them. God expects that we ſhould faithfully Regiſter and Record them; therefore it was a great Provocation to the Lord, that the Children of Iſrael ſo ſoon forgot his works: If you do but forget the kindneſs of a Friend, you think it is diſingenious; but O then, What is it to forget that God that hath delivered you out of ſix troubles, and in ſeven troubles? God loves and expects his kindneſs ſhould be kept upon Record.
2. We ſhould Commemorate our Dangers and Deliverances, becauſe it was freely of his grace to bring us out of the one, and put us under the other; Is it not of his meer mercy that he reſcu'd and pull'd us out of our dangers? Might not we elſe been ſwallow'd up of them? And may not we all ſay in this caſe, as the Pſalmiſt in that? Had it not been the Lord who was on our ſide then, the waters had overwhelmed us, the ſtream had gone over our Soul, then the proud Waves had gone over our Soul, Pſal. 124. 4, 5. May not you who have been ſo often deliver'd at Sea in eminent dangers ſing this Song▪ What, and now forget ſuch dangers? and caſt behind your backs ſuch Deliverances. Oh! the freer any favour is, the more it ſhould be remembred; Doth God ſee any thing in us, or in our Families, more then others, to beſtow ſuch deliverances for? One Man goes to Sea, and he is taken; another goes to Sea, and he is ſunk; another goes to Sea, and he dies the Term of the Voyage; And why doth the Lord preſerve you? Is not this Free-Grace? not becauſe you are more Righteous, but becauſe he is more Gracious; And ſhould not this be Remembred?
3. Our Dangers and Deliverances ſhould be remembred, becauſe God hath gracious ends and deſigns both in the one and the other; What ends hath God to bring us into dangers? 1. He by this hath an end and deſign to quicken up to duty; it may be there may be ſome omitted duty; neglected duties often bring Men into great and eminent dangers; it may be a Perſon is convinced of the duty of Prayer, but it may be neglected; Oh then God will bring into danger to quicken to duty; Oh, ſays God, In their affliction they will ſeek me early. The very Heathen Marriners called out for Prayer in time of danger. Obſerve it, that Perſons convinced of duties, either Perſonal or Domeſtical, and yet neglected, God uſually whips them to their Duties, by one danger, affliction or another. The Proverb is good, if you would teach a Man to Pray, ſend him to Sea. 2. God by bringing us into dangers, hath a deſign upon us to convince us of ſin; many Convictions hath come into the Soul at this door; Dangers have often proved inlets to Convictions. Oh! What Convictions have many poor Souls lain under while in danger, when it may be the dangers hath given them a view of Eternity; when Dangers hath preſented Death to the Man, and Conſcience hath cried, Now thou art ſinking, now there is but a ſtep betwixt thee and Eternity, betwixt thee and another World? Oh then what Convictions hath the Soul lyen under? and yet it may be when the Danger is over, the Conviction is over too. Well, though we may forget all, yet God remembers all. 3. God hath a deſign upon us in our Dangers, to prepare us for our latter end. The danger thou art in, and hath eſcaped, calls for to prepare for thy Death, which muſt certainly come to paſs ſhortly. God by Dangers would have you prepare for Death: And Oh! VVhat a cutting Conſideration will this be when thou com'ſt to die? that thou who haſt been in ſo many dangers by Sea and Land, ſhould have no more learned to die, nor ready to die. Alas, you eſcaped the laſt, that you might prepare for the next. 4. God hath a deſign upon our Graces by bringing us into danger; Danger is to exert and draw forth Grace. Thus the Diſciples Dangers at Sea were to draw forth their Faith. Faith and Patience comes moſt viſibly upon the ſtage in times of moſt eminent danger. 5. God by bringing us into Dangers, hath a deſign upon our Souls; he ſometimes by danger of drowning the Body, hath ſaved the Soul, and hath cauſed it to ſay, Periiſſem niſi periiſsem: I had periſhed, if I had not periſhed. Some have eſcaped Shipwrack of Soul, by Shipwrack of Body; And ſhall we forget ſuch Dangers, when God hath ſuch gracious deſigns in them upon us?
2. He drives on gracious ends and deſigns in our Deliverances, And ſhall we then forget them? &c. 1. He ſpares us, that we may account his long-ſuffering Salvation; he gives, by ſparing of us, ſpace to Repent; and Oh! What … dreadful thing is it not to remember wherefore we are ſpared and delivered? He gave her ſpace to Repent, but ſhe repented not, Pſal. 56. ult. The Priſoner is Reprieved, that he might ſue out his Pardon, And will he forget the end for which he is Reprieved? 2. He delivers, that we may live to him. Why was David's feet deliver'd from falling? it was, that he might walk before the Lord in the light of the living. He gives us our lives, that we might give them back again to God, Jer. 7. 10. Men are not deliver'd from dangers to live to themſelves, to live to their luſts, to Drink, and Swear, and Rant, and Roar, as a great many poor Wretches do. That ſay as they did, We are deliver'd to do all theſe abominations, Pſal. 50. 15. 3. God hath another end in Deliverance, that we might glorifie him, in paying our Vows to him. I will deliver thee; And what then when out of Trouble never remember it more, caſt it behind thy back; O no; And thou ſhalt glorifie me. He aims at a revenue of glory out of your deliverances. 4. God hath another end in delivering of us; that we might enter into New Engagements, to be more the Lords; as in times of great dangers, there uſe to be great engagements betwixt God and the Soul; ſo in times of Great Deliverances, there are great Engagements paſs betwixt God and the Soul, New Dedications to God; New Deliverances call for New Dedications of the Soul to God; now the Soul ſhould be ſet apart for God more than ever. 5. God hath another end in delivering of us, that we might break off our league with ſin; thus it was with them, Shall we break his Commandments, after ſuch great deliverance as this?
APPLICATION.
Is it ſo, that our Dangers and Deliverances ſhould be remembred by us? then it is a word of Information.
1. Learn we here how acceptable it is to God, that we thankfully congratulate our Mercies. No Muſick like a ſound of Trumpets off the VVaters: ſo, O what ſweet Muſick doth it make in God's Eares, that you thankfully record Sea-Mercies, and Sea-Deliverances; this is Muſick of the VVaters; this makes Melody in God's Eares. Sea-Prayers and Sea-Praiſes come up acceptably before the Lord; he is ſo pleaſed with them, that he hath called them Sacrifices. O that Men would offer the Sacrifice of Praiſe; this is the found of Trumpets you ſhould carry to Sea with you, outward bound, and homeward bound.
2. Learn we hence what a Great Evil it is to loſe the remembrance of our Dangers and Deliverances. VVhat do many Families? VVhat do many Perſons with the Sea-Dangers, with the Sea-Deliverances? Do not they write them in the duſt? Do not they bury them in the … of Oblivion? Do not they caſt them behind their backs? Do not they trample them under foot? O poor Souls! they little know what they do. 1. Such Deliverances will have a Reſurrection in their Conſciences one day; though they bury them now, O they will riſe again: And Oh! How will they then dread and terrifie a poor Soul? 2. Such Deliverances will another day be witneſſes and evidences againſt you. Oh! VVhat a cutting teſtimony will they give in againſt the Soul? Haſt not thou been graciouſly and wonderfully delivered in ſuch a Voyage, in ſuch a Storm at Sea, in ſuch a Sickneſs at Shore, and yet walked unſuitably under all thefe? To be caſt out by mercy, O what a dreadful thing is this! 3. Such deliverances forgotten by us, harden us; either they ſoften or harden. Theſe Providences are like God's Ordinances in this reſpect, they either harden or ſoften. Oh! VVhat a dreadful thing it is to be harden'd by Deliverances and Preſervation, and yet many are. Sentence being not ſpeedily executed, the hearts of Men are fully ſet in them to do evil. 4. Such Deliverances will be Great aggravations both of man's ſin and miſery, if forgotten by them. The goodneſs of God was the aggravation of the ſin of David, ſays God, When I had done ſo and ſo for thee, nay, and I would have done more, wherefore haſt thou deſpiſed the Commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his ſight, 2 Sam. 12. 8, 9. VVhat, for you that had ſuch deliverances as theſe, to break his Commandment; as Ezra ſays; O this is an high aggravation! 5. Deliverances and Dangers forgotten will cauſe the Lord to pull in his hand in a way of mercy, will cauſe God to give up Perſons, and take his Protecting Preſence from them, take them from the ſhadow of his VVings. Souls by forgetting paſt dangers and deliverances, may put themſelves from under God's Protection for the future.
Ʋſe 2. Is it ſo that we are to Remember our Sea-dangers and deliverances? then it is a word of Exhortation; be exhorted then to call to mind, and keep in mind, what God hath done for you; and in this Exhortation I addreſs my ſelf to Sea-faring men, whoſe lives are a courſe and ſeries of VVonders in their frequent Salvations and Preſervations, (witneſs this Treatiſe) as you ſee the wonders of God in the Deeps, (viz.) The wonders of his Creation, ſo do you ſee the wonders of his Salvation: How often may Wonderful be Written upon the Head of Salvations that you are every Voyage receiving from God? you never go out, and come home, but God works Wonderfully, and appears Wonderfully for you; Is not he a Wonder-working-God for you every Voyage?
The Exhortation is to call to mind, and keep in mind, to Record and Regiſter your Dangers and Deliverances, and not to do as Iſrael is ſaid to do, who ſoon forgot his Works. How often doth God bring in this ſin of theirs in one Pſalm? They forgot his works, and the wonders he had ſhewed them, Pſal. 106. 13. Pſal. 78. 11.
1. Keep them in mind, for they are wonderful Dangers and Deliverances; They are Wonders, theſe are to be remembred. Marvellous thin…s did he for them, in the ſight of their Fathers, &c. He devided the Sea, and cauſed them to paſs through, and he made the waters to ſtand as an heap, Pſal. 78. 12, 13. And it is brought in again in that Pſalm. They remembred not his hand, nor the day when God delivered them out of the hand of the Ene…y, &c. Pſal.. 73. 42. And in another place, Th…y forgot God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the Land of Ham, Pſal. 106. 21. 22. This heightens the ſin exceedingly to forget ſuch Great and Wonderful Dangers and Deliverances.
1. Your Dangers are Wonderful in this Reſpect, they are often ſuch as threaten a ſentence of Death to be executed upon you. May it not be ſaid of poor Sea-men, as was of them; For we would not (Brethren) have you ignorant of our trouble, which came to us in Aſia, that we were preſſed out of meaſure, above ſtrength, inſomuch that we deſpaired of Life, but we had the ſentence of death in our ſelves, that we ſhould not truſt in our ſelves, but in him that raiſeth the dead, who deliverid us from ſo great a Death, and doth Deliver, 2 Cor. 1. 8, 9, 10. O how many Sea-faring Men may ſay thus! Our Dangers have been ſuch, as we have often deſpaired of Life; there hath but been a little betwixt us and Death; nay, betwixt us and Eternity; And ſhall we forget ſuch dangers, when we have been ſo near death in them? As he ſaid to David, As the Lord lives, there is but one ſtep betwixt thee and death. O how often have you been near ſinking, near drowning, and yet God hath then appeared for you, with an outſtretched Arm, and in the Mount hath been ſeen, And will you not remember this?
2. Your Dangers are Wonderful in this Reſpect, they are ſudden and ſurprizing, they are wonderfully ſudden; How are you often, all on a ſudden, threatned with nothing but preſent Death and Deſtruction? It may be ſaid of Sea-men, as of thoſe in Job, Snares compaſſes them about, and ſudden fear troubleth them, Job 22. 10. It doth not only trouble them, but all on a ſudden trouble them, before they know almoſt where they are (as we ſay;) VVe read of ſome whoſe Calamity ſhall come ſuddenly. Suddenly ſhall he be broken without Remedy, Prov. 6. 15. O how terrible is ſuch a caſe, or ſuch a danger And hath not God often threatned to make this your caſe and condition? O then do not forget ſuch dangers that have ſo ſuddenly lookt you in the Face!
3. Your Dangers are VVonderful in this Reſpect, they are not Dangers in which your Bodies are concerned only, but they are Dangers in which your Souls are concerned; It is not only the danger of a Ship-wrack'd Veſſel, and a Ship-wrack'd Eſtate, and a Shipwrack'd Body, but a Shipwrack'd Soul. Here is the great danger, leſt thou make a loſt Voyage for thy Soul: If thou had died in ſuch a Storm, or died in the Term of ſuch a Voyage; Oh! VVhat would have become of thy Soul, thy precious, thy immortal Soul? Had not thou died in a Carnal, in a Chriſtleſs ſtate and condition? Had not thy poor Soul periſh'd to all Eternity, if thou then had miſcarried? VVas not thou then a ſtranger altogether to Chriſt, and a VVork of Saving Grace upon thy Heart? Had not thou then the guilt of all thy ſins upon the back of thy Soul unpardoned? And O what danger was this! And wilt thou forget ſuch dangers?
4. Your Dangers are ſuch at Sea, as none but a God can deliver from; all your skill cannot; O, then is the greateſt Artiſt at his Wits end! The Pſalmiſt tells us, (Pſal. 107. 27.) the Marriners in their Storms, are at their wits end; (or as ſome read it) all their wiſdom is ſwallowed up, they know not what courſe to Steer, (the Dutch Annorators carry it,) Now their very Pilots are at a loſs; Now all their courage cannot contribute to their deliverance, though men of the greateſt natural courage and magnanimity in the world: Yet now their hearts melt becauſe of troubles; as it is ſaid of the Marriners in Jonahs Ship, The Marriners were afraid. O now, when Death and Eternity, the Grave and Judgment to come looks them in the face! Then they are Magor-Miſſabibs, terror to themſelves, and to all about them; O now, the danger is ſuch, it muſt be the only finger of God that can help! I have heard of a Ship in Yarmouth Road, that in a great Storm, they feared the Anchor would come home, and the Maſter diſcourſing with a Youth in the Ship, that God had begun lately to work ſome Convictions upon, O ſays he, Maſter if God do but lay a Finger upon one Strand of the Cable, it will hold; and in the morning many Ships were loſt near them, and there was but one Strand in the Cable left. O the finger of God only can ſometimes ſave in dangers. It was a good ſaying of a Godly Commander of a Ship in eminent dangers, None now but that God that ſaved the Children of Iſrael at the Red Sea, can ſave us out of this diſtreſs; and as ſoon as he had ſaid it, the Wind altered, and ſaved them; And will you forget ſuch dangers as none but a God can ſave from?
5. Your dangers at Sea are ſuch as many thouſands have periſhed in; how many have gone to Sea, that never returned more? that have been ſwallowed up in the belly of the great Deeps? How many have periſhed by the Sword at Sea? how many by violent Storms? and that God ſhould put a difference betwixt you and others, and you ſhould forget it, this exceedingly heightens and aggravates the guilt. How many have loſt their lives? how many have loſt their limbs? and yet in ſuch dangers God hath brought you off; this is never to be forgotten.
2. Your dangers are not only wonderful, but your deliverances are ſo too, and therefore ſhould be remembred. There is never a deliverance, but you may read a wonder in it; ſo many deliverances and ſalvations at Sea, ſo many wonders. God ſaves you in a miraculous way.
1. Is not this a wonder, that perſons of ſuch great ſins and provocations, ſhould be perſons of ſuch great ſalvations and preſervations? that ſuch as ſin every Voyage, nay, it may be at an high rate ſin every Voyage, ſhould be ſaved and delivered at ſuch an high rate every Voyage? is not this a wonder, that men of ſuch ſins, ſhould be men of ſuch ſalvations? that men that ſin againſt theſe ſalvations, ſhould not have theſe deliverances ſhorten upon them. Oh what a wonder is this! We ſhould wonder if a perſon ſhould be continually diſobliging any of us, and yet we ſhould be ſtill heaping up kindneſſes upon him: This made the Prophet Ezra ſay, Shall we again break his Commandments, after ſuch deliverance as this? O do not you provoke the Lord every time that you go out, and ſtill he delivers you, ſtill he returns you to your Relations, to viſit your habitations in peace! and is not this a wonder?
2. Your deliverances are wonderful, if you conſider your deliverances are great deliverances. We read of ſuch; And the Lord ſaved them with a great deliverance; or with a great ſalvation. Thus ſaid Sampſon, Thou haſt given this great deliverance into the hand of thy ſervant, (Judg. 15. 18.) Now any great tranſactions are remembred and recorded. Your deliverances are great, if we conſider theſe things; 1. They are commanded deliverances by the great God; his word of command brings all our deliverances about, whether at Sea or Land. Which made the Church in diſtreſs pray, Thou art my King, O God, command deliverances for Jacob, (Pſal. 44. 4.) He commands every thing tending to deliverance at Sea; in order to deliverance, he commands the Winds; He maketh the ſtorm a calm, (Pſal. 107. 29.) He alſo commands the Seas; he ſays to the proud Waves, So far, and no farther. You read of a decree ſet to the Sea, that it cannot paſs; Though the Waves thereof toſs themſelves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not paſs over it, (Jer. 5. 22.) It is the great God only that rides Lord Admiral at Sea, to command the Seas and the Waves thereof. God is ſaid to ſhut up the Sea with doors, and ſet bars upon it. Hitherto ſhalt thou come, and no further; and here ſhall thy proud waves be ſtayed, (Job. 38. 8, 11.) Xerxes preſumed he could tame the Helleſpont, for attempting his Bridge of Boats; but all this was in vain, this is a flower in Gods Crown alone, to command the Sea. Your deliverances are a fruit and effect of Gods commanding Power, therefore great. 2. They are great deliverances, as they are the curious workmanſhip (as I may call them) of the Attributes of a great God. Deliverance is ſaid to be wrought for us, it is the handy work of God; If God will work, who can let? (as the Prophet ſaith, Iſa. 43. 13, 14.) And he ſeems to ſpeak it upon the account of the deliverance of his People; For your ſake I have ſent down to Babylon, and have brought down all their Nobles, and the Caldeans, whoſe cry is in their ſhips. In every deliverance there is the excellent work of the Attributes of God; we may in ſuch a deliverance ſay, Here is the Power of God, and here is the Wiſdom of God, and here is the Love of God, and here is the Faithfulneſs of God, &c. For as God in the confounding of the Languages at Babel, ſaid, Go too, let us go down, (as if he derected himſelf to his glorious Attributes, compaſſing about his glorious Throne) Come, let us go down. Gen. 11. 7. (Or, as ſome take it of the Trinity, as in the Creation.) So when God ſends us deliverances in our diſtreſſes, he ſets his Attributes at work; Go Power, go Mercy, go Love, go Faithfulneſs, go and act your reſpective parts in this deliverance; and muſt not this be then an excellent and curious Piece that Gods Attributes bring forth? 3. They are great deliverances, if we conſider the great ſins and provocations they come over the heads of, the great unworthineſs of the receiver, heightens much the mercy and favour received; the reaſon why perſons do not greaten their deliverances, is becauſe they do not greaten their ſins, in the deep ſenſe and aggravations of them. O ſuch a Soul would ſay, as David, Is this the manner of men? O God, is not this a great deliverance for ſuch a great ſinner to receive? 4. They are great deliverances, if we conſider the time and ſeaſon of their coming in; as this deliverance of the Ships Company where Paul was, it was when all hope of being ſaved was taken away; and ſo were many of the deliverances mentioned in this Treatiſe. So Peter's Sea-deliverance, when he began to ſink, Chriſt ſtretched forth his hand immediately; he was now ſinking and going, but ſee how ready Chriſt was to ſave; He ſtretched forth his hand and caught Peter, (Matth. 14. 28, 29, 30.) Our ſinking time, is Jeſus Chriſts ſaving time. In the Mount is the Lord ſeen; our extremity is Gods opportunity; and are not then theſe great deliverances never to be forgotten? 5. They are great deliverances, if we conſider they are not only deliverances of Bodies, and Ships, and Eſtates ſometimes, but Souls; and where the Ship is loſt, and the Eſtate is loſt, yet for the life to be ſaved, and the Soul delivered, is a very great Deliverance; a Reprieve when a Priſoner is under the ſentence of Death, is a great Mercy: O when God Reprieves a poor Priſoner, this is ſome Deliverance; we read o… ſome Deliverance God gave to Iſrael in the days of Shiſhak; a Reprieve is ſome Deliverance, but if it end in ſuing out the Priſoners Pardon, then it is a great Deliverance. If it be ſuch a Deliverance in a Storm at Sea, as Hezekiah had from a Sickneſs at Shoar, Thou haſt delivered me in love to my Soul, and caſt all my ſins behind thy back, (Iſa. 38.) This is a double Deliverance, and ſure ſuch Deliverances as theſe are worth Recording; Theſe are to be written in Marble and not in Duſt, with the Pen of Iron, (as the Prophet ſays) and not with with point of a Diamond.
3. Your Deliverances are wonderful, if you conſider the many thouſands that have periſhed in leſs Dangers to an eye of Reaſon; they are diſtinguiſhing Deliverances, and therefore wonderful hath God dealt with all men that go to Sea as with you. Hath not thouſands periſhed by the Sword at Sea in bloody Engagements? Miſcarried at Sea in dreadful and terrible Storms; Hath not the Sea been a Sepulcher for thouſands? Are not there Millions of the Dead that the Sea muſt one day give up, and yet you Delivered, and yet you ſpared? O what diſtinguiſhing Mercy is this! And ſhall this be forgotten by you? Should not you keep Records of diſtinguiſhing Mercy? How many ſunk ſometimes, and periſhed by your ſides? How many that went out with you that never Returned? One taken, and another left; one ſunk, and another ſaved.
4. Your Deliverances are Wonderful, if you conſider the way that ſometimes God takes to bring them about; O what ſtrange ways doth God take to deliver, when he hath a mind to deliver; ſometimes he brings down to the very Gate of the Grave, he brings to the Doors and Bars of the Sea, and then ſhuts theſe doors; as Job ſpeaks, He brings to the next door to periſhing, and then he delivers; Maſter ſave me, or I periſh; and then he lends an Arm, witneſs many of theſe deliverances here mentioned. Sometimes he doth it by ſtrange means, low and contemptible, as the poor man that we Read of, that delivered the City, (Eccleſ. 9. 15.) ſometimes by unthought of and unexpected means, as he that Relieved Major Gibbons, as this Story mentions, he was a French Pyrate. As that Ship I have heard off, that when ſhe ſprang a Leak, and they all had like to have periſhed, all on a ſudden the Leak ſtopt, and they knew no Reaſon, but when they came into the next Port to ſearch her, there was a great Fiſh had wrought himſelf into the Leak, that they were glad to cut him out; was not here a miraculous deliverance? That Jonah ſhould be ſwallowed up by the Whale, O what a miracle was this! and ſo he was preſerved! and how have ſome been ſaved by ſudden ſhifts of Winds when near ſinking and periſhing? theſe are to be remembred to the Lord while you live: Oh! methinks this one Motive ſhould ſet on the Exhortation, if I ſhould uſe no more, to Remember your Dangers and your Deliverances.
But ſecondly, another Motive is this, to Remember your Dangers with your Deliverances; this will in your great diſtreſſes and extremities, contribute ſome hope to you; to read over your Regiſter, your ancient Records, how good God hath been at ſuch a time, and ſuch a time; how ſeaſonably he ſtept in and delivered in ſuch a ſtrait and ſuch a ſtrait; Oh then ſays the Soul, why ſhould I deſpair, and caſt off all hope now? hath not he appeared and ſaved in Deaths often before now? for paſt experiences are good ſupports for Hope in preſent exigencies and extremities; thus David argues, when at a great ſtrait, Thou haſt delivered me, and wilt deliver me; and thus Paul, Thou haſt delivered me, and wilt deliver me. Haman found this a good way to Remember the years of the Lords right hand.
3. Remember your Dangers and Deliverances, for God Records them; they are filled up by God, and he will mind you of them another day if you forget them now; he keeps his Journals and Records; he hath his Book of Remembrance of your forgotten Mercies, as well as your forgotten ſins; God will one day read over all thoſe Deliverances you have forgotten; Oh poor Soul! did not I deliver thee in ſuch a Danger, in ſuch a Diſtreſs, in ſuch a Death, when there was no Hope, when there was no Help, yet all this haſt thou forgotten; forgotten thy Mercy, and forgotten the God of thy Mercy; Oh! will not this ſting you to the Heart, when God ſhall cauſe your ſtrangled, and murdered Mercies to walk in your Conſciences? when he ſhall give them a Reſurrection there?
4. Motive to Remember your Dangers and Deliverances: the Vows of God are upon you; Oh! what did you ſay to God in the day of your diſtreſs and calamity? Lord, if thou wilt now appear, and be a preſent help in time of trouble, it ſhall duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page never be forgotten, i… ſhall be remembred to the Lord as long as we have a day to live; but when God brings poor Souls off, many do not only forget their Vows, but deny them; In Ancient times it was uſual in eminent dangers, whether at Sea or Land, to make Vows; We read that Jonahs Mariners they Vowed Vows, (Jonah 1. 16.) David did thus, Thy Vows are upon me, O God! I will render praiſes unto thee, &c. Pſal. 56 11. (and in another place) I will pay thee my Vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath ſpoken when I was in trouble, (Pſal. 66. 13, 14.) But becauſe this is ſo ordinary to make Vows at Sea, and brake them a Shoar, let me enlarge a little upon it. 1. Why ſhould you forget your Vows after your Deliverances? They were not raſh Vows, there might have been ſome excuſe, if you had made them raſhly, you might then have had a Plea, for ſaying it was an Error; but in times of diſtreſs, men are ſerious, when Death and Eternity is ſet before them, and they upon the brink of another world; dare you ſinners raſhly Vow, in this day of your diſtreſs; O no, your Conſciences will bear witneſs againſt you, that you were in ſober-ſadneſs at that day. 2. Why ſhould you forget your Vows after your Deliverances, for God will require payment? Nay, this is not only the Reaſon why we ſhould not forget to pay, but why we ſhould not delay to pay; When thou vows a vow to the Lord thy God, thou ſhouldſt not ſlack to pay it, for the Lord thy God will require it, yea, will ſurely require it of thee, and is would …e ſin in thee, (Deut. 23. 21.) Take it for granted he will do it, yea, he will ſurely do it. 1. He will require it, ſo as to call to a payment day, he will demand it, he will ſend unto you a Summons to pay the Vows you made to him in the day of your Diſtreſs. Oh! how often is Conſcience Gods Officer, that he ſends to you to demand Payment? O ſays Conſ…ience, Sinner, pay what thou oweſt to the God of thy deliverances; is not he a God to whom the Vows muſt be performed? 2. He will require it, ſo as to puniſh the non-payment; and ſo requiring is here taken, and in many other places, the Lord doth very often ſeverely puniſh Vowbreaking; breaking of Vows doth cauſe God often to deſtroy the works of your hands. Say not before the Angel, It was an error, wherefore ſhould God be angry at thy Vows, and deſtroy the works of thy hands? (Eccleſ. 5. 4, 5.) Some Expoſitors refer this to the Prieſt, before whom the ſin of raſh vows was to be confeſt; others carry it to Chriſt, the Angel of the Covenant. who ſees through all our ſubtil excuſes and equivocations, and puniſhes them. O, God is angry when men go ſo flatly againſt their Vows; O then God is angry, and deſtroys the work of their hands, viz. diſappoints their endeavours, and denies them ſucceſs.
Laſtly, to forget your deliverances and dangers, is the greateſt ingratitude and unthankfulneſs in the world; hath God given you ſo many wonderful deliverances, ſo many miraculous preſervations, to be buried in the grave of oblivion? will you murder your mercies, and then bury them? It is commonly ſaid, Murder will out. Murdered Mercies will one day make terrible work, in walking in your Conſciences.
The next Obſervation is this, That Salvations and Deliverances many times are not ſent until perſons be left helpleſs and hopeleſs. I ſhall give you a touch of this. Now all hope of being ſaved was taken away, no ſmall tempeſt lay upon them; now they were gulft in deſpair of ever coming off with their lives: Yet this often is the condition of Nations, Ship-Companies, and Perſons, where God intends to ſave and deliver. The proofs of the laſt Obſervation about Dangers and Deliverances being recorded and remembred, proves this alſo. Thus was Peter ſaved, the Diſciples ſaved, when juſt at ſinking
But why doth God ſtay ſo long before he ſends deliverances and ſalvations? 1. Becauſe he delights to draw forth a ſpirit of prayer; if men will not pray when ſinking, when drowning, when dying, they will never pray. O ſee how Jonah prays in his diſtreſs: And Jonah prayed to the Lord out of the Fiſhes belly, and ſaid, I cried by reaſon of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of Hell cried I, and thou heardſt my voice, &c. When my Soul fainted within me, I remembred the Lord; and my Prayer came in unto thy holy Temple, (Jonah 2. 1, 2, 3, 7.) O Sirs, God loves prayer ſo well; that he ſtayes with his deliverances, that we might ſue them out by prayer. Out of the Depths have I cried unto thee, ſaith David, (Pſal. 130. 1.) Driven to it by deep and bottomleſs ſtraits, into which I am plunged. And it ſeems to be an alluſion to Marriners, in their diſtreſſes and dangers of being ſhipwrackt, crying unto the Lord. What will any man periſh, and never pray page missing Houſe, when he had ſo long been ſtarving in the Fields, with his Husks, amongſt the Swine!
4. Becauſe God will have all his Salvations and Deliverances look like his own hand and arm, his own arm brings ſalvation with him; he will have the print of his own hand upon it, that poor ſinners may ſay, This is the finger of God, the doings of God, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Alas, Men would attribute it to themſelves, if Salvation did not come in ſuch a way, when all hope of being ſaved is taken away. Oh! every thing is beautiful in its ſeaſon; Is not Salvation and Deliverance now in ſeaſon? now they begin to deſpair, as to probable or viſible hopes. O now God works like himſelf, now he appears in a deliverance to be God; which ſet the Diſciples a wondring, What manner of Man is this, that the Winds and Sea obey him? Mark 4. 41. And at another time, when he deliver'd his Diſciples at Sea, and calmed the Winds, then they that were in the Ship worſhipped him, ſaying, Of a truth thou are the Son of God, Matth. 14. 32, 33.
5. Becauſe he will by ſuch ſalvations ſet off his love to poor Souls: Was not the love of Chriſt ſet off highly, in taking that ſeaſon to ſave the Ship when it was full; to ſave them when they were finking; Is not that great Love, that ſteps forth to ſave in an Extremity? O what Love was this, to ſave this Ships Company, when all hope of being ſaved was taken away? Love always chuſes the fitteſt times to appear and evidence it ſelf.
Laſtly, Becauſe he will have his deliverances, endearing deliverances to Souls. O how doth ſuch an appearance of God, at ſuch a time, endear the Soul of the Receiver. Therefore, ſaith David, I will love the Lord, (or love the Lord dearly) my Rock and my Deliverer, &c.
But I will proceed to give you alſo a taſte of the Application, and not be large, becauſe I have been large upon the former, which was mainly intended.
1. Then learn we hence, that God may for gracious ends, known to himſelf, delay a mercy or a deliverance, and yet fully intends to give in that mercy. Jacob may wreſtle all night, and yet be put off; but in the break of day the mercy comes. The Woman of Canaan may cry to Chriſt for her Daughter, and at preſent be put off, yet at laſt ſhe ſhall carry it. The believing Soul may not have the Dove come with an Olive-branch in her Mouth until Evening. Chriſt's manifeſting of his love to poor Souls, is called his Supping with them; And I will ſup with you: Now ſupper comes not up till Evening.
2. Learn we hence, that God's timing our deliverances and ſalvations, is beſt for us; his time is the beſt time. Our time is always ready, (but ſaith Chriſt) My … is not yet. If we had our Mercies in our time, we ſhould not ſee that beauty in them; for every thing is beautiful in its ſeaſon: and God chuſes the fitteſt ſeaſons to ſeud them, becauſe he will put a beauty upon them.
3. Learn we hence, that no caſe is deſperate to God, though it be ſo to Man: One would have thought this a deſperate caſe, in ſuch a Storm, lightning the Ship, the caſting out of the Tackling of the Ship, neither Sun nor Stars appeared, and all hope of being ſaved taken away; yet all this was but deſperate to them, it was not ſo to God: now their extremity becomes God's opportunity, and he takes this juncture of time to appear in. Thus David, Pſal. 42. 7, 8. all God's waves and God's billows had gone over him; a deſperate caſe! yet God (then he believes) would command his loving kindneſs in the day-time, and his Song ſhould be with him in the Night. Faith is an excellent Grace at a deſperate ſtand.
4. Learn we hence, that God's thoughts are not as our thoughts; when we think of nothing but ſinking and periſhing, then doth God think of ſaving and delivering. They thought all hope of being ſaved was taken away, but God looks through the Storm and Cloud, and comforts them. As the Diſciples, when they thought it had been a Spirit in their Storm that appeared to them; No, ſaith Chriſt, be not afraid; be of good chear, it is I, Mark 6. 50, 51, 52.
Ʋſe 2. Is it ſo, that the ſalvations and deliverances that many of us have, are not until we be brought to extremities? then it is a word of Exhortation; Then look up to God in the moſt deſperate caſe, when you know not what to do in your Storms at Sea, in your Straits at Land. O then let your eyes be up unto the Lord; you ſee how many deliverances have come down in extremities, as anſwers to Prayer. O Pray hard; let going to Sea, being in Storms at Sea, being brought to Extremities at Sea, learn you to Pray.
FINIS.
PRAYERS.
The Mariners Prayer.
O GOD the great Creator of Heaven and Earth, thou doſt whatſoever thou pleaſeſt in the Sea, and in all deep places; I, the moſt unworthieſt of all thy Servants am at this time called upon to behold thy Wonders in the Deep, and to perform my Duty in great Waters. Guide me, I beſeech thee, in all times and in all places: Be thou our skilful Pilot to ſteer us, and protect us from all Dangers, and rebuke the Winds and the Seas when they moleſt us, preſerve our Veſſel from being rent by the loud cracks of Thunder, or from being burnt by Lightning or any other accident; keep us and ſave us from tempeſtuous Weather, from bitter Froſts, Hail, Ice, Snow, or Whirlwinds, and from Captivity and Slavery.
TEACH me, O God, to remember thee my Creator in the days of my Youth, to continually think upon thee, and to praiſe thy Name for all thy Mercies: Bleſs all our Friends, I beſeech thee, that are on Land, and let their Prayers for us be acceptable in thy ſight, and grant that our next meeting together may be for the better, and not for the worſe, even to the praiſing and magnifying of thy Holy Name, and Salvation of our own Souls in the great day of the Lord Jeſus, to whom with thee, and thy bleſſed Spirit, be aſcribed all Honour, Power, and Glory, Adoration, and Subjection, now and for evermore.
Amen.