Britains Mercies and Britains Duty Represented, Sermon
BRITAIN's Mercies, AND BRITAIN's Duty, REPRESENTED IN A SERMON PREACH'D at the NEW-BUILDING IN PHILADELPHIA, On SUNDAY Auguſt 24, 1746. OCCASION'D by the SUPPRESSION of the late Unnatural Rebellion.
By George Whitefield, A. B. Late of Pembroke College, OXON.
PHILADELPHIA: Printed and Sold by W. BRADFORD, at the BIBLE in Second-ſtreet, MDCCXLVI.
PSALM CV. 45.
That they might obſerve His Statutes and keep His Laws.
MEN, Brethren and Fathers, and all ye to whom I am about to preach the Kingdom of GOD, —I ſuppoſe you need not be informed, that being indiſpenſably obliged to be abſent on your late THANKSGIVING-DAY, I could not ſhew my Obedience to the Governor's Proclamation, as my own Inclination led me, or as might juſtly be expected from, and demanded of me—But as the Occaſion of that Day's Thankſgiving is yet, and I truſt ever will be, freſh in our Memory, I cannot think that a Diſcourſe on that Subject can even now be altogether unſeaſonable.—I take it for granted further, that you need not be informed, that among the various Motives which are generally urged to enforce Obedience to the divine Commands, that of Love is the moſt powerful and cogent.—The Terrors of the Law may afright and awe, but Love diſſolves and melts the Heart.—The Love of CHRIST, ſays the great Apoſtle of the Gentiles, conſtraineth us.—Nay, Love is ſo abſolutely neceſſary for thoſe that name the Name of CHRIST, that without it, their Obedience cannot truly be ſtiled Evangelical, or be acceptable in the Sight of God—Although, ſays the ſame Apoſtle, I beſtow all my Goods to feed the Poor, and though I give my Body to be burnt, and have not CHARITY, (i. e. unleſs unfeigned Love to GOD, and to Mankind for His great Name's ſake, be the Principle of ſuch Actions) howſoever it may benefit others, it profiteth ME nothing—This is the conſtant Language of the lively Oracles of GOD—And, from them it is equally plain, that nothing has a greater Tendency to beget and excite ſuch an obediential Love in us, than a ſerious and frequent Conſideration of the manifold Mercies we receive Time after Time from the Hands of our heavenly Father—The Royal Pſalmiſt, who had the Honour of being ſtiled, the Man after GOD's own Heart, had an abundant Experience of this.—Hence it is, that whilſt he is muſing on the divine Goodneſs, the Fire of divine Love kindles in his Soul; and, out of the Abundance of his Heart, his Mouth ſpeaketh ſuch grateful and extatick Language as this—What ſhall I render unto the Lord for all His Mercies? Bleſs the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me bleſs his holy Name.—And why? ;Who forgiveth all thine Iniquities, who healeth all thy Diſeaſes, who redeemeth thy Life from Deſtruction, who crowneth thee with loving Kindneſs and tender Mercies. And when the ſame Holy Man of GOD had a Mind to ſtir up the People of the Jews to ſet about a national Reformation, as the moſt weighty and prevailing Argument he could make uſe of for that purpoſe, he lays before them, as it were, in a Draught, many national Mercies, and diſtinguiſhing Deliverances, which had been confered upon, and wrought out for them, by the moſt high GOD.—The Pſalm to which the Words of our Text belong, is a pregnant Proof of this; it being a kind of Epitome or Compendium of the whole Jewiſh Hiſtory: At leaſt it contains an Enumeration of many ſignal and extraordinary Bleſſings the Iſraelites had received from GOD, and alſo the Improvement they were in Duty bound to make of them, viz. to obſerve his Statutes and keep his Laws.—
To run through all the Particulars of the Pſalm, or draw a Parallel (which might with great eaſe and juſtice be done) between God's dealings with us and the Iſraelites of old—To enumerate all the national Mercies beſtow'd upon, and remarkable Deliverances wrought out for the Kingdoms of Great-Britain, from the Infant State of WILLIAM the Conqueror, to their preſent Manhood, and more than Auguſtan Maturity, under the auſpicious Reign of our dread and rightful Sovereign KING GEORGE the Second; howſoever pleaſing and profitable it might be at any other time, would, at this Juncture, prove, if not an irkſome, yet an unſeaſonable Undertaking.——
The Occaſion of the late Solemnity, I mean the Suppreſſion of a moſt horrid and unnatural Rebellion, will afford more than ſufficient Matter for a Diſcourſe of this Nature, and furniſh us with abundant Motives to love and obey that glorious Jehovah, who giveth SALVATION unto KINGS, and delivers His People from the hurtful Sword.
Need I make an Apology, before this Auditory, if, in order to ſee the Greatneſs of our late Deliverance, I ſhould remind you of the many unſpeakable Bleſſings which we have for a Courſe of Years enjoy'd, during the Reign of His preſent MAJESTY, and the gentle mild Adminiſtration under which we live?—Without juſtly incurring the Cenſure of giving flattering Titles I believe all who have Eyes to ſee, and Ears to hear, and are but a little acquainted with our publick Affairs, muſt acknowledge, that we have one of the beſt of KINGS.—It is now above Nineteen Years ſince he began to reign over Us—And yet, was he to be ſeated on a Royal Throne, and were all his Subjects placed before him. Was he to addreſs them as Samuel once addreſſed the Iſraelites, Behold here I am, Old and Greyheaded, witneſs againſt me before the Lord, whoſe Ox have I taken? Or whoſe Aſs have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppreſſed? They muſt, if they would do him Juſtice, make the ſame Anſwer as was given to Samuel, Thou haſt not defrauded us, nor oppreſſed us. What Tertullus, by way of Flattery, ſaid to Felix, may with the ſtricteſt Juſtice be applied to our Sovereign, By thee we enjoy great Quietneſs, and very worthy Deeds have been done unto our Nation by thy Providence.—He has been indeed Pater Patriae, a Father to our Country, and, tho' old and greyheaded, has jeoparded his precious Life for us in the High Places of the Field.—Nor has he leſs deſerved that great and glorious Title which the Lord promiſes KINGS ſhould ſuſtain in the latter Days, I mean, a nurſing Father of the Church.—For not only the Church of England, as by Law eſtabliſhed, but Chriſtians of every Denomination whatſoever have enjoyed their religious, as well as civil, Liberties.—As there has been no authorized Oppreſſion in the State, ſo there has been no publickly allowed Perſecution in the Church—We breathe indeed in a free Air; as free (if not freer) both as to temporals and ſpirituals, as any Nation under Heaven.—Nor is the Proſpect likely to terminate in his MAJESTY's Death, which I pray GOD long to defer. —Our Princeſſes are diſpoſed of to Proteſtant Powers—And we have great Reaſon to be aſſured that the preſent Heir Apparent, and His Conſort, are like minded with their Royal Father.— And I cannot help thinking, that it is a peculiar Bleſſing vouchſafed us by the KING of KINGS, that his preſent MAJESTY has been continued ſo long among us—For now His immediate Succeſſor (though his preſent Situation obliges him, as it were, to lie dormant) has great and glorious. Opportunities, which we have Reaſon to think he daily improves, of obſerving and weighing the national Affairs, conſidering the various Steps and Turns of Government, and conſequently of laying in a large Fund of Experience to make him a wiſe and great Prince, if ever GOD ſhould call him to ſway the Britiſh Sceptre—Happy art thou, O England! Happy art thou, O America, who on every ſide are thus highly favoured!
But, alas! how ſoon would this happy Scene have ſhifted, and a melancholly gloomy Proſpect have ſucceeded in its room, had the Rebels gained their Point, and a Popiſh abjured Pretender been forced upon the Britiſh Throne!—For, ſuppoſing his Birth not to be ſpurious, (as we have great Reaſon to think it really was) what could we expect from one, deſcended from a Father, who, when Duke of York, put all Scotland into Confuſion, and afterwards, when crowned KING of England, for his Arbitrary and tyrannical Government both in Church and State, was juſtly obliged to abdicate the Throne, by the Aſſertors of Britiſh Liberty? Or, ſuppoſing the horrid Plot firſt hatched in Hell, and afterwards nurſed at Rome, had taken Place; ſuppoſing, I ſay, the old Pretender ſhould have exchanged his Cardinal's Cap for a Triple Crown, and have transferred his pretended Title (as it is reported he has done) to his Eldeſt Son, what was all this for, but that, by being advanced to the Popedom, he might rule both Son and Subjects with leſs controul, and, by their united Intereſt, keep the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, in greater Vaſſalage to the See of Rome? Ever ſince this unnatural Rebellion broke out, I have looked upon the young Pretender as the Phaeton of the preſent Age.—He is ambitiouſly and preſumptuouſly aiming to ſeat himſelf in the Throne of our rightful Sovereign KING GEORGE, which he is no more capable of maintaining than PHAETON was to guide the Chariot of the Sun; and had he ſucceeded in his Attempt, like him, would only have ſet the World on Fire.—It is true, to do him Juſtice, he has deſerved well of the Church of Rome, and, in all probability, will hereafter be canonized amongſt the noble Order of their fictitious Saints—But, with what an Iron Rod we might expect to have been bruized, had his Troops been Victorious, may eaſily be imagin'd from thoſe cruel Orders, found in the Pockets of ſome of his Officers, "Give no Quarter to the Elector's Troops."—Add to this, that there was great Reaſon to ſuſpect, that, upon the firſt News of the Succeſs of the Rebels, a general Maſſacre was intended—So that if the Lord had not been on our ſide, Great-Britain, not to ſay America, would, in a few Weeks, or Months, have been an Accidama, a Field of Blood.—Beſides, was a Popiſh Pretender to rule over us, inſtead of being repreſented by a free Parliament, and governed by Laws made by their Conſent, as we now are, we ſhould ſhortly have had only the Shadow of one, and, it may be, no Parliament at all.—This is the native Product of a Popiſh Government, and what the unhappy Family, from which this YOUNG ADVENTURER pretends to be deſcended, has always aimed at.—Arbitrary Principles he has ſucked in with his Mother's Milk; and if he had been ſo honeſt, inſtead of that immature Motto upon his Standard, Tandem triumphans, only to have put, Stet pro Ratione Voluntas, he had given us a ſhort, but true, Portraiture of the Nature of his intended, but, bleſſed be GOD, now defeated Reign.—And, why ſhould I mention, that the Loſs of the national Debt, and the Diſſolution of the preſent happy Union between the two Kingdoms, would have been the immediate Conſequences of his Succeſs, as he himſelf declares in his ſecond Manifeſto, dated from Holyrood Houſe? Theſe are Evils, and great ones too; but then they are only Evils of a temporary Nature—They chiefly concern the Body, and muſt neceſſarily terminate in the Grave— But, alas! What an Inundation of ſpiritual Miſchiefs would ſoon have overflowed the Church, and what unſpeakable Danger ſhould we and our Poſterity have been reduced to in reſpect to our better Parts, our precious and immortal Souls? How ſoon would whole ſwarms of Monks, Dominicans and Friars, like ſo many Locuſts, have overſpread and plagued the Nation?—With what winged ſpeed would foreign titular Biſhops have poſted over in order to take Poſſeſſion of their reſpective Sees?—How quickly would our Univerſities have been filled with Youths who have been ſent abroad by their Popiſh Parents, in order to drink in all the Superſtitions of the Church of Rome?—What a ſpeedy Period would have been put to Societies of all Kinds, for promoting Chriſtian Knowledge, and propagating the Goſpel in foreign Parts? How ſoon would our Pulpits have every where been filled with thoſe old antichriſtian Doctrines, Freewill, Meriting by Works, Tranſubſtantiation, Purgatory, Works of Supererogation, Paſſive Obedience, Non-reſiſtance, and all the other Abominations of the Whore of Babylon?—How ſoon would our Proteſtant Charity-Schools in England, Scotland and Ireland, have been pulled down, our BIBLES forcibly taken from us, and Ignorance every where ſet up as the Mother of Devotion?—How ſoon ſhould we have been depriv'd of that invaluable Bleſſing, LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE, and been obliged to commence (what they falſely call) Catholicks, or ſubmit to all the Tortures which a biggotted Zeal, guided by the moſt cruel Principles, could poſſibly invent?—How ſoon would that Mother of Harlots have made herſelf once more drunk with the Blood of the Saints, and the whole Tribe even of Free-thinkers themſelves, been brought to this Dilemma, either to die Martyrs for, (tho' I never yet heard of one that did ſo) or, contrary to all their moſt avowed Principles, renounce their great Diana, unaſſiſted, unenlightened Reaſon?—But I muſt have done,—leſt while I am ſpeaking againſt Antichriſt, I ſhould unawares fall myſelf, and lead my Hearers into an antichriſtian Spirit.— True and undefiled Religion will regulate our Zeal, and teach us to treat even the Man of Sin, with no harſher Language than that which the Angel gave his grand employer Satan, The Lord rebuke thee.
Glory be to His great NAME, the LORD has rebuked him, and that too at a Time when we had little reaſon to expect ſuch a BLESSING at GOD's Hands.—My dear Hearers, neither the preſent Frame of my Heart, nor the Occaſion of your late ſolemn Meeting, lead me to give you a Detail of our Publick Vices—Tho' alas! they are ſo many, ſo notorious, and withal of ſuch a Crimſon-dye, that a Goſpel Miniſter would not be altogether inexcuſable, was he, even on ſuch a joyful Occaſion, to lift up his Voice like a Trumpet, to ſhew the Britiſh Nation their Tranſgreſſion, and the People of America their Sin.—However, tho' I would not caſt a diſmal Shade upon the pleaſing Picture the Cauſe of our late rejoycings ſet before us; yet thus much may, and ought to be ſaid, viz. that, as GOD has not dealt ſo bountifully with any People as with us, ſo no Nation under Heaven has dealt more ungratefully with Him.—We have been, like Capernaum, lifted up to Heaven in Priviledges, and, for the Abuſe of them, like her, have deſerved to be thruſt down into Hell.—How well ſoever it may be with us, in reſpect to our civil and eccleſiaſtick Conſtitution, yet, in regard to our Morals, Iſaiah's Deſcription of the Jewiſh Polity is too too applicable, The whole Head is ſick, the whole Heart is faint, from the Crown of the Head to the Sole of our Feet, we are full of Wounds and Bruiſes, and putrifying Sores. We have, Jeſhurun like, waxed fat and kicked.—We have played the Harlot againſt GOD, both in regard to Principles and Practice.—Our Gold is become dim, and our fine Gold changed.—We have crucified the Son of GOD afreſh, and put him to an open ſhame—Nay, CHRIST has been wounded in the Houſe of his Friends—And every thing long ago ſeemed to threaten an immediate Storm.—But, Oh the Long-ſuffering and Goodneſs of GOD to-us-ward! When all Things ſeemed ripe for Deſtruction, and Matters were come to ſuch a Criſis, that GOD's praying People began to think, that tho' Noah, Daniel and Job were living, they would only deliver their own Souls; yet then, in the midſt of Judgment, the moſt High remembred Mercy, and when a Popiſh Enemy was breaking in upon us like a Flood, the Lord himſelf graciouſly lifted up a Standard.
This to me does not ſeem to be one of the moſt unfavourable Circumſtances, which have attended this MIGHTY DELIVERANCE; nor do I think you will look upon it as altogether unworthy Your Obſervation— Had this Cockatrice indeed been cruſhed in the Egg, and the Young Pretender driven back upon his firſt Arrival, it would undoubtedly have been a great Bleſſing.—But not ſo great as that for which you lately aſſembled to give GOD THANKS: For then His MAJESTY would not have had ſo good an Opportunity of knowing his Enemies, or trying his Friends.—The Britiſh Subjects would, in a Manner, have loſt the faireſt Occaſion that ever offered to expreſs their Loyalty and Gratitude to their RIGHTFUL SOVEREIGN.—France would not have been ſo greatly humbled; nor ſuch an effectual Stop have been put, as we truſt there now is, to any ſuch further Popiſh Plot, to rob us of all that is near and dear to us.—Out of the Eater therefore hath come forth Meat, and out of the Strong hath come forth Sweetneſs.—The Pretender's Eldeſt Son is ſuffered not only to land in the North-Weſt Highlands in Scotland, but in a little while to become a great Band.—This for a Time is not believed, but treated as a Thing altogether incredible.—The Friends of the Government in thoſe Parts, not for want of Loyalty, but of ſufficient Authority to take up Arms, could not reſiſt him—He is permitted to paſs on with his terrible Banditti, and, like the Comet that was lately ſeen (a Preſage it may be of this very Thing) ſpreads his baleful Influences all around him.—He is likewiſe permitted to gain a ſhort liv'd Triumph by a Victory over a Body of our Troops at Preſton-Pans, and to take a temporary Poſſeſſion of the Metropolis of Scotland.—Of this he makes his Boaſt, and informs the Publick (they are his own Words) that Providence had hitherto favoured him with wonderful Succeſs, led him in the Way to Victory, and to the Capital of the ancient Kingdom, though he came without foreign Aid. —Nay he is further permitted to preſs into the very Heart of England.—But now the Almighty interpoſes,—Hitherto he was to go, and no further. —Here were his malicious Deſigns to be ſtaid— His Troops of a ſudden are driven back—Away they poſt to the Highlands, and there they are ſuffered not only to increaſe, but alſo to collect themſelves into a large Body, that having, as it were, what Caligula once wiſh'd Rome had, but one Neck, they might be cut off with one Blow.
The Time, Nature, and Inſtrument of this Victory deſerve our Notice.—It was on a general FAST-DAY, when the Clergy and good Peo-of Scotland were lamenting the Diſloyalty of their perfidious Countrymen, and like Moſes lifting up their Hands, that Amaleck might not prevail—The Victory was total and deciſive— Little Blood was ſpilt on the Side of the Royaliſts—And to crown all, DUKE WILLIAM, His MAJESTY's YOUNGEST SON, has the Honour of firſt driving back, and then defeating the Rebel Army—A PRINCE, who in his Infancy and Nonage, gave early Proofs of an uncommon Bravery, and Nobleneſs of Mind.—A PRINCE, whoſe Courage has encreaſed with his Years; who returned Wounded from the Battle of Dettingen, behav'd with ſurprizing Bravery at Fontenoy, and now, by a Conduct and Magnanimity becoming the high Office he ſuſtains, like his glorious Predeceſſor the Prince of Orange, has once more delivered three Kingdoms from the Dread of Popiſh Cruelty, and arbitrary Power—What renders it ſtill more remarkable is this—The Day on which His Highneſs gained this Victory was the Day after his BIRTH-DAY, when he was entering on the Twenty Sixth Year of his Age;—And when Sullivan, one of the Pretender's Privy Council, like another Ahitophel, adviſed the Rebels to give our Soldiers Battle, preſuming they were ſurfeited and overcharged with their Yeſterday's Rejoycings, and conſequently unfit to make any great Stand againſt them—But Glory be to GOD, who catches the Wiſe in their own Craftineſs! His Counſel, like Ahitophel's, proves abortive—Both General and Soldiers were prepared to meet them—God taught their Hands to war, and their Fingers to fight, and brought the DUKE, after a bloody and deſerved Slaughter of ſome thouſands of the Rebels, with moſt of his brave Soldiers, victorious from the field.
Were we to take a diſtinct view of this notable Tranſaction, and trace it in all the particular Circumſtances that have attended it, I believe we muſt with one Heart and Voice confeſs, that if it be a Mercy for a State to be delivered from a worſe than a Catiline's Conſpiracy; or a Church to be reſcued from a hotter than a Diocleſian Perſecution—If it be a Mercy to be delivered from a Religion that turns Plow-ſhares into Swords and Pruning-Hooks into Spears, and makes it meritorious to ſhed Proteſtant Blood—If it be a Mercy to have all our preſent invaluable Priviledges, both in Church and State, ſecured to us more than ever—If it be a Mercy to have theſe GREAT THINGS done for us at a Seaſon when, for our crying Sins both Church and State juſtly deſerved to be overturned;—And if it be a Mercy to have all this brought about for us, under GOD, by one of the BLOOD ROYAL, a Prince acting with an Experience far above his Years.—If any or all of theſe are Mercies, then have you lately commemorated one of the greateſt Mercies that ever the glorious GOD vouchſaf'd the Britiſh Nation.—
And ſhall we not REJOYCE and give THANKS? Should we refuſe, would not the Stones cry out againſt us?—Rejoyce then we may and ought: But, Oh! let our Rejoicing be in the LORD, and run in a religious Channel. This we find has been the Practice of GOD's People in all Ages.—When he was pleaſed, with a mighty Hand and outſtretched Arm to lead the Iſraelites through the Red Sea, as on dry Ground. Then ſang Moſes and the Children of Iſrael; and Miriam the Propheteſs, the Siſter of Aaron, took a Timbrel in her Hand, and all the Women went out after her. And Miriam anſwered them, ſing ye to the LORD; for he hath triumphed gloriouſly. When GOD ſubdued Jabin the King of Canaan before the Children of Iſrael, Then ſang Deborah and Barak on that Day, ſaying, Praiſe ye the LORD for the avenging of Iſrael. When the Ark was brought back out of the Hands of the Philiſtines, David, tho' a King, danced before it.—And, to mention but one Inſtance more, which may ſerve as a general Directory to us on this and ſuch like Occaſions; When the great Head of the Church, had reſcued his People from the general Maſſacre intended to be executed upon them by a cruel and ambitious Haman, Mordecai ſent Letters unto all the Jews that were in all the Provinces of the King Ahaſuerus, both nigh and far, to eſtabliſh among them, that they ſhould keep the Fourteenth Day of the Month Adar, and the Fifteenth Day of the ſame yearly, as the Days wherein the Jews reſted from their Enemies, and the Month which was turned unto them from Sorrow unto Joy, and from Mourning into a good Day: That they ſhould make them Days of Feaſting and Joy, and of ſending Portions one to another, and Gifts to the Poor? And why ſhould not we go and do likewiſe?
And ſhall we forget, on ſuch an Occaſion, to expreſs our Gratitude to, and make honourable mention of, thoſe Worthies, who have ſignaliz'd themſelves, and been ready to ſacrifice both Lives and Fortunes at this critical Juncture?— This would be to act the Part of thoſe ungrateful Iſraelites, who are branded in the Book of GOD, for not ſhewing Kindneſs to the Houſe of Jerubbaal, a …ely Gideon, according to all the Goodneſs which he ſhewed unto Iſrael. Even a Pharoah could prefer a deſerving Joſeph, Ahaſuerus a Mordecai, and Nebuchadnezar a Daniel, when made Inſtruments of ſignal Service to themſelves and People.—My Heart, ſays Deborah, is towards (i. e. I have a particular Veneration and Regard for) the Governors of Iſrael, that offered themſelves willingly.—And Bleſſed, adds ſhe, above Women ſhall Jael the Wife of Heber the Kenite be: For ſhe put her Hand to the Nail, and her right Hand to the Workman's Hammer, and with the Hammer ſhe ſmote Siſera, ſhe ſmote off his Head, when ſhe had pierced and ſtricken thro' his Temples. And ſhall not we ſay, "Bleſſed, above Men, let His Royal Highneſs the DUKE OF CUMBERLAND be: For, thro' his inſtrumentality, the great and glorious JEHOVAH hath brought mighty Things to paſs?"—Should not our Hearts be towards the worthy Archbiſhop of York, the Royal Hunters, and thoſe other Engliſh Heroes, who offered themſelves ſo willingly? —Let the Names of BLAKENEY, BLAND and REA, and all thoſe who waxed valiant in Fight, on this important Occaſion, live for ever in the Britiſh Annals. —Let that worthy Clergyman who endured Five hundred Laſhes from the cruel Enemy, (every one of which the generous DUKE ſaid, he felt himſelf) be never forgotten by the Miniſters of CHRIST in particular......And let the Name of that great that incomparably brave Soldier of the KING, and good Soldier of JESUS CHRIST, Colonel GARDINER, (excuſe me if I here vent a Sigh, —He was my intimate Friend) let his Name, I ſay, be had in everlaſting Remembrance— His Majeſty has led us an Example of Gratitude Acting like himſelf, upon the firſt News of this brave Man's Death, he ſent immediate Orders that his Family ſhould be taken Care of.—The noble DUKE gave a Commiſſion immediately to his eldeſt Son.—And the ſympathizing Prince of Heſſe paid a Viſit of Condolance to his ſorrowful elect and worthy Lady— The Britiſh Parliament have made a publick Acknowledgement of the Obligation the Nation lies under to His Royal Highneſs.—And ſurely the leaſt we can do, is to make a publick and grateful Mention of their Names, to whom under God, we owe ſo much Gratitude and Thanks. —
But, after all, is there not an infinitely greater Debt of Gratitude and Praiſe due from us, on this Occaſion, to him that is Higher than the Higheſt, even the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS, the Bleſſed and only POTENTATE? Is it not his Arm, his ſtrong and mighty Arm, (what Inſtruments ſoever may have been made uſe of) that hath brought us THIS Salvation? And may I not therefore addreſs you, in the exulting Language of the Beginning of this Pſalm, from which we have taken our Text? O give Thanks unto the Lord; call upon his Name, make known his Deeds among the People. —Sing unto him—Sing Pſalms unto him:—Talk ye of all his wondrous Works—Glory ye in his holy Name—Remember this marvellous Work which he hath done.
But ſhall we put off our good and gracious Benefactor, with a mere Lip-Service? GOD forbid. —Your worthy GOVERNOR has honoured GOD in his late excellent Proclamation, and GOD will honour him—But ſhall our Thanks terminate with the Day?—No, in no wiſe—Our Text reminds us of a more noble Sacrifice, and points out to us the great End the Almighty JEHOVAH propoſes, in beſtowing ſuch ſignal Favours upon a People, viz. That they ſhould obſerve his Statutes and keep his Laws......
This is the Return we are all taught to pray that we may make to the moſt High GOD, the Father of Mercies, in the daily Office of our Church, viz. That our Hearts may be unfeignedly Thankful, and that we may ſhew forth his Praiſe, not only with our Lips but in our Lives, by giving up our ſelves to his Service, and by walking before him in Holineſs and Righteouſneſs all our Days.—Oh that theſe Words were the real Language of all that uſe them! Oh that there was in us ſuch a Mind!—How ſoon would our Enemies then flee before us, and GOD, even our own GOD, yet give us more abundant Bleſſings!—
And, why ſhould we not obſerve GOD's Statutes and keep his Laws?—Dare any ſay that any of his Commands are grievous?—Is not CHRIST's Yoak, to a renewed Soul, as far as renewed, eaſy; and his Burden comparatively light?—May I not appeal to the moſt refined Reaſoner, whether the Religion of JESUS CHRIST be not a ſocial Religion?—Whether the moral Law, as explained by the Lord JESUS in the Goſpel, has not a natural Tendency to promote the preſent Good and Happineſs of a whole Common-Wealth, ſuppoſing they were obedient to …, as well as the Happineſs of every individual?—From whence come Wars and Fightings amongſt us? From what Fountain do all thoſe Evils, which the preſent and paſt Ages have groaned under, flow, but from a Neglect of the Laws and Statutes of our great and all-wiſe Law-giver JESUS of Nazareth?—Tell me, ye Men of Letters, whether Lycurgus or Solon, Pythagoras or Plato, Ariſtotle, Seneca, Cicero, or all the ancient Law-givers and Heathen Moraliſts, put them alltogether, ever publiſhed a Syſtem of Ethicks, any way worthy to be compared with the glorious Syſtem laid down in that much deſpiſed Book, (to uſe Sir Richard Steele's Expreſſion) emphatically called the Scriptures? Is not the Divine Image, and Superſcription written upon every Precept of the Goſpel? Do they not ſhine with a native intrinſick Luſtre? And, tho' many Things in them are above, yet, is there any thing contrary to the ſtricteſt Laws of right Reaſon?—Is not JESUS CHRIST, in Scripture, ſtiled the Word, the foreign the Reaſon? And is not his Service juſtly ſtiled foreign a reaſonable Service?—What if there be Myſteries in his Religion?—Are they not without all Controverſy great and glorious?—Are they not Myſteries of Godlineſs, and worthy that GOD who reveals them?—Nay, is it not the greateſt Myſtery that Men who pretend to Reaſon, and call themſelves Philoſophers, who ſearch into the Arcana Naturae, and conſequently find a Myſtery in every Blade of Graſs, ſhould yet be ſo irrational as to decry all Myſteries in Religion?— Where is the Scribe? Where is the Wiſe? Where is the Diſputer againſt the Chriſtian Revelation?—Does not every thing without and within us conſpire to prove its divine Original? And would not Self-Intereſt, if there was no other Motive, excite us to obſerve GOD's Statutes and keep his Laws?
Beſides, conſidered as a Proteſtant People, do we not lie under the greateſt Obligations of any Nation under Heaven, to pay a chearful, unanimous, univerſal, perſevering OBEDIENCE to the …ine Commands?
The wonderful and ſurprizing Manner of GOD's bringing about a Reformation, in the Reign of King HENRY the Eighth—His carrying it on in the bleſſed Reign of King EDWARD the Sixth— His delivering us out of the Bloody Hands of Queen Mary, and deſtroying the Spaniſh invincible Armada, under her immediate Proteſtant Succeſſor Queen ELIZABETH—His Diſcovery of the Popiſh Plot under King JAMES—The glorious Revolution by King WILLIAM—And, to come nearer to our own Times, His driving away four Thouſand five Hundred Spaniards, from a weak (tho' important) Frontier Colony, when they had, in a Manner, actually taken Poſſeſſion of it.—His giving us Louisbourg, one of the ſtrengeſt Fortreſſes of our Enemies, contrary to all human Probability, but the other Day, into our Hands, (Which may encourage our Hopes of Succeſs, ſuppoſing it carried on in a like Spirit, in our intended Canada Expedition)—Theſe, I ſay, with the Victory which you have lately been commemorating, are ſuch national Mercies, not to mention any more, as will render us utterly inexcuſable, if they do not produce a national Reformation, and incite us all, with one Heart, to obſerve God's Statutes, and keep his Laws.
Need I remind you further, in order to excite in you a greater Diligence to comply with the Intent of the Text, that tho' the Storm, in a great Meaſure is abated by his Royal Highneſs's late Succeſs, yet we dare not ſay, it is altogether blown over?
The Clouds may again return after the Rain; and the few ſurviving Rebels (which I pray God avert) may yet be ſuffered to make Head againſt us—We are ſtill engaged in a bloody, and in all probability, a tedious War, with two of the moſt inveterate Enemies to the Intereſts of Great-Britain—And, tho' I cannot help thinking, that their preſent Intentions are ſo Iniquitous, their Conduct ſo perfidious, and their Schemes ſo directly derogatory to the Honour of the moſt High God, that He will certainly Humble them in the End; yet, as all Things, in this Life, happen alike to all, they may for a Time be dreadful Inſtruments of ſcourging us— If not, God has other Arrows in his Quiver to ſmite us with, beſides the French King, his Catholick Majeſty, or an abjured Pretender.—Not only the Sword, but Plague, Peſtilence and Famine are under the divine Command—Who knows, but he may ſay to them all, Paſs through theſe Lands?—A fatal Murram has lately ſwept away abundance of Cattle at Home and abroad—A like epidemical Diſeaſe may have a Commiſſion to ſeize our Perſons as well as our Beaſts— Thus GOD dealt with the Egyptians— Who dare ſay, He will not deal in the ſame Manner with us?—Has he not already given ſome Symptoms of it?—What great Numbers upon the Continent have been lately taken off by the Bloody-Flux, Small-Pox, and Yellow Fever? Who can tell what further Judgments are yet in Store? However this is certain, the Rod is yet hanging over us;— And, I believe it will be granted, on all ſides, that if ſuch various Diſpenſations of Mercy and Judgment, do not teach the Inhabitants of any Land to learn Righteouſneſs, they will only ripen them for a greater Ruin— Give me leave, therefore, to diſmiſs you at this Time with that ſolemn awful Warning and Exhortation with which the Prophet Samuel, on a Publick Occaſion, took leave of the People of Iſrael. Only fear the Lord and ſerve him, in Truth, with all your Heart: For conſider, how great Things he hath done for you. But if ye ſhall ſtill do wickedly, [I will not ſay as he did, you SHALL be conſumed; but] ye know not but you may provoke him to conſume both you and your King. Which GOD of his infinite Mercy prevent, for the Sake of JESUS CHRIST: To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghoſt, three Perſons but one God, be all Honour and Glory, now and forever more. Amen, Amen.
FINIS.
End of the text · George Whitefield, Britains Mercies and Britains Duty Represented (1746)