In Time of War 2
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Deism and infidelity have also of late made inroads upon us. Men do not like such a holy religion as that which Christ has instituted, and therefore they cavil at it, and go about to patch up another of their own, more favourable to their lusts and pleasures. Perhaps it may be put to trial in the general ruin of our country, whether any religion can support a sinking soul like the religion of Jesus. Then it may appear that "their rock is not as our Rock, our enemies themselves being judges." Deuteronomy 32:31. Then you who are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; you who make Mammon your god, you who adore the glimmering light of reason instead of the Sun of Righteousness; then "go and cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation!" Judges 10:14.
Now, if the outward conduct of men is generally so bad, alas! what shall we think of their hearts, the secret springs of action within? Oh! what lusts make their dens there! How many cold, hard, disloyal hearts towards God and his Son are to be found in our land! How many impenitent souls--who never have been broken into deep repentance! How many worldly, sensual minds--who grovel in the earth, and have little or no thought of God, of divine things, or of their everlasting state! How many secret neglecter's of Christ and salvation through him! Alas! how few hearts long and languish for him! How few are acquainted with the experiences of true, vital Christianity! How few are earnestly striving to enter in at the strait gate, and labouring to be holy in all manner of conversation! How few are mourning for their own sins, and those of the land, and pouring out their prayers night and day in behalf of their country!
What practical atheism prevails among us as to the dispensations of Providence! Multitudes do not live in the world as though it were under the Divine government. They seem not "to regard the work of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands," Psalm 28:5, in drought and rains, in war and peace, or in any of the blessings or calamities of life; but they look to secondary causes only, as the instruments of divine Providence; and what is this but practically to abjure and renounce Jehovah from being the ruler of the world he has made! And can he tolerate such rebellion in his subjects? Is it not fit that he should convince them of his supreme government, by terrible things in righteousness, and make them know that he is the Lord--and that they are but men?
But I am weary of this melancholy history; and I own that I am not able to paint it in colours gloomy enough. We are a "sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! We have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned our backs on him!" Isaiah 1:4. We are abusers of his mercy, and despisers of his chastisements; we are transgressors of his law, and neglecter's of the gospel of Christ; we have all sinned--from the highest to the lowest. This is the fruitful source of all our calamities, and the most threatening circumstance that attends us; though there is another very discouraging, and that is--
2. Our SECURITY and inactivity in times past. Our enemies have not come upon us unaware. We had time enough to learn the art of war, and to furnish ourselves with arms--but we would not realize the danger! and now when we begin to be apprehensive of it, the hurry and the consternation will not allow us to make such preparations as we otherwise might. God has also given usspace for repentance; and this is certainly an important preparative; but, alas! how has it been neglected! What a thoughtless, impenitent people have we been! and how justly may God give us up to the common fate of the presumptuous and secure: "for when they shall say 'peace and safety'--then sudden destruction shall come upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape!" 1 Thess. 5:3.
The rumour of war, and the call of God to repentance, have been the more alarming, as we have been punished with so severe adrought, which alone is no small calamity; and the next year, which will feel its consequences, will make us sensible of it.
I might mention sundry other causes of our present danger: as the unhappy factions about trifles between the branches of the legislature--the disunited state of the sundry British colonies--our criminal neglect of proper measures to Christianize the Indians, and conciliate them to us in that surest bond--our allowing abandoned traders to intoxicate them with strong drink, and defraudthem of their property--our neglecting to keep garrisons on our frontiers, etc. But I must hasten to our second general head.
II. To point out the most promising measure to prevent or escape the danger and ruin of our country.
And my first advice, (and oh! that my voice could sound it to the remotest parts of the country) is this: Repent! O my countrymen, Repent! SIN is the cause of our danger! Sin is the bane of our land! And this cause cannot be removed, but by sincere repentance! Search and try your ways, and turn unto the Lord." Lam. 3:40. Recollect your own sins in heart and life; andmourn over them, hate them, forsake them, proclaim eternal war against these enemies of your country and of your souls. As much sin as every one of you have been guilty of--by so much has every one of you contributed to the destruction of your country. Therefore, let there be a great mourning among you; let every one of you mourn "by yourselves." Zech. 12:12. Down on your knees before your injured Sovereign; confess you have been ungrateful rebels; acknowledge the justice of the punishment, even though he should cut you off. Vow, and resolve, if you have done iniquity--to do it no more.
Take a survey also of the sins of your country, and lament over them as your own. And to your repentance, join fasting, as aproper expression of it. I cannot give you a more proper direction than what I shall read to you out of the prophecy of Joel, which was addressed to a people in the like dangerous circumstances; and see what encouragement is given to such humiliation: "Even now,' declares the LORD, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing!" Joel 2:12-14.
Join earnest prayer to your repentance and fasting. Cry aloud to God for your country; for your liberty, your property, your religion, your lives, your all--cry to God in secret, in your families, in public; and form yourselves into little societies here and there for prayer. You prayer-less families, now begin to worship the God who preserves you, lest he "pour out his fury upon you with the heathen, and the families that call not upon his name." Jeremiah 10:25. In this way the weak and timorous, even women and children, may fight for their country; and from this assistance, which you may give in a peaceful corner, our army may derive their victory; for the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16.
If the present threatening circumstances of our country should take this happy turn; oh! if it should bring the thoughtless inhabitants to repentance and reformation, I would count it the most blessed event my eyes have ever seen! Let each of us labour to promote so happy an effect.
If any of you are frightened about your everlasting state, and you would desire to live longer, to make all sure--to such of you I would say, that now you find the bad effects of your former negligence--had you given all diligence to make your calling and election sure--you would not have been left in such perplexity in the hour of difficulty. You have no other way now--but diligently to improve the time you have. As for such of you as are really unprepared for your latter end, and justly conscious of it; I have sundry things to say to you, and oh! that they may sink deep into your hearts.
First, How may it shock you to think, that you who have lived so long in the world, should now need more time to turn to God, and prepare for eternity? Alas! what have you done with the ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years that God has given you for this purpose? Ah! are they all gone, without doing any of the great work you were sent into the world for? Have they all been wasted upon sin, the flesh, and the world, and sacrificed to the devil! Have you been destroying yourselves all this time! Oh! sirs, have I not told you of this--but in vain? Have I not often warned you of the danger of delays in turning to God? Will you now, at length, believe me? Will you now conclude that it is high time for you to regard the things that belong to your eternal peace?
Secondly, If the reason why you desire to preserve your lives longer, is that you may have time to turn to God, and prepare for eternity--then you are carefully improving the time you now have. It is a vain pretence that you want more time for this, if you do not use the time you have. And are you sincerely doing so? Are you seeking the Lord in earnest, and endeavouring to repent and turn to him? If not, you only want time to sin longer--to pursue the world and your pleasures longer! And can you expect God will indulge you in such a wicked desire?
Thirdly, it is not the lack of time--but the lack of a sincere heart, which keeps you unconverted. Paul was converted in three days, the jailer in a few hours, and Peter's hearers under one short sermon; and why may you not hope for the like blessing, if you exert yourselves in earnest?
Fourthly, to excite you to this, let me try an argument or two from a new topic. It is you, and such sinners as you--who have brought all these calamities upon your country. Impenitent sinners are the bane of society, and bring down the wrath of God upon it. Therefore, if you would serve your country--then you must repent and be converted. What a cutting thought may it now be to you, "I am one of the guilty creatures for whom my country is now suffering!"
Consider also, if the things you fear should come upon you--then how miserable would you be!
An angry God above you;
a withering, ravaged country, an aceldema, a field of blood around you;
a guilty conscience within you;
and a burning hell just before you!
Then you will borrow the despairing complaint of Saul. "The Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me!" 1 Sam. 28:15. Then you will see the use of true religion, and bitterly lament your neglect of it. Therefore now make that your superlative concern.
I shall CONCLUDE with two or three remarks.
First, Let us not be too much discouraged. Our country is in danger of famine and the sword; but the case is not desperate. Do not, therefore, give it up as a lost case. Our inhabitants are numerous; some parts of the country have promising crops; our army, we hope, is not entirely cut off; the New England forces are likely to succeed in their expeditions; and we have a gracious, though a provoked God over all. Therefore, let us not despond, nor let us think it hard to suffer a little, in such a world as this. Let us not think it a mighty matter, that we who have forfeited every blessing, should fall into poverty. We may still have food and clothing somewhere or other--so why should we complain?
It is one character of a godly man, that "he is not afraid of evil tidings." Psalm 112:7. "Even though the fig trees," says Habakkuk, "have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty--yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!" Hab. 3:17, 18.
What a noble spirit appears in the forty-sixth Psalm. "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" Psalm 46:1-3
"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it, and is safe!" Proverbs 18:10.
To have a Friend in heaven, a Friend who is the Lord Almighty, what a strong support is this! And what is that religion good for--which will not support a man under trials? It has been a kind of a gracious calamity to our land, that we have not had anything to try our religion, and to distinguish the chaff from the wheat. Now, perhaps the trying time is coming; and "he who endures to the end shall be saved." Matthew 10:22.
Let me address this in particular to such of you as sincerely fear the Lord. You are safe, come what will. Therefore, do not disgrace your religion, by unmanly, cowardly fears; but like David, when he had lost all--encourage yourselves in your God. 1 Sam. 30:6. But,
Secondly, Let us not be too presumptuous. "Be not high-minded--but fear." I am most afraid that you should fall into this extreme. We have many reasons to fear; we are a sinful land; we are but poorly provided against war or famine: it is fit we should in our turn experience the fate of other nations, that we may know what sort of a world we live in. It is certain many will be great sufferers by the drought; and many lives will be lost in our various expeditions; our poor friends in the frontier counties are slaughtered and scalped. In short, it is certain, be the final outcome what it will--that our country will suffer a great deal; therefore, be humble.
Thirdly, Be diligent in prayer for our army, for the unhappy families in our frontiers, etc. "And may the Lord Almighty be with us, and the God of Jacob be our refuge." Psalm 46:7.
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