Difference between revisions of "MEDITATION XXVI."
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Latest revision as of 17:12, 5 January 2020
MEDITATION XXVI.
SOME SLAIN BY MERCIES, AS WELL AS BY JUDGMENTS.
Spithead, May 22, 1758.
Grace, and grace alone, can conquer the heart of man. For, I have not seen one, who had all manner of misfortunes in his family, substance, relations, character, and person—his family carried off by strange deaths, his substance reduced to nothing, his pomp blown away like a cloud of smoke, his friends falling into grievous calamities, his character suffering by every tongue, the heavens revealing his iniquity, and the earth rising up against him, and his body long the dwelling place of loathsome disease, until death has sent his stinking carcase to the rotten grave! And yet the man remains an unrepentant sinner to the last!
Also, have I not seen the soldier, and the sailor, who in the day of battle had lost a leg, an arm, an eye, a piece of the scull, and some of their senses, have been made prisoners of war, and worn out with long confinement, and cruel usage. And yet these men remain armored against every judgment; incorrigible, though often corrected; stubborn under the strokes of heaven, inattentive to the language of the rod, and daringly defy an angry God?
On the other hand, have I not seen a man, who had a flourishing family, growing up to maturity, like trees by a river; bathing in pleasures, held in common esteem, seeing his children's children; riches, with little industry, pouring in on him from every quarter; himself, though aging, yet possessing the vigor of youth, and his bones full of marrow. And yet this very man walk in rebellion to the Author of all his blessings?
Have I not also seen the man, who, when exposed on the thundering fields of war, or in the more terrible sea-battle, has yet stood safe amidst surrounding dangers, and received not a single wound, while some were losing limbs, or falling down dead on every hand. Or when perhaps the ship sunk; or a fire kindled in her, which consumed the miserable crew—yet he escaped the flames, survives the wreck, and lives to tell the astonishing story of his deliverance in the field, or on the flood? One would think that such a man would be melted down into gratitude, and live to God's glory, who had been his help in the day of distress, and had covered his head in the day of war; yet he continues to walk in rebellion to the Most High, and boldly offends the God of all his mercies.
Thus we see one who is disappointed in every undertaking, crushed at every hand—yet remain impenitent under severe judgments. And we see another who succeeds in every wish, swims in created bliss, and walks in the clear noon of prosperity—yet remains obdurate under his many blessings, and chargeable with an ingratitude towards God—which ingratitude would be accursed among men. To be slain by mercies, or by judgments—is a terrible death. It is the death of the unrenewed in heart. When mercies or judgments are not improved, they give fury to the falling storm, and make the thunderbolts of wrath break with dreadful vengeance on their guilty heads through an endless evermore! O! then to be corrected in love, and to have my heart bettered by the sadness of my countenance; and, on the other hand, to have blessings with a blessing, and all my mercies sweetly drawing my soul out to God.