was, as Pliny fays', about fixteen miles long, and fix broad. Now, to be in a ftorm on land is terrible, but to be in one at fea is much more fo. To all this, the word behold is prefixed; which is fometimes used, when fomething extraordinary and preternatural is spoken of. This ftorm feems to have been more than an ordinary one, at least, it was fudden, and unexpected. When the disciples entered the ship, the air was ferene, the fea ftill and quiet, there was no appearance or likelihood of a tempeft; but quickly after they had fet fail, at once, on a fudden, at unawares, this ftorm came down upon them; which muft needs throw them into great confternation and diftrefs. 2. The fhip was covered with the waves, which fo beat into it, as another Evangelift expreffes it", that it was now full of water; yea, it is faid ", that they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy, or in great danger; which, perhaps, respects the other little ships, that were in company with this, and were fo ordered by divine providence, to be witneffes of this wondrous event. In one of the copies, of one of the evangelists, the word Budd is used; which fignifies, that not only the fhip was covered and filled with water, but that it was immerfed, or juft finking into the deep; fo that the difciples were brought to the utmost extremity. 3. What greatly added to, and increased their diftrefs, it is obferved, that Christ was afleep; all the evangelifts agree in this, though they do not ufe the fame word. The evangelift Mark mentions the place where he was asleep, in the binder part of the ship, em mæзvμrn, in the stern, where he, as Lord and Mafter, should be; but, to the great concern of the difciples, he was there asleep, and that in a dead, deep, found fleep, as the word, which the evangelift Luke makes ufe of, fignifies; and is confirmed by the loud cries, and repeated calls of the disciples to him, faying, Mafter, Mafter, We perish. This sleep, doubtlefs, arose from natural caufes, and was more easily brought upon him, through his very great fatigue in preaching his fermon upon the mount, from whence he was just come down; and through the great refort of people to him, to heal the fick, and caft out devils. He feems to fignify, that he was in great uneafinefs,. and weariness of body, to a certain man, juft before he entered into the ship, who faid to him, Mafter, I will follow thee whitherfoever thou goeft; who is thus answered by him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nefts, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head; intimating, as though he wanted an opportunity to lie down, and take fome reft: And accordingly, when he • L. 5. c. 15. - Mark iv. 36. ↑ See Ifai. vii. 14. Mark iv. 37. Luke viii. 23. y In uno codice fcribitur Bu9.a, id eft, in profundum iret, five mergeretur. Beza in Mark iv. 2 Teftantur enim Grammatici ro υπνών, amplius quiddam fignificare quam ro xa9aude, & profundiffimum fuiffe hunc foporem declarat geminata a Matt. viii. 19, 20. 37. illa inclamatio difcipulorum, in ipfo excitando. Beza in Luke viii 23. was come into the fhip, placing himself at the stern, finds a pillow, lays down his head upon it, and falls faft afleep. But, though this fleep of his was natural, yet it was fo ordered by the providence of God, that it should in this manner come upon him, at this time, for the further trial of the faith of his difciples. 4. The great diftrefs they were in is expreffed in thefe words, We perish, auμeda", we are loft; a way of speaking ftill in ufe among feafaring men, and, indeed, in common ufe with others. Nothing is more frequent than for us to fay, fuch a veffel, or fuch a fhip's crew, or fuch a perfon were loft, at fuch a time, and in fuch a place. It is alfo to be observed, that they do not fay, we are in danger of being loft, or we are ready to be loft, or we fhall be loft, but we are loft; which fhews what apprehenfions they had of their condition, and that their cafe was like that of the apostle Paul, and the mariners with him, when all hope, that they should be faved, was taken away. So the difciples faw no probability of escaping by any natural, rational methods; they looked upon themselves as loft. Christ was their last shift, and he was asleep; however, they refolve to betake themselves to him: Which brings me, II. To the application they make to him, Lord, fave us: which fhews, 1. That they believed he was able to fave them: And they had a great deal of reafon to believe it, fince fuch confiderable miracles were fo lately wrought in their prefence; an account of which is given in this chapter. A leper comes to him, declaring his faith in him, that if he was willing, he was fure he was able to cleanse him of his leprofy; upon which, Chrift put forth his hand, and with a single touch, faying to him, I will, Be thou clean, immediately removed it. A centurion addreffes him on the account of his fervant, who lay fick of a palfy, fignifying, that he verily believed, that if he would speak the word only, his fervant would be inftantly healed; his reply is, So be it done unto thee; and his fervant was healed the very fame hour. Next he enters Peter's house, where his wife's mother lay fick of a fever; he does but touch her hand, and the fever leaves her. These instances, together with the multitude of the fick he healed, and of them that were poffeffed with devils he caft out with his word, were fufficient to perfuade the difciples, that he was able to deliver them in their greatest extremity. Our Lord, indeed, blames them for their incredulity, and want of faith. The question he put to them, as related by one of the evangelifts, is, Where is your faith? You professed to have, and you had, fome faith in me a little while ago; but what is become of it now? Yea, as it stands in another evangelift, it is put thus, Why are ye fo fearful? How is it that ye bave no faith? that is, in exercife: Some faith they had, though it was but small; for the question, as it appears in our evangelift, is put thus, Why are ye fearful, Oye of little faith? They had no faith in him, as fleeping, but had fome little 2 Cor. iv. 3. b So the word is rendered, in Luke xix. 10. f Matt. viii. 26. • Acts xxvii. 20. faith faith in him, that he was able to help them, provided he was awakened out of fleep; for this Chrift blames them. For though, as the Son of man, he was asleep; yet he, as the Son of God, and Ifrael's keeper, and theirs, neither flumbers, nor fleeps; and was equally able to fave them fleeping, as waking. 2. It is not only certain, that he was able to fave them; but it is matter of fact, that he did fave them. Being awaked by his difciples, he raises his head from his pillow, stands up, and with a majestic voice, in an authoritative manner, fhewing fome kind of refentment at the wind and feas, as if they had exceeded their commiffion, and the one had blown, and the other raged, too much and too long, he rebukes them in such language as this, Peace, be ftill, ownd, περίμωση, "be filent, hold thy peace, ftop thy mouth, put a bridle upon it, as "the laft word fignifies; and go on no longer, to threaten with fhipwreck, and " loss of lives." Upon this, the wind ceafed, the fea became a calm, the ship moved quietly on, and they all arrived fafe at the country of the Gadarenes. 3. This had a very confiderable effect, both upon the mariners, and the dif ciples, who rightly concluded from hence, that their Deliverer was more than a man. There was such a fhine of majesty, fuch a luftre of divine power, appeared in this affair, as filled them with aftonishment and fear; they marveled greatly, and feared exceedingly. It had this effect, both upon the men, and the disciples; for though our evangelift feems to relate this, as though the mariners were the perfons only who were thus affected with the providence, and the manner of deliverance; who faid one to another, What manner of perfon is this? Пowan☞ er 1, "of what qualities, powers and perfections, is this "perfon poffeffed?" But the other evangelifts reprefent it', as the question of the difciples to one another; faying, mas, "Who is this perfon?" Surely, he must be more than a mere man; he can be no other than the mighty God, whom the winds and the fea obey. It is to be obferved, that the word man, which is put into our tranflation, is not in the question as expressed in any of the evangelifts. The difciples were abundantly convinced by this inftance, which fo nearly concerned themselves, that Chrift must be God over all blessed for ever. What I fhall do further, will be to improve this wonderful inftance of the power of Christ, in favour of his divinity; and to fhew, that the disciples were right, in their application to him, in this their diftrefs; as are alfo all poor, perifhing finners, fenfible of their loft condition, when they have recourfe to him alone for eternal life and falvation. In order to this, First, I fhall endeavour to prove, that the power and government of the wind and fea, are only with God, and not with any mere creature. Men have no power, either to raife, or lay the wind: There is no fuch thing, as a conjuring ■ Mark iv. 39. h Matt. viii. 27. Mark iv. 41. Luke viii. 25. ing wind: There is no fuch fett of men, who, by magic art, or by all the affif tance the devil can give them, are able to perform any thing of this nature. We are told, that fome have been fo ignorant, or wicked, as to pretend to fell winds; and others, no lefs ftupid and impious, who have bought them: but this is all a dream and delufion. Thefe are deceivers, and deceived; for who, what man, has gathered the wind in his fift, and can hold it there, and let it loofe at his pleafure? What is his name, and what is his fon's name, if thou canst tell? Name the man, or his fon? fay when he was born, in what age he lived, of what country he was; who was his immediate fon, or what of his pofterity now remain not any of thefe circumftances, or any thing like them, wilt thou ever be able to produce. As the Lord faid to Job', Canft thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canft thou fend lightnings, that they may go and fay unto thee, Here we are? So it may be faid to any of the fons of men, Canft thou lift up thy voice to the winds, and fend them forth when and where thou pleafeft, command and controul them, at thy pleasure? say to one, Go thither, and it goes; and to another, Come, and it cometh? No, this is not within the compafs of the power of a creature. The devil himself has no fuch power: He may as foon create a world, as create the wind, raise a storm, or lay a tempeft. The treasures of the wind are under lock and key: Satan has not the keeping of them; they are locked up from him, they are out of his reach, he cannot bring them forth when he pleases: He is indeed called ", The prince of the power of the air; not because he has a power to disturb, or still it, to cover it with clouds and blackness, or raife ftorms and tempelts in it; but, because he has the government of thofe principalities and powers, that poffe of apoftate fpirits; who, being banished from the realms above, have their abode in the air; where, as vagabonds, they rove about, and wander up and down in it. Now Satan, the angel of the bottomlefs pit, is prince, or king, over them, whofe name in the Hebrew tongue, is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue, Apollyon; which both fignify a deflrcyer". The only fcriptural instance of the power of Satan over the wind, that is produced, is the wind that blew down the house where Job's children were, and deftroyed them: but this wind is not faid to come from Satan, but from the wilderness°; from a certain point in the heavens under the government and direction of Jehovah. All the hand the devil can be fuppofed to have in it, under divine permiffion, was to take the advantage of the sweep of it, just as it came by the house, to add force unto it; and, by his poffe of devils with him, to whirl it about the house, and push it upon it with the greater violence P: Nor is the wind in the power, and under the government * Prov. xxx 4. Jobi 19. m 1 Job xxxviii. 34, 35. Ephef. ii. 2. n Rev. ix. 1I. P See Mr Huffey's Warning from the Winds, p. 118, 119. of of the good angels. Jehovah has, indeed, made his angels fpirits, mm, winds"; as fome tranflate the word: But then they are fo called, not because they are winds, or have the management and direction of them, but because they are like unto them; fwift to do the will and work of God, who walketh, and flies upon the wings of the wind. In the book of the Revelation, four angels are represented, as standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the fea, nor on any tree: but this is not to be understood of the angels in a literal", but in a mystical sense, as holding, or reftraining the evil angels, or falfe teachers, from hurting the faints, or the minifters of the gofpel, from their miniftrations of it, as a judgment upon those that despise it: God has the fole power and government of the winds in his own hands. The Heathens themselves were convinced of this; and therefore set up an idol God, whom they called Eolus, to prefide over the winds; and who, they fuppofed ", had a power of loofing and restraining them at his pleasure: Yea, they thought the wind to be a deity itself, and fometimes built temples, erected altars, and paid homage to it. So Auguftus made and performed a vow to Circius, a wind which greatly infefted France, and fometimes came with fuch force, as to untile their houfes; and fo did the Calabrians to Japyx; the Apulians to the wind Arabulus; the Athenians to Sciron; and the Pamphilians to Gagneus; which are the names of feveral winds peculiar to these people; to whom they paid their devoirs, that they might not either infect them. with diseases, or destroy their fields: Particularly, the Thurians, having received a confiderable favour from Boreas, the Northwind, fulfilled their vows to it, as to a god; because, by a vehement guft, it utterly destroyed the navy, which Dionyfius had prepared for their destruction: So when Xerxes brought his numerous forces into Greece, the Grecians applied to the Delphick oracle; from whence they received this anfwer, "that they must pray the affiftance of the "winds:" upon which, they built an altar, and found them favourable to them, for their enemies whole navy was destroyed and funk ". Thefe were the fentiments and practices of men, who were without the knowledge of the true God. The wind is no Deity, but a creature, made by the power of God, and governed by him; and is not under the prefidence, influence, and direction of Eoius, Pallas, Anemotis, or any other of the rabble deities of the Heathens; but is wholly, and VOL. I • Pfalm civ. 4. C c Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator, &c. only Pfalm civ. 3. and xviii. 10. ⚫ Chap. vii 6. "Vid. Poli. Synopf. in loc. Virgil. Æneid. 1. 1. Herodot. 1. 7. c. 177, 188, 189. Luctanteis ventos, tempeftatefque fonoras, ▾ Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. 1. 3. c. 22. p. 164. Apud Methonem, Palladi Anemotidi, templum dicatum, eft, ne violentiores perflantes loca devaftarer.t. Alex. ab Alex. ibid. |