only, in the hands, and under the command of him, who is the Lord, the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: At his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.—He hath made the earth by his power; he hath established the world by his wisdom; and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion: When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he caufeth the vapours to afcend from the ends of the earth; be maketh lightenings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of bis trea

fures".

a

The account the fcripture gives of the divine power, and influence over the wind, is very express and particular. God is reprefented as the creator of it; whatever are the fecond caufes of it, or the matter of which it confifts, or that which gives it its form, force and motion; the Lord is certainly the firft, and efficient caufe of it: Hence he ftands described, as he who formeth the mountains, and createth the wind. As he has his treasures of the fnow, and of the hail, fo likewife of the wind, which he brings forth when he pleafes; he has them ready. and prepared, or can, and does quickly prepare them, when he has occafion for them. It is faid, that God prepared a vebement east wind, wn, "plowing one;" which plowed up the fand, and blew it in the face of Jonal, fo that he was almoft fuffocated with it; which, with the fun beating upon him, must be very afflictive to him. The Lord is alfo faid, to send out a great wind into the fea, to fetch back Jonah; who, being fent on an errand, was disobę. dient, and fled from the prefence of God: The wind, as boisterous and as bluftering as it fometimes is, was more obedient to the command of God than the prophet. He fays to one wind, Go, and it goes; and to another, Come, and it cometh. He makes ufe of them to various ends and purposes: Sometimes in a way of mercy; as when he made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters of the flood were affuaged; when there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the fea, and let them fall by the camp of the Ifraelites for their food and refreshment; when the wind brought up a great rain, after the land of Israel had been without one for three years and a half when the Lord caufed the fea to go back, by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea a dry land, and the waters were divided, fo that the Ifraelites could pass through, as on dry land. And fometimes he uses them in a way of judgment; as when he did blow with his wind, the fea covered them, the Egyptians; they funk as lead in the mighty waters: So he broke the ships of Tarshish with an east wind': But,

z Amos iv. 13.

Jon. iv. 8.

whether

Jer. x. 10, 12, 13, Such a plowing Eaftwind, R. Abraham Peritfol makes mention of in his Itinera Mundi, p. 146. which in the fandy deferts, an IT, plows up the continent, caufes the fand to arife, and covers men and camels, and buries them in it. Vid. Hide, Not. in ibid.

Gen. viii. 1.

b Chap. xv. 10.

Jon. i. 4.

• Numb. xi. 31.`

f1 Kings xviii. 45.

• Exod. xiv. 21.

whether it be in one way or another he makes ufe of them, stormy wind is fulfiling bis word, either of promife, or command; for it is always at his beck. He commandeth, and raifeth the ftormy wind'; which is a confiderable difplay of his almighty power: He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; and, by kis power, be brought in the fouth wind". He is also faid, to make the weight for the winds"; when he poizes them, fitly difpofes them, and inclines them to this, or the other point; to this, or the other coaft; or, when he increafes their force, makes them more ponderous; and when in the air, which is light of itself, he raifes ftorms and tempefts: And, perhaps, the rain may, in fome fenfe, be a weight for the winds; which, when it falls heavy, leffens the force, depreffes the power, and stops the progrefs of them; wets their wings, bears them down, and caufes them to fubfide: However, certain it is, God has the fole power of raising and laying the wind. The fea alfo, and the roaring waves thereof, are at his command: As he has made the fea, and all that are in it, fo he governs it, lifts up its waves, and restrains them by the word of his power. This is very fully and beautifully expreffed by himself, in the following manner; Who fhut up the fea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had iffued out of the womb? When I made the clouds the garment thereof, and thick darkness a fwadling band for it; and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors; and faid, Hitherto fhalt thou come, but no further; and bere ball thy proud waves be stayed?? I go on,

Secondly, To obferve, That Jefus Chrift has fuch a power over the wind and feas. Hence it muft unavoidably follow, that he is truly and properly God. This is fufficiently evident from the inftance before us. It is faid, that be rebuked the wind and the fea; a phrafe, that is ufed only of the divine Being, and cannot be said of any other than the most high God, who rebuked the red fea, and it was dried up, and who ftands diftinguished from all created beings by this, that be filleth the noife of the feas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people'. The Meffiah makes ufe of this as an argument to prove, that he is able to redeem, because he can rebuke the sea, and dry it up, and cover the heavens with clouds and tempefts. Is my hand fhortened at all, fays he, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Will any one fay this of me? Behold, at my rebuke, I dry up the fea, I make the rivers a wilderness ;—I clothe the beavens with blackness, and I make fackcloth their covering. That this is the Meffiah, who here fpeaks, the following words abundantly declare: The Lord God bath given me the tongue of the learned, &c. I gave my back to the fmiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the bair, &c. Now, upon our Lord's rebuking

the wind and fea, the one ceased, and the other became a calm: This was done by speaking a word only, juft in the fame manner as he had, a little before, healed the centurion's fervant: And it was done in an authoritative manner; he commanded the winds and water, as the Lord and Master of them, and they obeyed him: Never was any fuch thing heard of, as performed by a mere creature. It is reported of one of our kings of the Danish race, Canute, that "one day, "as he was walking by the fea fide, his attendants extolled him to the skies, "and even proceeded to compare him to God himself. Offended at these ex"travagant praifes, and willing to convince them of their folly and impiety, "he ordered a chair to be brought; and feating himself in a place, where the "tide was about to flow, turned to the fea, and faid: O fea, thou art under my "dominion, and the land I fit on is mine: I charge thee not to presume to approach "any further, nor to dare to wet the feet of thy sovereign. Having faid this, he "fat ftill for fome time, as expecting the sea should obey his command; but, "the tide advancing as ufual, he took occafion from thence, to let his bafe "flatterers know, that the titles of Lord and Master, belong only to Him, "whom the land (the wind) and the fea, obey.". There is one thing more obfervable in this inftance of our Lord's power over the wind and fea, that when he rebuked them, not only the wind ceafed, but the fea immediately became a calm; which was very unufual, uncommon, and extraordinary: For, after the wind has ceased, and the ftorm is over, the waters of the fea, being agitated thereby, keep raging, and in a violent motion, for a confiderable time. Whereas here, as foon as ever the word was fpoke, that very moment, immediately, at once, the wind ceafed, and the fea was calmed. That man must be an infidel to Revelation, that can read this account, and deny the Deity of Chrift; he must be drove to one or other of these two, either to deny the truth of the fact, and the circumstances of it, or believe, that Jesus Christ is truly and properly God. Hence,

Thirdly, The difciples were certainly right, in their application to him for deliverance, when they were in fo great danger and diftrefs: Since he appears to be no other than the mighty God, who made the heavens, the earth and sea, and all that are in them; who upholds all things by the word of his power, by whom all things were created, and in whom all things confift; and therefore has a power of ruling, ordering, and difpofing all things, according to his will and pleasure: And even as mediator, he has all power in heaven, and in earth, given unto him, which he makes use of in the behalf of his own people, both for their temporal and spiritual good. The difciples, applying to him, found him to be, even in a literal fenfe, an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempeft". And,

"Rapin's Hiftory of England, vol. I. p. 126, 127. edit. fol.

Ifai. xxxii. 2.

Fourthly,

Fourthly, Such equally are in the right, who, being fenfible of their loft perishing condition, have recourse to him alone, for eternal life and falvation. All men are in fuch a condition, as the defcendents of Adam, and as confidered in him, in whom all died. The fentence of death paffed upon all men in him; for that εφ' ω, "in whom" all have finned. All men are tranfgreffors of the law of God, ftand charged with the breaches of it; every mouth is stopped by it, and all the world become guilty before God. Every man and woman are liable to the curfes of it, and to the wrath of God, for the violation of it. God's elect themfelves are, by nature, children of wrath, even as others; equally deferving of it, as being in their nature-head, and in their nature-state. But all men are not fenfible of this, fome are whole, ftrong, healthful and robuft, in their own apprehenfions, and need not a phyfician; they are rich in their own account, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; they are dead in fins, and have no fpiritual fenfe and feeling of their wretched condition. They are like a man, that lieth down in the midst of the fea, or upon the top of a mast; who fays, they bave ftricken me, and I was not fick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not and so remain indolent, and unconcerned about a future ftate, or the danger of a prefent one: No man repents him of his wickedness, faying, what have I done; every one turns to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. And this is, and will be the cafe, until the Spirit of God convinces of fin, righteousness, and judgment. And then they fee themfelves ready to perish, cry out in the bitterness of their fouls, What must we do to be faved? Look upon themselves as loft and undone, and can find no foundness in their flesh, because of the anger of the Lord; nor any reft in their bones, because of their fin. They feel a tempeft rifing in their own breafts; the law works wrath in them, and there is nothing elfe, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation. When they look upwards, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteoufnefs, and ungodliness of men; in their apprehenfions, the ftorm of wrath is gathering thick and black, hangs over their heads, juft ready to break and fall upon them. They are like to the people of Ifrael, at the foot of mount Sinai', who were come to blackness, darkness and tempeft, and the found of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which they that heard, intreated, that the word should not be spoken to them any more; for they could not endure that which was commanded: And so terrible was the fight, that Mofes faid, I exceedingly fear and quake. And what adds to their dif trefs is, that they find they are not able to help themfelves, and know not which way to escape. They wish for wings like a dove, to fly away, and be at rest, to wander far off, and remain in the wilderness, and fo haften their escape from the

windy ftorm and tempeft; but, alas! they know not where to go from the Spirit, or flee from the prefence of God. They are fenfible, that rocks and mountains cannot hide them from the face of him that fitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lord God almighty. Their own righteoufnefs appears no other than rags, which cannot cover and fkreen them from the avenging juftice of God; for they are as much convinced of the infufficiency of their righteousness to justify them before God, as of the exceeding finfulness of fin; and therefore tremble at the thoughts of an awful future judgment.

Now, where fhould fuch poor, perishing creatures apply but to Christ, as the difciples, in their distress; and say to him, as they did, Lord, fave us; we perish? Should they not go in an humble manner, as Benhadad's fervants did to the king of Ifrael, and proftrate themselves at his feet; and fay, as the Publican did, God be merciful to us finners? Should they not go to him with the refolution of Esther faying, If we perish, we will perish at the feet of Jefus? Such fouls have a great deal of reafon to believe they fhall find this man, this god-man, and mediator the Lord Jefus Chrift, an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest. Whither fhould they go, whither can they go, but unto him, who has the words of eternal life? God has appointed him to be his falvation unto the ends of the earth; he fent him, and he came to be the Saviour of the world. It is a faithful faying, deferves credit, and is worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Chrift came into the world to fave the chief of finners: He is become the author of eternal falvation to all that obey him: His name is called Jefus, because he faves his people from all their fins, and from all the dreadful effects of them; He faves them from the law, from curfe, and condemnation by it; from Satan and the world, from hell, the fecond death and wrath to come: He is mighty to fave, able to fave to the uttermoft, all that come to God by him: And he is as willing as he is able; for he has faid", Look unto me, and be ye faved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none elfe. And, befides all this, there is falvation in no other perfon, nor by any other name; in vain is it hoped for from any other quarter, or by any other hand; and there is a full, compleat, and fuitable falvation in him: His atoning facrifice fully expiates fin; his righteous ness juftifies from all things; his blood, fprinkled upon the confcience, lays the tempeft there, faying, Peace, be fill; and being carried within the vail, and fprinkled upon the mercy-feat, before the throne, fecures from the ftorm of divine wrath to come; and his name is à ftrong tower, whither the righteous run, and are safe. But to haften to a conclufion :

The occafion of this difcourfe is the great ftorm, commonly called the high wind; which arofe the twenty-fixth, and continued to the twenty-seventh of

November,

8 Pfalm Iv. 6-8.

h Ifai. xlv. 22.