AND this was the Wretched Issue of all the GOOD IMPRESSIONS which the Terrors of GOD had made upon them. 'Tis the story of what has been done millions of times; of what is daily done by millions of Men! O! may we, on whom the End of the World is come, and who have had these things written for our Admonition, take warning from it!

The Psalm which relates the matter, contains a compendious Church-History, of Divine Favours conferred, and of Divine Judgments inflicted, on [Page 4]the Nation of Israel, from their Bondage in Egypt even to the Reign of David. The Rebellions of that People, against the glorious JEHOVAH, who made them His People, and His wondrous Patience, and Mercy, and Justice, towards them, under these Rebellions, are the main subject of this History.

In the particular Article we have now before us;

Behold, first, a poor People under Good Im­pressions in a time of Danger; and from an Appre­hension of the Glorious GOD coming to slay them. He slew some of them; Yea, an Horrendous EARTHQUAKE, was the way wherein He slew a Number of them. The Survivers were a while under Good Impressions from such occurrences. When they were afraid, that GOD was going to slay them, yea, to Damn them, for their Sins, Then they Bethought themselves; Then they thought they would become the Diligent Seekers of GOD; Then they thought they would no more Despise their SAVIOUR. But then,

Behold, next, what becomes of all these Good Impressions, when the Danger seems to be a little over with them. They are not Effectual ones; They are not Abiding ones; They all go off, with miserable Demonstrations, that their Hearts were the same they were before. They are not Sincere, and so they are not stedfast in the Declarations they made, when the Good Impressions were upon them. It becomes apparent, that all their short lived Piety was but Flattery. The Good Impression what are they but a Vapour, which appeareth for a lit­tle while, and soon vanishes away? They soon Ev­porate. [Page 5]The Sinners in a very little while are just such Murmurers and Infidels, as they were before.

My Friends; There is a melancholly observa­tion that I have made; A grievous Vision is declared unto me! What I have observed, must be the DOCTRINE which I am now to insist upon; But which, Oh! Allow me to say, I beseech you, Brethren, to do all you can for the practical Con­futation of. 'Tis This;

The sentiments of PIETY, and the GOOD IM­PRESSIONS, which People have in the Time of DANGER, [Say, The Time of EARTH­QUAKE] are too easily, too usually Forgotten, when they think the DANGER is over with them.

There was a Notorious Exemple of this DOC­TRINE, in the Infamous Pharaoh, whom a Sove­reign GOD raised up, that He might show forth His power upon Him. GOD was Revenging on the Egyptians, the Injuries that had been done by them unto His Israelites. No less than Ten Remarkable Plagues did the wrath of the Almighty send upon them: and probably all of them within the space of one Month. A Month devoured them! So me­morable were these Plagues, upon the Egyptians, that the Philistines Four Hundred years after spoke of them, with some Consternation; Yea, so me­morable, that we find in Pagan Antiquity, the Egyptians did for many Hundreds of years with Mourning, and Howling, and lighted Candles, [...]ep up an Anniversary Commemoration of them. They were such terrifying Plagues, that tho' Setho­ [...], the Successor of the King who was now upon [Page 6]the Throne, did celebrated Exploits in the East, in the first Nine years of the Israelites being in the Wilderness, yet he durst not meddle with a little Handful of Israelites, in whose cause the GOD of Heaven had so appeared. One of those plagues, was accompanied, with terrible Thunders, that fil­led the Land with Flaming Fire, and scattered Hot Thunderbolts upon it. Pharaoh too, the King, whom the old Chronologi [...]s distinguish by the Name of Amosis, was Thunder struck, into some Sentiments of PIETY, and show'd some Good Im­pressions upon them. Pharaoh changes his Note: Moses, The Man of GOD, whom Pharaoh hated above all the Men in the World, even him does Pharaoh under his Good Impressions apply unto, and ask his Prayers for him. The Servant of GOD, foresaw and foretold what the Good Impressions would come to. Said he, Exod. IX. 29, 30. The Thunder shall cease. — But I know that you will not yet fear the LORD GOD. Methinks, I see Pharaoh Trembling while he hears the Almighty Thun­dring, and sees the Corruscations in the Heavens, with which the Lord GOD Omnipotent, can strike the most haughty Monarch Dead in a Mo­ment; [And before now, He has done so] He Trembles;— And who would not? He cries out, I am sorry that I have abused the People of GOD! I am sorry that I have despised the Servants of GOD! I am sorry that I have detained any thing that GOD has called me to part withal. I will do any thing that the Great GOD would have me to do! Well; The Thunders go over: Pharaoh outlives the Thunders. And now, How is it? Alas, He is Pharaoh still?

[Page 7] Thus it is, even among Israelites as well as Egyptians. People who apprehend themselves in Dangers of a deadly Aspect upon them, do com­monly Think and Speak many Good Things. But they do almost as commonly Forget those Good Things, when their Apprehensions are over. The Thoughts and the Frames, which are frequent with People, when they are frighted by Earthquakes and by other Dangers, are soon Forgotten! Soon Forgotten! The Frights are no sooner over, but People Forget the Thoughts, and the Frames, and the Vows, to which the Terrors of GOD awaken­ed them. The Hebrew Name for, MAN, signi­fies, Forgetful Man. I mind this Elegance and Emphasis, in the words of the Psalmist, Psal. VIII. 4. What is Forgetful Man, that thou Remem­brest him! O Forgetful Man, Thou shewest what thou art, by nothing more than thy soon Forgetting of the Good Impressions, which Dangers make upon thee.

¶. We will begin with a more General Assertion. DANGERS of all sorts, especially all deadly Dan­gers, often are most Hypocritically plaid withal. O the Hypocrisy in the Heart of Man, which is Deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked! All sorts of Dangers, do frequently drive People into some Sen­timents and Purposes of PIETY: But when the Dangers are over, the Sentiments are worn away, the Purposes are laid aside; the PIETY is no fur­ther prosecuted; and the Religion which was but a flash, is all forgotten.

First, We see, Dangers make People Devout and Serious. People use to be devoutly disposed, when deadly Dangers are impending over them. Affliction [Page 8]and Affrightment is how often, the Mother of Devo­tion! I wish, it may not be said, a Spurious Devo­tion. Imminent and sensible Dangers of Death, make Men grow Thoughtful; and it will be strange, if the Advance of the Leviathan do not cause them to purify themselves. They whom a sense of Death approaching does not compel to some Sober Thoughts, what are they? Harden'd and Frantic — one can't say, What! — Not Rational Men. They do not act as Creatures exercising Reason, who cast off all Thoughts of Religion, when they have Death staring on them, scaring of them. It was once expostulated with a Malefactor in the Jaws of Death: Luk. XXIII. 40. Dost not thou Fear GOD, seeing thou art under Condemnation? But that was a Monster of a Man. Shall it be said of a Man, He does not Fear GOD, when he is in a Dan­ger that looks like a sentence of Death upon him? Verily, 'Twill be a very monstrous Character.

We will Enquire, first, after the Ground, then, after the Proof, of this unhappy matter.

First; The Ground of it, is, A Conscience excited by Dangers unto its Operations. In deadly Dangers, the Conscience comes to operate. By Dangers, the Minds of Men are chased from those things which drown'd the Murmurs of their Conscience. Yea, in Dangers, People are compelled not only to bear the Murmurs of Conscience, but also the Whispers are turned into Thunders. There is a Preacher in the Bosom of every Man; and upon Dangers, this Preacher becomes a Thunderer.

There are Three Things, which the Thundering Voice of CONSCIENCE will speak to People, when deadly Dangers are upon them.

[Page 9] One Admonition of Conscience, is This; O Man, There is the Providence of GOD in the Dangers that have now overtaken thee. Dangers don't come, nor so much as a little Bird fall into them, without the Providence of GOD. There is the Hand of GOD, in all the Dangers that are brought upon thee. GOD has taken thee into his Hand, when be thus brings Dangers upon thee. Conscience now subscribes to That; Amos III. 6. Shall there be Evil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it! O Thou exposed one, GOD is the Doer, in all the Evil that is hanging over thee.

A Second Admonition of Conscience, is This: 'Tis a GOD offended by thy Sin, who sends thy Dangers upon thee. Thou art a Sinner. Thy Sin has been an Offence unto GOD; Thy Sin makes thee obnoxious unto the Anger of GOD; lays thee open unto the Vengeance of GOD. It is a Thing of the greatest Importance, that the Displeasure of GOD, should not remain burning against thee; A displeased GOD is an Adversary, which — how can thy Hands be strong, or how can thy Heart endure, to encounter with Him | Conscience now subscribes to Thee; Prov. XIII. 21. Evil pursueth Sinners.

A Third Admonition of Conscience, is This: REPENTANCE, REPENTANCE! That is the most likely way to escape thy Dangers. O wicked one, Forsake thy ways; O unjust one, Forsake thy Thoughts; Return to the Lord, and He will have mercy! If thou Repentest not, thou mayst Fear, that the Arrows prepared on the bent Bowe of GOD, will be let fly upon thee. The Language of Con­science now is That; Jon. III. 8, 9. Turn every one from his evil way, — who can tell, but GOD [Page 10]may turn away from His fierce Anger, that we perish not.

When the Conscience begins to Thunder at this rate, and make a Noise like the hideous Rumblings of an Earthquake, it must needs throw the Threa­tened People into some Religious Dispositions.

As a Supplement unto this Meditation, let this be added. The Glorious GOD throws Men into Dangers on this very Design; To make them hear­ken unto what He speaks by the Mouth of His Deputy, their Conscience, to them. Truly, Syrs, this is the very Errand that your Dangers are sent upon. The Conscience in Man, may complain, as in Jer. XXII. 21. I spake unto thee in thy presperity; But thou saidst, I will not hear. Men are Deaf to Conscience; It Groans, it Cries, it Thunders, and they do not regard it. GOD now does cast Men into Dangers on this Intent; Man, Hear now, what thy Conscience has to say unto thee: It has a Message from GOD to thee! From this it is, that Men so seem to be Religious, when Dangers are upon them.

Secondly; The Proof of it; For this we will repair unto Experience. And, Hear this, O all ye People, every one of you: May we not say, 'Tis your own Experience. The Scripture tells us, of some; Isa. XXVI. 16. Lord, In Trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a Prayer, when thy Chastening was upon them. Yea, but our Experience will every day tell us, Lord, How many are they, who when they are afraid of Trouble, do say, They will visit GOD every day as long as they live! How many are they who pour out a Prayer, when Danger is up­on them! O that the Sermon of this Day, might be a Sermon to bring unto Remembrance! How ma­ny, [Page 11]O our dear People, How many of you, may Remember the Dangers, wherein you were at that pass; Jer. II. 20. Thou saidst, I will not Transgress! Remember you not, what you said, when you lay Sick, and like to Die of your Sickness, and pale Death look'd you in the Face, and you look'd on yourselves as deprived of the Residue of your years, and Summoned before the Tribunal of GOD? Then you said, Oh! If GOD will spare my life, I will do nothing but serve the GOD of my life: I will hate and loathe and shun all the Sin that once I loved; and lead a life of all Godliness and Honesty! Remember you not, what you said, when a Storm at Sea had almost swallowed you up, and you were cast into Horror, by the Horrible Tempest; Your Soul was melted because of Trouble; You saw yourselves going down into the deep Waters; You fear'd you were going down into the Eternal Burnings? Then you said; Oh! If GOD will please, that I may out-live this Death, I will never Sin against Him any more as heretofore! I will do nothing that may render my Death uneasy and unwelcome to me!

The Memorandums are not over yet. My Friend, Remember you not, what you said, when you were in the Land and the Hand of your Enemies; you sat in Darkness, and in the shadow of Death; and you had little Hope of ever being again in the Arms of those, who were now put far from you? Then you Cried unto the Lord; and you said; Oh! If the Lord will Restore me to my Liberty, with what an Enlarged Heart shall I run the way of His Command­ments.

And will the Daughters of Eve give me leave to be a Remembrancer unto Them? When the [Page 12]Time of your Travail and your Trouble, and the perils of Child bearing drew near, and you conceived yourselves entring the Valley of the shadow of Death, You Then said, Behold, The Handmaid of the Lord! If the Lord carry me to and thro' my Time, I will for­ever behave my self as becomes an Handmaid of the Lord.

In fine, Do you Remember nothing of what you thought when you self the Earth trembling and rumbling in a tremendous Earthquake under you? Did not your Hearts then smite you for your keeping at a distance from your SAVIOUR; and for the various Miscarriages of an ungodly and unrighteous Life? And was it not the purpose of your Hearts, I will not offend any more?

If you don't Remember what you said, GOD Remembers it; it is all down in the Book of His Remembrance. Perhaps, New Dangers and Sor­rows are coming upon you, to bring it unto your own Remembrance; In the latter Days ye shall con­sider it!

I must now pass on to a Second Remark. But, one that is a Lamentation, and shall be for a Lamen­tation.

Secondly; Men use quickly to Forget how De­vout they were, when their Dangers were upon them. T'was all but a Religious Pang. Ah, De­ceitful Pang! like the Morning Cloud, and the Early Dew; It passes away. We read of some, Psal. CVI. 13. They soon forgot His Works. Even so, Men soon Forget what workings they had in their own Hearts, when they saw the Hand of GOD lifted up to smite them.

[Page 13] Of this thing, we are every where entertained with a mournful Evidence. The Bad lives of Men, make it most notoriously Evident. The most of Men lead Bad lives: They do not Live unto GOD. With what pungency may they feel it said unto them; Can you say, That you lead such a Life as you said, you should and would, when Destruction from GOD was a Terror to you? When our SAVIOUR was in the Temple, the Hearers that were Convicted in their own Conscience by what He said, Went out, and, Lo, He was left alone. Oh, How far, how far! — would it go towards break­ing up the Congregation, if all should go out, who may be convicted in their own Conscience, that they do not live, as under the Terrors of GOD, they said, They would. A great Man once putting that Case to a good Man, How shall I order my life, that I may glorify GOD? He only gave him this Answer; Live as when you lately apprehended your self a dying, you thought you would live, if GOD would let you live. There are many who do not glorify GOD. And we may conclude, They don't live, as in their Dangers, they said, They would. Where one is Reformed, a Thousand are as they were!

But, whence does this come to pass? 'Tis, From the Spirit of the Old Covenant in Mens Inclinations and Resolutions. When the People of old were appall'd at the Lightnings and Thunders and Earth­quakes of the Burning Mountain, they said, All that the Lord shall speak we will do. But it was with the Spirit of the Old Covenant that they said it. GOD therefore said upon it; Deut. V. 28. 29. I have heard the Voice of the Words of this People, which [Page 14]they have spoken; They have well said, all that they have spoken: Oh! That there were such an Heart in them! — Even so. People remaining yet in the old Covenant of Works, will say, This and That, and they will say very well in all that they speak. Oh! But there is no more than a Voice of Words, in all that they have spoken: There wants a New Heart in them; There is no Heart in them to do what they say. Frighted People say, that they are Fallen out with Sin. But it is only from some External Compulsion upon them. The SPIRIT of GOD has not yet Internally Changed the Biass of their Minds: The Love of Sin yet reigning in their Hearts is not extinguished. They say, They will set themselves to do the Things that please GOD. But they set themselves about it in their own strength. And thus, All presently comes to Nothing!

No Dangers are enough to Convert a Sinner. I have seen Men brought from the Gallows, who yet have not been brought from the Wicked Courses which had brought them to the Gallows. In go­ing to their expected Execution, they have decla­aed unto me, That they had rather Dy that Afternoon, than return to the ways of wickedness which they for­merly lived in. They have had a Reprieve, and a Pardon. But how after That! Alas, I have seen the Dogs return to their vomit; and go on still in their old ways of wickedness. Ah, sinful Men! If One went unto them from the Dead, yet they will not Repent. The Devils and the Damned, with the hideous Chains and Flames of the Horrible Pit appearing to them, would not cause them to Re­pent. Should Hell be set open before their Eyes, and should they be held over the Smoke of the Tor­ment [Page 15]which Ascends forever and ever, t'wil do no­thing to take out the Hellish Tang of Sin which is in their Souls. Till that be taken out by the Spirit of Grace, there will be no Frighting Men out of their Sin. He that is Filthy will be Filthy still. When the Dangers are over, you'l find it so!

We read of mighty Legions, who after they have been Damned for seven Thousand years, and have been actually, in the direful Torments of the Damned for one thousand of them, yet being let loose again, they play the Devil again just as they did a Thousand years before; and again attempt with a Satanic Assault of Temptations to disturb the Camp of the Saints, and with Diabolical Delusions and Stratagems, draw in those in the Hidden places of the Earth, who go up from under the Breadth of the Earth, to join with them in their War against the Holy ones. Hell it self won't fetch out the sinful Tendencies, in the Souls of the wicked. Not only if One went from the Dead unto the wicked that are not yet gone to the Dead, they will yet re­fuse to Repent, but also if they that are there were permitted themselves to go from the Dead, yet even These would not Repent: Except with New Lives they should also have New Hearts given them from Above. They that go down to Hell, with the Lusts in them which were the Weapons of their War, and have their Iniquities in their very Bones, if they that have been shut up in the Prison, should after many Days be Visited, and Released; they would again be as wicked as they were before.

Be sure, Earthquakes alone, will not cure the Love of Sin in Men, and cause them to Turn and Live unto GOD. If People should feel what may [Page 16]force them to flee for their Lives, with the utmost confusion, from an all-devouring Earthquake, — As they fled from before the Earthquake, in the Days of Uzziah King of Judah, — This will not cause them to flee from their Sins. If People should see what is not now a New Thing, the Earth open its Mouth, and swallow up their Neighbours by Hun­dreds at a Morsel, and a multitude going down a­live into the Pit, and the Earth closing upon them, yet in flying from the Tents of wicked Men at their lamentable Cry, Lest the Earth swallow up them also, — it would be no New Thing, if they do not fly from the Ways of Wicked Men. Are there not Nefandous Instances of People continu­ing in the Actual Commission of Disorderly Things, even in the very Time of an Earthquake? Yea, People making themselves Drunk, and Reeling to and fro with strong Drink, while the Earth has just been Reeling to and fro like a Drunkard under them, and roaring against them? And Robberies com­mitted, even while the Earthquake has afforded an Opportunity for the Theeves to exert their cursed. Faculty? Hardened Sinners! There is no Re­claiming of them!

It is a Remark very near akin to This. How do amazing Thunders usually operate? People are Afraid even with much amazement under the Thun­derclaps; Afraid of Irresistible and Far-terebrating Thunderbolts. When the Lightning is directed unto the Ends of the Earth, and after it a Voice roreth; and God Thunders with the Voice of His Excellency; God Thunders marvellously with His Voice; Lo, At this our Hearts tremble, and are even removed out of their place. But how quickly, how sadly, do the Thun­ders [Page 17]lose their Efficacy! The Thunders do cease, and yet Men do not Fear the Lord God, as when it Thundred, they say, They would.

O the Inconstancy of our Carnal minds! Constant only in their Enmity to GOD! People seem to be very Good while they have the loud peals of the Thunders discharging over them; and they fear lest the Next Flash of the Lightenings render them a Pillar of Salt. But they are not the same after the Thunders are over, that they were in the Time of the Thunders. — How often have I thought! — O! If my dear Neighbours were disposed after the Thunders as they are under them! — How Happy would they be! How Holy would they be! What a Religious Neighbourhood; and how full of PIETY!

From this Remark on Thunders, I return to Earthquakes, which are of the same Family with them: And, my Remark upon them is, That it is very plain, the Earthquakes which have lately shook the Earth under us for many Hundreds of Miles, and which in many places have been con­tinued for diverse Weeks together, have produced very Good Impressions on many Thousands of Minds. If there be a few Stocks and Stones and Prodigies of Impiety, which have had no Good Impressions made upon them from the mighty Voice of GOD sent forth in these Earthquakes, verily, they are not only most unaccountably Sottish Wretches, but even worse than Bruitish ones: I say, worse than Bruitish ones; For it might have affected even those profane In­dolents themselves, to have seen the Horrors which these Earthquakes raised in the Brutal World, at the Moments of the Tremors: How the greater and [Page 18]the smaller Cattel, and the very Dogs themselves, express'd themselves moved, and horribly terrified, when they felt the Earth moving under them. They that now had no Awe upon them, and no Sense of a Glorious GOD and their Duty to Him, and felt no Good Impressions on their Minds, what shall be thought of them! — I suppose, there were very few such Monsters to be seen, in our Land. No; There have been Good Impressions made upon the Minds of People every where in Town and Countrey. The like was never seen in our Land! The many that fly into the Covenant of GOD, as unto the Horus of the Altar, that they may be sheltered from the Mischiess of Earthquakes there, most certainly run thither with Good Im­pressions on their Minds. Yea, there are multitudes with whom it is a Time of such Good Impressions as they never felt in their Lives before. But now, O! The Extreme Hazard which there may be, left these Good Impressions do quickly dy away, quickly wear off, quickly come to nothing: Extreme Haz­ard, lest People anon be just what they were be­fore, and will not yet Fear the Lord GOD, whose Voice has thus loudly called upon us. For my part, my Heart more trembles at this, than at an Earthquake.—

[...] Wherefore from Asserting, we will proceed now to Exborting. And, Oh! Suffer the Word of EXHORTATION, which is now in a Few Words to call upon you.

We are very sollicitous, that when our Earth­quakes are over, the Good Impressions which they have caused may not be over too. But what was [Page 19]it I said? — when our Earthquakes are over! Who can say when That will be! I will mention a Thing which is not generally known among us. The Celebrated Earthquake, which terrisied New­England in the latter end of January, between the years 1662. and 1663. not only reached unto Canada to the Northward of us, and, as the French Historian says, Occasion'd incredible Desolations on the surface of the Earth for above four hundred Leagues throughout that Countrey: But also continued Five or Six Months together. Who can say, what may be our Portion? I am sure, there can be nothing more seasonable, than the Exhortation I am coming to.

We read concerning Two Ministers, upon whom our Lord put the Name of BOANERGES. The Name will signify, Sons of Earthquake, as well as what we commonly take it, Of Thunder. Our Lord in imposing that Name on these two Mini­sters, might have Respect unto that Prophecy, I will shake all Nations, and the desire of all Nations shall come. These Ministers might have a Notable Delivery, as Nazianzen intimates, by the Advan­tage whereof what they delivered might come like Thunder on the Hearers. But this is not all; There were to be mighty Commotions even like those of an Earthquake, in subserviency to the Interests of the Gospel; and our Lord would make a singular use of these Ministers in those Commotions; who were to carry the Gospel with a Force like that of Thunder also, thro' the Jewish Nation.

Oh! That one of the Boanerges were here to have the management of this EXHORTATION; and that he who is a Son of Earthquake, in Essays to [Page 20]serve the Intentions of the present Commotions, might be a Son of Thunder, in bringing with it the Right Words that shall be Forcible!

The EXHORTATION that now speaks unto you, and must not be Forgotten, is This. Let those that have had Good Impressions on their Minds from the Earthquakes which have newly shaken us, Be­ware lest they lose the Good Impressions; Exceed­ingly Beware, Infinitely Beware, lest when they imagine the Earthquakes are ceased, it appear that that their Heart was not Right in, and not Reach'd by, the Good Impressions, nor were they stedfast; But they Forget what they Thought and Said and Vow'd, when the Earthquakes were upon them.

At the Time of the Battel between those two Grand Robbers, which were disputing the Em­pire of the World, there was a Great Earthquake: But the Business of the Battel so engaged the com­batants, that they took not the least Notice of it. Few People have been so Busy, or so Drowsy, or so Stupid, as to take no Notice of the Repeted Shocks and Roars, wherein GOD has from a Trem­bling Earth sent forth His Thundring mighty Voice unto us. I wish, we may not be so Busy about our Worldly Affairs and Pleasures, as to take too little Notice of what that Thundring Voice has de­clared unto us. But we read of such a Thing as That, Hos. VII. 16. They are like a Deceitful Bowe. The Thing whereof there is a most grievous Haz­ard, is, That the Wicked Bent of many Minds for the ways of Sin, having by the Earthquakes had some strain upon it, upon the ceasing of the Earth­quakes, the Deceitful Bowe will return where it was; the strain being taken off, they will return to their [Page 21]old Bent, and they will go on still in their Trespasses.

O our dear People, and all you that have had the Right Thoughts of the Righteous by the Earth­quakes at all awakened in you, Our Hearts Desire and Prayer to GOD for you, is, That the Good Impressions upon you may not end, in any thing short of a Thorough TURN to GOD and CHRIST and PIETY: And that such a View of Things as you had in the Minutes of the Earthquakes, may in an Effectual Work of Grace, abide with you; and the Fruit thereof be, that you will Fear GOD all the Days that you live upon Earth; and pass the Time of your sojourning here in the Fear, not of Earthquakes, but of the glorious GOD, who has the deep places of the Earth in His Almighty Hand.

In order to THIS, let these Admonitions of the Lord find a due Entertainment with you.

I. A NEW HEART, a NEW HEART, is the First Thing to be made sure of. Be sure, that you do not rest in a Superficial, Defective, Delusive Work, or stop short in any thing less than a Thorough CONVERSION, from the Error of your way, with a Work of Real and Vital PIETY upon you. A lamentable thing, is that work of the Wicked, which is a Deceitful Work. If the Heart be not Right, O Israelite, thou wilt not be stedfast, in adhering to thy Good Impressions. A Thorough CHANGE of STATE, and therefore and therewith a Thorough CHANGE of HEART, is requisite, that so the Good Impressions made upon you, may continue with you; In these is continuance, and so you shall be saved! Without a principle of PIETY, restoring to the Glorious GOD His Throne in your Souls, your Good Impressions from the Earthquakes, will be a sort [Page 22]of Mushrooms rising from the Earth, and presently Wither, and Moulder, and Crumble, and come to nothing. Unless the Love of GOD, which is the Root of the Righteous be implanted for a living Principle of PIETY in your Souls, your Good Im­pressions will be like the Alcherva of Jonah, and Wither in a Night or two.

When the Earth was in its Convulsions, and threw you into yours, This was the First Thing, which threw you into Agonies; Alass, I am a miserable Unregenerate; I am still in my sins; I am not Reconciled unto GOD; I am falling into those Hands which it is a fearful Thing to fall into! And This is the First Thing that you have to look to. Oh! Look to This; That you may have a Thorough CONVERSION to GOD and CHRIST, and a Life of that Acquaintance with Him, whereby Good will come unto you.

But, How shall This be come at? Very surpri­sing is that Command; Ezek. XVI. 31. Make your selves a New Heart. What? When, O Sinner, Thou art Feeble and sore Broken, and maystly Roar­ing by reason of the Desperate Wickedness in thy Heart, from which, none but an Almighty GOD, Oh! wretched one that thou art! —None but an Al­mighty GOD can deliver thee! It is none but an GOD even one who can transform Stone into Flesh, that can give thee Another Heart; None but one who can Create a whole World, can Create a Clean Heart, and can make a New Heart in a Sinner that is Accustomed to do Evil. Wherefore when our GOD bids thee, Make thy self a New Heart; His meaning is, Look unto me, to make it for thee! The Good Work begins, in an Hearty [Page 23] Weeping and Making Supplication to GOD for a New Heart. Seeing and Feeling and Owning thy own Death, and lying among the slain, Oh! Make thy Moans and thy Groans, even the Groans of a deadly wounded Man, unto a GOD, whose Name is, The Lord GOD, Merciful and Gracious and abundant in Goodness. Groan at this rate unto Him; Turn thou me, O Lord, and I shall be Turned! O Great GOD, Make me a New Creature, and bestow a New Heart upon me! It looks Hopefully, —as if the Fear of GOD were actually beginning in thee, and as if the Beginning of Wisdom were dawning on thee, when thou art come into a desire to Fear His Name. The Good Work has its Beginning in the desire of it. GOD will be attentive to the Prayer of such as desire to Fear His Name. Life is beginning to shew it self in Breathing after it.

In short, The Method of CONVERSION is This. The Foundation of the work must be laid in a deep Humiliation of Soul, confessing, That thou art Unable to Turn unto GOD, and Unworthy that He should enable thee, and yet most Worthy to perish if thou do it not. Being thus Humbled unto the Dust, now Cry from thence to the glorious GOD. Quicken me, O GOD of Sovereign Grace, Quicken me, to Turn unto thee, and Fly unto my SA­VIOUR. And hereupon Try, whether He do not Help thee. Try particularly, whether thou canst not give an Hearty Answer to the Calls of the Gospel. The Gospel calls, Be sorry for thy Sin. Try whether thou canst not Heartily say, Lord, I am sorry, I am sorry, that I have wandred from thee! The Gospel calls, Let the great Salvation which thy JESUS has for thee, be welcome to thee. Try whe­ther [Page 24]thou canst not Heartily say; Lord, The Bene­fits of a JESUS, are all welcome to me, all welcome to me! The Gospel calls, Resolve upon a Life of Obe­dience to GOD all thy Days. Try whether thou canst not Heartily say, Lord, The way of thy Command­ments, with paying of acknowledgments to Thee in all my ways, I Resolve upon it, I Resolve upon it!— Behold, Thy Calling and Election made sure in thy Arrival unto this.

To set the Matter in a yet further light; The CONVERSION so importunately urged for, is, A Translation from the First Adam to the Second Adam. Wherefore, O Convert passing from Death to Life; Get thy Heart very strongly affected with the Evil Circumstances, into which thy Fall from GOD in the First Adam has reduc'd and ruin'd thee. Let Horror take hold on thee when thou dost behold the Universal Disorder and Corruption with which the Poison of the old Serpent so imbibed has infected thee; and behold the Innumerable Trans­gressions and Rebellious wherein thou hast wickedly denied the GOD that is Above. Go on to behold the violated Law of GOD binding thee over to suffer all the Evil that pursueth sinners: Behold the powers of Darkness enslaving of thee, and thy Soul cistempered and languishing with grievous Diseases; Behold how obnoxious thou art unto the Strange Punispment reserved for the workers of Iniquity in a Future World. And now, Fly away to the Second Adam for thy Help under all these Distresses; Help laid on one that is mighty to save. Behold the Blessed JESUS offering to take thee and make thee His own, and save thee to the uttermost. Beg of Him, and Hope in Him, That by the Sacrifice [Page 25]which he made of Himself on the Accursed Tree, and by Influences, derived from Him, all the Miseries convey'd unto thee from the Forbidden Tree, may be releeved and removed. Put thy Trust in the Blessed JESUS, for a life that shall be the Reverse of all the Death, which the unhappy parent of thy Flesh has entailed upon thee. En­treat of Him; O my SAVIOUR, let thy Spirit fill me with the life of GOD. Entreat of Him; O my SAVIOUR, Fit me for, and fetch me to, all the spiritual Blessings of the Heavenly places. Rely on Him, as thy Redeemer. And this with a Comfortable Per­swasion of thy Favourable Reception with Him. Thus a CONVERSION is accomplished.

But yet, efteem it not accomplished until you can say those Things, which are the Three Grand MAXIMS of Real and Vital PIETY.

The First. The serving and pleasing of the Glorious GOD, and my being and my doing of what may be a grateful Spectacle unto Him, who is acquainted with all my ways, is what I close withal as the chief END, [...]ch all my Motions are to center in.

The Second. My Fyes are continually to a Glorious CHRIST, that I may be made Righteous and be made Holy by Him; and I long to have His Image instam­ped on me.

The Third. I do not indulge my self in any Ill Frame towards my Neighbour, but am willing to do as I would be done unto. —

Now, It is Finished! Now, thou shalt never be moved. Thus doing the Will of GOD thou shalt Abide forever; And so shall the Good Impressions that He has made upon thee.

II. Whatever Miscarriages in your Lives, you [Page 26]felt your Hearts, when the Earthquakes rowsed them, smite you for, Oh! Forsake them, Oh! Reform them; After the Earthquakes are over, Oh! Don't return unto those Miscarriag [...]s. When the Earth was Trembling, were you conscious to no Miscarriages, which the praesages of a Judgment to come set you a Trembling for? Perhaps, the Rumbling Earth, which turned the Night of your pleasure, [unto many, Too much so!] into Terror, made the Murmur in your ears, which, once made the Ears of a Shimei to tingle; I. King. II. 44. Thou knowest all the wickedness which thy Heart is privy to. The Wretch who in the Defiances which by Swearing and Cursing and the Language of black Fiends, proclaimed a Tongue set on Fire of Hell; in the Time of the Eartquakes, doubtless he felt his Heart misgive him; The Great GOD whom I have insulted and affronted, may now send me down into that Fire of Hell, where a drop of water to cool the scorches of my Blasphemous Tongue will be in vain wish­ed for! The Beast which threw away so many precious Hours at the Tavern, and was Drun [...] often with the Liquors wherein is Besotment, and was intoxscated so often with a Cup of Excess; in the Time of Earthquakes, doubtless he felt his Heart misgive him; A Just GOD now makes me stagger by other means than I use to do it; and gives me a Cup of Trembling! How shall I drink off the Dregs of the Cup which there is in the Hand of the Lord for the wicked of the Earth? Such as walked after the Flesh in the Lusts of Uncleanness, in the Time of the Earth­quakes doubtless felt their misgiving Hearts griping of them, and saying, Am not I one of the Filthy In­batritants under which the Earth is defiled? Is there not [Page 27]a Day of Judgment coming wherein such wickeness as mine is to be punished? Shall not I have my part in the perdition of ungodly Men, when the Day comes that shall burn like [...] Oven? The False-dealer, and such as had Rob [...]ed or Earthquakes felt their misgiving Hearts reminding them of their Dishonest Practices, and saying; Hast thou stole? O steal no more; But Restore as soon and as far as thou canst, what has been stolen.

The Great and lewd City of Lima, some while ago, felt an Earthquake that sunk a large part of it, and brought in the Sea hideously rolling over it. In their Great Perplexity upon it, the Survi­vers profess'd much Attrition of Soul, and laid a­side the Quarrels that were among them, and cried out, Our Oppression, our Injustice, and our Ex­travagances have brought all this upon us. Those poor Spaniards may be our Monitors.—But I have not said all. The Sabbath-breaker, doubtless in the Time of the Earthquakes felt some Twitch­ [...]d some Wishes of a Misgiving Heart; The Holy GOD, who won't let the Earth rest under me, now lets me know, that if I go on to break His Holy Rest, He will send me where I shall have no Rest, nei­ther Day nor Night, but the smoke of the Torment will ascend forever and ever. Lord, Help me to Sabbatize better than I use to do. But, What am I speaking of? Of SABBATIZING! The Thing which pure and undefiled RELIGION, either Lives or Dies withal. Our Sabbath! — NEW ENG­LAND, Thy Sabbath, 'tis thy Beauty and thy De­fence. Oh! let nothing of This World ever take away thy Crown. Let thy Sabbath be thrown a­way [Page 28]way, and sinn'd away, and an Ichabod will soon be written on all thy Glory. —Sirs, I cannot go on, without speaking a Good Word for the Best of Days. — Where, where are th [...] True New-English Sabbatizers? Must we repair unto the Se­pulchres of our Fathers to look for them? Where are the Housholders that Remember the Sabbath, and make all within their Gates to do so? Where are the Nehemiahs, who will do all they can to lay Restraints upon those, who would bring Wrath upon us by profaning the Sabbath? Can the Ministers of the Gospel do no more, that the Remote Inha­bitants of their Parishes, where many stay at or near the Meeting-houses all the Time that inter­venes between the two public Meetings, may be put into the Best Method of spending the Holy Time in the Best manner; and keep up the zeal of Sabbatizing? If we won't Rest with and in GOD on His Day, GOD will not suffer His Earth to Rest under us, or permit us to Rest upon it. A plain Countrey-man once being changed and rai­sed into a Prophet of GOD, the Date of his [...] phecies was, Two Years before the [Famous Uzztan] Earthquake. Now, having foretold, That in that Earthquake, the Lord would Rore out of Zion, he mentions the Transgressions that would call for such a thing. One of them is This; [Amos VIII. 5.] Ye say, when will the Sabbath be over? They could not forbear entrenching on the Sabbath with secu­lar Affairs, or sensual Frolicks. It follows, And shall not the Earth Tremble for this? — An Earth­quake ensues upon it.

I will not have this called, A Digression. How­ever, I will go no further in This; but go on to [Page 29]say, We read, I. Joh. III. 20. If our Hearts Con­demn us, GOD u Greater than our Hearts, and know­ [...]th all Things. Now, Bring Things to mind, O Trans­gressors. In the Time of the Earthquakes, the Glo­rious GOD, set up his Tribunal in your Hearts, and set you as before His Judgment-seat. Every Thing in your ways, which the light of GOD in your Hearts, then Condemned as an Evil Thing, Oh! Hate it, Oh! Shun it, Oh! Avoid all occa­sions of it: And if you are Tempted at any time hereafter to Repeat it, Answer and Conquer the Temptation so: If I felt the Earth now shaking under me, and gaping for me, should I venture to do such a wicked Thing? It were as bad as to leap into the direful Chasms of the Earth opening in an Earthquake, to do such a wicked Thing! When the Egyptians would venture into the Deep, at a Time when, as it is hinted in the LXXVII. Psalm, The Earth trembled and shook; what came of it? We read, Exod. XV. 12. Thou stretchedest thy Hand and the Earth swallowed them. Hardy sinner, Wilt thou velure on, to do as thou didst use to do? To do so is to challenge the out-stretching of that Hand, that can soon cause the Earth to swallow thee.

III. Make Haste, and, Oh, Delay not Immedi­ately to keep those Commandments of GOD, in which the Earthquakes made you think, Without any further delay, this Duty shall be complied withal Not only Sins of Commission but also Sins of Omissi­on had in the Earthquakes the Reproofs of GOD given unto them. Truly, The Best Thing that can be desired for you, is; That you may order your Conversation aright, just as you most approved, at the Time when the Earthquakes made you d [...]e [Page 30]the Salvation of GOD. Some in the Time of the Earthquakes are for getting as near to those whom they take to be Good Men as they can, professing their Choice to dy with such. But, Children, whom do you chuse to live withal? There are Points of a Good Conversation in CHRIST, which perhaps you were not fully come up to. But in the Time of the Earthquakes you thought, I will now do what I know to be my Duty. Now, with the Earth­quakes there was that Roaring out of Zion unto you; Heb. III. 7. To Day, Oh! Hear the Voice of GOD. There can be no greater Part or Proof of Pru­dence than This; For a Man to think, What have I left undone, that if I were now a dying I should wish to have done? And go do accordingly. And now, My Friends, Think with your selves. If you felt the Earthquakes causing your Houses to fall upon you, and crush you to Death in the Ru­ines of them; Or, if you felt the Earthquakes cause those formidable Apertures in the Ground, which would be the Gates of Death hideously open­ing for you; Think, What is the Duty which, I have lift undone, the Neglect whereof would now make me feel the Bitterness of Death upon me? The Religi­on of the Closet, and, Family Religion, and, The Holy Table Religiously approach'd unto; Such as these are Points of PIETY, which Earthquakes compel the Minds of Men, to confess their Obligations to, and Chastise them for the neglecting of. If you saw your selves going down into the horrible Caverns, which Earthquakes may sink you down into, would it not exceedingly terrify you, to think, I have not this Day been on my Knees in secret before the Glorious GOD? If Earthquakes made it [Page 31]not safe that you should stay in your Habitations, and yet made you at a loss where to be safe by running out of them, would it not exceedingly terrify you to think, that you had never, or seldom, or poorly called upon GOD in your Habitations? There is the Duty of Commemorating the Death of our SAVIOUR at His Holy Table, whereof the precept is as plain as any words can make it; THIS DO! For the Epidemical Neglect of this Duty, the usual Apology is a very wicked one. 'Tis, I have not prepared for it! Man, The very Apology is it self an Impiety. 'Tis thy Crime, that thou art not prepared. It is pleaded; It is not in me, I can't prepare my self. But, Hast thou done all that is in Thee, and as much as Thou canst, that thou mayst be prepared? The Neglect of this Duty is always a Grief of Mind on a Death-bed, unto such as are not Hardened in their Sins. It must needs be a Grief of Mind in an Earthquake. 'Twil then be a Disconsolate Reflection: There is one Thing, wherein I have disobey'd, and have dishonoured my SAVIOUR all my Days. Not prepar'd, you say! But suppose it could be told you, Before this Month is out, a formi­dable Earthquake shall put a stop to your Breathing on the Face of the Earth any more! What would you do to prepare for it? With Madness in your Hearts you are going down to the Dead, if you do not now Im­mediately, all that were Necessary to be done that you may prepare for This. Now prepare to meet with your own Death, as you are given up to a Reprobats Mind if you do it not, and you will prepare to shew forth your Lord's Death at His Holy Table as you ought to do. The jogs of the Earthquakes, have been as Goads upon you, for stimulating of you to [Page 32]your Duty. Methinks, you may hear your SAVI­OUR from the Earth calling to you, as once from Heaven to another; Soul, Soul, Why dost thou keep at a distance from me? It is hard for thee, and it cannot be safe, to Rick against the Goads.

When Rahab joined her self to the Church of Is­rael, she had a Scarlet-Cord given her, and something to show for her preservation, when an Earthquake threw down the Walls of Jericho. Truly, To come with the preparation of the Sanctuary, and join your selves to an Instituted Church of the GOD of Israel, and so to dwell in His Tabernacle, 'tis to seek a Refuge under the covert of His Wings.

IV. The purposes of PIETY which you take up from the Terrors of the shadow of Death in the Earth­quakes, let the Covenant of Grace give life unto them: And with the Spirit of that New Covenant proceed unto the performing of what you have purposed. The Good Impressions made by the Earthquakes do shoot forth First, in Good purposes to walk according to that Rule, which brings Peace to the Israel of GOD. The Good Impressions are lost, when those Good purposes fail of being Executed. And they will fail if you keep up the Spirit of the Old Covenant, when you set about the Execution of them. The First Thing you must see to, is, That your Good purposes be not made in your own strength: Or with an Imagina­tion of your being Able to will and to do at your own pleasure; If they be so, there will be no strength in them. The Adversaries of the Lord, and of Good pur­poses to walk with Him, O Man, By thy own strength, never, never shalt thou prevail against them. Under the Horrors of the Earthquakes, you purpose to express a Respect unto these and those, and [Page 33]even All the Commandments of GOD. You Trust you shall do as you say; never do as you have done. You have no Fear of it. But, I have! — In whom do you Trust? In thy own Heart, O Vain Man! Then thou art a Fool. All will soon come to No­thing. There is a Clause of more than ordinary Significancy, which must be an Ingredient of all Good Purposes; Even That; Phil. IV. 13. THRO' CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME. The Cove­nant of Works, the Frame and Strain of That, will choak all Good Purposes, and kill them in the Bud. The Covenant of Grace, is that which alone will Preserve them, Secure them, Nourish them. And you are thus to conceive of it. There is an Eter­nal COVENANT between GOD the FATHER, and GOD our SAVIOUR. In that Covenant of Redemption, your SAVIOUR promised, not only that He will pay the Price of Redemption for you, [which has been done!] but also, that He will Quicken and Incline and Strengthen the People, whom He brings under the Shadow of His Wings, to Glorify GOD, and Live unto Him. Your Good Purposes are best expressed in the Form of giving the Consent of your Souls, that the Blessed JESUS, who is your Saviour and Surety, should Assist you unto the Doing of all the Good, which you Purpose to do. I freely own to you, that I am not entirely satisfied in a Form of Covenanting with GOD, wherein we act our selves as Princi­pals, and a Glorious CHRIST is brought in only as an Accessary. Tho' an exceeding great Multitude which no Man can Number, have been brought home to GOD in that Form, yet, I judge, the more Evargelical the Form is, and the more that [Page 34]CHRIST is All in it, it is the Better, and the Surer, and the Faster. The Style of your Good Purposes is to be such as This; ‘O Great GOD, Be Thou my GOD. I am not able to pay unto Thee the Homage of PIETY, in the Duties of it, which I owe unto Thee. But, I Desire, I Desire to do it; I desire to do these Duties. My Blessed JESUS has engaged that His People shall, thro' Him acting as a Principle of Life in them, do these Duties; And it is my Desire to be comprehended in this Engagement, and be Found in Him. I Consent, I Consent, That He should cause me to do them; and work in me all that is well-pleasing in the sight of GOD. I put my self under His Conduct, that He may do so. And even in my giving this Consent, it is His Help that has brought me to it.—’ Now, O Evangelized Soul, Go on, and prosper.

But, Oh! Remember at the same time, to lay aside all Thoughts of going to Establish your own Righteousness, or of making to your selves a Righ­teousness of your own Obedience, to the Command­ments of GOD; No, Tho' it should be in the Evangelical Way carried on. You must propose to stand Justified before the Thrice-Holy GOD, only in the Righteousness of that Obedience, which the Blessed JESUS yielded unto His Law for you. And you must not so much as Propose to be Re­commended, unto the Liberty and Priviledge of pleading that spotless Righteousness, by your own Obedience, or by your Good Purposes of it: But come to it with no Recommendation, but the Cha­racter of the Poor that must make This their only Refuge. If you take up Good Purposes, with the [Page 35] Indirect Views of a Self-Justiciary, they will all soon die away, and be laid under that Epitaph, My Purposes are broken off, even the Thoughts of my Heart.

It will be well for you, if you fall into the hands of Skilful Divines, and Pastors that will wisely lead you in the Paths of Righteousness.

V. Allow me to Conclude with one brief Di­rection, which I tender as an Appendix to the rest. There is a Stratagem of your Adversary the Devil, which you are to be warned of.

In the Concern of Mind, which the Earthquakes raise in you, be not so concerned about lesser, and perhaps doubtful Matters, as to overlook the more Weighty matters of the Gospel. The Good Impressions from the Earthquakes, may be much damnified, by being diverted from the MAIN THINGS that are called for; Or, by Exclamations against the lesser Faults in others, putting by and shifting off, the Charge of much Greater in our selves. There may be the fine-spun Devices of Satan, in a Pre­posterous and an Irregular, and a Self-Opiniona­ted Zeal; And we should not be Ignorant of His Devices.

As for Garments, by all means, let all Exorbitances and Extravagances be rebuked, and retrenched; All Trespasses against the Modest, and Shamefac'd, and Sober Apparrel, which the Word of GOD requires, be Redressed. GOD, as well as Good and Wise Christians, is displeased at them. Yea, 'tis now a proper season to make Humble Abatements, even of some lawful Ornaments. For the rest, let us keep to the Word of GOD, and moderately use, every Creature, which He has there granted us a [Page 36] Charter for: And not fall into the Arrogant Pride of making Things to be Sins, which the Word of GOD has never made so: [But may be as lawful as for a Man to wear an Hat of Beevers Fur, or a Ca [...] of Sheeps wool upon his Head.] Nor let us lay the Main stress of our Demands, on Things, which the worst People in the World, can as easily come to as the Best. But while we are zealously affected, as it is a Good Thing to be, against the Vanity and Luxury of a few Foolish People in their Garb, and the like, let us be Proportionably zealous against those grosser efforts of Ungodliness and Unrighteousness, which have the Wrath of GOD reveled from Heaven against them. And let our Main care be for, a SOUL so full of submission to GOD, a SOUL so full of Con­formity to CHRIST, a SOUL so full of Benignity to Men, as the Gospel calls for. This is what all Wise Men are agreed in. While there may be those, who may see False causes of Punishment, and may enquire not wisely upon them.

If we will be Nice at straining of Gnats, I beseech you, let it be Enquir'd, [Not as if That were one!] What is to be thought about the Cry of DEFRAU­DED LABOURERS going up to the Lord of Sabaoth.

Yea, if Things not yet by all Good Men Agreed on, may be spoken of, let it be Enquired, Whether Christians do generally pay to a glorious CHRIST, the Dues which they that would count themselves, the True Sons of Abraham, should be induced ea­sily to Confess, belonging to our Melchizedek? And whether they Devote unto PIOUS USES, that portion of their Income, which the pattern of our Father Jacob, and the precept of the Gospel, has plainly declared for? And whether the SON of [Page 37]GOD, be not Robb'd, as in a Sacriledge, when this [...]ortion is witheld from Him? And whether if this [...]ortion were honestly paid unto the LORD, a very small Morety of it applied where it should be, would not put a stop to the Cry of many DEFRAU­DED LABOURERS? But it seems, this is, Not Agreed on. And I know very well, what I say of this matter will be little regarded; But see, whe­ther a perpetual Series and Succession of Impoverish­ments, and Remarkable ways devised by the Justice of Heaven for it, be not what our Land will be doom'd unto. — I have done. Behold the Me­thod for preventing of an Abortion on our Good Im­ [...]ressions, and this unhappy Account of them, We have been in pain, we have brought forth wind, we have not wrought any Deliverance for the Soul that has been going with us.

I come to the Conclusion of the Matter. It may be hoped, The Good Impressions from our Earth­quakes, will be such, that the Trembling of the Earth under us, will prove the most useful Dispensation of Heaven, that ever we have met with [...]l. Many Children of GOD, will Bless Him to Eternal Ages, for the Excitations which the Earthquakes have given into the PIETY which was too languid in them. And many Elect of GOD who were not yet His Children, are made such, by the Earthquakes driving of them, into those Motions of PIETY, which carry them to their SAVIOUR. The Lord of Hosts [...]oming to shake the Earth, hereupon the Desire of [...]ll Nations has come, and fill'd their Hearts with his Glory. As we read, The Voice of the Eternal GOD makes the Hinds to bring forth; By the start­ing Roars of the Thunders over them, when [Page 38]they are Travailing, they are thrown into Frights that force their Off-spring from them: So the Voice of the Eternal GOD, in the ghastly Roars of the Earthquakes under us, will cause many a Soul to be New Born; and many Slow, Dull Dilatory Intentions of Doing the Will of GOD will be brought forth into Endeavours that never will be repented of. The Churches in the Ca­pital City of the Province, and many other Chur­ches throughout the Countrey, have set apart Whole DAYS of Supplications to Obtain the Bles­sings of a Successful Gospel. We have stood wait­ing for some while, and wondring what was be­come of our Prayers. The Success was not pre­sently what we look'd for. We did not present­ly see the Answers of our Prayers. But, Lo, as we read of the Primitive Beleevers, When they had prayed, the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Even thus, the Glorious GOD shakes the place where these Prayers are made, and grants those Effusions of the Holy Spi­rit for which we made our Prayers. Yea, By Ter­rible Things in Righteousness He answers us, as the GOD of our Salvation, and grants us the Petitions we have desired of Him. O Wonderful! O Won­derful! Our GOD instead of sending Earthquakes to destroy as He justly might, He sends them to fetch us home unto Himself, and to do us the greatest Good in the World! If these Good Impres­sions grow, and hold, and last, and come to a due Maturity, it looks as if some Salvation may be nigh to us, and Glory may dwell in our Land.

What a Deplorable Thing is it, That some of our Congregations have such Contentions and Con­fusions [Page 39]in them, as greatly to defeat such an En­joyment and such an Improvement of Good Im­pressions as others are exceedingly Rejoicing in O Lord JESUS, pity them!

On the other hand; A Relapse is always dange­rous. If the Good Impressions on the Minds of People from the Earthquakes, quickly vanish, and People become generally as Worldly, and as Prayerless, and as Vitious, as before the Earthquakes, and if the Good­ness whereof there is a show made on the Earth­quakes, do go away with them, we may Tremble, we may Tremble, at, what is a coming! They who dwell in the Wilderness have cause to be afraid of the Tokens.

As for the Miserables themselves, it looks aw­fully, as if it must be said, All is in vain; They are a Reprobate Metal; the Lord has Rejected them. It looks awfully, as if this were the Doom from GOD upon them, Never, Never shall any Fruit be found upon them; and as if the Oath of GOD were gone out against them, That they shall never enter into His Rest. There seems to be that sentence from the Mouth of GOD upon these Obdurate Sinners; Ezek. XXIV. 13. Because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged any more, till I have caused my Fury to rest upon thee. That there should be Earth­quakes extending for more than Five Hundred Miles; and in several places the Roars continue every Day for some Weeks together, and the shocks be given many sevens of times in these Weeks; and not one life be lost in all! — O the Goodness and Forbearance, and Long-suffering of our GOD! But if this be trifled with, what a Wrath, O Hardened ones, what a Wrath, are you treasuring up against the Day of Wrath! It will be well, if something of a [Page 40] Pestilential Aspect be not quickly shot among us, wherein the slain of the Lord way be many. — I say, something of a Pestilential Aspect. Our LORD ha­ving spoken of, Earthquakes in diverse places, pre­sently proceeds to speak of, Pestilences. Upon the amazing Earthquakes, wherein the mighty City of Antioch, with many other places was demolished, before our Apostle John could be well cold in his Grave, which, I suppose, our Lord in His Praedic­tion had His Eye first upon, there came on such a Pestilence that it look'd as if the World was going to be dis-peopled; and the Reliques of it remained even to the Time of the Martyr Cyprian. When there had been an Earthquake in the Wilderness, where the People assoon as they Recovered out of the Cries into which it had thrown them, disco­vered an Incurable Obstinacy in their Vile Tempers, and their Base Doings, the Next News is, A Pesti­lence, which destroy'd many Thousands of them. After the never-to-be-forgotten Earthquake in one of our well-known Islands, that some now among us were present at, Half the People saved from the perdition at Port-royal, died of a Pestilence at King­ston; where five hundred Graves were dug within a Month, and sometimes Two or Three buried in one Hole together; And the rest of the Island had a deep Draught in that Cup of Astonishment which GOD gave them after He had caused the Earth to Tremble under them. Indeed, the Exemples of Mi­neral and Malignant Steams, from Earthquakes ter­minating in a raging Pestilence, have been very Usual and very Dismal. Yea, American Exem­ples of such a thing. Tho' the proper Plague was never known in America; it is well known, [Page 41]that after some Earthquakes, which overturned al­most the whole Capital City of Chili, in the South-America, not very many Years ago, almost all the surviving Inh [...]itants died of a Pestilence, more Mortal than a [...]oper Plague use to be. We are not certain, that our Earthquakes will have a­ny such Effects. The [...] portunity, to Methods of Repentance may prevent them. Our Flight unto our SAVIOUR with the Faith of the XCI. Psalm; This may save us from them. Yet, In Conformity to what our SAVIOUR spoke of some Tragical Acci­dents which had happened a little before, where­of one seems to have been an Earthquake,— Ex­cept ye Repent,—I will venture to say, I verily Fear, That the Glorious GOD, having within a little while singled out several Towns, that were None of the Worst, [Not Sinners above all Men!] but full of Godly People, and ordered the Destroying Angel to make a Doleful Havock among them, He has therein shot off Direful Warning-pieces to all the Land: I say, Direful Warning-pieces!— And His Voice to the whole Countrey, is, O! Let there be a General Turn to GOD, in a Life of Serious PI­ETY, lest a more General Stroke do make fearful De­vastations upon you!

I do not speak these things, as a Melancholy Vi­sionary, or because of any Delight I can take in keeping my Neighbours under a Fear which has Torment in it. And indeed I am sorry to see, that ever now and then, upon some Idle Rumours and Whimseys, the Heart of this People is moved, as the Trees of the Wood are moved with the Wind; More moved, alas, than they are by the plain Word of GOD brought unto them: Sorry, sorry, to [Page 42]see, That foolish Notions [...]yer now and then started by the Devil, to torture as, and to triumph over our Guilty Souls, will work more upon us, than all the plain Commination of that Word, where­in we have the Glorious GOD marvellously Thun­dering over us! No, But [...]ying the Terror of the Lord, we would perswade you, unto that PIETY, which may divert the Judgments of GOD, that may be hanging over us. And we would have you sing in the ways of that PIETY; fain have you Live Comfortably, and be bravely above the Fear of Evil. You know the Course that Ninive took, and how it succeeded. What? Shall a New-England be worse than a Ni [...]ve? GOD forbid! Syrs, They whom Earthquakes do chase into a Life of PIETY, do the best Thing that can be done, to procure a Marke of GOD upon them, for their Preservation, if He should send an Over­flowing Scourge, and pour out the Vials of His Wrath on the Children of Disobedience, and of Un­perswadeableness. O Beleevers, Thus taken under the Protection of your SAVIOUR, Hear Him now saying unto you, Fear not, for I am with thee: Be not dismayed, for I am thy GOD.

But, Lifting up a Voice like a Trumpet, I declare unto you that are Impenitent under and after such Earthquakes as have come to rowse us from the Dead sleep upon us, Earthquakes are not all the Ar­rows, in the Quiver of GOD, ordained for those, by whom He is proveked every day. But if Earthquake; will not move you, it seems come to a, Conclama­ [...]um est.— Alass,— It looks as if the last Mean; were used; and all that remains were only this; He that being often Reproved, hardens his Neck, shall be lestroyed suddenly, and without any Remedy. Yea.

[Page 43] Yea, A General Impenitence under and after such Earthquakes, what w [...] it betoken, but that these Earthquakes, are not other than the Beginning of Sorrows! There have been tremendous Earth­quakes in former and [...]er Ages; The History of them were enough [...] cast a wicked World into all the Trepidations which a Mene Tekel threw a Bel­shazzar into. The Motto on the Title-Page of such an History, [...]ight be That, Come and see the Works of GOD; I [...]e is Terrible in His Doing towards the Children of Me [...]. But I am certain, a Greater Earthquake than all of those, is what we have cause to live in Expectation of: Even that Earthquake, whereof we are warned, Rev. XVI. 18. A Great Earthquake, such [...]s has not been since Men were on the Earth, so Mighty [...] Earthquake, and so Great an one. I again, and again, declare it unto you; The Com­ing of the Son of N [...]n in the Clouds of Heaven, 'tis what we know of Nothing to Retard it or Pro­tract it. We are told, It must be at and for the De­struction of that Roman Monarchy, for which the last Period of Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years are most certainly upon their Expiration. An Excel­lent Pen, which New-England will have Singular cause to know, has in an Incomparable Treatise on the Sacred Prophecies, with much Erudition shown, and with much Demonstration prov'd, That there is abundance of cause to think, the Expiration of that Black Period may have been a­bove Ten Years ago. What Pause our Glorious LORD may now make, before the Next Thing which we have to look for, and what He may please to Do in this Pause, and whether in this Pause a more General, and a more Terrible Slaugh­ter [Page 44]of the Witnesses, m [...] not be carried on, we can not say; For my par [...] I have not the Knowledge of the Holy ones. But for the Coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds of Heaven, which, O Vain Men, will not be found a Metaphor, It may, for any thing I know, be the Next Thing that is to be look'd fo [...]. All that the Oracles of GOD have mentioned, [...] Things to be done before it, an [...] Accomplished: I say, All Accomplished! Certainly, The Kingdom of GOD is at hand: And in the introducing of it, The Foundations of the Earth shall shake; The Earth shall be utterly broken down; The Earth shall be clean dissolved; The Earth shall be moved exceedingly. O Kiss the Feet of the SON of GOD, whose hot wrath will quickly flame; and then, Blessed are they who trust in Him. Our Lord is coming to send a Fire on the Earth; [But it shall be Visited of the Lord of Hosts with Earthquake as well as Fir [...]:] and, what if it be in the subterraneous Receptacles, already kindled! From this Consideration, I beseech you, let not the Good Impressions of the Earthquakes be laid aside: I say, This Consideration, That more Earthquakes are to be look'd for; form which you can have no Refuge but This: O my SAVIOUR, Under the Shadow of thy Wings will I make my Refuge.

History gives us the Names of some Philosophers among the ancient Pagans, who upon some Circumstances observed in the bottom of Wells, and some other such Occurrences, foretold Earthquakes; which came to pass accordingly. We Christians have a more sure Word of Prophecy, according to which we may foretel, That our Earthquakes are not all over yet; It must not be thought. That Earthquakes have done all they have to do, upon a World sinking under an Enormous Load of Wickedness which with an Accumulation of Guilt from Former Ages lies upon it. I am not so much of a Natural Phi­losopher, as to form any Judgment on the Constitution of [Page 45] [...]ur Soyl, which is well known [...] be vastly replenished with fores both of Iron and of [...]: Tho' I am aware, what surprizing Imitation of Earthquakes, the Dust of these Mixed and Warmed, will [...]hord unto us: And some it may be, would from hence these a Suspicion, That our Earth­quakes may by'nd by iss [...] in some Fiery Eruptions; and may [...]oceed anon to a Fire, that shall burn to the Foundations of the Mountains. But I am so much of a Christian Philosopher, as to suspact, that when the [...] Period, which cannot but be now very near unto [...] coming on, stupendous Earth­quakes, will be some of the Things, which an Earth, from whence a Cry ro Heav [...] still waxing Louder for the Days of Vengeance to come upon it, must be torn withal. O thou Lond, where GOD has been so Forgotten, and which hast so impiously Denied the GOD that is Above, Thou shalt be tern to pieces, and there shall be none to deliver thee! Yea, There is more cause to suspect than it is now and here proper to Declare. That the Holy and Mighty ANGELS of JEHO­VAH-JESUS, who are His Ministers, to do His Pleasure, and very much concerned in the Management of Earthquakes, when it pleases Him to Order them are coming down with Commissions to do those Things whereupon it shall be Aid, Come, Behold the Works of the Lord, what Desolations He has made in the Earth. Doubtless, In GOD's Time for them, There are more Earthquakes to come; And it is of the Last Consequence unto us, that in the ways of PIETY, we be brought into a State of Safety for Eternity before they come; and that when they come, the Good Impressions made by Former Earthquakes be found Abiding on us, and Abounding in us.

BOSTON-Lecture. Dec. 14.1727.