the world, are doomed to destruction. Of how small account in the sight of an Infinite God, was this mighty empire; the lives of men, women, and children, the great city Babylon, and all its immense riches, so much admired by the world, when put into the balance with a few poor, feeble Jews! Those things, which the world calls great, are treated as trifles, when they come in competition with God's church. They are as a drop of the bucket, as the small dust of the balance, as nothing. But God sets an high value on his church. Thus he saith Isai. xliii. 3-4. For I am the Lord thy God, the holy one of Israel, thy Saviour; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia, and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I loved thee: therefore I gave men for thee; and people for thy life. Let come what will of the world, and the kingdoms of the world, God will certainly take care of his church. He says, I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. II. By the judgments inflicted upon mankind, by the righteous governor of the world, important ends are answered. The psalmist says, The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth; the wicked is marred in the work of his own hands. By the natural evils which God inflicts on mankind he teaches us, 1. That he is an holy God, and hates sin. It is said, He is angry with the wicked every day. He destroyed the Old World by water, because the wickedness thereof was great on the earth. He overthrew the cities of the plain, because their sin was grievous. He sent plagues on Pharaoh because he would not let Israel go. He destroyed the Israelites in the wilderness by hundreds, and thousands, because of their murmuring and unbelief. In this way the Lord teaches us that he is the Holy One of Israel. The bible of is full such instances. 2. By the judgments God sends, he lets the world know he will avenge the wrongs, and injuries his church has suffered from the hands of its enemies. God will not suffer his church to be run down, and trampled on by her enemies, and take no notice of the injuries, and wrongs she suffers. When God's people are crushed, and treated barbarously by their enemies, hear what he says. For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise saith the Lord: I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. So again, The eyes of the Lord rug to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. So the text saith, He reproved kings for their sakes. By the plagues God sent on Pharaoh, and by drowning him, and his host in the Red sea, he avenged the injuries his people had suffered from them. To the Ammonites God threatened destruction, because they rejoiced in all their heart, with all their despite against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity. The reason God threatened total destruction to Babylon, was the cruelty exercised over his people by the Baylonians, and holding them so long in captivity. By completely destroying spiritual Babylon, God will avenge the persecutions, and other injuries his church has suffered, at her hands. Her time to fall will come her fall will be matter of joy. Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye holy Apostles, and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 3. The natural evils inflicted on the world, and on the church have a favorable bearing on her best interests. It has been observed that all events which take place, are for the good of the church. Now the bible is a church history. Those nations, therefore, who were friends or enemies, helpful or hurtful to the people of God, are frequently mentioned, while other, great and mighty nations are passed by in silence. The Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. By natural evils, inflicted on mankind, God instructs his church. Solomon says, The rod, and reproof give wisdom, When the Israelites saw the plagues sent on Pharaoh, they had evidence that the God of the Hebrews was infinitely greater than the gods of the Egyptians. The Hebrews were taught, that their God, was a God in whom they might put implicit confidence-That it is dangerous to have him an enemy-safe and comfortable to have him for a friend. God, by involving his church in trouble and affliction, designs to chastise them, for their blacksliding, unfruitful 3 ness and spiritual deadness. How frequently did God's people forsake the Lord, and serve other gods. Then to chas tise them, he let loose their enemies on them, and afflicted them sorely; and some times, a long season. Whom the Lord loveth he rebuketh, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now all this is done to bring the Lord's people back to himself, from whom they have revolted. Suffering under the terrible frowns of heaven, were means, very frequently of bringing them to repentance, and reformation. Of Israelit was said, They put away the strange gods from among them and served the Lord. Like to this it is said of them more than once, when under the pressure of heavy affiictions. A corrupt church is so far from being secured from judg ments and distressing calamities, because it is a church, that they fall heaviest and first on such a church. Judgment begins at the house of God. He told his people thus, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. 3. We learn from our subject that Christian professors stand on high, and solemn ground. God loves his church, takes care of it, and orders all things in his universal government, for the best, and greatest good of his spiritual kingdom. Therefore, those who belong to the visible church, stand on high and solemn ground: your responsibility is immensely great. You are responsible to God, to your follow men, to yourselves. The present is a time of great distress, and perplexity among the nations. Nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. What gives the greatest distress to the benevolent heart, is, these calamitous events are taking place principally in Christendom, where the church of Christ is, if any where in the world. Those who are called Christians are imbruing their hands in each others blood. Heathens for the most part, are enjoying, peaceably, the sweets of domestic life. Christians, murdering and being murdered by each other: Heathens shaking hands with each other in friendly intercouse. Mysterious providence ! 1 If it be asked, why O Lord, are all these evils come on the people which is called by thy name? The answer may be given, with strict propriety, in the words of Moses, concerning God's people. Deut. xxxii. 15-18. “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forseok God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrifice unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not; to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not: of the rock that begot thee, thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee." The church is become the degenerate plant of a strange vine," producing the grapes of Sodom, and clusters of Gomorrah" Therefore is the Lord pouring out the vials of his wrath on Christendom. While the Lord is punishing the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquities, and by such awful calamities chastising a corrupt church, he gives consoling advice to his real friends. Isai. xxvi. 20. "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." In the Divine perfections, the true friends of Christ may always find safety, peace, and comfort. But let me come nigher home, to the bosoms, and business of the American nation. In describing the calamitous day in which we live, we may with propriety, use the emphatical language of the prophet.-"That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasting and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness." Christian professors are alarmed at the prevalency of Deism, Arianism, Socinianism, Universalism, and other heretical sentiments. Here is danger indeed, if such errors creep into the church: but if professors disavow the damning. maxims of infidelity, the church is in no danger from the zealous exertions of hereticks, to promote error. Happy, indeed would it be, if all the enemies of religion should become its friends and advocates; but this is not necessary in order to save the nation from destruction, if God's people are faithful to him, and his cause. If not he will pour his indignation on the land, to chastise an hypocritical church. Isai. x. 5. 6. The efforts of the enemies of religion, to destroy it, will. always, in the issue, promote it, if prof ssors do not approve of their ungospel sentiments, and follow their pernicious Witness the history of the ways. There lies the danger. Power to destroy the church is not delegated to devils, or men. For a season the enemies of religion may triumph, but the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment. Their success may flatter them. For they say the Lord hath forsaken the earth; and the Lord seeth not. He, at present, winks at their wickedness; because he has important purposes to answer by it. The wrath of man shall praise him: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. But God sees the fall of his enemies to be near, because He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. When the Judge will lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet ; the hail shall sweep away therefuge of lies. Then the destruction of the enemies of God, of his truth, and of his church will be complete. Of such, the scripture saith, Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. The church is a society of immense importance. It is called The salt of the earth-the light of the world—a city set on an hill. Surely then professors ought to walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. He loves his church tenderly; watches over it carefully; and labors for it constantly. The Lord says, Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Why then is America groaning under the weight of such complicated evils? We hear the noise of the warrior, see garments rolled in blood; and the pestilence rages in the land. The moral cause of all these evils is in the depravity and corruption of the nation: and, alas! christian professors have been carried away with their dissimulations. They have become worldly minded, and conformed to the customs, and manners of the world. They have departed from the pure truths of the gospel, and the holy religion of the Lord Jesus: they have imbibed erroneous doctrines, and followed evil examples. This, we have reason to fear, is the case with many. And how much unfruitfulness, and spiritual deadness there is, generally, among professors! Therefore the sword, in the hand of the destroying Angel, is stretched out over America, and woe, woe, woe to the nation, if there be none to make up the gap, and |