Oh!

life in me, they may do that, follow thou me. happy they that he will not loose; that he powerfully, yet sweetly constrains to break from all and follow him; sure I am, it shall never repent them.

Ver. 23.-And being entered into a ship. Still new occasions, accordingly new evidence of the divine power of Jesus Christ. Upon the ship wherein he is, may, and usually does, arise a storm; yet happy to be embarked with him upon all hazards. His ship may be lost, but perish it cannot. His coun

sels are deep and wise, and we cannot find him out. He knows what he is about to do, when we can least understand him. When we think that he leads out his people to be swallowed up in the sea, or destroyed in the wilderness, he is only raising a mount for himself to be seen on, and bringing them into the view of dangers, yea, of apparent ruin, to be more glorious in their deliverance. His way is in the deep, and his footsteps are not known. Canst thou by searching find out God, says he in Job, which is not, I conceive, so meant of his essence, as of his operations and ways, which are so profound and untraceable. We are at a stand often to think what he means to do; whether he has given up his church and cause to the winds and waves, when his enemies rage and roar, and he is silent, as if he cared not what became of all. The seas swell, the ship is lost, and he sleeps.

Not to speak here of Christ putting on our natural frailties, or of this sleep whether natural or voluntary; it might be and likely was both; wearied with the concourse of the multitude on the land, he falls asleep in the ship; yet doubtless he had the 'command of those natural inclinations in himself, and chooses now to sleep, to encrease the appearance of the danger, and add horror to the visage of it; so no doubt it did; not all the blustering of the winds, nor rising of the waves, so frightful and sad to the disciples as that their master slept so sound amidst of them; so sound as if rocked asleep by

them, and either wholly insensible, or very regardless of their danger, as St. Luke expresses them, Carest thou not that we perish? Now in this man that slept dwelt God that sleeps not; the watchman of Israel, that does not so much as slumber; but they, either not so clearly understanding, or in the fright, not so duly remembering, and considering this; eying only the posture wherein he was visible to them; therefore, the sounder he slept it awaked and increased their fear the more. And as Jesus Christ here really did, even God seems sometimes to his own, to do, and they express it so. So the Psalmist, awake, arise, why sleepest thou O Lord? This he seems to do, when the ungodly prosper, and when his people lye trodden under foot, and he seems to take no notice of their pressure, nor stirs for their deliverance. And this the saddest part of their affliction they have no hope nor stay, but in the favour and protection of their God, now when that is retired and the curtain drawn, and he asleep; their prayers not heard, and no appearance of his help, I say it is a grand trial of faith, which shakes and disquiets more than all other things, how terrible soever. No rage nor noise of the enemy so grievous, as the silence and sleeping of God. Thus, in a soul, when lusts and temptations are swelling and raging, and God is retired, and as asleep to it, says nothing, controuls them not, but suffers them to take their course: this is that which breeds the

highest anguish, and brings a soul to the mouth of the pit, to the brink of desperation. Then it is forced to cry for a word from his mouth, Lord Jesus, speak but a word; keep not silence to me, or I am undone; no recovery for me; if thou keep silence. I am dead; I shall be like them that go down to the pit, or as it is here, "save master, or we perish."

And this is one main end for which he does sleep; to awake us; to rouse and stir our prayers, which commonly are, in times of ease, heavy, drowsy, lifeless things, as a man's speech in sleep, dreaming

incoherent, senseless stuff. This they may be to God, that hearkens to what the heart says in them, though to mans ears, the words may be fit and good sense: but by the straining of a sharp affliction, or near pressing danger, the heart is awaked and speaks itself. Such a word seems to sound in its ears, as that of the mariners to Jonah, arise thou sluggard, and call upon thy God. Men do but trifle in fair weather, but in the storm, they are more in earnest, especially a soul acquainted with God, that follows and relies upon him. It will take this course and no other; runs streight to him, and if he be asleep, awakes him. And in this, they are to be approved and commended that as here their course is to Jesus Christ, as confident of his power, and propention to deliver them. This they did believe, otherways they had not left working for themselves, to go to awake him.

Yet was there with their faith, a mixture of distempered, distrustful fear, which Jesus well knew, and which he would not otherwise have charged them with. He doth not altogether deny faith in them, but checks the deficiency of it; Oh ye of little faith, why did ye doubt? Apprehend danger and fear they might; yea if they had not, they would not have come to Christ in that manner. Without a living · sense of distress or danger, there can be neither faith, nor prayer. These are stirred and raised to act by the knowledge and feeling of our need of help, but the misery is, we scarcely in any thing know our bounds. Our passions raised, do usually overflow and pass the banks; a little fear does but awake faith, but much fear weakens it, and in the awakening gives it too great a blow, such a one as astonishes it, and makes it stagger. That they were afraid was tolerable, but their hearts, it seems, were not so established in the persuasion of Christ's divine power, and care of them, as became them, and this he plainly, yet gently checks. And there is this alloy of distrust with believing, not only in

the weaker, but even in the strongest Christian, and a continual wrestling betwixt them; sometimes the one uppermost, and sometimes the other, but faith, in the end shall have the victory. See what strange difference there was, betwixt Job and Job; would one think it were the same person. One while cursing his birth, and wishing for death; and yet afterwards declaring, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. And again afterwards complaining, wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thy enemy? And yet anon again, I know that my Redeemer liveth. This they would think of that doubt because they doubt, and multiply distrust upon itself, concluding, that they have no faith, because they find so much and so frequent doubting within them; but this is a great mistake, some doubtings there may be, where there is even much faith; and a little faith there may be, where there is much doubting. But upon this account, is doubting by any means to be entertained or favoured? yea, it is to be hated and opposed with all our strength; and the strength of God implored to overcome it, as the grand enemy of our peace and his glory. By all means is faith to be cherished, and distrust to be checked. Our Saviour pardons it in his disciples, yet he blames it. He refuses not his help, yet he blames their unbelief.

Little faith.-He requires, and delights in strong firm believing on him, though the least and weakest he rejects not.

Having first rebuked their fear, he rebukes the storm that caused it, and makes a calm, a great calm. No wonder, they wondered at it, though having seen many of his works, and now expecting somewhat of this from him, yet it surpasses their expectation, and strikes them into admiration, to see a man, a man subject to weariness and sleep; and yet that man awaking to still the wind and seas with a word of his mouth. Oh! the greatness of the Lord whom we serve; sovereign of sea and

land, commanding all with a word, desperate diseases, blasting winds, raging seas and tormenting. devils.

A great calm.-This often happens in his church, after such storms as threatened shipwreck; and so in a soul, when all within (and these are the worst storms) is full of confusion and noises, the heart working like a toubled sea, and finding no rest, neither from its persuasions, nor the skilfullest speeches of others, but amidst all, likely to be swallowed up, or split in pieces; then, then, one word from Christ's mouth quiets all presently, and makes the soul calmer and smoother, than the stillest water in the fairest day. Oh! what wonder and love will possess the soul, that hath found any such thing.

The following history, hath many things of very useful remark; but those things offer themselves to all that read it. We may see the great malice of satan, and the great power and goodness of Jesus Christ; and the great baseness and brutishness of the men of this place, here spoken off. Satan's malice in the men possessed, carrying them to run wild amongst tombs, and to commit outrage upon them that passed by, and then apprehending their dispossession thence, to desire to go into the swine of that place, and destroying them, which was their design upon the men, as the event proved. He that had power, and graciously used it to cast them out of the possessed men, was not tied to their suit as a point of capitulation. He could have cast them quite out of their coasts, and sent them back immediately to their own prison, but in divine wisdom and justice, he grants their suit, knowing well what use they would make of it, and what would follow.

But oh! Gadarenes themselves, the swine viler than those the devils entered and drowned; yea, they worst possessed than the swine, and drowned in a more fearful deep, by the craft of those devils,