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 GOD'S PROVIDENCE 
 
 IN 
 
 CALAMITY; 
 
 I 
 
 OCCASIONED BV THE PBARFLI. CALAMITY WHICH 
 TOOK PLACE IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHE- 
 DRA!/ OF SANTIAGO, CHILI, ON THE 8tH OF 
 DECEMBER, 1863. 
 
 BT BEY. DUNOAH MOBBISOK, 
 
 BROOKVILLE. C.W. 
 
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 PRINTRD AT 
 
 THJi: »*BVANGELIZBR" OFFICE, 
 PRBSOOTT, CW. 
 
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GOD'S PROVIDENCE 
 
 IN 
 
 CALAMITY; 
 
 A Sermon 
 
 OCCASIONED BY THE FEARFUL CALAMITY WHicH 
 TOOK PLACE IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHE- 
 DRAL OF SANTIAGO^ CHILI, ON THE 8tH OF 
 DECEMBER, 1863. 
 
 BY REV. DUNOAN MOEEISON, 
 
 BROCKVILLE, C.W. 
 
 PRINTED AT 
 
 THB *»BVANGELIZER" OFFICE, 
 PRBSCOTT, CW. 
 
 MDCCCLXIV. 
 
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1 
 
 GOD'S FBOTIDEirOE IN OALAMITT. 
 
 LUKE XIII. 1-5. 
 
 You have all doubtless heard of the 
 fearful calamity that took place a short 
 time ago in the city of Santiago, by which 
 about two thousand persons perished. A 
 few minutes before seven in the evening; 
 of Tuesday, the 8th December last, more 
 than three thousand women, and a few 
 men, knelt together in a very grand Roman 
 Catholic church, with the view of paying 
 their devotions to the Virgin. It seems 
 that the church, the grandest in that part 
 of the world, was lighted up to an extra- 
 ordinary «zt«it, with WAX candles and 
 
GOD 8 PROVIDENCE 
 
 camphene lamps, and decorated in the 
 highest style with images and festoons. 
 Some of these were formed of pasteboard 
 and other inflammatory materials. One 
 very large image of the Virgin was 
 placed upon the altar or stage, forming a 
 conspicuous object, and lighted up in a 
 splendid manner by the strong lights 
 that were thrown upon it. More than 
 twenty thousand lights in all were distri- 
 buted over the building, many of them 
 pendent from the roof, furnished with 
 coloured globes, and rendering the position 
 of the worshippers below very perilous in 
 the case of fire. There was one main en- 
 trance to the church, and two side doora, 
 very strait,, and used chiefly for admis- 
 sion to the sacristy. Here there was a 
 brilliant assembly, composed of the youth 
 and beauty of the place, dressed out in 
 
 T 
 
 I! 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 » 
 
 their gayest and grandest attire. The 
 church for several 8ucce??aive nights before 
 had blazed with a sea of flame and fluttered 
 with clouds of muslin and draperies, for it 
 was a festive season, in which orchestral 
 music and singing, and an immense pro- 
 fusion of lights, glittered and flared in every 
 part of the building. But on this night an 
 enthusiastic audience, greater and grander 
 than any before, filled every nook, com- 
 posed, as I have said, of about three thou- 
 sand, mostly women, and many of them 
 there contrary to the desire of their hus- 
 bands. But the peiformance had scarcely 
 begun when the gigantic figure referred to 
 on the altar caught fire, and in a moment the 
 flame shot across the roof, snapping the 
 long, coloured globes, and dropping the 
 camphene lamps among the gay assem^, 
 blage below. In the panic all rushed to the 
 
 y 
 
 i^-^^i- ..^1 
 
 J .i.Cir"*:CJiU. .-,.■. «.'.^^i-ric.-.^-«io,',^'-ii»3At3',^lt 
 
GOD'S PROVIDBNCB 
 
 main door, which soon became choked up/ 
 and not moie than a thousand of that; 
 brilliant assembly, made up of the flower 
 and fashion of the place, escaped. It was 
 a fearful sight to see women fainting, 
 screaming, entangled in their long swell- 
 ing dresses, seeking to escape, and holding 
 out their jewelled hands for help, as the 
 remorseless flames came on — to see mothers 
 and sisters— tender and timid women- 
 seized in the embrace of the flames, under- 
 going the awful transformation — first a 
 dazzling blaze, then a writhing spectacle of 
 agony ; then a black calcined mass of dust 
 and ashes-^all the beauty gone save the 
 jewels and gems which they loved to wear 
 upon such occasions. In fifteen minutes 
 all was over and the church was burned 
 t6 the ground. The shrieks and groans of 
 those two thousand sacrifices gave plaee 
 
 44 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 to the stillness of the grave. '' ! what a 
 sight" one writes, *' the placid moon looked 
 ^ down upon I Close-packed crowds of cal- 
 ** cined, distorted forms, wearing the fearful 
 *^ expression of the last pang — the ghastly 
 ** phalanxes of black statues twisted in every 
 " variety of agony, stretching out their arms 
 " as if imploring mercy. And then of the 
 ^* heap that had choked up the door, mul- 
 *' titudes were found with the lower parts 
 ** untouched, and some a shapeless mass, 
 ^ but with one arm or foot unscathed." 
 
 Now in view of this calamity there will 
 be many to say that it was a judgment 
 because of great sin, just as in the case of 
 those referred to in the text And there 
 will be others in that city — the city of 
 Santiago, where the catastrophe took place 
 — who escaped the fire, congratulating 
 themselves upon thrif safety. They wer« 
 
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 .-.^■ji.: ■:...' x^ lij^Xi^-'.- a.iJLtA^-!i^i^-»;: 
 
8 
 
 GOD 8 PROVIPBNCB 
 
 prevented from going by some untoward 
 circumstance of which they thought hard 
 at the time ; or, having gone, they were 
 rescued from the devouring flames in a 
 wonderful manner — because of having 
 been led to take a seat near the door — or 
 because of stroDjC^ help which they did not 
 expect — or presence of mind, or in some 
 way which they cannot explain. This 
 melancholy event then has two aspects- 
 destruction in the one case, preservation in 
 the other. Why did so many peri»h and 
 suffer such a death ? Because they were 
 greater sinners than others? Nay, says 
 Christ, but unless ye repent ye shall all 
 likewise perish. Those did not perish be- 
 cause of their sins exceeding their fellows 
 but they perished that others might liv< 
 —be benefited and instructed— that erro 
 might be exposed and God's truth revealei, 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 in a clearer light. ** Master, who sinned ?" 
 said the disciples of old to the Saviour 4 
 ^ this man or his parents that he was born 
 blind ?" " Neither this man nor his parents, 
 but that the works of God should bp mani- 
 fest in him ?" Then, why were there any 
 saved? how are we to account for the 
 strange escapes and deliverances upon such 
 occasions? We answer by the special 
 providence of God — a providence not sus- 
 pending or interfering with the laws of 
 matter, but working above it and inde- 
 pendent of it altogether. 
 
 First, then, with regard to those cala- 
 mities and those that perish in this way. 
 Why, under the providence of a merciful 
 God, should the tower of Siloam fall to 
 the destruction of eighteen persons at its 
 base ? Why should such a bloody tyrant 
 AS Pilate be permitted to slay a number of 
 
10 
 
 god's providence 
 
 If 
 
 h 
 
 deluded worshippei^s, and to mingle their 
 blood with their sacrifices ? Or why should 
 those two thousand persons referred to 
 perish in the flames and meet with such a 
 death, in the very act of doing homage to 
 the Virgin whom they had been taught 
 from childhood to revere ? The answer is, 
 that such calamities are permitted, not so 
 much on account of those that die as those 
 that live. God has in view, not so much 
 the sin of those that perish, as the good, 
 the well-being, the very salvation of those 
 upon whom the ends of the world will 
 come. Such calamities are God's gi*eat 
 lessons to men, which they can never for- 
 get — monuments to which they turn their 
 eyes for ages and learn instruction. There 
 are sins indeed which are visited with 
 God's wrath, upon which the divine judg- 
 ments come with sure and certain step — 
 
 r 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 11 
 
 sudi as intemperaDt 1, uncleanness, impru- 
 dence, falsehood, and folly in all its forms; 
 so that just as sure as you find the penalty, 
 you can predicate the foregoing sin. When 
 you see the drunkard's pale-faced children 
 walking barefoot through the snow, hold- 
 ing out their skinny hands for bread, or 
 enter his house and see its sadness and 
 desolation, you conclude at once with the 
 ancient Jew that this man as well as his 
 parents have sinned. Or if you see a man 
 who once occupied a good position in the 
 world, losing caste — his word lightly 
 spoken of — his character freely canvassed — 
 his company shunned by good men — you 
 mav be sure that there is a cause — that 
 this is but the consequence of moral de- 
 linquency — that there has been a relaxing 
 of high principle — a disregard to the claims 
 of God — an indiflerence to his holy eye: 
 
12 
 
 GOD S PROVIDENCE 
 
 and he who governs the world in righte- 
 ousness means thai he should suffeft that 
 he should come under the suspicions of his 
 fellows, and be treated with the cold 
 shoulder and the averted look, and the 
 want of credit and confidence. There are 
 sins and vices which are followed up in- 
 variably with God's righteous retribution, 
 so that just as sure as jou can see the 
 suffering, you can pronounce upon the sin 
 which has been its cause. But there are 
 sorrows and sufferings that come upon men 
 where you cannot so pronounce — where it 
 would be wrong to say that there has been 
 previous guilt. I refer to all such suffer- 
 ings as are indicated in the text, and flow- 
 ing from calamities which we cannot 
 prevent, and over which we have no con- 
 trol. Great suffering has come upon the 
 world in consequence of war, pestilencet 
 
IN CAtAMITT. 
 
 13 
 
 
 famioe, fire, and shipwreck. Such cala- 
 mities take place in every land and in 
 every age, whether we will or no, and in- 
 volve in misery the innocent and the 
 guilty, the parent and the child. One 
 event happeneth to all — the wise and the 
 foolish apparently without any disorimin- 
 ation. The Christian soldier falls as readily 
 upon the battle-field as the profane wretch 
 that neither fears God nor regards man; 
 the licentious villain that is hastening 
 across the sea to escape the hand of justice 
 is perhaps one of the few that are saved in 
 the wreck, while youth and beauty and 
 innocence perish in the depths below; the 
 devout worshippar is overtaken in his de- 
 votions and wrapped in flames; the pious 
 miner is among the number that are choked 
 with the fire-damp, while not a few have 
 been rescued frpra d^stiuctiou that are ivr 
 
14 
 
 OOD S PROVIDENCE 
 
 
 grained both in body and in soul with 
 pollution. You can infer nothing from 
 such calamities as to the moral character 
 of those who suffer. They are lessons for 
 the living rather than judgments upon the 
 dead; for although all suffering is preceded 
 by sin either in the race or in the indivi- 
 dual, yet the suffering may not be penal 
 but paternal, and become a vehicle of pre- 
 cious blessings to the world. It is impor- 
 tant that we should keep this distinction 
 in view, or we will run into the ancient 
 error of concluding, whenever we see great 
 sorrow or a great misfortune, that there 
 must necessarily have been great antece- 
 dent sin. On the contrary, the great suf- 
 fering which a man has to endure may 
 only be the means of making him more 
 precious in the sight of God, and not only 
 80> but a greater blessing to his fellow- 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 15 
 
 men. The greatest sufferer this world ever 
 saw was its greatest benefactor, because 
 suffering not for hims-elf, but for those that 
 should beh'eve in his great name. And in 
 a lower sphere we see the same principle 
 of vicariousness in the works and ways of 
 Ood. A thousand disasters and shipwrecks 
 have taken place around our shores, and 
 ten thousand ptecious lives have been 
 sacrificed thereon ; but these shores are the 
 safer now because of those disasters, and 
 the beacon lights of Cape Race and St. 
 Paul's, together with all the other precau- 
 tions and improvements, are the fruit of 
 all those calamities. The battlefield is 
 strewn with the wounded and the dead, 
 and the sad news are followed with many 
 a widow's wail and many an orphan's tear, 
 but the fruit of that victory is liberty to 
 the slave, and the opening of the prison 
 
u 
 
 GOD 8 PROVIDENCB 
 
 
 <loor3 to tbofte that are bound. Ten thou- 
 sand peri«h upon the field, but they form 
 a sort of bridge upon which those that 
 come after will be able to pass over in 
 safety. The martyr goes forward to the 
 stake, or bares his neck upon the scaffold, 
 ki order tbat the gleaming axe may do its 
 work, and all this because of some invisible 
 truth which ihe world will not and cannot 
 receive; but on that night, when men go 
 to their homes and speak of ;the patience 
 of the sufferer thai died before their eyes 
 looking up to heaven — the holiness of his 
 life — the blessedness of his death-^the 
 truth for which he died receives a promi- 
 nence which it never did before, and the 
 scaffold becomes a pulpit which preaches 
 louder than ten thousand ordinary lives 
 could do, and sends forth light ^nd truth 
 over all the jand. And so in the jcase be* 
 
 '«S 
 
 •» 
 
 "i-v.-jii *-.■):.•■ ^--tA-.,. 
 
!N CALAMITY. 
 
 11 
 
 >» 
 
 (out U6 — the conflagration of the chapel of 
 Santiago, in which two thousand peicsoim 
 perished in a night Here, however, it 
 wa8 not the witnessing to » truth but an 
 error, tljat was the occasion of the calamity. 
 But an error is just the wrong side of a 
 truth; and when an error is demolished 
 you have done n great deal towards the 
 lestaljisbing the counterpart truth. And 
 i. venture to say that the superstitions con- 
 xiecterl iwith Mariolatry — superstiiions that 
 lia.v;e t^iken a wonderful hold of the hum^n 
 jmknd, both in this and other lands, — will: 
 lelax th«ir grasp, and that ever as the 8th 
 of December comes round, which with tbe- 
 «even preceding days, was wont to be the 
 celebration of the Immaculate Conceptiop, 
 it will come with missionary power in be- 
 half of the gospel, and serve as a battering 
 ram to destroy tl)a walls of error, theqlain^^a 
 
18 
 
 GOD^B PROVIDBNCS 
 
 of Mary and every other name that can be 
 named, except the name of Jesus. 
 ^ It is through a baptism of blood that 
 the human race is to reach the perfection 
 of their powers — to dominion over the ele- 
 ments — to the attainment of truth whether 
 natural or revealed. It is through a bap- 
 tism of blood that errors are to be dissi- 
 pated and truths established, and that we 
 are to make our pathway to glory and 
 honour and immortality. The history of 
 the world shows this and gives a deep 
 meaning to the words of the Lord Jesus, 
 when he said, '* Others have laboured, and 
 ye have entered into their labours." And 
 again, '* Except a corn of wheat fall into 
 the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but 
 if it die it bringeth forth much fruit." 
 His sufferings indeed stand apart from all 
 
 ' 
 
 other 
 
 is death from all other 
 
 fcAi-J.'-L-^t-bt.t':- 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 19 
 
 \ 
 
 deaths, and yet it hannonizes with others 
 in a lower sphere, for the principle of 
 vicariousness runs through all the works 
 and ways of God, and only culminates in 
 its full glory upon the cross. Not one 
 drop of blood which he shed was shed in 
 vain; not one of his words fell to the 
 ground, and the saroe may be said in a 
 restricted sense of all the sufferings and 
 labours of men, and especially of Christian 
 men. But while all such sufferings and 
 disasters as I have referred to have a bright 
 side — while they are all redemptive in their 
 nature, and fitted to work out good results 
 under the providence of Ood to those that 
 shall come after, they have a dark side also. 
 They have a voice of warning to those that 
 remain in their sins. They are the pre- 
 monitory drops that come on before the 
 storm — the forecasttngs and foreshadow- 
 
20 
 
 (JOb'ti I'ROVlDKlIca 
 
 ings of thrtt doom wbidh at^aitd the finally 
 {ttipenitent* ** For if these things be clone 
 in the green tree, what shall be done in 
 the dry ?'* If the comparatively innocent, 
 becoming victims of error, fall sacrifices for 
 others, what shall become of those who, 
 better enlightened and more frequently 
 warned, refuse instruction and cleave to 
 their sins? ** Think ye those Galileans 
 were ^<inners above al! the Galileatvs, be^ 
 cause they suti'ered such things! I teH 
 you, Nay : l)ut, except ye repe-nt, ye sluili all 
 likewise peiish." 
 
 5 
 
 Second aspect of this case — the provi- 
 dence of God in ^^ reservation, Scaii-t^iy 
 any great disaster takes place, attended 
 with the loss of life, without remark;:ble 
 rescues and deliverances. This was the 
 case in the great cHiamity referred to* 
 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 21 
 
 Upwards of a thousand made their eec^pe^ 
 and some of them in a wonderful manner 
 — not to speak of those who, by slrange 
 hindrances thrown in the way, were pre^ 
 vented fro'n going to the festival. Here- 
 is another ac*pi. et of the case equally worthy 
 of oui regard. What are we to under- 
 stand by the providence of God in calamity f 
 Is it that God suspends the operation of 
 natural law, thus providing a way of 
 escape? Is it that he restrains the fire 
 from its action, or calms the storm, or 
 turns aside the fatal shaft? Not at all. 
 We must look back of these things if we 
 would seek an intelligent account of the 
 providence of God in calamity. The tower 
 of Siloam fell doubtless according to the 
 l.-'?r o gravitation; the Sunday sailing 
 party perished according to the law of 
 storms, or from wanl of skill to manager 
 
T 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 god's providsnck 
 
 their craft; and the church of Santiago 
 was burnt according to the law of combus- 
 tion. Providence does not interfere in the 
 operation of these laws or any other law ; 
 but notwithstanding the inflexible action 
 of natural law — the constant and invariable 
 procedure of cause and effect — there is 
 room for the higher operation of the divine 
 hand. 
 
 There are two ways in which God can 
 deliver me in time of calamity. He can 
 avert the blow or the flying fragment so 
 that it will not strike me; or he can, in his 
 own mysterious way, move me from the 
 point of danger, and in either case I shall 
 be safa Now, it is not the former but the 
 latter of these methods that he adopts. 
 God does not arrest the thunderbolt, or 
 turn asiae the arrow of death, but he 
 touches a mental chord, inducing the man 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 23 
 
 whom he would save for the present to 
 take another seat in the doomed train — to 
 occupy another position in the building 
 which proves a place of safety in the crash ; 
 or he may throw hindrances in your way 
 so that you may be too late for the ill-fated 
 vessel, or the splendid festival that is to 
 end in flames. The thin column of sol- 
 diers, sent out as a forlorn hope to storm 
 the breach, are thinned down still farther 
 with 
 
 " Cannon to the right of them, 
 Cannon to the left of them;'' 
 
 and the wonder is that any escape. But 
 He whose eye is upon every beating heart, 
 and upon every fatal shaft, can find a 
 pathway of safety amidst the arrows of 
 death for the man that He would save.— 
 By turnings and windings — by reverses 
 and restraints and ways past finding out, 
 
24 
 
 GOD S PROVIDENCE 
 
 he makes his way in safety and returns in 
 triumph. A thousand has fallen at his 
 side and ten thousand at his right hand* 
 but death did not corae nigh unto him. — 
 Such are said to be saved an by a miracle, 
 and the impression is that God interposes 
 in the working of natural laws, and so 
 saves them. Now there is nothing mir- 
 aculous in the case, — understanding by 
 that term the suspension of cause and 
 effect — but there is something far more 
 precious. There is a providence over 
 men, nearer and more spiritual than this. 
 There is a hand unseen by mortal eye, but 
 which touches every man's inner life, 
 leading you and guiding you in all your 
 outgoings and incomings. This brings 
 God far nearer to us than the miraculous 
 .view. That bwngs hira to the walls of 
 the building, thia into contact with the 
 
IN CALAMITY. 
 
 25 
 
 life, 
 our 
 ngs 
 
 0U8 
 
 I of 
 
 bo 
 
 beart. That would prevent the flame 
 from kindling upon you, but this would 
 carry you away in spirit to a place of 
 safety. Here, then, back of all peradven- 
 tures, and calamities and casualties lies the 
 special protecting providence of God. Not 
 in ioterpositions, or marvels, or miracles, but 
 in the hearts and lives of men does Godf 
 work. Here, deep down in the hiddent 
 springs of action, is the finger of God, un- 
 seen by mortal eye, but not unfelt or un- 
 recognised by his children, effecting special 
 providences; and here there is room for 
 filial trust and believing prayer, for the 
 Lord IS thy keeper Christian, He will 
 not RutFer thy foot to be moved. He that 
 keepeth th^e will not slumber. Behold 
 He that keepeth Israel shall neither slum- 
 ber nor sleep. 
 
 And then asrain, if we cannot count 
 
26 
 
 GODS PROVIDBNCB 
 
 upon Qodh interfering in our behalf in 
 the midst of calamity, except in the way 
 I have stated, neither are we to presume 
 upon his preservation in the way of neg- 
 lect or carelessness. If you are going to 
 make a journey you must attend to the 
 conditions of safety. Prayers alone will 
 not do. The axle will snap as readily 
 with the prayerful conductor as the pro- 
 fane conductor. And the fire will burn 
 as furiously in the timbers of the house of 
 the saint as the sinner. It is not enough 
 that the company pray fervently before 
 they embark upon their voyage. They 
 must see that the vessel is in every respect 
 seaworthy,— the commander competent and 
 possessing the proper qualities and reputa- 
 tion. Piety will not release you from 
 such precautions. It does not supersede 
 the working of natural law. Such a 
 
 t 
 
 
■ «•» ';«^'.-^W4(Ws*«?S-KS^^'yfefc 
 
 ly CALAMITT. 
 
 21 
 
 i 
 
 thing would lead to all manner of neglects 
 and carelessnesses and confusions; but 
 these conditions being attended to, as far 
 as you can attend to them, and your eye 
 heavenward, how safe is your path by 
 night and day ! True, the righteous man 
 often falls a sacrifice to the evils of life, 
 but it is only in his outward and material 
 estate, not in his spiritual and higher inter- 
 ests. Over all these is the protecting 
 hand of Jehovah, preserving him from 
 evil, preserving his soul from this time 
 henceforth and even forever. There are 
 no joints in the harness of his spiritual 
 equipment, through which the arrow of 
 the enemy may find its way. There is no 
 vulnerable point from head to heel, over 
 which the baptism of grace has not been 
 poured. Read in this light how precious 
 an^l how true that ancient psalm which 
 
28 
 
 GOD S PROVIDENCE 
 
 the voice of Inspiration uttered in reference 
 to God's care ovei* His beloved Son and 
 all His children in Him! **He that 
 <]weljeth in the secret place of the most 
 I J u^h shall abide under the shadow of the 
 Almighty," Psalm xci. 1. Blessed are tbey 
 who come under the wings of the Al- 
 mighty and who have entered into an 
 everlasting covenant with Him. At no 
 iime will God's blessed care be withheld 
 from them. At no time will they be 
 greatly moved. There is an atonement 
 to which they can look in their darkest 
 hours — ^there is a righteousness in which 
 they can stand before God with songs of 
 joy upon their head. There is a shield of 
 faitli to protect them from the fiery darts 
 of the wicked one. There is a Saviour 
 with them always, even to the end of the 
 world. You are exposed to danger, 
 
m CALA^IITV, 
 
 29 
 
 dangor 
 
 oliristiany but you are safe in th< 
 because of your union to Him that has 
 entered as your Forerunner into glory ; nay, 
 through Him you will be more than a con- 
 queror, God's promise of safety runs 
 along the whole line of that jolorions eternity 
 that lies before you — in the hour of temp- 
 tation — in the time of trial — in the passage 
 through the dark valley- — in that day 
 when Christ shall descend from heaven with 
 great power and glory, and when the dead, 
 small and great, shall be gathered for the 
 judgment. God's protecting care is from 
 this time forth even forever; at no time 
 will It be withdrawn. Let imagination 
 take wing and soar away to the altitudes 
 of the blessed life that lies before you, 
 still above its highest reaches and noblest 
 crowns will this truth be seen written aa 
 with a sunbeam. Let the pilgrim travel 
 
do 
 
 OOD 8 PROVIDENCE 
 
 forward in spirit to far distant ages in the 
 world of light and love to which he aspires^ 
 and wander upon the banks of the river 
 of life, amid the shining multitude that 
 sing the song of Moses and the Lamb with 
 undimmed eye and unstained soul, still, 
 he will find himself under the protective 
 shadow of God, and will say of the Lord, 
 He is my refuge and my fortress, my 
 God, in Him will I trust He shall 
 cover me with His feathers and under His 
 wings shall I trust Hiis truth shall be 
 my shield and buckler. 
 
 I have thus spoken of the two aspects 
 which a calamity presents, destruction on 
 the one hand and preservation on the 
 other. There is anotiier truth conveyed 
 in the text — namely the necessity of re- 
 pentance— -which I must reserve for an- 
 other occasion; but in conclusion let me 
 
IN OALAMITT, 
 
 31 
 
 re- 
 an- 
 me 
 
 obftdrve that while protection is certain to 
 the righteous — protection in their highest 
 interests — there is none for him that re- 
 fuseth instruction — that stands at a dis- 
 tance from Ood — unrenewed in the spirit 
 of his mind. Ood indeed preserves all 
 men for temporary and probationary pur- 
 poses—even the wicked until the day of 
 His power. Wit. ont his watchful eye 
 and guiding hand the blasphemer would 
 drop down while uttering his oath, and 
 the right hand of the wicked would lose 
 its cunning in its first act of violence ; but 
 the everlasting protection of which we have 
 been speaking is that which Ood extends 
 to His own dear children. And you» O 
 sinner^ are not His child. You are a 
 lonely wanderer, cut off from heaven and 
 holiness, and life and love, and 0M ~JiitM 
 the spirits of just men. Tou are * wM- 
 
 
32 GOD^S PROVIDENCE IN CALAMITY. 
 
 dering star, broken loose from the sweet 
 influences of heaven and to such is reserved 
 the hlacknesa of darkness forever. You 
 are lonely, for it is the nature of sin to 
 isolate and separate from all that is pre- 
 cious. Soon every tie t hat now binds you 
 to earth will be broken, — every hope you 
 now cherish will be quenched — every re- _ 
 If^tionship you now, value will be blasted 
 —every possession which you now hold 
 will be taken from you, and you will in- 
 deed be poor and miserable and wretched 
 and h\h\d and naked. Take heed to the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, " Except ye repent 
 ye shall all likewise perish." 
 
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 sserved 
 . You 
 sin to 
 18 pre- 
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 w hold 
 will in- 
 retcbed 
 
 to the 
 e repent 
 
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