meet.i Nay, beloved, the potter has not such an absohite power over his pots and clay as the Lord has over the sons of men, to make them and break them at his pleasure ; and that partly because that the clay is none of his creature, and partly because without God give him strength he has no power to make or break one vessel. God by the prophet would have the Jews to know that it was merely by his good pleasure and grace that they came to be so glorious and flourishing a nation as they were at this time ; yea, and further to know that they were not so great, and rich, and flourishing, and settled, and built, but that he could as easily break them and mar tliem as the potter could the vessel that was under his hand, Isa. Ixiv. 8. Ah sirs ! God by that dreadful fire that has destroyed our houses, and burnt up our substance, and banished us from our habitations, and levelled our stately monuments of antiquity and glory even with the ground, has given us a veiy high evidence of his sovereignty both over our persons and all our concernments in this world. Ah London ! London ! were there none within nor without thy walls that did deny the sovereignty of God, that did belie the sovereignty of God, that did slight the sove- reignty of God, that did make head against the sovereignty of God ? Were there none within nor without thy walls that did say, ' We are lords, and we will come no more unto thee ' ? that did say, ' Is not this great Babylon, is not this great London that we have built ? ' that did say, ' The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy, the flaming and consuming fire, should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem, into the gates of London ' ? that did say, ' Who is the Lord, that we should obey his voice ? ' that did advance a worldly sovereignty above and against the sovereignty of God and Christ ? Jer. ii. 31 ; Dan. iv. 30 ; Lam, iv. 12 ; Exod. v. 2. Ah London ! London ! if there were any such within or without thy walls, then never wonder that God has in a flaming and consuming fire pro- claimed his sovereignty over thee, and that he hath given such atheists to know from woeful experience that both themselves and all their concernments are in the hands of the Lord as the clay is in the hands of the potter, and that the sorest judgments that any city can fall under are but the demonstrations of his sovereign prerogative, Isa. v. 16. Ps. ix. 16, ' The Lord is known by the judgments which he executeth; the power, justice, and sovereignty of God shines most gloriously in the execution of his judgments upon the world.'
[2.] Secondly, God inflicts great and sore judgments upon the sons of men, that the woidd may stand in awe ofhim^ and that they may learn to fear and tremble before him.'^ When he appears as a con- suming fire, he expects that the nation should tremble, and that the inhabitants should fear before him : 1 Sam. xvi. 4, ' And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem : and the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peace- ably ? ' Shall the elders of Bethlehem tremble for fear that Samuel came to denounce some grievous judgment against them ; and shall not we tremble when God has executed his terrible judgments upon us ?
^ God hath^ws ad omnia, jus in omnibus, a right to all things, a right in all things. - Consult these scriptures, Exod. xv. 14-16 ; Josh. ii. 10, 11 ; Rev. xv. 4.
24 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII, 24, 25.
Shall Ahab tremble and humble himself, and fast and lie in sackcloth Avhen judgments are but threatened; and sliall not we tremble and fear before the great God, who has actually inflicted upon us his three great judgments, pestilence, sword, and fire? Shall the Ninevites, both })rinces, nobles, and pco])le, tremble and humble themselves in sackcloth and ashes when God doth but threaten to overthrow their great, their rich, their populous city ; and shall not we tremble and lie low before the Lord when we see great London, rich and populous London, laid in ashes before our eyes? 1 Kings xxi. 20-24, 27-29; Jonah iii. 3-10. When the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the Egyptians, ' the dulces of Edom were amazed, and the mighty men of Moab trembled,' Exod. xv. 15, 16 ; 2 Kings vi. 30, and vii. 6, 7, 15 ; Jer. iv. 7-9. Ah, how severely has the hand of the Lord been stretched out against London and all her inhabitants! and therefore what cause have we to be amazed and to tremble before that God who has appeared in flames of fire against us! Lara. ii. 3, 4, ' He hath cut otl' in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. He bent his bow like an enemy : and poured out his fury like fire.' God burnt down their city, their temple, their gates, their princely habitations, their glorious structures, in the fierceness of his anger and in the greatness of his wrath. 0 sirs ! when God falls upon burning work, when he pours out his fury like fire, when like a flaming fire he de- vours all our pleasant things, and lays all our glory in dust and ashes, we may safely conclude that his anger is fierce and that his wrath is great against us ; and therefore what eminent cause have we to fear and tremble before him ! God is a great and dreadful God : Dan ix. 4, ' A mighty God and terrible ;' Dent. vii. 21, ' A great and terrible God,' Neh. i. 5. He is so in himself, and he has been so in his fiery dispensations towards us, that the world by such remarkable severities may be kept in awe of him. Generally fear doth more in the world than love.i As there is little sincerity, so there is but little ingenuity 2 in the world ; and that is the reason why many very rarely think of God but when they are afraid of him. Many times judgments work where mercies do not win. That famous Thomas-^ Waldo of Lyons, the father of the Waldenses, seeing, among many met together to be merry, one suddenly fall down dead in the street, it struck so to his heart that he went home a penitent, — it wrought to a severe and pious reformation of his life, and he lived and died a precious man. Though Pharaoh was not a pin the better for all the heavy judgments that God inflicted upon him, yet Jethro, taking notice of those dreadful plagues and judgments that fell upon Pharaoh and upon his people, and likewise upon the Amalekites, was thereby converted and became a proselyte ; as Rabbi Solomon noteth u})on that 19th of Prov. 25 : The world is so untractable, that frowns will do more with them than smiles. That God may keep wicked men in awe and in subjection to him, he sees it very needful to bring common, and general, and over-