,transcribed from the #ahff ,william ,skeffington edition by ,david ,price4 ,,the ,,cause ,,and ,,cure ,,of ,,the ,,cattle ,,plague4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,plain ,sermon4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,,james ,,galloway ,,cowan1 ,m4,a41 ,perpetual ,curate of ,st4 ,john's1 ,hammersmith4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,london3 ,,william ,,skeffington1 #afc ,,piccadilly4 #ahff4 ,a ,,plain ,,sermon4 ,,isaiah ,,xlv41 ,v4 #e #g4 8,i am the ,lord1 and there is none else4 ,there is no ,god beside me 4 4 4 ,i form the light and create darkness3 ,i make peace and create evil3 ,i1 the ,lord1 do all these things40 ,,that ,god is the maker and preserver of all things1 both visible and invisible2 that ,he orders all things in heaven and earth according to ,his own will2 that all parts of the universe have their origin1 their functions1 their capabilities from ,him2 that they operate or are suspended at ,his word2 that ,he exalts to prosperity1 and lays low in adversity2 that ,he kills and makes alive--are truths which1 asserted in a general way1 ,i suppose all of you would readily acknowledge4 ,but1 brethren1 would it not be only in this general way8 ,in particular and individual instances of what are called nature's operations1 is not the great moving or permitting power often lost sight of1 ay1 and virtually denied to be at work8 ,much of this oversight1 this practical infidelity1 is due1 ,i doubt not1 to our use of the word 8nature40 ,we talk of the law of nature1 we admire and wonder at the works of nature1 until we all-but deify nature1 and dethrone nature's ,god4 ,some may say that when we speak of nature we mean ,god4 ,but do we8 ,does not the expression suggest to our minds some indescribable1 some unknown essence1 working in a mechanical1 perfunctory1 necessary1 inevitable1 compulsory way1 more frequently than present to us any thought of the ,,lord ,,jehovah8 ,and not less frequently are secondary or subordinate causes so contemplated and insisted on as to exclude from our minds all consideration of the great first cause4 ,there are indeed laws by which all the movements and productions and changes of the natural world are effected2 but we often forget that it is ,god who originally ordained these laws2 that they are not1 in themselves1 powers1 but only the rules by which ,his power operates3 that1 in fact1 these rules for the direction of ,his power resolve themselves simply into the consistent motions of ,his infinite wisdom3 that1 as by ,him everything was arranged at the beginning1 so in conformity to the laws suggested by ,his wisdom ,he has been superintending and directing all things ever since--the laws themselves being1 of course1 subject to their all-wise framer and1 both by their regular operation and their occasional wonderful diversion or suspension1 subserving the great purposes of ,his sovereign government4 ,now1 looking only into what is called the ,book of ,nature1 simply making our own observations on these laws without the aid of the light of revelation1 we cannot fail to discern that they are good in themselves1 and that they generally operate for good4 ,we see1 indeed1 that they can work for evil3 the nipping of the frost1 the blasting of the lightning1 the overwhelming of the flood1 the withering of the drought--these are specimens of what power of destruction there is in ,god's elements4 ,yet they are not their general operations2 frost and electric fluid1 and heat and water1 and a drying sun or wind1 being in themselves good agents1 agents only occasionally productive of injurious results4 ,if now from these our own discoveries we turn to what ,god has discovered to us in the ,book of ,his word1 we shall have all our former observations confirmed1 and the reasons for the occasional evil tendency of what are called nature's operations fully and clearly explained4 ,fire and hail1 sun and vapour1 and stormy wind fulfil ,his word4 ,he maketh the winds ,his messengers1 and flames of fire ,his servants4 ,he employs ordinary agents to effect special ends4 ,instead of sending forth new agents to perform ,his will1 ,he diverts the old ones from their usual course and makes them fulfil it4 ,now when ,god thus makes use of naturally beneficial agents to bring about destructive ends ,he does so for some particular purpose4 ,calamities are never brought upon any of ,god's creatures from what we call caprice4 ,god never willingly afflicts or grieves2 that is1 ,he never does it simply to satisfy ,his own will1 or to exhibit ,his own power4 ,god's thoughts and ways are not as our thoughts and ways4 ,man1 if he knows himself to be possessed of a certain power1 often exercises it without care or thought that he is thereby injuring others1 or for the bare purpose of display4 ,but not so ,god4 ,if ,he afflicts1 it is because there is some need of1 some good in the affliction2 most often1 though by no means exclusively1 it is to correct offenders1 and to warn others 7by their chastisement7 not to follow their example4 ,we have only to glance at the history of the ,israelites and the circumstances in which ,god afflicted them1 to be convinced that such visitations--whether of consuming fire1 of overwhelming water1 of destroying sword1 of famishing dearth1 or of noisome pestilence--are called forth by the conduct of those on whom they come4 ,we1 therefore1 call these visitations judgments1 judgments of punishment1 of correction or of warning4 ,they are chastisements which1 after all gentler methods have failed1 our ,gracious ,father1 desirous of our reformation and eternal safety1 employs1 and employs most reluctantly1 as among the last efforts to recall us into ,his paths4 ,how sad it is to think that very many of the objects of these visitations allow them to come and go unheeded1 and1 therefore1 of course1 unimproved6 ,how much sadder that men who heed them and feel them1 in the deceitfulness and unbelief of their hearts1 refuse themselves to learn and labour to unteach others the deep and salutary lessons which ,god1 by ,his judgments1 arrests us to hear1 and through them utters to us1 as it were1 with an audible voice6 ,amid these heaven-sprung calamities1 there are to be found1 not only careless1 heedless men everywhere1 but alas6 close observers1 full of care1 so-called philosophers 7one begins almost to hate the name from its constant mal-appropriation by the sophist and the infidel7 who will observe these calamities1 note the signs of the times1 speculate about what ought to be done1 and yet not dream of recognising1 yea1 refuse to recognise when it is pointed out to them1 the interposition of their ,god6 ,how marvellous this is6 ,what utter folly is it6 ,they acknowledge that there is a ,god4 ,they believe that he has charge of all the elements2 they know the general tendency of those elements to be for good2 they see them working evil2 yet they will not perceive that ,god has done it4 ,every cause is made mention of but the great first cause4 ,every influence is sooner believed in than ,his4 ,here are we1 for instance1 visited with a grievous plague among our herds and flocks4 ,every one feels some measure of the calamity4 ,all are alive to the necessity of prompt and great efforts to stay the progress of and cure the murrain4 ,there are hundreds of sage suggestions as to the origin of such things2 every conceivable precaution and pains is taken to prevent the communication of them1 to remove local provocations and incentives1 to discover remedies and cures4 ,but who says or imagines 8,the hand of the ,lord hath wrought this08 ,who exhorts1 8,come and let us return unto the ,lord1 for ,he hath torn and ,he will heal us08 ,i am not making this appeal to encourage disregard of natural causes and influences4 ,these being the agents and instruments which ,god uses for or against us1 which he requires us to foster if they are good1 to remove if they are bad1 it would be desperate folly1 and most provoking sin1 to disregard them4 ,by all means let men follow on as they have begun1 in scientific inquiry1 sanitary precaution and improvement1 and the like2 but1 besides1 let them do what hitherto they do not seem to have done at all sufficiently1 namely1 recognise and acknowledge the hand of the ,lord in these plagues4 ,but you will say 8,have they not done this8 ,is not our presence here to-day a proof that we1 at least1 have done it8 ,are there not thousands and thousands in the land who will assemble as we have done1 if their pastors invite them8 ,has there been any objection to1 has there not been loud approval of1 the special ,collect which the authorities in ,church and ,state have appointed for daily use--is not that ,collect itself an acknowledgment1 and a discerning acknowledgment1 that the ,lord has sent the murrain among us80 ,my brethren1 if ,i could have felt that men generally assented in heart to the doctrine of that ,collect1 and were endeavouring to act out its prayers in their life1 ,i should have uttered none of the reproof that has passed my lips4 ,but is it not the fact that men are betaking themselves to ,god in this way only as one of possible remedies and preventives--not tracing the infliction to ,him1 but merely asking the removal1 of ,him83 8,somehow we are in trouble2 will ,god deliver us out of it80 ,well is it1 indeed1 when men thus far believe in a ,god of ,providence2 for the human dogmas of our days about fixed laws1 necessary and certain revolutions or wars and plagues to keep down the population and so forth1 have reasoned and calculated too many into the belief that prayer for the alteration1 at least of temporal circumstances1 is altogether idle1 if not profane4 ,well is it then1 if we still believe that ,god can interfere in the operations of the world1 and that if we will call upon ,him there is hope that ,he will4 ,but1 my brethren1 we shall not have drawn near with acceptable prayer if we have only asked ,him to heal us1 if we have not also acknowledged that ,he has torn us4 ,the prayer will not be acceptable1 because ,he will be acknowledged in all ,his ways1 worshipped for ,his ,majesty as well as ,his goodness2 seen in ,his wrath1 as well as sought in ,his clemency4 ,and1 moreover1 it will not be effectual prayer2 for ,his visitations always have a purpose 78,ye shall know that ,i have not done without cause all that ,i have done071 and how shall we have responded to the purpose1 if we have not recognised the visitation8 ,do you ask me what ,i suppose to be the purpose of this visitation--and what1 therefore1 we have to do as a nation and as individuals by way of repentance and amendment8 ,i venture not to answer particularly1 picking out the precise sins which characterise us as a people1 for which ,god is provoked1 to visit us with present wrath1 or for which ,he is but graciously chastising us1 that we may cease from them ere they bring forth ,his displeasure4 ,i rather bid you consider for what reasons ,god sent ,his sore plagues among ,his people of old1 and then ask yourselves what there is in us like unto them1 what we lack that ,god thus laboured to produce in them4 ,i do not even venture to say that ,god is visiting sin at all4 ,he is the ,judge1 not ,i4 ,when ,i am called to the bedside of a sick man1 ,i am bidden by the ,church to admonish him--8,whatsoever your sickness is1 know you certainly that it is ,god's visitation40 ,there may be a natural cause for it--he may know it1 and ,i may know it--he may have inherited it1 or 8accidentally and innocently10 as we say1 caught it1 or by wicked conduct incurred it2 he may be able to connect it throughout with its earthly origin1 tracing the effect clearly and completely to a natural cause4 ,nevertheless1 ,i tell him 8,it is ,god's visitation40 ,i then enumerate some of the purposes of ,god's visitations3 to try patience1 to increase faith1 to correct what is amiss4 ,if ,i know his life--or he opens his mind to me and reveals it--,i point out what seem to be provoking sins1 or crying defects1 and bid him consider whether these are not among the probable causes of his trouble--anyhow1 7,i tell him7 they are things which he is now admonished to correct2 and1 if he accuses and condemns himself for all that he can discern as amiss1 and resolves by all means to draw nearer to ,god1 this will be accounted an acknowledgment of ,god's ownership and rule of him1 which will cause the ,holy ,one to return from ,his hiding-place1 and show again the favour of ,his countenance4 ,so would ,i speak1 brethren1 to you and to myself at this time4 ,assuredly ,god's visitation is upon us4 ,it may be all favour like ,job's trials1 nothing may have provoked ,his wrath1 ,he may simply be fitting us for and leading us on to greater blessedness4 7,we shall hardly1 however1 persuade ourselves that we are so righteous in ,his sight67 ,it may be loving correction1 meant to make us abandon certain paths that lead downwards out of ,his favour4 ,or it may be wrath that can no longer spare the guilty4 ,from what we know of ourselves1 brethren1 do we not fancy that there is a probable explanation of it all1 in the growing contempt for ,god's sanctions and restrictions in our law-making 7as for instance in the marriage laws7 in the wide-spreading persuasion that all that happens on earth can be accounted for without supposing the intervention or even the existence of a ,god1 in the self-sufficiency1 self-reliance1 self-laudation which characterise us in our living only for time and for ourselves8 ,what is needed1 then1 is that we should turn indeed to ,god1 that we should see and acknowledge ,his hand in all our circumstances1 that we should live under ,his rule and by ,his laws1 that we should exhibit ,his rule and proclaim ,his praise1 and spread far and wide ,his glory2 that we should feel that we exist for these ends2 that1 if we forget ,god's purposes respecting us1 we must expect ,him to remind us of them in the ways ,he has ever followed2 that1 if we frustrate ,his purposes1 ,he will most surely visit us with ,his wrath4 ,this1 my brethren1 is our ,nation's duty1 and its several parts are ours to do4 ,let each of us then set about examining ourselves2 and1 trying to discern what in us provokes ,god's visitation1 let us humble ourselves before ,him on account of it and repent of it1 and resolve to forsake it1 and ask for grace to do so2 let us pray to ,him to make us think and speak and move henceforth in the remembrance that1 in ,him1 we have our being2 that ,he is our ,god1 and we are ,his people4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,printed ,,by ,c4 ,w4 ,,reynell1 ,,little ,,pulteney ,,street1 ,,haymarket4 ,,the ,,literary ,,churchman1 ,,now ,,permanently ,,enlarged ,,and ,,under ,a ,,new ,,editorship4 ,,published ,,every ,,alternate ,,saturday4 ,price #d;d42 by post #e;d4 ,sent free by ,post for ,one ,year for ,,ten ,,shillings4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,specimen ,,number ,,will ,,be ,,sent ,,on ,,receipt ,,of ,,postage ,,stamps4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the #8,literary ,churchman' is the only ,church periodical which does for ,churchmen what the #8,athenum1' the #8,reader1' and the #8,saturday ,review' do for their respective classes of supporters1 with special reference-- #a4 ,to the great ,theological and ,biblical works of the day2 #b4 ,to ,parochial and ,devotional ,literature1 so as to recommend the best books for ,parochial and ,school ,libraries1 ,confirmation1 ,communicant1 or ,bible ,classes1 and for personal use2 and1 #c4 ,general ,literature1 so as to be a guide to wholesome general reading in the family home4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,tracts ,,for ,,all4 ,,advent ,,thoughts4 ,price #b;d4 ,,christmas ,,thoughts4 ,price #b;d4 ,,lent ,,thoughts4 #ith #a1jjj4 ,price #b;d4 ,,good ,,friday ,,thoughts4 ,price #a;d4 ,,easter ,,thoughts4 #dth #a1jjj4 ,price #a;d4 ,,ascension ,,thoughts4 ,price #a;d4 99 99 99 99 99 ,london3 ,,william ,,skeffington1 #afc ,piccadilly1 ,w4