plentiful harvest Ioel 2. 23 24. Beglad then ye Children of Sion and râ—joyce in the Lord your God for he hath given you the former rain modâ—rately and he will cause to come down for you the rain the former and the latter rain in the first month and the floors shall be full of wheat and the faces shall overflow with wine and Oyl Thus the Gospel hath a double use and benefit also It 's necessary as the former rain at Seed-time it causes the first spring of grace in the heart Psal. 19. 7. And there could be in an ordinary way no spring of grace without it Prov. 29. 18. And as this former rain is necessary to cause the first spring of grace so also it hath the use of the latter rain to ripen those precious fruits of the Spirit in the souls of Belivers Eph. 4. 11 12 13. He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Were all the elect converted unto God yet still there would be a necessity of a Gospel Ministry After a great glut of rain usually there comes a drought 't is a common Countrey Proverb Wet and dry pay one another And truly when a people are glutted with a fulness of Gospel-mercies it 's usual with God to shut up and restrain the Gospel-clouds that for a time at least there be no dews upon them and thereby teach them to prize their despised because common mercies at an higher rate For as a good man once said mercies are best known by the back and most prized when most wanted In those dayes the word of the Lord was precious there was no open vision 1 Sam. 3. 1. It is with spiritual as with temporal food slighted when plenteous but if a famine once come then every bit of bread is precious Ierusalem remembred in the dayes of her affiction and of her misery all her pleasant things that she had in the dayes of old Lam. 1. 7. 'T is both a sinflul and dangerous thing to wantonize with Gospel-mercies and dâ—spise the plainest if faithful Minisâ—eâ—s of the Gospel The time may come when you may be glad of the plainst Sermon from the mouth of the meanest Embassador of Christ. To conclude the prayers of Saints are the keys that open and shut the natural clouds and cause them either to givâ— out or with-hold their influences Iames 5. 18. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth fruit God hath subjected the works of his hands to the prayers of his Saints Isa. 45. 11. Prayer is also the golden key which opens these mystical Gospel clouds and dissolves them into sweet gracious showers God will have the whole work of the Ministry carried on by the prayers of his people they first obtain their Ministers by prayer Luke 10. 2. Pray ye the Lord of the Harvest to sâ—nd forth labourers into the vineyard It is by the help of prayer that they are carried on and enabled to exercise their Ministry They may tell their people as a great General once told his Souldiers That he flew upon their wings Pray for me saith the great Apostle that utterance may be given me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the Mysteries of the Gospel Eph. 6. 19. Yea by the Saints prayers it is that Ministers obtain the success and fruits of their labours Tâ—fse 3. 1. Finally brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord my have free course and â—e glorified even as it is with you And thus you have the Metaphor opened Now Oh! That these truths migh come down in sweet showers upon the hearts both of Ministers and people in the following Reflections REFLECTIONS Am I then a cloud and is my doctrine as rain to water the Lords inheritance * and yet do I think it much to be tossed up and down by the furious winds and storms of persecution do I not see the clouds above me in continual motions and agitations and shall I dream of a fixed setled state No false Teachers who are clouds without rain are more likely to enjoy that than I. Which of all the Prophets have not been tossed and hurried worse than I Acts 7. 52. He that will not let men alone to be quiet in their lusts must expect but little quiet from men in this life But it is enough Lord that arest remaineth for thy servant let me be so wise to secure a rest to come and not so vain to expect it on earth And O that I might study those instructing clouds from which as from the bottles of heaven God pours down refreshing showers to quench and satisfie the thirsty earth in this may I resemble them and come amongst the people of the Lord in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ Rom. 15. 29. O let not those thirsty souls that wait for me as for the rain Iob 29. 23. Return like the Troops of Tema ashamed with their heads covered Iob 6. 19. O that my lips might refresh many let me never be like those empty clouds which deceive the hopes of thirsty souls but let my doctrine descend as the rain and distil as the dew and let that plot of thine inheritance which thou hast assigned to me be as the field which the Lord hath blessed Once more lift up thine eyes to the clouds and behold to how great an height the Sun hath mounted them for by reason of their sublimity it is that they are called the clouds of heaven Mat. 24. 30. Lord let me be a cloud of heaven too Let my heart and conversation be both there Who is more advantaged for an heavenly life than I heavenly truths are the subjects of my daily study and shall earthly things be the objects of my daily delights and loves God forbid that ever my earthly conversation should contradict and shame my heavenly calling and profession Shine forth thou glorious Suâ— of righteousness and my heart shall quickly be attracted and mounted above these visible clouds yea and above the aspectable heavens Is the Gospel rain and its Ministers clouds Wo is me then that my habitation is upon the mountains of Gilboa where there are no dews Ah sad lot that I should be like Gideons dry fleece whilst the ground round about me is wet with the dew of heaven O thou that commandest the clouds above and openest the windows of heaven remember and refresh this parched wilderness
wherein I live with showers o grace that we may not be as the heath in the desart which seeth not when good cometh nor inhabit the parched places of the wilderness O Lord thou hast caused the heavens above me to be black with clouds thou openest the celestial casements from above and daily sendest down showers of gospel-Gospel-blessings O that I might be as the parched earth under them not for barrenness but for thirstiness Let me say My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the lord that I might there see the beauty of the Lord. Doth the spungy earth so greedily suck up the showers and open as many mouths as there are clefts in it to receive what the clouds despense and shall those precious soul-inriching showers fleet away unprofitably from me if so then What an account have I to make for all those Gospel-blessings that I have injoyed for all those Gospel-dews and showers wherewith I have been watered Should I be found fruitless at last it will â—are better with the barren and uncultivated wilderness than with me more tolerable for Indians and Barbarians that never heard the Gospel than for me that have been so assiduously and plenteously watered by it Lord what a difference wilt thou put in the great day betwixt simple and pertinacious barrenness Surely if my root be not rottenness such heavenly waterings and influences as these will make it sprout forth into fruits of obedience The Poem THe vegetables here below depend Upon those treasures which the heavens do spend Most bounteously upon them to preserve Their being and their beauty This may serve To shadow forth a heavenly mystery Which thus presents it sâ—lf before your eye As when the Sun draws near us in the spring All creatures do rejoyce birds chirp aâ—d sing The face of nature smiles the fields â—dorn Themselves with rich embroyderies â—he corn Revives and shooteth up the warm swâ—â—t rain Makes trees and herbs sprout forth and spring amain Walk but the fields in such a fragrant mâ—â—n How do the birds your ears with musick charm The flowers their flaming beauty's do present Unto your captiv'd eyes and for their scent The sweet Arabian gums cannot compare Which thus perfume the circumambient air So when the Gospel sheds its cheering beams On gracious souls like those sweet warming gleams Which God ordaines in nature to draw forth The vertue seminal that's in the earth It warms their hearts their languid graces cheers And on such souls a spring-like face appears The gracious showers these spiritual clouds do yield Inriches them with sweetness like a field Which God hath blest Oh! 't is exceeding sweet When gracious hearts and heavenly truths do meet How should the hearts of Saints within them spring When they behold the messengers that bring These gladsom tydings Yea their very feet Are beautiful because their message sweet O what a mercy do those souls enjoy On whom such Gospel-dews fall day by day Thrice happy Land which in this pleasant spring Can hear these Turtles in her hedges â—ing O prize such mercies if you ask me why Read on you 'l see there 's Reason by and by CHAP. X. If God restrain the showers you howl and cry Shall saints not mourn when spiritual clouds are dry OBSERVATION 'T Is deservedly accounted a sad judgment when God shuts up the heavens over our heads and makes the earth as brass under our feeet Deut. 28. 23. Then the Husbandmen are called to mourning Ioel. 1. 11. All the fields do languish and the bellowing cattle are pined with thrist Such a sad state the prophet rhetorically describes Ier. 14. 3 4 5 6. The Nobles have sent their little ones to the waters they came to the pits and found no water they returned with their vessels empty they were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads because the ground is chapt for there is no rain in the earth the Plowmen were ashamed they covered their heads yea the Hinde also calved in the field and forsook it because there was no grass and the wild asses did stand in the high places they sâ—uffed up the wind like dragons their eyes failed because there was no grass And that which makes the want of rain so terrible a judgment is the famine of bread which necessarily follows these eâ—traordinary droughts and is one of the sorest temporal judgments which God inflicts upon the world APPLICATION ANd truly as much cause have they to weep and tremble over whose souls God shuts up the spiritual clouds of the Gospel and thereby sending a spiritual famine upon their souls Such a judgment the Lord threatens in Amos 8. 11. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will send a famine in the Land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the word of the Lord. The meaning is I will send a more fearful judgement than that of the famine of bread for this particle not is not exclusive but excessive implying that a famine of bread is nothing or but a light judgment compared with the famine of the word Parallel to which is that Text Isa. 5. 6. I will lay it wast saith God of the fruitless Church sit shall not be pruned nor digged but there shall come up bryars and thorns I will also command the clouds that they rain not upon it And we find both in humane and sacred Histories that when God hath shut up the spiritual clouds removing or silencing his Ministers sensible Christians have ever been deeply affected with it and reckoned it a most tremendous judgment Thus the Christians of Antioch when Chrysostom their Minister was bâ—nished they judged it better to lose the Sun out of the firmament than lose that their Minister And when Nazianzen was taking his leave of Constantinople as he was preaching his farewell-Sermon the people were exceedingly affected with his loss and among the rest an old man in the Congregation fell into a bitter passion and cryed out Aude pater tecum trinitatem ipsam ejice i. e. Go farther if you dare and take away the whole Trinity with you meaning that God would not stay when he was gone How did the Christians of Antioch also weep and lament when Paul was taking his farewell of them Act. 20. 37 38. He had been a cloud of blessings to that place but now they must expâ—ct no more showâ—râ— from him O they knew not how to givâ— up such a Minister Whâ—n the Ark of God which was the Symbole of the divine presence among the Iews was taken all the City cryed out 1 Sam. 4. 13. O the loss of a Gospel Ministry is an inestimable loss not to be repaired but by its own return or by heaven Mr. Greenham tells us that in the times of Popish persecution when godly Ministers were haled away from their flocks to Martyrdom the poor Christians would meet
of earthly things That Underfoot doe lye Noe Bird that flyes beneath the skies But by this holy craft will lend a feather To help it thither And give the heart a waft The string and stone shews every one When faith mounts up and sings How carnall sence can draw it hence Pinnion and clip its wings Birds beasts and trees teach mysteries If sinners be not blocks They 'l quickly mend when God doth send Teachers in droves and Flocks T Cross sculpsit THE EPISTLE TO THE Intelligent Countrey READER THOV hast here the fruit of some of my spare hours which were thus imployed when by a sad providence I was thrust from the society of many dear friends into a solitary countrey dwelling I hope none will envy me these innocent delights which I made out of my lonely walks whereby the Lord sweetned my solitudes there 'T is like thou wilt find some passages here that are harmlesly pleasant yet I assure thee I know of none that the most Cynical Reader can censure as sinfully light and vain I must acknowledge to the praise of God that I have found some of those which possibly some of my Readers will call the slightest and most trifling subjects of meditation to be the Ordinances for Instruction Caution and Consolation to my own soul yea such a degree of comfort I do profess to have found by these things as hath much endeared the countrey life to me and made me much better to understand that saying of Horace than when I learn'd it at school Novistine locum potiorem rure beato Est ubi plus tapeant hyems ubi gracior aura O rus quando te ad spiciam quandoque licebit Nunc veterum libris nunc somno inertibus hortis Ducere solicitae jucunda oblivio vitae i. e. What life can with the Country life compare Where breaths the purest and most healthful Air. Where undisturb'd my studies I pursue And when I sleep bid all my cares adieu And what I have found so beneficial to my self I cannot but think may be so to others I assure thee Reader I am not fond of any of these conceptions and yet I think I may modestly enough say that the emptiest leaf in this book may serve for more and better uses than a meer diversion when thou canst find leisure to peruse it I know your troubles and cares are many and though your condition of lif hath many innocent comforts and outward mercies to sweeten it yet I believe most of you have found that ancient saying of Anaxion experimentally true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some bitter troubles Countrey men do meet Wherewith the Lord doth intermix their sweet The cares of your minds are commonly no less than the paines of your Bodies it concerns you therefore to sweeten what you cannot avoid and I know no better way for that than what is here directed to O friends what advantages have you for a spiritual life Why may you not have two harvests every year one for your Souls another for you bodies if you could thus learn to husband your Husbandry Methinks spiritual Meditations do even put themselves upon you Husbandmen of old were generally presumed to be honest and good men what else means that saying of Menander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Profess thy self an Husbandman And wicked too believ 't that can What you are godly or wicked is not for me that am a stranger to most of you to determine but if you are not godly it s my desire design to make you so and I could not think on a more probable means to accomplish this honest design than what I have here used Methinks it should be a pleasure to you when you come weary out of the fields from plow or any other labour to sit down in the evening and read that chapter which concerns that particulars business refresh your Souls even from that which hath wearied your bodies Were your hearts but heavenly more time allowed for spiritual husbandry your inward comforts would be much more your out ward gains not a jot less for it the success of all your civil labours and imployments depend upon the pleasure will of God as all that are not Atheists do acknowledge then certainly your business can succeed never the worse for your endeavours to please him upon whose pleasure it so intirely depends I have many times liâ—ted up my heart to heaven whilst these papers were under my hand for a special blessing to accompany them when they should be in yours If the Lord accomplish my desires by them upon your souls you shall enjoy two heavens one here and another hereafter Would not that be sweet The Historian tells us that Altitius Serarius was sowing corn in the field when Q. Cincinnatus came to him bare headed with letters from the Senate signifying that he was chosen to the Dictatorship I hope the Lord will so bless and succeed these labours that many of you will be called from holding the Plow on earth to wear the Crown of glory in heaven which is the sincere desire Of Your hearty Well-wisher IOHN FLAVELL THE AUTHOR TO THE READER COme you whose listning ears do even itch To hear the way prescrib'd of growing rich I 'le shew you how to make your Tenements Ten thousand times more worth and yet your rents Not rais'd a farthing here my Reader sees A way to make his dead and barren trees Yield precious fruit his Sheep though ne're so bad Bear golden fleeces such ne're Iason had In every thing your gain shall more than double And all this had with far less toyl and trouble Methinks I hear thee say this cannot be I 'le ne're believe it well read on and see Reader hadst thou but senses exercis'd To judge aright were spiritual things but priz'd At their just value thou wouldst quickly say 'T is so indeed thou wouldst not go thy way Like one that 's disappointed and so fling The book aside I though 't was some such thing Time was when Countrey Christians did afford More hours and pains about God's holy Word Witness the man who did most gladly pay For some few leaves his whole Cart load of Hay And time shall be when heavenly truth that warms The heart â—hall be prefer'd before your Farms When HOLINESS as sacred Scripture tells Shall be engraven on the Horses bells Lord hasten on those much desired times And to that purpose bless these rural Rimes THE PROEM 1 COR. 3. 9. Ye are God's Husbandry THE scope and design of the following Chapters being the spiritual improvement of Husbandry it will be necessary by way of Proem to acquaint the Reader with the Foundation and general Rules of this Art in the Scriptures thereby to procure greater respect unto and prevent prejudice against composures of this kind To this end I shall entertain the Reader a little while upon what this Scripture affords us which will give a fair Introduction
water is mixt together this mixture makes mire So when the truths of God do mix with the corruptions of men that they either hold some truths and yet live in their lusts or else when men do make use of the truths of God to justifie and plead for their â—inâ— Or 3 When as in a miry place the longer the water stands in it the worse it grows so the longer men abide under Ordinances the more filthy and polluted they grow These are the miry places that cannot be healed their disease is incurable desperate O this is a sad case and yet very common Many persons are thus given over as incorrigible and hopeless Rev. 22. 1â— Let him that is filthy be filthy still Ier. 6. 29. Reprobate silver shall men call them for the Lord hath rejected them Isa. 6. Go make the heart of this people fat their ears dull c. Christ executes by the Gospel that curse upon many souls which he denounced against the figtree Mat. 21. 19. Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever and immediately the fig-tree withered away To be given up to such a condition is a fearful judgement indeed a curse with a witness the sum of all plagues miseries and judgments a fatal stroke at the root it self It 's a wo to have a bad heart saith one but it 's the depth of wo to have a heart that shall never be made better To be barren under the Gospel is a sore judgement but to have that pertinax sterilitâ—s a pertinacious barrenness this is to be twice dead and pluckt up by the root as Iude speaks And to shew you the woful and miserable state and plight of such men let the following particulars be weighed 1 It s a stroke at the soul it self an inward spiritual judgement and by how much the more inward and spiritual any judgement is by so much the more dreadful and lamentable As soul mercies are the best of mercies so soul-judgements are the saddest of all judgements If it were but a temporal stroke upon the body the loss of an eye an ear a hand a foot though in it self it would be a considerable loss yet it were nothing to this Omnia Deus dedit duplicia saith Chrysostom speaking of bodily members God hath given men double members two eyes if one be lost the other supplies its wants two hands two ears two feet that the failing of one may be supplyed by the help of the other animam vero unam but one soul if that perish there is not another to supply its loss The soul saith a Heathen is the man that which is seen is not the man The Apostle calls the body a vile body Phil. 3. 21. and so it is compared with the soul and Daniel calls it the Sheath which is but a contemptible thing to the sword which is in it O it were far better that many bodies perish than one soul that every member were made the seat and subject of the most exquisite torture than such a judgement should fall upon the soul. 2 It 's the severest stroke God can inflict upon the soul in this life to give it up to barrenness because it cuts off all hopes frustrates all means nothing can be a blessing to him If one come from the dead if Angels should descend from heaven to preach to him there is no hope of him If God shut up a man who can open Iob 12. 14. As there was none found in heaven or earth that could open the seals of that book Rev. 5. 5. so is there no opening by the hand of the most able and skilful Ministry those seals of hardness blindness and unbelief thus impressed upon the spirit Whom jâ—stice so locks up mercy will never let out This is that which makes up the Anathema Maranatha 1 Cor. 16. 22. which is the dreadfullest curse in all the book of God cacursed till the Lord come 3 'T is the most indiscernable stroke to themselves that can be and by that so much the more desperate Hence there is said to be powred out upon them the spirit of slumber Isa. 29. 10. The Lord hath powred out upon you the spirit of deep sleep and hath closed your eyes Montanus renders it The Lord hath mingled upon you the spirit of deep sleep And so it is an allusion to a soporiferous Medicine mingled and made up of opium and such like stupifactive ingredients which casts a man into such a dead sleep that do what you will to him he feels he knows it not Make their eyes heavy and their ears dull lest they should see and hear and be converted Isa. 6. 9 10. This is the heart which cannot repent which is spoken of Rom. 2. 5. For men are not sensible at all of this judgment they do not in the least suspect it and that is their misery Though they be cursed trees which shall never bear any fruit to life yet many times they bear abundance of other fair and pleasant fruits to the eye excellent gifts and rare endowments And these deceive and undo them Mat. 7. 22. We have prophecyed in thy name this makes the wound desperate that there is no finding of it no probe to search it 4 'T is a stroke that cuts off from the soul all the comfort and sweetness of Religion A man may pray hâ—ar and confer but all those duties are dry stalks unto him which yield no meat no solid substantial nutriment some common touches upon the affections he may sometimes find in duty the melting voice or Rhetorick of the Preacher may perhaps strike his natural affections as another Tragical story pathetically delivered may do but to have any real communion with God in Ordinances any discoveries or views of the beauty of the Lord in them that he cannot have for these are the special effects and operations of the Spirit which are alwayes restrained God hath said to such as he did to them Gen. 6. 3. My spirit shall no longer strive with them and then what sweetness is there in Odinances What is the word separated from the Spirit but a dead Letter it's the Spirit that quickens 2 Cor. 3. 2. Friend thou must know that the Gospel works not like a natural cause upon those that hear it if so the efâ—â—ct would alwayes follow unless miraculously stopt and hindred but it works like a moral instituted cause whose efficacy and success depends upon the arbitrary concurrence of the Spirit with it The wind blows where it listeth so is evâ—ry one that is born of the Spirit Ioh. 3. 8. Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth Ordinances are as the pool of Bethesda which had its healing vertue only when the Angel moved the waters but the spirit never moves savingly upon the waters of Ordinances for the healing of these souls how many years soever they lye by them Though others feel a Divine power in them yet they shall not As the men that
awakening to consider the state of their souls whether in grace or in nature to others for their instruction consolation and encouragement in the wayes of grace as also of their proficiency and growth in those wayes That the blessing of the Lord and the breathings of his good Spirit may go out with it for all those gracious purposes is the hearts desire and prayer of him who is Christian Reader A sincere well-wisher to thy precious and immortal soul IOSEPH CARYL To his Reverend and learned Friend Mr. Iohn Flavell on his Spiritual Navigation and Husbandry LEtters of Mart of his dear Servant given By him that fists the ruffling winds of heaven To fight and take all such as would not daign T' acknowledge him the Seas great Soveraign He lanch'd his little Pinace and began T'attaque the vassals of Leviathan Auspicious gales swelling his winged Sails Searches all creeks and every Bark he hails That scarce a Ship our Western Coasts afford Which this brave Pinace hath not laid aboard And what among our riddles some might count Was seen at once at Barwick and the Mount Yea in more Ports hath in one lustre been Than Hawkins Drake or Cavendish have seen And Prizes of more worth brought home again Than all the Plate-Fleets of the Kings of Spain But that which makes the wonder swell the more Those whom he took were Beggars all before But rests he here No no our friend doth know 'T is good to have two strings unto his Bow Our rare Amphibion loves not to be pent Within the bounds of one poor Element Besides the learned Author understood That of an idle hand there comes no good The Law to him no Pulpit doth allow And now he cannot Preach he means to Plow Though Preaching were a crime yet the foresaw Against the Plowman there could be no Law Nor stayes he on resolves but out of hand He yoaks his Teem plows up the stubborn Land Sows it with precious Seed harrows again The tougher clods takes pleasure in his pain Whilst Orph'us like which doth his Art advance Rocks Fields and Woods after his pipe do dance Industrious spirit to what a rich account With thy blest Lord will all these labours mount That every nerve of thy blest soul dost ply To further heavens Spiritual Husbandry This kind of Tillage which thou teachest us Was never dreamt of by Triptolemus Go Reader turn the leaves and me allow To pray whilst at thy work God speed the Plow NICHOLAS WATTS In Authoris OPERA LEt Paracelsius and Van-Helmonts name No more ride triumph on the wings of fame Lo here 's a Chymist whose diviner skill Doth hallowed from unhallow'd things distil Spiritualizeth Sea affairs agen Makes the rude ground turn Tutor unto men Shews Mariners as by a Compass how They may unto the Port of Glory row Teacheth the Plowmen from their work to know What duties unto God and man they ow. Rare Artist who when many tongues are mute Mak'st things that are inanimate confute The Ages sins by preaching unto eyes Truths which in other modes their ears despise Prosper his pious Labours Lord howe'r Do not forget to crown the labourer Sic raptim canit DAN CONDY To his Reverend and Invaluable Friend Mr. I. F. upon his Husbandry Spiritualized INgenious Sir what do I see what now Are you come from the Pulpit to the Plow If so then pardon me if I profess The Plow deserves to be sent to the Press 'T is not long since you went to Sea they say Compos'd a Compass which directs the way And steers the course to heaven O blest Art And bravely done that you did that impart To us who take it kindly at your hand And bless the Lord that you are come to Lord. To be an Husbandman wherein your skill With admiration doth your Readers fill One grain will yield increase it 's ten times ten When th' earth's manur'd by such Husbandmen We may expect rich harvests and full crops When heavenly dew descendeth in such drops Of spiritual rain to water every field That it full helps of grace to God may yield I must adore the wisdom of that God That makes men wise who even from a clod Of earth can raise such heavenly Meditation Unto a pitch of highest elevation Besides I mark the goodness of the Lord Performing unto us his faithful Word That all shall work for good unto the Saints Which in some measure lessens our complaints For though our Pulpit mercies be grown less We have some gracious helps yet from the Press And herein all the world may plainly see That faithful servants will not idle be We have some bricks although the straw be gone The Church at last shall be of polisht stone What ever men or Devils act or say Sion at last will have a glorious day The wretched muck-worm that from morn to night Labours as if 't were for an heavenly weight And when he hath got all he can the most Amounts to little more than a poor crust To feed his tired carkase if himself Have by his carking got a little pelf Leave it he must to one he knows not whom And then must come to eternal doom And hear his poor neglected wretched soul Tell him at last that he hath play'd the fool But here he 's taught how he before he dye May lay up treasure for eternity Wherein he may be rich yea much much more Than they that do possess whole mines of Oar. When earth 's more worth than heaven gold than grace Then let the worldling run his bruitish race But not before unless he do intend To meet with soul-destruction in the end But I must leave him and return again To gratulate the author for his pain And here I can't forbear to let my pen To tell the world of all the Husbandmen That er'e I met he he hath hit the vein To recompense the Labourers hard pain And taught him how to get the greatest gain Wherein he treads a path not trod before By which indeed his skill appears the more I might Encomiums give him great and true And yet come short of what 's his due But I must not walk in forbidden wayes For thereby I am sure I should displease His pious mind who doth and freely can Give all the praise to the great Husbandman Who will his graces in his servants own But doth expect himself to wear the Crown Farewel dear Sir In take my leave and now Will say no more but this God speed the plow EDWARD IEFFERY Reader this Emblem darkly represents The Books chief scope and principall contents Yet since these Birds Beasts Heart Stone String and Tree Doe more imply than at first glance you see Our courteous Muse which cannot be unkinde Intends more plainly to divulge her minde You see the Shadows would you see the Things She couches under them then view her Wings A gracious heart here learns the art Of soaring up on high Upon the Wings
to the following Discourse The Apostle's scope in the context being to check and repress the vain glory and emulation of the Corinthians who instead of thankfulness for and an humble and diligent improvement of the excellent blessings of the Ministry turn'd all into vain ostentation and emulation one preferring Paul and another Apollos in the maan time depriving themselves of the choice blessings they might have received from them both To cure this growing mischief in the Churches he checks their vanity and discovers the evil of such practises by several Arguments amongst which this is one Ye are God's Husbandry q. d. Whar are ye but a field or plot of ground to be manured and cultivated for God and what are Paul Apollo and Cephas but so many work-men and labourers imployed by God the great Husbandman to plant and water you all If then you shall glory in some and despise others you take the ready way to deprive your selves of the benefits and mercies you might receive from the joint Ministry of them all God hath used me to plant you and Apollo to water you you are obliged to bless him for the Ministry of both and it will be your sin if you despise either If the work-men be discouraged in their labours 't is the field that loses and suffers by it so that the words are a similitude serving to illustrate the Relation 1. Which the Churches have to God 2. Which God's Ministers have to the Churches The relation betwixt God and them is like that of an Husbandman to his ground of tillage The Greek word signifies Gods Arable or that plot of ground which God manures by the ministry of Pastors and Teachers It serves to illustrate the relation that the Ministers of Christ sustain to the Churches which is like that of the Husbands servants to him and his fields which excellent notion carries in it the perpetual necessity of a Gospel-Ministry For what fruit can be expected where there are none to till the ground As also the diligence accountableness and rewards which these labourers are to give to and receive from God the great Husbandman All runs into this That the life and imployment of an Husbandman excellently shadows forth the relation betwixt God and his Church and the relative duties betwixt its Ministers and members Or more briefly thus The Church is God's Husbandry about which his Ministers are imployed I shall not here observe my usual Method intending no more but a Preface to the following Discourse but only open the particulars wherein the resemblance consists and then draw some Corrolaries from the whole The first I shall dispatch in these twenty particulars following The Husbandman purchases his fields and gives a valuable consideration for them Ier. 32. 9 10. So hath God purchased his Church with a full valuable price even the precious blood of his own Son Act. 20. 28. Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased or acquired with his own blood O dear-bought inheritance how much doth this bespeak its worth or rather the high esteem God hath of it to pay down blood and such blood for it never was any inheritance bought at such a rate every particular elect person and none but such as are comprehanded in this purchase the rest still remain in the devils right Sin made a forfeiture of all to justice upon which Satan entred and took possession and as a strong man armed still keeps it in them Luke 11. 21. but upon payment of this sum to justice the Elect who only are intended in this purchase pass over into God's right and propriety and now are neither Satans Acts 26. 18. nor their own 1 Cor. 6. 19. but the Lord 's peculiar 1 Pet. 2. 6. And to shew how much they are his own you have two possessives in one verse Cant. 8. 12. My vineyard which is mine is before me Mine which is mine Husbandmen divide and separate their own Lands from other mens they have their Land-marks and boundaries by which propriety is preserved Deut. 27. 17. Prov. 22. 28. So are the people of God wonderfully separated and distinguisht from all the people of the earth Psal. 4. 3 The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself and the Lord knoweth who are his 2 Tim. 2. 19 It is a special act of grace to be inclosed by God out of the waste howling wilderness of the world Deut. 33. 16. This God did intentionally in the decree before the world was which decree is executed in their sanctification and adoption Corn-fields are carefully fenced by the Husbandman with hedges and ditches to preserve their fruits from beasts that would otherwise over-run and destroy them Non minus est virtus quam querere parta tueri It is as good Husbandry to keep what we have as to acquire more than we had My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill and he fenced it Isa. 5. 1 2. No inheritance is better defended and secured than the Lords inheritance Psal. 125. 2. As the mountains are round about Ierusalem so the Lord is round about his people So careful is he for their safety that he createth upon every dwelling place of mount Sion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence Isa. 4. 5. Not a particular Saint but is hedged about and inclosed in arms of power and love Iob 1. 10. Thou hast made a hedge about him The Devil sain would but by his own confession could not break over that hedge to touch Iob till Gods permission made a gap for him Yea he not only makes an hedge but a wall about them and that of fire Zech. 2. 5. Sets a guard of Angels to encamp round about them that fear him Psal. 34. 7. and will not trust them with a single guard of Angels neither though their power be great and love to the Saints as great but watches over them himself also Isa. 27. 2 3. Sing ye unto her a vineyard of red wine I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day Husbandmen carry out their Compost to fertilize their arable ground they dung it dress it and keep it in heart and in these Western parts are at great charges to bring lime and salt water sand to quicken their thin and cold soyl Lord let it alone this year also till I shall dig about it and dung it and if it bear fruit well if not cut it down Luke 13. 8. O the rich dressing which God bestows upon his Churches they are costly fields indeed drest and fertilized not only by precious Ordinances and Providences but also by the sweat yea bloud of the dispensers of them You Londoners saith Mr. Lockier are trees watered choicely indeed 't is storied of the Palm-tree
your garments for the sense is comparative though the expression be negative And this rending implyes not only acute pain flesh cannot be rent asunder without anguish nor yet only force and violence the heart is a stubborn and knotty piece and will not easily yield but it also implies a dis-union of parts united as when a garment or the earth or any continuous body is rent those parts are separated which fomerly cleaved together Sin and the Soul were glewed fast together before there was no parting of them they would as soon part with their lives as with their lusts but now when the heart is rent for them truely it is also rent from them everlastingly Ezek. 7. 15. to 19. 4 The plow turns up and discovers such things as lay hid in the bosome of the earth before and were covered under a fair green surface from the eyes of men Thus when the Lord plows up the heart of a sinner by conviction then the secrets of his heart are made manifest 2 Cor. 14. 24 25. the most secret and shameful sins will then our for the word of God is quick and powerful sharper than any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing of the soul and spirit the joynts and merrow and is a quick discerner of the thoughts and secret intents of the heart Heb. 4. 12. It makes the fire burn inwardly so that the soul hath no rest till confession give a vent to trouble Fain would the shuffling sinner conceal and hide his shame but the word follows him through all his sinful shifts and brings him at last to be his own both accuser witness and judge â— The work of the plow is but opus ordinabile a preparative work in order to fruit Should the Husbandman plow his ground never so often yet if the seed be not cast in and quickned in vain is the Harvest expected Thus conviction also is but a preparative to a farther work upon the soul of a sinner If it stick there and go no farther it proves but an abortive or untimely birth Many have gone thus far and there they have stuck they have been like a field plowed but not sowed which is a matter of trembling consideration for hereby their sin is greatly aggravated and their eternal misery so much the more increased O when a poor damned creature shall with horror reflect upon himself in hell how near was I once under such a Sermon to conversion My sins were set in order before me my conscience awakened and terrified with the guilt of them many pâ—rposes and resolves I had then to turn to God which had they been perfected by answerable executions I had never come to this place of torment but there I stuck and that was my eternal undoing Many souls have I known so terrified with the guilt of sin that they have come roaring under horrors of conscience to the Preacher so that one would think such a breach had been made between them and sin as could never be reconciled and yet as angry as they were in that fit with sin they have hug'd and imbraced them again 6 'T is best plowing when the earth is prepared and mollified by the showers of rain then the work goes on sweetly and easily And never doth the heart so kindly melt as when the Gospel clouds dissolve and the free grace and love of Iesus Christ comes sweetly showing down upon it then it relents and mourns ingeniously Ezek. 16. 63. That thou mayest remember and be confounded and never open thy moâ—th any more of thy shame when I am pocified towards thee for all that thou hast done So it was with that poor penitent Luke 7. 38. when the Lord Iesus had discovered to her the super-abounding riches of his grace in the pardon of her manisold abominations her heart melted within her she washed the feet of Christ with tears And indeed there is as much difference betwixt the tears which are forced by the terrors of the law and those which are extracted by the grace of the Gospel as there is betwixt those of a condemned malefactor who weeps to consider the misery he is under and those of a pardoned malefactor that receives his pardon at the foot of the ladder and is melted by the mercy and clemency of his gracious Prince towards him 7 The plow kills those ranck weeds that grow in the field turns them up by the roots buries and rots them So doth saving conviction kill sin at the root makes the soul sick of it begets indignation in the heart against it 2 Cor. 7. 11. The word there signifies the rising of the stomack any being angry even unto sickness Religious wrath is the fiercest wrath now the soul cannot endure sin trembles at it I find a woman more bitter than death saith penitent Solomon Eccl. 7. 26. Conviction like a surâ—et makes the soul to loath what it formerly loved and delighted in 8 That field is not well plowed where the plow jumps and skips over good ground and makes baulks it must turn up the whole field alike and that heart is not savingly convicted where any lust is spared and lest untouched Saving Conviction extends it self to all sins not only to sin in general with this cold confâ—ssion I am a â—â—nner but to the particulars of 〈◊〉 yea to the particular circumstances and aggravations of time place manner occasions thus and thus have I done to the sin of nature as well as practise behold I was shapen in iniquity Psal. 51. 5. There must be no baulking of any sin the spâ—ring of one sin is a sure argument thou art not truely humbled for any sin So far is the convinced soul from a studious concealment of a beloved sin that it weeps over that more than over any other actual sin 9 New ground is much more easily plowed than that which by long lying out of tillage is more consolidated and clung together by deep rooted thorns and brambles which render it difficult to the Plowman This old ground is like an old sinner that hath layn a long time hardening under the means of grace O the difficulty of convincing such a person Sin hath got such rooting in his heart he is so habituated to the reproofs and calls of the word that â—ew such are wrought upon How many young persons are called to one obdurate inveterate sinner I do not say but God may call home such a soul at the eleventh hour but I may say of these compared with others as Solomon speaks Eccles. 7. 28. One man among a thousand have I found c. Few that have long â—esisted the Gospel that come afterwards to feel the saving efficacy thereof REFLECTIONS OGrace for ever to bâ— admired that God should send forth his Word and Spirit to plow up my hard and stony heart yea mine when he hath lest so many of more tender ingenious sweet and melting tempers without any culture or meanes of grace O
How much soever others are elated by the light of their knowledge I have cause with humility to adore thee for the heavenly heat with which thou hast warmed my affections Pause a while my soul opon this point With what seed is my heart sown and of what kind are those things wherein I excel others are they indeed speciall seeds of grace or common gifts and naturall excellencies If the latter little cause have I to pride my self in them were they ten thousand times more then they are If these things be indeed the things that accompany salvation the seed of God the true and real work of grace Then 1 how comes it to pass that I never found any throws or travelling pangs in the production of them It s affirmed and generally acknowledged that the new creature is never brought forth without such pains and compunctions of heart Act. 2. 37. I have indeed often felt an aking head whilst I have read and studied to increase my knowledge but when did I feel an aking heart for Sin Oh I begin to suspect that it is not right Yea 2 and my suspition increases whiles I consider that grace is of an humbling nature 1 Cor. 15. 10. Lord how have I been elated by my gifts and valued my self above what was meet O how have I delighted in the noise of the Pharisees trumpet Mat. 6. 2. No musick so sweet as that Say O my consicience have I not delighted more in the Theater than the closet in the praise of men than the approbation of God Oh how many evidences dost thou produce against me Indeed these are sad symptoms that I have shewed thee but there is yet another which renders thy case more suspitious yet yea that which thou canst make no rational defence against even the ineffectualness of all thy gifts and knowledge to mortifie any one of all thy lusts It 's beyond all dispute that gifts may but grace cannot consist without mortification of sin Gâ—l 5. 24. Now what lust hath fallen before these excellent parts of mine Doth not pride passion covetousness and indeed the whole body of â—in live and thrive in me as much as ever Lord I yield the cause I can defend it no longer against my conscience which caâ—ts and condemns me by full proof to be but in a wretched cursed lamentable state notwithstanding all my knowledg and flourishing gifts O shew me a more excellent way Lord That I had the sincerity of the poorest Saint though I should lose the applause of all may parts with these I see I may go to hell but without some better thing no hope Of heaveâ— The Poem GReat difference betwixt that seed is found With which you sow your several plots of ground Seed-wheat doth far excel in dignity The cheper Barley and the courâ—er Rye Though in themselves they good and wholsome are Yet these with choicest wheat may not compare Mens hearts like fields are sowed with different grain Some baser some more noble some again Excelling both the former more than wheat Excels that grain your swine and horses eat For principles of meer morality Like Cummin Barley Fitches Pease or Rye In those mens hearts are often to be â—ound Whom yet the Scripture calleth cursed ground And nobler principles than these sometime Cal'd common grace and spiritual gifts which shine In some mens heads where is their habitation Yet they are no companions of Salvation These purchase honour both from great and small But I must tell thee that if this be all Though like an Angel in these gifts thou shine Amongst blind mortals for a little time The days's at hand when such as thou must take Thy lot with devils in th' infernal lake But principles of special saving grace Whose seat is in the heart not head or face Like sollid wheat sown in a fruitful field Shall spring and flourish and at last will yield A glorious harvest of eternal rest To him that nourish'd them within his breast O grace how orient art thou how divine What is the glory of all gifts to thine Disseminate this seed within my heart My God I pray thee though thou shouldst impart The less of gifts then I may truly say That thou hast shew'd me the more excellent way CHAP. IX By heavens influence Corn and plants do spring Gods showers of grace do make his valleys sing OBSERVATION THe earth after that it is plowed and sowed must be watered and warm'd with the dews and ifluences of heaven or no fruit can be expected If God do not open to you his good treasure the heavens to give rain unto the Land in its season and bless all the work of your hands as it is Deut. 28. 12. The earth cannot yield her increase The order and dependance of natural causes in the productions of fruit is excellently described Hos. 2. 21. 22. I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth and the earth shall hear the corn and wine and Oyl and they shall hear Iezreel Iezreel must have corn and wine and Oyl or they cannot live they cannot have it unless the earth bring it forth the earth cannot bring it forth without the heavens the heavens cannot yield a drop unless God hear them that is unlock and open them Nature and natural causes are nothing else bâ—t the order in which God works This some Heatheâ—s by the light of nature acknowledged and therefore when they went to plow in the morning they did lay one hand upon the plow to speak their own part to be painfulness and hold up the other hand to Ceres the Goddess of Corn to shew that their expectation of plenâ—y was from their supposed Deity I fear many Christians lay both hands to the plow and seldom lift up heart or hand to God when about that work There was an husbandman saith Mr. Smith that alwayes sowed good Seed but never had good Corn at last a neighbour came to him and said I will tell you what probably may be the cuse of it It may be said he you do not steep your Seed no truly said the other nor ever did I hear that Seed must be steeped yes surely said his neighbour and I will tell you how it must be steeped in prayer When the party heard this he thanked him for his counsel reformed his fault and had as good Corn as any man whatsoever Surely it is not the Husbandmans but God steps that drop fatness Alma Mater terra the earth indeed is a fruitful mother but the rain which â—ecundates and fertilizes it hath no other father but God Iob 38. 28. APPLICATION As impossible it is in an ordinary way for souls to be made fruitful in grace and holiness without the dews and influences of Ordinances and the blessing of God upon them as for the earth to yield her fruit without the natural influences of heaven for look what
dews showers and cleer shinings after â—ain are to the fields that the word and Ordinances of God are to the souls of men My doctrine shall drop as the rain my speech shall distil as the dew as the â—inaâ— rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass Deut. 3â— 2. For as the rain and snow cometh down from heaven and watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud so shall my word be that goeth forth of my mouth Isa. 55. 10 11. And as the doctrine of the Gospel is rain so Gospel Ministers are the clouds in which those heavenly vapours are bound up The resemblance lyes in the following particulars The rain comes from heaven Acts 14. 17. He gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons c. The doctrine of the Gospel is also of an heavenly extraction and descent they are heavenly truths which are brought to you in earthen vessels things that were hid in God and come from his bosom Eph. 3. 9. What Nicodemus said of Christ is in a proportion true of every faithful dispenser of the Gospel Thou art a teacher come from God Ioh. 3. 2. You are not to look upon the truths which Ministers deliver as the meer effects and fruits of their inventions and parts they are but the Conduits through which those celestial waters are conveyed to you 'T is all heavenly the Officers from heaven Eph. 4. 12. Their Doctrine from heaven Eph. 3. 8 9. The efficacy and success of it from heaven 1 Cor. 3. 3. What I received of the Lord saith Paul that have I delivered unto you 1 Cor. 11. 23. The same may every Gospel Minister say too That 's the first And then 2ly The rain falls by divine direction and appointment He causes it to rain upon one city and not upon another Amos 4. 7. You shall often see a cloud dissolve and spend it self upon one place when there is not a drop within a few miles of it Thus is the Gospel sent to shed its rich influences upon one place and not upon another It pours down showers of blessings upon on Town or Parish whilst others are dry like the ground which lay neer to Gideons wet fleece To you is the word of this salvation sent Act. 13. 26. Sent it comes not by chance but by Commission and appointment and it s sent to you by special direction Ministers can no more go whither they please than the failing clouds can move against the wind Paul and Timothy two fruitful clouds that sent down many sweet refreshing showers upon every place whither they came the Lord sent them through Phrygia and Galatia but forbad them to preach the word in Asia Acts. 16. 6. And when they essayed to go into Bitâ—ynia the spirit suffered them not v. 7. But a man of Macedonia appears to Paul in a vision and prayed him saying come over to Macedonia and help us v. 9. Thus you see how the mystical as well as the natural clouds are moved according to divine counsel and though Ministers are not now disposed to their respective places in such an extraordinary way yet there is still a special hand of the Spirit guiding their motions which is seen partly in qualifying them or such a people and partly in drawing out their hearts to elect and call them and inclining their hearts to accept the call There is a great deal of difference in showers of rain that fall upon the earth Sometimes you have an hasty shower which makes the wayes fleet and the streets run but it 's gone presently the earth hath but little benefit by it and sometimes you have a sweet gentle soaking rain that moderately soaks to the root and refreshes the earth abundantly This is called the small rain and the former the great rain of his strength Iob 37. 6. So it is in these spiritual showers the effects of some sermons like a sudden spout of rainâ— are very transient that touch the heart a little for present by way of conviction or comfort but it fleets away immediately Iâ—m 1. 23. At other times the Gospel like a setled moderate rain soaks to the root to the very heart So did that sweet shower which sell Acts 2. 37. It searcheth the root it went to the heart the influences ' of it are sometimes abiding and do much longer remain in and refresh the heart than the rain doth the earth There be effects left in some hearts by some Sermons and duties that will never out of it so long as they live I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickened me Psal. 119. 92. The rain is most beneficial to the earth when there come sweet warm Sun-blasts with it or after it This the scripture calls a clear shining after rain 2 Sam. 23. 4. by which the seminal vertue of the earth is drawn forth and then the herbs and flowers and Corn sprout abundantly So it is with Gospel showers when the Sun of righteousness opens upon poor souls under the word darting down the beams of grace and love upon them whilst they are attending on it just as you sometimes see a sweet shower fall while the Sun shines out O how comfortable is this And effectual to melt the heart and as the warm rain is most refreshing so when the word comes warmly from the melting affections of the Preacher who imparts not only the Gospel but his own soul with it 1 Thes. 2. 8. This doth abundantly more good than that which drops coldly from the lips of the unaffected speaker Showers of rain do exceedingly refresh the earth as a man is refreshed by a draught of water when his spirits are even spent O how welcome is a shower to the thirsty ground Hence the little hills are said to rejoyce on every side yea to shout for joy and sing when a shower comes Psal. 65. 12 13. but never was shower of rain so sweetly refreshing to the thirsty earth as Gospel-showers are to gracious hearts Col. 4. 8. It comforts their very hearts What joy was there in Samaria when the Gospel came to that place Acts 8. 8. It revives the soul its mel in ore melos in aure jubilum in corde honey in the mouth melody in the ear and a very Iubilee in the heart Rain is necessary at Seed-time to make ready the earth to receive the Seed Psal. 65. 9 10. Thou visitest the earth and waterest it thou greatly â—nrichest it with the river of God which is full of water thou preparest them coâ—n when thou â—ast so provided for it thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly thou settâ—st the furrows thereof thou makest it soft with showers thou blâ—ssest the springing thereof And this the Scripâ—ure calls the former rain And as this is necessary about Seed-time so the latter rain is as needâ—ul about â—aâ—ing time to disclose the ear and to bring it to perfection both these are great blessings to the earth and conduce to a
away and their joy ceases Earthly hearts are acquainted with no higher comforts but the people of God can joy in him and take comfort in their earthly enjoyments too and what comfort they take in these things is much more refined and sweet than yours for they enjoy all these things in God and his love in giving them puts a sweetness into them that you are unacquainted with Thus you see how far your joy falls short of theirs REFLECTIONS HOw have I rejoyced in a thing of nought and pleased my self with a vanity God hath blessed me in my fields and in my stores but not with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. My Barns are full of corn but my soul is empty of grace common bounty hath given me a fulness of the things of this life but what if the meaning of it should be to fat me for the day of slaughter what if this be the whole of my portion from the Lord what if the language of his providences to my soul should be this Lo here I have given thee with Ishmael the fatness of the earth Thou shalt not say but thou hast tasted of thy Creator's bounty but make the most of it for this is all that ever thou shalt have from me There be others in the world to whom I have denyed these things but for them I have reserved better for the most part they are poor in this world but rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom Is not this enough to damp all my carnal mirth Should my conscience give me such a memento as Abraham in the parable gave to Dives Remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things Ah what a cut would that be to all my comforts A man in a Fever hath a lively colour but a dying heart I have an appearance a shadow of comfort but a sad state of soul. Blessed be the God and father of my Lord Iesus Christ who hath blessed me with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Eph. 1. 3. Though he hath not seen fit to give me much of this world in hand yet it hath pleased him to settle a rich inheritance upon me by promise the hopes and expectations whereof yield my soul more true comfort than all the present enjoyments of this world could have done Blessed be the Lord who hath not given me my portion in this life that by keeping me from the enjoyment hath also preserved me from the snares of a prosperous estate Lord Iesus I have no bags I have no Barns but thou shalt be to me instead of all those things When others rejoyce in the fulness of their earthly comforts I will rejoyce in the fulness of my Christ they have that which though I have not I shall not want and I have that which all their riches cannot purchase Bless the Lord O my soul But Lord how am I obliged above thousands to love and praise thee to bless and admire thee who hast not only plentifully provided for my soul but for my body too who hast given me both the upper and the neather springs heaven and earth things present and things to come Thou hast not dealt so with all no not with all thine own people many of them are strangers to the mercies which I enjoy God hath done great things for me O my soul what wilt thou do for God The freer the condition is he hath placed me in the more am I both obliged and advantaged for his service and yet I doubt it will be found that many a poor Christian that labours with his hands to get his bread redeems more hours for God than I do Lord make me wise to understand and answer the double end of this gracious dispensation Let me bestow the more of my time on God and stand ready to Minister to the necessities of his people Oh what an unhappy wretch am I that have nothing either in hand or in hope am miserable here and like to be so for ever Had I but an interest in Christ as the godly poor have that would sweeten all present troubles and shew me the end of them But alas I am poor and wicked contemned of men and abhorred of God an object of contempt both to heaven and earth Lord look upon such a truly miserable object with compassion give me a portion with thy people in the world to come if thou never better my outward condition here O sanctifie this poverty bless these straits and wants that they may necessitate my soul to go to Christ make this poverty the way to glory and I shall bless thee to eternity that I was poor in this world The Poem OFt have I seen when harvest's almost in The last load coming how some men have bin Rapt up with joy as if that welcom cart Drew home the very treasure of their heart What joyful shoutings hooping hollowing noise With mingled voices both of men and boyes To carnal minds there is no greater mirth No higher joy nor greater heaven on earth He speaks pure Paradoxes that shall say These are but trifles to what Saints enjoy But they despise your sparks as much as you Contemn their Sun Some that could never shew A full stuft Barn on which you set yourt hear But glean perhaps the ears behind your cart Yet are the gleanings of their comfort more Than all your harvest and admired store Your mirth is mixt with sorrow theirs is pure Yours like a shadow fleets but theirs indure God gives to you the husk to them the pith And no heart-string sorrow adds therewith Though at the gates of death they sometimes mourn No sooner doth the Lord to them return But sorrow 's banisht from their pensive breast Ioy triumphs there and smiles their cheeks invest Have you beheld when with perfumed wings Out of the balmy East bright Phoebus springs Mounting th' Olympick hill with what a grace He views the throne of darkness and doth chase The shades of night before him having hurl'd His golden beams about this lower world How from sad Groves and solitary Cells Where horrid darkness and confusion dwells Batts Owles and doleful creatures fly away Resigning to the cheerful birds of day Who in those places now can sit and chaunt Where lately such sad creatures kept their haunt Thus grief resigns to joy sighs groans and tears To songs triumphant when the Lord appears O matchless joy O countenance divine What are those trifles to these smiles of thine May I with poor Mephibosheth be blest With these sweet smiles let Ziba take the rest My life my treasure thou shalt ne'r be sold For silver hills or rivers pav'd with gold Wer 't thou but known to worldlings they would scorn To stoop their hearts to such poor things as corn For so they do because thou art above That sphere wherein their low conceptions move CHAP. XIX More solid grain with greater
that first flourish is gone my heart is like the Winters earth because thy face Lord is to me like a Winter Sun Awake O Northwind and come South wind blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out then let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruit MEDIT. II. Vpon the knitting or setting of fruit I Have often observed that when the blossoms of a tree set and knit though the flourish thereof be gone and nothing but the bare rudiment of the expected fruit be left yet then the fruit is much better secured from the danger of frosts and winds than whilst it remained in the flower or blossom for now it hath past one of those critical periods in which so many trees miscarry and lose their fruit And methought this natual Observation fairly led me to this Theological Proposition That good motions and holy purposes in the soul are never secured and past their most dangerous Crisis till they be turned into fixed resolutions and answerable execution which is as the knitting and setting of them Upon this Proposition my melting thoughts thus dilated Happy had it been for thee my soul had all the blessed motions of the Spirit been thus knit and fixed in thee O how have mine affections blown and budded under the warm beams of the Gospel but a I hill blast from the cares troubles and delights of the world without and the vanity and deadness of the heart within have blasted all my goodness hath been but as a morning dew or early cloud that vanisheth away And even of divine Ordinance I may say what is said of humane Ordinances They have perished in the using A blossom is but fruâ—tus imperfectus ordinabilis an imperfect thing in it self and something in order to fruit a good motion and holy purpose is but opus imperfectum ordinabile an imperfect work in order to a compleat work of the Spirit When that primus impetus those first motions were strong upon my heart had I then pursued them in the force and vigour of them how many difficulties might I have overcome Revive thy work O Lord and give not to my soul a miscarrying womb or dry breasts MEDIT. III. Vpon the sight of a fair spreading Oak WHat a lofty flourishing Tree is here It seems rather to be a little Wood than a single Tree every limb thereof having the dimensions and branches of a Tree in it and yet as great as it is it was once but a little slip which one might pull up with two fingers this vast body was contained virtually and potentially in a small Acorn Well then I will never despise the day of Small things nor despair of arriving to an eminency of grace though at present it be but as a bruised reed and the things that are in me be ready to dye As things in nature so the things of the Spirit grow up to their fulness and perfection by flow and insensible degrees The famous and heroical acts of the most renowned believers were such as themselves could not once perform or it may be think they ever should Great things both in nature and grace come from small and contemptible beginnings MEDIT. IV. Vpon the sight of many sticks lodged in the branches of a choice fruit Tree HOw is this Tree batter'd with stones and loaded with sticks that have been thrown at it whilest those that grow about it being barren or bearing harsher fruit escape untouched Surely if its fruit had not been so good its usage had not been so bad and yet it is affirmed that some trees as the Walnut c. bear the better for being thus bruised and battered Even thus it fares in both respects with the best of men the more holy the more envied and persecuted every one that passes by will have a fling at them Methinks I see how devils and wicked men walk round about the people of God whom he hath enclosed in armes of power like so many boys about an Orchard whose lips water to have a fling at them But God turns all the stones of reproach into precious stones to his people they bear the better for being thus batter'd And in them is that ancient observation verified Creseunt virtutem palmae crescuntque Coronae Mutantur mundipraelia pace Dei The Palmes and Crowns of virtue thus increase Thus persecution's turned into peace Let me be but fruitful to God in holiness and ever abounding in the work of the Lord and then whilst devils and men are flinging at me either by hand or tongue persecutions I will sing amidst them all with the divine Poet What open force or hidden charm Can blast my fruits or bring me harm Whilst the inclosure is thine arm MEDIT. V. Vpon the gathering of choice fruit from a scrubbed unpromising Tree VVOuld any man think to find such rare delicious fruit upon such an unworthy Tree to appearance as this is I should rather have expected the most delicious fruit from the most handsome and flourishing Trees but I see I must neither judge the worth of Tree or Men by their external form and appearance This is not the first time I have been deceived in judging by that rule under fair and promising out-sides I have found nothing of worth and in many deformed despicable bodies I have found precious richly furnished souls The sap and juice of this scrubbed Tree is concocted into rare and excellent fruits whilst the juice and sap of some other fair but barren Trees serves only to keep them from rotting which is all the use that many souls which dwell in beautâ—uâ—l bodies serve for they have as one saith animam pro sale their souls are butsalt to their bodies Or thus The only use to which their souls do serve Is but like salt their bodies to preserve If God have given me a sound soul in a sound body I have a double mercy to bless him for but whither my body be vigorous and beautiful or not yet let my soul be so For as the esteem of this Tree so the esteem and true honour of every man rises rather from his fruitfulness and usefulness than from his shape and form MEDIT. VI. Vpon an excellent but irregular Tree SEeing a Tree grow somewhat irregular in a very neat Orchard I told the Owner it was pity that Tree should stand there and that if it were mine I would root it up and thereby reduce the Orchard to an exact uniformity It was replyed to this purpose that he rather regarded the fruit than the form and that this slight inconveniency was abundantly preponderated by a more considerable advantage This Tree said he which you would root up hath yielded me more fruit than many of those Trees which have nothing else to commend them but their regular scituation I could not but yield to the reason of this answer and could wish it had been spoken so loud that all our Uniformity men had