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
full fill carnal hearts with joy 156. Some have no Barns yet much joy 156 Beasts their bondage by sin 205 206 Blastings incident to Corn 115 Buildings where â—rected 5 C Capacity of beasts how narrow 208 Chaâ—â— grows with Wheat its usefulness to itâ— its worthlessness in it self its separation from the Corn 167 168 Corn cannot resist the Sickle 131. Received into the Reapers bosom 131. Corn not to be reaped till ripe signs when it is so 132 133. Crop the first usually best 10 D Death of seeds how to be understood 101 Deeds for estates how carefully proved and preserved 226 Diligence the thriving way 24 Diligence a credit to men 25 Disappointments grievous to Husbandman 6 Dressing of ground 4 Drought follows a glut of rain 85 E Ease how little the beasts have 207 Enclosures the end of them 3 End of all Husbandry 7 Estates increased and preserved how 26 Expectation of Harvest 122. the grounds and incouragements of it 124 125 F Famine occasioned by drought 90. Its effects terrible 91 92 Fowls enemies to seed 155 Frosts conduce to a good Harvest how 72 Fruits shaken and when 186 187 G Gathering in of fruit the Emblem of the end of the world 186 187 Graffing the manner of it shewn 180 Graffs their danger till they take hold of the stock 181 All do not thrive alike in the stock 183 H Harvest the joy thereof described 158 159 Harvest when catching what Husbandmen do 130 Hâ—rrow its use in Husbandry 72 Hâ—dges their use 4 Hâ—alth preserved by labour 56 Horses how carefully fed and dressed 200 Husbandmen their work spending 1â— yet have some resting dayes 20 I Influences of heaven necessary to produce and ripen fruits 81 82 â—oy natural four of it 152 153 Ioy of Harvest the causes and grounds of it 154 155 156 157 Ioy of Harvest but a gift of common providence 155 L Labourers their bands sufficient for them and theirs 8 Land when spent how recovered 45 Labours of Husbandmen ends at and sometimes before death 21. It sweetens their bed 26 Lost Cattel how recovered 210 211 M Mowing when and what it represents 138 Multiplicity of work and workâ—men in Husbandry 7 18 Miry places barren 54. What causes Mire 55 N Natural and natural causes what 81 Negligence in Summer upon presumption of fair weather a folly 142 O Occasion to be eyed by Husbandmen 140 Opportunities of plowing sowing reaping once lost irrecoverable for that year 140 141 P Pleasure much in Husbandry 31 Plowing requires judgement 63. 'T is hard work 84 Plow rends the earth discovers things hid under the surface 65 Plowing a preparatory and respective work 66. It kills weeds 67. best after rain 67 Plow-man must make no baulks in good ground 67 Posterity to be provided for 221 Poverty when extream a snare 39 Providence in Husbandmen commendable 139 R Rain is from heaven falls by divine appointment great difference in it warm rain most beneficial former and latter both needful obtained by prayer 82 83 84 85 Reaping the fit season thereof 129 S Seed-corn how qualified and prepared 71. Advantaged by early sowing 72 much vigour in a small seed 73 Seeds produce their own kind 146 Springing of seeds and plants whence 81 82. cannot be hindred when the time comes 102 Sowing done in hope and in season 102 Stalk potentially in a small seed 73 Summer why appointed 141 T Tares their resemblance to wheat 108 Threshing the ancient manner of it 160 the use and end of it 161 Threshing corn what is resembles 162 Trees when dead cut down 192 Trees how laden with fruit 186 187 as they leaned so they fall 194 V Valleys most fruitful 10 Variable weather in Harvest 141 Ungraffed fruit harsh 147. The cause thereof 176 Vexation to Husbandmen to be â—indred in their business 9 Union with the graff and stock 180 W Weariness of labourers at night 7 Weeds pernicious to Corn 115 Winnowing its use and end 165 166 Winter sweetned by Summers providence 142 A ACtions eternal in their effects Page 147 148 Account of Ministers great 8 Afflictions parallel'd with threshing in five things 160 161 c. Afflicted Saints Reflections 163 Apostates Reflections 69 118 B Barrenness the Christians reproach 12 Its causes 55. its danger 56 57 58 Beauty of glorified bodies 103 Body of man its noble structure commodious scituation and excellent configuration 207 Business of a Christian and of the Husbandman parallel'd in four things 18 19 20 C Carelesness reproved by the worldlings deligence 143 Caius Marâ—us Victorius his strange conversion 144 Duke of Condy his rare saying 123 Censorious persons reproved 111 Church Gods â—ee 5. how purchased 3. how dressed 4. what expected from it 6. its dignities 11 Christ a sufficient portion to the poor 156 Childrens souls neglected how sinful 201 202 Comforts for declining Christians 48 49 Competency best for Christians 37 38 39 40 Conviction parallel'd with plowing in nine particulars 64 65 66 67 Conversion in old age a wonder 144 D Declining of grace how far 46 47 Deceived souls their reflections 78 Death and reaping parallel'd in five things 131 132 Decayes in grace lamented 137 Diligence in religion honourable safe beneficial and comfortable 25 26 Delight spiritual whence it flows 32 33 Discouragement should not seize on Ministers though they see no present fruit 46 47 Disobedient Children their sin aggravated 203 E Earthly employments suit earthly hearts 33 Elezarius his excellent saying to his wife 122 Elect souls Reflection 190 Examination of our selves needful 166 Example of the multitude no plea 189 Evidences for heaven and Land compared in seven things 24 F Famine spiritual the sorest of judgements 91 92. 93. 94 95 Few saved and their Emblem in nature 188 189 Feeding beasts their plenty and liberty 216 Formalists Reflections 60 196 G Gifts how excelled by grace 74 75 76 Gospel its first entertainment best 10 Removed by reason of barrenness 11 Grace carried through many dangers 116 117 118 Gracious principles parallel'd with seed 71 72 73 Gracious and growing souls Reflections 42 77 136 H Harvest of glory what and when 125 Healthful Christians Reflection 104 Humble hearers profit most 10 Hypocrisie parallel'd with chaff 166 167. It acts like grace 109 110 111 112 Hypocrites their Reflections 34 41 169 Hypocrites inside opened at death 195 I Ignorance inexcusable in Husbandmen 14 15 Ioy spiritual how excellent 153 154. 'T is perfected when natural joy is finished 154. Peculiar mercies the grounds of it 155. God its object 155 Ingratitude for the mercy of our creation how great at sin 206 207 208 L Learning no plea before God 177 Lingring Saints Reflection 127 Longing for heaven what and by whom 126 Lost sinners parallel'd with Straying Cattel in five particulars 211 212 Lycurgus his Law for Parents what 203 M Maintenance due to Ministers 8 Maturity of grace three signs of it 133 Maturity of sin six signs of it 134 135 Ministers must be
waste So when Churches grow formal and fruitless the Lord removes his Gospel-presence from them plucks up the hedge of his protection from about them and layes them open as waste ground to be over-run by their enemies Ier. 7. 12. Go to Shiloh and see what I did unto it What is become of those once famous and flourishing Churches of Asia Are they not laid waste and trodden down by infidels And now go to saith the great Husbandman I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard I will pull up the hedge thereof and it shall be laid waste Isa. 5. 5. Thus you see the Allegory opened in its particulars from the whole I shall present you with these five ensuing Corrolaries The First Corrolary How great then are the dignities and priviledges of the Churches of Iesus Christ whom he hath appropriated to himself above all the people of the earth to be his peculiar inheritance The rest of the world is a waste wilderness all other places how pleasant soever in respect of their natural amaenity and delights are truly enough called the dark places of the earth dismal solitary cells where Ziim and Iim Bitterns Cormorants and every doleful creature dwells But the Church is the Paradise of the earth a garden enclosed Cant. 4. 12. in whose hedges the Gospel-birds chirp and sing melodiously Cant. 2. 12. Its beds are beds of spices Cantt 6. 2. and betwixt its pleasant banks a Christal River of living water runs Rev. 22. 1. The streams whereof make glad the City of god in the midst thereof the Lord himself delights to walk O Sion with what pleasures dost thou abound If Bernard were so ravished with the delights of his Monastery because of its green banks and shady bowers and herbs and trees and various objects to feed his eyes and fragrant smells and sweet and various tunes of birds together with the opportunities of devout contemplation that he cryed out admiringly Lord what delights dost thou provide even for the poor How much more should we be ravished with Sion's glory for beautiful for scituation is mount Zion Of whom it may much more truly be said what a Chronicler of our own once said of England that it is the fortunate Island the Paradice of Pleasure the Garden of God whose valleys are like Eden whose hills are as Lebanon whose springs are as Pisgah whose Rivers are as Iordan whose wall is the Ocean and whose defence is the Lord Iehovah Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee Who can count the priviledges wherewith Christ hath invested his Churches O let it never seem a light thing in our eyes that we grow within his blessed inclosure How sweet a promise is that Exod. 19. 5. Ye shall be to me a peculiar treasure above all people for all the earth is mine The Second Corrolary Hence it follows That spiritual barrenness is a great reproach and shame to Christians Shall God's Husbandry which is so planted watered fenced filled with favours and mercies be like the barren heath in the desert Surely it should be said of every soul that grows here as the Historian saith of Spain that there is nihil infructuosum nihil sterile nothing barren or unfruitful in it God's vineyard is planted in a very fruitful hill Isa. 5. 1. And surely they that are planted in the house of the Lord should flourish in the Court of our God they should bring forth fruit even in old age to shew that God is upright Psal. 92. 13 14. They are created in Christ Iesus unto good works which God hath ordained they should walk in Eph. 2. 10. They are married unto Christ that they might bring forth fruit to God Rom. 7. 4. An empty branch is a dishonour to the root that bears it a barren field to the Husbandman that owns it God cannot endure that in his fields which he suffers in the wilderness The third Corrolary If the Church be God's Husbandry then there is such a special gracious presence of the Lord in his Churches as is not to be found in all the world beside Where may you expect to find the Husbandman but in his own fields there lyes his business and there he delights to be And where may we expect to find God but in the Assemblies of his Saints He walks amongst the golden Candlesticks Rev. 2. 1. I. will walk among you saith he and be your God 2 Cor. 6. 16. Upon this account the Church is called Iehovah Shamah the Lord is there Ezek. 48. ult You may see the footsteps of God in the creatures but the face of God is only to be seen in his Ordinances Hence Psal. 27. 4. David long'd for the Temple that he might see the beauty of the Lord. Now what is beauty but a symetry and proportion of parts In the works of Creation you see one attribute manifested in one thing and another in another thing but in the Sanctuary you may see beauty even in all the attributes of God displayed there And indeed we find in Scripture such astonishing expressions about the visioâ—s of God in his Church that in reading them a man can see little difference betwixt it and heaven for as the Church is called heaven Mat. 25. 1. so its description is like that of heaven Heb. 12. 22 23. You are come to the heavenly Ierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels c. And Rev. 4. 22. They shall see his face and his name shall be written in their foreheads And v. 24. The Saints are represented standing nearer to the throne of God than the Angels themselves Hence also Ordinances are called Galleries in which both Saints and Angels walk beholding the glory of him that sits upon the throne Zech. 3. 7. If you will keep my wayes I will give you Galleries to walk in among them that stand by The Fourth Corrolary If the Church be God's Husbandry then those that be imployed in Ministerial work ought to be men of great judgment and experience in soul affairs for these are the labourers whom God the mystical Husbandman imploys and entrusts about his spiritual Husbandry Should Husbandmen imploy ignorant persons that neither understand the rules nor proper seasons of Husbandry how much would such workmen damnifie and prejudice him he will not imploy such to weed his fields as know not wheat from tares or to prune his trees that think Midsummer as fit for that work as December much less will God He qualifies all that he sends with wisdom for their work His workmen approve themselves workmen indeed such as need not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth 2 Tim. 2. 15. As Bezaleel was furnished with wisdom before he was imployed in Tabernacle-work so Christ instructs his servants with skill and insight before they are imployed in Ministerial-work He gives them a mouth and wisdom Luke 21. 15. indues them with power from on high as Christ was filled abundantly with the Spirit for
the fields and shall I droop amidst such heavenly imployment O my soul what want'st thou here to provoke thy delight if there be such an affection as delight in thee methinks such an object as the blessed face of God in Ordinances should excite it Ah how would this ennoble all my services and make them Angel-like how glad are those blessed creatures to be imployed for God No sooner were they created but they sang together and shouted for joy Iob 38. 7. How did they fil the Aire with heavenly melody when sent to bring the joyful tydings of a Saviour to the world Ascribing glory to God in the highest even to the highest of their powers yea this delight would make all my duties Christ-like and the nearer that pattern the more excellent He delighted to do his Fathers will it was to him meat and drink Psal. 40. 7 Iohn 4. 32 34. Yea it would not only ennoble but facilitate all my duties and be to me as wings to a bird flying or failes to a a ship in motion Non tardat uncta rota oyled wheels run freely Or ever I was aware my soulmade me like the chariots of Aminadab O what is the reason my God my delight in thee should be so little Is it not because my unbelief is so great Rouze up my delights O thou fountain of pleasure and let me swim down the stream of holy joyes in duty into the boundless Ocean of those immense delights that are in thy presence and at thy right hand for evermore The Poem O What a dull despondent heart is mine That takes no more delight in things divine When all the Creatures both in heaven and earth Enjoy their pleasures and are big with mirth Angels and Saints that are before the Throne In extasies and raptures every one Perpetually is heled Each blessed spirit The purest highest joyes doth there inherit The Saints on earth in their imperfect state Those Peerless joyes by faith do antedate To natural men who favour not this pleasure Yet bounteous nature doth unlock her treasure Of sensitive delights Yea strange to tell Bold sinners rant it all the way to hell Like fifh that play in Iordans silver stream So these in sensual lusts and never dream Of that dead Sea to which the stream doth tend And to their pleasures puts a fatal end Yea birds and beasts as well as men enjoy Their innocent delights These Chirp and play The cheerful birds among the branches sing And make the neighboring groves with musick ring With various warbling notes they all invite Our ravisht ears with pleasure and delight The new faln Lambs will in a Sun-shine day About their feeeding dams jump up and play Are Cisterns sweet and is the fountain bitter Or can the Sun be dark when glow-worms glitter Have instruments their sweet melodious airs All creatures their delights and Saints not theirs Yea theirs transcend these sensual ones as far As noon day Phebus doth a twinkling star Why droop I then may any creature have A Life like mine for pleasure Who ere gave The like encouragement that Christ hath given To do his will on earth as 't is in heaven CHAP. IV. Corn Land must neither be too fat nor poor The middle state suits best with Christians sure OBSERVATION HUsbandmen find by experience that their arable Lands mâ—y be drâ—ft too much as well as too little If the soil be over rank the seed shoots up so much into the stalk thaâ— it seldome ears well and if too thin and poor it wants its due nutriment and comes not to perfection Therefore their care is to keep it in heart but not to overdress or underdress its The end of all their cost and paines about it is fruit and therefore reason tells them that such a state and temperament of it as best fits it for fruit is best both for it and them APPLICATION AND doth not spiritual experience teach Christians that a mediocrity and competency of the things of this life best fits them for the fruits of obedience which is the end and excellency of their beings A man may be overmercied as well as over afflicted Rare fumant foelicibus arae the altars of the rich seldome smoke When our outward injoyments are by providence shaped and fitted to our condition as a suit is to the body that fits close and neat neither too curt nor long we cannot desire a better condition in this world This was it that wife Agur requested of God Prov. 30. 8 9. Give me neither Poverty nor Riches but feed me with food convenient for me least I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain Against both he prayes equally not absolutely that had been his sin but comparatively and submissively to the will of God He had rather if God see it fit to avoid both these extreams but what would he have then Why food convenient Or according to the Hebrew give me my prey or statute bread which is a Metaphor from birds that flye up and down to prey for their young and what they get they distribute among them they bring them enough to preserve their lives but not more than enough to lye mouldering in the nest Such a proportion Agur desired and the reason why he desired it is drawn from the danger of both the extreams He measured like a wise Christian the conveniency or inconveniency of his estate in the world by its suitableness or unsutableness to the end of his being which is the service of God He accounted the true excellency of his life to consist in its reference and tendency to the glory of his God and he could not see how a redundancy or too great a penury of earthly comforts could fit him for that but a middle estate equally removed from both extreams best fitted that endâ— And this was all that good Iacob who was led by the same spirit lookt at Gen. 28. 20. And Iacob vowed a vow saying if God will be with me and keep me in the way that I go and will give me bread to eat and rayment to put on so that I come again to my fathers house in peace then shall the Lord be my God Poor Iacob he desires no great matters in the world food and rayment will satisfie him in spiritual things his desires are boundless he is the most greedie and unsatisfied man in the world Hos. 12. 4. but in the matters of this life if he can get from God but off am aquam a morsel of meat and a mouth full of water he will not envy the richest Craesus or Crassus upon earth Meat and drink are the riches of Christians Divitiae sunt adleg em natura composita paupertas saith Pomponius Attius riches are such a poverty or mediocrity as hath enough for natures uses
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
unable to withstand that stroke as the weak reeds or feebleâ—stalks of the corn are to resist the keen Sithe and sharp Sickle The reapers receive the wheat which they cut down into their armes and bosom Hence that expression by way of imprecation upon the wicked Psal. 129. 7. Let them be as the grass upon the house top which withers before it grows up wherewith the mower filleth not his hand nor be that bindeth sheaves his bosom Such withered grass are the wicked who are never taken into the reapers bosom but as soon as Saints are cuâ— down by death they fall into the hands and bosoms of the Angels of God who bear them in their arms and bosoms to God their father Luke 16. 22. For look as these blessed spirits did exceedingly rejoyce at their conversion Luke 15. 10. and thought it no dishonour to minister to them whilst they stood in the field Heb. 1. 14. So when they are cut down by death they will rejoyce to be their convoy to heaven When the corn and weeds are reap'd or mowed down they shall never grow any more in that field neither shall we ever return to live an animal life any more after death Iob 7. 9 10. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more he shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more Lastly to come home to the particular object of this Chapter the reapers are never sent to cut down the harvest till it be fully ripe neither will God reap down Saints or sinners till they be come to a maturity of grace or wickednâ—ss Saints are not reap'd down till their grace be ripe Iob. 5. 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age as a shock of corn cometh in in his season Not that every godly man dies in such a full old age saith Mr. Caryl on the place but yet in one sense it is an universal truth and ever fulfilled for whensoever they die they die in a good age yea though they die in the spring and flower of their youth they die in a good old age i. e. they are ripe for death when ever they die When ever a godly man dies it 's harvest time with him though in a natural capacity he be cut down while he is green and cropt in the bud or blossom yet in his spiritual capacity he never dies before he be ripe God ripens his speedily when he intends to taks them out of the world speedily he can let out such warm rayes and beams of his spirit upon them as shall soon maturate the seeds of grace into a preparedness for glory The wicked also have their ripening time for hell and judgement God doth with much longâ—suffering endure the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction Of their ripeness for judgment the scripture often speaks Gen. 15. 16. The sin of the Amorites is not yet full And of Babilon it 's said Ier. 51. 13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters thine end is come and the measure of thy covetousness 'T is worth remarking that the measure of the sin and the end of the sinner come together So Ioel 3. 13. Put ye in the sickle for the harvest of the earth is ripe for the press is full the fats overflow for their wickedness is great Where note sinners are not cut down till they be ripe and ready Indeed they are never ripe for death nor ready for the grave that is fit to die yet they are alwayes ripe for wrath and ready for hell before they die Now as Husbandmen judge of the ripeness of their harvest by the colour and hardness of the grain so may we judge of the ripeness both of Saints and Sinners for heaven or hell by these following signs Three Signs of the maturity of grace VVHen the Corn is near ripe it blows the head and stoops lower than when it was green When the people of God are near ripe for heaven they grow more humble and self-denying that in the dayes of their first profession The longer a Saint grows in this world the better he is still acquainted with his own heart and his obligations to God both which are very humbling things Paul had one foot in heaven when he called himself the chiefest of sinners and least of Saints 1 Tim. 1. 15. Eph. 3. 8. A Christian in the progress of his knowledge and grace is like a vessel cast into the Sea the more it fills the deeper it sinks Those that went to study at Athens saith Plutarch at first coming seemed to themselves to be wise men afterwards only lovers of wisdom and after that only thetoricians such as could speak of wisdom but knew little of it and last of all Ideots in their apprehensions still with the increase of learning laying aside their pride and arrogancy When harvest is nigh the grain is more solid and pithy than ever it was before green corn is soft and spungy but ripe corn is substantial and weighty So it is with Christians the affâ—ctions of a young Christian perhaps are more ferverous and sprightly but those of a grown Christian are more judicious and solid their love to Christ abounds more and more in all judgment Phil. 1. 9. The limbs of a Child are more active and plyable but as he grows up to a perfect state the parts are more consolidated and firmly knit The fingers of an old Musician are not so nimble but he hath a more judicious ear in musick than in his youth When Corn is dead ripe it 's apt to fall of its own accord to the ground and there shed whereby it doth as it were anticipate the harvest man and calls upon him to put in the sickle Not unlike to which are the lookings and longings the groanings and hastenings of ready Christians to their expected glory they hasten to the coming of the Lord or as Montanus more 〈◊〉 renders it they hasten the coming of the the Lord i. e. they are urgent and instant in their desires and cryes to hasten his coming their desires sally forth to meet the Lord they willingly take death by the hand as the corn bends to the earth so do these souls to heaven This shews their harvest to be near Six signs of the maturity of Sin WHen â—inners are even dead ripe for hell these â—igns appear upon them or by these at least you may conclude those souls not to be far from wrath upon whom they appear When conscience is wafted and grown past feeling having no remorse for â—in when it ceases to check reprove and smite for sin any more the day of that sinner is at hand his harvest is even come The greatest violation of conscience is the greatest of sins this was the case of the forlorn Gentiles among whom Satan had such a plentiful harvest the patience of God suffered them to grow till their consciences were grown
seared and past feeling Eph. 4. 19. When a member is so mortified that if you lanâ—e and cut it never so much no fresh blood or quick flesh appears nor doth the man feel any pain in all this then it 's time to cut it off When men give themselves over to the satisfaction of their lusts to commit sin with greediness then are they grown to a maturity of sin when men have slipt the reins of conscience and rush headlong into all impiety then the last sands of Gods patience are running down Thus Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities about them in like manner gave themselves over to wickedness and strange sins and then justice quickly truss'd them up for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire That man is even ripe for hell that is become a contriver of â—in a designer a studentin wickedness one would think it strange that any man should set his invention on work upon such a subject as sin is that any should study to become a dexterous artist this way and yet the Scripture frequently speaks of such whose bellies prepare deceit Iob 15. 35. who travel in pain to bring forth this deformed birth ver 20. who wink with their eyes whilst plodding wickedness as men use to do when they are most intent upon the study of any knotty problem Prov. 6. 13. These have so much of hell already in them that they are more than half in hell already He that of a forward Professor is turn'd a bitter persecutor is also within a few rounds of the top of the ladder the contempt of their light the Lord hath already punished upon them in their obduracy and madness against the light Reader if thou be gone thus far thou art almost gone beyond all hope of recovery Towards other sinners God usually exercises more patience but with such he makes short work When Iudas turns Traitor to his Lord he is quickly sent to his own place Such as are again intangled and overcome of those lusts they once seemed to have clean escaped these bring upon themselves swift damnation and their Iudgment lingers not 2 Pet. 2. 3 20. He that can endure no reproof or controul in the way of his sin but derides all counsel and like a strong current rages at and sweeps away all obstacles in his way will quickly fall into the dead lake Prov. 29. 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy This is a death spot a hell spot where ever it appears From this very sypmtom the Prophet plainly predicted the approaching ruine of Amaziah 2 Chron. 25. 16. I know that God hath determined to destroy thee because thou hast done this and hast not hearkened to my voice He that will not be timely counselled shall be quickly destroyed Lastly when a man comes to glory in his sin and boast of his wickedness then its time to cut him down whose end is destruction whose glory is in their shame Phil. 3. 16. This is a braving a daring of God to his face and with whomsoever he bears long to be sure these are none of them You see now what are the signs of a full ripe sinner and when it comes to this either with a Nation or with a single person then ruine is near Ioel. 3. 13. Gen. 15. 16. It is in the filling up of the measure of sin as in the filling of a vessel cast into the Sea which rowls from side to side taking in the water by litle and litle till it be full and then down it sinks to the bottom Mean while admirable is divine patience which bears with these vessels of wrath whilst fitting for destruction REFLECTIONS CHear thy self O my soul with the heart strengthening bread of this divine meditation Let faith turn every drop of this truth into a soul-reviving cordial God hath sown the precious seed of grace upon my soul and though my heart hath been an unkind soyl which hath kept it back and much hindered its growth yet blessed be the Lord it still grows on though by slow degrees and from the springing of the seed and shootings forth of those gracious habits I may conclude an approaching harvest Now is my salvation nearer than when I believed every day I come nearer to my salvation Rom. 13. 11. O that every day I were more active for the God of my salvation grow on my soul and add to thy faith vertue to thy vertue knowledge c. Grow on from faith to faith keep thy self under the ripening influences of heavenly Ordinances the faster thou growest in grace the sooner thou shalt be reaped down in mercy and bound up in the bundle of life 1 Sam. 25. 29. I have not yet attained the measure and proportion of grace assigned to me neither am I already perfect but am reaching forth to the things before me and pressing towards the mark for the prize of my heavenly calling Phil. 3. 12 13. O mercy to be admired that I who lately had one foot in hell stand now with one foot in heaven But the case is far different with me whilst others are ripening apace for heaven I am withering many a soul plowed up by conviction and sown by sanctification long after me hath quite over-topt and out-grown me my sweet and early blossoms were nipt and blown off my bright morning overcast and clouded had I kept on according to the rate of my first growth I had either now been in heaven or at least in the suburbs of it on earth but my graces wither and languish my heart contracts and cools to heavenly things the Sun and rain of ordinances and providences improve not my graces how sad therefore is the state of my soul Thy case O declining Saint is sad but not like mine thine is but a temporary remission of the acts of grace which is recoverable but I am judicially hardening and treasuring up to my self wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2. 5. Time was when I had some tender sense of sin when I could mourn and grieve for it now I have none at all My heart is grown stupid and sottish Time was when I had some consciencious care of duty and my heart would smite me for the neglect of it but now none at all Wretched soul what wilt thou do thou art gone far indeed a few steps farther will put thee beyond hope hitherto I stand in the field the long-suffering God doth yet spare me yea spare me whiles he hath cut down many of my companions in sin round about me What doth this admirable patience this long-suffering drawn out to a wonder speak concerning me Doth it not tell me that the Lord is not willing I should perish but rather come to repentance 2 Pet. 3. 9. And what argument is like his pity and patience to lead a soul to repentance Rom. 2. 4. O that I may not frustrate at last the end
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
away you must into the land of darkness Though thou cry with Adrian O my poor soul whither art thou going die thou must thou barren Professor though it were better for thee to do any thing else than to die What a dreadful screech will thy conscience give when it sees the ax at thy root and say to thee as it is Ezek. 7. 6. An end is come the end is come it watcheth for thee behold it is come O said Henry Beauford that rich and wretched Cardinal Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England when he perceived whereto he must wherefore must I die If the whole Realm would save my life I am able either by policy to get it or by riches to buy it Fye quoth he will not death be hired will riches do nothing No neither riches nor policy can then avail That side to which the Tree leaned most while it stood that way it will fall when it is cut down and as it falls so it lies whether to the South or North Eccles. 11. 3. So it fares with these mystical trees I mean fruitless Professors Had their hearts and affections inclined and bended heaven-ward whilst they lived that way no doubt they had fallen at their death but as their hearts inclined to sin and ever bended to the world so when God gives the fatal stroke they must fall hell-ward and wrath-ward and how dreadful will such a fall be When the dead tree is carried out of the Orchard it shall never be among the living trees of the Orchard any more many years it grew among them but now it shall never have a place there again And when the barren Professor is carried out of the world by death he shall never be associated with the Saints any more He may then say farewell all ye Saints among whom I lived and with whom I so often heard fasted prayed I shall never see your faces more Mat. 8. 11 12. I say unto you that many shall come from the East and West and North and South and shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of heaven but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast forth into outer darkness there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth When the dead tree is carried out of the Orchard the Husbandman cuts off his branches and rives him asunder with his wedges This also is the lot of barren Professors The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and will cut him asunder he shall be diffected or cut abroad Luke 12. 46. Now therefore consider this ye that forget God leâ—t I tear or rend you in pieces Psal. 50. 22. O direful day when the same hand which planted pruned and watered thee so long and so tenderly shall now strike mortal strokes at thee and that without pity For be that made them will not have mercy on them and be that formed them will shew them no favour Iâ—a 27. 11. For the day of mercy is over and the day of his wrath is fully come When this tree is cleav'd abroad then itsi rotten hollow inside appears which was the cause of its barrenuess it looked like a Fair and sound bodied tree but now all may see how rotten it is at the heart So will God in that day when he shall diâ—â—ect the barren Professor discover the rottenness of his heart and unâ—oundness of his principles and ends then they who never suspected him before shall see what a hollow and rotten-hearted Professor he was Lastly the fruitless tree is cast into the fire This also is the end and sad issue of formality Iohn 15. 6. He is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned This is an undouâ—tâ—d truth That there is no plant in Gods vineyard but he will have glory from it by bearing fruit or glory on it by burning in the fire In this fire shall they lye gnashing their teeth Luke 13. 38. and that both in indignation against the Saints whom they shall see in glory and against Iesus Christ who would not save them and against themselves for losing so foolishly the opportunities of salvation Do you behold when you sit by the fire the froth that boyles out of those flaming logs O think of that some and rage of these undone creatures foaming and gnashing their teeth in that fire which is not quenched Mark 9. 44. REFLECTION HOw often have I passed by such barren trees with a more barren heart as little thinking such a tree to be the emblem of my self as Nebuchadnezzâ—r did when he saw that tree in a dream which represented himself and shadowed forth to him his ensuing misery Dan. 4. 13. But Oh my conscience my drousie sleepy conscience wert thou but tender and faithful to me thou wouldst make as round and terrible an application of such a spectacle to me as the faithful Prophet did to him v. 22. And thus wouldst thou O my soul bemoan thy condition Poor wretch here I grow for a little time among the trees of righteousness the plants of renown but I am none of them I was never planted a right seed some green and flourishing leaves of profession indeed I have which deceive others but God cannot be deceived he sees I am fruitless and rotten at the heart Poor soul what will thine end be but burning Behold the axlyeth by thy root and wonder it is that there it should lye so long and I yet standing still mercy pleads for a fruitless creature Lord spare it one year longer Alas he need strike no great blow to ruine me his very breath blows to destruction Iob 4. 9. a frown of his face can blast and ruine me Psal. 80. 6. he is daily sollicited by his justice to hew me down and yet I stand Lord cure my barrenness I know thou hadst rather see fruit than fire upon me The Poem IF after pains and patience you can see No hopes of fruit down goes the barren tree You will not suffer trees that are unsound And barren too to cumber useful ground The fatal ax is laid unto the root It 's fit for fire when unfit for fruit But though this be a dead and barren tree Reader I would not have it so to thee May it to thee this serious thought suggest In all the Orchard this dead tree's the best Think on it sadly lay it close to heart This is the case in which thou wast or art If so thou wast but now dost live and grow And bring forth fruit what praise and thanks dost ow To that wise Husbandman that made thee so O think when justice listed up its hand How mercy did then interceding stand How pity did on thy behalf appear To beg reprieval for another year Stop Lord forbear him all hope is not past He can but be for fire at the last Though many