CHAPTER II: Upon the Thriftiness of the Husbandman
Them both; If not, we both disgrace.
Some if They could these two divide, 'Twould Please them well, with Christ to side!
But if they May not, then it were As good Cease pleading, they'll not hear:
Rouse up From sloth, my soul betake Thee to thy Work, no cavils make.
O strive, And try! Saints say that even, The pain they Take, hath much of heaven.
But yet Their best wine's kept till last, Their rest, and Ease comes all so fast.
CHAPTER II:
Upon the Thriftiness of the Husbandman The hardest lab'rers are the thriving men,
If you'll have thriving souls, be active then.
OBSERVATION
INDUSTRY and diligence is the way to thrive and grow rich in the world. The earth must be manured, or its increase is in vain expected; Qui fugit molam, fugit farinam; He that refuses the mill, refuses the meal, (saith the proverb). "The diligent soul shall be
made fat." Solomon hath two proverbs concerning thriftiness and increase in the world. In Prov. 10:4. he saith, "The hand of the diligent maketh rich." And in ver. 22. he saith, "The blessing of the Lord maketh rich." These are not contradictory, but confirmatory each of other; one speaks of the principal, the other of the instrumental cause. Diligence without God's blessing will not do it; and that blessing cannot be expected without diligence; therefore husbandmen ply their business with unwearied pains, they do even lodge in the midst of their labours as that good husband Boaz did,
Ruth 2:3. They are parsimonious of their time, but prodigal of their sweet and strength, because they find this to be the thriving way.
APPLICATION
As nature opens her treasures to none but the diligent, so neither doth grace. He that will be a rich, must be a painful Christian; and whosoever will closely ply the trade of godliness, shall comfortably and quickly find, "That in keeping God's commands there is great reward," Psal. 19:11. God is a "bountiful rewarder of such as diligently seek him," Heb. 11:6. They must not indeed work for wages,* nor yet will God suffer their work to go unrewarded; yea, it sufficiently rewards itself, 1 Tim. 6:6. And its reward is twofold; (1.)
Present and in part; (2.) Future, and in full. Mark 10:29, 30. Now in this time an hundred-fold, even from suffering, which seems the most unprofitable part of the work, and in the world to come life everlasting. If you ask what present advantage Christians have by their diligence? I answer, as much and more than the husbandman hath from all his toils and labours. Let us compare the particulars, and see what the husbandman gets that the Christian gets not also.
Compare your gains, and you will quickly see the odds.
1. You get credit and reputation by your diligence; it is a commendation and honour to you to be active and stirring men: But how much more honour doth God put upon his laborious servants?
It is the highest honour of a creature to be active and useful for its God. Saints are called vessels of honour, as they are fitted for the master's use, 2 Tim. 2:21. Wherein consists the honour of angels but in this, that they are ministering spirits, serviceable creatures? And all the apostles glorified in the title of servants. The lowest office in which a man can serve God, even that of Nethinim, or doorkeepers, which was the lowest order or rank of officers in the house of God,
Ezek. 44:10, 11. is yet preferred by David before the service of the greatest prince on earth, Psalm 84:10. It is no small honour to be active for God.
2. You have this benefit by your labour, that thereby you avoid loose and evil company, which would draw you into mischief. By diligence for God, the Christian also is secured from temptation; "God is with them while they are with him," 2 Chron. 15:2. Communion with God in the way of duty is a great preservative against temptations. The schoolmen put the question, how the angels and glorified saints become impeccant? And resolve it thus: That they are secured from sin by the beatifical vision; and sure I am that the visions of God, not only in glory, but now also in duty, are marvellous defences against sin; and they who are most active for God, have the fullest and clearest visions of God, John 14:21.
3. You have this benefit by your labour, that it tends much to the health of our bodies. The Christian hath this benefit by his labour, that it tends to a healthful state of soul; "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright," Prov. 10:29. As those that follow their daily labours in the field, have much more health than citizens that live idly, or scholars that live a sedentary life: So the active Christian
enjoys more spiritual health, and is troubled with fewer complaints than others.
4. By diligence in your civil employments, you preserve your estates, and are kept from running behind-hand in the world. Bailiffs trouble not such men's doors; they usally have the forefoot of their neighbours. And by activity and diligence for God, souls are kept from backsliding, and running back in their graces and comforts.
Remissness and intermission in our duties are the first steps and degrees by which a soul declines and wastes as to his spiritual estate.
5. Your pains and diligence in the fields, make your bed sweet to you at night, Eccles. 5:12. "Rest is sweet to a labouring man, whether he eat little or much." But the diligent life of a Christian makes the clods of the valley, his grave, sweet unto him, 2 Cor. 1:12. 2 Kings 20:3.
"Remember now, O Lord, how I have walked before thee," &c. Think Christian, how sweet it will be for thee when thou comest to die, to say then as thy Redeemer did, when near his death, John 17:4, 5. "I have finished the work which thou gavest "me to do; and now, O
Father glorify me with thine own self."
6. The expence of your sweat fills your purses, you get estates by your diligence and labour; but what are your gains to the gains of Christians? They can get in an hour that which they will not part with for all the gold and silver on earth, Prov. 3:14.
So that compare these labourers, as to all their advantages, and you shall see, that there is no trade like that which the diligent Christian drives.
REFLECTIONS
1. Blush then, O my soul, at the consideration of thy laziness and sloth, which is attended with so many spiritual wants! And can I wonder at it, when I refuse the painful way of duty, in which the precious fruits of godliness are only to be found? If the fruits lie upon the surface of duty, or could be had with wishes, I should not want them; but to dig deep and take pains I cannot. My desires, like those of the slothful man, kill me, because my hands refuse to labour, Prov.
21:25. If every duty were to be rewarded presently with gold, would I not have been more assiduous in them, than I have been? And yet I know that a heart full of the grace and comfort of the Holy Ghost, is better than a house full of gold and silver. O what a composition of stupidity and sloth am I! I have been all for the short cut to comfort, when constant experience teacheth, that the further way about, by painful duty, is the nearer way to it. What pains do husbandmen take? What peril do seamen run for a little gain; O sluggish heart! wilt thou do nothing for eternal treasures?
Secondly, If there be such great reward attending diligence in duty, then why art thou so apt, O my soul, to cast off duty, because thou findest not present comfort in it? How quickly am I discouraged, if I presently find not what I expect in duty? Whereas the well is deep, and much pains must be taken to draw up those waters of joy, Isa.
12:3. There is a golden vein in the mount of duty, but it lies deep; and because I meet not with it as soon as I expect, my lazy heart throws by the shovel, and cries, Dig I cannot.
Thirdly, If this be indeed the rich and thriving trade, why do I puddle about the poor, low things of the world so much, neglecting the rich trade of godliness for it? O how much of my time and strength have these things devoured? Had I employed that time in communion with God, would it not have turned to a better account? Thinkest thou in earnest, O my soul, that God hath endowed thee with such
excellent faculties, capable of the most Divine and heavenly employments, or that Jesus Christ hath shed his invaluable, precious blood, or that he hath sent forth the glorious Spirit of holiness, and all this to fit men for no higher, no nobler employments than these.
Is this the end of thy wonderful creation; Doth God whirl about the heavens in endless revolutions, to beget time for this? Or doth he not rather expect that the weightiest work should engross thy greatest strength, and choicest hours? O that I could once consider, what a good Master Christians serve, whho will not only abundantly reward them at night, but brings them their food into the fields to encourage them in their labour! What pity is it, that so good a Master should be so badly served as he hath been by me! Hark how he pleads to gain my heart:
THE POEM By way of Dialogue betwixt Christ and the World.
CHRIST O Why so free of sweat and time, For what ere long will not be thine?
Or if it might, thou sell'st to loss, A precious soul for lasting dross.
Those weary hands, and toiling brains, Might be employ'd for better gains.
Wouldst thou but work as hard for me,
As for the world which cozens thee; Thy gains should be a thousand fold:
For my revenue's more than gold.
WORLD Soul, I have always found thee willing, Rather by me to earn a shilling, Than trust uncertain things which lie Beyond thee in eternity.
Shall things unseen now tempt thee? Tush, A bird in hand's worth two i' th' bush.
I pay thee wages down in hand, This thou canst feel, taste, understand, O let not such a vain pretence Prevail against thy very sense.
CHRIST Thus beasts are led, thus birds are snar'd, Thus souls for ruin are prepar'd.
What! trust no farther than you see,
You'll trust a thief as far as me.
Deluded wretch! Will nought but sight And sense convince thee? O how right, How just is God? whose direful scourge Such arguments in hell shall urge.
WORLD Christ threatens wrath to come, but I Do threaten thee with poverty.
And why wilt thou thyself, and those That are so dear, to want expose!
Come see, the saints, for all their brags, How well they thrive, they're cloth'd in rags.
CHRIST If my dear saints in rags do go, 'Tis not religion clothes them so; But by such wants the Lord secures Their souls against the killing snares:
They all are heirs, tho' under age,
Expectants of their heritage:
Kept short for present, yet contemn A change with those that scoff at them.
WORLD It is vain to plead, for I With present things charm pow'rfully; Whate'er thou offer'st, they'll despise,
I hold them pris'ners by their eyes.
CHRIST If they will serve no other Lord, Then let it stand upon record, Against their souls, that they refus'd My wages, and my grace abus'd.
Remember this when they shall see All turn'd to ashes that's in thee.
ANOTHER NONE will deny but those are blessed pains Which are attended with the richest gains.
Grant this, and then most clearly 'tis inferr'd, Soul-work to all deserves to be preferr'd.
This is an unknown trade: O who can count To what the gains of godliness amount?
For one poor shilling, O what risks some run?
Some toiling as i' th' fire, from sun to sun.
Whereas one hour spent with God brings in Such heavenly treasures, that poor souls have been
Enrich'd for ever. Even as you see A prince's favourite, upon the knee, Can in an hour's time more wealth obtain,
Than all your lives by labour you can gain.
Pray'r-gains are great, and quick returns are made, Sure then the Christian drives the richest trade.
'Tis true the hypocrite that never drove A serious trade for heaven may bankrupt prove:
But holy souls, who mind, and closely ply Their business, greatly are enrich'd thereby: