Upon the feed-corn,
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CHAP.
VIII, Upon the Seed-Corn.
The choicest wheat is still referv'dfor feed, But gracious principles are choice indeed.
OBSERVATIΟΝ.
USBANDMEN are very careful and curious about their feed-corn, that it may not only be clean and pure, but the pest and most excellent of its kind.
Ifa. xxviii. 25. "He " casteth in the principal wheat."
If any be more full and weighty than other, that is reserved for seed.
It is usual with husbandmen to pick and lease their feed-corn by hand, that they may separate the cockel anddarnel, and all the lighter and hollow grains from it, wherein they manifest their discretion; for, according to the vigour and goodness of the feed, the fruit and production is like to be.
APPLICATION .
HE choice, and principal feed-corn, with which the fields are sowed, after they are prepared for it, doth admirably shadow forth those excellent principles of grace infused into the regenerate foul.
Their agreement, as they are both seed, is obvious, in the ten following particulars, and their excellency above other principles insevenmore.
1. The earth at first naturally brought forth corn, and every feed yielding fruit, without human industry; but since the cursecameupon it, it must be plowed and sowed, or no fruit can be expected.
So man, at first, had all the principles of holiness in his nature, but now they must be infused by regeneration, or else his nature is as void of holiness, as the barren and untilled desart is of corn.
2. The earlier the feed is sown, the better it is rooted, and : * enabled to endure the asperities of the winter ; so when grace is early infused, when nature is sanctified in the bud, grace is thereby exceedingly advantaged.
It was Timothy's singular advantage, that he knew the Scriptures of a child.
3. Frosts and snows conduce very much to the well-rooting of the feed, and makes it spread, and take root much the better. So do sanctified afflictions, which usually the people ofGodmeetwith after their calling, and often in their very feed time.
1 Thef. i. 6. " And you became followers of us " and of the Lord, having received the word in much amic- " tion." But if they have fair weather then, to be furethey
VOL. VI.
Husbandry Spiritualized ; or, shall meet with weather hard enough afterwards. Heb x. 32.
" But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye " were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions."
4. When the feed is cast into the earth, it must be covered up by the harrow, the use whereof, in husbandry, is not only tolayaplain floor (as they speak) but to open, and let in the corn to the bosom of the earth, and there cover it up for its fecutity from birds that would devour it. Thus doth the most wiseGodprovidefor the security of that grace which he at first disseminated in the hearts of his people. He is as well the finisher, as the author of their grace, Heb. xii. 2. and of this they may be confident, that he that hath begun a good work in them, willperformitunto the day of Christ. The care of Godoverthegraces of his people, is like the covering of the feed for security.
:5. Seed-corn is in its own nature of much morevalueand worth than other corn; the husbandman casts in the principal. wheat. So are the feeds of grace sown in the renewed foul, for itiscalledthefeed of God, 1John iii. 9.Thedivinenature,2Per.. i. 4. One dram of grace is far beyond all the glory of this world; it is more precious than gold which perishes.
I Pet. i. 7. " The price of it is above rubies, and all that thou canst "desire is not to be compared with it," Prov. iii. 15.
6. There is a great deal of spirit and vigour in a little feed, though it be small in bulk, yet it is great in virtue and efficacy.
Gracious habits are also vigorous and efficacious things.
Such is their efficacy that they overcome the world, rJohn v. 4.
" Whatsoever is born ofGodovercometh the world."
They totally alter and change the person in whom they are. "He " that persecuted us in times past, now preacheth the faith
" which he once destroyed."
They enable the soul to do and fuffergreat things for God, Heb.xi. 33, 34, 35.
7. The stalk and ear are potentially and virtually in a small grain of corn. So are all the fruits of obedience which believers afterwards bring forth to God, virtually contained in those habits or feeds of grace.
It is strange to confider, that fromamustardseed(which, as Christ saith,is the least of all feeds) should grow such great branches, that the birds of the air may build their nests in them. Surely, the heroical and famous acts andatchievements of the most renowned believers sprang from small beginnings at first, to that eminency and glory.
8. The fruitfulness of the feed depends upon the fun and rain, by which they are quickened, as is opened largely in the next chapter. And the principles of grace in us have as ne
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cellaryadependence upon the assisting and excitinggracewithFor though it be true, they are immortal feed ; yet that is not so much from their own strength as from thepromisesmade to them, and that constant influx from above, by which they are revived and preserved from time to time. out us.
9. The feed is fruitful in some foils more than in others, profpersmuch better, and comes sooner to maturity.
So doth graces thrive better, and grow faster in some persons than in others. " Your faith groweth exceedingly," 2 Theff. i. 3.
" Whilst the things that are in others are ready to die," Rev. iii. 2. Though no man's heart be naturallyakind foil to grace, yet doubtless grace is more advantagedin somedispositions than in others.
10. And lastly, their agreement, as feed, appears in this, the feed-corn is scattered into all parts of the field, as proportionablyand equally as maybe.
So is grace diffused into all the faculties, judgment, will, and all the affections are sowed with thesenewprinciples."The God of peace sanctify you wholly,"
1Theff. v. 23.
And thus you see, why principles of grace are called feed.
Now, in the next place, (which is the second thing promised, andmainlydesignedinthis chapter) to shewyou the choiceness and excellency of these holy principles with which sanctified foulsare embellished and adorned; and to convince you that true grace excells all other principles, by which other persons are acted, even as the principal wheat doth the chaff, and refuse stuff, I mall here institute a comparison betwixt grace and the most splendid, common gifts in the world, and its transcendent excellency, above them all, will evidently appear in seven following particulars.
1. The most excellent common giftscomeoutofthe common treasury of God'sbounty, and that in a natural way.
They are but the improvement of am an's natural abilities, (or as one calls them) the sparks of nature blown up by the wind of a more benign and liberal education; but principles of grace are of a divine and heavenly original and extraction,not induced or raised from nature, but fupernaturally infused by the Spirit from on high, John iii. 6. " That which is born of the fleth is
" flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." When afoul is fanctifiedbythem, " he partakes of the divine nature,"
2Pet. i. 4. " Is born not of flesh,norofblood, nor of the will of 46 man, but of God," John i. 13.
In this respect they differ from gifts, as theheavenlymannawhichwas rained down from A K2
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, heaven differs from common bread, which, by pains and industry, the earth produces in anaturalway.
2. The best natural gifts afford not that sweetness and solid comfort to the foul that grace doth; they are but a dry stalk that affords no meat for a soul to feed on. Amanmayhave an understanding full of light, and an heart voidofcomfort at the same time; but grace is a fountain of purest living streams of peace and comfort, I Pet. i. 8. " Believing, we rejoice, with " joy unspeskable and full of glory: light is sown for the " righteous, and joy for the upright in heart."
All true pleasures and delights are seminallyingrace, Psal. xcvii. 11. They are sown for them in these divine and heavenly graces, which are glory in the bud.
3.Giftsadornthe person,but do not secure the soul from wrath. Am an may be admired for them amongmen, and rejected eternally by God. Who can confiderately read that Like a precious stone in a toad's bead. sixth chapter of the Hebrews, and not tremble to think in what a forlorn cafeafoulmay be, though set off and accomplished with the rarest endowments of this kind!
Mar. vii. 22. We read, that many shall say to Christ in that day, " Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and " in thy name cast out devils," &c. and yet themselves at last cast out as a prey to devils.
How divinely and rhetorically did Balaam speak, and prophesy, Numb. xxxiii. What rare and excellent parts had the Scribes and Pharisees ? Who upon that account, were stiled Principesfeculi, the princes of the world,
1Cor. ii. 8.
What profound and excellentpartshadthehea. thenjagesandphilosophers ? These things are so far from fecuringthe foul against the wrath to come, that they often expose ituntowrath, and are as oil to encrease the eternal burnings ; but now gracious principles are the τα εχωμένα στηλίαν, as the apostle calls them,Heb.vi. things that accompany and have salvation in them.
These are the things on which the promises of salvation run; and these treasures are never found but in elect vessels. Glory is by promise assured and made over to him that possesses them.
There is but a littlepointoftime betwixt him and the glorified spirits above. And howinconfiderable a matter is a little time, which contracts and winds up apace ? For now is ourfalvation nearer than when we believed.
And hence the scripture speaks of them as already saved, Rom. viii. 24.
We are saved by hope," because it is as sure as if we were in heaven. We are made to fitinheavenlyplaces.
4. Gifts maydamnifythe perfonthat possesses them, and it
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maybe better in respect ofa man's own condition he had never had them.
Knowledge (faith the apostle) puffeth up, 1 Cor. viii. 1. makes the soul proud and flatulens. It is a hard thing to know much, and not to know it too much.
The faint's knowledge is better than the scholar's ; for he hath his own heart instead of a commentary to help him.
Ariftotle said, a little knowledge about heavenly things, though conjectural, is better than much of earthly things, though certain.
" worldbywisdom knew not God," (faith the apostle, 1 Cor.
"The i. 12.) i. e. Their learning hanged in their light, they were too wife to submit to the simplicity of the gospel.
The excellent parts of the old heretics did but serve to midwife into the worldthemonstrous birth of foul-damning herefies.
Cup it abs te ornari diabolus, as Austin said to that ingenious young scholar; the devil desires to be adorned by thee. But now grace itself is not subject to such abuses, itcannotbethe proper univocalcause of any evil effect : itcannotpuff up the heart, but always humbles it, nor serve the devil's designs, but ever opposes them.
5. Gifts may be givenamanfor the fake of others, and not out of any love to himself; they are but as an excellent dish of meat which a man sends to a nurse, not for her sake, fo much as for his child that fucks her.
God, indeed, makes use of them to do his children good, the church is benefited by them, though themselves are but like cooks, they prepare excellent dishes, on which the saints feed, and are nourished, though themselves taste them not.
They are don a miniftrantia, nonfanctificantia, mini string, but not fanctifying gifts, proceeding not from the good-will of God to him that hath them, but to those he benefits by them. An dO what a sad consideration will this be one day to such a person, to think, I helped such a soul to heaven, while I myself must lodge in hell ?
6. Sin in the reign and power of it, may cohabit with the most excellent patural gifts under the fame roof, I mean in the fame heart. Am an may have the tongue of an angel, and the heart of a devil. The wisdom of the philosophers (faith Lactantius) non excindit vitia fed abfcondit, did not root out, but hide their vices. The learned Pharifees were but painted sepulchres. Gifts are but as a fair glove drawn over a foul hand :
But now grace is incompatible with finin dominion, it purifies the heart, Acts xv. 6. cleanses the conscience, Heb. ix. 14. crucifies the affections and lusts of the flesh, Gal. v. 24. is not content with the concealment, but ruin of corruptions.
7. And lastly, Gifts must leave us at last.
Whether th
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, " be knowledge, that shall cease. All flesh is grass, and the " goodliness of it as the flower of the grass ; the grass wither- " eth, the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord abideth
" for ever," Isa. xl. 6, 8. Many timestheyleave am an before death. One knock, if it hit right, (as one faith)may make a wife man a fool; but, to be sure, they all leave us at death.
" Doth not his excellency which is inhimgoaway ?" Job iv.
21. yea, then all natural excellency departs: Death trips the soul of all those splendid ornaments; then the rhetorical tongue is struck dumb; the nimble wit, and curious fancy, shall entertain your ears with no more pleasant discourses.
Nunquam jocosdabis, as Adrian said tohisdepartingfoul; but grace ascends with the soul into eternity, and there receives its perfection, and accomplishment.
Gifts take their leave of the soul, as Orpha did of Naomi; but grace faith then, asRuth, Where thou goest I will go, and, where thou lodgeft I will lodge, and nothing shall separate thee and me. Now put all this togther, andthenjudgewhetherthe apostle spoke hyperboles, when he said, "Covet earnessly the best gifts, and yet I shewuntoyou
" a more excellent way,"
1 Cor. xii. ult. And thus you have the choiceness of these principles also.
REFLECTIONS .
The lines are fallen tome in a pleasant The gracious place, may the gracious foul say: Howdefoul's reflection. fective soever I am in gifts, yet blessed be the Lord, who hath sownthe feeds of true grace in my heart.
What though I am not famed, andhonoured among men, let it suffice me that I am precious in the eyes of the Lord.
Though he hath not abounded to me in gifts of nature, " Yet " blessed be the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ,
" who hath abounded to me in all spiritual blessings, in heaven- " ly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. i. 3. Is not a true jewel, though spurned in the dirt, more precious than a false one, though set in gold ? Why art thou troubled, O my soul, for the want of these things which reprobates may have ? and art not rather admiring and blessing God for those things which none, but the darlings and favourites of heaven can have ? Is not an ounce of pure gold more valuable than many pounds of gilded brass ? What though the dews of Helicon descend not upon my head, if in the meantime the sweet influences ofSion fall upon my heart ? O my God ! 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 hastwarmedmy affections.
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Pause a while, my soul, upon this point :
With what feed is myheartsown, and of what The deceived kind are those things wherein I excel others ? foul's reflection.
Are they indeed special seeds of grace, or com mon gifts, and natural excellencies ? If the latter, little cause have I to pride myself in them, were they ten thousand times more than they are.
If these things be indeed the things that accompany salvation, the feed of God, the true and real work of grace, then, (1.) How comes it to pass that I never found any throws, or travailingpangs in the production of them ? It is affirmed, and generally acknowledged, that the new creatureisneverbrought forth without such pain and compunctions of heart, Acts ii. 37. I have indeed often felt an a king head, whilst I have read and studied to increase my knowledge? But whendidI feel anakingheart for fin ? OIbegin to suspect,that it is not right.
Yea, (2.) And my suspicion increases while I confiderthatgrace isofanhumbling nature, 1Cor.xv. 10. Lord, how have I been elated by my gifts, and valued myself above what was meet ? O how have I delighted in the noise of the Pharisee's trumpet ! Mat. vi. 2. No music so sweet as that.
Say, O myconfcience, have Inotdelightedmore in the theatre than the closet ? In the praise of men, than the approbation of God ? Ohowmany 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 suspicious yet, yea, that which thou canst make no rational defence against, even the ineffectualness of all thy gifts and knowledge tomortifyanyone of all thy lusts.
It is beyond all dispute, that gifts may, but grace cannot consist without mortification off in, Gal. v. 24. Now what lust hath fallen before these excellent parts of mine? Doth not pride, passion, covetousness, and indeed the whole body of fin, live and thrive in me as much as ever ? Lord, I yield the cause, I can defend it no longer against my conscience, which casts and condemns me, byfullproof, to be but ina wretched, cursed, lamentable slate, notwithstanding all my knowledge, and flourishing gifts. O hew me a more excellent way. Lord! that I had the sincerity of the poorest saint, though I should lose the applause of all my
: parts; with these I see Imaygotohell, but without some berterthingnohope of heaven.
The POEM.
CREAT difference betwixt that feedisfound, With which you sow your fev'ral plots of ground,
Husbandry Spiritualized; or,
Seed-wheat doth far excel indignity The cheaper barley, and the coarfer rye:
Tho' in themselves they good and wholesome are, Yet these with choicest wheat may not compare.
Men's hearts, like fields, are sow'd with diss'rent grain, Somebaser, some more noble, some again Excelling both the former, more than wheat
Excels that grain your swine and horses eat.
For principles of mere morality, Like cummin, barley, fitches, pease, or rye, In those men's hearts are often to be found,
Whom yet the scripture calleth cursed ground ; And nobler principles than these, sometime
Call'd common grace, and spiritual gifts, which shine In some men's 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, Tho' like an angel in these gifts thou shine
Amongst blind mortals, for a little time ; The day'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 solid 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.
Ograce ! how orient art thou ! how divine !
What is the glory of all gifts to thine !
Disseminate this feed within my heart, My God, I pray thee, tho' thou mouldst impart
The less of gifts; then I may truly say, That thou hast shew'd me the more excellent way.
CHAP.
IX.
Upon springing-weather after seed-time.
By heaven's influence cornandplants dofpring, God'sshow'rs of grace do make hisvalleysfing.
OBSERVATION.
HE earth, after that it is plowed and sowed, must be T watered, and warmed with the dews and influences of
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things. 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. xxviii. 12. the earth con not yield her increase.
The order anddependenceofnatural causes in the production of fruit, isexcellently described,Hos. ii. 21, 22. " I will hear the heavens,
" and they shall hear the earth; and the earth thall hear the " corn, and wine, and oil, and they shall hear Jezreel." Jezreel musthavecorn, and wine, and oil, ortheycannot 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 but the order • in which God works.'
This some heathens, by the light of nature, acknowledged, and there tore 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 held up the other hand toCeres, the goddess of corn, to thew that their expectation of plenty was from theirsupposeddeity †. 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 hufbandman (faith † Mr. Smith) that always fowedgood feed, but never had good corn; at last aneighbour came to him, and said,
I will tell you what probably maybe the cause of it; it maybe (faidhe) you do not steep your feed: No, truly, said the other, nor did I ever hear that feed must be steeped.
Yes, surely, said hisneighbour, 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 husbandman's, but God's steeps, that drop fatness.
Alma mater terra, the earth indeed is a fruitful mother, but the rain which fecundates, and ferti lizes it, hath no other FatherbutGod, Job xxxviii. 28.
APPLICATION.
S impossible it is (in anordinaryway) for fouls 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 fruitwithoutthe natural
* Natura nihil aliud est quam divinorum operum ordo.
Berentius.
† Smith's EffexDove.
+ Weem's Cerem. Law.
VOL. VI.
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, influences of heaven; for look, whatdews, showers, and elear shinings after rain are to the fields, that the word and ordinances of God are to the souls of men. " My doctrine shall drop
6، 66 as the rain, my speech shalldistil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass,"
Deut. xxxii. 2. " For as the rain cometh down, and the snow " from heaven, and watereth the earth, and maketh it bring
" forth and bud; so shall my word be that goeth forth of my " mouth," Ifa. lv. 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 lies in the following particulars.
" 1. The rain comes from heaven, Actsxiv. 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 . iii. 8, 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," John iii. 2.
You are not to lookuponthe truths which ministers deliver, as the mere effects and fruits of their inventions and parts, they are but the conduits through which those celestial waters are conveyed to you. It is all heavenly,the officers are from heaven, Eph . iv. 12. their doctrine from heaven, Eph iii. 8, 9. the efficacy and fuccels of it from heaven, 1 Cor. iii. 3. " What I received of the " Lord (faith Paul) that have I delivered unto you," 1 Cor. xi.
23. The famemayeverygospel-minister say too. That is the first:
And then, (2dly.) The rain fallsbydivine direction and appointment: "He causes it to rainuponone city, and not upon " another," Amosiv. 7. You shall often see a clouddiffolve and spend itself upon one place, when there is not a drop within a few miles of it.
Thus is the gospel sent to shed its rich influencesuponone place, and not upon another; it pours down showers of blessings, upon one town or parish, whilst others are dry like the ground which lay near to Gideon's wet fleece.
" To you is the word of this salvation sent," Acts xiii. 26.
Sent; it comes not by chance, but by commission and appointment, and it is 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 fentdownmany sweet refreshing showers upon every place い whither they came) the Lord sent them through Phrygia and
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Galatia, but for bad them to preach the word inAfia, Acts xvi.
6. " And when they essayed togo into Bithynia, the spirit fuf- " fered them not," v. 7.
But a man of Macedonia appears to Paul in a vision, and prayed him, saying, " Come over toM a- " cedonia and help us," v. 9. Thus you fee 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 for such a people, and partly indrawingout their hearts to elect and call them, and inclining their hearts to accept the call.
3. There is agreatdealof difference in the showersofrain that fall upon the earth. Sometimes you have an hasty shower, which makes the ways float, and the streets run, but it is 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, Job xxxvii. 6. So it is in these spiritual showers, the effects of some sermons (like a sudden spout of rain) are very transient, that touch the heart a little for the present, by way of conviction or comfort, but it fleets away immediately, Jam. i. 23 .
At other times the gospel, like a settled moderate rain, soaks to the root, to the very heart.
So did that sweet shower which fell, Acts ii. 37.
It searched the root, it went to the heart; the influences of it are sometimes abiding, and do much longer remain in, and refresn 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 as long as they live. " I will never
" forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast quickned me,"
Psal. cxix. 93.
4. The rain is most beneficial to the earth, when there come sweet, warm fun-blasts with it, or after it.
This the scripture calls " a clear mining after rain," 2 Sam. xxiii . 4. by which the feminalvirtue of the earth is drawn forth, and then the herbs, flowers, and corn sprout abundantly. So it is with gospel showers, when the fun of righteousness opens upon poor fouts under the word, darting down the beams ofgraee and loveuponthem, whilftthey are attending on it, (just as you sometimes see a sweet shower fall while the fun shines out). O how comfortable is this ! and effectual to melt the heart ! And as the warm rain is most refreshing, fo when thewordcomes warmly,
Husbandry Spiritualized ; or, from the melting affections of the preacher, who imparts not only the gospel, but his own foul with it, I Thes. ii. 8. this doth abundantly more good than that which drops coldly from the lips of the unaffected speaker .
5.Showers ofraindoexceedingly 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 rejoice on every side, yea to shout for joy, and sing when a shower comes, Pial Ixv. 12, 13.
But never were showers of rain so sweetly refreshing to the thirsty earth, as gospel-showers are to gracious hearts, Col. iv.
8. they comfort their very hearts.
What joy was there in Samaria, when the gospel came to that place ? Acts viii. 8. It revives the soul, it is mel in ore, melos in aure, jubilum in corde, honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and a very jubilee in the heart.
6. Rain is necessary at seed-time, to make ready the earth to receive the feed, Píal. lxv. 9, 10. " Thou vifiteft the earth, and " waterest it; thou greatly in richest it with the river of God,
" which is fullofwater; thou preparest them corn, when thou " hast so provided for it; thou watereft the ridges thereof a- " bundantly, thou settlest the furrows thereof, thou makest it
" soft with showers, thou blessest the springing thereof." And this the scripture calls the former rain. And as this is necessary about feed-time, so the latter rain is as needful about earingtime, to disclose the ear, and to bring it to perfection ; both these are great blessings to the earth, and conduce to a pientiful harvest , Joel ii, 23, 24. " Be glad then ye children of Sion,
" and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he hath given you " the former rain moderately, 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 " fats shall overflow with wine and oil."
Thus the gospel hath a double use and benefit also. It is necessary as the former rain at seed-time, it causes the first springofgrace in the heart,
Psal.xix. 7. And therecouldbe (in an ordinary way) no spring of grace without it, Prov. xxix. 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 toripenthose precious fruits of the spirit in the souls of believers, Eph. iv. 11, 12, 13."He gave some
" apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelifts, 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
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" knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfectman, 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.
7. After a great glut of rain, usually there comes a drought; it is a common country proverb, Wet and dry, pay one another.
And truly when a people are glutted with a fulness of gospel mercies, it is usualwithGodtoshut up and restrain the gospel clouds, that, for a time at least, there be nodews upon them, and thereby teach them to prize their despised(because common) mercies at an higher rate. For as a goodman once said, mercies are best known by the back, andmostprizedwhenmostwanted.
" In those days the word of the Lord was precious, there was " no open vision,"
I Sam. iii. 1.
It is with spiritual as with temporal food, flightedwhen plenteous, but if a famine once come, then every bit of bread is precious.
Jerusalem remembered in the days of her afflictions, and of her mitery, all her pleasant things that the had in the days of old, Lam. i. 7. It is both a sinful and dangerous thing towantonize with gospel mercies, and despise the plainest (if faithful) ministers of the gospel.
The time maycomewhen you may be glad of the plainest sermon, from the mouth of the meanest ambassador of Christ.
8. To conclude,The prayers of saints are the keys that open and shut the natural clouds, and cause them either to give out, or with-hold their influences, Jam v. 17, 18. " Elias was am an
66 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 fix months; and he prayed again,
" and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her " fruit." God hath subjected the works of his hands to the prayers of his saints, Ifa.xlv. II.
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,
Lukex. 2. " Prayye the Lord of the harvest, to fend forth la- " bourers 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 oncetoldhis soldiers, That he flew upon their wings.' " Pray for me, (faith
" the great apostle) that utterancemaybegiven me, that I may " open my mouth boldly, to make known the mysteries of the " gospel," Eph. vi, 19. Yea, by the saints prayers it is, that
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, ministers obtain the success and fruits of their labours, 2Theff. iii. 1. " Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the " Lordmayhave free course, and be glorified even as it is with " you." And thus you have the metaphor opened. Now, O! that these truths might comedown in sweet showers upon the hearts both of ministers and people, in the following reflections.
REFLECTIONS .
1. Am I then a cloud? And is my doctrine as rain to water the Lord's inheritance ? And yet do I think it much to be tossed up and down by the furious winds and storms of persecution ?
Do not I see the clouds above me in continual motions and agitations ? And shall I dream of a fixed, settled
Three reflections for gospelminifters. 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 vii. 52.
He that will not let men alone to be quiet in their lusts, must expect but little quiet frommeninthis life. But it is enough,
Lord, that a rest remaineth for thy servant; let me be so wife to secure a rest to come, and not so vain to expect it on earth.
2. And, O that I might study those instructing clouds, from which, as from the bottlesofheaven, God poursdown refreshing showers to quench and satisfy the thirsty earth ! In this may
Iresemblethem,and come amongst the people of the Lord," in " thefulnessoftheblessingofthegospel of Christ,"Rom.xv. 29.
O let not those thirsty fouls that wait for me as for the rain,Job xxix. 23. " return like the troops of Tema, ashamed, with their
" heads covered," Job vi. 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 tome, be asa field which the Lord hath blessed.
3.Once more, lift upthineeyes to the clouds, and behold, to how great an height the fun hath mounted them, for by reason of their fublimity it is, that they are called the clouds of heaven, Matth. xxiv. 30.
Lord, let me be a cloud of heaven too:
Let my heart and conversationbeboth there! Who is more advantagedfor 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 funofrigh
TheHeavenlyUse of Earthly Things.
teousness, and my heart shall quickly be attracted and mounted above these visible clouds, yea, and above the aspect able heavens.
1. Is the gospel rain, and are its ministers clouds ? Wo is me then, that my habitation is upon the mountains ofGilboa, where there are nodews ! Ah sad lot, that I should be like
Gideon's dry fleece, whilst the ground round Three reflections for private Chriftie ans.
For those that wantagospelabout me is wet with the dew of heaven ; O thou that commandest the clouds above, and ministry. openest the windowsofheaven,remember, and refresh this parched wilderness, wherein I live, with showers of grace, that we may not be as the heath in the defart, which feeth not when good cometh, nor inhabit the parched places of the wilderness .
2.OLord, thou hast caused the heavens above me to be black with clouds, thou openest the For those that enjoyagospelministry. celestial cafements from above, anddailyfendest downshowersofgofpel-blessings :Othat I might be as the parched earth under them ! Not for barrenness, but for thirstiness . Let me say, " My soul longeth, yea, even faint- " eth for the courts of the Lord :" that I might there fee the beauty of the Lord. Doth the spungy earth sogreedily fuck up the showers, and open as many mouths as there are clefts in it, to receive what the clouds dispense? And shall those precious soul-enriching showers fleet away unprofitably from me ?
If so, then, 3. What an account have Ito make for all those gospel-blessings that I have enjoyed ; for Forunprofitablehearers. all those gospel-dews and showers wherewith I havebeenwatered ! Should I be found fruitless at last, it will fare 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 assiduousfly and plenteoufsly watered by it. Lord ! What a difference wiltthou
: 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 abedience.
The POЕМ.
HE vegetables here below depend There which the heavensdofpend Most bounteously upon them; to preserve Their being and their beauty.
This may serve