Upon the joy of harvest-men,
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things.
Such reasonings here their credulous souls beguile, At which, in other things, themselves would smile.
Our present acts, though i lightly passed by, Are so much seed sownfor eternity.
The feeds of prayers, secret groans and tears, Will shoot at last into the full-blown ears
Of peace and joy.
Blessed are they that sow Besides these waters, yea, thrice bless'd, that go Bearing such precious feed: Though now they mon,
With joyful sheaves they shortly shall return.
Needs must the full-ripe fruits inheavenbegood, Whenas the feed was glory in the bud.
But, oh ! the bitter, baneful fruits of fin, When all the pleasure sinners have therein,
Like faded blossoms to the ground shall fall, Then they will taste the wormwoodand the gall!
WhatGodandconfcience now of sin report, You flight, and with their dreadful threatnings sport :
But he'll convinceyouthen yourwayswere naught, As Gideon the men of Succouth taught.
Iffermons cannot, fire and brimstone must Teach menhowgood it is to pamper lust.
When conscience takes thee by the throat, and cries, Now wretch ! now sinner ! thou that didst despise
My warnings ; learn, and ever learning be That lesson which thou ne'er wouldst learn of me.
The stouteft finnerthen would howl and roar, Of in I neversawthy face before.
Is this the fruit off in? Is this the place Where I must lie ? Is this indeed the case
Of my poor soul ? must I be bound in chains With these companions ? Oh ! is this the gains
I get by fin? Poor wretch ! I that would never See this before, am now undone for ever !
CHAP.
XVIII.
Upon the Joy of Harvest-men.
Great is the joy of harvest-men ; yet less Than theirs whom God doth with hisfavour bless.
OBSERVATION.
Mong all earthlyjoys,these four forts are noted in scripture, as the most excellent and remarkable.
(1.) NupS2
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, tialjoys; the day of espousals is the day of the gladness ofa man's heart, Cant. iii. 11.
(2.) The joy of children : Though now it seems but a common mercy to most, and a burden to some, yet the people of God were wont to esteem it a choice mercy, and rejoiced greatly in it, John xvi. 21. there is joy that am an is born into the world. (3.) The joy of conquests and victories, when men divide the spoil: And, lastly, The joy of harvest.
These two we find put together, as principal mattersofjoy, Isa. ix. 3. " They joy before thee, according to " the joy in harvest, and as men rejoicewhentheydivide the " spoil."
The joy of harvest is no small joy ; Gaudium messfis estmessis gaudii ; The joy of the harvest, is the harvest of their joy.
It is usual with men,when they have reaped down their harvest(or cut the neck, as they call it) to demonstrate their joy by shouting, and loud acclamations.
APPLICATION.
HUS, and unspeakable more than thus,do saints rejoice and shout for joy, when they reap thefavour and love of God, for which they laboured in many awearyduty. This joy of harvest, as great as it is, and as much ascarnalhearts are lifted up with it, is but a trifle, a thing of nought, compared with yours ; after they have sownto themselves in righteousness, and waited for the effects and returns of their duties with patience, and at last come to reapinmercy, either the full harvest in heaven, or but the first-fruits ofitonearth, yet rejoice,
" with joy unspeakable and fullofglory," I Pet. i. 8. "This "puts more gladness into their hearts,thanwhencorn and wine
" increase," Psalm iv. 7. Carnaljoys are but as foul-fevers, the agues of the inward man; there is a great difference be twixt the unnatural inflammations ofa feverish body, which waste the spirits, and drink up the radical moisture, and the kindly well-tempered heart of an healthy body ; and as much between the sweet, serene, and heavenly joy, which flow from the bosom of Christ in the hearts of believers, and those earthly delights which carnal hearts, in a sensual way, fuck out of creature enjoyments.
I willshew you the tranfcendency of spiritualjoys, above the joy of harvest, in these eight particulars following.
1. Youthatjoywiththejoyofthe harvest, are glad,because now you have food for yourselves and families to live upon all the year, but the Christianrejoiceth,because he hath bread to eat that the world knows not of, Rev. ii. 17. Christ is the food of his foul, and his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things.
drink indeed, John v. 55.(i. e.) the most real and excellent food.
You read, Psalm lxxviii. 25. thatmen did eat angels food,(i. e.)Manna; which wassuchexcellentbread, that if angels did liveuponmaterialfood, this would be chosen for them; and yet this is but a type and dark shadow of Jesus Christ, the food of believers .
2. You rejoice when your harvest is in,because corn is virtually many other things besides food ; you can turn it into cloaths tokeepyouwarm, and many other neceffariesmay be purchased by it: but yet it is not like Christ, the object of a faint'sjoy; though it answers many things, it doth not answer all things, as Christ doth ; turn it into what you will, it hath butalimitedand respective usefulness ; but Jesus Christ is all in all to believers, and out of him their faith can fetch all supplies; he is their health in sickness, their strength in weakness, their ease in pain,theirhonour in reproach, their wealth in poverty, their friendinfriendlesness,their habitation when harbourless, their enlargement in bonds, the strength of their hearts,and life of their life; O ! he is afullChrist ! andwhateverexcellencies are scattered among all the creatures,do meet all in him, and much more.
3. You rejoice when you have gotten in your harvest, because now you can free those engagements, and pay those debts which you have contracted. 'Tis a comfort to be out of debt; and you may lawfully rejoice that God gives you wherewith to quit your engagements, that you may owe no man anything but love: but stillthejoy of harvest falls short ofthejoyofthe faints; foryourejoicethat you are, orhavewherewith to help yourselves outofmens debt: but they rejoice that theyareout of God's debt ; that his book is cancelled, and their fins pardoned: that by reason of the imputedrighteousness of Christ,the law can demand nothing from them,Rom. viii. 1.
Owhat matter of joy is this !
4. You rejoice, because now your corn is outofdanger ; all the while it was abroad, it was in hazard, but now it is houfedyou fear not the rain: but Christians rejoice, not because their corn is safe, but because their souls are so.
All the while theyabode in an unregenerate state, they were every moment in danger of the storms of wrath: but now, being in Christ, that danger is over ; and what compare is there betwixt the safety ofa little corn, and the security of an immortal foul ?
5.Your joy is but a gift of common providence. Turks and Heathens can rejoice with your joy; but the joy ofaChriftian, is a peculiar favour and giftofGod. Corn is given to allna
Husbandry Spiritualized ; or, tions, even the most barbarous and wicked have store of it; but Christ is the portion but ofa few,andthosethedearlybelovedofGod. Luther said of the whole Turkish empire(where is the best and greatest store of corn) that it is but a crumb which the master of the family throws to the dogs. He that hadmorecornthan hisbarns could hold, now wants a drop of water to cool his tongue. Christ is a gift bestowed only upon God's elect .
6. Your joy will have an end; the time is coming, that when you have reaped down your harvests, yourselves must bereapeddownbydeath, and then you shall rejoice in these things no more: Butwhenyourjoy is ended, then is the joy of saints perfected; they reap their harvest,when you leave your harvest; their consolation is everlasting.
7.Godcanfeparate your joy from these enjoyments, even whileyouhavethem, as well as when you leave them. 'Tis onething for am an to have riches and fullbarns,and another thing to have comfort in them, Ecclef. v. 19, 20. But now the joy of Christians is a thing inseparable from their enjoymentofChrist: indeed the sense of their interest maybe lost, and so the acts of their joy intermitted: but they always have itintheseed, if not in the fruit, Psalm xcvii. 11. " Joy is sown
" for the upright;" he hath it stillintheprinciple, and in the promise.
8.Thejoyofharvest-men,for the most part,is only in their harvest, and in such earthly things; take that away, and their joy ceases.
Earthly hearts are acquainted with no higher comforts; but the people of God canjoyin him, and take comfort in their earthlyenjoyments 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 yourjoys fall short of theirs.
REFLECTIONS .
1. How have I rejoiced inathing of nought, andpleasedmyself with a vanity ?God hath ⚫blessed me in my fields, and in my stores ; but A reflection for one that hath a full not with spiritual blessings inheavenlyplaces in Christ. My barns are full of corn, but my foul
Christ.
-is empty of grace ; common bounty hath given me afulness 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 barn, but no be the whole of my portion from the Lord ? What if the lan-
TheHeavenlyUse ofEarthlyThings.
guage 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 fay,butthouhafttafted 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 denied 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 enoughtodamp all my carnalmirth ?
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 ? Am an in a fever hath a lively colour,but a dying heart. I have an appearance, a shadow of comfort, but a fad state of foul.
A reflection for "BleffedbetheGodandFatherofmy " Lord Jesus Christ,whohathblessedmewith "with all spiritual blessings inheavenlypla- "ces in Christ," Ephef. i.i. 3. Thoughhehath
Christ but no one that hath barn. not seen fit to give me much of this world in hand,yet ithathpleasedhim tosettlearichinheritanceuponme by promise ; the hopes and expectations whereof,yield my foul more true comfort than all the presentenjoyments of this world couldhavedone. Blessed be the Lord,who hath not given me my portion in this life,thatbykeepingmefromthe enjoyment, hath also preserved me from the snares of a prosperous estate ?
Lord Jesus, I have no bags, I have nobarns ; but thou shalt be to me instead of all those things. When others rejoice in the fulness of their earthly comforts,I will rejoice in the fulnefs 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,Omy foul !
3. But, Lord, how am I obliged, above thousands, to love and praise thee ! to bless and admire thee,who haft not Areflectionforone thathathafull barn, and Christ too. only plentifully provided for my soul, but for my body too ! who hast given me both the upper and the nether springs, heaven and earth;things present,and things to come! Thou hast not dealt so with all ; no, not with all of thy own people: many of them are strangers to the mercies which I enjoy. God hath done great things for me, Omy foul!whatwiltthoudo for God? The freer the condition is hehathplaced me in,the more am I both obliged and advantagedfor his service ; and yet, I doubt, it will be found, that many a poor Christian, thatlabours with his hands to get his
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, bread, redeems more hours for God than I do.
Lord, make mewifetounderstand and answer the double end of this gracious dispensation! let me bestow the more of my time upon God, and stand ready to minister to the necessities of his people.
4. Oh! whatanunhappywretchamI! that have nothing either in hand, or in hope; am miserable here,and like to be Areflectionforone that bath neither a barn,nora Christ . foforever: hadIbutaninterestinChrist, as the godlypoor 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 ofcontemptboth to heaven and earth. Lord,look upon such atrulymiferable object with compassion,give me a portion with thypeoplein the worldtocome, if thou never better my outward condition here ! O sanctify this poverty ; bless these straits and wants, thattheymay necessitate my soul to go to Christ : make this poverty the way to glory, and I shall bless thee to eternity thatIwaspoor in this world.
Ο The POEM.
FT have I seen, when harvest's almost in, The last load coming,how some men have been
Rapt up with joy, as if that welcome cart Drew home the very treasure of their heart ;
What joyful shoutings, hoopings, hollowing noise, Withmingledvoices both of men and boys !
To carnal minds there is no greater mirth, No higher joy, nor greater heaven on earth .
He speaks pure paradoxes, that shall fay These are but trifles to what saints enjoy :
But they despise your sparks, as much as you Contemntheir fun. Some that could never shew
A full stuff'd barn, on which you set your heart, But glean, perhaps, the ears behind your cart ;
Yet are the gleanings of their comfort more Than all your harvest, and admired store.
Yourmirth is mix'd with sorrow, theirs is pure ; Yours like a shadow fleets, but theirs endure.
God gives to you the huik, to them the pith, And no heart-stinging forrowadds therewith.
Though at the gates of death they sometimes mourn, No sooner doth the Lord to them return, But sorrow's banish'd from their pensive breast ;
Joy triumphs there, and smiles their cheeks invest.