Upon the threshing out of corn,
TheHeavenlyUse of Earthly Things.
Haveyoubeheld,when, with perfumed wings, Out of the balmy east brightPhoebus springs.
Mounting the Olympic hill,with what a grace He views the throneofdarkness,and doth chase
The shades ofnightbefore him ; having hurl'd •His goldenbeams about this lower world,
How from fadgroves,and folitarycells, Wherehorriddarkness, and confufiondwells, Batts, owls, and doleful creatures, flyaway,
Resigning to the chearful birds of day :
Who inthoseplacesnowdofit and chant, Wherelatelysuch direcreatures kept their haunt.
Thus grief resigns to joy; sighs, groans and tears To songs triumphant, when the Lord appears.
Omatchless joy ! O countenance divine!
What are those trifles to these smiles of thine ?
May I, with poor Mephibofheth, be bleft With these sweet smiles ; let Ziba take the rest.
My life! my treasure ! thou shalt ne'er be fold For filverhills, or rivers pav'd with gold.
Wer't thoubutknown toworldlings,theywouldscorn To stoop their hearts to such poor things as corn :
For so they do, because thou art above That spherewhereintheirlowconceptions move.
CHAP.
Upon the Threshing out of Corn.
Morefolidgrain withgreatertrengthyou threfb, The ableft Christians have the hardest lash.
OBSERVATIO Ν.
Usbandmen having to do with divers forts of grain, some more tough and stubborn, others more free and tender, do not beat all alike on the threshing-floor; but as they have threfhals of several sizes, so they bestow on somegrainmore, on others fewer strokes, according to the different qualities of the grain to be threshed.
This observation the prophet Ifaiah hath, chap. xxviii. ver. 27. "The fitches are not threshed
" with a threshing-instrument, neither is the cart-wheel tur- " nedabout upon the cummin, but the fitches are beaten out i " with a staff, and the cummin with a rod."
The manner of beatingoutthecorninformertimes,was fardifferentfromthat
VOL . VI,
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, whichisnowinuse among us they had the cart-wheel,which was full of iron spokes or teeth, and the hoofs of beasts for the harder foat of grain, as wheat, rye, and barley; a staff or flail for the fitches, and a rod or twig for the cummin ; all which instruments were proportioned according to the nature of the grain.
APPLICATIO Ν.
OD having to do, in away wayofcorrection,with divers forts of offenders,doth not use the like severitywiththem all, but proportions his correction to their abilities and strength,
G Jer. xxx. 11. " I will not make a fullendofthee, [but will cor- " rect thee in measure]and will not leave thee altogether unpu- " nished:" (q.d.) Afff Ctedthoumustbe ;my respect to my own glory, and thy good, puts a necessity upon that ,but yet I will do it moderately: I will not lay on without measure or mercy, as I intend to do, upon the enemies ; but will mete out your sufferings in a due proportion, even as a careful physician, in prescribing pills, or potions to his patient, hath regard as well to the ability of the patient, as to the nature and quality of the disease ; even so thy God, O Israel, will not afflict thee according to the greatness of his power, and his wrath, answerable thereunto, Psal. xe. 11.that would break thee to pieces, Psal.. lxxviii. 38.
Nor yet will he afflict thee according to the demerit of thy fin: as it shall be much less than what I could inflict, so it shall be less than thine iniquities deserve, Ezra ix. 13. Neither my power, nor thy defers, shall be the rule of my proceedings ; but I will do it with moderation and mercy, as thou art able to bear.
I that have instructed the husbandman to proportion his instrument to the quality of the grain before him, will exercise the like wisdoin and mildness towards thee. And the similitude betwixt the husbandman's threshing his corn, and the Lord's afflicting his people, stands in these particulars.
1. Thehusbandman's end in threfningthe corn is, to separate it from the husks and chaff; and God's end in afflicting his people is, to separate them from their fins, Wa. xxvii. 9.
" In measure when it shooteth forth, he will debate with it,"
(i. e.)he will moderately correct them ; and what the ends of those corrections are,the next words inform us, " By this there- " fore shall the iniquity ofJacobbe purged, and this is all the
" fruit to takeaway his fin." God uses afflictions, as we use. soap, to cleanse awayfilthiness, and fetch out spots, Dan. xi..
35. He aims not at the destruction of their persons, but of their luks.
1 The Heavenly Uf of Earthly Things.
2. Ifthehusbandmanhavecockle, darnel, or pernicious tares before him on the floor among his corn,he little regards whether it be bruised, or battered to pieces by the thresher or no ; it is a worthless thing, and he spares it not.
Such cockle and tares are the enen.ies of God; and when these come under his flail, he strikes them without mercy; for these the Lord prepares a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth, which shall beat them to dust, Isa. xli. 15. " The daughter of Babylon
" is like a threshing-floor; 'tis time to thresh her," Jer. li.
33. And when that time is come,then(in allusion to the beast that was to tread out the corn) " Sion's horn shall be
" of iron, and her hoofs brass," Mic. iv. 13.
He smites not his people according to the stroke of them that smote them, the meaning is, his strokes on them shall be deadly strokes : they shewedno mercy to Sion ; and God will shew no mercy to them.
3. When the husks and chaff are perfectly separated from the grain, then the husbandman beats it no more. When
God hath perfectly purged and separated the sins of his people, then afflictions shall come to a perpetual end; he will never smite them again : there is no noise of the threshing instrument in heaven; he that beat them with his flail on earth, will put them into his bosom in heaven.
4. Though the husbandman lays on, and beats his corn, as if he were angry with it, yet he loves and highly prizes it ; andthoughGod strike and afflict his people, yet he sets a great value upon them ; and it is equally absurd to inferGod's hatred to his people from his afflicting of them, as the husbandman's hatred of his corn, because he threshes and beats it ;
Heb . xii. 6. " Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, and chaf- " tenethevery son whom he receiveth."
5. Though the husbandman thresh and beat the corn, yet he will not bruise or hurt it, if he can help it ; though some require more and harder strokes than others, yet none shall have more than itcanendure. And though the Lord afflict his servants, yet he will do them no hurt, Jer. xxv. 6. Some need more rods than others, but none shall have more than they can bear ; the Lord knows the measures and degrees of his servants faith and patience, and accordingly shall their trials be, Psal. ciii. 13, 14. " Like as a father pities his children, fo
" the Lord pitieth them that fear him ; for he knows their " frame, he remembers they are but dust ; he makes a way to " escape, that they may be able to bear it," I Cor.x. 13.
L T2
Husbandry Spiritualized ; or, This care and tenderness over his afflicted, is eminently discovered inthreeparticulars.
(1.) In not exposing them to, 'till he hath prepared thera for, their trials, Lukexxiv. 49. " Tarry ye at Jerusalem,until
" ye be endued with power from on high." He gives them sometimes eminent discoveries of his love immediately before, and as a preparativeto their sufferings, in the strength whereof they are carried through all.
(2.) Or if not fo, then he intermixeth supporting comfort with their troubles ; as you sometimes see the fun shine out while the rain falls.
It was so with Paul,Acts xxvii, 23 " This night (and it was a fad night indeed) there stood by me
" the angel of the Lord,whose I am."
(3.) In taking off the affliction, when they can bear it no longer, 1 Cor. x. 13. " He makes away to escape, that they
" may be able to bear it," Psal. cxxv. 3. The rod istakenoff, " when the righteous is even ready to put forth his hand to " iniquity."
It is a Jewish proverb, When the bricks are doubled,thencomesMoses . And it is a Christian's experience,
When the spirit is ready to fail,thencomesJesus,according to that promise, Ifa. Ivii. 16.
REFLECTIONS.
1.HowunlikeamItoGod,in the afflicting A reflection of his people ? The Lord is pitiful when he forperfecutors. smites them; but I have been cruel: he is kind to them,when most severe ; but the best ofmykindnesses to them, may fitly enough be called severity;
God smites them in love ; I have smitten them in hatred. Ah ! what have I done ? God hath used me as his hand, Psal. xvii.
14. or as his rod, to afflict them, Jer. x. 7. but his end and mine have widely differed in that action, Isa. x. 7. I am but the fcullion, or rather the whisp to scourand cleanse the vessels of glory ; and when I have done that dirty work; those bright fouls shall be setup in heaven, and I cast into the fire.
If he shall have judgment without mercy, that the wed no mercy, how can I expect mercy from the Lord, whose people I have perfecutedmercilefly for his sake ?
2. Is the Lord's wheat thus threshed on A reflection for the floor of afflictions; what then shall I think
Suchasmeetwith no affliction. of my condition,who prosper and am let alone in the way of fin ? Surely, the Lord looks on me as on a weed, and not as his corn; and it is too probable, that I am rather refervedforburning,than for threshing.
Some there arewhomGod loves not so well as to spend
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things.
a rod upon them, but faith, " Let them alone," Hos. iv. 17. butmiferable is their condition, notwithstanding their impunity! For what is the interpretation but this: I will come toa reckoning with them altogether in hell. Lord, how much better is thy afflicting mercy, thanthysparing severity! Better is the condition of an afflicted child,than ofa rejected bastard,
Heb. xii. 7. Oh, letmeratherfeel thy rod now, as the rod of a loving Father, than feel thy wrath hereafter,as the wrath of an omnipotent avenger 1 3. Well then, despond not,O my soul ! A reflection for Thou he a rest thehusbandman loves his corn, anafflictedfaint. though he thresheth it ; and, surely, the Lord loves thee not the less, because he afflicts thee so much.
If affliction, then, be the way to heaven, blessed be God for affliction! The threshing-strokes of God have come thick upon me ; by which I may fee what a tough and stubborn heart I have: ifone stroke would have done the work,he would not have lifted up his hand the second time.
I have not had a stroke more than I had need of, Pet. i. 6. and by this means he will purge my fins: bleffedbe God for that! the damned have infinitely more and harder fstrokes than I, and yet their fin shall never be separated by their sufferings, Ah fin ! cursed fin! I am so much out of love with thee, that I am willing to enduremorethanallthis,to be well ridofthee: all this I suffer for thy sake , but the time is coming when I shall be rid off in and suffering together : meanwhile Iamundermyown father'shand: smite me he may, but hate me he cannot.
T The POEM.
HE sacred records tell us, heretofore God had an altar on a threshing-floor, Wherethreshing instruments devoted were To sacred service ; so you find them here.
Inowwould teach the thresher, to beat forth A notion from his threshold, much more worth
Than all his corn; and make him understand That foul-instructing engine in his hand.
With fewer strokes, and lighter will you beat The oats and barley, than the stubborn wheat,
Which will require and endure more blows Than freergrain.
Thus deals the Lordbythose Whom he afflicts : he doth not use to strike Offending children with his rod alike; But on the ablestshoulders doth impose
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, The heaviest burthens, and the less on those Ofweakergrace: he shews himselfaGod Of judgments in his handling of the rod.
God hath a rate-book by him, wherein he Keeps just accountshowrich his people be ; What faith, experience, patience, more or less
Each one possesseth,and doth them assess According to their stock.
Such as have not A martyr's faith,shall have no martyr's lot.
The kinds, degrees, and the continuance Of all their fuss'rings, to a circumstance Prescribed are by him,who wiselysways The world, and more than's right on no man lays.
Beman or devil the apothecary, God's the physician : whocanthen miscarry In such a hand? He never did or will Suffer the least addition to his bill.
Nor measure, nor yet mercy he observes InthreshingBabylon; for she deserves His heaviest strokes; and in his floor she must
Be beaten shortly with his flailtodust.
But Sion's God, in measure, will debate ; His children he may smite,but cannot hate;
He beats them, true, to make their chaff to fly, That they, like purged golden grains, may lie
I none fair heap, with those bless'd fouls that here Once in like manner thresh'd and winnow'd were,
CHAP.
XX.
Uponthewinnowing of Corn.
The fan doth cause light chaff toflyaway; So shall the ungodly in God's winnowing-day.
WHE
OBSERVATION.
HEN the corn is threshed out in the floor where it lies mingled with empty ears, and worthless chaff, the husbandman carries it out altogether into some open place ; where, having spread his sheet for thepreservationofthegrain, he exposes it all to the wind; the good,by reason of its folidity, remains upon the sheet, but the chaff, being light and empty, is partly carried quite away by the wind, and all the rest separated from thegoodgrain into a distinct heap, which is carried away, either to the fire, or dung-hill, as a worthless thing.
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things.
M a
APPLICATION.
EN have their winnowing-days, and God hath his day to separate the chafffrom the wheat, the godly from the ungodly,who shall beheld up to the wind; but only the wicked shall be drivenawaybyit. Such adayGodhathin this world, wherein he winnows his wheat, and separates the chaff.
There is a double fanning or winnowing ofmenhere in this world; one is doctrinally, in which sense I understand that scripture, Matth. iii. 12. spoken of Christ, when he was enteringuponhis ministerial work: " His fan isinhishand;
" and he shall thoroughly purgehis floor,and gather his wheat " into the garner ; but he will burn up the chaff with un- " quenchable fire."
The preaching of the gospel, is as a fan in Christ'shand : and it is as much as if John had thus told the Jews, that though there were many hypocriticalones among them, that had now a place and name among the people of God, andgloried in their church-privileges ; yet there is a purging blast of truth coming, which shall make them fly out of the church, as chaff out of the floor.
Thus Christ winnows or fans the world doctrinally :The other isjudicially, by bringing fore and grievous trials and sufferings upon the churches, for this very end, that those which are but chaff,
(i. e.)empty and vainprofeffors, may by such winds as these be separated from his people.
The church increases two ways, and by two diverse means ; extensively, in breadth and numbers ; and intensively, invigour and power ; peace andprofperitycause the first, safferings and adversity the last: And well may a day ofperfecution be calledawinnowingday, forthenarethepeople ofGodtoffed to purpose, as corn in the sieve, though nothing but chaff be lost thereby. Of such awinnowing-daytheprophet speaks,
Amos ix.9, 10. " I will fist the house of Israel among allnati- " ons, like as corn is sifted in a sieve,yet shall not the least
"grainfallupontheearth; all the finnersofmypeople shall "die." (q. d.) I will causegreatagitationsandtoffingsamong you,by the hands oftheAffyriansandBabylonians,into whose countries you shallbedispersedand scattered; yet I willfogovernthoseyourdifperfionsby my providence, that no tone good grain, one upright foul, shall eternally perish, but the sinners of my people, the refuse stuff, that shall perish.
To the same purpose speaks another prophet,Zeph. ii. 1, 2.
" Gatheryourselves together, (or as some read) fan yourselves, " yea, fanyourselves, before the decree bring forth, and the " day pass as the chaff." He doth notmeanthatthe time shall
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, pass as the chaff, but there is a day of affliction and distreis coming, in which the wicked shall pass as the chaffbefore the wind; and yet, notwithstanding all these winnowings upon earth, much chaff will still abide among the corn ; therefore
God hath appointed another day for the winnowingofthe world, even the day of judgment; in reference to which it is said, Psalm i. 4, 5. " The ungodly are not so,but are like the " chaff which the wind drives away; therefore the ungodly shallnotstandinjudgment, nor finnersinthecongregation
" of the righteous ;" (i. e.) God hath adaywherein he will fist the world, like corn in a sieve, and then the wicked shall appear to be but chaff, which God will eternally separate from his wheat.
I will not strain the fimilitude, but fairly display it in these seven particulars.
1. The chaffandwheatgrow together in the fame field, and upon the fame root and stalk. In this, wicked men are like chaff, who not only associate with the people of God, but oftentimes spring up with them in the fame family, and from the same root, or immediate parents, Mal. i. 2. " Was not Esau
" Jacob's brother ?" Yet the one was wheat, the other chaff.
Instances of this are infinite.
2. The husbandman would never endure the husks, chaff, and dry stalks to remain in the field; ifitwerenot for the good corn's fake, he would quickly set fire to it, but that the corn is among it, which he highly prizeth: And, be assured,God would never suffer the wicked to abide long in this world, were it not for his own elect that are difpersedamong them:
Except the Lord hadfuch a remnant dispersedintheworld, he would quickly set fire to the four quarters, and make it like
Sodom, Ifa. i. 9.
3. The chaff is a very worthless thing, the husbandmancares notwhatbecomes of it ; and of as little worth are wicked men,
Prov. x. 20. " The heart of the wicked is little worth." The heart is the principal part of them an, and yet that's but chaff, no worth in it; his hands, his cloaths, &c. are worth somewhat, but his heart is worth nothing.
4. Though chaffin itself be nothing worth, yet it is offome use to thecornwhile it is standing in the field; the stalk bears up the ear, and thechaffcovers the grain, and defends it from the injury of the weather.
Thus God makes wicked men of use to his people, in outward society; they help to support and protect them in this world,Rev. xii. 16. "The earth help- " edthewoman," (i. e.) worldlymen for carnal ends helped the church,when a floodofpersecutionwas poured out. The
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things.
churchoftenhelps the world, it receives many benefits from the people of God; and sometimes God over-rules the world to help his church.
5. When the chaffand wheat are both brought forth and held up to the wind in one sieve, they fall two ways; the wheat falls down upon the floor or sheet, the chaff is carried quite away: So that although for a time godly and ungodly abide together, yet when this winnowing-time comes, God's wheat shall be gathered into his garnerinheaven, the chaff shallgo theotherway, Matth. iii. 12.
6. If there be any chaff among the corn, it will appear when itisfifted in awindyday; it cannot possibly escape, if it be well winnowed; much more impossible it is for any wicked mantoescapethe critical search of God in that day; the clo. fest hypocrite shall then be detected, for God will judge the secrets of men, 2 Cor. xvi. " He willthenbring to light the
" hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels " of the heart," 1 Cor. iv. 5.
7. Lastly, After corn and chaffare separated by the winnowing wind, they shall never lie together in one heap any more: The wicked shall fee Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but themselves thruftout : There is no chaff in heaven.
REFLECTIONS.
1. Am I an empty vainprofeffor, that wants A reflection thepithandsubstance of real godliness ? Then foraclofehyamI butchaff in God's account, though I grow pocrite. among his corn; the eye of man cannotdifcern myhypocrify; but when he comes,whose fan is in his hand, thenhowplainly will it be detected ? Angels and men shall discern it, and say, " Lo, this is the man that made not God his
" hope;" How shall I abide the day of his coming ? Christ is thegreatheart-anatomist:Things shall not be carried then by names and parties, as they are now; everyone shall be weighed in ajustbalance, and a Mene Tekelwritten upon every false heart: Great will be the perfpicuity of that trial : My own conscience shalljoinwithmyjudge, and shall then acknowledge, that there is not one drop of injustice in all that feaof wrash; and though I am damned, yet I am not wronged :The chaffcannot stand before the wind, nor Ibeforethejudgment of Christ.
2. Is there such afanningtimecoming ?Why do not I then fiftmyhearteverydaybyferious self-examination ? No work
VOL. VI.
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, A reflection for one more important to me, and yet how much have I neglected it? O my soul ! thou hadst been better imployed, in that neglectsfelf-examination. searching thine own estate in reference to that day, thau in prying finfully into the hearts, and cenfuring the conditions ofothermen: Judge thyself, and thou shalt not be condemned with the world ; the work indeed is difficult, but the neglect dangerous : Were I within a few days to stand at man's bar, there to be tried for my life, how busy should I be every hour of the dayinwriting to any that I thought could befriend me, and studying every advantage to myself? And yet what a vast difference is there betwixt man's bar and God's ? Betwixt atrial for my life, and for my soul? Lord, rouse up my sluggish heart, by awful and folicitous thoughts of that day, lest I be found among that chaff which shallbeburntup with unquenchable fire..
5. Fear not, O my soul! thoughtherebe a blast coming which shall drive allthechaff
A reflection for afincere foul. into hell,yet it shallblowthee no harm. "I " know that when he hath tried me,I shall
" come forth as gold," Job xxiii. 10. I confess I have too much chaff about me, but yet.I am not altogether chaff,there is a folidwork of grace upon my soul that will abide the trial: Let the judgment to come be as impartial and exact as it ispoffible to be, yet a grain of finceritycannotbe lost in it; for " God
" will not cast away a perfect (i. e. an upright-hearted) man,"
Job viii. 20. He that is appointed to judge the world is mine; and his imputedrighteousness will make me full weight in the balance.
Bless the Lord, Omyfoul, for sincerity ! this will abide, when common gifts, and empty names, will flee as the ehaff before the wind.
T The POEM..
HEwinnowingwind firstdrivesthe chaff away, Next light and hollow grains ; those only stay
Whose weight and solid substance can endure This trial,and fuchgrains are counted pure.
The corn for use is carefully preserv'd ; 'The useless chafffor burning flames referv'd..
No wind but blowsfome good, a proverb is ; Glad shall I be if it hold true in this..
Othatthewind, when you to winnowing go, This spiritual good unto yourfouis might blow
To make you pause, and sadly ruminate, In what a doleful plight, and wretched state.
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things.
Theirfouls are in,who cannot hope to stand When he shall come,whose fan is in his hand ;
His piercing eyes infallibly disclose The very reins, and inward part of those Whose out-side seeming grace so neatly paints,
That, with the best, they pass for real faints, No hypocrite with God acceptance finds, But, like the chaff, dispers'dbyfurious winds.
Their guilt shall not that searching day endure, Nor they approach th' assemblies of the pure.
Have you observ'd in autumn,thistle-down, By howhngAeolus, scatter'dup and down About the fields ? Even so God's ireful storm
Shall chase the hypocrite,who now can scorn The breath of close reproofs ; and like a rock,
Repel reproofs, and justreproversmock.
Howmanythatin splendid garments walk, Of high professions, and like angels talk, Shall God divest, and openly proclaim 'Their secret guilt, to their eternal shame?
This is the day wherein the Lord will rid His church of those false friends, who now lie hid
Among his people; there will not be one False heart remain, to lose our love upon.
Obless'd afsfembly! glorious state ! when all Intheiruprightness walk,and ever shall.
Omakemy heart sincere, that I may never Prove such light chaffas then thy wind shall sever
From folidgrain ! O let my soul detest :
Unfoundness, and abide thy strictest test !
INTRODUCTION
To the SECOND PART of
HUSBANDRY.
HOW is it, reader, have I tired thee, Whilstthro' these pleasant fields thou walk'st with me?