of the fruits 39. Med. AT the end of the year when I received in the crop the fruits of the earth for which I had laboured and for which I had long waited I began to consider what a poor reward this is for all my labour if I must expect no more and what a sad condition poor labouring men are in that moil and toil and cark and care and have much ado for bread to eat and cloaths to put on and this is their all yea they run in arrears to God for this also and are like to be cast into prison for ever and yet we may see the folly of the most they take no care for any other riches but frame to themselves a poor pittifull happiness in these and are never like to have any pleasure here or hereafter but what they fancy to themselves in some sinfull vanity the receiving in of these fruits of the earth as the reward of my labour put me in minde of the reward which believers shall receive at the last day at the hand of God for all the labour toil and trouble they have had which will be a better recompense then the earth can give the husbandman for his pains let us not then be weary of well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not Gal. 6.9 he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting ver 8. he that cares only to feather his nest store up riches fit the back and fill the belly and lets the soul sink or swim he is like to have a miserable harvest but they that sow in tears shall reap in joy he that goeth forth weeping bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him Psal 126.5 6. Be patient therefore brethren saith the Apostle till the coming of the Lord behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth and hath long patience for it till he receiveth the early and the latter rain be you also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh Jam. 5.7 8. Now believers sow the seed and water it with their tears but it is not long before the reward comes behold I come quickly saith Christ and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be Rev. 22.12 hold out faith and patience saith the Martyr your work will presently be at an end hope holds up the husbandmans heart and may much more the Christians these things also put me in minde of the great harvest at the end of the world when the great husbandman shall send out his servants the angels to reap down his field and gather in his corn Mat. 13.38 the field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom the tares are the children of the wicked one the enemy that sows them is the devil the harvest is the end of the world the reapers are the angels as therefore the tares are gathered together and burnt in the fire so shall it be in the end of this world the day is coming that all shall be brought to judgment and the precious shall be seperated from the vile the good corn shall be brought into the barn but the tares are reserved for the fire the tares and the wheat may grow together in one field but shall never lodge together in the same barn for as the tares cannot well be weeded out which in the blade some say much resemble the wheat and is hardly known till the fruit appears so though God can discern the hypocrite from the sincere yet hypocrisy may be spun with so fine a thread that the best discerning Christian can hardly do it but the time is coming the angels shall know them and they are not to go into the same garner they must be bundled up for the fire when the wheat must be brought into Gods barn oh my soul what seed hast thou sown against that harvest hast thou sown to the flesh then of the flesh thou wilt reap corruption if to the spirit thou wilt of the spirit reap life everlasting what grain art thou art thou wheat or tares then maist thou know whether thou art to go to the fire or into the garner rest not satisfied till thou know that thou art wheat and neither with the tares bring forth bad fruit nor with the chaff fly away with the winde it is not enough to have a flourishing blade so the stony ground had and yet came to nothing it is not enough to make a profession of religion so the foolish virgins did they had lamps but no oyl a profession but no grace it is not enough to have talents but thou must improve them or thou wilt be sentenced to outer darkness it is not enough to grow in the same field be manured by the same hand heated by the same sun and watered with the same showers thus the tares were but there must be good feed well-rooted springing up and bearing fruit in thy heart thou maist live under the same Minister enjoy the same ordinance with the wheat and yet still be but a tare oh my God discover my self to my self and let me not be deceived by a cunning devil and a deceitful heart if I be a tare Lord let me know it ere it be too late that I may sow better seed in my field that I may be gathered into thy barn and not be bundled up with the tares for the fire let my heart bring forth good fruit fit for the basket good wheat fit for thy barn solid wheat that may not be blown away with the winde and much fruit that I may glorify thy name let me not sow to the flesh but to the spirit that I may not reap corruption but life everlasting let me not be deceived in so great a business as the salvation of my soul Upon the beating out of the seed 40. Med. WHen I had gathered in the seed and the fruits of the earth my next work was to make a separation the good from the bad for though some separation was already made and the weeds and other trash were cast out and left behinde yet still there were stalks and husks and chaff adhering to it to this end I threshed rubbed pounded or beat it out according as I saw occasion for I saw it would not out without some violence and that which was most stubborn and gave most resistance received most blows till at length my end was obtained and the separation made this put me in minde of the necessity of affliction how needful it was for the soul which is pestered more with chaff and rubbish then any corn can be though now saith the Apostle for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations c. 1 Pet. 1.6 when the heart grows too light God makes it heavy with manifold
hopes yet in a moment all our hopes are dasht and they are sudenly nipt with the frost or blasted with lightning or the East-winds sometimes they are rendred unfruitful by overmuch drought and sometimes by too much wet for both may be injurious both to the tree and to the fruit and too much wet also is offensive and renders the fruit the worse if they pass these dangers and are loaden with fruit much of it is oft consumed by wasps hornets and another insects yea sometimes not only the fruit but also the leaves are eaten by locusts caterpillars and such like flys and many times with worms sometimes for want of fence they are undermined by swine or broken bruised or fed upon by other cattle and oftentimes the unripe fruit is born down by a mighty rushing winde and all our hopes thus sudenly dasht which is no unusual accident as it is said Rev. 6.13 and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken by a mighty winde that is violently and forcibly and if they escape all these accidents many prove barren and many bring forth fruit that is sowr bitter or unsavoury and very little fruit that is good appears and if it do all the danger is not over many a blow they endure and many a staff and many a stone is cast at them to unload unburthen and deprive them of their fruit and there is scarce a passenger but hath something or other to throw at them and few go away empty-handed from them and no wonder then the owners part is little and a small pittance comes to be gathered in The consideration of this made me to compare poor man to these trees of the field and to consider what is the reason so few bring forth fruit to maturity many an obstruction they meet with before the time of fruit comes which hinders the most of men from fructifying many are planted in the dry desart heath where they see not when good cometh and that never heard of a saviour come into the world or ever enjoyed one soul searching sermon and these are not like to bring forth good fruit they are like to be barren or their fruit to be wilde yea many of those that live within the pale of the Church are not much better it is true the seed is sown amongst them but much of it falls by the way-side and the fouls of the air pick it up the devil steals it out of their hearts this is that troubler of Israel that master of misrule he is one at Church whoever is the other he hath made a foot-path over the heart that the word takes no more impression then rain upon a rock these must needs be barren yea some of it fals among stones where it hath no root which though received with joy and it springs up sudenly yet wanting root must needs wither the root of the matter is not in them Job 19.28 and some falls among thorns and is choaked these saith Christ are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and it is much ado to handle those thorns and not prick their fingers and but a little fals in good ground and that undergoes a thousand dangers ere it come to maturity many are the obstructions a Christian meets with and many pul-backs the gracious soul hath and the good seed sown hath many enemies sometimes it is parcht with the sun of prosperity and sometimes nipt with the frost of adversity the devils temptations and the worlds allurements oft spoil the fruit sometimes it withers for want of the dew of heaven to refresh it sometimes it is overwhelmed with the flouds of affliction a thousand and ten thousand are the dangers this seed of grace doth undergo before it comes to maturity many trees in the orchard are not transplanted and ingrafted into Christ and many enemies those meet with that are and the little fruit that is brought forth to maturity will have many a stick and many a stone cast at it oh my soul hast thou any stone cast at thee any reproach cast upon thee art thou persecuted and hated for doing thy duty despair not it is a signe there is some fruit the traveller seldome throws at the barren tree and the devil seldome throws down his own fruit hast thou many enemies Christ himself had not a few live uprightly toward man holily towards God that they may have no just occasion against thee but for serving God and let them throw and spare not bring forth much fruit to God and doubtless he will wall thee in and defend thee O my God mine enemies are many and subtil powerful and malicious be thou my defender and lot my fruit be pleasant to thy taste and sweet to thy smell Vpon a fair apple rotten at the core 94. Med. TAking notice of a beautiful apple glorious to the eye having a promising aspect a smoosh skin and a fair outside yet when it was cut it proved deceitful rotten at the heart and corrupted within and little good but a painted skin and the corruption within would soon have brake forth and corrupted the outside also this apple so deceitful lively represented to my thoughts an hypocrite who in outward carriage and demeanour and formalities makes a fair shew and in the external performance of duties represents a true Christian when the heart is rotten and the vitals of Religion are wanting and there is nothing but a sheepsskin drawn over a wolfs body nothing but plaster and paint yet ofttimes so artificially done that it is hard to discover it from sincerity in the external parts of Religion many times he outstrips many sincere Christians and acts his part so cunningly that many times he is taken for the man he represents he oft makes a fair shew to the world and holds out a more fairer profession in the sight of the sun then the Saints themselves for they may afford to pay more for the colour for the cloath costs them nothing what others bestow in the lining they lay it out on the outside like an old withered band rotten within and painted without but the rottenness that lies at the heart many times breaks out and rots the life and conversation also for corruption within will break out our Saviour Christ did lively represent these men by painted sepulchers and whited tombs glorious to the eye but within full of filthiness and putrefaction Mat. 23.27 wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you are like unto whited Sepulchres that appear glorious to the eye but within are full of dead mens bones and all uncleaness so do ye in the eye of the world appear righteous unto men but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity fair professors but foul sinners there are many with Pilate will wash their hands but few will wash their hearts Mat. 27.24 this also the Pharisees did but this is too weak an element
good and with Paul I am ready not only to be bound but to die for Christ Upon a Garden spoiled through bad fence 19. Med. WHen through bad fence carelesly heeded my garden was much spoiled and wasted by swine and other cattle some cropping off the heads of tender buds and plants some rooting up both root and branch and also by their treading of it much defaced the beauty of it and that which even now seemed pleasant and amiable suddenly seemed a rude indigested and deformed piece so that not without much labour pains and care I secured the fence made up the breaches and all I could do could not at present bring it to its former estate and pristine beauty all which injury might have been prevented with a little foresight and pains-taking how much better is it to prevent an injury then remedy it to prevent a disease then repell it to keep out an enemy then drive him out the cockatrice-egg is better broken while it is an egg then destroyed when it is a serpent sin is better destroyed in the bud then when it is ripe The injury sustained in my garden was something requited by this following Meditation If a garden a small plot of ground cannot be preserved from danger without care and pains-taking without a good fence about it and an needfull eye upon it because it hath so many enemies how then can the soul a more curious garden which is in a thousand times greater danger be kept safe without a fence and watchful guard here are more choise herbs and flowers then the other hath of greater worth beauty and vertue more subject to injury spoil and rapine and these have greater subtiller and more malicious enemies that seek their destruction the devil and his instruments who goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour 2 Pet. 5.8 if he finde the fence down or the watch neglected and the watchman either asleep or careless he will enter destroy and waste he envies our condition that we should enjoy that paradice that he left the comforts he once had he hath a spite and hatred against God and goodness and opposes his image wherever he sees it this is the wilde boar out of the wood and the wilde beast out of the forrest that doth devour it Psal 80.30 The devil and the world besiege the fort of our souls and our own heart that inbred traitour watches to surrender it into his hands a thousand snares and nets are spread for this turtle and she is in continual danger in every calling in every condition in every relation in every creature we have to do with in every duty nay in every action some snare or other is laid to intrap us in youth and old age in sickness and health in prosperity and adversity in honour and disgrace all have their peculiar snares our nearest relations oft times betray us into his hands thus Eve betrays Adam thus Jobs wife would have betrayed him thus Lots daughters betrayed him and Peter would have betrayed Christ himself get thee behinde me satan Mat. 26.23 he did his good will to hinder him in the course of his calling we may many times discry a devil in our nearest friends he speaks to us by them we have enemies without and enemies within and many snares are laid for our feet how warily then have we need to walk many are the foxes that destroy these vines Cant. 2.15 what care then need we to have of our souls when they are in so continuall danger and so many snares laid for our feet temptation without and corruption within ofttimes prevail against us and we are snared by it oh my soul hast thou so bloudy and bloudy-thirsty an enemy to deal with that is so malicious so crafty and politick hast thou so strong and potent an enemy to deal with that seeks thy ruine and makes it his business to undo thee oh what need then hast thou to stand upon thy guard if thou fall into his hands nothing but the everlasting destruction of body and soul will satisfie him quit thy self therefore like a man stand upon thy guard resist the devil and he will fly from thee there is none but these throw down their weapon and quit the field that are vanquisht by him though others may be foiled look to the main fort the heart if that be surprized thou art undone lay in provision and ammunition there for a siege watch the five cinque-ports the senses for oft times he sails in with the tide make a covenant with thy eyes take heed to thy ears and other senses examine every passenger that comes in lest he prove treacherous and every one that goes forth to this end set a watch over thy mouth that thou offend not with thy tongue get on the whole armour of God mentioned Eph. 6.11 12 13. the sword of the spirit and the darts of prayer are prevalent thou art to fight with principalities and powers these contended with the angell for Moses his body but with thee for thy precious soul no peace can be had with him no truce can be obtained but upon the condition of the everlasting destruction of soul and body whatever his promises are hell will be his wages a thousand thousand have been deceived by him that took his word look to thy affections that they straggle not lest like Dinah they be ravished by him stand fast and thou wilt prevail call in thy captain Christ to thine assistance so shalt thou be the victor and if thou overcome thou shalt reign with Christ Oh my God be thou my defender I have no strength against these potent enemies neither know I what to do only my eyes are up unto thee O let no cruel beast devour thy turtle that is true do thou watch over me or I shall wake in vain teach me the use of the Christian armour rebuke the tempter and chain him up that he may not hurt me keep me under the shadow of thy wings hide me in the hollow of thy hand preserve me from the rage of this bloud-thirsty enemy and keep me out of the snares that are laid for my feet then shall I praise thee with an upright heart and tell what God hath done for my soul Upon a Mole spoiling the garden 20. Med. WHen I had thus fenced my garden and secured it as I thought from the injury of all enemies that were visible and began to wax secure and careless as if out of the reach of danger behold an inbred traitor an unseen and unexpected enemy did me no little injury a dispicable creature blinde as is reported yet was the occasion to me of no small trouble a poor contemptible Mole ere I was aware digged and rooted up my herbs and flowers disordered my work and spoiled the beauty of it and proved such an enemy then when she was descried I knew not which way to fence for her and for a considerable time knew not how to
family and bloudy house as God calls it 2 Sam. 21.1 strangely rooted out oh my soul are all these things so vain and transitory what is the reason then that thou lets out thy affections so much upon them and concernest thy self so much above them and spendest thy money for that which is not bread and thy labour for that which satisfieth not and moilest and toylest and carkest and carest for them in the neglect of more necessary concerns why art thou so taken with them when thy business succeeds and when thy perishing goard prospers and why art thou so troubled when it withers why art thou so affected with the worlds smiles and knows that Syren-like when most she fawns she most intends a wrack why art thou so troubled at a cross providence as if thy happiness did consist in these enjoyments and in the mean while when thou hast crosses and losses in thy spiritual state and nothing there prospers thou layest it not to heart when God withholds the rain from the ground thou art affected when he withholds the dew of heaven from thy soul thou regardest it not why art thou so good a husband for thy body and so bad for thy soul is not the soul of greater concernment Do these outward things really go to the making up of thy happiness or is not the maintaining of communion with God of much greater concernment if thou losest a days work in the field thou art troubled but hast thou not lost many a days work in the congregation and heard many a Sermon and madst little use of it and is this nothing to thee oh my God this bewitching world this crafty devil and this deceitful heart of mine hath conspired my ruine and without thy assistance will accomplish it oh my folly that I should so affect what I know to be vain and transitory and to signify nothing to my eternal happiness Lord wean me from the world and engage my affections to thy self give me an understanding heart that I may expect no more from the world then it can perform nor spend no more time upon it then it will recompense me for and though the world must have my head and my hands Lord keep my heart disengaged let me lodge none there but my husband Christ Upon the sympathy and antipathy of vegetables 35. Med. WHen I considered the sympathy and antipathy that is observed to be between some vegetables which the Naturalists treat of and the Philosophers call occulta qualitatis for which no reason can be given when some had rather die then live and grow together and others never thrive well excepte they are planted near one to the other the like antipathy we may observe among sensitive creatures where one kinde seeks the destruction of another and others love and delight each in other nay something of this may be seen where is neither life nor sence as in fire and water and the strange simpathy between the loadstone and the iron between the jet and the straw c. This consideration minded me of the strange antipathy between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman mentioned Gen. 3.15 I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed I considered also of the sympathy between Gods own people the former is lively expressed by the antipathy that Naturalists observe to be in the Panther to a man that bears such a perfect hatred to him that he will race out his image if he see it upon a wall In wicked men there is so perfect a hatred to God that they will if they can possibly race out the very image of God whereever they see it They hate every thing that God loves love every thing that he hates they hate every thing that is like him and that for this very reason because it is like him now no reason can be given of this why they should hate this God who is goodness it self who is also their creator and their great benefactor from whom they have their life and breath and being their food and rayment their limbs and sences their health and strength their peace and plenty without whom they cannot speak nor stir nor live a moment and yet this is the case of all wicked men on earth however cross each to other in their principles and contrary in their dispositions if they agree in nothing else yet they agree in this to oppose the power of godliness Herod and Pilate can both consent that innocent Christ shall be put to death though wicked men like snarling dogs are worrying one another yet joyn against the trembling hare so though they worry each other yet all agree against an holy man let a godly man be of never so pleasing a disposition and winning carriage never so open-hearted and open-handed yet this one ingredient holiness spoils all in the worlds account and renders him hatefull and contemptible in their eyes and the grossest drunkard swearer and adulterer shall be preferred before him Christ himself though never man spake like him and no guile was found in his mouth yet a seditious murderer Barrabbas was preferred before him oh the degenerate estate of poor man whither art thou fallen is the chiefest good become the object of thy chiefest hatred and is holiness wherein thou wast created and which is Gods image without which thou canst never be saved become thy scorn and more contemptible then the image of the devil is the devil become the better Master and is his work the better work and will also his wages be the better wages well praise in the parting the time is coming thy judgment will be altered and thou wilt be glad to eat those words that now thou speakest against the power of godliness I know all men are not actually persecutors but no thanks to them they have the same nature and have an aking tooth against holiness but for the preservation of his people the Lord restrains them thus he did Abimelech Gen. 20.6 I withheld thee from sinning against me therefore suffered I not thee to touch her and Laban God said unto him take heed that thou speak not unto Jacob either good or bad Gen. 31.24 viz. neither by flattery nor force by allurement or affrightment to bring him back God spake for him in the heart of his enemy The sympathy also that is amongst the children of God was minded by me they are sons of the same father and heirs of the same inheritance and therefore should be kindly affectioned one to another Rom. 12.10 arctior est copula cordis quam corporis they are brethren in Adam according to the flesh and brethren in Christ according to the spirit they rejoyce with them that do rejoyce and weep with them that weep Rom. 12.15 cum plangentibus plango saith Cyprian cum deflentibus defleo this is that brotherly love which the Apostle bids to continue Heb. 13.1 the communion with God and the communion
for heaven and can no jog of temptation divert thee or make thee settle in a wrong point If so how comes it to pass that thou art so much taken with the worlds glory that not only thy eyes but thy heart goes after it why art thou so bewitched with her smiles and so cast down with her frowns why hast thou so few serious thoughts of God and so few glimps of him even in the ordinances were thy heart in order thou wouldst always have Christ in thine eye both in thy heavenly and earthly imployments and wouldst soon be sensible when the sun of righteousness was either clouded ecclypsed or set upon thee as these flowers are in the like case if thou art why dost thou not mourn and hang the head in his absence as they do in the like case they will another day rise up against thee and condemn thee as being more faithful to their benefactour then thou art to thy husband oh my God I am sensible of my guilt and the faithfulness of these flowers shames me for my unfaithfulness they have but a natural instinct to incline them to their benefactor and own him but I have reason and Scripture yea my vows are upon me and engage me to my husband Christ Lord divert my affections from the world which doth but flatter me to deceive me incline my heart to Christ that would save me and make me happy let neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord nor rend me out of his arms nor draw my affections from him Upon a rose among thorns 37. Med. WHen I beheld and considered how the rose grew and flourished and came to perfection amongst the thorns and prickles that surrounded it and was not hurt but rather defended by them and kept and preserved from their other enemies I thought it represented the Church here in the world for as here there are a thousand prickles for one rose and yet this rose is preserved so in the world it may probably be conjectured there are a thousand wicked men which are compared to thorns for one that is godly the Church in her militant condition while she is in the world is compared to the lilly among the thorns Con. 2.2 as the lilly among the thorns saith Christ so is my love among the daughters these are indeed as the Gibionits pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides yet not altogether useless wicked men are called briars Micah 7.4 the best of them is a briar and the most upright sharper then a thorny hedge and God threatens to fold them together as thorns and burn them as dry stubble Nahum 1.10 Isay 27.4 but these briars are not useless he hedges us about with them that he may keep us in compass he pricks us with these thorns that he may let out ill humours and happy thorns to us if they open a vein for sin to gush out his house of correction is his school of instruction Psal 94.12 whether the rose in the creation was thus guarded and fenced I know not some think these thorns also are a fruit of the curse yet sure I am before the fall the Church was not pestered with such thorns as now it is man before the fall had not the nature and property of thorns but as thorns by Gods providence are made serviceable for the defence of better fruit so the wicked often prove serviceable to the Church and a defence to better men but no thank to them but to the overruling providence of God God preserves his people from their rage and makes them dwell safe by them as lambs among wolves and not only so but makes one wolf to defend them from another or sets one wolf to worry another while the lambs escape the Gibionites though briars and thorns were yet usefull to Israel and the earth helpt the woman and swallowed up the flouds which the dragon cast out of his mouth after her Rev. 12.16 As the Persians and others drink up the floud which the Turk at this day threatens to overwhelm all Christendome with The Philistins though briars and thorns are a defence to David when he was persecuted by Saul and in a great strait being compassed round about by Sauls army in that nick of time they invaded the land and Saul and his army drew back 2 Sam. 23.27 wicked Pharaoh gave entertainment to Jacob and his family and made provision for them in the seaven years famine and David and his fellows were promoted by a wicked man so was Mordicai and the Jewes and the Barbarians shewed Paul no little kindness Acts. 28.2 and sometimes the sheep finde shelter under a thorny hedge yet the nature of wicked men is not to do good but to rent and tear but God alters their nature at least restraineth their rage for his peoples sake The Church of God is as a bush burning but not consumed for when potent Princes have sought their destruction God hath frustrated their designes sometimes by setting the dogs to worry one another the poor hare escapes so Geball and Ammon and the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroy each other when they had decreed to destroy Israel 2 Chron. 20.23 and the counsell could not agree against Paul Act. 23.7 God maintaineth Noah against a world of wicked men and Lot in the midst of Sodom and Israel in Egypt and Mordicai against Haman and all his enemys and oft gives them favour in the eyes of those that were they not restrained would become their mortall enemies and their bloudy persecutors God turning those thorns which would devour them into a defence for them and into a hedge for his peoples security Oh my soul admire the providence and wisdome of God that can bring light out of darkness order out of confusion good out of evill and can turn a curse into a blessing and make his Churches enemies to become their friends thou wast one of those thorns and thy nature was as bad and if God hath taken thee off the stock of nature and planted thee in that choise vine bless his name it was no thanks to thee If now thou art a rose though encompassed by a thousand thorns he will defend thee If thy ways please God thy enemies themselves shall be at peace with thee Pro. 16.7 sin is the only make-bate between God and the soul and if God have a controversy with the sinner all the creatures are presently up in arms to bring in the rebel and wait but for a commission to take away his life but if God be reconciled to thee no enemy can hurt thee no weapon formed against his Church shall ever prosper Esay 54.17 When Jacob had made his peace with God neither Laban nor Esau could quarrel with him though it is thought both came forth with murderous
or Parliaments in armies or Garisons in men or money in food or physick in friends or relations or in any other earthly enjoyment we shall finde disappointments for these are not God but webs of our own weaving nets of our own making which may help to sink us but never to save us yet many men as God complains Esay 59.5 6. they hatch cockatrice eggs and weave spiders webs but their web shall not become a garment neither shall they cover themselves with their work it is too thin to shelter them from a shower of divine justice and too short to cover their nakedness Psal 33.16 17. there is no king delivered by the multitude of an host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength a horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver any by his great strength what then is the result of all but this Jer. 3.23 truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel Psal 121.2 my help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth and as for temporals so for spirituals he that trusts for salvation from any thing but God will ere long finde his mistake and yet how many build their hopes upon a sandy foundation and trust to a broken staff some to Church-priviledges because they are baptized and go to Church they think they must needs go to heaven and that God wrongs them if he do not save them they are like the Jews that though they did steal murther and commit adultery and swear falsly and burn incense to Baal and served other Gods yet they cryed out the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord Jer. 7.4 6 7. when they forgot the Lord of the temple and disobeyed him yet they thought themselves secure but what was Simon Magus the better for his baptismal water when he was still in the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity Is the making of the covenant worth any thing if it be not kept it doth but encrease the guilt and add to their damnation some trust for salvation to a good nature a good disposition a good meaning meer civility common honesty and think it is sufficient I am neither whore nor thief saith one and what then must thou needs be saved do all go to heaven that avoid these sins this is good news for many heathens others trust to humane learning external gifts and parts but the greatest enemies that ever Christ had in the world were men of great learning and profound natural parts the Philosophers of old Scribes and Pharisees yea the Jesuits at this day others trust to a bare profession of religion with the foolish virgins but all this is but to a spiders web oh my soul rest not upon these rotten props or deceitful webs for temporal safety or eternal salvation for they will deceive thee they are not the Lord Jehovah who is thy only refuge lay thy foundation upon that rock that is higher then thee so neither winde nor weather storms nor tempests can molest thee all other foundations are sandy and will down they are Egiptian reeds and will break in thy hand if thou lean upon them trust Gods power and providence and his other attributes for thy temporal preservation and roul thy self upon the merits and righteousness of Christ for thy eternal welfare then wilt thou be happy here and hereafter oh my God pardon my sin and folly in expecting salvation from the hills and from the mountains in trusting to this and that arm of flesh for temporal salvation and leaning upon this and that spiders web for eternal salvation Lord assist me for the time to come to commit both soul and body to thy self who only canst provide for me Upon the painful and laborious Bee 51. Med. WHen I observed the busy and labourious bee how painful and diligent she was in her employment and how industriously she busied her self and how laboriously she toiled and moiled from morning to night in gathering both honey and wax which when she had gotten she was as industrious in the disposal of it I observed how curious how carefull how exquisite she was in furnishing her little cell with the provision she had got by her hard labour in building her combs placing her honey disposing her young ones and feeding them and was so exact in all her labours that the art or wit of man cannot reach her nor erect so exact a fabrick out of such materials so uniform that nothing redundant nothing deficient doth appear and in all her little boxes so exact a symetry doth appear as is admirable to behold and beyond my skill to declare she is so painful and diligent that from morning till night whensoever seasonable weather doth permit she is never idle but either within door or without is busily employed yea the very first day she is placed in her new habitation she rids and cleanseth it decks and adorns it and makes it fit to begin her work and from that day they all join heart and hand as we say in the work and jointly and severally all study and endeavour the common good some order and government also there seems to be among those poor insects not only in their labour where no one is to live idlely but also in resisting the common enemy as we may see how unanimously they set against the idle wasp and at the time of the year against the sluggish drone I observed also in swarming times how unanimously they agreed and followed their leaders where they fled they followed and where they knit or lodged there they aboad also and that no quarrelling nor jarring arise among them yea when one was wronged the other sought revenge I observed also in their work how they gathered honey both from flowers and weeds and as I thought made little difference but extracted the quintescence of them for their own use and that without any wrong to the owner or dammage so far as I could perceive to the hearb or flower these and some such like considerations and observations made me to think it did much resemble a well ordered common-wealth or a well-regulated City Corporation or Community of persons or a family wherein all the members study the common good rather then their own private interest and lay out themselves one for the good of another and be all touched with the sence of others infirmitys and when one suffers all suffer but alass where are such a people to be found that bear such a spirit for the publike good for all seek their own Phil. 2.21 yea Christians themselves that are united each to other in a stricter band then any other community whatsoever are much wanting here and might learn hence a lesson of brotherly love and unity they should be like affectioned one to another and mourn with those that mourn and rejoyce with those that rejoyce Rom. 12.15 they
what cause then hath poor man to hugg such a viper in his bosome that feels so much the sad effects of it which is the cause of all temporal spiritual and eternal miseries which without repentance will cause not only a seperation of the soul from the body but also of the body and soul from God I considered also that though man were subjected to more care and trouble then other creatures were yet if he did his work well he was promised a greater reward and better wages then any other he shall be well paid for his pains and who will not take pains for profit it is fit that man that is promised a kingdome for one days work should work harder then he that hath but ordinary wages yea God hath gracious ends in these afflictions to his people by this means he lets them know their rest is not here and weans them from the love of the world which would undo them who otherwise would with Peter say it is good being here we are travellers and cannot expect rest in a journey or security in an enemies countrey the Samaritans would not entertain Christ because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem Luk. 9.53 and the world will not entertain Gods people because they have their faces heâ—â—enward Christ tells us in the world we shall have tribulation John 16.33 this is not a paradice but a purgatory to the saints we may say of this as one doth of the Straits of Megellan when a man is there which way soever he bends his course the winde will be against him but Christ hath overcome the world and will subject this enemy to us It is a great mistake to take this for our rest yet many do and rest here and it is all the rest they are like to have and a miserable portion it is to those that have the most of it there are none here live free from misery though some sinfully pass away their time idly sorrow will follow sin as the shadow doth the substance and if any can patch up a miserable happiness here yet it is short-lived and they know not whether it will be a day older when death comes eternal miseries will take date oh my soul art thou under suffering and hast no free-day do they come like waves of the sea one in the neck of another thank thy self and thy sin for it these are the fruits of thy beloved lusts when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death Jam. 1.15 never expect to be free from suffering till thou be free from sin when thou smartest by affliction avenge thy self on thy sins and make thy heart smart for sin if sin be not forsaken thy sufferings will be more God will make thee bend or break under his hand but if thy sins be hated and repented despair not at thy troubles it is but the portion of Gods own people Abel began a health and all the saints that ever were are or shall be have pledg'd it round and some have drunk very deep and Christ himself drunk up the very dregs of it but if thou suffer for righteousness sake thou shalt be sufficiently rewarded yea thou maist rejoice and be exceeding glad for great will be thy reward in heaven Mat. 5.11.12 Oh my God thou hast afflicted me less then I deserve help me to patience under thy hand with correction give instruction and let no twig of thy rod be in vain fit my back for the burthen and then lay on what thou pleasest On the difference between a well manured and neglected Orchard 74. Med. WHen I observed the difference between a well-manured well-ordered and well-husbanded orchard and one that was slieghted neglected and carelesly heeded I observed the difference between diligence and negligence in the one I beheld the trees orderly ranked not too near nor at too great a distance carefully prun'd and freed from superfluous branches suckers clensed from moss and other offensive enemies manured dung'd fenced from the violence of cattle and in a word in a comely form and handsome to behold and the fruit answered expectation and made amends for the care and cost but the other was neither handsome to the eye nor profitable to the owner lying open to the beasts of the feild out of order and shape some too thick others too thin overgrown with moss suckers cankers and unprofitable branches the ground over-run with briars brambles nettles docks and other unprofitable weeds and the fruit thus choaked and spoiled proved accordingly by this I saw the difference between a good husband and a bad Solomon tells us the king himself is served by the field Eccl. 5.9 and so doubtless he is by the orchard but then it must be well husbanded Uzziah loved husbandry 2 Chr. 26.10 the orchard yields both meat and drink both food and physick profit and delight is here to be had but not without labour and diligence In all labour saith Solomon there is profit Pro. 14.23 that is all honest labour we should work with our hands the thing that is good some labour diligently to do mischief and take pains to go to hell there is small profit in this work and some as one saith do magno conatu magnus nugas â—gere they do take great pains to small purpose some take as much pains to spend their estate as others do to get it and more pains in the way to hell then others in the way to heaven but diligence even in earthly business is doubtless a commanded duty and negligence is a forbidden sin the one brings profit and the other loss diligence in an orchard brings in more then ordinary profit the Apostle commands those that will not labour that they shall not eat 2 Thes 3.10 paradice that was mans store-house was his work house also those idle persons that have little to do are usually set on a work by the devil for he takes up and employs such wanderers those that like body-lice live upon other mens sweat are not fit to live in a well-ordered common-wealth it is an apostatical command that we labour with our hands that we may be able to give to those that need Eph. 4.28 he shall be poor saith Solomon that dealeth with a slack hand but the hand of the diligent maketh rich Pro. 10.4 doing there must be or the beggar will catch us by the back it follows he that gathereth in summer is a wise son but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame he that lets the offered opportunity slip may haply never recover the loss diligence usually though not constantly is attended with abundance but the sluggard shall be covered with rags we reade Pro. 24.30 that Solomon went by the field of the sluggard and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding and it was grown over with thorns thistles also had covered the face thereof the stone-wall thereof was broken down