thou shouldest not be moved when thy foundation is placed upon so weake a substance but rather prepare for thy death for in a moment thou maist goe to the grave and lye downe in the dust And if the tree fall towards the South or towards the North in the place where the tree falleth there it shall lye If thou hast inclined to the Sunne of Righteousnes and hast extended thy branches in seeking for the beames of his mercy and the influence of his grace to refresh thy soule that thou mightest be enabled to bring forth good fruit then thou shalt have comfort in the end but if thou hast withdrawne thy selfe from the light of Gods countenance and art best pleased in the darke shade of rest and ease never seeking for heavenly blessings then great will be thy fall How can any man thinke for a long time to escape unpunished John 15.2 when God doth take away every branch and hew downe every tree that beareth not fruit Infoecundas vivere diutiùs Scal. in Arist Quae coluntur arbores celeriùs senescere cogimus eas multum operis facere Idem in Theop. See Bishop Juels life Doctor Reynolds and Master Boltons life And yet if the Lord should deferre his speedy execution of judgement against thine evill workes as it is noted that the barren trees live longest and the most fruitfull consume themselves by much bearing representing those holy men which have wasted their strength by their godly labours yet notwithstanding if thou dost persist in impiety thou shalt not be acquitted Job 21.30 but art reserved to the day of destruction Eccles 8.12 Though a sinner doe evill an hundred times and his dayes be prolonged yet it shall not bee well with him neither shall he prolong his daies which are as a shadow because hee feareth not before God Quid tu◠ignoras magnas diu crescere unâ horâ extirpari◠Q Curt. The tree which hath been many yeeres growing up may bee cast downe in an instant Although thou hast been spared for a long time yet vengeance may suddenly overtake thee wherefore let my counsell be acceptable unto thee Dan. 4.27 and breake off thy sins by righteousnesse and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poore if it may bee a lengthening of thy tranquillity The longer thou continuest in thy sinnes the stronger are the cords of vanity thy nature is corrupt of it selfe being as a law in thy members and an inveterate custome of doing evill is as a second nature and both doe warre against the Law of God The young plant that hath been set but a short time may be plucked up with small labour whereas that which hath been fixed divers yeeres cannot be removed without much difficulty If thy corruptions be firmly rooted by ancient residence within thee how canst thou get the dominion over them How wilt thou be able to prevaile against them There is no meanes under heaven whereby thou canst hope for deliverance but only by the favour and love of God Then pray unto him to have mercy upon thee and to make thee the branch of his planting the worke of his hands that hee may be glorified Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord It is hee that doth cause Israel to blossome and bud Isa 27.6 and fill the face of the world with fruit If we had not the dew of heaven we should not have the fatnesse of the earth If we had not the comfortable heat of the sunne we should not have the fruit of the trees without the grace of God there can neither be beginning nor increase of spirituall blessings The bud of a good desire the blossome of a pious resolution the fruit of a vertuous action proceeds from the Lord the readinesse to will the power to performe is the gift of God and doth come from the Father of lights All our labour is in vaine except the Lord gives his blessing It is vaine to rise up early to sit up late to spend the whole day in digging and planting and watering unlesse that he doth cause the worke of our hands to prosper Now being sensible of this our infirmity that we can doe nothing of our selves wee ought to bee the more thankfull in remembring the benefits that we have received from the good will of the Almighty God who hath not left us destitute of any meet helpe whereby we may be fitted to bring forth good fruit Psal 40.5 Many O Lord my God are thy wonderfull workes which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I would declare and speake of them they are moe than can be numbred There are divers things required to make the plants sprout and yeeld their increase as the kindnesse and fertility of the ground and hath not God enriched us with his blessings and refreshed us with his mercies The dropping of the aire and hath he not sent his Word as a sweet showre to satisfie our thirsty soules The changes and seasons of the yeere and hath he not given us a Winter Feigus cohibet intus calorem corroborat Scal. in Theop. wherein to gather strength and prepare for future time and a Summer wherein to shew forth his goodnesse and to produce good fruit The influence of the Sunne and hath not the Sun of Righteousnesse shined clearly unto us and seemed to be even fixed in this our Hemisphere How few bee there that can remember the bright and chearfull morning of this glorious day I pray God to make this one day as a thousand yeeres that never any may see the end of this time untill the end of all things come when time shall be no more Having so constantly enjoyed such excellent blessings Sands trav Laetissimae arberes atque fertilissimae Non fit contrariorum vicissitudo nihil obtundit est aequabilitas Scal. in Theop. let us be fruitfull In Egypt many of the trees beare fruit and most of them their leaves all the yeere in regard there is no contrariety in the aire but alwaies an equality that doth promote and further the trees in their bearing Now wee having uncessantly the happy fruition of all good meanes that may be helpfull unto us ought to abound more and more in good workes and to walk worthy of so great love What could the Lord have done for us that hee hath not done We have been planted as a tree by the waters Jer. 17.8 and that spreadeth out her roots by the river and seeth not when heat commeth but her leafe is green and she is not carefull in the yeer of drought nor ceaseth from yeelding fruit And as the tree is pruned and many of the boughes cut off that the residue may be more fruitfull so the Lord hath corrected and rebuked us that wee might be free from security and learne to amend our lives and walke in obedience Rev. 3.19 Hee doth
the face of the earth boasting that they can doe mischiefe Sinue at first cumbred the earth with thornes If Adam had abode in his integrity the ground should have been freed from this burthen all things should have been common as they were in the beginning of the Gospel Acts 4.32 neither should any man have said that ought of the things that he possessed had been his own But now the blessing is turn'd into a curse Yet even in Gods righteous judgement there is a manifestation of his providence For since by eating the forbidden fruit we are corrupted and that evill root of covetousnesse lies covered in the heart like Achans wedge buried in the earth and we are so farre from that happy communion and overflowing bounty Josh 7.21 Quam arborem conseruisset sub ea legere alium fructum indignum esse Livi. whereby others might partake with us of those things unto which we have most proper right that we rather with Fabius thinke it derogates from us if we plant the tree and another eate the fruit Et sua retinere privatae domus de alienis certare egregiam laudem esse Tacit. Supposing it belongs to private and obscure men to maintaine their owne bounds but to them of dignity to encroach upon the territory and jurisdiction of other men Neque quisquam Ger. manorum proprios sines habet ne potentiores humiliores possessionibus expellant Caesar Ne familiae rixentur cum vicinis ac limites ex litibus judicem quaerant Varro Now it pleased the Lord in the beginning of the disease to ordaine a remedy and when mens desires were so enlarged that they could not looke upon that which was another mans as if it had been their owne but were ready to transgresse by injurious intrusion Then to prevent discord and enmity and to set limits to our greedy appetite he did cause these thornes to spring up which in succeeding times might be most usefull and commodious as well to withstand the insatiate avarice of them who would devoure that which pertaines unto their neighbour as also for the quiet fruition of the portion which is justly due unto us Testudinem ubi collecta in suum tegimen est tutam ad omnes ictus video esse c. Livi. that as the Torteise is safe while it keeps within the shell but such parts of it as are put forth become subject to harme and danger so we be culpable by exceeding the lot that is falne to us but are free and secure containing within our proper bounds Wheresoever then that we see these thornes whether in the confines or adjoyning to the walkes and other divisions of this our plantation we may be put in mind of Gods curse that did produce them And not only by viewing the thornes but likewise by observing the barrennesse of the earth Exossatus ager Persius wherein we are to fixe our trees which hath lost its prime vigour and strength that God gave unto it to bring forth the tree yeelding fruit after his kind So that no usefull tree will prosper therein without much culture and labour and cost but of it selfe it can multiply briers and weeds Nil nisi cum spinis gramen habebit ager Ovid. which are for the most part hurtfull and prejudiciall unto us It was just with God when man did withhold the most acceptable fruit of obedience from him and did-bring forth bitter clusters and grapes of gall Deut. 32.32 that the ground should likewise detaine its increase from sinfull man being cursed for his sake who by his sinne turn'd Paradise into a desart And now beholding the earth out of which he was taken rejected of God Heb. 6.8 whose end is to be burned he may acknowledge it to be a fit receptacle for himselfe in his death who for his wickednesse deserves to be rooted out of the land of the living Ac saepe videas laetam nitentemque arborem si in locum alterum transferatur succo terrae deterioris elanguisse Macrob Adam in the beginning was a tree of righteousnesse planted in a rich and fruitfull soile but afterward he was transplanted into a desolate wildernesse where we his branches are shot forth and now what good fruit can be expected from us The seed doth partake of the property of that land into which it is transported man is become vaine and unprofitable the earth is corrupt and filled with violence for all flesh hath corrupted his way upon the earth Gen. 6.11 Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth Can any acceptable fruit arise from sinfull man Many times we may discerne the outward surface of the ground is green and flourishing though soone parched in the heat of the yeere but searching into the hidden part Soli superficies aestu facilè siccatur Scal. in Theop. in which the root should bee dilated and spread both for the better establishing of the tree Plus alimenti consequitur ex profundo planta firmius haeret c. Idem and that the moisture might from thence be derived unto the uttermost boughes outmost branches where meeting with the outward warmth it might be concocted and ordered for the strengthening of the tree and bringing forth pleasant fruit I say if we digge into that part of the land which is covered we shall soon meet with not only a dead but a killing earth which cannot afford any good nutriment unto that which is placed therein Even such is the condition of man There may be an outward forme of godlinesse an appearance of religion some shew of piety but let them try and prove themselves and inquire into the hidden man and they shall find as much want of deepnesse of earth for this heavenly plant of grace as there was for the good seed of the Word Mat. 13.5 the stony ground resisted that and our hearts of stone doe withstand this Yea the most perfect doe acknowledge that sinne dwelleth in them and there is a law in their members Rom. 7. warring against the law of their mind Translatu facta est melior quae noxia quondam in patriâ Alciat Pierius And as that Persian fruit was poyson in its owne soile but being removed into another country became safe and usefull so we abiding in our estate of nature have no good thing dwelling in our flesh but being changed and altered by the working of the Spirit we may fructifie and become profitable yet we ought alwaies to be sensible of our corruptions remaining within us which doe encumber our faith being as a strange and forraine plant not growing so readily not thriving so speedily as our carnall lusts doe that prevaile against us and overtop this grace with vanities and being thus oppressed we ought to pray unto the Lord who is able to bring a cleane thing out of an uncleane to break up the fallow ground of our hearts putting his law into
land yet Gods messengers who doe carry these clusters into the heavenly Canaan shall for ever enjoy the felicity of that better Country If we take the Church to be the Vineyard as it is oft-times called then we must consider every true beleever to be a Vine unto which he may well be likened Ut ex eâ fluat quod nimium est Scal. in Theop. For as in graffing of the Vine it was usuall to let the stocke in regard of the aboundant moisture to bleed divers dayes before the Cyons was fastened thereunto so there is a time of mourning before the Lord doth put joy into the heart We doe first lay apart all filthinesse and superfluity of naughtinesse before we receive the ingraffed word This is the weakest of all plants and must be sustained by the sides of the house Psal 128.3 Jamjam contingit summum radice flagellum Catul. Qualiter aequaevo sociatam palmite vitem Ultuus amat Stati as David speaketh or by some wall or frame or such like stay or else be joyned to some tree so we being feeble and infirme in our selves are supported by the favour and goodnesse of God Such as make flesh their arme or trust to any outward help 2 Kin. 7.17 doe as Joram did who leaned upon the hand of that man which was soone trodden downe That shore and strength upon which they rested may suddenly be taken away from them Si quid attigerit ultrò amabit quidem viriosius amplexabitur c. Tertul. The Vine being thus weake in it selfe doth by the tendrels or small strings seeke to catch hold upon any thing it doth touch and to grasp it fast Ut se erigat claviculis suis quasi manibus c. Cicero Adeo ramos string it ut crasse scere prohibeat Scal. that it may be sustained thereby Thus we being sensible of our owne frailty should apprehend the gracious promises and rich mercies of Almighty God and adhere unto Christ by a lively faith Gen. 32.26 Jacob would not let the Angel goe except he blest him so we by applying the merits of our Redeemer unto our soules doe receive a blessing from the Lord. When wee doe tie our selves unto our Creatour by the cords of love which is the bond of perfectnesse as a Sacrifice unto the Altar we shall be kept from falling and the Serpent shall not have power to fold himselfe about us who are so neerely united to our heavenly Father The Vine-tree is not fit for any use but onely to beare fruit shall wood be taken thereof to doe any work or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessell thereon Ezek. 15.3 An unfruitfull Christian is the most unprofitable creature that is a heavie burthen to the earth a cumbrance to the ground no better than the wild gourds in the pot a vexation to the righteous soule and a stumbling block to the wicked Other trees may beare fruit upon the young sprigs that did shoot out in the former yeere but this doth exceed them all bringing forth grapes upon the new branches in the same yeere in which they did proceed from the body of the Vine thereby teaching us even in the very beginning of our profession to become fruitfull and profitable in our conversation running the waies of Gods Commandements Psa 119.32.60 and without delay making haste to keep his Statutes How can they that have neglected so great salvation and deferred to returne unto the Lord expect that he should heare them when in affliction they seeke him early seeming fervent in prayer when they first begin to call upon his Name and cry unto him O God make speed to save us O Lord make haste to help us whereas they during their whole life it may be these forty yeers long have grieved the good Spirit and erred in their hearts putting the evill day of Gods judgement and the good day of true repentance far from them But there is fruit of a better rellish to be gathered from the Vine if that be prevented by the frost Gelatione cohibita in sequenti anno duplum dabit Scal. in Theop. and hindred from bearing one yeere in the following yeere it will recompence that losse by a twofold restitution If we have been as trees without fruit we must not still persist in impiety and live to the lusts of men but labour to redeem the time by abounding alwaies in the worke of the Lord that as Ahimaaz over-ran Cushi 2 Sam. 18.23 who was sent before him so we may supply by our diligence and chearfull obedience what was wanting in time And as Saint Paul who was last called 2 Cor. 11.5 was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles so we in spirituall endowments and glorious reward may bee made equall unto them who entred the worke before our selves Where the fruit of this tree is most esteemed In agro Aureliano vina excellentissima Nulla vinea vetula sed c. Ibid. they doe not suffer any old Vines to grow but replenish the ground with new whose fruit is most acceptable thereby teaching us to put off the old man and to be renewed in our mind putting on the new man Ephes 4.23 which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse The Lord satisfieth our mouth with good things Psal 103.5 so that our youth is renewed like the Eagles And the Lord satisfieth our soule with his mercy so that his graces are revived and repaired in us by the worke of the quickning Spirit John 2.8 He turned the water into wine at the marriage of Cana in Galile and hee sends the comfortable showers Initia vini esse aquea Ibid. that doe moisten and cherish the roots of the Vine causing them to produce their fruit in which there is a blessing Hee turneth our sorrow into joy Isa 65.8 our weeping into rejoycing John 16.20 He maketh the barren woman to be a joyfull mother of children and hee maketh the barren heart to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit Psal 113. and giveth wisedome and all heavenly blessings liberally above that which wee can aske or thinke Our lot is falne to us in a good ground we are planted in a fertile soile we receive the best gifts from the open hand of a bountifull Father Now as the Vine doth draw much vertue and nourishment out of the earth Necesse est eam multum quoque trahere Ibid. that it may produce abundance of goodly clusters and great plenty of large leaves and long branches so we should derive much strength and power from that fulnesse which is in Christ that wee may bee complete and furnished unto every good worke being fitted to performe any holy duty being prepared to suffer any triall or affliction which the Lord shall be pleased to impose upon us As upon the Vine there be great store of grapes joyned together in
the houshold of faith Let our tongue be our glory in praising God And as the leaves of the tree of life were for the healing of the Nations so let our words be seasoned and tempered with wisdome and love that they may reforme what is evill and minister grace unto the hearers As there is some similitude in the shape and proportion of the tongue Fert folium linguae fert poma fimilima cordi De Persico pomo in Alciato and of the leaves of divers trees as also of very many herbs which therefore have their names given them from that part so there is some resemblance betweene them For as we can discerne what tree it is that we behold by the leafe although there be no fruit remaining upon it at that time so we can understand the disposition of the heart by the words of the mouth for out of the aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Yet because the tongue is a world of iniquity and an unruly evill we can distinguish more perfectly by workes than words As in the parable of the two Sonnes the first said he would not go into the Vineyard but afterward he went the second said I goe Sir and went not the younger did bear the broader leaves Mat. 21.29 but the elder had the goodliest fruit Words are soone uttered and many times rashly spoken like the leaves that in a short time come to their utmost extent whereas the fruit of action is more deliberate and requires much space and leisure to bring it to perfect maturity Although we should for want of that bridle which David speakes of Psal 39.1 sin with our tongue Junipero spina pro folio est Plin. Soc. and our words be like the leaves of the Juniper sharp and piercing as a thorne yet let not our deeds be like the fruit of the Pine Cadentibus ex alto fâ—uctibus si fortè feriatur saepe interficitur c. Imag. deor wounding or killing such as are under them when they fall Let not our anger by lying longin our hearts be as the kernell and seed of malice which will grow up into deadly hatred Where there is a faire promise of amendment and reformation there may be some forbearance The fig-tree was spared for a time Luke 13.7 in regard it was green and flourishing whereas if it had beene withered it should have beene cut downe in the first yeere and not suffered untill the fourth Uvae contra vehementisfimum solis ardorem muniantur Kecker Et contra pluviam et frigus Id. A gentle answer pacifieth wrath even as the leaves protect the fruit from the burning heat of the sun and as they cherish and defend it against stormes when it is young and tender so the truth of our word whereby we are engaged should be a strong motive to produce the reall and absolute performance Otherwise if we have a torrent of words and no actuall discharge of our fidelity if the showers of our deeds be not in some sort answerable to the mighty thunder of our voice we may be likened to that Indian fig-tree Peltae effigiem habet fructum integens crescere prohibiet Scaâ—exer the leafe whereof is as large as a buckler and the fruit no bigger than a beane The consideration of our weake condition may occasion us to bring forth that in our lives which was formerly conceived in our hearts and is come to the birth in our words While we have opportunity let us doe good The time is short the fashion of this world passeth away Esay 64.6 We all doe fade as a leafe and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away Job 13.25 Job compareth himselfe to a leafe driven to and fro Such is our feeble estate here upon earth if God doth blow upon us we are scattered if nipt with the frost of sicknesse Quam mult in sylvis autumni frigore primo lapfa cadunt folia Virg l. 6. Ut nunc canae frigora brumae nudent sylvas Sen. Hippol. or wasted with the winter of age we fall to the ground and yet how few there be that doe remember their latterend but rather in the fall of the leafe they hope for new strength and perfect recovery of former health and never thinke of the fall of the tree it selfe that before this winter be ended thou maist be brought downe to the pit The Lord give us wisdome to lay this to heart and to wait for our appointed change In the conclusion of the yeere behold thine own dissolution in the budding of the spring Terra viret rutilantque suis poma aurea ramis Bal Castil Redit ecce anni melioris origo Sincerus when the trees begin to be apparelled with a fresh beauty when the branches that lately seemed to be dead are again covered with their leaves and adorned with their fruit thou maist observe a strong proofe to confirme thee in thy hope of a glorious resurrection If all other things doe shoote forth for man then shall not man himselfe revive and spring up God who restored a vegetative life to Aarons rod when it was a drie sticke Numb 17. causing it to bring forth buds to bloome blossomes and to yeeld Almonds will much more raise Aaron himselfe from the dead Tamen abdita quaedam vitalis superat vis in radicibus imis et trunco exciso nova vere tepullulat arbos Vida We are joyned unto Christ who is the root in the winter of death our life is hid in him but when the time of refreshing is come we shall be raised to an estate of glory Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust Esay 26.19 for thy dew is as the dew of herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead If we did looke unto the joy that is set before us and by the eye of faith did see that recompence of reward that is reserved for us at that day we would be more industrious in labouring to be filled with the fruits of righteousnesse which are by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God Eccles 11.1 As they that cast their bread upon the waters shall find it after many dayes so they that have brought much fruit unto God in this life shall have it restored unto them at the resurrection of the just Saint Paul speaks of having some fruit among the Romanes Rom. 1.13 not onely because he was an instrument to gather it but also in regard of that gaine and advantage it would bring unto himselfe at the latter end Nothing can deprive us of this best fruit The worme may destory our bodies and the fruit of them and may consume the fruit of the ground The worme of conscience wil torment such as brought forth fruit unto death by unfruitfull workes of darknes but this fruit is committed unto God who is faithfull and able to keepe it against that day 1 Tim. 6.19 Hereby we
lay up in store for our selves a good foundation against the time to come that we may lay hold on eternall life The world may be compared to an Orchard wherein the voluptuous man eats of the fruit with as much haste and greedinesse as was used by the Pharisees in devouring Widowes houses or by the Israelites in eating their quails as if they should never take their fill of delights and pleasures The covetous wretch gathers with as much diligence as may be filling his garments and lading himself but God hath not given him power to eat thereof and when he comes to depart out at the door he is not suffered to carry any part of that with him for which he laboured Only the godly man doth eat with moderation and knowing that as he came in so he shall depart and carry nothing out He distributes to them that cannot help themselves 1 Sam. 30.12 as David gave the figs to the languishing Egyptian which afterward he finds againe for his future benefit He doth exercise himselfe in duties of charity and extends his goodnesse to the Saints that are in the earth and the Lord doth render unto him glory and honour and peace He that hath pitie on the poore lendeth unto the Lord Prov. 19.17 and that which he hath given will he pay him again If God doth account that to be done unto himselfe which is done unto them let us bring forth fruit unto God which like the almes of Cornelius may come up for a memoriall before him The fowles of the aire be as ready to devoure our fruit upon the trees as our seed upon the ground The Pharisees seemed to be full of good fruit but then came the wicked one and tooke it away they gave to the poore but it was to this end that they might have glory of men they had their reward in being applauded here in this world It was not likely that their fruit growing in so publike a place should come to the due perfection Beware of vaine-glory and sinister respects if thou dost perceive any of these fowles to be hovering about thy fruit drive them away Gen. 15. as Abraham did from the carkasses Subdue all evill thoughts and vaine imaginations that may arise in thine heart consider it is God which gives both the will and the deed and all this store that thou hast or givest commeth of his hand and is all his owne 1 Chro 29.16 Such as entertaine any arrogant conceits are not onely robbed of the fruit and comfort of the present duty but by nourishing their impure corruptions they doe endanger the tree it self and may destroy their owne soules For sin doth eat as doth a canker spreading from the crowne of the head to the sole of the foot and entring even to the joints and marrow This is to be cut out of the body and to be cut off in the smaller branches If thine eye offend thee plucke it out if thy right hand offend thee cut it off in what part soever wee can discover any wickednesse wee must take it away by the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God All fleshly lusts are to bee vanquished our carnall members that are upon the earth must be mortified and then whatsoever wee doe shall prosper For if wee have been planted into the likenesse of Christs death Rom. 6.5 wee shall be also in the likenesse of his resurrection If wee alwaies beare about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 then the life also of Jesus shall be made manifest in our body Thus wee have considered how Christ is the root and wee are the branches graffed into him deriving our being in this life and our well-being in the life of grace from his goodnesse and mercy Let us in the next place observe how we our selves are the root and the Word of God the cyons which is put into us that wee may be fruitfull This we are warranted to doe by the testimony of St. James who teacheth us to receive the engraffed word Jam. 1.21 which is able to save our soules Wee may well be compared to the root for as that is the most earthy part of the tree so we by nature are of the earth earthy and have no good thing dwelling in this our flesh Rom. 7. but many sinnes and corruptions that are deeply and strongly rooted within us and therefore may fitly bee resembled unto some wild figge-tree growing in the walls of a building hiding and defacing the beauty thereof The boughes and branches may bee cut and broken off but the root which is wrapped into the stones of the building cannot bee taken away unlesse the walls be thrown down Even so sinne is inwrapped into the joynts and entralls of this our building into our nature and the parts of it and though we may lop off the branches yet the root remaineth while wee carry about this body of death Sinne abideth untill our dissolution The scraping of the house within would not take away the fretting leprosie Levit. 14.45 it must be broken downe Our originall concupiscence cleaveth so close to our nature that it will never leave us untill this earthly house bee demolished As the roots are diffused and spread abroad round about that place where the tree standeth so our corruptions are dilated into every part of the body and faculty of the soule And as the roots are covered in the earth so manifold sins are hidden from the knowledge of men being workes of darknesse The heart is desperately wicked who can know it Jer. 17.9 The wisdome of this world is earthly Jam. 3.17 1 Tim. 6.10 The love of money is the root of all evill yea every sinne is a root of bitternesse which if permitted to spring up will trouble us As Jonah when the weeds were wrapped about his head Jonah 2.5 prayed unto the Lord so wee being infolded with our corruptions must seeke unto God for deliverance He is able to destroy the fruit from above and the roots from beneath Amos 2.9 Isa 5.24 and to turne them into rottennesse and dust that they shall not have dominion over us Such as the root is such are the branches also In the estate of our birth before wee bee changed by the work of the Spirit we are no better than the Crab-tree producing sowre fruit Our best performances are impure and uncleane in Gods sight The Crab-stock is full of thorns so we by nature are subject unto the curse It must be a divine power that can free us from condemnation by renewing us in our minds that wee may bring forth fruit meet for repentance In graffing all the branches that before did flourish are taken off and usually the stocke is cut downe not far from the ground so wee are to be cast downe in acknowledgement of our unworthinesse and to humble our selves as a little childe that we may be
partakers of the divine nature This is intended by the Apostle when he saith James 1. Receive with meekness the engraffed word When the heart is made lowly it will be more ready to receive the Word the Word will be more ready to incorporate into it Wee must not only lay aside our greatest sins our boasting that we could do mischiefe our delight in folly and wickednesse but also all confidence in our owne seeming vertues as of temperance liberality moderation and the like lest we be puffed up thereby See this in Saint Paul who saith Phil. 3.3 wee are the circumcision who have no confidence in the flesh and though he were blamelesse touching the righteousnesse that was in the law yet those things that were gain to him he counted losse for Christ Thus David saith His soule was even as a weaned childe and thus we should bee weaned and estranged from taking any contentment in our owne strength and ability and should put on as the Elect of God holy and beloved humbleness of mind meeknesse and lowlinesse In the next place there is an incision or wound made into the stocke by which it may be made capable and fitting to receive the cyons In like manner we must rend our hearts and open our selves that Christ may enter into our soules Our hearts must be broken and opened like the heart of Lydia that we may receive the Word of life Was Christ wounded for our transgressions and shall not wee be pricked to the heart with sorrow for our former provocations After this we put the cyons into that breach and division that is made in the stocke so after sorrow and humiliation God puts joy into our hearts and his law into our inward parts implanting his graces in our soules and rejoycing over us to doe us good Surculi vis ea est ut in tantillo corpusculo tamen praeponderet arboris viribus totius Non enim arboris prodit sed surculi fructus Scal. in Theoph. Bacon Cent. Although the Cyon be small in the beginning yet it groweth to be a great tree over-ruling the stocke and bringing forth fruit of its owne kind so although the beginning of grace be weak and little like a graine of mustard-seed yet there is a continuall increasing and growing unto more perfection when we yeeld our selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and our members as instruments of righteousnesse not living any longer in sinne but living by the faith of the Sonne of God who loved us and gave himselfe for us that hee might reconcile us who were sometimes alienated and enemies in our minds by wicked workes and delivering us from the power of darknesse might translate us into the Kingdome of his deare Sonne As after graffing the stocke being nigher unto the root than the cyons and still abiding in its proper place where it formerly did prosper is ready to send forth many young twigs that will arrest and anticipate that strength and vertue which should ascend for the nourishment of the cyons and are therefore diligently taken away to prevent that mischiefe So there is a combat betweene the flesh and the spirit the one lusting against the other there is the body of death and the old leaven of corruption remaining within us Our sins and infirmities are continually interposing and hindring us from apprehending the favour and love of God with that strength and fulnesse which wee doe desire and therefore wee must cut off these sprigs with pruning-hookes not suffering sinne to reigne in our mortall bodies and have dominion over us but mortifying the deeds of the body through the Spirit and casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ The Kingdome of God is compared to leaven hid in three measures of meale Luke 13.21 untill the whole were leavened A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump the grace begun should grow strong and powerfull within us the leaven of holiness should work out the leaven of malice If the tree doth not flourish we will impute the cause unto the barrennes of the ground or the want of a good root Crassitie suâ cortex obstat quo minus à terrae humore augeatur acinus non enim transmittitur Scal. in Theop. or the thicknesse of the bark that binds the stocke but not unto the graft it self which did grow very happily before it was converted to this use From whence is it that there is such imperfection weaknesse such backwardnesse in the good way and that our fruits rellish so much of the stocke so little of the graft Comes it not hence that our corruptions and lusts doe still warre in our members and we doe not labour to perfect holinesse in the feare of God O wretched men in whom the Crosse of Christ hath not yet worne out the bitter taste of that first tree The Cyon is taken from the tree of life Every good gift commeth downe from the Father of lights who giveth liberally and upbraideth not Oh that we were enlarged in apprehending and applying what is so freely offered If our hearts were opened wide in holy desires the Lord would fill them with spirituall blessings but wee are straitned in our owne bowels and being in this great strait we are as unable to free our selves as the Prophet was to deliver himselfe out of the belly of the Whale We cannot relieve our selves and vaine is the helpe of man who is subject to the same misery We may not trust to the arme of flesh or ascribe the praise to humane power as Adrian did who wrote over his Hospitall at Lovan Adr. 6. Trajectum me plantavit Lovanium me rigavit Caesar incrementum dedit Ergo Deus nihil fecit Utrecht planted Lovan watered Caesar gave the increase Whereunto it was fitly subscribed by another Therefore God had nothing to doe in this man We know that neither hee that planteth is any thing neither he that watereth but God who giveth the increase So Noah began to be an husbandman and planted a vineyard Gen. 9.20 He is the Husbandman saith our Saviour and we are his husbandry saith the Apostle both which places are to be understood of a Plantation as appeares by the context where it is said John 15.1 That Christ is the Vine and we the Branches whereof hee purgeth some and taketh away others Also there is frequent mention of planting watering 1 Cor. 39. which is some part of countrie labour And then the Apostle concludes We are Gods husbandry wee are Gods building and except the Lord build the house they labour in vaine that build it Except the Lord gives a blessing our paines and industry will be fruitlesse In demanding who built such an house or planted such an orchard we intend not the inferiour workmen but the chief owners at whose expence they