part be not devoured by unprofitable dogs and besure the recreation thou useth be lawfull what is cruel and bloudy may be suspected let it be when true need is and to fit thee for thy general or particular calling oh my God give me wisdome that I may never delight in any thing that offends thee let me not make a mock of sin lest thou call me fool for my labour and laugh at my destruction and mock when my fear comes preserve me from my bloud thirsty enemies especialy from satan that hunts after my soul Upon the labour and pains men take about worldly things 47. Med. WHen I had wearied and almost spent my self in digging delving and moiling in the garden and had unfitted my self for better and more necessary employments I began at last to check my self for it and discourse with my self after this manner vain man what have I been doing or how have I spent my time and my strength is it for heaven or for the earth for my soul or for my body for this life or that to come is there so much pains needful for a little spot of earth which will bring in little if any advantage what pains then is necessary for heaven have I been so prodigal of my time and pains and sweat and labour for this poor empty nothing and yet negligent in the main concern when did I take so much pains for heaven and happiness for Christ and glory as I have done for these trifles when did I sweat thus in Gods service and spend my self thus in doing his work am I working for a better master or is this a more delightful employment or am I like to receive or can I expect better wages then he gives that I work harder and sweat more then I would do in his work and follow my business with more diligence care and industry if the whole world be really worth so much labour pains and industry as I have bestowed upon this little angle this worthless plot of ground what pains doth heaven deserve if to the obtaining the whole world deserves one days hard work sure heaven deserves all the rest good things are not had at easy rates the more excellent the more difficult it is so in earthly enjoyments riches cannot be had without sweat and pain without cark and care nor learning without labour and study and will heaven be had with a wet finger cannot I provide for a few days without all this adoe and can I provide for eternity with less labour will an interest in Christ and a title to glory be had so easily no no doubtless a slow pace will fall short of heaven and the sluggard is never like to come there there must be striving running contending fighting or we shall not obtain the kingdome of heavsn suffers violence and the violent take it by force those only that are carried out with strength of affection after Christ shall enjoy him those are like to have the pearl that will have it at the hardest rates though they sell all to purchase it heaven is had by the violent though the earth be inherited by the meek Mat. 5.6 those that content themselves with the least mercies here as not deserving any cannot content themselves with the greatest portion the world can make up for them because they know there is a better portion laid up for them by their father there is nothing but eternity that can make us absolutely happy or perfectly miserable eternity added to happiness or misery makes it compleat and can I attain the one or avoid the other so easily toylsom days and wearisom nights may make us willing of a change but what good will a change do if it be for the worse and not the better or how can we expect better and not make preparation for it can we expect an harvest that have sown no seed or wages that have done no work can we expect the prize that never run the race or the victory that never entred into the field to fight if we bury our selves and talents in the earth can we expect they will be there improved nay may we not expect a reckoning day when they will be taken from us and given to those that are diligent and will improve them a judging time is coming when our reward will be according to our diligence and our wages according to our work if we sow vanity we shall reap folly if we sow to the flesh we shall of the flesh reap corruption if we sow to the spirit we shall of the spirit reap life everlasting if we trade only in earthly commodities we cannot expect rationally any other gain but what they afford which will never recompence the pains and care and loss we sustain upon that account but if we serve a better Master we may expect better wages oh my soul how justly here maist thou be reproved for thy diligence in trifles and neglect of the substance thou hast not only let the world run away with thy time thy hands and thy head but with thy heart also use the world thou maist but abuse it thou must not but so thou dost when thy affections close with it and thou committest spiritual adultery with it and lodgest it in the room where Christ should lodge in thy earthly business thy heart should be in heaven and thine eye upon Christ if thou be diligent it should be because he commands it and if thou do all in obedience to his command then dost thou engage him to be thy pay-master and maist expect a reward from him even for doing thy own work learn to make some spirituall use of all thy earthly enjoyments then by divine meditation thou maist enjoy heaven upon earth yea extract heaven out of the earth and God out of the creature that must needs be a rich soul that can with the bee extract honey out of every weed and flower oh my God I must confess I have been grossly faulty not only for spending my time and strength upon vanities but letting out my affections on them also Lord suffer me no longer to ramble from thee gather in my scattered affections to thy self Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean let me see more excellency in thee then the world can shew this will engage my heart to thee for ever Upon the dilligence of the spider 48. Med. OBserving the industry diligence and painful labour of the spider a contemptible creature how busy she was in weaving her nets how industriously she plys her work and though oftentimes she meet with disappointments had her work spoiled and her self indangered yet never a whit discouraged or disheartned she begins again this is one of these four things that Solomon had observed in the earth that were little but wise c. the spider that taketh hold with her hands and is in Kings palaces Pro. 30.24 c. she doth her work painfully and curiously spins saith one a finer thred
so prone to sin and so backward to obedience vices naturally spring in thee without help or labour without plowing or sowing and are rank and flourishing but grace thrives not without much ado if at all how comes it to pass that so much seed hath been sown and so little fruit appears but that 't is choakt by trash and rubbish or pickt up by the fowls of the air if the devil by his temptation sows his tares there he need neither weed them nor look after them they grow fast enough of themselves the heart cherisheth and nourisheth them as her own but the hearb of grace grows not so easily A good thought is hardly brought to a good resolution nor a good resolution to a good action these are usually stifled in the womb but the product of sin is much more easy O my soul see that the soil of thy heart be changed and true grace be there planted and the weeds of sin rooted out or thou art still under the curse Oh my God! rather plow me and harrow me and pluck and tear me in pieces by affliction then suffer me to be barren or useless ground be thou the husbandman and my heart will be fruitful and yield her encrease blow upon thy garden and the spices will send forth a sweet smell let the sun of righteousness shine upon it and the dew of heaven water it and let it be planted by thy own hand and fenced about that the wilde boar of the forrest may not devour it and it will be no longer barren speak the word and the work will be done Upon a Bush of thorns 6 Med. OBserving a bush of thorns springing up in a place where I expected better fruit I caused them to be stockt up and put into a gap where a fence was wanting for the securing the garden and the preserving herbs and flowers from damage and detriment this occasioned this following Meditation As these being a fruit of the curse spring up of their own accord without labour or toil so sin and corruption a fruit of the fall do naturally spring up in the soul without any pains and as the earth own these so doth the heart own sin as its own proper product God cursed the earth for mans sake Gen. 3.18 and thorns and thistles it hath since brought forth This made me consider how faithful God is in the execution of his threats as well as of his promises and of how dangerous a nature sin is that produceth such effects how happy we had been if we had not sinned and how miserable by reason of sin Had not man fallen the earth had not been cursed but would have yeilded her encrease probably without labour and pain and man might have solaced himself in the contemplation of God and held communion with his Creator and have had nothing to break his peace with his God My contemplation upon this occasion went further I considered how fitly the Holy Ghost had compared wicked men to thorns Micha 7.4 the best of them is as a briar and the most upright of them is as a thorny hedge 2 Sam. 23.6 the sons of Beliall shall be all of them as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken with hands but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear and they shall be utterly burnt with fire in the same place Thorns as they choak the good seed and nothing can prosper that grows near them so 't is with wicked men a godly man shall not live by them but he shall be molested if not infected by them yea wicked Magistrates themselves and those that sit on the place of Judicature may fitly be resembled to a thorn when the poor sheep comes for shelter he is sure to leave some of his coat if not of his skin behinde him I considered this also was the fruit of the fall otherwise man had not been endued with such noxious qualities whereas now wicked men like the Amorites are as pricks in the eyes and thorns in the sides of every true Israelite These also are the tares which the devil sows amongst Gods wheat to molest it and these are like to grow together till the harvest I considered also that as some use was made of thorns for the defence of better fruit so the wise God doth make some use of wicked men for the good of his people sometimes he makes them his skullions to scoure off their rust and make them brighter whereby they fully themselves and when their work is done they shall be turned off Sometimes they arâ— his rod to afflict his Saints Isa 10.5 Oh Assyrian the rod of my anger c. but when the childe is reformed the rod shall be burnt and sometimes he hath made them a defence for his Church Revel 12.15 16. The earth helpt the woman and swallowed up the floud which the dragon cast out of his mouth after her an example of this we have in David when he was in great distresse compassed about by Saul on this side the mountain and on that side the mountain in eminent danger ready like a trembling partridge to have fallen into the hands of the greedy falcon a messenger came to Saul saying the Philistines do invade the land and he withdrew his army and departed 1 Sam. 23.26 these Philistines were but thorns yet were they a defence to David and his followers and God at last will deal with wicked men as with thorns reserve them for the fire for what good they do to the godly is for ends of their own and not for their sakes the Philistines minded not Davids good nor the King of Assiria Gods peoples reformation nor Haman Mordecai's and the Jews advancement O my soul can God turn a curse into a blessing and can he bring good out of evil and of these thorns make a fence for better fruit admire his wisdome and bless his name hath he done thee good by these thorns whose nature were to do hurt bless him for it he might have made thee the thorn and for the present have stopt a gap with thee and reserved thee to everlasting burning if he hath grafted thee into a better stock and thou bringeth forth better fruit no thanks to thee and if thou seest any as yet retaining their old natures desire not presently their burning though they trouble thee God may make better use of them a persecuting Saul may become a preaching Paul and a wicked Manasseth a true convert or he may make them otherwise serviceable to his people Be not therefore like the disciples that would presently call for fire from heaven upon the inhospitable Samaritans if they perish their misery will come soon enough they may say to thee as sometime a Souldier did to some that upbraided him grudge me not my grapes I am like to pay dear enough for them seeing I must die for stealing them 't is thy wisdome rather to see thou be
not of that number or otherwise thou wilt be reserved for the same condemnation O my God! such as these I was and such I had been hadst thou not made the difference and too much of that nature remains in me to this day Oh that thou wouldst throughly change me plant me into that noble Vine that I may bring forth better fruit yea purge me that I may bring forth more fruit Upon the diligence necessary to be used in a Garden 7. Med. VVHen I considered how much time and pains sweat and diligence is necessary to keep a garden in order and make it that it may answer the expectation of the owner what digging delving and manuring what planting setting sowing fencing weeding watering c. must be used and all little enough and perhaps too little to produce a good crop This Observation made me to reflect upon my own soul and to consider whether ever I had taken so much time or pains or been at so much cost for it the only garden God delights in and the chiefest I should look after as I have been for a little spot of earth here it is the herb of grace should grow and this should be a garden of spices Can. 4.10 This Consideration made me blush at my own folly when I considered how carefull I had been of a poor worthless piece of ground and had bestowed so much pains and cost upon it which yet yielded but a little pleasure and less profit and in the mean time neglected the soul which is of ten thousand times a greater concernment and when also I had considered the fruitfulness of my garden and the barrenness of my own heart I concluded had I bestowed as much time and pains in planting watering and fencing that as I have done in this garden it would have yielded better fruit then I can expect thence Well may I say with the Spouse Cant. 1.6 they made me keeper of the Vineyards but my own Vineyard I have not kept I have not taken Gods counsel Ier. 4.3 break up the fallow ground of your hearts and sow not among thorns and when I considered how unfruitful my heart was I concluded it had not been sufficiently humbled but the seed was sown among worldly cares and fears and discontents and those thorns had choaked it seeing no more fruit appears I considered therefore how needfull it was for God to plow long and deep furrows on my back by affliction that he might come to the root of the weeds and this same thing quieted me under some dark dispensations of providence I considered what a folly it was for a man that will not suffer a weed in his garden and yet will suffer the weeds of sin in his soul though they are far more pernitious to the herb of grace there planted then the most pestiferous weeds in the world can be to the choicest flowers and yet one reigning sin is a greater deformity to the soul then a thousand weeds can be to the fairest garden Oh my soul why art thou so prodigall of time and pains of cost and care of sweat and industry for a very trifle and in the mean time neglect thy greatest concerns thy self thy God and thy eternall happiness when didst thou take so much pains for heaven as thou hast done for the earth why art thou digging and delving in the earth as if happiness were hid under the clods when thou mayest be solacing thy self with thy God God hath not been wanting to thee but thou hast been wanting to thy self he gives thee time to run thy race when thou leavest thy way to run after butterflies which if thou take they will but foul thy fingers Thou hast been pruned and drest by many choice gardiners why yet art thou fruitless lay thy hands to the work tear up those weeds that hinder the flowers Dost thou expect happiness here below why else doth thy affection grovell upon the ground Will a handfull of herbs or a bosome full of flowers give thee content Oh what a poor happiness dost thou take up with Is there no better to be had serve a better master and thou shalt have better wages be a better husband and thy gains will be the greater and sow in a better soil and thou wilt have a better encrease Oh my God! what answer shall I return for all the pains and cost and time thou hast bestowed upon me O Lord how have I slighted thee O heaven how have I undervalued thee how have I suffered the world to bewitch me and steal away my heart from my God divert my thoughts rend my affection from these earthly vanities let me see more excellency in Christ then the world affords then shall I be as covetous for grace as others are for gold and take as much pains for heaven as ever I did for earth and be as zealous for God as others are for sin and improve my time for the spiritual advantage of my soul Upon Birds picking up the seed 8. Med. WHen I had sown my seed in the garden I perceived that which lay uncovered was made a prey to the fowls of the air who pickt it up and devoured it this brought to my minde our Saviours parable of the sower and the seed wherein he discovers the reason why though so much seed be sown so little fruit appears the fault is not in the seed for that is good the good word of God though sometimes the envious man may mix tares with it Neither is the fault always in the sower though sometimes it may for many of them are faithfull and painfull but for the most part it lyes in the ground in the heart where the seed should be entertained we finde here there was but one fourth part good and oh that the one tenth part of those that hear the word were really such some of the ground was high-way ground not fitted and prepared for a crop never plowed deep enough the seed indeed was sown upon it never in it it was never covered or harrowed by Meditation nor set out by consideration and therefore lyes liable to be pickt up by the wicked one who will be one at Church whoever is absent he makes a path-way over the heart and hardens it against the word this makes many so Sermon-trodden that they receive no impression some we finde was sown in stony places where it had little earth and less root these rejoice to hear it at present these have some meltings and some sudden pangs of joy but they are too violent to hold out and like a hasty rain slide away and soak not in and leave but a dew behinde them they are inlightned by a flash of lightning and not by the sun beams they are moved by some external principle as clocks or watches or other engines but the root of the matter is not in them and therefore withers away and comes to nothing like corn on the house-top for when persecution ariseth they are