grievous tryals and sufferings upon the Churches for this very end that those which are but chaff i. e. empty and vain Professors may be such winds as these be separated from his people The Church increases two wayes and by two divers means extensively in breadth and numbers and intensively in vigour and power peace and prosperity cause the first sufferings and adversity the last and well may a day of persecution be called a winnowing day for then were the people of God tossed to purpose as corn in the siâ—ve though nothing but chaff be lâ—st thereby Of such a winnowing day the Prophet speaks Amos 9. 9 10. I will sift the house of Israel among all Nations like as corn is sifted in a sieve yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth all the sinners of my people shall die q. d. I will cause great agitations and tossings among you by the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians into whose Countryes you shall be disperst and scattered yet I will so govern those your dispersions by my providence that not one good grain one upright soul shall eternally perish but the sinners of my people the refuse stuff that shall perish To the same purpose speaks another Prophet Zeph. 1. 1 2. Gather your selves together or as some read fan your selves yea fan your selves before the decree bring forth and the day pass as the chaff He doth not mean that the time shall pass as the chaff but there is a day of affliction and distress coming in which the wicked shall pass as the chaff before the wind and yet notwithstanding all these winnowings upon earth much chaff will still abide among the corn therefore God hath appointed another day for the winnownig of the world even the day of judgment in reference to which it is said Psal. 1. 4 5. The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous i. e. God hath a day wherein he will fift the world like corn in a sieve and then the wicked shall appear to be but chaff which God will eternally separate from his wheat I will not strain the similitude but fairly display it in these seven particulars The chaff and wheat grow together in the same field and upon the same root and stalk In this wicked men are like chaff who not only associate with the people of God but oftentimes spring up with them in the same families and from the same root or immediate Parents Mal. 1. 2. was not Esau Iacobs brother yet the one was wheat the other chaff Instances of this are infinite The Husbandman would never endure the husks chaff and dry stalks to remain in the field if it were not for the good corns sake he would quickly set fire on it but that the corn is among it which he highly prizeth and be assured God would never suffer the wicked to abide long in this world were it not for his ownâ—â—act that were dispersed among them Except the Lord had such a remnant dispersed in the world he would quickly set fire to the four quarters and make it like Sodom Isa. 1. 9. The chaff is a very worthless thing the Husbandman cares not what becomes of it and of as little worth are wicked men Prov. 10. 20. The heart of the wicked is little worth The heart is the principal part of the man and yet that 's but chaff no worth in it his lands his cloaths c. are worth somewhat but his heart is worth nothing Though chaff in it self be nothing worth yet it is of some use ot the corn whiles 't is standing in the field the stalk bears up the ear and the chaff covers the grain and defends it from the injury of the weather Thus God makes wicked men of use to his people in outward society they help to support and protect them in this world Rev. 12. 16. The earth helped the woman i. e. worldly men for carnal ends helpt the Church when a flood of persecution was poured out The Church often helps the world it receives many benefits from the people of God and sometimes God over-rules the world to help his Church When the chaff and wheat are both brought forth and held up to the wind in one sieve they fall two wayes the wheat falls down upon the floor or sheeâ— the chaft is carried quite away So although for a time godly and ungodly abide together yet when this winnowing time comes Gods wheat shall be gathered into his garner in heaven the chaff shall go the other way Mat. 3. 12. If there be any chaff among the corn it will appear when it is sifted in a windy day it cannot possibly escape if it be well winnowed much more impossible it is for any wicked man to escape the critical search of God in that day the closest hypocrite shall then be detected for God will judge the secrets of men 2 Cor. 16. He will then bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the heart I Cor. 4. 5. Lastly after corn and chaff are separated by the winnowing wind they shall never lye together in one heap any more The wicked shall see Abraham and Isaac and Iacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God but themselves thrust out there is no chaff in heaven REFLECTIONS AM I an empty vain Professor that want the pith and substance of real godliness then am I but chaff in Gods account though I grow among his corn the eye of man cannot discern my hypocrisie but when he comes whose fan is in his hand then how plainly will it be detected Angels and men shall discern it and say Lo this is the man that made not God his hope how shall I abide the day of his coming Christ is the great heart-Anatomist things shall not be carried then by names and parties as they are now every one shall be weighed in a just balance and a Mene Tekel written upon every false heart great will be the perspicuity of that trial my own conscience shall joyn with my Iudg and shall then acknowledg that there is not one drop of injustice in all that Sea of wrath and though I am damned yet I am not wronged the chaff cannot stand before the wind nor I before the judgment of Christ. Is there such a fanning time coming why do not I then sift my heart every day by serious self-examination no work more important to me and yet how much have I neglected It O my soul thou hadst been better imployed in searching thine own estate in reference to that day than in prying sinfully into the hearts and censuring the conditions of other men judge thy self and thou shalt not be condemned with the world the work indeed is difficult but the neglect dangerous were I within a few dayes to stand
to the following Discourse The Apostle's scope in the context being to check and repress the vain glory and emulation of the Corinthians who instead of thankfulness for and an humble and diligent improvement of the excellent blessings of the Ministry turn'd all into vain ostentation and emulation one preferring Paul and another Apollos in the maan time depriving themselves of the choice blessings they might have received from them both To cure this growing mischief in the Churches he checks their vanity and discovers the evil of such practises by several Arguments amongst which this is one Ye are God's Husbandry q. d. Whar are ye but a field or plot of ground to be manured and cultivated for God and what are Paul Apollo and Cephas but so many work-men and labourers imployed by God the great Husbandman to plant and water you all If then you shall glory in some and despise others you take the ready way to deprive your selves of the benefits and mercies you might receive from the joint Ministry of them all God hath used me to plant you and Apollo to water you you are obliged to bless him for the Ministry of both and it will be your sin if you despise either If the work-men be discouraged in their labours 't is the field that loses and suffers by it so that the words are a similitude serving to illustrate the Relation 1. Which the Churches have to God 2. Which God's Ministers have to the Churches The relation betwixt God and them is like that of an Husbandman to his ground of tillage The Greek word signifies Gods Arable or that plot of ground which God manures by the ministry of Pastors and Teachers It serves to illustrate the relation that the Ministers of Christ sustain to the Churches which is like that of the Husbands servants to him and his fields which excellent notion carries in it the perpetual necessity of a Gospel-Ministry For what fruit can be expected where there are none to till the ground As also the diligence accountableness and rewards which these labourers are to give to and receive from God the great Husbandman All runs into this That the life and imployment of an Husbandman excellently shadows forth the relation betwixt God and his Church and the relative duties betwixt its Ministers and members Or more briefly thus The Church is God's Husbandry about which his Ministers are imployed I shall not here observe my usual Method intending no more but a Preface to the following Discourse but only open the particulars wherein the resemblance consists and then draw some Corrolaries from the whole The first I shall dispatch in these twenty particulars following The Husbandman purchases his fields and gives a valuable consideration for them Ier. 32. 9 10. So hath God purchased his Church with a full valuable price even the precious blood of his own Son Act. 20. 28. Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased or acquired with his own blood O dear-bought inheritance how much doth this bespeak its worth or rather the high esteem God hath of it to pay down blood and such blood for it never was any inheritance bought at such a rate every particular elect person and none but such as are comprehanded in this purchase the rest still remain in the devils right Sin made a forfeiture of all to justice upon which Satan entred and took possession and as a strong man armed still keeps it in them Luke 11. 21. but upon payment of this sum to justice the Elect who only are intended in this purchase pass over into God's right and propriety and now are neither Satans Acts 26. 18. nor their own 1 Cor. 6. 19. but the Lord 's peculiar 1 Pet. 2. 6. And to shew how much they are his own you have two possessives in one verse Cant. 8. 12. My vineyard which is mine is before me Mine which is mine Husbandmen divide and separate their own Lands from other mens they have their Land-marks and boundaries by which propriety is preserved Deut. 27. 17. Prov. 22. 28. So are the people of God wonderfully separated and distinguisht from all the people of the earth Psal. 4. 3 The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself and the Lord knoweth who are his 2 Tim. 2. 19 It is a special act of grace to be inclosed by God out of the waste howling wilderness of the world Deut. 33. 16. This God did intentionally in the decree before the world was which decree is executed in their sanctification and adoption Corn-fields are carefully fenced by the Husbandman with hedges and ditches to preserve their fruits from beasts that would otherwise over-run and destroy them Non minus est virtus quam querere parta tueri It is as good Husbandry to keep what we have as to acquire more than we had My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill and he fenced it Isa. 5. 1 2. No inheritance is better defended and secured than the Lords inheritance Psal. 125. 2. As the mountains are round about Ierusalem so the Lord is round about his people So careful is he for their safety that he createth upon every dwelling place of mount Sion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence Isa. 4. 5. Not a particular Saint but is hedged about and inclosed in arms of power and love Iob 1. 10. Thou hast made a hedge about him The Devil sain would but by his own confession could not break over that hedge to touch Iob till Gods permission made a gap for him Yea he not only makes an hedge but a wall about them and that of fire Zech. 2. 5. Sets a guard of Angels to encamp round about them that fear him Psal. 34. 7. and will not trust them with a single guard of Angels neither though their power be great and love to the Saints as great but watches over them himself also Isa. 27. 2 3. Sing ye unto her a vineyard of red wine I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day Husbandmen carry out their Compost to fertilize their arable ground they dung it dress it and keep it in heart and in these Western parts are at great charges to bring lime and salt water sand to quicken their thin and cold soyl Lord let it alone this year also till I shall dig about it and dung it and if it bear fruit well if not cut it down Luke 13. 8. O the rich dressing which God bestows upon his Churches they are costly fields indeed drest and fertilized not only by precious Ordinances and Providences but also by the sweat yea bloud of the dispensers of them You Londoners saith Mr. Lockier are trees watered choicely indeed 't is storied of the Palm-tree
waste So when Churches grow formal and fruitless the Lord removes his Gospel-presence from them plucks up the hedge of his protection from about them and layes them open as waste ground to be over-run by their enemies Ier. 7. 12. Go to Shiloh and see what I did unto it What is become of those once famous and flourishing Churches of Asia Are they not laid waste and trodden down by infidels And now go to saith the great Husbandman I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard I will pull up the hedge thereof and it shall be laid waste Isa. 5. 5. Thus you see the Allegory opened in its particulars from the whole I shall present you with these five ensuing Corrolaries The First Corrolary How great then are the dignities and priviledges of the Churches of Iesus Christ whom he hath appropriated to himself above all the people of the earth to be his peculiar inheritance The rest of the world is a waste wilderness all other places how pleasant soever in respect of their natural amaenity and delights are truly enough called the dark places of the earth dismal solitary cells where Ziim and Iim Bitterns Cormorants and every doleful creature dwells But the Church is the Paradise of the earth a garden enclosed Cant. 4. 12. in whose hedges the Gospel-birds chirp and sing melodiously Cant. 2. 12. Its beds are beds of spices Cantt 6. 2. and betwixt its pleasant banks a Christal River of living water runs Rev. 22. 1. The streams whereof make glad the City of god in the midst thereof the Lord himself delights to walk O Sion with what pleasures dost thou abound If Bernard were so ravished with the delights of his Monastery because of its green banks and shady bowers and herbs and trees and various objects to feed his eyes and fragrant smells and sweet and various tunes of birds together with the opportunities of devout contemplation that he cryed out admiringly Lord what delights dost thou provide even for the poor How much more should we be ravished with Sion's glory for beautiful for scituation is mount Zion Of whom it may much more truly be said what a Chronicler of our own once said of England that it is the fortunate Island the Paradice of Pleasure the Garden of God whose valleys are like Eden whose hills are as Lebanon whose springs are as Pisgah whose Rivers are as Iordan whose wall is the Ocean and whose defence is the Lord Iehovah Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee Who can count the priviledges wherewith Christ hath invested his Churches O let it never seem a light thing in our eyes that we grow within his blessed inclosure How sweet a promise is that Exod. 19. 5. Ye shall be to me a peculiar treasure above all people for all the earth is mine The Second Corrolary Hence it follows That spiritual barrenness is a great reproach and shame to Christians Shall God's Husbandry which is so planted watered fenced filled with favours and mercies be like the barren heath in the desert Surely it should be said of every soul that grows here as the Historian saith of Spain that there is nihil infructuosum nihil sterile nothing barren or unfruitful in it God's vineyard is planted in a very fruitful hill Isa. 5. 1. And surely they that are planted in the house of the Lord should flourish in the Court of our God they should bring forth fruit even in old age to shew that God is upright Psal. 92. 13 14. They are created in Christ Iesus unto good works which God hath ordained they should walk in Eph. 2. 10. They are married unto Christ that they might bring forth fruit to God Rom. 7. 4. An empty branch is a dishonour to the root that bears it a barren field to the Husbandman that owns it God cannot endure that in his fields which he suffers in the wilderness The third Corrolary If the Church be God's Husbandry then there is such a special gracious presence of the Lord in his Churches as is not to be found in all the world beside Where may you expect to find the Husbandman but in his own fields there lyes his business and there he delights to be And where may we expect to find God but in the Assemblies of his Saints He walks amongst the golden Candlesticks Rev. 2. 1. I. will walk among you saith he and be your God 2 Cor. 6. 16. Upon this account the Church is called Iehovah Shamah the Lord is there Ezek. 48. ult You may see the footsteps of God in the creatures but the face of God is only to be seen in his Ordinances Hence Psal. 27. 4. David long'd for the Temple that he might see the beauty of the Lord. Now what is beauty but a symetry and proportion of parts In the works of Creation you see one attribute manifested in one thing and another in another thing but in the Sanctuary you may see beauty even in all the attributes of God displayed there And indeed we find in Scripture such astonishing expressions about the visioâ—s of God in his Church that in reading them a man can see little difference betwixt it and heaven for as the Church is called heaven Mat. 25. 1. so its description is like that of heaven Heb. 12. 22 23. You are come to the heavenly Ierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels c. And Rev. 4. 22. They shall see his face and his name shall be written in their foreheads And v. 24. The Saints are represented standing nearer to the throne of God than the Angels themselves Hence also Ordinances are called Galleries in which both Saints and Angels walk beholding the glory of him that sits upon the throne Zech. 3. 7. If you will keep my wayes I will give you Galleries to walk in among them that stand by The Fourth Corrolary If the Church be God's Husbandry then those that be imployed in Ministerial work ought to be men of great judgment and experience in soul affairs for these are the labourers whom God the mystical Husbandman imploys and entrusts about his spiritual Husbandry Should Husbandmen imploy ignorant persons that neither understand the rules nor proper seasons of Husbandry how much would such workmen damnifie and prejudice him he will not imploy such to weed his fields as know not wheat from tares or to prune his trees that think Midsummer as fit for that work as December much less will God He qualifies all that he sends with wisdom for their work His workmen approve themselves workmen indeed such as need not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth 2 Tim. 2. 15. As Bezaleel was furnished with wisdom before he was imployed in Tabernacle-work so Christ instructs his servants with skill and insight before they are imployed in Ministerial-work He gives them a mouth and wisdom Luke 21. 15. indues them with power from on high as Christ was filled abundantly with the Spirit for
I was all the while minding another matter Righteous art thou O Lord in all that is come upon us I am now as a Spring shut up that can yield no refreshment to thirsty souls ready to perish Thou hast said to me as once to Ezekiel Son of man behold I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth and thou shalt be dumb This is a heavy judgment but thou must be justified and cleared in it Although men may not yet God if he please may put a lighted candle under a bushel And herein I must acknowledge thy righteousness Many times have I been sinfully silent when both thy glory and the interest of souls ingaged me to speak Most justly therefore hast thou made my tongue to cleave to its roof Little did I consider the preciousness of souls or the tremenduous account to be given for them at the appearing of the great Shepherd I have now time enough to sit down and mourn over former miscarriages and lost opportunities Lord restore me once again to a serviceable capacity to a larger sphere of activity for thee for I am now become as a broken vessel It grieves me to the heart to see thy flock scattered to hear thy people cry to me as once to Ioseph Give us bread for why should we dye in thy presence Thy word is like fire shut up in my bones and I am weary with forbearing O that thou wouldst once again open the doors of thine house that there may be bread enough in thine house for all thy children The Poem When God doth make the heavens above us brass The earth's lke iron Flowers herbs and grass Have lost their fragrant green are turned yellow The brooks are dry the pining cattel bellow The fat and flowry meadows scorcht and burn'd The Countreys mirth is into mourning turn'd The clefted earth her thirsty mouth sets ope Unto the empty clouds as 't were in hope Of some refreshing drops that might allay Her fiery thirst but they soon pass away The pensive Husbandman with his own eyes Bedews his Land because he sees the skies Refuse to do it just so stands the case When God from souls removes the means of grace God's Ministers are clouds their doctrine rain Which when the Lord in judgment shall restrain The peoples souls in short time will be found In such a case as this dry parched ground When this sad judgment falls on any Nation Let Saints therein take up this lamentation O dreadful dark and dismal day How is our glory fled away Our Sun gone down our stars o'recast God's heritage is now laid wast Our pining souls no bread can get With wantons God hath justly met When we are fed unto the full This man was tedious that was dull But they are gone and there remain No such occasions to complain Stars are not now for lights but signs God knows of what heart-breaking times Sure heaven intends not peace but wars In calling home Ambassadors How long did Sodom's judgment stay When righteous Lot was snatcht away How long remain'd that stately Hall When Sampson made the pillars fall When Horsemen and Commanders fly Wo to the helpless Infantry This is a sad and fatal blow A publick loss and overthrow You that so long have wish'd them gone Be quiet now the thing is done Did they torment you ere your day God hath remov'd them out o'th'way Now sleep in sin and take your ease Their doctrine shall no more displease But Lord what shall become of us Our Teacher's gone and left us thus To whom shall we our selves address When conscience labours in distress O who shall help us at our need Or pour in Balm when wounds do bleed Help Lord for unto thee our eyes Do pour out tears our groans our cryes Shall never cease till thou restore The mercies which we had before Till Sions paths where grass now grows Be trodden by the feet of those That love thy name and long t' enjoy The mercies they have sin'd away CHAP. IX Seeds dye and rot and then most fresh appear Saints bodies rise more orient then they mere OBSERVATION AFter the seed is committed to the earth it seems to perish and dye as our Saviour speaks Iohn 12. 24. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it brings forth much fruit The death of the Corn in the earth is not a total death but only the corruption or alteration of it for if once the seminal life and vertue of it were quite extinguisht it could never put forth blade or ear without a miracle Yet because that alteration is a kind of death therefore Christ here uses it as a fit illustration of the resurrection And indeed there is nothing in nature more apt to illustrate that great mystery What a fragrant green and beautiful blade do we â—ee spring up from a corrupted seed how black and mouldy is that how beautiful and verdant is this APPLICATION EVen thus shall the bodies of the Saints arise in beauty and glory at the resurrection They are sown in dishonour they are raised in glory they are sown natural bodies they are raised spiritual bodies 1 Cor. 15. 43 44. The Husbandman knows that though the seed rot in the earth yet it will rise again And the believer knows That though after his skin worms destroy his body yet in his flesh he shall see God Iob 19. 25 c. and the resemblance betwixt the seed sown and springing up and the bodies of the Saints dying and rising again lyes in these following particulars First the seed is committed to the earth from whence it came so is the body of a Saint earth it was and to earth it is again resolved Grace exempts not the body of the best man from seeing corruption Rom. 8. 10. Though Christ be in him yet the body is dead that is sentenced to death because of sin Heb. 6. ult It is appointed for all men once to dye Secondly The seed is cast into the earth in hope 1 Cor. 9. 10. Were there not a resurrection of it expected the Husbandman would never be willing to cast away his Corn. The bodies of Saints are also committed to the grave in hope I Thes. 4. 13 14. But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning those which are asleep as them which have no hope for if we believe that Iesus dyed and rose again even so also them which sleep in Iesus shall the Lord bring with him This blessed hope of a resurrection sweetens not only the troubles of life but the pangs of death Thirdly the seed is cast into the earth seasonably in its proper season So are the bodies of the Saints Ioh. 5. 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age as a shock of corn cometh in in its season They alwayes dye in the fittest time though sometimes they seem
ponder this great question whether those things whereon I depend as my best evidences for the life to come be the real or only the common works of the Spirit whether they be such as can now endure the test of the Word and abide a fair tryal at the bar of my own conscience Come then my soul set the Lord before thee to whom the secrets of all hearts are manifest and in the awful sence of that great day make true answer to these heart-discovering queries for though thou canst not discern the difference betwixt these things in another yet thou mayest and oughtest to discern it in thy self for what man knows the things of a man save the spirit of man that is in him First Is my obedience uniform am I the same man in all times places and companies or rather am I not exact and curious in open and publick remiss and careless in private and secret duties sincere souls are uniform souls Psal. 119. 6. the hypocrite is no closet-man Mat. 6. 5. Secondly Doth that which I call grace in me oppose and mortifie or doth it not rather quietly consist with and protect my lusts and corruptions true grace tollerates no lust Gal. 5. 17. No not the bosom darling-corruption Psa. 18. 23. Thirdly Doth that which I call my grace humble empty and abase my soul or rather doth it not puff it up with self-conceitedness all saving grace is humble grace 1 Cor. 15. 10. But the soul which is lifted up is not upright Hab. 2. 4. Lastly Canst thou my soul rejoyce and bless God for the grace imparted to others and rejoyce if any design for Christ be carried on in world by other hands or rather dost thou not envy those that excel thee and carest for no work in which thou art not seen But stay my soul it is enough If these be the substantial differences betwixt special and common grace I more than doubt I shall not endure the day of his coming Whose fan is in his hand Do not those spots appear upon me which â—re not the spots of his children Wo is me poor wretch the characters of death are upon my soul Lord add power to the form life to the name to live practise to the knowledge or I perish eternally O rather give me the Saints heart than the Angels tongue the poorest breathing of thy Spirit than the richest ornaments of common gifts let me neither deceive my self or others in matters of so deep and everlasting consequence The Poem IN Eastern Countreys as good Authors write Tares in their springing up appear to sight Not like it self a weed but real wheat Whose shape and form it counterfeits so neat Though 't would require a most judicious eye The one from t'other to diversifie Till both to some maturity be grown And then the difference is eas'ly known Even thus hypocrisie that cursed weed Springs up so like true grace that he will need More than a common insight in this case That saith this is not that is real grace Ne're did the cunning Actor though a slave Array'd in princely robes himself behave So like a King as this doth act the part Of saving grace by its deep hellish art Do gracious souls melt mourn and weep for sin The like in hypocrites observ'd hath been Have they their comforts joyes and raptures sweet With them in comforts hypocrites do meet In all religious duties they can go As far as Saints in some things farther too They speak like Angels and you 'l think within The very spirit of Christ and grace hath bin They come so neer that some like Isaac take Iacob for Esau this for that mistake And boldly call their eyes with his being dim True grace hypocrisie and duty sin Yea many also Iacob like imbrace Leah for Rachel common gifts for grace And in their bosoms hug it till the light Discover their mistake and cleer their sight And then like him confounded they will cry Alas 't is Leah curs'd hypocrisie Guide me my God that I may not in stead Of saving grace nurse up this cursed weed O let my heart by thee at last be found Sincere and all thy workings on it sound CHAP. XIII Fowls weeds and blastings do your corn annoy Even so corruptions would your grace destroy OBSERVATION THere are amongst many others three critical and dangerous periods betwixt the seed-time and Harvest The first when corn is newly committed to the earth all that lyes uncovered is quickly pickt up by the birds and much of that which is but slightly covered is stockt up as soon as it begins to sprout by Rooks and other devouring fowls Mat. 13. 4. but if it escape the fowls and gets root in the earth yet then is it hazarded by noxious weeds which purloin and suck away its nourishment whilst it is yet in the tender blade If by the care of the vigilant Husbaâ—dman it be freed from choaking weeds yet lastly as great a danger as any of the former still attends it for oftentimes whilst it is blowing in the ear blastings and mildews smite it in the stalk which cuts off the juice and sap that should ascend to nourish the ear and so shrivels and dries up the grain whilst it is yet immature whereby it becomes like those ears of corn in Pharaohs vision which were thin and blasted with the East-wind or like the ears the Psalmist speaks of upon the house top wherewith the reaper filleth not his arms APPLICATION TRue grace from the infancy to the perfection thereof conflicts with far more greater dangers amongst which it answerably meets with three dangerous periods which marvellously hazard it So that it is a much greater wonder that it ever arrives at its just perfection For 1 no sooner hath the great Husbandman disseminated these holy seeds in the regenerate heart but multitudes of impetuous corruptions immediately assault and would cetainly devour them like the fowls of the air did not the same arm that sowed them also protect them It fares with grace as with Christ its Author whom Herod sought to destroy in his very infancy The new creature is scarce warm in its seat before it must fight to defend its self This conflict is excellently set forth in that famous Text Gal. 5. 17. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would By flesh here understand the corruption of nature by original sin and the sinful motions thereof by spirit not the soul or natural spirit of man but the Spirit of God in man viz. those graces in men which are the workmanship of the Spirit and therefore called by his name The opposition betwixt these two is expressed by lusting i. e. desiring the mutual ruine and destruction of each other for even when they are not acting yet then they are lusting there is an opposite
the prejudice of his truth O what rich grace is here that in a general Shipwrack mercy should cast forth a line or plank to save me that when millions perish I with a few more should escape that perdition Was it the Fathers good pleasure to bestow the kingdom upon a little flock and to make me one of that number What singular obligations hath mercy put upon my soul the fewer are saved the more cause have they that are to admire their Saviour If but one of a thousand had been damned yet my salvation would have been an act of infinite grace but when scarce one of a thousand are saved what shall I call that grace that cast my lot among them The Poem HE that with spiritual eyes in Autumn sees The heaps of fruit which fall from shaken trees Like storms of hailstones and can hardly find One of a thousand that remains behind Methinks this Meditation should awake His soul and make it like those trees to shake Of all the clusters which so lately grew Upon these trees how few can they now shew Here one and there another two or three Upon the outmost branches of the tree The greatest numbers to the pound are born Squeez'd in the trough and all to pieces torn This little handful's left to shadow forth To me Gods remnant in this peopl'd earth If o're the whole terrestrial globe I look The Gospel visits but a little nook The rest with horrid darkness overspread Are fast asleep yea in transgressions dead Whole droves to hell the devil daily drives Not one amongst them once resists or strives And in this little heaven-inlightned spot How vast an interest hath Satan got But few of holiness profession make And if from those that do prosess I take The self-deluding hypocrites I fear To think how few remain that are sincere O tax not mercy that it saves so few But rather wonder that the Lord should shew Mercy to any quarrel not with grace But for they self Gods gracious terms embrace When all were Shipwrackt thou shouldst wonder more To find thy self so strangely cast ashore And there to meet with any that can tell How narrowly they also scap'd from hell The smaller numbers mercy saves the higher Ingagements lye on thee still to admire Had the whole species perish'd in their sin And not one individual saved bin Yet every tongue before him must be mute Confess his righteousness but not dispute Or had the hand of mercy which is free Taken another and pass'd over me I still must justifie him and my tongue Confess my maker had done me no wrong But if my name he please to let me see Enroll'd among those few that saved be What admiration should such mercy move What thanks and praise and everlasting love CHAP. IV. Dead barren Trees you for the fire prepare In such a case all fruitless persons are OBSERVATION AFter many years patience in the use of all means to recover a fruit Tree if the Husbandman see it be quite dead and that there can be no more expectation of any fruit from it he brings his ax and hews it down by the root and from the Orchard it s carried to the fire it being then fit for nothing else he reckons it imprudent to let such a useless tree abide in good ground where another might be planted in its room that will better pay for the ground it stands in I my self once saw a large Orchard of fair but fruitless trees all rooted up rived abroad and ricked up for the fire APPLICATION THus deals the Lord by useless and barren Professors who do but cumber his ground Mat. 3. 10. And now also the ax is laid to the root of the trees therefore every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire And Luke 13. 7. Then said the dresser of the vineyard Behold this three years I came seeking fruit on this â—ig-tree and find none cut it down why cumbereth it the ground These three years alluding to the time of his Ministery he being at that time entring upon his last half year as one observes by harmonizing the Evangelists so long he had waited for the fruit of his Ministery among those dead-hearted Iews now his patience is even at an end cut them down saith he why cumber they the ground I will plant others viz. the Gentiles in their room This hewing down of the barren tree doth in a lively manner shadow forth Gods judicial proceedings against formal and empty Professors under the Gospel and the resemblance clearly holds in these following particulars The tree that is to be hewen down for the fire stands in the Orchard among other flourishing trees where it hath enjoyed the benefit of a good soyl a strong fence and much culture but being barren these priviledges secure it not from the fire It is not our standing in the visible church by a powerless profession among real Saints with whom we have been associated and enjoyed the rich and excellent waterings of Ordinances that can secure us from the wrath of God Mat. 3. 8. 9. Bring forth fruits meet for repentance and think not to say within your selves we have Abraham to our father Neither Abraham nor Abrahams God will acknowledge such degenerate children if Abrahams faith be not in your hearts it will be no advantage that Abrahams bloud runs in your veins 'T will be a poor plea for Iudas when he shall stand before Christ in judgment to say Lord I was one of thy family I preached for thee I did eat and drink in thy presence Let these Scriptures be consulted Mat. 7. 22. Mat. 25. 11 12. Rom. 2. 17. ad 25. The Husbandman doth not presently cut down the tree because it puts not forth as soon as other trees do but waits as long as there is any hope and then cuts it down Thus doth God wait upon barren dead-hearted persons from Sabbath to Sabbath and from year to year for the Lord is long-suffering to us-ward and not willing that any should periâ—h but all come to repentance 2 Pet. 3. 9. Thus the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah upon those dry trees who are now smoaking and flaming in hell 1 Pet. 3. 20. He waits long on sinners but keeps exact accounts of every year and day of his patience Luke 13. 7 These three years And Ier. 25. 3. These 23 years When the time is come to cut it down the dead tree cannot possibly resist the stroke of the ax but receives the blow and falls before it No more can the stoutest sinner resist the fatal stroke of death by which the Lord hews him down Eccles. 8. 8. There is no man that hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that war When the pale horse comes