Husbandry Spiritualized, Part 1 · Chapter 5
CHAP. IV.
Spent barren Land you can restore and nourish.Upon the improvement of bad ground.
Decayed Christians God can cause to flourish.
OBSERVATION.
WHen Land is spent out by …illage, or for want of manuring, the careful husbandman hath many wayes to recover and bring it in heart again. He lets it lye follow to give it rest, and time to recover it self, carries out his sand, lime and compost, to refresh and quicken it again, and in pasture and medow ground, will wash it (if possible) with a current of water, or the float of the wayes after a fall of rain, which is to the earth as a spring of new blood to a consumptive body. He cuts down and kills the weeds that suck it out, and cause them to make restitution of what they have purloined from it, by rotting upon the place where they grew. As careful are they to recover it when it is spent, as an honest Physician is of his patient in a languishing condition, for the knows his field will be as grateful to him, and fully requite his care and cast.
APPLICATION.
AS man's, so God's Husbandry is sometimes out of case, not by yielding too many crops, but too few. The mystical Husbandman hath some fields (I mean particular societies and persons) who were once fragrant and fruitful like a field which God had blessed, but are now decayed and grown barren; whose gleanings formerly, were more than their vintage now; the things that are in them are ready to dye, Rev. 3. 3. 'Tispossible, yea, too common for gracious souls to be reduced to a very low ebb, both of graces and comforts; how low I will not say: Our Brittish Divines tell us, That grace indeed cannot be totally intermitted;Gratia nec totaliter intermittitur, nec finalitur amittit…r.How far true grace in a believer may fail. Actus omittitur, habit…s non amittitur. Actio pervertitur, sides non subvertitur. Concutitur, non excutitur. De…luit fructus, latet succus. Ius ad regnum amittunt demeritorie, non effective. Effectus justificationis suspenditur, at status justificati non dissolvitur,. Suff. Britt. nor finally lost; but there may be an omission of the act, though not an amission of the habit: the act may be perverted, though the faith cannot be subverted; it may be shaken in, though not shaken out; its fruits may fall, but its sap lyes hid in its root; they demerit the loss of the kingdom, but lose it not effectively; the effect of justification may be suspended, but the state of the justified cannot be dissloved.
Certain it is, one that like Paul hath been rapt up with joy, even to the third heavens, and cryed, I am more than a conqueror, who can separate me from the love of God? May at another time lye mourning as at the gates of death, crying, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? One that hath walked in sweet communion with God, sunning himself in the light of his countenance, may afterwards walk in dark ness, and see no light, Isa. 50. 10. He that hath cast anchor within the vail, and rode securely in the peaceful harbour of assurance, may seem to feel his anchor of hope come home to him, and go adrift into the stormy Ocean again, crying with the Church, Lam. 3. 18. My hope is perished from the Lord. His calm and clear Air may be overcast and clouded, yea filled with storms and tempests, lightnings and thunders; his graces, like under-ground flowers in the Winter, may all disappear, and hide their beautiful heads.
To God he may say, I am cast out of thy sight; I know thou canst do much, but wilt thou shew wonders to the dead?
To the Promises he may say, you are sweet things indeed, but what have I to do with you? I could once indeed rejoyce in you, as my portion; but now I doubt I grasped a shadow, a fancy instead of you. To Saints he may say, turn away from me, labour not to comfort me, O do not spill your precious ointment of consolation upon my head, for what have I to do with comfort? to former experiences, he may say in his haft, you are all lyars. To the light of God's countenance, he may say, farewell sweet light, I shall behold thee no more. To Sa…an, he may say, O mine enemy, thou ha…t at last prevailed against me, thou art stronger than I, and haft overcome, To duties and ordinances, he may say, where is the sweetness I once found in you? you were once sweeter to me than the hony comb; but now as tastless, as the white of an egg. O sad relaspe? deplored change! quantum mutatus ab illo?
But will God leave his poor creatures helpless in such a case as this? Shall their leaf fall, their branches wither, their joy, their life, their heart depart? will he see their graces fainting, their hopes gasping, the new creature panting, the things that are in them ready to dye, and will he not regard it? yes, yes, There is hope of a tree if it be cut down, and the root thereof wax old in the earth, yet by the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs, like a plant, Iob 14. 89. This poor declined soul, as sad as it sits at the gates of hell, may rouze up it self at last, and say to Satan that stands triumphing over him, Rejoyce not over me, O mine enemy, for though I fall, yet I shall arise; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me, Mich. 7. 8. He may raise up himself upon his bed of languishing for all this, and say to God, though thou hast chastened me sore, yet hast thou not given me over unto death. He may turn about to the Saints, that have mourned for him and with a lightsome countenance say, I shall not dye but live, and declare the works of the Lord. He may say to the Promises, you are the true and faithful sayings of God, my unbelief did bely you; I said in my hast you were lyars, but I eat my words, I am ashamed of my folly. Surely, O Soul, there is yet hope in thine end, thou mayst be restored, Psal. 23. 3. Thou mayst yet recover thy verdure, and thy dew be as the dew of herbs. For,
Is he not thy father, and a father …ull of compassions and bowels? And can a father stand by his dying Child, see his fainting fits, hear his melting groans, and pitty begging looks; and not help him; especially having restoratives by him that can do it? Surely, as a father pities his own Children, so will thy God pitty thee, Psal. 103. 12, 13. He Will spare thee, as a father spareth his own son that serves him, Mal. 3. 17. Heark, how his bowels yearn? I have surely heard Ephraim bem…aning himself, it not Ephraim my dear son? is he not a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still, I will surely have mercy on him, Ier. 31. 20.
Doth he not know thy life would be altogether useless to him, if he should not restore thee? what service art thou fit to perform to him, in such a condition? Thy dayes will consume like smoak, whilst thy heart is smitten and withered like grass, Psal. 102. 3, 4. Thy months will be months of vanity, they will fly away and see no good, Iob 7. 3. If he will but quicken thee again, then thou must call upon his name, Psal. 80. 18. but in a dead and languishing condition, thou art no more fit for any work of God, than a sick man is for manual labours; and surely he hath not put those precious and excellent graces of his Spirit within thee for nothing; they were planted there for fruit and service, and therefore doubtless he will revive thee again.
Yea, dost thou not think he sees thine inability to bear such a condition long? he knows thy Spirit would fail before him, and the soul which he hath made, Isa. 57. 16. David told him as much, in the like condition, Psal. 143. 7, 8. Hear me speedily, O Lord, for my spirit faileth; hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto those that go down into the pit; q. d. Lord, make hast and recover my languishing soul; otherwise, whereas thou hast now a sick child, thou wilt shortly have a dead child.
And in like manner Iob expostulated with him, Iob 6. 1, 2, 3, 11, 12,. My grief is heavier than the sand of the Sea, my words are swallowed up, for the arrows of the Almighty are within me; and the poyson thereof drinks up my spirits: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me, what is my strength that I should hope? is my strength the strength of stones? or are my bones of brass? So Chap. 7. 12. Am I a Sea, or a Whale? &c. Other troubles a man may, but this he cannot bear, Prov. 18. 14. And therefore doubtless seasonable and gracious revivings will come, He will not stir up all his wrath, for he remembers thou art but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again, Psal. 78. 38. 39. He hath wayes enough to do it, if he do but unvail his blessed face and make it thine again upon thee, thou art saved, Psal. 80. 3. the manifestations of his love, will be to thy soul, as showers to the parched grass; thy soul that now droops, and hanges the wing, shall then revive and leap for joy, Isa. 61. 1. A new face shall come upon thy graces, they shall bud again, and blossom as a Rose; if he do but send a spring of auxiliary grace into thy soul,Gratia gratiam postulat. to actuate the dull habits of inherent grace, the work is done; then shalt thou return to thy first works again, Rev. 2. 4, 5. and sing, as in the dayes of thy youth.
REFLECTIONS.
O this is my very case, saith many a poor Christian; thus my soul languishes and droops from day to day: 'tis good new indeed, that God both can and will restore my soul but sad that I should fall into such a state. How unlike am I to what once I was? Surely, as the old men wept, when they saw how short the second Temple came of the glory of the first, so may I sit down and weep bitterly, to consider how much my first love, and first duties excelled the present▪ For.
Is my heart so much in heaven now, as it was wont to be? Say,A convictive Reflection O my soul! dost thou not remember, when like the beloved Disciple thou layest in Iesus bosome? how didst thou sweeten communion with him? how restless and impatient wast thou in his absence! Divine withdrawments were to thee as the hell of hell: What a burden was the world to me in those dayes! Had it not been for conscience of my duty, I could have been willing to let all lye, that communinion with Christ might suffer no interruption. When I awaked in the night, how was the darkness enlightned by the heavenly glimpses of the countenance of my God upon me? How did his company shorten those hours, and beguile the tediousness of the night? O my soul, speak thy experience, is it now as it was then! No, no, those dayes are past and gone, and thou become much a stranger to that heavenly life. Art thou able with truth to deny this charge? When occasionally I pass by those places, which were once to me as Iacob's Bethel to him; I sigh at the remembrance of former passages betwixt me and heaven there; and say with Iob, Chap. 29. O that it were with me as in moneths past, as in the dayes when God preserved me, when his candle shined upon my head, when by his light I walked through darkness, when the Almighty was yet with me, when I put on righteosness and it cloathed me, when my glory was fresh in me! when I remember these things, my soul is poured out within me.
Is thy obedience to the commands of Christ, and motions to duty, as free and cheerful as they were wont to be? Call to mind, my soul, the times when thou wast born down the stream of love to every duty, if the spirit did but whisper to thee, saying, Seek my face, how did my spirit eccho to his calls? saying, Thy face Lord will I seek, Psal. 27. 8. If God had any work to be done, how readily did I offer my service? Here am I lord, send me. My soul made me as the chariots of Aminadab; love oyled the wheels of my affection, and his commandments were not grievous, 1 Iohn 5. 3. Non tardat uncta rota. There were no such quarrellings with the command, no such excuses and delayes as there are now. No, such was my love to Christ, and delight to do his will, that I could no more keep back my self from duty, than a man that's carried away in a crowd.
Or lastly, tell me, O my soul, dost thou bemoan thy self, or grieve so tenderly for sin, and for grieving the holy Spirit of God, as hou wast wont to do? When formerly I had fallen by the hanbd of a temptation, how was I wont to lye in tears at the Lord's feet, bemoaning my self? how did I hasten to my closet, and there cry like Ezra, Chap. 9. 6. O my God, I am ashamed, and blush to look up unto thee. How did I sigh and weep before him, and like Ephraim, smite upon my thigh, saying, What have I done? Ah my soul how didst thou work, strive, and cast about, how to recover thy self again? hast thou forgotten, how thou wouldst sometimes look up and sigh bitterly; Ah! what a God have I provoked? whjat love and goodness have I abused? sometimes look in and weep, Ah! what motions did I withstand? what a good spirit have I grieved? Ah! my soul thou wouldst have abhor'd thy self, thou couldst never have born it, had thy heart been as stupid and as relentless then as now. If ever a poor soul had reason to dissolve it self into tears for its sad relapses, I have.
But yet mourn not,A supporting Reflection. O my soul, as one without hope. Remember, There is hope in Israel concerning this thing. As low as thy condition is, it is not desperate, it is not a disease that scorns a Remedy; many a man that hath been stretcht out for dead, hath revived again, and lived many a comfortable day in the world; many a tree that hath cast both leaf and fruit, by the skill of a prudent Husbandman, hath been recovered again, and made both flourishing and fruitful. Is it not easier think'st thou, to recover a languishing man to health, than a dead man to life? and yet this God did for me, Ep…. 2. 1. Is any thing too hard for the Lord? Though my soul draw nigh to the pit, and my life to the destroyers, yet he can send me a messenger, one among a thousand, that shall declare to me my uprightness then shall be deliver me from going down into the pit, my flesh shall be fresher than a Childes, and I shall return to the dayes of my youth, Iob 33. 21. Though my flourish, and much of my fruit too be gone, and I am a withering tree; yet as long as the root of the matter is in me, there is more hope of such a poor decayed withered tree, than of the hypocrite that wants such a root, in all his glory and bravery. His Sun shall set, and never rise again; but I live in expectation of a sweet morning, after this dark night.
Rouze up therefore, O my soul, set thy faith awork on Christ for quickning grace, for he hath life in himself, and quickens whomsoever he will, Io…. 7. 38. Stir up that little which remains Rev. 3. 2. Hath thou not seen lively flames proceed from glimmering and dying sparks, when carefully collected and blown up? get amongst the most lively and quickening Christians; as iron sharpens iron, so will these set an edge upon thy dull affections, Prov. 27. 17. Acts 18. 15. But above alL, cry mightily to the Lord for quickening, he will not despise thy cry. The moans of a Distressed Child, work upon the bowels of a tender father. And be sure to keep within thy view, the great things of eternity, which are ready to be revealed; live in the believing and serious contemplations of them, and be dead if thou canst. 'Tis true, thou hast reason enough from they condition, to be for ever humbled; but no reason at all from thy God, to be in the least discouraged.
The Poem.
THou art the1Ioh, 15. 1. Husbandman, and I
A worthless plot of21 Cor. 3. 9. Husbandry,
Whom special love did ne'retheless
Divide3Psa. 4. 3. from natures wilderness.
Then did the4Iob 29. 3, 4. Sun-shine of thy face
And sweet5Hos. 14. 5, 6 illapses of thy grace
Like6Hos. 6. 3. April showers, and warming gleams
Distil its dews, reflect its beams.
My dead7Ier. 2. 3. affections then were green,
And hopeful8Cant. 7. 12. buds on them were seen:
These into duties soon were9Acts 9. 11. turn'd
In which my heart within me10Lu. 24. 32. burn'd:
O halcyon dayes! Thrice happy slate!
Each place was1Gen. 28. 16. 17. Bethel, heavens gate.
What sweet discourse! What heavenly2Exod. 34. …9. talk!
Whilst with thee I did daily3Gen. 6. 7. walk!
Mine eyes o'reflow, my heart doth4Psa. 42. 6. sink;
As oft as on those dayes I think.
For5Cant. 5. 6. strangeness now is got between
My God and me, as may be seen
By what is6Rev. 2. 5. now, and what was then;
'Tis just as if I were72 Chr. 17. 3. two men.
My fragrant branches8Psa. 102. 4. blasted be,
No fruits like those that I can see.
Some9Isa. 59. 2. Canker-worm lyes at my root.
Which1Isa. 64. 6. fades my leaves, destroyes my fruit.
My soul is2Psa. 88. 6, 14. banished from thy …ight,
For this it3Psal. 77. 2. mourneth day and night.
Yet why dost thou4Psa. 42. 11. desponding lye?
With5Ion. 2, 4. Ionah cast a backward eye.
Sure in thy God help may be had,
There's precious6Ier. 8. 22. balm in Gilead.
That God that made me spring at first,
When I was barren,7Eze. 16. 4. and accurst;
Can much more easily8Psa. 23. 3. restore
My soul to what it was before.
'Twas9Psal. 88. Haman's 1Iob 14.Iob's 2Psa. 30.and David's case,
Yet all recover'd were by grace.
A word, a3Psa. 80. 3. smile on my poor soul;
Will make it perfect, sound, and whole.
A4Luk. 22. 61, 62. glance of thine hath soon dissolv'd
A soul in sin, and grief involv'd.
Lord, if thou5Ier. 22. 17. canst not work the cure,
I am contented to endure.