,A-S impossible it is (in an ordinary way) for souls to be made fruitful in grace and holiness, without the dews and influences of ordinances, and the blessing of God upon them, as for the earth to yield her fruit without the natural influences of heaven : for look, what dews, showers, and clear shinings after rain are to the fields, that the word and ordinances of God are to the souls of men. " My *' doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew. *' as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon *' the grass," Deut. xxxii. 2. " For as the rain cometh down, and the *' snow from heaven, and watereth the earth, and maketh it bring *' forth and bud; so shall my word be that goeth forth of my ^* mouth," Isa. Iv. 10, 11. And as the doctrine of the gospel is rain, so gospel-ministers are the clouds in which those heavenly va- pours are bound up : the resemblance lies in the following particulars. 1. The rain comes from heaven. Acts xiv. 17. " He gave us *' rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons," ^c. The doctrines of the gospel are also of an heavenly extraction and descent ; they are hea- venly truths which are brought to you in earthen vessels ; things that were hid in God, and come from his bosom, Eph. iii. 8, 9. What Nicodemus said of Christ is, in a proportion, true of every faithful dispenser of the gospel, " Thou art a teacher come from God," John iii. 2. You are not to look upon the truths which ministers deliver, as the mere effects and fruits of their inventions and parts ; they are but the conduits through which these celestial waters are conveyed to you. It is all heavenly, the officers are from heaven, Eph. iv. 12. their doctrine from heaven, Eph. iii. 8, 9. the efficacy and success of it from heaven, 1 Cor. iii. 3. " What I received of the Lord (saith Paul) that have 1 delivered unto you," 1 Cor. xi. 23. The same may every gospel-minister say too. That is the first :
^Q HUSBANDRY SPIRITUALIZED ; OR,
And then, (9.dly^) The rains falls by divine direction and appoint*' ment : " He causes it to rain upon one city, and not upon another,'* Amos iv. 7. You shall often see a cloud dissolve and spread itself upon one place, when there is not a drop within a few miles of it. Thus is the gospel sent to shed its rich influences upon one place, and not upon another ; it pours down showers of blessings upon one town or parish, whilst others are dry like the ground which lay near to Gideon's wet fleece. " To you is the word of this salvation sent,'' Acts xiii. 26. Sent ; it comes not by chance, but by commission and appointment, and it is sent to you by special direction. Ministers can no more go whither they please, than the failing clouds can move against the wind. Paul and Timothy, were two fruitful clouds that sent down many sweet refreshing showers upon every place whither they came. The Lord sent them through Phrygia and Ga- latia, but forbad them to preach the word in Asia, Acts xvi. 6. " And " when they essayed to go into Bithynia, the Spirit suffered them *' not,'' V. 7. But a man of Macedonia appears to Paul in a vision, and prayed him, saying, " Come over to Macedonia and help us," ver. 9- Thus you see how the mystical, as well as the natural clouds are moved according to divine counsel ; and though ministers are not now disposed to their respective places, in such an extraordi- nary way, yet there is still a special hand of the Spirit guiding their motions, which is seen partly in quahfying them for such a people, and partly in drawing out their hearts to elect and call them, and inclining their hearts to accept the c^ll.
3. There is a great deal of diff*erence in the showers of rain that fall upon the earth. Sometimes you have an hasty shower, which makes the ways float, and the streets run, but it is gone presently, tl?e earth hath but little benefit by it ; and sometimes you have a sweet, gentle soaking rain, that moderately soaks to the root, and refreshes the earth abundantly. This is called the small rain and the former, the great rain of his strength, Job xxxvii. 6. So it is in these spiritual showers ; the effects of some sermons (like a sudden spout of rain) are very transient, that touch the heart a little for the present, by way of conviction or comfort, but it fleets away immediately. Jam. i. 23. At other times the gospel, like a settled, moderate rain, soaks to the root, to the very heart. So did that sweet shower which M\, Acts ii. 37. It searched the root, it went to the heart ; the influences of itare sometimes abiding, and do much longer remain in, and refresh the heart, than the rain doth the earth. There be effects left in some hearts, by some sermons and duties, that will never go out of it as long as they live. '* I will never forget thy precepts, for by " them thou hast quickened me," Psal. cxix. 93.
4. The rain is most beneficial to the earth, when there come sweet, warm sun-blasts with it, or after it. This the scripture calls " a clear sinning after rain," 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. by which the seminal
•the heavenly use of earthly things. T?
mrtue of the earth is drawn forth, and then the herbs, flowers, and corn sprout abundantly. So it is with gospel-showers, when the Sun of righteousness opens upon poor souls under the word, darting down the beams of grace and love upon them, whilst they are attending on it, (just as you sometimes see a sweet shower fall while the sun shines out). O how comfortable is this ! and effectual to melt the heart J And as the warm rain is most refreshing, so when the word comes warmly, from the melting affections of the preacher, who imparts not only the gospel, but his own soul with it, 1 Thess ii. 8. this doth abundantly more good than that which drops coldly from the lips of the unaffected speaker.
5, Showers of rain do exceedingly refresh the earth, as a man is refreshed by a draught of water, when his spirits are even spent. O how welcome is a shower to the thirsty ground ! Hence the little hills are said to rejoice on every side, yea, to shout for joy and sing when a shower comes, Psal. Ixv. 12, 18. But never were showers of rain so sweetly refreshing to the thirsty earth, as gospel-showers are to gracious souls. Col. iv. 8. they comfort their very hearts. What joy was there in Samaria, when the gospel came to that place ? Acts viii. 8. It revives the soul, it is mel in ore, melos in aure,jubilum in corde, honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and a very jubilee in the heart.