V^AN a little corn cause men to digest so many difficult labours, and make them wait with invincible patience till the reaping time come .'' Much more should the expectation of eternal glory steel and fortify my spirit against all intercurrent hardships and difficul- ties. It least of all becomes a Christian to be of an hasty and impa- tent spirit. " Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the up- " right in heart,"" Psal. xcii. 11. " Behold the husbandman waiteth," &c. Jam. V. 7. " Be patient, therefore, my brethren, for the coming " of the Lord draws near." There are three great arguments to persuade Christians to a long-suffering and patient frame under suf- ferings. (1.) The example of Christ, Isa. liii. 7. To think how quietly he suffered all injuries and difficulties with invincible patience, is sufficient to shame the best of Christians, who are of such short spi- rits. I have read of one Elezarius, a nobleman, that when his wife wondered at his exceeding great patience in bearing injuries, he thus answered her : You know sometimes ray heart is ready to rise with indignation against such as >vrong me ; but I presently begin to think of the wrongs that Christ suffered ; and say thus to myself ; Al- though thy servant should pluck thy beard, and smite thee on thy face, this were nothing to what the Lord suffered : he suffered more and greater things ; and assure yourself, wife, I never leave off think- ing on the injuries done to my Saviour, till such time as my mind be still and quiet. To this purpose it was well noted by Bernard, speak- ing of Chrisfs humiliation, Was Christ the Lord of glory thus hum- bled and emptied of his fulness of glory ? And shall such a worm as I swell ? (2.) The desert of sin, Lam. iii. 39. " Why doth the hving " man complain .?" It was a good saying of the blessed Greenham ; when sin lies heavy, affliction lies light. * And it is a famous instance which Dr. Taylor gives us of the duke of Conde. I have read (saith he) when the duke of Conde had voluntarily entered into the incom- modites of a religious poverty and retirement, he was one day spied and pitied by a lord of Italy, who, out of tenderness wished him to be more careful and nutritive of his person. The good duke answer- ed. Sir, be not troubled, and think not that I am ill provided of con- veniences ; for I send an harbinger before me, that makes ready my lodgings, and takes care that I be royally entertained. The lord asked him who was his harbinger ? He answered, the knowledge of
* Dr. Taylor's great Examplar, p, 103.
106 HUSBANDllY SPIRITUALIZED ; Oil,
ioayself, and the consideration of what I deserve for my sins, which is eternal torments ; and when with this knowledge I arrive at my lodgv ings, how unprovided soever I find it, methinks it is ever better than I deserve. (3.) And as the sense of sin, which merits hell sweetens present difficulties, so (to come home to the present similitude) do the expectations and hopes of a blessed harvest and reward in heaven. This made Abraham willing t9 wander up and down many years as a stranger in the world ; for he looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. The hopes of such a harvest is en- fxjuragement enough to work hard, and wait long : Yet some Chris- tians are so impatient of it, that they would fain be reaping before the time : but as God hath, by an unalterable law of nature appointed both the seasons of seed-time and harvest (which are therefore called the appointed weeks of the harvest) Jer. v. 24. and these cannot be hastened ; but when we have done all that we can on our part, must wait till God send the former and the latter rain, and give every natu- ral cause its effect; so is it in reference to our spiritual harvest ; we are appointed to sweat in the use of all God's appointments ; and when we have done all, must patiently wait till the divine decrees be accomphshed, and the time of the promise be fully come ; " In due *' time we shall/eap, if we faint not." To which patient expectation and quiet waiting for the glory to come, these following considerations are of excellent use.
1. As the husbandman knows when the seed-time is past, it will not be long to the harvest ; and the longer he waits, the nearer still it is : so the Christian knows, " It is but yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry," Heb. x. 37. " And *' that now his salvation is nearer than when he first believed," Rom, xiii. 11. What a small point of time is our waiting-time compared with eternity ? Yet a few days more, and then comes the long ex^ pected and welcome harvest.
2. The husbandman can find other work to do before the reap- ing time come ; he need not stand idle, though he cannot yet reap. And cannot a Christian find any work to do for God till he come to heaven ? O there is much work to do, and such work is only proper to this season ! You may now reprove sin, exhort to duty, succour the distressed ; this is good work, and this is your only time for such work ; the whole of eternity will be taken up in othev employments. " I think it meet (saith Peter) as long as I am in this tabernacle, to *^ stir up your minds, knowing shortly that I must put off this taber- " nacle," 2 Pet. i. 13, 14. q. d. I know I have but a little time to work among you ; I am almost at heaven'; and therefore am willing to husband this present moment as well as I can for you. O Chris- tians ! you need not stand idle ; look round about you upon the mul- titude of forlorn sinners ; speak now to them for God ; speak now to God for them ; for shortly you shall so speak no more ; you shall see them no more till you see them at Christ's bar ; God leaves
THE HEAVENLY USE OF EAKTHLY THIXCS. 107
vou here for their sakes, up and be doing : if you had done all you were to do for yourselves and them, he would have you to heaven im, mediately ; you should not wait a moment longer for your glory.