from their sorrow V It must be observed, that the first-fruits of this harvest are enjoyed even now : for the very scope of the Gospel is not only to "proclaim liberty to the captives; but to give unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them," I say, " beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord ; and that He may be glorified0." But, after all, this is only a foretaste of that which they shall hereafter enjoy, a cluster from Eshcol, an earnest of their future inheritance. The time is coming when they shall reap the full harvest in the fruition of their God, in whose " presence there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore d."]
The connexion between these two periods being marked, I proceed to shew,
II. The certainty and blessedness of this connexion — And, 1. The certainty of it —
[In the natural world the connexion is not sure : every care may have been exercised in preparing the ground, and the best seed may have been sown in it ; and yet, through blast- ing or mildew, or some other unforeseen calamity, the hopes of the husbandman may be disappointed. But in the spiritual world this can never occur. There may be many events which seem unpropitious, and threaten the total destruction of the life of God in the soul: but God will overrule them all for the final accomplishment of his own gracious purposes, agreeably to his own express engagement, that " All things shall work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose e." The untoward circumstances may continue for a considerable length of time ; but God engages, that " though their weeping may endure for a night, joy shall assuredly come to them in the morning f." Extremely beautiful is that promise in the Prophet Hosea: " Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. His goings forth are 'pre- pared as the mornings." The benighted traveller may be ready to imagine that the morning, as it were, will never arrive. But the sun, though as remote as possible from us, will return, and is actually making a progress towards us ; and has its radiance ready prepared to pour it forth, for the benefit of the earth, at the appointed hour. So, in the darkest seasons of desertion is God prepared to lift up the light of his reconciled countenance upon us, and to refresh our souls with his enlightening and in- vigorating beams.]
b Jer. xxxi. 12, 1,3. c Isai. lxi. 1—3. d Ps. xvi. 11.
e Rom. viii. 28. f Ps. xxx. 5. e Hos. vi. 3.
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2. The blessedness of it —
[The joy of the harvestman may be fitly used to charac- terize the Christian's consolations here h : but it will convey no idea of his felicity hereafter ; for all that here he sought and tasted shall there be enjoyed in its utmost fulness : and if the feast of which the prodigal was made to partake, on returning to his Father's house, was so blessed, what must the banquet be which is prepared for us above ! Verily, in comparison of that, the sublimest happiness of man on earth is no more than as a twinkling star to the meridian sun. To attempt to speak of the heavenly glory, is only to " darken counsel by words without knowledge :" for, what conception have we of the im- mediate vision of our God in the full effulgence of his glory ? or what idea can we form of that throne and that kingdom which we shall possess above ? Suffice it to say, that all which the blood of Christ could purchase, and all that the love of God can bestow, is the portion reserved for us in the realms of bliss.]