Thus also grace springs up in the souls of men to prepare them for glory —
[God, having from the beginning chosen his people to sal- vation, orders every the minutest incident for the accomplish- ment of his own purpose0. All the dispensations of his providence concur for this end ; all the operations of his grace are adjusted with the same view. The first infusion of a prin- ciple of life into our souls is in order to our eternal happiness. All the ordinances, whereby that life is preserved, are for the same end : for this, the word distils as the dew, and the clouds drop fatness ; for this, the very things which seem for a time to retard its growth, are permitted: the gloomy chilling influ- ences of temptation and desertion, are overruled for its final good. When the soul is ripe for glory, " immediately will the sickle be put in :" when we are fully meet for the mansion pre- pared for us, God will receive us to it. Then will Christ, the great husbandman, rejoice in the fruit of his labours p; the ministers also, who laboured under him, will rejoice together with himq; and that promise which our Lord has given us shall be fulfilled1—.]
This is a rich source of comfort to ministers, and of
encouragement to their jieoi^le —
[Ministers, like the husbandman, are scattering the seeds of God's words ; but, through impatience, are often ready to complain that they have laboured in vain. They forget that the seed lies long under the clods before it vegetates, and that much of their seed may spring up, when they have ceased from their labours : they are often discouraged too by the drooping aspect of their people : they would wish them to grow up to a state of perfection at once, and to attain to ripeness without the changes of succeeding seasons ; but it is by such changes that they are brought to maturity s. Well therefore may minis- ters prosecute their work with cheerfulness. Leaving events to God, they should follow the direction given them in the word * — and expect that the promised success shall in due time attend their labours" — . People also, of every description, may receive much encouragement. They often are ready to doubt whether " the root of the matter be indeed in them :" because their pro- gress is not so rapid as they could wish, they are apt to despond. It is right indeed to examine whether we be really endued with life ; nor should we rest contented with low degrees of growth. Whatever joy we feel in seeing the blade, we should grieve if it made no progress. Thus we should never
0 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. Rom. viii. 28. p Isai. liii. 11.
q 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20. r John iv. 36. s Rom. v. 3—5.
1 Eccl. xi. 5, G. u Isai. Iv. 10, 11.