14

UPON BIRDS PICKING

wither away. Some seed was sown among thorns, and these sprung up, and choked it; the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches are such thorns. And there was but a little good ground, and that also brought forth variously, some an hundred, some sixty, and some thirty fold. Every man cannot excel: we should strive after the highest pitch of godliness, and not content ourselves with a low frame of spirit ; but not despair, though we fall short of it. God accounts it good ground that brings forth any good fruit to maturity. This consideration made me reflect upon my own condition, and call myself to an account what sort of ground my heart was, since so much seed had been sown, and so little fruit appeared.

O my soul, how comes it thus to pass, that thou art barren and unfruitful? how comes it to pass, the seed is lost after so much labour, pains, and care; so much manuring and cultivating? What could God have done more for thee by the way of means, than he hath done? Why then bringest thou forth wild grapes? Art not thou the highway ground? and has not Satan hardened thy heart, that it is become sermon-proof, and ordinance-proof? and does he not pick up the seed which lies loose upon it, and is not covered by meditation? Art not thou a forgetful hearer? and how can that fructify that is thus stolen away ? Or was the seed not sown among stones? no wonder if fruit appear not, where a root cannot be had. Trust not to every stirring of the affections. Herod heard John Baptist gladly, Mark vi. 20, and reformed many things;

but if the stone of the heart be not removed, and a heart of flesh given thee, how can corn be expected upon a rock that was never softened, mortified, or made fruitful? or was it not sown among thorns? didst thou not suffer the thoughts, the cares, the fears of the world, or the love, desire of, or delight in riches, to choke it? When the heart brings forth such fruits, the word cannot prosper. O my soul, if this be thy case, beware of it, and prepare thy heart to receive the seed, and harrow it in by meditation. What good will meat do, if not eaten and digested? or the word, if not sent home to the conscience, and reduced into practice? Empty thy heart of all distrustful cares and fears, break up the fallow ground of thy heart, and sow not among thorns.

O my God, if thou be not the husbandman, there will be no good crop; if thou direct not the plough, there will be no good furrow; if thou bless not the seed and the labour, all is in vain; Paul may plant and Apollos water, but God gives the increase, 1 Cor. iii. 6. If God set not a hand to the work, according to the saying of the Reformer, "Old Adam will be too hard for young Melancthon," and the tares will thrive better than the good seed; man can but speak to the ear, God can speak to the heart. No medicine can heal, if God be not the physician. No food can nourish, if God be not the nurse. Lord, reach my heart, cure my wounds, remove my distempers, empty my soul of froth and vanity, that the water

16

UPON BIRDS PICKING UP THE SEED.

of life may be received. Say to my ears, Ephphatha, Be opened," Mark vii. 34, and they will hear; and to my heart, Be soft, and it will be done; say to these dry bones, Live, Ezek. xxxvii. 4,5. Take my stony heart into thy furnace, or what good will it do to preach to a stone? all the water that falls upon it will be spilt, and all the means of grace lost. Lord, speak the word, and it will be done; command my heart, and it will obey.

Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell and great was the fall of it, Matt. vii. 24-27.

Take heed how ye hear, Luke viii. 18.

We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip, Heb. ii. 1.

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves, James i. 22.

V1.-UPON PLUCKING OFF THE TOPS OF WEEDS.

In a dry season, when the bottles of heaven were stopped, and showers withheld from the earth, so that it was parched and dry, I observed some persons, who could not easily pluck up the roots of weeds, tearing off their heads, which, when they had done, the garden seemed pleasant to the beholders, and gave content for a while to its owners, who imagined there had been a thorough reformation; but not long after, when a shower of rain distilled upon it, the cheat appeared, the weeds sprung up as fresh and flourishing as before, yea, like the hydra, with more heads than at first, thus evincing how partial the reformation was. This observation afforded the following meditation: I thought it much resembled a partial reformation in the soul, when men begin their amendment at the wrong end, or take a wrong course to kill the tree of sin, breaking off a few outward enormities, but leaving the depravity of the heart alone. As might be anticipated, this, when it is watered with Satan's temptations and the world's allurements, and animated with fit occasions and suitable opportunities, springs forth afresh, it may be, with more virulence than before, and thus it appears that even the sins no longer visible were not killed, but laid aside. An evident example we have of

18

UPON PLUCKING OFF

this in Herod, who, convinced by John Baptist's preaching that his courses were not good, relinquished many of his sins, and, it is said, did many things, but still left the principle of sin untouched, to the undoing of his soul. Soon after, accordingly, his wickedness broke out with greater violence than ever, and like a torrent of water, dammed up for a time only, ran more furiously, even to the taking away of John Baptist's head. Thus it is too with many seeming converts, who afterwards prove wicked apostates, and persecute the truth they formerly professed the root of the matter was not in them. Hazael did not believe so much wickedness to lodge in his heart as the prophet spake of, and as afterwards actually appeared. Such apostates are often Satan's most devoted servants, and very hardly, if ever, are reclaimed.

O my soul, how stands the case with thee? Hast thou not weeded thy own garden thus, and rather torn off the tops of thy sins than plucked them up by the root? How comes it else to pass that upon every shower of temptation they are so apt to spring up again. Consider, attentively, if thou wilt not kill sin, sin will kill thee; if the root be dead, the branches will soon wither; but if the root live, the branches will revive. The way to cleanse the stream is to purify the fountain; and heart-reformation is the best way to life-reformation. Hypocrisy within will, like a sore, at length break forth; and a depraved heart will, ere long, vitiate the life also.

O my God, without thy assistance all my endeavours will prove vain; the devil, the world,