Hebrews 6:7-8

What the apostle had doctrinally instructed the Hebrews in before, in these verses he layeth before them under an apposite similitude. For his design herein is to represent the condition of all sorts of persons who profess the gospel, and live under the dispensation of its truths, with the various events that do befall them. He had before treated directly only of unfruitful and apostatizing professors, whom here he represents by unprofitable ground, and God's dealing with them as men do with such ground when they have tilled it in vain. For the church is a vine or vineyard, and God is the husbandman, John 15:1; Isaiah 5:1-7. But here, moreover, for the greater illustration of what he affirms concerning such persons, he compriseth in his similitude the contrary state of sound believers and fruitful professors, with the acceptance they have with, and blessing they receive from God. And contraries thus compared do illustrate one another, as also the design of him who treateth concerning them. We need not, therefore, engage into a particular inquiry what it is which the word “for,” whereby these verses are annexed and continued unto the precedent, doth peculiarly and immediately respect, concerning which there is some difference among expositors. Some suppose it is the dealing of God with apostates, before laid down, which the apostle regards, and in these verses gives an account of the reason of it, or whence it is they come unto such a woful end. Others, observing that in his whole ensuing discourse he insists principally, if not only, on the state of sound believers and their acceptance with God, suppose he hath immediate respect unto what he had declared in the beginning of the chapter, verses 1-3, concerning his design to carry them on unto perfection. But there is no need that we should restrain his purpose to either of these intentions exclusively unto the other; yea, it is contrary to the plain scope of his discourse so to do. For he compriseth both sorts of professors, and gives a lively representation of their condition, of God's dealing with them, and the event thereof. The reason, therefore, that he gives is not to be confined to either sort exclusively, but extends itself equally to the whole subject treated of.

Hebrews 6:7. Γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα τὸν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς πολλάκις ἐρχόμενον ὑετὸν, καὶ τίκτουσα βοτάνην εὔθετον ἐκείνοις δι᾿ οὕς καὶ γεωργεῖται μεταλαμβάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀδόκιμος καὶ κατάρας ἐγγὺς, ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν.

There is not any firing materially to be observed concerning these words in any translations, ancient or modern. They all agree, unless one or two that openly depart from the text; and which, therefore, are of no consideration. Only δι᾿ οὕς is by the Syriac rendered דְּמֶטולָתְהוּן, “propter quos,” “for whom;” all others read “per quos,” or “a quibus, “ by whom;” only ours mark “for whom” in the margin, which indeed is the more usual signification of διά with an accusative case. But that is not infrequently put for the genitive. And although this be not usual in other authors, yet unquestionable instances of it may be given, and amongst them that of Demosthen. Olynth. 1 cap. 6 is eminent: Καὶ θεωρῖ τὸν τρόπον, δι᾿ ὅν μέγας γέγονεν ἀσθενὴς ὤν τοκαταρχὰς Φίλιππος, “And seeth the way whereby (by which) Philip, who at first was weak became so great.” But into the proper sense of this expression in this place we must inquire afterwards.

Hebrews 6:7. For the earth, which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

Some things must be observed concerning this similitude in general before we inquire into the particulars of it.

1. The ἀπίδοσις, or application of it, is left included in the πρότασις , or proposition of the similitude itself, and is not expressed. A description is given of the earth, by its culture, fruit, or barrenness; but nothing is especially added of the things signified hereby, although those are principally intended. And the way of reasoning herein, as it is compendious, so it is plain and instructive, because the analogy between the things produced in the similitude and the things signified is plain and evident, both in itself and from the whole discourse of the apostle.

2. There is a common subject of the whole similitude, branched out into distinct parts, with very different events ascribed unto them. We must therefore consider both what is that common subject, as also wherein the distinct parts whereinto it is branched do agree on the one hand and differ on the other.

(1.) The common subject is “the earth,” of the nature whereof both branches are equally participant. Originally and naturally they differ not, they are both the earth.

(2.) On this common subject, in both branches of it, the rain equally falls; not upon one more and the other less, not upon one sooner and the other later.

(3.) It is equally dressed, tilled, or manured, by or for the use of sortie; one part doth not lie neglected whilst the other is cared for.

In these things there is an agreement, and all is equal in both branches of the common subject. But hereon a partition is made, or a distribution of this common subject into two parts or sorts, with a double difference between them; and that,

(1.) On their parts;

(2.) Of God's dealing with them. For,

(1.) The one part brings forth “herbs;” which are described by their usefulness, they are “meet for them by whom it is dressed.”'The other beareth “thorns and briers,” things not only of no use or advantage, but moreover noxious and hurtful.

(2.) They differ in the consequent, on the part of God: for the first sort “receiveth blessing from God; ” the other, in opposition unto this blessing from God (whence we may also learn what is contained therein), is first “rejected,” then “cursed,” then “burned.”

Before I proceed to the particular explication of the words, inquiry must be made into the especial design of the apostle in them with respect unto these Hebrews. For here is not only a threatening of what might come to pass, but a particular prediction of what would come to pass, and a declaration of what was already in part accomplished. For by the “earth” he understands in an especial manner the church and nation of the Jews. This was God's vineyard, Isaiah 5:7. Hereunto he sent all his ministers, and last of all his Son, Matthew 21:35-37; Jeremiah 2:21. And to them he calls, “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD,” Jeremiah 22:29. Upon this earth the rain often fell, in the ministerial dispensation of the word unto that church and people. With respect; hereunto Christ says unto them, ποσάκις, “how often would I have gathered thy children,” Matthew 23:37; as here the rain is said to fall πολλάκις, often upon it. This was the earth wherein were the plants of God's especial planting. And these were all now distributed into two parts. 1. Those who, believing and obeying the gospel, brought forth the fruits of repentance, faith, and new obedience. These being effectually wrought upon by the power of God in the new creation, our apostle compares to the earth in the old creation, when it was first made by God and blessed of him. Then, in the first place, it brought forth דֶּשֶׁא; that is, βότάνην, as the LXX. render the word, “ herb” meet for Him that made and blessed it, Genesis 1:11. And these were still to be continued the vineyard of God, a field which he cared for. This was that gospel church gathered of the Hebrews, which brought forth fruit to the glory of God, and was blessed of him.

This was the remnant among them according to the election of grace, which obtained mercy when the rest were blinded, Romans 11:5; Romans 11:7.

2. For the remainder of this people, the residue of this earth, it was made up of two sorts, which are both of them here cast under the same lot and condition. There were obstinate unbelievers on the one hand, who pertinaciously rejected Christ and the gospel; with hypocritical apostates on the other, who having for a season embraced its profession, fell off again unto their Judaism. All these the apostle compares unto the earth when the covenant of God with the creation was broken by the sin of man, and it was put under the curse. Hereof it is said קוֹ׃ וְדַרְדַּר תַּצְמִיחַ, Genesis 3:18; ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους αυνατελεῖ, as the LXX. renders it, the very words here used by the apostle; it “beareth thorns and briers.” Such was this church and people, now they had broken and rejected the covenant of God by their unbelief, earth that brought forth thorns and briers. “The best of them was as a brier, and the most upright of them as a thorn hedge.” Then was the day of their prophets nigh, the day of their visitation foretold by the prophets, their watchmen, Micah 7:4. So God threatened that when he rejected his vineyard it should bring forth briers and thorns, Isaiah 5:6.

And of these unbelieving and apostate Hebrews, or this barren earth, the apostle affirmeth three things:

1. That it was ἀδόκιμος, “rejected,” or not approved; that is, of God. Hereof they had boasted, and herein they continued yet to pride themselves, that God owned them, that they were his people, and preferred above all others. But although God was pleased yet to exercise patience towards them, he had pronounced concerning them in general that they were not his people, that he owned them not. Thorns and briers were come upon their altars, so that both their persons and worship were rejected of God.

2. It was “nigh unto cursing.” And this curse, which it was now very nigh unto, had in it,

(1.) Barrenness; and,

(2.) An unalterable and irrevocable destination unto destruction.

(1.) It had in it barrenness; for this church of the Jews, made up now of infidels and apostates, was represented by the fig-tree cursed by our Savior: Matthew 21:19, “He said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig-tree withered away.” After this time, the gospel having been sufficiently tendered unto them, and rejected by them, there was no more of saving faith, repentance, or obedience, nothing that was acceptable unto God in holiness or worship, ever found amongst them to this day. Many Jews were after this converted, but the church of the Jews never bare any more fruits unto God. And,

(2.) They were devoted unto destruction. The close of the Old Testament, and therein of the immediate solemn revelation of God unto that church, was, that if they received not the Lord Christ after the coming and ministry of Elijah, that is, of John the Baptist, God would “come and smite the earth with a curse,” Malachi 4:6. He would make it a thing anathematized, or sacredly devoted unto destruction, מָחְרָם.

When God first brought them into his land, which was to be the seat of his ordinances and solemn worship, the first town that they came unto was Jericho. This, therefore, God anathematized, or devoted to perpetual destruction, with a curse upon him that should attempt its re-edification, Joshua 6:17. The whole land thereby was alienated from its former possessors, and devoted unto another use, and the place itself utterly destroyed. Jerusalem, and consequently the whole church, was now to be made as Jericho; and the curse denounced was now speedily to be put in execution, wherein the land was to be alienated from their right unto it, and be devoted to desolation.

3. The end of all this was, that this earth should be “burned.” A universal desolation, according to the prediction of our Savior, by fire and sword, representing the eternal vengeance they were liable unto, was to come upon them. This was now approaching, namely, the end of their church and state, in the destruction of the city, temple, and nation.

This was the especial design of the apostle with respect unto these Hebrews; and he adds this scheme or delineation of the present and approaching condition of that apostatized church, to give terror unto the commination that he gave unto unprofitable professors. But whereas all things unto the very last happened unto them as types, and the condition of the churches of the gospel is represented in their sin and punishment; and whereas the things reflected on are such as it is the common and constant concernment of all professors heedfully to consider, I shall open the words in the whole latitude of their signification, as they are peculiarly instructive unto us.

FIRST, The subject of the proposition in the similitude, is the “earth; ” and that which is represented thereby, is the hearts and minds of all those to whom the gospel is preached. So it is explained in that parable of our Savior wherein he expresseth the word of the gospel as preached by seed, and compares the hearers of it unto several sorts of ground whereinto that seed is cast. And the allusion is wonderfully apposite and instructive.

For,

1 . Seed is the principle of all things living, of all things that, having any kind of natural life, are capable of natural increase, growth, and fruit; and whatever they arrive unto, it is but the actuating of the vital seed from whence they do proceed. So is the word of the gospel unto all spiritual life, 1 Peter 1:23. And believers, because of their growth, increase, and fruit, from this vital principle or seed of the word, are called “vines,” “plants of God's planting,” and the like.

2. The earth is the only fit and proper subject for seed to be put into, and alone is capable of the culture or husbandry that is to be used about it. God hath made no other matter or subject to receive the seeds of things that may bring forth fruit; no man casts seed into the air or water. It was of the earth alone that God said, “Let it bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth,” Genesis 11:12. The earth alone hath a passive power to be made fruitful; it hath that matter in it which, being cultivated, disposed, excited, sowed, planted, blessed, may bring forth fruit. So it is with the souls of men with respect unto the seed of the word. Their minds, and they alone, are a subject capable of receiving of it, and improving it. They are the only meet object of divine care and culture . The faculties of our souls, our minds, wills, and affections, are meet to entertain the gospel, and to bring forth the fruits of it; whereof nothing is found in any other creatures on the earth. Hence we are Θεοῦ γεώργιον, 1 Corinthians 2:9, “God's husbandry,” the ground or field that he tilleth; as Christ mystical, comprising all professors, is the vine, and his Father is the husbandman, John 15:1, by whom it is dressed and pruned.

3. The earth by and of itself, in the state wherein it is, brings forth nothing that is good or useful. Upon its first creation it was inlaid and impregnated, by the blessing of God, with all seeds of useful herbs and fruits; but after the entrance of sin, its womb was cursed with barrenness as unto its first usefulness, and it brings forth nothing of itself but thorns, briers, and noxious weeds, at least those in such abundance as to choke and corrupt all the remainders of useful seeds and plants in it. It is, like the field of the slothful, grown over with thorns, and nettles cover the face thereof. Especially it is condemned to utter barrenness if the rain fall not on it; whereof afterwards. And such are the hearts and minds of men by nature. They are dark, barren, unprofitable, and which, without divine culture, will bring forth no fruits of righteousness, that are acceptable unto God. All that of themselves they can bring forth are noxious weeds. Among the weeds of unmanured earth some are painted with alluring colors, but they are but weeds still; and among the fruits of unsanctified minds some may carry a more specious appearance than others, but they are all, spiritually considered, sins and vices still. So, then, the common subject of the similitude is plain and instructive. And we may in our passage observe, that,

Obs. 1. The minds of all men by nature are universally and equally barren with respect unto fruits of righteousness and holiness, meet for and acceptable unto God.

They are all as the earth under the curse. There is a natural difference among men as unto their intellectual abilities. Some are of a far more piercing and sagacious understanding, and of a sounder judgment than others. Some have a natural temper and inclination disposing them unto gentleness, sobriety, and modesty, when others from their constitution are morose, passionate, and perverse. And hereon some make a good progress in morality and usefulness in the world, whilst others lie immersed in all vicious abominations. There are therefore, on these and the like accounts, great differences among men, wherein some are incomparably to be preferred above others. But as to the fruits of spiritual holiness and righteousness, all men by nature are equal and alike; for our nature, as unto a principle of living unto God, is equally corrupted in all. There are no more sparks or relics of grace in one than another. All spiritual differences between men are from the power and grace of God in the dispensation of the word. But we must proceed.

SECONDLY, Of this earth it is said, that it “drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it.” Something is wanting, something must be done to this barren earth to make it fruitful; and this is done by rain. And that is described by,

1. Its communication or application unto the earth, it falls upon it;

2. An especial adjunct thereof in its frequency: it falls often on it;

3. By that reception which the earth is naturally fitted and suited to give unto it, it drinketh it in.

The thing itself is rain. This is that whereby alone the earth, otherwise dry and barren, is impregnated and made fruitful. For, there is therein a communication of moisture, absolutely requisite to apply the nourishing virtue of the earth unto the radical principles of all fruits whatever; and therefore before any rain did fall God caused a vapor to arise, which supplied the use of it, and watered the earth, Genesis 2:6. So the poetexpresseth it:

“Tum Pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus AEther,

Conjugis in greraium laetae descendit, et omnes

Magnus alit, magno commistus corpore, fetus.” Georg, 2:325.

And μ῾ετός is a “wetting shower;” not a storm, not a violence of rain causing an inundation, which tends to barrenness and sterility; nor such as is unseasonable and spoils the fruits of the earth; but a plentiful shower is intended: for ὑετός exceeds ὄμβρος, as Aristotle observes.

1. This rain falls on the ground. And,

2. It is said to fall often or frequently, “iteratis vicibus.” The land of Canaan is commended that it was not like the land of Egypt, where the seed was sowed, and watered with the foot, but that it was “a land of hills and valleys, and did drink water of the rain of heaven,” Deuteronomy 11:10-11. And they had commonly two seasons of it, the former whereof they called יוֹרֶה, Joreh, and the latter מלְקוֹשׁ, Malcosh, Deuteronomy 11:14. The former fell about October, in the beginning of their year, when their seed was cast into the ground, and the earth, as it were, taught thereby, as the word signifies, to apply itself unto the seed, and to become fruitful. The other fell about March, when their corn was grown up, filling the straw and ear for the harvest, as the word probably signifies. Hence it is said, that “Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,” Joshua 2:15; 1 Chronicles 12:15; which was occasioned by the falling of Malcosh, or this latter rain. And that this was in the first month, or March, which was the entrance of their harvest, is evident from hence, in that immediately after they had passed over Jordan, during the swelling of its waters, they kept the passover at Gilgal on the fourteenth of that first month, Joshua 5:10. Whilst they had these rains in their proper seasons, the land was fruitful; and it was by withholding of them that God punished them with the barrenness of the earth, and famine thereon ensuing. Besides these, in good seasons, they had many other occasional showers; as mention is made of the “showers on the mown grass.” Hence it is here supposed that the rain falls πολλάκις, “often,” on this earth. Again,

3. The earth is said to drink in the rain. The expression is metaphorical but common: ῾Η γῆ μέλαινα πίνει. And the allusion is taken from living creatures, who by drinking take in water into their inward parts and bowels. To do thus is peculiar unto the earth. If the rain falls upon rocks or stones, it runs off from them, it hath no admission into them; but into the earth it soaks more or less, according as the condition of the ground is more or less receptive of it. And it is the nature of the earth, as it were, to suck in these moistening rains that fall upon it, until it be even inebriated: Psalms 65:9-10, “Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it,...... Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof; תְּלָמֶיהָ רַוֵּה, “thou inebriatest (or “makest drunk”) “the furrows thereof.”

This is the πρότασις , or proposition of the similitude. The ἀπόδοσις is included in it; that is, the application of it unto the matter in hand. That by the “earth,” the minds and consciences of men are intended, was before declared; and it is as evident what is meant by the “rain.” Yet some suppose that the gifts of the Holy Ghost, before treated of, may be designed by the apostle; for in the communication of them the Holy Spirit is frequently said to be poured out; that is, as water or rain. But,

1. This rain is said to fall often on the earth (yea, upon that earth which continueth utterly barren), in one shower after another. And this can be no way accommodated unto the dispensation of the gifts of the Spirit; for they being once communicated, if they be not exercised and improved, God gives no more showers of them. It is therefore the administration of the word that is intended. And in other places the doctrine of the Scripture is frequently compared unto rain and watering: Deuteronomy 32:2,

“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.”

And where God denies his word unto any people, he says, “Upon them shall be no rain,” Zechariah 14:17. And hence נָטַף, “to drop” as the rain doth, is an expression for prophesying or preaching, Ezekiel 21:2; Amos 7:16; the showers whereof are sometimes more soft and gentle, sometimes more earnest and pressing. And those words, יַעְטֶה מוֹרֶה גּםאּבְּרָכוֹת, Psalms 84:7, because of the ambiguity of the words, and the proportion that is between the things, are rendered by some, “The rain also filleth the pools;” and by others, “The teachers shall be filled with blessings.”

This is that whereby God watereth and refresheth the barren souls of men, that whereby he communicates unto them all things that may enable them to be fruitful; in brief, not to enlarge on the allegory, the word of the gospel is every way unto the souls of men as the rain to the barren earth.

2. This rain is said to fall often on the earth. And this may be considered either with respect unto the especial concernment of these Hebrews, which was laid open before, or unto the ordinary dispensation of the gospel. In the first way it regards and expresseth the frequent addresses made unto the people of the Jews in the ministry of the word, for their healing and recovery from those ways of ruin wherein they were engaged. And so it may include the ministry of the prophets, with the close put unto it by that of Christ himself; concerning which see our exposition on Hebrews 1:1-2. And concerning this whole ministry it is that our Savior so expostulates with them, Matthew 23:37, “How often would I have gathered your children!” And this also he at large represents in the parable of the householder and his vineyard, with the servants that he sent unto it from time to time to seek for fruit, and last of all his Son, Matthew 21:33-37. Take it in the latter way, for the dispensation of the word in general, and the manner of it, with frequency and urgency, is included in this expression. Where the Lord Christ sends the gospel to be preached, it is his will that it should be so “instantly, in season and out of season,” that it may come as abundant showers of rain on the earth.

3. This rain is said to be drunk in: “The earth drinketh in the rain.” There is no more intended in this expression but the outward hearing of the word, a naked assent unto it. For it is ascribed unto them who continue utterly barren and unhealed; who are therefore left unto fire and destruction. But as it is the natural property of the earth to receive in the water that is poured on it, so men do in some sense drink in the doctrine of the gospel, when the natural faculties of their souls do apprehend it and assent unto it, though it work not upon them, though it produce no effects in them. There are, indeed, in the earth rocks and stones, on which the rain makes no impression; but they are considered in common with the rest of the earth, and there needs no particular exception on their account. Some there are who, when the word is preached unto them, do obstinately refuge and reject it; but the hearers in common are said to drink it in, and the other sort shall not escape the judgment which is appointed for them. And thus far things are spoken in general, what is common unto both those sorts of hearers, which he afterwards distinctly insists upon.

The word of the gospel, in the preaching of it, being compared unto rain, we may observe, that,

Obs. 2. The dispensation of it unto men is an effect of the sovereign power and pleasure of God, as is the giving of rain unto the earth.

There is nothing in nature that God assumeth more into his prerogative than this of giving rain. The first mention of it in the world is in these words, “The LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth,” Genesis 2:5. All rain is from the Lord God, who causeth it to rain or not to rain, at his pleasure. And the giving of it he pleads as a great pledge of his providence and goodness. “He left not himself” of old “without witness, in that he did good, and gave rain from heaven,” Acts 14:17. Our Savior also makes it an argument of his goodness that he “causeth his rain to fall,” Matthew 5:45. And whatever thoughts we have of the commonness of it, and whatever acquaintance men suppose they have with its causes, yet God distinguisheth himself, as to his almighty power, from all the idols of the world, that none of them can give rain. He calls his people to say in their hearts, “Let us fear the LORD our God, who giveth rain,” Jeremiah 5:24.

“Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers?” Jeremiah 14:22.

And he exerciseth his sovereignty in the giving of it: Amos 4:7-8, “I caused it to rain upon one city, and not to rain upon another: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water.” And thus is it absolutely as to the dispensation of the gospel to nations, cities, places, persons; it is at God's disposal alone, and he useth a distinguishing sovereignty therein. He sendeth his word unto one people and not to another, to one city and not to another, at one time and not at another; and these are those matters of his whereof he giveth no account. Only some things we may consider, which give us a prospect into the glory of his wisdom and grace herein: and this I shall do in two instances; first, in the principle of his dispensation; secondly, in the outward means of it. As,

1. The principal end which he designeth in his disposal of the dispensation of the gospel in that great variety wherein we do behold it, is the conversion, edification, and salvation of his elect. This is that which he aimeth to accomplish thereby; and therefore his will and purpose herein is that which gives rule and measure unto the actings of his providence concerning it. Wherever there are any of his elect to be called, or in what time soever, there and then will he cause the gospel to be preached; for the purpose of God, which is according to election, must stand, whatever difficulties lie in the way, Romans 9:11. And the election must obtain, Romans 11:7. So the Lord Christ prayed that he would take care of all those that he had given unto him, which were his own by election (“Thine they were, and thou gavest them unto me”), and sanctify them by his word, John 17:17. In pursuit of his own purpose, and in answer unto that prayer of our Lord Jesus, he will send his word to find them out wherever they are, that so not one grain of his chosen Israel shall be lost or fall to the ground. So he appointed our apostle to stay and preach at Corinth, notwithstanding the difficulties and oppositions he met withal, because “he had much people in that city,” Acts 18:9-10. They were his people by eternal designation, antecedently unto their effectual vocation; and therefore he will have the word preached unto them. And in the hard work of his ministry, the same apostle, who knew the end of it, affirms that “he endured all things for the elect's sakes,” 2 Timothy 2:10. That they might be called and saved was the work he was sent upon. For “whom he did predestinate, them he also calleth,” Romans 8:30. Predestination is the rule of effectual vocation; all and only they are so called by the word who are predestinated. So speaks our Savior also,

“Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice,” John 10:16.

He had some sheep in that fold of the church of the Jews; to them, therefore, he preached the word, that they might be gathered unto him. But he had other sheep also, even all his elect among the Gentiles, and saith he, “Them must I gather also.” There is a necessity of it, upon the account of the purpose of God concerning them; and they are to be gathered by hearing of his voice, or the preaching of the word. In that sovereignty, therefore, which God useth in the disposal thereof, causing the rain of the doctrine of his word to fall upon one place and not upon another, at one time and not at another, he hath still this certain end before him; and the actings of his providence are regulated by the purposes of his grace. In what place or nation soever, in what time or age soever, he hath any of his elect to be brought forth in the world, he will provide that the gospel of peace be preached unto them. I will not say that in every individual place where the gospel is preached there are always some of the elect to be saved. For the enjoyments of one place may be occasioned by the work that is to be done in another, wherewith it is in some kind of conjunction: or the word may be preached in a place for the sake of some that are there only accidentally; as when Paul first preached at Philippi, Lydia only was converted, who was a stranger in those parts, belonging to the city of Thyatira in Asia, Acts 16:14-15: and a whole country may fare the better for one city, and a whole city for some part of it, as Micah 5:7. God concealeth this secret design under promiscuous outward dispensations. For he obligeth those by whom the word is preached to declare his mind therein unto all men indefinitely, leaving the effectual work of his grace in the pursuit of his purpose unto himself; whence “they believe who are ordained to eternal life,” and “those are added to the church that are to be saved,” Acts 2:47; Acts 13:48. Besides, God hath other ends also in the sending of his word, though this be the principal. For by it he puts a restraint unto sin in the world, gives a visible control to the kingdom of Satan, and relieves mankind, by sending light into those dark places of the earth which are filled with habitations of cruelty. And by the convictions that he brings thereby on the minds and consciences of men, he makes way for the manifestation of the glory of his justice in their condetonation. Coming and speaking unto them, he leaves them without pretense or excuse, John 15:22. Yet will I not say that God sends the word for any continuance for these ends and designs only. For a short time he may do so; as our Savior, sending forth his disciples to preach, supposeth that in some place their message may be totally rejected, and thereon appointed them to “shake off the dust of their feet as a testimony against them,” or their being left without excuse. But these are but secondary and accidental ends of the word where it is constantly preached . Wherefore God doth not so send it for their sakes alone. But on the other side, I dare say, that where God doth not, by any means, nor in any degree, send his word, there are none of his elect to be saved; for without the word they can neither be called nor sanctified. And if any of them are in any such place as whereunto he will not grant his word, he will, by one providence or other, snatch them like brands out of the fire, and convey them under, the showers of it. And this we find verified by experience every day. The gospel, therefore, doth not pass up and down the world by chance, as we know in how great variety it hath visited and left nations and people, ages and times; nor is the disposal of it regulated by the wisdom and contrivance of men, whatever their work and duty may be in the dispensation of it; but all this, like the falling of the rain, is regulated by the sovereign wisdom and pleasure of God, wherein he hath respect only unto the purpose of his own eternal grace.

2. He doth, according to his sovereign pleasure, call and send persons to the preaching of it unto those to whom he will grant the privilege thereof. Every man may not upon his own head, nor can any man upon his own abilities, undertake and discharge that work. This is the eternal rule and law of the gospel: “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” But “how shall men call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent? Romans 10:13-15, that is, by God himself: for neither doth the apostle discourse, nor hath he any occasion in that place to discourse, concerning the ordinary call of persons unto an office in the church, whereunto the ministry of the church itself is required; but he treats of preaching the gospel in general unto all or any parts of the world, and of the love and care of God in sending of men unto that purpose, whereby others coming to hear of him, may believe in him, call upon his name, and be saved. Hence he compares the work of God herein unto that of his sending forth light and natural instructions unto all the world by the luminaries of heaven, wherein the ministry of man hath no place, verse 18. Wherefore the preaching of the gospel depends absolutely on the sovereign pleasure of God in sending men unto that work; for “how should they preach except they be sent?” And he doth send them,

(1.) By endowing them with spiritual gifts, enabling them unto that work and duty. The gospel is “the ministration of the Spirit; ” nor is it to be administered but by virtue of the gifts of the Spirit. These God gives unto them whom he sends, by Jesus Christ, Ephesians 4:7-8, etc. And these gifts are a sort of especial, peculiar, yea, supernatural abilities, whereby men are fitted to and enabled for the dispensation of the gospel. It is sad to consider what woful work they make who undertake this duty, and are yet unfurnished with these abilities; that is, such who are sent of men, but are not sent of God. They harness themselves with external order, ecclesiastical mission, according to some rules agreed upon among themselves, with some other implements and ornamental accoutrements ; whereon they undertake to be preachers of the gospel, as it were whether God will or no. But these vanities of the Gentiles cannot give rain; the preaching of the gospel, as unto its proper ends, depends on God's sending alone. When they betake themselves to their work, they find themselves at a loss for God's mission; at least they do so unto whom they pretend to be sent. I speak it not as though outward order and a due call were not necessary in a church unto the office of a teacher, but only to show that all order without a concurrence of the divine vocation is of no validity nor efficacy . Now, the dispensation of these spiritual gifts, without which the rain of the doctrine of the gospel falleth not, depends solely on the sovereignty of God. The Spirit divideth unto every one as he pleaseth, 1 Corinthians 12:11. And it is evident that he doth not herein follow the rule of any human preparation. For whereas it is most certain, that the improvement of men's intellectual abilities, in wisdom, learning, oratory, and the like, is exceedingly subservient unto the use and exercise of these spiritual gifts, yet it is evident that God doth not always and regularly communicate them unto those who are so prepared; no, though they were acquired in a rational way, in order unto the work of the ministry. For how many may we see so qualified, and yet destitute of all relish of spiritual gifts, God preferring before them persons, it may be, behind and beneath them in those qualifications! So it was whilst all these affairs were transacted in an extraordinary manner at the first planting of the gospel. He did not choose out eminently the philosophers, the wise, the learned, the scribes, the disputers of this world, to communicate spiritual gifts unto; but generally fixed on persons of another condition and more ordinary capacity. Some were so, that none might think themselves excluded because of their wisdom and learning, things excellent in themselves; but many of this sort, as our apostle informs us, were not called and chosen unto this work. So something in proportion hereunto may yet be observed in the distribution of the ordinary gifts of the Spirit; at least it is evident that herein God obligeth himself to no rules of such preparations or qualifications on our part. Nay, which is yet further, he walks not herein in the steps of his own sanctifying and saving grace; but as he worketh that grace in the hearts of many on whom be bestows not those gifts which are needful to enable men unto the dispensation of the gospel, so he bestows those gifts on many unto whom he will not vouchsafe his sanctifying grace. And these things make evident that sovereignty which God is pleased to exercise in his sending of persons unto the work of preaching the gospel, manifesting that the whole of it depends, like the giving of rain, absolutely on his pleasure. And when men exclusively unto this part of God's call will keep up a ministry, and so make a preaching of the gospel, it is but a lifeless image of the true dispensation of it.

(2.) This communication of gifts unto men is ordinarily accompanied with a powerful and effectual inclination of the minds of men to undertake the work and engage in it, against those objections, discouragements, oppositions, and difficulties, which present themselves unto them in their undertaking. There is so, I say, ordinarily: for there are more instances than one of those who, having the word of prophecy committed unto them, instead of going to Nineveh, do consult their own reputation, ease, and advantage, and so tack about to Tarshish; and there are not a few who hide and napkin up their talents, which are given them to trade withal, though represented unto us under one instance only: But these must one day answer for their disobedience unto the heavenly call. But ordinarily that inclination and disposition unto this work, which accompanies the communication of spiritual gifts, is prevalent and effectual, so that the minds of men are fortified by it against the lions that are in the way, or whatever may rise up to deter them from it. So our apostle affirms, that upon the revelation of Christ unto him, and his call thereby to preach the gospel, “immediately he conferred not with flesh and blood, but went into Arabia” about his work, Galatians 1:16-17. He would not so much as attend or hearken unto cavils and exceptions against the work whereunto he was inclined and disposed; which is the way of a well-grounded, firm resolution. And something in proportion hereunto is wrought in the minds of them who undertake this work upon an ordinary call of God. And where this is not, much success is not to be expected in the work of any, nor any great blessing of God upon it. When men go out hereunto in their own strength, without a supply of spiritual gifts, and engage in their work merely upon external considerations, without this divine inclination of their hearts and minds, they may seem to cast out water as out of an engine, by violent compression, they will never be like clouds to pour forth showers of rain. This, therefore, also is from the Lord. Again,

Obs. 3. God ordereth things, in his sovereign, unsearchable providence, so as that the gospel shall be sent unto, and in the administration of it shall find admittance into, what places, and at what times, seem good unto himself, even as he orders the rain to fall on one place, and not on another. We have not wisdom to search into the causes, reasons, and ends of God's providential works in the world; and individual persons seldom live to see the issue of those which are on the wheel in their own days. But we have ground enough in the Scripture to conclude, that the principal works of divine providence in the world, and among the nations of the earth, do respect the dispensation of the gospel, either in the granting of it or the taking of it away. It were an easy matter to evince by evident instances that the principal national revolutions which have been in the earth, have been all of them subservient unto the counsel and purpose of God in this matter. And there are examples also manifesting how small occasions he hath turned unto great and signal use herein. But what hath been spoken may suffice to evince who is the Father and Author of this rain. And how this consideration may be improved unto the exercise of faith, prayer, and thankfulness, is manifest.

This rain is said to fall upon the earth; which respects the actual dispensation of the word by them unto whom it is committed. And we may thence observe, that,

Obs. 4. It is the duty of those unto whom the dispensation of the word is committed of God, to be diligent, watchful, instant in their work, that their doctrine may, as it were, continually drop and distil upon their hearers, that the rain may fall often on the earth. So hath God provided that “the ridges of it may be watered abundantly, to make it soft” (or “dissolve it”) “with showers; and so he blesseth the springing thereof,” Psalms 65:10. In a hot, parching, and dry season, one or two showers do but increase the vehemency of the heat and drought, giving matter of new exhalations, which are accompanied with some of the remaining moisture of the earth. Of no other use is that dead and lazy kind of preaching wherewith some satisfy themselves, and would force others to be contented.

The apostles, when this work was committed unto them, would not be diverted from a constant attendance unto it by any other duty, much less any other occasion of life, Acts 6:2-4. See what a charge our apostle gives unto Timothy to this purpose, 2 Timothy 4:1-5. And a great example hereof we have in the account he gives concerning his own ministry in Asia, Acts 20:1. He declares when he began his work and ministry, “ the first day he came into Asia,” Acts 20:18; that is, on the first opportunity: he omitted no season that he could possibly lay hold upon, but engaged into his work, as his manner was in every place that he came unto. And, 2. In what manner did he teach? He did it,

(1.) Publicly, in all assemblies of the church, and others also where he might have a quiet opportunity of speaking; and,

(2.) Privately, “from house to house,” Acts 20:20. All places were alike to him, and all assemblies, small or great, so he might have advantage of communicating unto them the knowledge of God in Christ. And,

3. What did he so declare unto them, or instruct them in? It was “the whole counsel of God,” Acts 20:27; “the gospel of the grace of God,” Acts 20:24; all things that were “profitable unto them,” Acts 20:20; in sum, “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” Acts 20:21.

And, 4. How did he dispense the word unto them? It was by a declaration of the will of God, Acts 20:27; by testifying the necessity of gospel duties, Acts 20:21; by constant warnings and admonitions, to stir men up unto diligence in obedience , and to caution them of their dangers, Acts 20:31. And,

5. When, or at what season, did he thus lay out himself in the discharge of this duty? He did it “night and day,” Acts 20:31; that is, continually, upon all occasions and advantages. He was one by whom God watered his vineyard every moment. And,

6. In what outward condition was he, and with what frame of spirit did he attend his work? He was in “many temptations, which befell him by the lying in wait of the Jews,” Acts 20:19, or in continual danger of his life by the persecutions they stirred up against him. And as unto himself, and the frame of his heart in this work, he carried it on “with all humility of mind, and with many tears,” Acts 20:19; Acts 20:31. He was not lifted up with conceits of the glory, greatness, and power of his office, of the authority over all the churches committed unto him by Christ; but with lowliness of mind and meekness was as the servant of them all; with that love, tenderness, compassion, and fervency, as he could not but testify by many tears. Here is the great example for dispensers of the gospel. We have not his grace, we have not his gifts, we have not his ability and assistance, and so are not able to come up unto him; but yet certainly it is our duty to follow him though “baud passibus aequis,” and to conform ourselves unto him according to our opportunity and ability. I confess I cannot but admire to think what some men conceive concerning him, or themselves. Can they say, that from the first day of their coming into their dioceses or dignities, or parishes or places, they have thus behaved themselves? Have they so taught, so preached, so warned, and that “with tears, night and day,” all sorts of persons whom they suppose themselves to relate unto? Have they made it their work to declare the mysteries of the gospel, and “the whole counsel of God,” and this both publicly and privately, night and day, according to their opportunities? It will be said, indeed, that these things belonged unto the duty and office of the apostles, but those that succeed them as ordinary overseers of the church may live in another manner, and have other work to do. If they should carry it with that humility of mind as he did, and use entreaties with tears as he did, and preach continually as he did, they should have little joy of their office; and besides, they should be even despised of the people. These things, therefore, they suppose not to belong unto them. Yea, but our apostle gives this whole account concerning himself unto the ordinary bishops of the church of Ephesus, Acts 20:17; Acts 20:28; and in the close of it tells them, that he had showed them all things how they ought to do, Acts 20:35. And what he apprehended to be the duty of all to whom the dispensation of the word is committed, he manifests in his last solemn charge that he left with his son Timothy a little before his death: 2 Timothy 4:1-2,

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word, be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine;”

so 2 Timothy 4:5. He did no more himself than what he requires in Timothy, according to the proportion of his abilities. And the discharge of this work is not to be measured by particular instances of the frequency of preaching, but by that purpose, design, and frame of heart, which ought to be in ministers, of laying out themselves to the utmost in the work of the ministry on all occasions, resolving “to spend and to be spent” therein. I could easily show on how many accounts frequency and urgency in preaching of the word are indispensably required of those unto whom the work is committed, that therein the rain may fall oft upon the earth; but I must not too far digress. The command of God; the love and care of Christ towards his church; the ends of God's patience and long-suffering; the future manifestation of his glory in the salvation of believers and the condemnation of those that are disobedient; the necessities of the souls of men; the nature and kind of the way whereby God gives spiritual supplies by the ministry of the word; the weakness of our natural faculties of the mind in receiving, Hebrews 5:11; Isaiah 28:9-10, and of the memory in retaining spiritual things, Hebrews 2:1; Hebrews 12:5; the weakness of grace, Revelation 2:2, requiring continual refreshments, Isaiah 27:3; the frequency and variety of temptations, interrupting our peace with God, nor otherwise to be repelled, 2 Corinthians 12:8-9; the design of Christ to bring us gradually unto perfection, might all be pleaded in this case: but the law of this duty is in some measure written in the hearts of all faithful ministers, and those who are otherwise shall bear their own burdens. Again; it is common to the whole earth often to drink in the rain that falls upon it, though but some parts only of it prove fruitful, as it will appear in the following distribution of them. Whence we may observe, that,

Obs. 5. Attendance unto the word preached, hearing of it with some diligence, and giving of it some kind of reception, make no great difference among men; for this is common unto them who never become fruitful. This is so plainly exemplified by our Savior in the parable of the several sorts of ground that receive the seed of the word, yet on various occasions lose the power of it, and never come to fruit-bearing, that it needs no further consideration. And I intend not those only who merely hear the word, and no more. Such persons are like stones, which when the rain falleth on them it makes no impression into them; they drink it not in at all. It is no otherwise, I say, with many hearers, who seem not to have the least sense of what customarily they attend unto. But those are intended in the text and proposition who in some measure receive it and drink it in. They give it an entrance into their understandings, where they become doctrinally acquainted with the truth of the gospel; and they give it some entrance into their affections, whence they are said to “receive the word with joy;” and moreover, they allow it some influence on their conversations. as even Herod did, who heard the preachings of John Baptist “gladly, and did many things” thereon. All these things men may do, and yet at length prove to be that part of the earth which drinks in the rain and is yet absolutely barren, and brings forth thorns and briers. There is yet wanting the “receiving of it in a good and honest heart;” which what it includes will afterwards appear. And again we may observe, that,

Obs. 6. God is pleased to exercise much patience towards those whom he once grants the mercy and the privilege of his word unto. He doth not presently proceed against them for and on their barrenness, but stays until the rain hath often fallen upon the ground. But there is an appointed season and period of time, beyond which he will not wait for them any more, as we shall see.

Thirdly, The distribution of this earth into several parts, with the different lots and events of them, is nextly to be considered. The first sort the apostle describes two ways:

1. By its fruitfulness;

2. By its acceptation with God. And this fruitfulness he further manifests:

(1.) From the fruit itself which it bears, it is “herb,” or “herbs; ”

(2.) From the nature and use of that fruit, it is “meet for them by whom it is dressed; ”

(3.) The manner of it, it “bringeth it forth.” These things we must a little open in their order, as they lie in the text:

1. Τίκτει, it “bringeth forth.” Τίκτουσα βοτάνην. This word properly signifies the bringing forth of a woman that hath conceived with child: Συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ, καὶ τέξῃ υἱόν, Luke 1:31. And so it is constantly used in the New Testament, and not otherwise but only in this place and James 1:15, ῾Η ἐπιθμυία συλλαβοῦσα τίκτει ἀμαρτίαν. In an elegant similitude, he compareth the work of lust in temptation unto an adulterous conception in the womb of the adulteress, when at length actual sin is brought forth. The seeds of it are cast into the mind and will by temptation; where, after they are warmed, fomented, and cherished, sin, that ugly monster, comes forth into the world. So is this earth said to “bring forth,” as a womb that is naturally and kindly impregnated, in its appointed season. And therefore, when the apostle speaks of the other sort, he changeth his expression for such a word as may suit a deformed and monstrous production. But the native power of the earth, being cherished by the rain that falls on it, brings forth as from a teeming womb the fruits of those seeds it is possessed withal.

2. It” bringeth forth βοτάνην,” “generans herbam.” The Rhemists render it “grass,” causelessly and amiss. The word signifies such “green herbs” as are usually produced by careful culture, tilling, or dressing; such as are for the proper and immediate use of men, and not of their cattle. The same with דֶּשֶׁא, Genesis 1:11, all sorts of useful green herbs, whether medicinal or for food, or beauty and ornament.

3. The nature of this herbal fruit is, that it is εὔθετος . Some render it by “opportuna,” and some by “accommoda;” “meet” answers both. Those that use the former word seem to respect the season wherein it brings forth the fruit. And this is the commendation of it, that it makes no delay, but brings forth in its proper time and season, when its owners and tillers have just ground and reason to expect and look for it. And it is an especial commendation of any thing that beareth fruit; and what is out of season is despised, Psalms 1:3. The latter word intends the usefuless and profitableness of the fruit brought forth, in what season soever it be. We may comprise both senses, and justly suppose both of them to be intended. The Syriac expresseth it by a general word, דְּחָשָׁח , “which is” or “may be of use.” And the fruits of the earth are not profitable unless they are seasonable. So James calls it τίμιον καρπὸν τῆς γῆς, “the precious fruit of the earth,” which the husbandman waiteth for, until the earth hath received the former and latter rain, James 5:7.

4. Lastly, These herbs thus brought forth are “meet ἐκείνοις δι᾿ οὕς καὶ γεωργεῖται,” “unto them by whom it is tilled,” or “even by whom;'or “by whom it is also tilled.” The particle καί is not superfluous or insignificant. It declares an addition of culture to the rain. For besides the falling of rain on the earth, there is likewise need of further culture, that it may be made fruitful, or bring forth herbs seasonably, which shall be profitable unto men. For if only the rain fall upon it, it will bring forth many things indeed; but if it be not tilled withal, for one useful herb it will bring forth many weeds; as he speaks in the case of husbandry, Virg. Georg. lib. 1:155:

“Quod nisi et assiduis terram insectabere rastris,

Et sonitu terrebis aves, et ruris opaci

Falce premes umbras, votisque vocaveris imbrem;

Heu magnum alterius frustra spectabis acervum.”

The earth must be tilled, from its nature and the law of its creation, And therefore Adam was to have tilled and wrought the ground in the garden even before the fall, Genesis 2:15. And this is the principal concernment of him that intends to live on the field. The falling of rain upon the earth is common unto the whole. That which gives a field a peculiar relation unto any one is, that he dresseth, and fenceth, and tilleth it. Unto these dressers the herbs that are brought forth are said to be “meet;” they belong unto them, and are useful for them. Δι᾿ οὕς may be rendered “for whom,” or “by whom.” In the first way, the chief owner of the ground, the lord of the field or vineyard, is signified. The ground is tilled or manured for his use, and he eats of the fruits of it. In the latter sense, those who immediately work about the ground in the tilling of it are intended. But there is no need to distinguish in this place between owner and dresser; for God as he is the great husbandman is both. He is the Lord of the vineyard, it is his, and he dresseth and pruneth the vines, that they may bring forth fruit, John 15:1-2. Again; the ground, thus made fruitful, “receiveth blessing of God.” And the blessing of God with respect unto a fruitful field is twofold,

(1.) Antecedent, in the communication of goodness, or fruit-causing virtue to it. “The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed,” Genesis 27:27; a field that abounds with blossoms, flowers, and fruits, yielding a sweet savor; being so made fruitful by the singular blessing of God. But this is not the blessing here intended; for it is supposed that this field is already made fruitful, so as to bring forth useful herbs; and therefore it must be antecedently interested in this kind of blessing, without which nothing can thrive or prosper. Wherefore,

(2.) God's benediction is taken for consequent acceptation or approbation, with care and watchfulness for a further improvement. The blessing of God is at large described, Isaiah 27:2-3.

And there are three things included in this blessing of a fruitful field:

(1.) The owning, acceptation, or approbation of it. Such a field God owns, and is not ashamed that it should be looked on as his. And this is opposed to the rejection of the barren ground afterwards mentioned, “is rejected.”

(2.) The care, watchfulness, and diligence that are used about it. God watcheth over such a field or vineyard to keep it night and day, that none should hurt it, watering it every moment, and purging the branches of its vines, to make them yet more fruitful; opposed to “being nigh unto cursing;” that is, wholly neglected, or left unto salt and barrenness.

(3.) A final preservation from all evil; opposed to the burning up of the barren earth, with the thorns and briers that grow upon it.

These things being spoken only of the ground, whence the comparison is taken, the application of them, though not expressed, unto the spiritual things intended is plain and easy. For,

1. The ground thus dressed, thus bearing fruit, and blessed of God, is true and sound believers. So our Savior declares it to be in the interpretation of his own parable to this purpose, Matthew 13. They are such as “receive the word of God in good and honest hearts,” and bring forth fruits of it in several degrees; such as, having been ministerially planted and watered, have an increase wrought in them by the grace of God, 1 Corinthians 2:6-7.

2. There is included herein the manner how they bring forth the fruits intended; and that is, that they bring forth in their lives what was before conceived and cherished in their hearts. They have the root in themselves of what they bring forth. So doth the word here used signify, namely, to bring forth the fruit of an inward conception. The doctrine of the gospel, as cast into their hearts, is not only rain, but seed also. This is cherished by grace as precious seed; and, as from a natural root or principle in the heart, brings forth precious fruit. And herein consists the difference between the fruit-bearing of true believers and the works of hypocrites or false professors: These latter bring forth fruits like mushrooms; they come up suddenly, have ofttimes a great bulk and goodly appearance, but they are only a forced excrescency, they have no natural seed or root in the earth. They do not proceed from a living principle of them in their hearts.

The other sort do first conceive, cherish, and foment them in their hearts and minds; whence they bring them forth as from a genuine and natural principle. This is on either side fully declared by our Savior himself, Luke 6:43-45.

3. There are the herbs or fruits intended. These are they which elsewhere in the Scripture are called “the fruits of the Spirit,” “the fruits of righteousness,” of “holiness,” and the like. All that we do in compliance with the will of God, in the course of our profession and obedience, is of this kind. All effects of faith and love, of mortification and sanctification, that are holy in themselves and useful to others, whereby we express the truth and power of that doctrine of the gospel which we do profess, are the fruits and herbs intended. When our hearts are made holy and our lives useful by the gospel, then are we fruitful.

4. These herbs are said to be “meet for them by whom” (or “for whom”) “the earth is dressed.” As it is neither useful nor safe to press similitudes beyond their principal scope and intention, and to bring in every minute circumstance into the comparison; so we must not neglect what is fairly instructive in them, especially if the application of things one to another have countenance and guidance given it in other places of the Scripture, as it is in this case. Wherefore, to clear the application of this part of the similitude, we may observe,

(1.) That God himself is the great husbandman, John 15:1; and all believers are “God's husbandry,” 1 Corinthians 2:9. He is so the husbandman as to be the sovereign Lord and Owner of this field or vineyard; and he puts workmen into it to dress it. This our Savior sets out at large in his parable, Matthew 21:33, etc. Hence he calls his people his “portion,” and “the lot of his inheritance,” Deuteronomy 32:9. He speaks as though he had given up all the world besides into the possession of others, and kept his people only unto himself. And so he hath, as to the especial blessed relation which he intendeth.

(2.) It is God himself who taketh care for the watering and dressing of this field. He dealeth with it as a man doth with a field that is his own. This he expresseth, Isaiah 5:2; Matthew 21:33-34. The dispensation of the word, and the communication of the Spirit unto the church, with all other means of light, grace, and growth, depend all on his care, and are all supremely from him, as was showed before. To this end he employeth his servants to work and dress it under him, who are “laborers together with God,” 1 Corinthians 2:9; because they are employed by him, do his work, and have the same end with him.

(3.) This tilling or dressing of the earth, which is superadded to the rain, or the mere preaching of the gospel, denoted thereby, may be referred unto three heads:

[1.] The ministerial application of the word unto the souls and consciences of men, in the dispensation of all the ordinances of the gospel. This is the second great end of the ministry, as the dispensation of the word in general, or the rain, is the first.

[2.] The administration of the censures and discipline of the church. This belongs unto the dressing and purging of God's vineyard; and of singular use it is unto that end, where it is rightly and duly attended unto. And those who, under pretense hereof, instead of purging the vineyard, endeavor to dig up the vines, will have little thanks from him for their diligence and pains.

[3.] Afflictions and trials. By these he purgeth his vine, that it may bring forth yet more fruit; that is, he trieth, exerciseth, and thereby improveth, the faith and graces of believers, 1 Peter 1:7; Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4.

(4.) God expecteth fruit from this field, which is so his own, and which he so careth for: “I looked for grapes,” Isaiah 5:2. He sends his servants to receive the fruits of it, Matthew 21:34. Though he stands in no need of us or our goodness, it extends not to him, we cannot profit him as a man may profit his neighbor, nor will he grow rich with our substance, yet he is graciously pleased to esteem the fruits of gospel obedience, the fruits of faith and love, of righteousness and holiness; and by them will he be glorified: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit,” John 15:8; Matthew 5:16.

(5.) These fruits, when they are brought forth, God approveth of, accepteth, and further blesseth them that bear them; which is the last thing in the words. Some think there is no use of these fruits, unless they are meritorious of grace and glory. But God's acceptation of them here is called his benediction, his blessing of them that bring them forth. Now a blessing cannot be merited; it is an act of bounty and authority, and hath the nature of a free gift, that cannot be deserved. What doth a field merit of him by whom it is watered and tilled, when it bringeth forth herbs meet for his use? they are all but the fruits of his own labor, cost, and pains. The field is only the subject that he hath wrought upon, and it is his own. All the fruits of our obedience are but the effects of his grace in us. We are a subject that he hath graciously been pleased to work upon. Only he is pleased, in a way of infinite condescension, to own in us what is his own, and to pardon what is ours. Wherefore the blessing of God on fruit-bearing believers consists in three things:

[1.] His approbation and gracious acceptance of them. So it is said that “he had respect unto Abel and to his offering,” Genesis 4:4. He graciously accepted both of his person and of his sacrifice, owning and approving of him, when Cain and his were rejected. So “he smelled a savor of rest” from the sacrifice of Noah, Genesis 8:21. And to testify his being well pleased therewith, he thence took occasion to renew and establish his covenant with him and his seed.

[2.] It is by increasing their fruitfulness. “Every branch” in the vine “that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit,” John 15:2. He “multiplieth the seed that is sown,” and “increaseth the fruits of their righteousness,” 2 Corinthians 9:10. This is the constant way of God in his covenant-dealings with thriving, fruitful Christians; he so blesseth them as that their graces and fruits shall more and more abound, so as that they shall be flourishing even in old age, and bring forth more fruit unto the end. [3.] He blesseth them in the preparation he hath made for to give them an everlasting reward. A reward it is, indeed, of grace and bounty, but it is still a reward, “a recompence of reward.” For although it be no way merited or deserved, and although there be no proportion between our works, duties, or fruits, and it, yet, because they shall be owned in it, shall not be lost nor forgotten, and God therein testifies his acceptance of them, it is their reward.

Obs. 7. Where God grants means, there he expects fruit.

Few men consider what is the state of things with them, whilst the gospel is preached unto them. Some utterly disregard it any further than as it is suited unto their carnal interests and advantages; for the gospel is at present so stated in the world, at least in many parts of it, that great multitudes make more benefit by a pretense of it, or what belongs unto it, and have greater secular advancements and advantages thereby, than they could possibly, by the utmost of their diligence and ability in any other way, honest or dishonest, attain unto. These esteem it according to their worldly interests, and for the most part no otherwise; they are merchants of souls, Revelation 18:11-13; 2 Peter 2:3. Some look upon it as that wherein they are really concerned, and they will both take upon themselves the profession of it, and make use of it in their consciences as occasion doth require. But few there are who do seriously consider what is the errand that it comes upon, and what the work is God hath in hand thereby. In brief, he is by it watering, manuring, cultivating the souls of men, that they may bring forth fruit unto his praise and glory. His business by it is to make men holy, humble, self-denying, righteous, useful, upright, pure in heart and life, to abound in good works, or to be like himself in all things. To effect these ends is this holy means suited; and therefore God is justly said to expect these fruits where he grants this means. And if these be not found in us, all the ends of God's husbandry are lost towards us; which what a doleful issue it will have the next verse declares. This, therefore, ought to be always in our minds whilst God is treating with us by the dispensation of the gospel. It is fruit he aims at, it is fruit he looks for: and if we fail herein, the advantage of the whole, both as unto our good and his glory, is utterly lost; which we must unavoidably account for. For this fruit God both expecteth and will require. This is the work and effect of the gospel, Colossians 1:6. And the fruit of it is threefold:

1. Of persons, in their conversion unto God, Romans 15:16.

2. Of real internal holiness in them, or the fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23.

3. The outward fruits of righteousness and charity, 2 Corinthians 9:10; Philippians 1:11.

These God looketh to, Isaiah 5:4; Luke 13:7; and he will not always bear with a frustration. A good husbandman will suffer thorns and barren trees to grow in the field; but if a vine or fig-tree be barren in his garden, he will cut it down and cast it into the fire. However, God will not always continue this husbandry, Isaiah 28; Amos 6:12-14.

Obs. 8. Duties of gospel obedience are fruits meet for God, things that have a proper and especial tendency unto his glory. As the precious fruits of the earth, which the husbandman waiteth for, are meet for his use, that is, such as supply his wants, satisfy his occasions, answer his labor and charge, nourish and enrich him, so do these duties of gospel obedience answer all the ends of God's glory which he hath designed unto it in the world. “Herein,” saith our Savior, “is my Father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit.”

And we must inquire how these fruits are meet for God. For,

1. They are not so, as though he stood in any need of them unto his glory. “Our goodness extendeth not to him,” Psalms 16:2. It doth not so, as though he had need of it, or put any value on it for its own sake. Hence he rejected all those multiplied outward services which men trusted unto, as if they obliged him by them; because without them or their services he is the sovereign possessor of all created beings and their effects, Psalms 50:7-12. All thoughts hereof are to be rejected. See Job 22:2-3; Job 35:7-8.

2. They are not meet for God, as if they perfectly answered his law. For with respect thereunto, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,” most unmeet to be.presented unto him, Isaiah 64:6. And if he should mark what is amiss in us or them, who could stand? Psalms 130:3.

3. Much less are they so meet for him, as that by them we should merit any thing at his hand. This foolish presumption is contrary to the very nature of God and man, with that relation between them which necessarily ensues on their very beings. For what can a poor worm of the earth, who is nothing, who hath nothing, who doth nothing that is good, but what it receives wholly from divine grace, favor, and bounty, merit of Him who, from his being and nature, can be under no obligation thereunto, but what is merely from his own sovereign pleasure and goodness?

They are, therefore, no otherwise meet for God but in and through Christ, according to the infinite condescension which he is pleased to exercise in the covenant of grace. Therein doth the Lord Christ,

1. Make our persons accepted, as was that of Abel, through faith in him; which was the foundation of the acceptation of his offering, Genesis 4:4; Hebrews 11:4. And this is of grace also; it is “to the praise of his glorious grace, wherein he maketh us accepted in the Beloved,” Ephesians 1:6. And,

2. He bears and takes away the iniquity that cleaves unto them as they proceed from us, which renders them unmeet for God. This was typed out by the plate of gold, whereon was inscribed “Holiness to the LORD,” that was on the forehead of the high priest. It was that he might “bear the iniquity of the holy things” of the people, Exodus 28:36-38. He bare it in the expiation he made of all sin, and takes it away in the sight of God. And,

3. He adds of the incense of his own mediation unto them, that they may have a sweet savor in their offering to God, Revelation 8:3. On this foundation it is that God hath graciously designed them unto sundry ends of his glow, and accepts them accordingly.

For,

1. The will of his command is fulfilled thereby; and this tends to the glory of his rule and government, Matthew 7:21. We are to pray that the will of God may be done on earth, as it is in heaven. The glory that God hath in heaven, from the ministry of all his holy angels, consists in this, that they always, with all readiness and cheerfulness, do observe his commands and do his will, esteeming their doing so to be their honor and blessedness. For hereby is the rule and authority of God owned, avouched, exalted; a neglect whereof was the sin and ruin of the apostate angels. In like manner our fruits of obedience are the only acknowledgments that we can or do make to the supreme authority and rule of God over us, as the one lawgiver, who hath power to kill and keep alive. The glory of an earthly king consists principally in the willing obedience which his subjects give unto his laws. For hereby they expressly acknowledge that they esteem his laws wise, just, equal, useful to mankind, and also reverence his authority. And it is the glory of God, when the subjects of his kingdom do testify unto all, their willing, cheerful subjection unto all his laws, as holy, righteous, and good, by the fruits of their obedience; as also that it is their principal honor and happiness to be engaged in his service, John 15:14. Hereby is our heavenly Father glorified, as he is our great king and lawgiver.

2. There is in the fruits of obedience an expression of the nature, power, and efficacy of the grace of God, whereby also he is glorified; for he doth all things “to the praise of the glory of his grace,” Ephesians 1:6. In all the actings of lust and sin, in the drought and dust of barrenness, we represent an enmity against him, and contrariety unto him, acting over the principle of the first rebellion and apostasy from him. These things, in their own nature, tend greatly to his dishonor, Ezekiel 36:20. But these fruits of obedience are all effects of his grace, wherein he “worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure.” And hereby are both the power and nature of that grace manifested and glorified. The power of it, in making fruitful the barren soils of our hearts, which, as under the curse, would of themselves bring forth nothing but thorns and briers. Wherefore, to cause our hearts to abound in the fruits of faith, love, meekness, and all holy, evangelical obedience, is that wherein the power of God's grace is both manifested and magnified, Isaiah 11:5-8. And they also declare the nature of God. For they are all of them things good, benign, beautiful, useful to mankind; such as give peace, quietness, and blessedness unto the souls of them in whom they are; as tend to the restoration of all things in their proper order, and unto the relief of the universe, laboring under its confusion and vanity, Philippians 4:8. Such, I say, are all the fruits of holy obedience in believers; such is their nature and tendency, whereby they declare what that grace is from which they do proceed, and whose effects they are, Titus 2:11-12. And hereby is God greatly glorified in the world.

3. They are meet for God, and tend unto his glory, in that they express and manifest the efficacy of the mediation of the Lord Christ, in the obedience of his life and the sacrifice of his death. These he aimed at in them, Titus 2:14; Ephesians 5:25-27. It is in Jesus Christ that God will be glorified. And this is manifested in the effects of his wisdom and love in his mediation. For hereby do we declare and show forth τὰς ἀρετάς, the “virtues of him who hath called us,” 1 Peter 2:9; or the efficacious power of the mediation of Christ, which these fruits are the effects and products of. We do not only declare the excellency and holiness of his doctrine, which teacheth these things, but also the power and efficacy of his blood and intercession, which procure them for us and work them in us. God is glorified hereby, in that some return is made unto his goodness and love. That a creature should make any return unto God, answerable or proportionable unto the effects of his goodness, love, and bounty towards it, is utterly impossible. And yet this men ought to take care about and satisfy, before they talk of a further merit. For what can we properly merit at his hands, whose precedent bounty we come infinitely short of answering or satisfying in all that we can do? But this of fruitfulness in obedience is the way which God hath appointed, whereby we may testify our sense of divine love and goodness, and express our gratitude. And hereby do our fruits of righteousness redound unto the glory of God.

4. God in and by them doth extend his care, goodness, and love unto others. It is his will and pleasure that many who long unto himself in an especial way, and others also among the community of mankind, should sometimes be cast into, and, it may be, always be in a condition of wants and straits in this world. To take care of them, to provide for them, to relieve them, so as they also may have an especial sense of his goodness, and be instrumental in setting forth his praise, is incumbent on Him who is the great provider for all. Now, one signal way whereby he will do this, is by the fruits of obedience brought forth in others. Their charity, their compassion, their love, their bounty, shall help and relieve them that are in wants, straits, sorrows, poverty, imprisonment, exile, or the like. And so it is in all other cases. Their meekness, their patience, their forbearance, which are of these fruits, shall be useful unto others, under their weaknesses and temptations. Their zeal, their labor of love in teaching and instructing, or preaching the word, shall be the means of the conviction and conversion of others. So doth it please God, by these fruits of obedience in some, to communicate of his own goodness and love, unto the help, relief, succor, and redress of others. For those so relieved do, or at least ought to look on all as coming directly from God. For it is he who not only commands those who are the means of their conveyance unto them to do what they do, but he directly works it in them by his grace, without which it would not be. And all this redoundeth unto the glory of God. This our apostle expresseth at large, 2 Corinthians 9:12-15: “For the administration of this service” (that is, the charitable and bountiful contribution of the Corinthians unto the poor of the church of Jerusalem) “not only supplieth the wants of the saints” themselves (the thought whereof might give great satisfaction to the minds of men benign and compassionate, namely, that they have been able to relieve others), “but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.” ‘It hath this effect upon the minds of all that are concerned in it, or do know of it, to cause them to abound in thanks and praise unto God.'And he showeth both the grounds whereon and the way whereby this praise is so returned unto God. For,

(1.) They consider not merely what is done, but the principle from whence it doth proceed: “Whilst by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel.” This, in the first place, affects them greatly, that whereas before they had only heard it may be a report, that you, or some of you, were converted unto the faith of the gospel, they have now, by “this ministration,” that is, the relief of bounty communicated unto them, such an evidence and assurance, that with one consent they give praise and glory to God for the work of his grace towards you.'And, indeed, this usually is the first thing which affects the minds of any of the saints of God, in any relief that God is pleased to hand out unto them by the means of others. They admire and bless God in and for his grace towards them, by whose kindness and compassion they are relieved. So is God glorified by these fruits.

(2.) And the second ground of their praises was, the liberal distribution unto themselves, as they found by experience; and unto “all men,” as they were informed and believed. The ministration itself testified their faith and obedience unto the gospel; but the nature of it, that it was liberal and bountiful, evidenced the sincerity and fruitfulness of their faith, or “the exceeding grace of God in them,” Hebrews 6:14. They saw hereby that there was not an ordinary or common work only of grace on these Corinthians, engaging them into a common profession, and the duties of it, which yet was a matter of great thankfulness unto God; but that indeed the grace of God exceedingly abounded in them, which produced these fruits of it in so plentiful a manner. And with respect hereunto also was praise peculiarly rendered unto God. Hereunto also the apostle adds a double way whereby God was glorified, distinct from the direct attribution of praises unto him.' “And by their prayer for you, which long after you, for the exceeding grace of God in you.” That is, by both. these ways they glorified God, both in their prayers for a supply of divine grace and bounty to them by whom they were relieved, and in their inflamed love towards them and longing after them, which was occasioned only by their relief; but the real cause, motive, and object of it, was “the exceeding grace of God in them,” which was evidenced thereby. And by both these duties God is greatly glorified. Hence the apostle concludes the whole with that ἐπινίκιον of triumphant praise to God, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” ‘This,'saith he, ‘is a gift that cannot be sufficiently declared amongst men, and therefore God is more to be admired in it.'And the apostle presseth the occasion of their joint thankfulness in a word that may include both the grace of God given unto the Corinthians, enabling them to their duty, and the fruit of that grace in the bounty conferred on the poor saints; both of them were the gift of God, and in both of them was he glorified. And in this regard especially are the fruits of our obedience unto the gospel meet for Him by whom we are dressed; that is, have an especial tendency unto the glory of God. Hence is that caution of the apostle, Hebrews 13:16: “But to do good and to communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Our prayers and praises also, as he declares in the verse foregoing, are “sacrifices unto God,” and accepted with him, verse 15. Our whole obedience is “our reasonable service,” is a sacrifice acceptable unto God, Romans 12:1; yea, but in these fruits of benignity, bounty, charity, doing good, and communicating largely and liberally, God is in a peculiar manner well pleased and satisfied, as smelling a savor of rest through Christ in such sacrifices.

And I might here justly take occasion at large to press men unto an abundant fruitfulness in this especial kind of fruit-bearing, but that the nature of our discourse will not admit it.

5. They are meet for God, because they are as the first-fruits unto him from the creation. When God took and rescued the land of Canaan, which he made his own in a peculiar manner, out of the hands of his adversaries, and gave it unto his own people to possess and inherit, he required of them, that, on their first entrance there-into, they should come and present him with the “first of all the fruits of the earth,” as an acknowledgment of his right to the land, and his bounty unto them, Deuteronomy 26:1-8, etc. The whole creation did by sin as it were go out of the possession of God; not of his right and power, but of his love and favor: Satan became the “god of this world,” and the whole of it lay under the power of evil. By Jesus Christ he rescueth it again from its slavery and bondage unto Satan. But this he will not do all at once, only he will have some first-fruits offered unto him as an acknowledgment of his right, and as a pledge of his entering on the possession of the whole. And God is greatly glorified in the presenting of these first-fruits, at the recovery of the creation unto himself, which is a certain pledge of vindicating the whole from its present bondage. And it is believers that are these first-fruits unto God: James 1:18, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.” But we are not so but in our fruitfulness. Thereby it is that there is a revenue of glory and praise returned unto God from this lower part of the creation; without which it bears nothing but thorns and briers in his sight. In these, therefore, and the like things, consists the meetness of our fruits of obedience unto God, or his glory. Again,

Obs. 9. Wherever there are any sincere fruits of faith and obedience found in the hearts and lives of professors, God graciously accepts and blesseth them.

Nothing is so small but that, if it be sincere, he will accept; and nothing so great but he hath an overflowing reward for it. Nothing shall be lost that is done for God; a cup of cold water, the least refreshment given unto any for his sake, shall be had in remembrance. All we have and are is antecedently due to him, so as that there can be no merit in any thing we do; but we must take heed lest, whilst we deny the pride of merit, we lose the comfort of faith as to acceptance of our duties. It is the fruit of the mediation of Jesus Christ, that we may “serve God without fear, in righteousness and holiness all our days;” but if we are always anxious and solicitous about what we do, whether it be accepted with God or no, how do we serve him without fear? This is the worst kind of fear we are obnoxious unto, most dishonorable unto God and discouraging unto our own souls, 1 John 4:18. For how can we dishonor God more than by judging that when we do our utmost in sincerity in the way of his service, yet he is not well pleased with us, nor doth accept of our obedience? Is not this to suppose him severe, angry, always displeased, ready to take advantage, one whom nothing will satisfy? Such thoughts are the marks of the wicked servant in the parable, Luke 19:20-22. Where, then, is that infinite goodness, grace, condescension, love, compassion, which are so essential to his nature, and which he hath declared himself so to abound in? And if it be so, what use is there of the mediation and intercession of Jesus Christ? what benefit in the promises of the covenant? and what is there remaining that can encourage us in and unto duties of obedience? Merely to perform them because we cannot, we dare not do otherwise, a servile compliance with our conviction, is neither acceptable unto God nor any ways comfortable unto our own souls. Who would willingly lead such a life in this world, to be always laboring and endeavoring, without the least satisfaction that what he does will either please them by whom he is set on work, or any way turn to his own account? Yet such a life do men lead who are not persuaded that God graciously accepts of what they sincerely perform. A suspicion to the contrary riseth up in opposition unto the fundamental principle of all religion: “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,” Hebrews 11:6.

This is the first principle and foundation of all religious worship; which if it be not well and firmly laid in our hearts, all our supplication will be in vain. Blow unless we do believe that he doth accept and bless our duties, we cannot believe that he is such a rewarder, or, as he expressed it in the covenant with Abraham, an “exceeding great reward.” But he hath descended to the lowest instances, of a little goat's hair to the tabernacle, a mite into the treasury, a cup of water to a disciple, to assure us that he despiseth not the meanest of our sincere services . But this must be spoken unto again on verse 10, and therefore I shall not here further confirm it.

Some perhaps will say, ‘that their best fruits are so corrupted, their best duties so defiled, that they cannot see how they can find acceptance with so holy a God. Every thing that proceeds from them is so weak and infirm, that they fear they shall suffer loss in all.'And this very apprehension deprives them of all that consolation in the Lord which they might take in a course of holy obedience. I answer,

1. This consideration, of the defilements of sin that adhere to the best of our works or duties, excludes all merit whatever. And it is right it should do so; for indeed that cursed notion of the merit of good works hath been the most pernicious engine for the ruin of men's souls that ever Satan made use of. For on the one hand many have been so swollen and puffed up with it, as that they would not deign in any thing to be beholden to the grace of God, but have thought heaven and glory as due to them for their works as hell is to other men for their sin, or the wages of a hireling to him for his labor, which cries to heaven against the injustice of them that detain it. Hence a total neglect of Christ hath ensued. Others, convinced of the pride and folly of this presumption, and notwithstanding the encouragement unto fruitful obedience which lies in God's gracious acceptation and rewarding of our duties, have been discouraged in their attendance unto them. It is well, therefore, where this notion is utterly discarded by the consideration of the sinful imperfection of our best duties: so it is done by the church, Isaiah 64:6; Romans 7:21.

2. This consideration excludes all hope or expectation of acceptance,with God upon the account of strict justice. If we consider God only as a judge pronouncing sentence concerning us and our duties according to the law, neither we nor any thing we do can either be accepted with him or approved by him. For as the psalmist says concerning our persons, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand ?” and prays, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified: ” so it is with respect unto all our works and duties of obedience; not any one of them can endure the trial of God as judging by the law, but would appear as a filthy thing. Whilst, therefore, persons are only under the power of their convictions, and are not able by faith to take another view of God and his dealings with them but by the law, it is impossible that they should have any comfortable expectation of the approbation of their obedience.

Wherefore, that we may be persuaded of the gracious acceptation of all our duties, even the least and meanest that we do in sincerity and with a single eye to the glory of God, and that our labor in the Lord should not be lost, we are always to have two things in the eye and view of our faith:

1. The tenor of the covenant wherein we walk with God. God hath abolished and taken away the covenant of works by substituting a new one in the room thereof. And the reason why he did so, was because of a double insufficiency in the law of that covenant unto his great end of glorifying himself in the salvation of sinners. For,

(1.) It could not expiate and take away sin; which must be done indispensably, or that end could not be obtained. This our apostle asserts as one reason of it, Romans 8:3; and proves at large in this epistle afterwards.

(2.) Because it neither did nor could approve of such an obedience as poor sanctified sinners were able to yield unto God; for it required perfection, when the best which they can attain unto in this life is but sincerity. What then? do we make void the law by faith? doth not God require perfect righteousness of us, the righteousness which the law originally prescribed? Yes, he doth so; and without it the curse of the law will come upon all men whatever: but this also being that which in ourselves we can never attain unto, is provided for in the new covenant by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto them that do believe. So the apostle expressly states the matter, Romans 10:3-6. On this supposition, God in this covenant hath provided for the acceptance of sincere though imperfect obedience, which the law had no respect unto. The sum is, that his acceptance now shall be suited unto the operation of his grace. He will crown and reward all the actings of his own grace in us. Whatever duty; therefore, is principled by grace and done in sincerity, is accepted with God, according to the tenor of this covenant. This, therefore, we are always to eye and consider as the bottom of the acceptance of our imperfect, weak, unworthy services.

2. Unto the same end is the mediation of Christ to be considered in an especial manner. Without respect unto him, neither we nor any thing we do is approved of God. And a double regard is in this matter always to be had unto him and his mediation:

(1.) That by one sacrifice he takes away all that is evil or sinful in our duties; whatever is of real defilement, disorder, self in them, whereby any guilt might be contracted, or is so, he hath borne it and taken it, as unto its legal guilt, all away. Whatever, therefore, of guilt doth unavoidably adhere unto or accompany our duties, we may by faith look upon it as so removed out of the way by the sacrifice and mediation of Christ, as that it shall be no hinderance or obstruction to the gracious acceptation of them.

(2.) Whereas all. that we do, when we have used our utmost endeavors, by the assistance of grace, and setting aside the consideration of what is evil and sinful from the principle of corrupted nature remaining in us, is yet so weak and imperfect, and will be so whilst we are but dust and ashes dwelling in tabernacles of clay, as that we cannot apprehend how the goodness which is in our obedience should extend itself to God, reach unto the throne of his holiness, or be regarded by him, the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ doth so make way for them, put such a value on them in the sight of God, as that they receive approbation and blessing from him; for in Jesus Christ we are complete, and God makes both us and our duties accepted in the Beloved. The consideration hereof, added to the former, may firmly assure the mind and conscience of every true believer concerning the gracious acceptation of the least of their holy duties that are performed in sincerity. And this they have in such a way as,

(1.) To exclude merit and boasting;

(2.) To keep them in a holy admiration of God's grace and condescension;

(3.) To make them continually thankful for Christ and his mediation;

(4.) To yield unto themselves comfort in their duties and encouragement unto them.

Hebrews 6:8. “But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”

In the foregoing verse the apostle showed how it would be and fall out with that part of the Judaical church which embraced the gospel, and brought forth the fruits of faith and obedience. God would accept of them, own them, preserve and bless them. And this blessing of God consisted in four things:

1. In his gracious acceptance of them in Christ, and the approbation of their obedience, verse 10.

2. In delivering them from that dreadful curse and judgment which not long after consumed the whole remainder of that people.

3. In making use of multitudes of them to be the means of communicating the knowledge and grace of the gospel unto other persons and nations;

a greater blessing and honor than which they could not.. in this world be made partakers of.

4. In their eternal salvation. This being laid. down, he proceeds in his parable to declare the state and condition of the other sort of them, namely, of unbelievers, apostates from, and opposers of the gospel. And this he doth in compliance with the symbolical action of our Savior in cursing the barren fig-tree, whereby the same thing was represented, Matthew 21:19; for it was the apostate, persecuting, unbelieving church of the Jews, their estate, and what would become of them, which our Savior intended to expose in that fig-tree. He had now almost finished his ministry among them, and seeing they brought forth no fruit thereon, he intimates that the curse was coming on them, whose principal effect would be perpetual barrenness. They would not before bear any fruit, and they shall nothereafter; being hardened, by the just judgment of God, unto their everlasting ruin. So was fulfilled what was long before foretold, Isaiah 6:9-10, as our apostle declares, Acts 28:26-27. In answer hereunto, our apostle in this verse gives this account of their barrenness, and description of their end, through God's cursing and destroying of them. And herein also the estate and condition of all apostates, unfruitful professors, hypocrites, and unbelievers, to whom the gospel hath been dispensed, is declared and expressed.

And, as it was necessary unto his design, the apostle pursues his former similitude, making an application of it unto this sort of men. And,

1. He supposeth them to be “earth,” as the other sort are, ἐκφέρουσα; that is, ἡ γὴ ἡ ἐκφέρουσα, “that earth,” that part of the earth. So it is, and no more. It is neither better nor worse than that which proves fruitful and is blessed. All men to whom the gospel is preached are every way by nature in the same state and condition. All the difference between them is made by the gospel itself. None of them have any reason to boast, nor do they in any thing make themselves differ from others.

2. It is supposed that the rain falls often on this ground also. Those who live unprofitably under the means of grace have ofttimes the preaching of the word as plentifully, and as long continued unto them, as they that are most thriving and fruitful in obedience. And herein lies no small evidence that these things will be called over again another day, to the glory of God's grace and righteousness. On these suppositions, two things are considerable in what is ascribed unto this earth:

1. What it brings forth;

2. How.

1. It bringeth forth ἀκάνθας, “thorns and briers.” See the opening of the words before. In general, I doubt not but all sorts of sins are hereby intended, all “unfruitful works of darkness,” Romans 6:21; Ephesians 5:2. And the principal reason why they are here compared unto thorns and briers, is with respect unto the curse that came on the earth by sin: “Cursed is the ground,...... thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee,” Genesis 2:17-18; whereunto barrenness, or unaptness for better fruits, is added, Genesis 4:12. From this curse, the earth of itself, and untilled, would bring forth nothing but; thorns and briers, at least they would be absolutely prevalent in and over all the products of it; so the heart of man by nature is wholly overrun with evil, sinful imaginations, and his life with vicious, sinful actions, Genesis 6:5; Romans 2:10-18. Wherefore the bringing forth of thorns and briers, is abounding in such actings and works as proceed from the principle of corrupted nature under the curse. In opposition hereunto, all good actions, all acts of faith and obedience, are called “herbs” and “fruit,” because they are “the fruits of the Spirit;” and such sinful works are compared to, and called “thorns and briers,” from a community of properties with them. For,

(1.) They are in their kind unprofitable, things of no use, but meet to be cast out, that room may be made for better. When a man hath a field overgrown with thorns and briers, he finds he hath no benefit by them; wherefore he resolves to dig them up or burn them. Of such and no other use are the sins of men in the world. All the “works of darkness” are “unfruitful,” Ephesians 5:2. The world is no way benefited by them never was any man the better for his own or another man's sins.

(2.) Because they are hurtful and noxious, choking and hindering good fruits that wise would thrive in the field. So are thorns and briers represented in the Scripture as grieving, piercing, and hurtful; and things that are so called by their name, Ezekiel 28:24; Micah 7:4; Isaiah 7:25. Such are all the sins of men. All the confusion, disorders, devastations that are in the world, are from them alone. In general, therefore, it is all sorts of sins, “works of darkness,” “works of the flesh,” that are intended by these “thorns and brier,” But yet I presume that the apostle hath regard unto the sins which the obstinate Jews were then in an especial manner guilty of, and which would be the cause of their sudden destruction. Brow those, as it appeareth from this whole epistle and matter of fact in the story, were unbelief, impenitency, and apostasy. The thorns and briers, which were the fuel wherein was kindled the fire of God's indignation unto their consumption, were their sins against the gospel. Either they would not give their assent unto its truth, or would not amend their lives according to its doctrine, or would not abide with constancy in its profession. These are the especial sins which cast those Hebrews, and will cast all that are like unto them, into the condition of danger and perdition, here described .

2. The manner of bringing forth these thorns and briers is expressed by; ἐκφέρουσα . Chrysostom puts a great mark upon the difference of the words used by the apostle. That which he applieth to the production of good fruits is which denotes a natural conception and production of any thing in due order, time, and season; but this ἐκφέρουσα, applied to the barren, cursed ground, denotes a casting of them out in abundance, not only without the use of means, but against it. The heart of man needs not to be impregnated with any adventitious seed, to make it thrust forth all sorts of sins, or to make it fruitful in unbelief and impenitency: the womb of sin will of its own accord be continually teeming with these things.

Matters being thus stated with this ground, the apostle affirms three things concerning it:

1. It is ἀδόκιμος. That is said to be ἀδόκιμον, whereof trial hath been made whether, by the application of suitable means unto it, it will be made useful unto any certain end. Δοκιμάζω is “to try,” to make an experiment what any thing is, and of what use; especially it is applied to the trial that is made of gold and silver by fire. Τό χρυσίον ἐν πυρὶ δοκιμάζομεν , Isocrat.; “We try gold in the fire,” that is, whether it be true and pure. Fire is the great trier and discoverer of metals, of what sort they are, Corinthians 2:13-15. And hence the Lord Christ, in the trial of his church, is compared to a refiner with fire, Malachi 3:2. So faith is tried, 1 Peter 1:7. And it is the word which our apostle useth when he enjoins us to try and search ourselves as unto our sincerity in faith and obedience, 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 6:4; as also to make a due inquiry into the true nature of spiritual things, Romans 12:2; Ephesians 5:10; not contenting ourselves with a bare notion of them, but endeavoring after an experience of their power in our own hearts. Δοκιμή is often used by our apostle for “an experience upon trial,” Romans 5:4; 2 Corinthians 2:9; Philippians 2:22: as δοκίμιον by Peter, 1 Epistles 1:7. Hence is δόκιμος, “one that upon trial is approved, found sound, and therefore, is accepted,” 1 Corinthians 11:19; 2Co 10:18; 2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:12. Εὐάρεστος τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ δόκιμος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, Romans 14:18; “Accepted with God, and approved with men.” Hence ἀδόκιμος is “one rejected, disapproved upon trial, reprobate,” 1 Corinthians 9:27; 2 Corinthians 13:5-6; Titus 1:16. The whole is expressed, Jeremiah 6:29-30: “The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain....... Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.” All means were used to try to the utmost whether there were any true, sincere metal in them. After all, they were found ἀργύριον, “refuse silver,” mere dross; which was therefore rejected, as of no use. This ground, therefore, is supposed to have had a trial made of it, and all proper means to have been used for to make it fruitful; but whereas nothing succeeded, it is to be ἀδόκιμος , “rejected,” “disapproved,” laid aside as to any further endeavors to make it successful. Such a piece of ground the husbandman leaves caring for; he will lay out no more charges about it nor take any more pains with it, for he finds on trial that it is incurable.

2. It is said to be κατάρας ἐγγύς , “nigh unto a curse.” The husbandman doth not presently destroy such a piece of ground, but neglecting of it, lets it lie, further to discover its own barrenness and unprofitableness. But this he doth so as to declare his resolution to lay it waste, and so to cast it out of the bounds of his possession. And he doth it in three ways:

(1.) By gathering out of it all the good plants and herbs that yet remain in it, and transplanting them into a better soil.

(2.) By casting down its fences and laying it waste, that all the beasts of the field shall lodge in it and prey upon it.

(3.) By withholding all means of doing it good, by watering or manuring of it. And hereby it becomes like to the barren wilderness as it lies under the curse, which no man careth for. It is nigh to that condition wherein it shall not be known that it was ever owned by him, or did ever belong unto his possession. So is it unto cursing. For as blessing of any thing is an addition of good, so cursing implies the taking off all kindness and all effects thereof, and therewithal the devoting of it unto destruction.

3. Lastly, It is added, ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν, “whose end is unto burning,” or “to be turned.” Fire makes a total and dreadful destruction of all combustible things whereunto it is applied. Hence such desolations are said to be firing or burning, by what means soever they are effected. Things are consumed, as if they were burned up with fire. There is a burning of ground which is used to make it fruitful, as the poet expresseth it in his Georgics, lib. 1:84:

“Saepe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros,

Atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis.”

But it is a burning of another kind that is here intended. And this is an act of positive indignation. He will not only show his dissatisfaction in such barren ground by a neglect of it, but his vengeance in its destruction. And it is thus expressed, to intimate both the temporal destruction of theobstinate Jews, and the eternal destruction of all unbelievers, both by fire of several kinds.

Thus, therefore, the apostle declares that God, the great husbandman and owner of the vineyard, would deal with the impenitent and incredulous Hebrews.

1. He tried them, and that for a long season, by the preaching of the gospel. The rain fell oft upon them, and that for.the space now of thirty- six years, or thereabouts. God did, as it were, essay by outward means to make them fruitful, to bring them to faith, repentance, and obedience. But after this long trial, it appeared that they multiplied, as it were, under his hand the thorns and briers of their unbelief, and all sorts of provoking sins.

Wherefore God rejects them, declares that his soul had no pleasure in them, that he would be at no further cost about them. And twice did our apostle mind his countrymen in other places that God would speedily so deal with them, Acts 13:40-41; Acts 13:46; Acts 28:25-28; as our Savior had often threatened them that the kingdom of God should be taken from them, they should no longer enjoy the means of saving knowledge or repentance. God laid them aside, as a field no longer fit to be tilled. And this he did about the [time of the] writing of this epistle; for immediately hereon he began utterly to forsake them who were obstinate in their Judaism, and all those who apostatized thereunto from Christianity. And thus also, in proportion, he deals with all other unprofitable hearers and apostates. There is a time after which he casts them out of his care, will feed them no more, provide no more that they be rained on or dressed. And if they do any more enjoy the word, it is by accident, for the sake of some who are approved; but they shall receive no advantage by it, seeing they are no longer “God's husbandry.”

2. On this rejection of them, they were “nigh unto cursing;” that is, they were so ordered and disposed of as that the destroying curse of God might come upon them. God had now anathematized them, or devoted them to destruction; and hereupon he gave them up unto all those ways and means whereby it might be hastened and infallibly overtake them. For,

(1.) He gathered all the good plants from amongst them; he called out and separated from them all true believers, and planted them in the Christian church. So he deals with all apostate churches before their utter destruction, Revelation 18:4.

(2.) He took away their fences, casting there out of his protection, insomuch that when they were destroyed, the general of the Roman army acknowledged that God had infatuated them, so that their impregnable holds and forts were of no use unto them.

(3.) He granted them no more use of means for their conversion. Thenceforward they fell into all manner of sins, confusions, disorders, tumults; which occasioned their ruin. After the same manner will God deal with any other people whom he rejects for their rejection of the gospel. And the world hath no small reason to tremble at the apprehension of such a condition at this day.

3. In the end, this whole barren earth was burned up. In the first place, this respects the destruction of Jerusalem, which ensued not long after, when temple and city, and people and country, were all devoured by fire and sword, Matthew 24:1-2. But yet this, like the destruction of Sodom, was but an emblem of the future judgment. Hypocrites, unbelievers, apostates, are to have another end than what they fall into in this world. An end they shall have wherein their eternal condition shall be immutably stated. And this end that they must have is to the fire, the “fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” They shall be gathered together and burned with a fire that shall never be quenched, John 15:6. And this final destruction of all unprofitable hearers, unbelievers, and apostates, is that which is principally intended in the words. And we must not let this wholesome admonition pass without some observations from it.

Obs. 1. Whilst the gospel is preached unto men, they are under their great trial for eternity.

The application that is made unto them is for an experiment how they will prove. If they acquit themselves in faith and obedience, they receive the blessing of eternal life from God. If they prove barren and unprofitable, they are rejected of God, and cursed by him. Nor shall they ever have any other trial, nor shall ever any other experiment be made of them, Hebrews 10. Their season of the enjoyment of the gospel is their “day.” When that is past, “the night cometh” on them, wherein they cannot work. When these “bellows are burned, and the lead is consumed, the founder melting in vain,” men are rejected as “reprobate silver,”'never to be tried any more. Men do but deceive themselves in their reserve of a purgatory when they are gone out of this world. If they are cast under their trial here, so they must abide to eternity. And we may do well to consider these things distinctly, because our concernment in them is very great. To this purpose observe,

1. That we are all made for an eternal state and condition, in blessedness or woe. Men may live like beasts, and therefore wish that they might die like them also; but we are all made with another design, and must all of us “stand in our” eternal “lot at the end of the days,” Daniel 12:13.

2. That the unchangeable determination of our eternal state depends on what we do in this life. There is neither wisdom nor knowledge, duty nor obedience, in the grave, whither we are going. As the tree falls so it must lie. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that is the judgment.” Nothing interposeth to alter our state and condition between death and judgment. The contrivance of purgatory when we are gone hence was an invention of Satan, to delude the souls of men with hopes of relief, when all means and ways of it were past and irrecoverable.

3. The trial of our future state is made by the preaching of the gospel unto us, and our compliance with it or rejection of it. This is that which the text declares on the one hand and the other; the barren ground is rejected on this trial.

4. It was a fruit of infinite grace, condescension, and mercy, to grant a new trial unto sinners under the curse we had all cast ourselves into. There God might have left us. So he dealt with the sinning angels, whom he spared not. And had he dealt so with all mankind, who could say unto him, “What doest thou?” And it is that which we must all answer for, namely, that when we were lost and fallen under the sentence of the holy and righteous law, God would propose any terms of peace and reconciliation unto us, and give us a second trial thereon.

5. That the especial way of this trial doth most eminently set out this grace and mercy. A way it is full of infinite wisdom, goodness, love, mercy, and grace; such as wherein all the divine perfections will be eternally glorified, whether it be accepted or refused.

6. When the gospel is preached unto any, God telleth sinners that although they have destroyed themselves, and are ready every moment to sink into eternal misery, yet he will, out of infinite grace and compassion, try them once more, and that by the holy terms of the gospel. And in the preaching of the word he doth it accordingly. And although the season of this trial be determined with God, yet it is unto us uncertain, on many accounts. For,

(1.) The continuance of our lives, during which alone we are capable of enjoying it, is so.

(2.) We see that the preaching of the gospel is so also. The Lord Christ doth ofttimes remove the candlestick whilst they continue alive in the world among whom it was once fixed. And,

(3.) There is a time when a period is put unto the efficacy of the word for the conversion of some, although the outward dispensation be continued unto them, Isaiah 6:9-10. Wherefore the present season and present enjoyment of the gospel it is our duty to consider and improve. For what is the work that therein God hath in hand towards us? Is it not to give us our trial, in the use of means, as to what shall be our future condition? He hath therein undertaken us as his vineyard, as his husbandry, and causeth the rain to fall upon us; and hath done so often and long. And who almost doth consider aright how great his concernment is herein? Would men be so careless, negligent, formal, slothful, as they are for the most part under the hearing of the word, if they duly remembered that it is their trial for eternity? and they know not how soon it may be over. If we lose this season, we are gone for ever. It is, therefore, our wisdom to know whether our fruitfulness, in faith, repentance, and obedience, do answer the rain and dressing we have had by the dispensation of the word. The axe is laid at the root of the tree; if we bring not forth good fruit we shall ere long be hewed down and cast into the fire. It is true, there is none of us do answer as we ought the love and care of God towards us herein; nor can we so do. When we have done our utmost, we are but unprofitable servants. But there is a wide difference between a defect in degrees of obedience, and the neglect of the whole. Where the first is, we ought to walk humbly in the sense of it, and labor after more perfection. And if this defect be great and notable, such as is occasioned by our lusts indulged unto, or by sloth and negligence, as we can have no evidence of our being approved of God, so it is high time to recover ourselves, by new diligence and holy endeavors, or we may be cast in our trial. But where the latter is, where men bring forth no “fruit meet for repentance,” what can they expect but to be finally and totally rejected of God? Whereas, therefore, we have been long most of us under this trial, it is assuredly high time that we call ourselves unto a strict account with respect unto it. And if, upon inquiry, we find ourselves at a loss which sort of ground we do belong unto, because of our barrenness and leanness, unless we are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, we will give ourselves no rest until we have better evidences of our fruit- bearing. We may do well to remember, that though the earth on which the rain falls is here distributed by the apostle into two sorts, like Jeremiah's figs, very good and very bad, to one of which every one at last must be joined; yet, as to present effects and appearances, the ground whereinto the seed of the gospel is cast is distributed by our Savior into four sorts, whereof one only brings forth fruit meet for Him by whom it is dressed, Matthew 13. There are several ways whereby we may miscarry under our trial; one only whereby we may be accepted, namely, fruitfulness of heart and life.

Obs. 2. Barrenness under the dispensation of the gospel is always accompanied with an increase of sin.

The ground which brings not forth “herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed,” thrusts forth “thorns and briers.” Let it be observed, that spiritual barrenness never goes alone. Abounding in sin will accompany it, and doth so. It may be it doth not so openly and visibly for a season; but all things will tend thereunto, and at last it will discover itself. Yea, there are no sinners like them, nor sin like theirs, by whom the means of grace are rejected, or not improved. The first generation of great provoking sinners were those of the old world before the flood. Unto these Noah had been a “preacher of righteousness,” 2 Peter 2:5. In his ministry did the Spirit of Christ “strive with them,” until God affirmed he should do so no more, Genesis 6:3. But they were disobedient and barren; 1 Peter 3:19-20. And this issued in those provoking sins which God could not bear withal, but “brought the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” The next was these Hebrews, unto whom the gospel had been preached. And they proved a generation no less wicked than that before the flood, insomuch as their own historian affirms that he verily believed that “if the Romans had not come and destroyed them, God would have poured fire and brimstone on them from heaven, as he did upon Sodom.” And the third generation of the same kind are the apostate Christian churches, whose condition and state is described in the Revelation. This is the issue of barrenness under God's culture and watering; and it will be so. For,

1. When men have rejected the last means of their spiritual healing and restraint of sin, what can be expected from them but an outrage in sinning? There are three ways whereby God puts a restraint upon sin. The first is by the light of a natural conscience. This is born with men in the principle of it, and grows into exercise in the improvement of reason. And where the natural workings of it are not prevented and suffocated by the horrible example of parents and relations living in cursing, lying, and all manner of profaneness, it is very useful in youth, to restrain persons from sundry sins. It is so, I say, until corruptions getting strength, and temptations abounding, custom in sinning takes away the edge of it, and weakens it in its operation. Wherefore,

2. When this restraint is broken through, God sets up the hedge of the law before the minds of men, to deter them from sin. And this also hath a great efficacy with many unto this end, at least for a season. But neither will mere conviction from the law always give bounds unto the lusts of men. Wherefore,

3. The gospel comes with a different design from them both. The utmost of their aim and work is but to restrain sin, but the gospel comes to convert the sinner. Their work is to set a dam before the streams of sin; that of the gospel is to dry up the spring.

But if this also, as it is in this case, be rejected and despised, what remains to set any bounds unto the lusts of men?

1. They will find themselves at liberty to act their own inclinations to the utmost, as having cast off all regard to God in all the ways whereby he hath revealed himself. Hence you may find more honesty and uprightness, a more conscientious abstinence from sin, wrongs, and injuries, more effects of moral virtue, among heathens and Mohammedans, than among professed Christians, or persons who, being unprofitable under the gospel, do thereby tacitly reject it. No fields in the world are fuller of thorns and briers, than those of people, nations, churches, who profess themselves to be Christians and are not. Suppose two fields equally barren; let one of them be tilled and dressed, and the other be let alone, left unto its own state and condition: when the field that hath been tilled shall be forsaken for its barrenness, trash of all sorts, incomparably above that which was never tilled, will rise up in it. This is that which at this day is such a scandal to Christianity, which hath broken up the flood-gates of atheism and let in a deluge of profaneness on the world. No sinners like unto barren Christians. Heathens would blush, and infidels stand astonished, at the things they practice in the light of the sun. There was sleeping in the bed of uncleanness, and drunkenness, among the heathens: but our apostle, who well enough knew their course, affirms of them, that “they who sleep, sleep in the night; and they who are drunken, are drunken in the night,” 1 Thessalonians 5:7. They did their shameful things in darkness and in secret, Ephesians 5:11-12. But, alas! among Christians who have directly and willfully despised the healing power and virtue of the gospel, these are works of the day, proclaimed as in Sodom, and the perpetration of them is the business of men's lives. If you would see the greatest representation of hell upon the earth, go into an apostate church, or to persons that have had the word preached unto them, or have heard of it sufficiently for their conviction, but are not healed. The face of all things in Christianity at this day is on this account dreadful and terrible, and bespeaks desolation to lie at the door. The ground whereunto the waters of the sanctuary do come, and it is not healed, is left unto salt and barrenness for ever.

2. It is a righteous thing with God judicially to give up such persons unto all manner of filthy sins and wickedness, that it may be an aggravation of their condemnation at the last day. It is the way of God to do so even when inferior manifestations of himself, his word and will, are rejected, or not improved. So he dealt with the Gentiles for their abuse of the light of nature, with the revelation made of him by the works of creation and providence, Romans 1:24; Romans 1:26; Romans 1:28. And shall not we think that he will, that he doth so deal with persons, upon their unprofitableness under and rejection of the highest and most glorious revelation of himself that ever he did make, or ever will in this world, unto any of the sons of men? It may be asked, ‘How doth God thus judicially give up persons despising the gospel unto their own hearts'lusts, to do the things that are not convenient?'I answer, He doth it,

(1.) By leaving them wholly to themselves, taking off all effectual restraint from them. So spake our blessed Savior of the Pharisees: “Let them alone,” saith he; “they are blind leaders of the blind,” Matthew 15:14. ‘Reprove them not, help them not, hinder them not; let them alone to take their own course.'So saith God of Israel, now given up to sin and ruin, “Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone,” Hosea 4:17; Ezekiel 3:27. And it is the same judgment which he denounceth against unprofitable hearers of the gospel: Revelation 22:11, “He which is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.” ‘Go on now in your sins and filthiness without restraint.'Now, when men are thus left unto themselves, as there is a time when God will so leave gospel despisers, that he will lay no more restraint upon them, but withhold the influence of all consideration that should give them any effectual check or control, it were not to be conceived what an outrage and excess of sin the cursed, corrupted nature of man will run out into, but that the world is filled with the fruits and tokens of it. And God doth righteously thus withdraw himself more absolutely from gospel despisers than he doth from pagans and infidels, whom, by various actings of his providence, he keeps within bounds of sinning subservient unto his holy ends.

(2.) God pours out upon such persons “a spirit of slumber,” or gives them up to a profound security, so as that they take notice of nothing in the works or word of God that should stir them up to amendment, or restrain them from sin. So he dealt with these unbelieving Jews: Romans 11:8, “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see.” Although it be so come to pass, that many there are whom God's soul loatheth, and they abhor him also, as he speaks, Zechariah 11:8, so that he will have no more to do with them; yet he doth and will continue his word in the world, and the works of his providence in the government thereof. Now, as in the word there are several warnings and dreadful threatenings against sinners, so in the works of God there are judgments full of evidences of God's displeasure against sin, Romans 1:18. Both these in their own nature are suited to awaken men, to bring them to a due consideration of themselves, and so to restrain them from sin. But as to this sort of persons, God sends a spirit of slumber upon them, that nothing shall rouse them up, or awaken them from their sins. Though it thunders over their heads, and the tempest of judgments falls so near them, as if they were personally concerned, yet do they cry, “Peace, peace.” When the word is preached to them, or they hear by any means the curse of the law, yet they bless themselves, as those who are altogether unconcerned in it. God gives them up unto all ways and means whereby they may be fortified in their security. Love of sin; contempt and scorn of them by whom the word of God is declared, or the judgments of God are dreaded; carnal confidence, carrying towards atheism; the society of other presumptuous sinners, strengthening their hands in their abominations; a present supply for their lusts, in the pleasant things of this world, I mean which are so to the flesh; shall all of them contribute to their security.

(3.) God absolutely and irrecoverably gives them up to extreme obstinacy, to final hardness and impenitency, Isaiah 6:9-10. This is no place to treat of the nature of divine induration. It is enough to observe at present, that where provoking sinners do fall under it, they are totally blinded and hardened in sin unto their eternal ruin. Now, when God doth thus deal with men who will not, and because they will not be healed and reformed by the preaching of the gospel, can any thing else ensue but that they will give up themselves unto all wickedness and filthiness with delight and greediness? And this wrath seems to be come upon multitudes in the world unto the utmost. So the apostle describes this condition in the Jews when they were under it, 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16: “Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” And they are even blind themselves who see not this to be the condition of many in the world at this day.

3. There are especial sins that are peculiar to this sort of barren persons, and so also aggravations of sins that others contract not the guilt of. Now this state and condition, at least the utmost and highest danger of it, is so written on the foreheads of most that are called Christians in the world, that there is no need of making any application of it unto them. And although it be not for us to know times and seasons, or to set bounds and limits to the patience of Christ, yet have we just reason to dread the speedy breaking forth of his severity in judgment, spiritual or temporal, upon most nations and churches that are called by his name. But the duty it is of those who make profession of the gospel in a peculiar manner, to inquire diligently whether there be not growing in their own hearts and ways any such sins as are usually consequent unto barrenness under the word. If it prove so upon search, they may justly fear that God is beginning to revenge upon them the neglect of the gospel, and unprofitableness under it. There are degrees of this sin and its consequents, as we shall show afterwards; and the evidences and effects of God's displeasure against it are progressive and gradual also. From some of these the sinner is recoverable by grace: from some of them he is not, at least ordinarily, but is inevitably bound over to the judgment of the great day. But the last degree is such as men ought to tremble at, who have the least care for or love unto their immortal souls. For whatever issue of things God may have provided in the purpose of his grace, the danger unto us is inexpressible. And there neither is nor can be unto any the least evidence, token, or hope, that God designs them any relief, whilst themselves are careless and negligent in the use of means for their own deliverance. It may, therefore, be inquired by what sort of sins this condition may be known in more strict professors than the common sort of Christians in the world, and how their barrenness under the gospel may be discovered thereby, as the cause by its effects and inseparable consequents. I shall, therefore, name some of those sins and ways with respect whereunto such persons ought to be exceeding jealous over themselves; as,

(1.) An indulgence unto some secret, pleasant, or profitable lust or sin, with an allowance of themselves therein. That this may befall such persons, we have too open evidence in the frequent eruptions and discoveries of such evils in sundry of them. Some, through a long continuance in a course of the practice of private sins, are either surprised into such acts and works of it as are made public whether they will or no; or, being hardened in them, do turn off to their avowed practice. Some, under terrors of mind from God, fierce reflections of conscience, especially in great afflictions and probabilities of death, do voluntarily acknowledge the secret evils of their hearts and lives. And some, by strange and unexpected providences, God brings to light, discovering the hidden works of darkness wherein men have taken delight. Such things, therefore, there may be amongst them who make a more than ordinary profession in the world. For there are or may be hypocrites among them, vessels in the house of God of wood and stone. And some who are sincere and upright may yet be long captivated under the power of their corruptions and temptations. And for the sake of such it is principally that this warning is designed. Take heed lest there be in any of you a growing secret lust or sin, wherein you indulge yourselves, or which you approve. If there be so, it may be there is more in it than you are aware of; nor will your delivery from it be so easy as you may imagine. God seldom gives up men unto such a way, but it is an effect of his displeasure against their barrenness. He declares therein that he doth not approve of their profession. Take heed lest it prove an entrance into the dreadful judgment ensuing.

Whatever, therefore, it be, let it not seem small in your eyes. There is more evil in the least allowed sin of a professor I mean, that is willingly continued in than in the loud and great provocations of open sinners. For besides other aggravations, it includes a mocking of God. And this very caution I now insist upon is frequently pressed on all professors by our apostle in this very epistle, Hebrews 3:12; Hebrews 12:15-16.

(2.) Constant neglect of private, secret duties. This also may be justly feared, lest it. be an effect of the same cause. Now by this neglect I mean not that which is universal; for it is sure hard to meet with any one, who hath so much light and conviction as to make profession of religion in any way, but that he will and doth pray and perform other secret duties, at one time or another. Even the worst of men will do so in afflictions, fears, dangers, with surprisals, and the like. Nor do I intend interruptions of duties upon unjustifiable occasions; which though a sin which men ought greatly to be humbled for, and which discovers a “superfluity of naughtiness” yet remaining in them, yet; is it not of so destructive a nature as that which we treat about. I intend, therefore, such an omission of duties as is general; where men do seldom or never perform them but when they are excited and pressed by outward accidents or occasions. That this may befall professors the prophet declares, Isaiah 43:22-23. And it argues much hypocrisy in them; the principal character of a hypocrite being that he will not pray always. Nor can there be any greater evidence of a personal barrenness than this neglect. A man may have a ministerial fruitfulness and a personal barrenness; so he may have a family usefulness and a personal thriftlessness. And hereof negligence in private duties is the greatest evidence. Men also may know when those sins are consequences of their barrenness, and to be reckoned among the thorns and briers intended in the text. They may do it, I say, by the difficulty they will meet withal in their recovery, if it be so. Have their failings and negligence been occasional, merely from the impression of present temptations? a thorough watering of their minds and consciences from the word will enable them to cast off their snares, and to recover themselves unto a due performance of their duties. But if these things proceed from God's dereliction of them because of their barrenness, whatever they may think and resolve, their recovery will not be so facile. God will make them sensible how foolish and evil a thing it is to forsake him under the means of fruitful obedience . They may think, like Samson, to go forth and do as at other times; but they will quickly find their locks cut, and their spiritual strength so decayed as that they have no power for what they thought would prove so easy unto them at any time. They will find their wills and affections so entangled and engaged, that without a fresh supply of grace, scarce less than that administered in their first conversion, they cannot be delivered. So is it with all lusts, sins, and negligences that are consequences of a provoking barrenness under the gospel.

(3.) A total want of some graces, both in their principle and exercise, is a great evidence of such a condition. Where there is any true saving grace, there is the root and principle of all. Some graces may be more tried and exercised than others, and so be made more evident and conspicuous; for the occasions of their exercise may much more frequently occur: but yet where there is any true grace, at least where it is kept unrusty, vigorous, and active, as it ought to be in all profiting hearers of the word, there every grace of the Spirit is so far kept alive as to be in some readiness for exercise when occasion and opportunity do occur. But if in any there are some graces that are totally wanting, that no occasion doth excite or draw forth to exercise, they have just reason to fear that either those graces which they seem to have are not genuine and saving, but mere common effects of illumination; or that, if they are true, they are under a dangerous declension, on the account of their unanswerableness unto the dispensation of the gospel. For instance, suppose a man to satisfy himself that he hath the graces of faith and prayer, and the like, but yet cannot find that he hath any grain of true zeal for the glory of God, nor any readiness for works of charity with an eye to God's glory and love to his commands; he hath great reason to fear lest his other graces are false and perishing, or at least that he is signally fallen under the sin of barrenness. For in common grace, one single grace may appear very evident, and win great honor to the profession of them in whom it is, whilst there is a total want of all or many others: but in saving grace it is not so; for though different graces may exceedingly differ in their exercise, yet all of them are equal in their root and principle.

By these, and the like considerations, may professors try their own concernment in this commination.

Obs. 3. Ordinarily God proceeds to the rejection and destruction of barren professors by degrees, although they are seldom sensible of it until they fall irrecoverably into ruin.

This ground here is first “disapproved” or “rejected;” then it is “nigh to cursing;” the curse ensues; after which it is “burned.” And God doth thus proceed with them,

1. In compliance with his own patience, goodness, and long-suffering, whereby they ought to be led unto repentance. This is the natural tendency of the goodness and patience of God towards sinners, though it be often abused, Romans 2:4-5. Let men and their sin be what they will, God will not deal otherwise with them than as becomes his own goodness and patience. And this is that property of God without a due conception whereof we can never understand aright his righteousness in the government of the world. Ignorance of the nature of it, and how essential it is unto the Divine Being, is the occasion of security in sinning and atheism unto ungodly men, Ecclesiastes 8:11-13; 2 Peter 3:3-4. And a great temptation it is ofttimes unto them that are godly, Habakkuk 1:12-13; Jeremiah 12:1-2; Psalms 73:11-16; Psalms 73:21-22. Wherefore, to direct our minds unto a due posture herein, we may consider,

(1.) That the patience of God never came to a general issue with mankind but once since the creation; and that was in the flood, 1 Peter 3:20. And this one example God will have to be a sufficient warning unto all ungodly sinners of the certainty and severity of his future judgment; so that no men have just reason to be secure in their sin, 2 Peter 3:5-7. And therefore he hath engaged himself by promise, that he will no more deal so with mankind, be their sins what they will, until the consummation of all things shall come, Genesis 8:21-22. While the earth remaineth there shall be no more such a curse. But there is a limited time contained therein. The earth itself shall at length cease, and then he will execute his judgments fully on the world of ungodly sinners. Blessed be God for that public record of his purpose and patience, without which his continuance of mankind in the world would be matter of astonishment.

(2.) The patience of God shall not come to an issue with any apostate nation or church until he himself declares and determines that all due means have been used for their recovery, 2 Chronicles 36:15-17. And the judgment hereof he will not leave unto the best of men; he would not do so unto Elijah himself.

(3.) It is a difficult, glorious, and great fruit or effect of faith, not to repine at, but to glorify God in his patience towards a wicked, provoking generation of sinners. Even the souls of the saints in heaven seem to express a little too much haste in this matter, Revelation 6:9-11. The thing which they desired was suited unto the holiness, righteousness, and faithfulness of God, and wherein he had designed to glorify himself in his appointed season, Revelation 19:1-3; but the time of it seemed long unto them: wherefore to glorify God herein is a fruit of faith, Revelation 13:10. The faith and patience of the saints are most eminent in waiting quietly until the time of the destruction of the enemies of the church be fully come. And it is so,

[1.] Because it is accompanied with self-denial, as unto all our interest in this world, and all the desires of nature.

[2.] Because the apprehension is most true and infallible, that the righteousness, holiness, and faithfulness of God, will be exceedingly glorified in the destruction of apostate, provoking, and ungodly sinners; and this will be in particular in the ruin of Babylon and its whole interest in the world. And this may make our desires inordinate, if not regulated by faith. It is therefore an eminent act of faith, to give glory unto God in the exercise of his patience towards apostate, barren professors; and that which alone can, in these latter days of the world, give rest and peace unto our own souls.

2. God will do so to evince the righteousness of his judgments, both in the hearts and consciences of them who shall be finally destroyed, “whose end is to be burned;” as also of all others who shall wisely consider of his ways. God endureth all things from the world, “that he may be justified in his sayings, and may overcome when he is judged,” Romans 3:4; that is, not only that all he doth shall be righteous and holy, which is necessary from his own essential righteousness, whence he will not, whence he cannot do evil, but his works shall be so wrought, so accomplished, as that the righteousness of them shall be evident, and pleadable by his people against all sayings and reflections of ungodly men. Especially, every thing shall be plain and visibly righteous that he doth in this way towards barren, unprofitable churches, which he had formerly owned and blessed. In his dealing with them, he will leave no color of calling his goodness and faithfulness into question, but will, as it were, refer the righteousness of his proceedings unto all, even unto themselves. So he doth as to his dealing with the church of the Jews when it was grown utterly barren, Isaiah 5:1-7. So did our Lord Jesus Christ, in his parable, compel the wicked Jews to subscribe unto the righteousness of God in that miserable destruction which was coming on themselves, Matthew 21:33-46. And this God doth principally by his gradual procedure with them. His precedent warnings and first degrees of judgments, spiritual or temporal, shall bear witness unto the righteousness of their total ruin. Men at present, through their blindness, hardness of heart, love of sin, do not, it may be, take notice of God's dealing with them, and are therefore apt to complain when they are surprised with the fatal evil; but the day will come when their consciences shall be awakened unto a dreadful remembrance of all the warnings God gave them, and how slowly he proceeded in his judgments, when their mouths shall be stopped, and their faces filled with confusion.

3. God's dealings with barren apostates being principally in spiritual judgments, the issue whereof is the total removal of the gospel from them, he will not do it at once, because others may be yet mixed among them unto whom he will have the means of grace continued. This Abraham laid down in temporal judgments, as an unquestionable maxim of divine right, that “God would not destroy the righteous with the wicked,” Genesis 18:23; Genesis 18:25: which rule, yet, by the way, is confined unto that kind of destruction which was to be a standing token and pledge of the last final judgment, and the damnation of all ungodly men, for in other cases it will admit of some extraordinary exception; but this is the general way of God's procedure in all judgments, spiritual aunt temporal. Now, if when men openly manifest their barrenness, and daily bring forth thorns and briers, God should immediately remove the word, whilst there are amongst them a people also that are really fruitful unto his glory, it cannot be but that, in an ordinary course of his providence, they must suffer with the rest, and that before God hath fulfilled the whole work of his grace towards them. This was that wherewith he satisfied and quieted the mind of Elijah, when, in a transport of zeal, he complains of the horrible apostasy of the church of Israel, making, as the apostle speaks, “intercession against them;” and he applieth it unto all other seasons of the church, Romans 11:2-5. And we are taught in that example, that when the patience of God towards a highly provoking people seems to interfere with his threatening and the ordinary course of his providence, we should believe that there are yet among them many whose hearts are sincere for God, though for many reasons they are unknown to us. And this should stir us up unto continual prayers for the whole world. When the long-suffering of God is abused by the most, and turned into an increase of their security, yet he hath a blessed end in it towards his own among them, 2 Peter 3:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9. And this was the state of God's present dispensation towards these Hebrews. The most of them were obstinate unbelievers, and many of them barren apostates; but yet God continued for a while to exercise patience towards them, and to tender the gospel, unto them. And this he did because there was a “remnant” amongst them “according to the election of grace,” which were to “obtain,” whilst “the rest were hardened,” as our apostle declares, Romans 11. And this patience of God the hardened wretches despised and scoffed at. But yet still God went on in his way and method, because of those amongst them whom, through that patience and long-suffering, he intended to bring to repentance and the acknowledgment of the truth.

Further to clear up this whole matter, it may be inquired what are those degrees in spiritual judgments whereby God doth ordinarily proceed against barren professors, which are here intimated in general. And, 1. In such cases God doth usually restrain the influence of men's light upon their own consciences and affections. Their light and knowledge which they have attained may in their notions remain with them, but they are not at all affected with what they know, or guided by it as unto their practice. There is a time when light and knowledge, not improved, do lose all their efficacy. God suffers such an interposition to be made between it and their consciences, by the acting and pride of their lusts, that it is of no use unto them. Whereas formerly, under their convictions, every thing they knew of the mind of God or the gospel pressed on them to endeavor after some conformity unto it; now it hath no power upon them, but only floats in their fancies and memories. And this we see accomplished every day. Men under a barren, apostatizing state, do yet retain some of their light and notions of truth; which they are sensible of no power from, nor have any use of, unless it be to enable them to be the greater scoffers and deriders of others. Now, although this comes to pass through their own sins and lusts as the immediate cause of it, yet it is a spiritual judgment of God also upon them. for their sins. For he withholdeth all the working of his Spirit in and by that light, which alone renders it effectual. His Spirit shall not strive any more therein; and then it is easy for them to “rebel against the light” they have, as he speaks, Job 24:13. And let all men hence take heed, when they begin to find that their light and convictions from the word have not the same power with them and efficacy upon them as formerly they have had; for it is greatly to be feared lest it be a beginning of God's displeasure upon them. See Hosea 9:12.

2. God deprives them of all the gifts which formerly they received. Gifts are an ability for the due exercise of gospel light and knowledge in the duties of a public concern. These they may be made partakers of who yet prove barren and apostates. But God will not suffer them to be long retained under a course of backsliding. As men neglect their exercise, so God deprives them of them, and makes that very neglect a means of executing this judgment on them. The talent that was but laid up in a napkin was taken away. And this we see exemplified both in whole churches and in particular persons. They lose, or are deprived of the gifts which they had, or which were among them; and are commonly filled with enmity unto and scorn of them by whom they are retained.

And in these two things consists the first act of God's judgment, in the rejection of the barren ground. Hereby he evidenceth that it is ἀδόκιμος, and such as he will regard no more.

The next is, that they make approaches towards the curse; and this is done two ways:

1. God having evidenced his rejection of them, he gives them up unto the temptation of the world, and the society of ungodly men, whereunto they are engaged by their pleasures or profit. “Men gather them,” saith our Savior, John 15:6. Their lusts being let loose from under the power of their light and convictions, especially their love unto the world, they cast themselves into the society of profane and wicked men. Among them they wax worse and worse every day, and learn, in an especial manner, to hate, despise, and blaspheme the good ways of God, which before they had known, owned, and professed. And God will so order things in his providence, as that temptations suited unto their most prevalent lusts shall, on all occasions, be presented unto them, whereby they shall be further ensnared.

2. God casts them out of the hearts and prayers of his people. This of all other things they least value, yea, they most despise; but it is one of the greatest effects of God's severity towards them. So he commanded his prophet not to pray for the people, when his heart would not be towards them, Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 11:14; Jeremiah 14:11. And in like cases, though not by express command, yet by his secret providence, he takes off the hearts of his people from them whom he hath designed to ruin for their sins. And we may observe, that our apostle himself, who a long time labored with unspeakable zeal and most fervent supplications to God for the incredulous Hebrews, as he expresseth himself, Romans 9:2-3; Romans 10:1, at length speaks of them as those whom he no more regarded, but looked on as enemies of Christ only, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16. And this sets them forward in their way towards the fatal curse.

Thirdly, the curse itself ensues, which consists in three things. For,

1. God takes off their natural restraints from sin. The rebukes of a natural conscience, fear, shame, and the like afflictive affections, shall have no more power on them. So he dealt with them that sinned against the light of nature, Romans 1:26-27; and they became like those described, Ephesians 4:18-19. No men are so visibly under God's curse as those who, having broken through the bonds of nature, modesty, fear, and shame, do give up themselves unto open sinning in the face of the sun.

2. God judicially hardens them; which contains the life and the power of the curse here intended, for hereby are men secured unto their final destruction and burning.

3. Ofttimes God signifies this curse in this world, by wholly casting out such persons from any interest in the dispensation of the word. He doth either utterly take away the preaching of the gospel from them, or give them up unto the conduct of those who, under a pretense thereof, shall cause them to err with lies and delusions; which further seals them up unto their future ruin, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12.

And these are some of the ways whereby God dealeth with barren ground, with fruitless and provoking professors, even whilst they are in this world. It is true, these judgments being spiritual, and they being now become wholly carnal, they are for the most part little sensible of them. God, indeed, doth sometimes cause the dread and terror of his wrath so to fall upon the consciences of some of them, as that in this world they are made a spectacle of divine vengeance; but for the most part, being filled with their lusts, and sins, and pleasures, they carry it out bravingly to the end. Howbeit few of them escape such reflections on themselves as makes them sometimes to shrink and groan. But suppose they should be able to carry it out stoutly in this world, so that themselves should neither much feel nor others much observe the curse of God upon them here, yet the day is hastening wherein actual burning, and that for ever, will be their portion.