THE LIBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY VINSOJUVD JO SANTA BABSARA OF CALIFORNIA THE UNIVERSITY JO AtfVWI 3H1 OF CALIFORNIA iO AVVHtll SMI THE LIBRARY OF o VliV)IV9 V1NV? THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY o vavsava VINVS AilSSJAINO 3H1 THE UNIVERSITY SANTA BARBARA VSVJ)V V1NVS XilSa3AIN(1 3H1 THE UNIVERSITY SANTA BARBARA THE UNIVERSITY o OF CALIFORNIA o vavsava VINVS SANTA BAKiARA THE UNIVERSITY 6 THE tIBRARY OF o THE UBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY o wil 23, 1883. Price, 25 Cents. No, 87. By C. H. SPURGEON FUNK & WAGNALLS hxr ITTT^K & WlXHf ALLS. SubsorlpUon r Funk & Wagnalls' Important Publications. The Science of Politics. BY -WALTER THOMAS MILLS, Secretary of the National Intercollegiate Association. A timely work for every citizen. The book is wholly practical and untechni- cal and is directly suited to the needs of every citizen. I2mo, cloth, 204 pages. Price, $x .00. Pres. Julius H. Seelye, of Amheret College, says: " With its clearness and force I am much pleased." Prances E. Willard says : " Mr. Mills has done an important service to the cause of good government by setting in a clear light before the citizen his personal relation to government by a political party. May his book have a million readers." Public Opinion, "Washington, D. C., says: " The book is interesting and mstru^vc. nod the style is vigorous and refined." Foundation of Death. BY AXEL QUSTAFSON, the celebrated English Reformer. A practical study of the Drink Question. lamo, cloth, $1.50. The Boston Transcript: The entire subject is handled in a most judicious manner, and we recommend the book as one of exceptional value in these times of alcoholic discussions. No advo- cate of temperance can do without it, for it is a compendium of the world's experience and 'he world's opinions. Nobody Knows. BY "A NOBODY." A treatise on applied Christianity under the guise of fiction. An orig nal, i?iteresting work. I2mo, cloth, $1.25. A book of great directness and earnestness, in which the hero brings about a moral and social reformation by a reconciliation between employer and employee, between the church and the masses. A model of terse epigrammatic EnglWi. Not a dull Hue iu it. JALKS TO FARMERS BY REV. CHARLES H. SPURGEON. H NEW YORK: FUNK & WAGNALLS, PUBLISHERS, 18 AND 20 ASTOB PLACE. 1889- TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE THE SLUGGARD'S FARM, - i THE BROKEN FENCE, - 24 FROST AND THAW, - - 39 THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT, 56 THE PLOUGHMAN, - - 71 PLOUGHING THE ROCK, 88 THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER, - 103 THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT, - 118 SPRING IN THE HEART, - 132 FARM LABORERS, - 149 WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN DO, AND WHAT THEY CANNOT DO, - 164 THE SHEEP BEFORE THE SHEARERS, 181 IN THE HAY-FIELD, - - 196 THE JOY OF HARVEST, - 211 SPIRITUAL GLEANING, - 226 MEAL-TIME IN THE CORNFIELDS, 241 THE LOADED WAGON, - 258 THRESHING, 275 WHEAT IN THE BARN, ..... 290 TALKS TO FARMERS. THE SLUGGARD'S FARM. " I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding- ; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well : I looked upon it, and received instruction." PROVERBS 24 : 30-32. No doubt Solomon was sometimes glad to lay aside the robes of state, escape from the forms of court, and go through the country unknown. On one occasion, when he was doing so, he looked over the broken wall of a little estate which belonged to a farmer of his country. This estate consisted of a piece of ploughed land and a vineyard. One glance showed him that it was owned by a sluggard, who neglected it, for the weeds had grown right plentifully and covered all the face of the ground. From this Solomon gathered instruction. Men generally learn wisdom if they have wisdom. The artist's eye sees the beauty of the landscape because he has beauty in his mind. " To him that hath shall be given," and he shall have abundance, for he shall reap a harvest even from the field that is covered with thorns and nettles. There is a great difference between one man and another in the use of the mind's eye. I 2 TALKS TO FARMERS. have a book entitled, " The Harvest of a Quiet Eye," and a good book it is : the harvest of a quiet eye can be gathered from a sluggard's land as well as from a well- managed farm. When we were boys we were taught a little poem, called, " Eyes and no Eyes," and there was much of truth in it, for some people have eyes and see not, which is much the same as having no eyes ; while others have quick eyes for spying out instruction. Some look only at the surface, while others see not only the outside shell but the living kernel of truth which is hid- den in all outward things. We may find instruction everywhere. To a spiritual mind nettles have their use, and weeds have their doc- trine. Are not all thorns and thistles meant to be teachers to sinful men ? Are they not brought forth of the earth on purpose that they may show us what sin has done, and the kind of produce that will come when we sow the seed of rebellion against God ? "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding," says Solomon ; " I saw, and considered it well : I looked upon it, and received instruction." Whatever you see, take care to consider it well, and you will not see it in vain. You shall find books and sermons everywhere, in the land and in the sea, in the earth and in the skies, and you shall learn from every living beast, and bird, and fish, and insect, and from every useful or useless plant that springs out of the ground. We may also gather rare lessons from things that we do not like. I am sure that Solomon did not in the least degree admire the thorns and the nettles that covered the face of the vineyard, but he nevertheless found in- struction in them. Many are stung by nettles, but few THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 3 are taught by them. Some men are hurt bybriers, but here is one who was improved by them. Wisdom hath a way of gathering grapes of thorns and figs of nettles, and she distils good from herbs which in themselves are noisome and evil. Do not fret, therefore, over thorns, but get good out of them. Do not begin sting- ing yourself with nettles, grip them firmly, and then use them for your soul's health. Trials and troubles, worries and turmoils, little frets and little disappointments, may all help you if you will. Like Solomon, see and con- sider them well look upon them, and receive instruc- tion. As for us, we will now, first, consider Solomon's de- scription of a sluggard : he is " a man void of understand- ing "; secondly, we shall notice his description of the shig- gard's land : " it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof." When we have attended to these two matters we will close by endeav- oring to gather the instruction which this piece of waste grvund may yield iis. First, think of SOLOMON'S DESCRIPTION OF A SLOTHFUL MAN. Solomon was a man whom none of us would contradict, for he knew as much as all of us put to- gether ; and besides that, he was under divine inspira- tion when he wrote this Book of Proverbs. Solomon says, a sluggard is " a man void of understanding." The slothful does not think so; he puts his hands in his pockets, and you would think from his important air that he had all the Bank of England at his disposal. You can see that he is a very wise man in his own esteem, for he gives himself airs which are meant to impress you with a sense of his superior abilities. How he has come by his wisdom it would be hard to say. 4 TALKS TO FARMERS. He has never taken the trouble to think, and yet I dare not say that he jumps at his conclusions, because he never does such a thing as jump, he lies down and rolls into a conclusion. Yet he knows everything, and has settled all points : meditation is too hard work for him, and learning he never could endure ; but to be clever by nature is his delight. He does not want to know more than he knows, for he knows enough already, and yet he knows nothing. The proverb is not complimentary to him, but I am certain that Solomon was right when he called him " a man void of understanding." Solo- mon was rather rude according to the dainty manners of the present times, because this gentleman had a field and a vineyard, and as Poor Richard saith, " When I have a horse and a cow every man biddeth me good morrow . ' ' How can a man be void of understanding who has a field and a vineyard ? Is it not generally understood that you must measure a man's understanding by the amount of his ready cash ? At all events you shall soon be flattered for your attainments if you have attained unto wealth. Such is the way of the world, but such is not the way of Scripture. Whether he has a field and a vineyard or not, says Solomon, if he is a sluggard he is a fool, or if you would like to see his name written out a little larger, he is a man empty of understanding. Not only does he not understand anything, but he has no understanding to understand with. He is empty- headed if he is a sluggard. He may be called a gentle- man, he may be a landed proprietor, he may have a vineyard and a field ; but he is none the better for what he has : nay, he is so much the worse, because he is a man void of understanding, and is therefore unable to make use of his property. THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 5 I am glad to be told by Solomon so plainly that a slothful man is void of understanding, for it is useful information. I have met with persons who thought they perfectly understood the doctrines of grace, who could accurately set forth the election of the saints, the pre- destination of God, the firmness of the divine decree, the necessity of the Spirit's work, and all the glorious doctrines of grace which build up the fabric of our faith ; but these gentlemen have inferred from these doctrines that they have to do nothing, and thus they have become sluggards. Do-nothingism is their creed. They will not even urge other people to labor for the Lord, be- cause, say they, " God will do his own work. Salvation is all of grace !" The notion of these sluggards is that a man is to wait, and do nothing ; he is to sit still, and let the grass grow up to his ankles in the hope of heav- enly help. To arouse himself would be an interference with the eternal purpose, which he regards as altogether unwarrantable. I have known him look sour, shake his aged head, and say hard things against earnest people who were trying to win souls. I have known him run down young people, and like a great steam ram, sink them to the bottom, by calling them unsound and igno- rant. How shall we survive the censures of this dogmatic person ? How shall we escape from this very knowing and very captious sluggard ? Solomon hastens to the rescue and extinguishes this gentleman by informing us that he is void of understanding. Why, he is the standard of orthodoxy, and he judges everybody ! Yet Solomon ap- plies another standard to him, and says he is void of un- derstanding. He may know the doctrine, but he does not understand it ; or else he would know that the doc- trines of grace lead us to seek the grace of the doctrines ; 6 TALKS TO FARMERS. and that when we see God at work we learn that he worketh in us, not to make us go to sleep, but to will and to do of his own good pleasure. God's predestina- tion of a people is his ordaining them unto good works that they may show forth his praise. So, if you or I shall from any doctrines, however true, draw the infer- ence that we are warranted in being idle and indifferent about the things of God, we are void of understanding ; we are acting like fools ; we are misusing the gospel ; we are taking what was meant for meat and turning it into poison. The sluggard, whether he is sluggish about his business or about his soul, is a man void of understanding. As a rule we may measure a man's understanding by his useful activities ; this is what the wise man very plainly tells us. Certain persons call themselves " cul- tured, ' ' and yet they cultivate nothing. Modern thought, as far as I have seen anything of its actual working, is a bottle of smoke, out of which comes nothing solid ; yet we know men who can distinguish and divide, de- bate and discuss, refine and refute, and all the while the hemlock is growing in the furrow, and the plough is rusting. Friend, if your knowledge, if your culture, if your education does not lead you practically to serve God in your day and generation, you have not learned what Solomon calls wisdom, and you are not like the Blessed One, who was incarnate wisdom, of whom we read that " he went about doing good." A lazy man is not like our Saviour, who said, " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." True wisdom is practical : boastful culture vapors and theorizes. Wisdom ploughs its field, wisdom hoes its vineyard, wisdom looks to its crops, wisdom tries to make the best of everything ; THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 7 and he who does not do so, whatever may be his knowl- edge of this, of that, or of the other, is a man void of understanding. Why is he void of understanding ? Is it not because he has opportunities which he does not use ? His day has come, his day is going, and he lets the hours glide by to no purpose. Let me not press too hardly upon any one, but let me ask you all to press as hardly as you can upon yourselves while you enquire each one of himself, Am I employing the minutes as they fly ? This man had a vineyard, but he did not cultivate it ; he had a field, but he did not till it. Do you, brethren, use all your opportunities ? I know we each one have some power to serve God ; do we use it ? If we are his children he has not put one of us where we are of necessity useless. Some- where we may shine by the light which he has given us, though that light be only a farthing candle. Are we thus shining ? Do we sow beside all waters ? Do we in the morning sow our seed, and in the evening still stretch out our hand ? for if not, we are rebuked by the sweeping censure of Solomon, who saith that the sloth- ful is a " man void of understanding " Having opportunities he did not use them, and next, being bound to the performance of certain duties he did not fulfil them. When God appointed that every Israelite should have a piece of land, under that admirable system which made every Israelitea land owner, he meant that each man should possess his plot, not to let it lie waste, but to cultivate it. When God put Adam in the garden of Eden it was not that he should walk through the glades and watch the spontaneous luxuriance of the unfailen. earth, but that he might dress it and keep it, and he had the same end in view when he allotted each Jew his 8 TALKS TO FARMERS. piece of land ; he meant that the holy soil should reach the utmost point of fertility through the labor of those who owned it. Thus the possession of a field and a vineyard involved responsibilities upon the sluggard which he never fulfilled, and therefore he was void of understanding. What is your position, dear friend ? A father ? A master ? A servant ? A minister ? A teacher ? Well, you have your farms and your vine- yards in those particular spheres ; but if you do not use those positions aright you will be void of under- standing, because you neglect the end of your exist- ence. You miss the high calling which your Maker has set before you. The slothful farmer was unwise in these two respects, and in another also ; for he had capacities which he did not employ. He could have tilled the field and cultivated the vineyard if he had chosen to do so. He was not a sickly man, who was forced to keep his bed, but he was a lazy- bones who was there of choice. You are not asked to do in the service of God that which is utterly beyond you, for it is expected of us according to what we have and not according to what we have aot. The man of two talents is not required to bring in the interest of five, but he is expected to bring in the interest of two. Solomon's slothful was too idle to attempt tasks which were quite within his power. Many have a number of dormant faculties of which they are scarcely aware, and many more have abilities which they are using for themselves, and not for Him who created them. Dear friends, if God has given us any power to do good, pray let us do it, for this is a wicked, weary world. We should not even cover aglow-worm's light in such a darkness as this. We should not keep THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 9 back a syllable of divine truth in a world that is so full of falsehood and error. However feeble our voices, let us lift them up for the cause of truth and righteousness. Do not let us be void of understand'ng, because we have opportunities that we do not use, obligations that we do not fulfil, and capacities which we do not exer- cise. As for a sluggard in soul matters, he is indeed void of understanding, lor he trifles with matters which demand his most earnest heed. Man, hast thou never cultivated thy heart ? Hast the ploughshare never broken up the clods of thy soul ? Has the seed of the Word never been sown in thee ? or has it taken no root ? Hast thou never water- ed the young plants of desire ? Hast thou never sought to pull up the weeds of sin that grow in thy heart ? Art thou still a piece of the bare common or wild heath ? Poor soul ! Thou canst trim thy body, and spend many a minute at the 'glass ; dost thou not care for thy soul ? How long thou takest to decorate thy poor flesh, which is but worm's meat, or would be in a minute if God took away thy breath ! And yet all the while thy soul is un- combed, unwashed, unclad, a poor neglected thing ' Oh it should not be so. You take care of the worse part and leave the b'etter to perish through neglect. This is the height of folly ! He that is a sluggard as to the vineyard of his heart is a man void of under- standing. If I must be idle, let it be seen in my field and my garden, but not in my soul. Or are you a Christian ? Are you really saved, and are you negligent in the Lord's work ? Then, indeed, whatever you may be, I cannot help saying you have too little understanding ; for surely, when a man is saved himself, and understands the danger of other men's souls, 10 TALKS TO FARMERS. he must be in earnest in trying to pluck the firebrands from the flame. A Christian sluggard ! Is there such a being ? A Christian man on half time ? A Christian man working not at all for his Lord ; how shall I speak of him? Time does, not tarry, DEATH does not tarry, HELL does not tarry ; Satan is not lazy, all the powers of darkness are busy : how is it that you and I can be sluggish, if the Master has put us into his vineyard ? Surely we must be void of understanding if, after being saved by the infinite love of God, we do not spend and be spent in his service. The eternal fitness of things demands that a saved man should be an earnest man. The Christian who is slothful in his Master's service has no idea what he is losing; for the very cream of religion lies in holy consecration to God. Some people have just enough religion to make it questionable whether they have any or no. They have enough godliness to make them uneasy in their ungodliness. They have washed enough of their face to show the dirt upon the rest of it. " I am glad," said a servant, " that my mistress takes the sacrament, for otherwise I should not know she had any religion at all." You smile, and well you may. It is ridiculous that some people should have no goods in their shop, and yet advertise their business in all the papers ; should make a show of religion, and yet have none of the Spirit of God. I wish some professors would do Christ the justice to say, " No, I am not one. of his disciples ; do not think so badly of him as to imagine that I can be one of them." We ought to be reflections of Christ ; but I fear many are reflections upon Christ. When we see a lot of lazy servants, we are apt to think that their master must be a very idle person himself, or he would never put up with them. He who employs THE SLUGGARD S FARM. II sluggards, and is satisfied with their snail- like pace, cannot be a very active man himself. O, let not the world think that Christ is indifferent to human woe, that Christ has lost his zeal, that Christ has lost his energy : yet I fear they will say it or think it if they see -those who profess to be laborers in the vineyard of Christ nothing better than mere sluggards. The sloth- ful, then, is a man void of understanding ; he loses the honor and pleasure which he would find in serving his Master ; he is a dishonor to the cause which he professes to venerate, and he is storing up thorns for his dying pillow. Let that stand as settled the slothful, whether he be a minister, deacon, or private Christian, is a man void of understanding. Now, secondly, LET us LOOK AT THE SLUGGARD'S LAND : " I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding ; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof. " Note, first, that land will produce some- thing. Soil which is good enough to be made into a field and a vineyard must and will yield some fruit or other ; and so you and I, in our hearts and in the sphere God gives us to occupy, will be sure to produce something. We cannnot live in this world as entire blanks ; we shall either do good or do evil, as sure as we are alive. If you are idle in Christ's work, you are active in the devil's work. The sluggard by sleeping was doing more for the cultivation of thorns and nettles than he could have done by any other means. As a garden will either yield flowers or weeds, fruits or this- tles, so something either good or evil will come out of our household, our class, or our congregation. If we 12 TALKS TO FARMERS. % do not produce a harvest of good wheat, by laboring for Christ, we shall grow tares to be bound up in bundles for the last dread burning. Note again that, if it be not farmed for God, the soul will yield its natural produce; and what is the natural produce of land if left to itself ? What but thorns and nettles, or some other useless weeds ? What is the natural produce of your heart and mine ? What but sin and misery ? What is the natural produce of your children if you leave them untrained for God ? What but unholiness and vice ? What is the natural produce of this great city if we leave its streets, and lanes, and alleys without the gospel ? What but crime and infamy ? Some harvest there will be, and the sheaves will be the natural produce of the soil, which is sin, death, and corruption. If we are slothful, the natural produce of our heart and of our sphere will be most inconvenient and unpleasant to ourselves. Nobody can sleep on thorns, or make a pillow of nettles. No rest can come out of an idleness which lets ill alone, and does not by God's Spirit strive to up- root evil. While you are sleeping, Satan will be sowing. If you withhold the seed of good, Satan will be lavish with the seed of evil, and from that evil will come anguish and regret for time, and it may be for eternity. O man, the garden put into thy charge, if thou waste thy time in slumber, will reward thee with all that is noisome and painful. ' Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." In many instances there will be a great deal of this evil produce ; for a field and a vineyard will yield more thistles and nettles than a piece of gound that has never been reclaimed. If the land is good enough for a gar- THE SLUGGARDS FARM. 13 den, it will present its owner with a fine crop of weeds if he only stays his hand. A choice bit of land fit for a vineyard of red wine will render such a profusion of nettles to the slothful that he shall rub his eyes with surprise. The man who might do most for God, if he were renewed, will bring forth most for Satan if he be let alone. The very region which would have glorified God most if the grace of God were there to convert its inhabitants, will be that out of which the vilest enemies of the gospel will arise. Rest assured of that ; the best will become the worst if we neglect it. Neglect is all that is needed to produce evil. If you want to know the way of salvation, I must take some pains to tell you ; but if you want to know the way to be lost, my reply is easy ; for it is only a matter of negligence : ' ' How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ?" If you desire to bring forth a harvest unto God, I may need long to instruct you in ploughing, sowing, and watering ; but if you wish your mind to be covered with Satan's hemlock, you have only to leave the furrows of your nature to themselves. The slothful asks for " A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep," and the thorns and thistles multiply beyond all numbering, and prepare for him many a sting. While we look upon the lazy man's vineyard let us also peep into the ungodly sluggard's heart. He does not care about repentance and faith. To think about his soul, to be in earnest about eternity, is too much for him. He wants to take things easy, and have a little more folding of the arms to sleep. What is growing in his mind and character ? In some of these spiritual sluggards you can see drunkenness, uncleanness, cov- etousness, anger, and pride, and all sorts of thistles and 14 TALKS TO FARMERS. nettles ; or where these ranker weeds do not appear, by reason of the restraint of pious connections, you find other sorts of sin. The heart cannot be altogether empty, either Christ or the devil will possess it. My dear friend, if you are not decided for God, you can- not be a neutral. In this war every man is for God or for his enemy. You cannot remain like a sheet of blank paper. The legible handwriting of Satan is upon you can you not see the blots ? Unless Christ has written across the page his own sweet name, the autograph of Satan is visible. You may say, " I do not go into open sin ; I ani moral," and so forth. Ah, if you would but look, and consider, and search into your heart, you would see that enmity to God and to his ways, and hatred of purity, are there. You do not love God's law, nor love his Son, nor love his gospel, you are alienated in your heart, and there is in you all manner of evil desires and vain thoughts, and these will flourish and increase so long as you are a spiritual sluggard, and leave your heart uncultivated. O, may the Spirit of God arouse you ; may you be stirred to anxious, earnest thought, and then you will see that these rank growths must be uprooted, and that your heart must be turned up by the plough of conviction, and sown with the good seed of the gospel, till a harvest rewards the great Husbandman. Friend, if you believe in Christ, I want to peep over the hedge intoyour heart also, if you are a sluggish Chris- tian ; for I fear that nettles and thistles are threatening you also. Did I not hear you sing the other day " 'Tis a point I long to know " ? That point will often be raised, for doubt is a seed which THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 15 is sure to grow in lazy men's minds. I do not remember reading in Mr. Wesley's diary a question about his own salvation. He was so busy in the harvest of the Master that it did not occur to him to distrust his God. Some Christians have little faith in consequence of their having never sown the grain of mustard-seed which they have received. If you do not sow your faith by using it, how can it grow ? When a man lives by faith in Christ Jesus, and his faith exercises itself actively in the service of his Lord, it takes root, groWs upward, and become strong, till it chokes his doubts. Some have sadly morbid forebodings ; they are discontented, fretful, selfish, murmuring, and all because they are idle. These are the weeds that grow in sluggards' gardens. I have known the slothful become so peevish that nothing could please them ; the most earnest Christian could not do right for them ; the most loving Christians could not be affectionate enough ; the most active church could not be energetic enough ; they detected all sorts of wrong where God himself saw much of the fruit of his Spirit. This censoriousness, this contention, this perpetual complaining is one of the nettles that are quite sure to grow in men's gardens when they fold their arms in sinful ease. If your heart does not yield fruit to God it will certainly bring forth that which is mischievous in itself, painful to you, and injurious to your fellow-men. Often the-thorns choke the good seed ; but it is a very blessed thing when the good seed comes up so thick and fast that it chokes the thorns. God enables certain Christians to become" so fruitful in Christ that their graces and works stand thick together, and when Satan throws in the tares they cannot grow because there is no room for them. The Holy Spirit by his power makes 1 6 TALKS TO FARMERS. evil to become weak in the heart, so that it no longer keeps the upper hand. If you are slothful, friend, look over the field of your heart, and weep at the sight. May I next ask you to look mtoyvur own house and home ? It is a dreadful thing when a man does not cul- tivate the field of his own family. I recollect in my early days a man who used to walk out with me into the vil- lages when I was preaching. I was glad of his company till I found out certain facts, and then I shook him off, and I believe he hooked on to somebody else, for he must needs be gadding abroad every evening of the week. He had many children, and these grew up to be wicked young men and women, and the reason was that the father, while he would be at this meeting and that, never tried to bring his own children to the Saviour. What is the use of zeal abroad if there is neglect at home? How sad to say, " My own vineyard have I not kept." Have you never heard of one who said he did not teach his children the ways of God because he thought they were so young that it was ver) wrong to prejudice them, and he had rather leave them to choose their own religion when they grew older ? One of his boys broke his arm, and while the surgeon was setting it. the boy was swearing all the time. *' Ah," said the good doctor, ' ' I told you what would happen. You were -afraid to prejudice your boy in the right way, but the devil had no such qualms ; he has prejudiced him the other way, and pretty strongly too." It is our duty to prejudice our field in favor of corn, or it will soon be cov- ered with thistles. Cultivate a child's heart for good, or it will go wrong of itself, for it is already depraved by nature. O that we were wise enough to think of this, and leave no little one to become a prey to the destroyer. THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 17 As it is with homes, so is it with schools. A gentle- man who joined this church some time ago had been an atheist for years, and in conversing with him I found that he had been educated at one of our great public schools, and to that fact he traced his infidelity He said that the boys were stowed away on Sunday in a lofty gallery at the far end of a church, where they could scarcely hear a word that the clergyman said, but simply sat imprisoned in a place where it was dreadfully hot in summer and cold in winter. On Sundays there were prayers, and prayers, and prayers, but nothing that ever touched his heart ; until he was so sick of prayers that he vowed if he once got out of the school he would have done with religion. This is a sad re- sult, but a frequent one. You Sunday-school teach- ers can make your classes so tiresome to the children that they will hate Sunday. You can fritter away the time in school without bringing the lads and lasses to Christ, and so you may do more hurt than good. I have known Christian fathers who by their severity and want of tenderness have sown their family field with the thorns and thistles of hatred to religion instead of scattering the good seed of love to it. O that we may so live among our children that they may not only love us, but love our Father who is in heaven. May fathers and mothers set such an example of cheerful piety that sons and daughters shall say, " Let us tread in our father's footsteps, for he was a happy and a holy man. Let us follow our mother's ways, for she was sweetness itself." If piety does not rule in your house, when we pass by your home we shall see disorder, disobedience, pride of dress, folly, and the beginnings of vice. Let not your home be a slug- 1 8 TALKS TO FARMERS. gard's field, or you will have to rue it in years to come. Let every deacon, every class-leader, and also every minister enquire diligently into the state of the field he has to cultivate. You see, brothers and sisters, if you and I are set over any department of our Lord's work, and we are not diligent in it, we shall be like barren trees planted in an orchard, which are a loss altogether, because they occupy the places of other trees which might have brought forth fruit unto their owners. We shall cumber the ground, and do damage to our Lord, unless we render him actual service. Will you think of this ? If you could be put down as a mere cipher in the accounts of Christ, that would be very sad ; but, brother, it cannot be so, you will cause a deficit unless you create a gain. Oh that through the grace of God we may be profitable to our Lord and Master ! Who among us can look upon his life-work without some sorrow ? If anything has been done aright we ascribe it all to the grace of God ; but how much there is to weep over ! How much that we would wish to amend ! Let us not spend time in idle regrets,- but pray for the Spirit of God, that in the future we may not be void of understanding, but may know what we ought to do, and where the strength must come from with which to do it, and then give ourselves up to the doing of it. I beg you once more to look at the great field of the world. Do you see how it is overgrown with thorns and nettles ? If an angel could take a survey of the whole race, what tears he would shed, if angels could weep ! What a tangled mass of weeds the whole earth is ! Yonder the field is scarlet with the poppy of popery, and over the hedge it is yellow with the wild mustard THE SLUGGARD'S FARM. 19 of Mahometanism. Vast regions are smothered with the thistles of infidelity and idolatry. The world is full of cruelty, oppression, drunkenness, rebellion, un- cleanness, misery. What the moon sees ! What God's sun sees ! What scenes of horror ! How far is all this to be attributed to a neglectful church ? Nearly nine- teen hundred years are gone, and the sluggard's vine- yard is but little improved ! England has been touched with the spade, but I cannot say that it has been thor- oughly weeded or ploughed yet. Across the ocean another field equally favored knows well the ploughman, and yet the weeds are rank. Here and there a little good work has been done, but the vast mass of the world still lies a moorland never broken up, a waste, a howling wilderness. What has the church been doing all these years ? She ceased after a few centuries to be a missionary church, and from that hour she almost ceased to be a Irving church. Whenever a church does not labor for the reclaiming of the desert, it becomes itself a waste. You shall not find on the roll of history that for a length of time any Christian community has flourished after it has become negligent of the outside world. I believe that if we are put into the Master's vineyard, and will not take away the weeds, neither shall the vine flourish, nor shall the corn yield its increase. However, instead of asking what the church has been doing for this nineteen hundred years, let us ask our- selves, What are we going to do now ? Are the missions of the churches of Great Britain always to be such poor, feeble things as they are ? Are the best of our Christian young men always going to stay at home ? We go on ploughing the home field a hundred times over, while millions of acres abroad are left to the thorn and nettle. 2O TALKS TO FARMERS. Shall it always be so ? God send us more spiritual life, and wake us up from our sluggishness, or else when the holy watcher gives in his report, he will say, " I went by the field of the sluggish church, and it was all grown over with thorns and nettles, and the stone wall was broken down, so that one could scarcely tell which was the church and which was the world, yet still she slept, and slept, and slept, and nothing could waken her." I conclude by remarking that THERE MUST BE SOME LESSON IN ALL THIS. I cannot teach it as I would, but I want to learn it myself. I will speak it as though I were talking to myself. The first lesson is, that unaided nature always will produce thorns and nettles, and nothing else. My soul, if it were not for grace, this is all thou wouldst have produced. Beloved, are you producing anything else ? Then it is not nature, but the grace of God that makes you produce it. Those lips that now most charmingly sing the praises of God would have been delighted with an idle ballad if the grace of God had not sanctified them. Your heart, that now cleaves to Christ, would have continued to cling to your idols you know what they were if it had not been for grace divine. And why should grace have visited you or me why ? Echo answers, Why ? What answer can we give? " 'Tis even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. " Let the recollection of what grace has done move us to manifest the result of that grace in our lives. Come, brothers and sisters, inasmuch as we were aforetime rich enough in the soil of our nature to produce so much of nettle and thistle and God only knows how much we did produce let us now pray that our lives may yield as much of good corn for the great Husbandman. Will you serve Christ less THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 21 than you served your lusts ? Will you make less sacrifice for Christ than you did for your sins ? Some of you were whole-hearted enough when in the service of the evil one, will you be half-hearted in the service of God ? Shall the Holy Spirit produce less fruit in you than that which you yielded under the spirit of evil ? God grant that we may not be left to prove what nature will produce if left to itself. We see here, next, the little value of natural good inten- tions ; for this man, who left his field and vineyard to be overgrown, always meant to work hard one of these fine days. To do him justice, we must admit that he did not mean to sleep much longer, for he said " Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep." Only a little doze, and then he would tuck up his sleeves and show his muscle. Probably the worst people in the world are those who have the best inten- tions, but never carry them out. In that way Satan lulls many to sleep. They hear an earnest sermon ; but they do not arise andgo to their Father ; they only get as far assaying, " Yes, yes, the far country is not a fit place for me ; I will not stay here long. I mean to go home by- and-by." They said that forty years ago, but nothing came of it. When they were quite youths they had serious impressions, they were almost persuaded to be Christians, and yet they are not Christians even now. They have been slumbering forty years ! Surely that is a liberal share of sleep ! They never intended to dream so long, and now they do not mean to lie in bed much longer. They will not turn to Christ at once, but they are re- solved to do so one day. When are you going to do it, friend ? ' ' Before I die. ' ' Going to put it off to the last hour or two, are you ? And so, when unconscious, and 1 a TALKS TO FARMERS. drugged to relieve pain, you will begin to think of your soul ? Is this wise ? Surely you are void of understand- ing. Perhaps you will die in an hour. Did you not hear the other day of the alderman who died in his car- riage ? Little must he have dreamed of that. Hovr would it have fared with you had you also been smitten while riding at your ease ? Have you not heard of per- sons who fall dead at their work ? What is to hinder your dying with a spade in your hand ? I am often startled when I am told in the week that one whom I saw on Sunday is dead gone from the shop to the judgment-seat. It is not a very long time ago since one went out at the doorway of the Tabernacle, and fell dead on the threshold. We have had deaths in the house of God, unexpected deaths ; and sometimes peo- ple are hurried away unprepared who never meant to have died unconverted, who always had from their youth up some kind of desire to be ready, only still they wanted a little more sleep. Oh, my hearers, take heed of little delays, and short puttings-off. You have wasted time enough already, come to the point at once before the clock strikes again. May God the Holy Spirit bring you 'to decision. " Surely you do not object to my having a little more sleep?" says the sluggard. 'You have waked me so soon. I only ask another little nap." " My dear man, it is far into the morning." He answers, " It is rather late, I know ; but it will not be much later if I take just another doze." You wake him again, and tell him it is noon. He says, " It is the hottest part of the day : I daresay if I had been up I should have gone to the sofa and taken a little rest from the hot sun." You knock at his door when it is almost evening, and THE SLUGGARD S FARM. 23 then he cries, " It is of no use to get up now, for the day is almost over." You remind him of his over- grown field and weedy vineyard, and he answers, " Yes, I must get up, I know." He shakes himself and says, " I do not think it will matter much if I wait till the clock strikes. I will rest another minute or two." He is glued to his bed, dead while he liveth, buried in his laziness. If he could sleep forever he would, but he cannot, for the judgment-day will rouse him. It is written, " And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in tor- ment." God grant that you spiritual sluggards may wake before that ; but you will not unless you bestir yourselves betimes, for "now is the accepted time"; and it may be now or never. To morrow is only to be found in the calendar of fools ; to-day is the time of the wise man, the chosen season of our gracious God. Oh that the Holy Spirit may lead you to seize the present hour, that you may at once give yourselves to the Lord by faith in Christ Jesus, and then from his vineyard ' ' Quick uproot The noisome weeds, that without profit suck The soil's fertility from wholesome plants. " THE BROKEN FENCE. " I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding ; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and tJie stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well : I looked upon it and received instruction." PROVERBS 24 : 30-32. THIS slothful man did no hurt to his fellow-men : he was not a thief, nor a ruffian, nor a meddler in anybody else's business. He did not trouble himself about other men's concerns, for he did not even attend to his own it required too much exertion. He was not grossly vicious ; he had not energy enough to care for that. He was one who liked to take things easily. He always let well alone, and, for the matter of that, he let ill alone, too, as the nettles and the thistles in his garden plainly proved. What was the use of disturbing himself ? It would be all the same a hundred years hence ; and so he took things just as they came. He was not a bad man, so some said of him ; and yet, perhaps, it will be found at last that there is no worse man in the world than the man who is not good, for in some respects he is not good enough to be bad ; he has not enough force of character about him to serve either God or Baal. He simply serves himself, worshipping his own ease and adoring his own comfort. Yet he always meant to be right. Dear me ! he was not going to sleep much longer, he would only have forty winks more, and then he would be at his work, THE BROKEN FENCE. 25 and show you what he could do. One of these days he meant to be thoroughly in earnest, and make up for lost time. The time never actually came for him to begin, but it was always coming. He always meant to repent, but he went on in his sin. He meant to believe, but he died an unbeliever. He meant to be a Christian, but he lived without Christ. He halted between two opinions because he could not trouble himself to make up his mind ; and so he perished of delay. This picture of the slothful man and his garden and field overgrown with nettles and weeds represents many a man who has professed to be a Christian, but who has become slothful in the things of God. Spiritual life has withered in him. He has backslidden ; he has come down from the condition of healthy spiritual energy into one of listlessness, and indifference to the things of God ; and while things have gone wrong within his heart, and all sorts of mischiefs have come into him and grown up and seeded themselves in him, mischief is also taking place externally in his daily conduct. The stone wall which guarded his character is broken down, and he lies open to all evil. Upon this point we will now meditate. ' The stone wall thereof was broken down." Come, then, let us take a walk with Solomon, and stand with him and consider and learn instruction while we look at this broken- doivn fence. When we have exam- ined it, let us consider the consequences of broken-down walls ; and then, in the last place, let us try to rouse up this slug- gard that his wall may yet be repaired. If this slothful person should be one of ourselves, may God's infinite mercy rouse us up before this ruined wall has let in a herd of prowling vices. a6 TALKS TO FARMERS. I. First let us take a LOOK AT THIS BROKEN FENCE. You will see that in the beginning it was a very good fence, for it was a stone wall. Fields are often surrounded with wooden palings which soon decay, or with hedges which may very easily have gaps made in them ; but this was a stone wall. Such walls are very usual in the East, and are also common in some of our own counties where stone is plentiful. It was a substantial protection to begin with, and well shut in the pretty little estate which had fallen into such bad hands. The man had a field for agricultural purposes, and another strip of land for a vineyard or a garden. It was fer- tile soil, for it produced thorns and nettles in abun- dance, and where these flourish better things can be pro- duced ; yet the idler took no care of his property, but allowed the wall to get into bad repair, and in many places to be quite broken down. Let me mention some of the stone walls that men permit to be broken down when they backslide. In many cases sound principles were instilled in youth, but these are forgotten. What a blessing is Christian edu- cation ! Our parents, both by persuasion and example, taught many of us the things that are pure and honest, and of good repute. We saw in their lives how to live. They also opened the word of God before us, and they taught us the ways of right both toward God and toward men. They prayed for us, and they prayed with us, till the things of God were placed round about us and shut us in as with a stone wall. We have never been able to get rid of our early impressions. Even in times of wandering, before we knew the Lord savingly, these things had a healthy power over us ; we were checked when we would have done evil, we were assisted THE BROKEN FENCE. 27 when we were struggling toward Christ. It is very sad when people permit these first principles to be shaken, and to be removed like stones which fall from a boundary wall. Young persons begin at first to talk lightly of the old-fashioned ways of their parents. By- and-by it is not merely the old-fashionedness of the ways, but the ways themselves that they despise. They seek other company, and from that other company they learn nothing but evil. They seek pleasure in places which it horrifies their parents to think of. This leads to worse, and if they do not bring their fathers' gray hairs with sorrow to the grave it is no virtue of theirs. I have known young men, who really were Christians, sadly backslide through being induced to modify, con- ceal, or alter those holy principles in which they were trained from their mother's knee. It is a great calamity when professedly converted men become unfixed, un- stable, and carried about with every wind of doctrine. It shows great faultiness of mind, and unsoundness of heart, when we can trifle with those grave and solemn truths which have been sanctified by a mother's tears and by a father's earnest life. " I am thy servant," said David, "and the son of thy handmaid ": he felt it to be a high honor, and, at the same time, a sacred bond which bound him to God, that he was the son of one who could be called God's handmaid. Take care, you who have had Christian training, that you do not trifle with it. " My son, keep thy father's commandment, and for- sake not the law of thy mother : bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck." Protection to character is also found in the fact that solid doctrines have been learned. This is a fine stone wall. Many among us have been taught the gospel 2 8 TALKS TO FARMERS. of the grace of God, and they have learned it well, so that they are able to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Happy are they who have a religion that is grounded upon a clear knowledge of eternal verities. A religion which is all excitement, and has little instruction in it, may serve for transient use ; but for permanent life-purposes there must be a knowl- edge of those great doctrines which are fundamental to the gospel system. I tremble when I hear of a man's giving up, one by one, the vital principles of the gospel and boasting of his liberality. I hear him say, " These are my views, but others have a right to their views also." That is a very proper expression in reference to mere " views," but we may not thus speak of truth itself as revealed by God : that is one and unalterable, and all are bound to receive it. It is not your view of truth, for that is a dim thing ; but the very truth itself which will save you if your faith embraces it. I will readily yield my way of stating a doctrine, but not the doctrine itself. One man may put it in this way, and one in another ; but the truth itself must never be given up. The spirit of the Broad School robs us of everything like certainty. I should like to ask some great men of that order whether they believe that anything is taught in the Scriptures which it would be worth while for a per- son to die for, and whether the martyrs were not great fools for laying down their lives for mere opinions which might be right or might be wrong. This Broad-church- ism is a breaking down of stone walls, and it will let in the devil and all his crew, and do infinite harm to the church of God, if it be not stopped. A loose state of belief does great damage to any man's mind. We are not bigots, but we should be none the worse THE BROKEN FENCE. 29 if we so lived that men called us so. I met a man the other day who was accused of bigotry, and I said, " Give me your hand, old fellow. I like to meet with bigots now and then, for the fine old creatures are getting scarce, and the stuff they are made of is so good that if there were more of it we might see a few men among us again and fewer mollusks. ' ' Lately we have seen few men with backbone ; the most have been of the jelly-fish order. I have lived in times in which I should have said, " Be liberal, and shake off all narrowness": but now lam obliged to alter my tone and cry, " Be steadfast in the truth." The faith once delivered to the saints is now all the more attractive to me because it is called narrow, for I am weary of that breadth which comes of broken hedges. There are fixed points of truth, and definite cer- tainties of creed, and woe to you if you allow these stone walls to crumble down. I fear me that the slothful are a numerous band, and that ages to come may have to de- plore the laxity which has been applauded by this negli- gent generation. Another fence which is too often neglected is that of godly habits which had been formed : the sluggard allows this wall to be broken down. I will mention some valuable guards of life and character. One is the habit of secret prayer. Private prayer should be regularly offered, at least in the morning and in the evening. We cannot do without set seasons for drawing near to God. To look into the face of man without having first seen the face of God is very dangerous : to go out into the world without locking up the heart and giving God the key is to leave it open to all sorts of spiritual vagrants. At night, again, to go to your rest as the swine roll into their sty, without thanking God for the mercies of 30 TALKS TO FARMERS. the day, is shameful. The evening sacrifice should be devoutly offered as surely as we have enjoyed the even- ing fireside : we should thus put ourselves under the wings of the Preserver of men. It may be said, " We can pray at all times." I know we can : but I fear that those who do not pray at stated hours seldom pray at alt. Those who pray in season are the most likely per- sons to pray at all seasons. Spiritual life does not care for a cast-iron regulation, but since life casts itself into some mould or other, I would have you careful of its external habit as well as its internal power. Never allow great gaps in the wall of your habitual private prayer. I go a step farther ; I believe that there is a great guardian power about family prayer, and I feel greatly distressed because I know that very many Christian families neglect" it. Romanism, at one time, could do nothing in England, because it could offer nothing but the shadow of what Christian men had already in sub- stance. " Do you hear that bell tinkling in the morning ?" " What is that for ?" ' Togo to church to pray." "In- deed," said the Puritan, " I have no need to* go there to pray. I have had my children together, and we have read a passage of Scripture, and prayed, and sang the praises of God, and we have a church in our house." Ah, there goes that bell again in the evening. What is that for ? Why, it is the vesper bell. The good man answered that he had no need to trudge a mile or two for that, for his holy vespers had been said and sung around his own table, of which the big Bible was the chief ornament. They told him that there could be no service without a priest, but he replied that every godly man should be a priest in his own house. Thus have THE BROKEN FENCE. 31 the saints defied the overtures of priestcraft, and kept the faith from generation to generation. Household devotion and the pulpit are, under God, the stone walls of Protestantism, and my prayer is that these may not be broken down. Another fence to protect piety is found in week-night services. I notice that when people forsake week-night meetings the power of their religion evaporates. I do not speak of those lawfully detained to watch the sick, and attend to farm-work and other business, or as domestic servants and the like ; there are exceptions to all rules : but I mean those who could attend if they had a mind to do so. When people say, " It is quite enough for me to be wearied with the sermons of the Sunday ; I do not want to go out to prayer-meetings, and lectures, and so forth," then it is clear that they have no appetite for the word ; and surely this is a bad sign. If you have a bit of wall built to protect the Sun- day and then six times the distance left without a fence, I believe that Satan's cattle will get in and do no end of mischief. Take care, also, of the stone wall of Bible reading, and of speaking often one to another concerning the things of God. Associate with the godly, and commune with God, and you will thus, by the blessing of God's Spirit, keep up a good fence against temptations, which otherwise will get into the fields of your soul, and de- vour all goodly fruits. Many have found much protection for the field of daily life in the stone wall of a public prof ession of faith. I am speaking to you who are real believers, and I know that you have often found it a great safeguard to be known and recognized as a follower of Jesus. I have 32 TALKS TO FARMERS. never regretted and I never shall regret the day on which I walked to the little river Lark, in Cambridge- shire, and was there buried with Christ in baptism. In this I acted contrary to the opinions of all my friends whom I respected and esteemed, but as I had read the Greek Testament for myself, I felt bound to be im- mersed upon the profession of my faith, and I was so. By that act I said to the world, " I am dead to you, and buried to you in Christ, and I hope henceforth to live in newness of life." That day, by God's grace, I imitated the tactics of the general who meant to fight the enemy till he conquered, and therefore he burned his boats that there might be no way of retreat. I believe that a solemn confession of Christ before men is as a thorn hedge to keep one within bounds, and to keep off those who hope to draw you aside. Of course it is nothing but a hedge, and it is of no use to.fence in a field of weeds, but when wheat is growing a hedge is of great consequence. You who imagine that you can be the Lord's, and yet lie open like a common, are under a great error ; you ought to be distinguished from the world, and obey the voice which saith, " Come ye out from among them, be ye separate." The promise of salvation is to the man who with his heart believeth and with his mouth confesseth. Say right boldly, " Let others do as they will ; as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." By this act you come out into the king's highway, and put yourself under the protection of the Lord of pilgrims, and he will take care of you. Oftentimes, when otherwise you might have hesitated, you will say, " The vows of the Lord are upon me : how can I draw back ?" I pray you, then, set up the stone wall, and keep it up, and if it has at any corner been THE BROKEN FENCE. 33 tumbled over, set it up again, and let it be seen by your conduct and conversation that you are a follower of Jesus, and are not ashamed to have it known. Keep to your religious principles like men, and do not turn aside for the sake of gain, or respectability. Do not let wealth break down your wall, for I have known some make a great gap to let their carriage go through, and to let in wealthy worldlings for the sake of their society. Those who forsake their principles to please men will in the end be lightly esteemed, but he who is faithful shall have the honor which cometh from God. Look well to this hedge of steadfast adhe- rence to the faith, and you shall find a great blessing in it. There is yet another stone wall which I will men- tion, namely, firmness of character. Our holy faith teaches a man to be decided in the cause of Christ, and to be resolute in getting rid of evil habits. " If thine eye offend thee" wear a shade? No ; " pluck it out." " If thine arm offend thee" hang it in a sling ? No ; " cut it off and cast it from thee." True religion is very thorough in what it recommends. It says to us, " Touch not the unclean thing." But many persons are so idle in the ways of God that they have no mind of their own : evil companions tempt them, and they cannot say, "No." They need a stone wall made up of noes. Here are the stones " no, no, NO." Dare to be singular. Resolve to keep close to Christ. Make a stern determination to per- mit nothing in your life, however gainful or pleasurable, if it would dishonor the name of Jesus. Be dogmati- cally true, obstinately holy, immovably honest, despe- rately kind, fixedly upright. If God's grace sets up this hedge around you, even Satan will feel that he cannot 34 TALKS TO FARMERS. get in, and will complain to God " hast thou not set a hedge about him ?" I have kept you long enough looking over the wall, let me invite you in, and for a few minutes let us CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF A BROKEN-DOWN FENCE. To make short work of it, first, the boundary has gone. Those lines of separation which were kept up by the good principles which were instilled in him by religious habits, by a bold profession and by a firm resolve, have vanished, and now the question is, "Is he a Christian, or is he not?" The fence is so far gone that he does not know which is his Lord's property and which re- mains an open common : in fact, he does not know whether he himself is included in the Royal domain or left to be mere waste of the world's manor. This is for want of keeping up the fences. If that man had lived near to God, if he had walked in his integrity, if the Spirit of God had richly rested on him in all holy living and waiting upon God, he would have known where the boundary was, and. he would have seen whether his land lay in the parish of All-saints, or in the region called No-man's-land, or in the district where Satan is the lord of the manor. I heard of a dear old saint the other day who, when she was near to death, was attacked by Satan, and, waving her finger at the enemy, in her gentle way, she routed him by saying, " Chosen! chosen! chosen !" She knew that she was chosen, and she re- membered the text, " The Lord that hath chosen Jeru- salem rebuke thee." When the wall stands in its integ- rity all round the field, we can resist the devil by bid- ding him leave the Lord's property alone. " Begone ! Look somewhere else. I belong to Christ, not to f HE BROKEN FENCE. 35 you." To do this you must mend the hedges well so that there shall be a clear boundary line, and you can say, " Trespassers, beware !" Do not yield an inch to the enemy, but make the wall all the higher, the more he seeks to enter. O that this adversary may never find a gap to enter by ! Next, when the wall has fallen, the protection is gone. When a man's heart has its wall broken all his thoughts will go astray, and wander upon the mountains of van- ity. Like sheep, thoughts need careful folding, or they will be off in no time. " I hate vain thoughts," said David, but slothful men are sure to have plenty of them, for there is no keeping your thoughts out of vanity un- less you stop at every gap and shut every gate. Holy thoughts, comfortable meditations, devout longings, and gracious communings will be off and gone if we sluggishly allow the stone wall to get out of repair. Nor is this all, for as good things go out so bad things come in. When the wall is gone every passer-by sees, as it were, an invitation to enter. You have set before him an open door, and in he comes. Are there fruits ? He plucks them, of course. He walks about as it were a public place, and he pries everywhere. Is there any secret corner of your heart which you will keep for Jesus ? Satan or the world will walk in ; and do you wonder ? Every passing goat, or roaming ox, or stray ass visits the growing crops and spoils more than he eats, and who can blame the creature when the gaps are so wide ? All manner of evil lust and desires, and imaginations prey upon an unfenced souh It is of no use for you to say, " Lead us not into temptation." God will hear your prayer, and he will not lead you there ; but you are leading yourself into it, you are tempting 36 TALKS TO FARMERS. the devil to tempt you. If you leave yourself open to evil influences the Spirit of God will be grieved, and he may leave you to keep the result of your folly. What think you, friend ? Had you not better attend to your fences at once ? And then there is another evil, for the land itself will go away. " No," say you ; " how can that be ?" If a stone wall is broken down round a farm in England a man does not thereby lose his land, but in many parts of Palestine the land is all ups and downs on the sides of the hills, and every bit of ground is terraced and kept up by walls. When the walls fall the soil slips over, terrace upon terrace, and the vines and trees go down with it ; then the rain comes and washes the soil away, and nothing is left but barren crags which would starve a lark. In the same manner a man may so neglect himself, and so neglect the things of God, and become so careless and indifferent about doctrine, and about holy living, that his power to do good ceases, and his mind, his heart, and his energy seem to be gone. The prophet said, " Ephraim is a silly dove, without heart :" there are flocks of such silly doves. The man who trifles with religion sports with his own soul, and will soon de- generate into so much of a trifler that he will be averse to solemn thought, and incapable of real usefulness. I charge you, dear friends, to be sternly true to your- selves and to your God. Stand to your principles in this evil and wicked day. Now, when everything seems to be turned into marsh and mire and mud, and religious thought appears to be silently sliding and slipping along, descending like a stream of slime into the Dead Sea of Unbelief get solid walls built around your life, around your faith, and around your character. Stand THE BROKEN FENCE. 37 fast, and having done all, still stand. May God the Holy Ghost cause you to be rooted and grounded, built up and established, fixed and confirmed, never " cast- ing away your confidence, which hath great recom- pense of reward." Lastly, I want, if I can, TO WAKE UP THE SLUGGARD. I would like to throw a handful of gravel up to his win- dow. It is time to get up, for the sun has drunk up all the dew. He craves "a little more sleep." My dear fellow, if you take a little more sleep, you will never wake at all till you lift up your eyes in another world. Wake at once. Leap from your bed before you are smothered in it. Wake up ! Do you not see where you are ? You have let things alone till your heart is covered with sins like weeds. You have neglected God and Christ till you have grown worldly, sinful, careless, indifferent, ungodly. I mean some of you v. ho were once named with the sacred name. You have become like worldlings, and are almost as far from being what you ought to be as others who make no profession at all. Look at yourselves and see what has come of your ne- glected walls. Then look at some of your fellow-Chris- tians, and mark how diligent they are. Look at many among them who are poor and illiterate, and yet they are doing far more than you for the Lord Jesus. In spite of your talents and opportunities, you are an un- profitable servant, letting all things run to waste. Is it not time that you bestirred yourself ? Look, again, at others who, like yourself, went to sleep, mean- ing to wake in a little while. What has become of them ? Alas, for those who have fallen into gross sin, and dishonored their character, and who have been 38 TALK,S TO FARMERS. put away from the church of God ; yet they only went a little farther than you have done. Your state of heart is much the same as theirs, and if you should be tempt- ed as they have been, you will probably make ship- wreck as they have done. Oh, see to it, you that slum- ber, for an idle professor is ready for anything. A slothful professor's heart is tinder for the devil's tinder- box ; does your heart thus invite the sparks of tempta- tion ? Remember, lastly, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Shall he come and find you sleeping ? Remem- ber the judgment. What will you say to excuse your- self, for opportunities lost, time wasted, and talents wrapped up in a napkin, when the Lord shall come ? As for you, my unconverted friend, if you go dream- ing through this world, without any sort of trouble, and never look to the state of your heart at all, you will be a lost man beyond all question. The slothful can have no hope, for " if the righteous scarcely are saved," who strive to serve their Lord, where will those appear who sleep on in defiance of the calls of God ? Salvation is wholly and alone of grace, as you well know ; but grace never works in men's minds toward slumbering and indifference; it tends toward energy, activity, fer- vor, importunity, self-sacrifice. God grant us the in- dwelling of his Holy Spirit, that all things may be set in order, sins cut up by the roots within the heart, and the whole man protected by sanctifying grace from the wasters which lurk around, hoping to enter where the wall is low. O Lord, remember us in mercy, fence us about by thy power, and keep us from the sloth which would expose us to evil, for Jesus' sake. Amen. FROST AND THAW. " He giveth snow like wool : he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels : who can stand before his cold ? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. "PSALM 147 : 16-18. LOOKING out of our window one morning we saw the earth robed in a white mantle ; for in a few short hours the earth had been covered to a considerable depth with snow. We looked out again hi a few hours and saw the fields as green as ever, and the ploughed fields as bare as if no single flake had fallen. It is no uncommon thing for a heavy fall of snow to be followed by a rapid thaw. These interesting changes are wrought by God, not only with a purpose toward the outward world, but with some design toward the spiritual realm. God is always a teacher. In every action that he performs he is instructing his own children, and opening up to them the road to inner mysteries. Happy are those who find food for their heaven-born spirits, as well as for their mental powers, in the works of the Lord's hand. I shall ask your attention, first, to the operations of na- ture spoken of in the text ; and, secondly, to those operations of grace of which they are the most fitting symbols. I. Consider, first, THE OPERATIONS OF NATURE. We shall not think a few minutes wasted if we call your at- tention to the hand of God m frost and thaw, even upon natural grounds. 40 TALKS TO FARMERS. i. Observe the directness of the Lord's work. I re- joice, as I read these words, to find how present our God is in the world. It is not written, " the laws of nature produce snow," but " HE giveth snmv, " as if every flake came directly from the palm of his hand. We are not told that certain natural regulations form moisture into hoarfrost ; no, but as Moses took ashes of the fur- nace and scattered them upon Egypt, so it is said of the Lord " HE scatter eth the hoarfrost like ashes. " It is not said that the Eternal has set the world going and by the operation of its machinery ice is produced. Oh, no, but every single granule of ice descending in the hail is from God ; " HE casteth forth his ice like morsels." Even as the slinger distinctly sends the stone out of his sling, so the path of every hailstone is marked by the Divine power. The ice is called, you observe, his ice ; and in the next sentence we read of his cold. These words make nature strangely magnificent. When we look upon every hailstone as God's hail, and upon every fragment of ice as his ice, how precious the watery dia- monds become ! When we feel the cold nipping our limbs and penetrating through every garment, it con- soles us to remember that it is his cold. When the thaw comes, see how the text speaks of it : " he sendeth out his word" He does not leave it to certain forces of nature, but like a king, " He sendeth out his word and melttth them : he causeth HIS wind to blow." He has a spe- cial property in every wind ; whether it comes from the north to freeze, or from the south to melt, it is his wind. Behold how in God's temple everything speaketh of his glory. Learn to see the Lord in all scenes of the visible universe, for truly he worketh all things. This thought of the directness of the Divine opera- FROST AND THAW. 41 tions must be carried into providence. It will greatly comfort you if you can see God's hand in your losses and crosses ; surely you will not murmur against the direct agency of your God. This will put an extraor- dinary sweetness into daily mercies, and make the com- forts of life more comfortable still, because they are from a Father's hand. If your table be scantily fur- nished it shall suffice for your contented heart, when you know that your Father spread it for you in wisdom and love. This shall bless your bread and your water ; this shall make the bare walls of an ill-furnished room as resplendent as a palace, and turn a hard bed into a couch of down ; my Father doth it all. We see his smile of love even when others see nothing but the black hand of Death smiting our best beloved. We see a Father's hand when the pestilence lays our cattle dead upon the plain. We see God at work in mercy when we ourselves are stretched upon the bed of languishing. It is ever our Father's act and deed. Do not let us get beyond this ; but rather let us enlarge our view of this truth, and remember that this is true of the little as well as of the great. Let the lines of a true poet strike you : " If pestilence stalk through the land, ye say the Lord hath done it Hath he not done it when an aphis creepeth upon the rosebud ? I f an avalanche tumbles from its Alp, ye tremble at the will of Providence Is not that will as much concerned when the sere leaves fall from the poplar ? " Let your hearts sing of everything, Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is there. 2. Next, I beg you to observe, with thanksgiving, the ease of Divine working. These verses read as if the making of frost and snow were the simplest matter in all the world. A man puts his hand into a wool-pack and 42 TALKS TO FARMERS. throws out the wool ; God giveth snow as easily as that : " He giveth snow like wool." A man takes up a hand- ful of ashes, and throws them into the air, so that they fall around : " He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes." Rime and snow are marvels of nature : those who have observed the extraordinary beauty of the ice-crystals have been enraptured, and yet they are easily formed by the Lord. " He casteth forth his ice like morsels" just as easily as we cast crumbs of bread outside the window to the robins during wintry days. When the rivers are hard frozen, and the earth is held in iron chains, then the melting of the whole how is that done ? Not by kindling innumerable fires, nor by send- ing electric shocks from huge batteries through the in- terior of the earth no ; " He sendeth forth his word, and melteth them ; he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow." The whole matter is accomplished with a word and a breath. If you and I had any great thing to do, what puffing and panting, what straining and tugging there would be : even the great engineers, who perform marvels by machinery, make much noise and stir about it. It is not so with the Almighty One. Our globe spins round in four-and-twenty hours, and yet it does not make so much noise as a humming-top ; and yonder ponderous worlds rolling in space track their way in silence. If I enter a factory I hear a deaf- ening din, or if I stand near the village mill, turned by water dropping over a wheel, there is a never-ceasing click-clack, or an undying hum ; but God's great wheels revolve without noise or friction : divine ma- chinery works smoothly. This ease is seen in provi- dence as well as in nature. Your heavenly Father is as able to deliver you as he is to melt the snow, and he will FROST AND THAW. 43 deliver you in as simple a manner if you rest upon him. He openeth his hand, and supplies the want of every living thing as readily as he works in nature. Mark the ease of God's working he does but open his hand. 3. Notice in the next place the variety of the Divine operations in nature. When the Lord is at work with frost as his tool he creates snow, a wonderful produc- tion, every crystal being a marvel of art ; but then he is not content with snow from the same water he makes another form of beauty which we call hoarfrost, and yet a third lustrous sparkling substance, namely glittering ice ; and all these by the one agency of cold. What a marvellous variety the educated eye can detect in the several forms of frozen water ! The same God who so- lidified the flood with cold soon melts it with warmth ; but even in thaw there is no monotony of manner : at one time the joyous streams rush with such impet- uosity from their imprisonment that rivers are swollen and floods cover the plain ; at another time by slow de- grees, in scanty driblets, the drops regain their freedom. The same variety is seen in every department of nature. So in providence the Lord has a thousand forms of frosty trials with which to try his people, and he has ten thousand beams of mercy with which to cheer and com- fort them. He can afflict you with the snow trial, or with the hoarfrost trial, or with the ice trial, if he will ; and anon he can with his word relax the bonds of ad- versity, and that in countless ways. Whereas men are tied to two or three methods in accomplishing their will, God is infinite in understanding and worketh as he wills by ways unguessed of mortal mind. 4. I shall ask you also to consider the works of God in nature in their swiftness. It was thought a wonderful 44 TALKS TO FARMERS. thing in the days of Ahasuerus that letters were sent by post upon swift dromedaries. In our country we thought we had arrived at the age of miracles when the axles of our cars glowed with speed, and now that the telegraph is at work we stretch out our hands into in- finity ; but what is our rapidity compared with that of God's operations ? Well does the text say, " He send- eth forth his commandment upon earth : his word run- neth very swiftly." Forth went the word, " Open the treasures of snow," and the flakes descended in innu- merable multitudes ; and then it was said, " Let them be closed," and not another snow-feather was seen. Then spake the Master, " Let the south wind blow and the snow be melted" : lo, it disappeared at the voice of his word. Believer, you cannot tell how soon God may come to your help. " He rode upon a cherub and did fly," says David ; " yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind." He will come from above to res- cue his beloved. He will rend the heavens and come down ; with such speed will he descend, that he will not stay to draw the curtains of heaven, but he will rend them in his haste, and make the mountains to flow down at his feet, that he may deliver those jwho cry unto him in the hour of trouble. That mighty God who can melt the ice so speedily can take to himself the same eagle wings, and haste to your deliverance. Arise, O God ! and let thy children be helped, and that right early. 5. One other thought : consider ihegoodness of God in all the operations of nature and providence. Think of that goodness negatively. " Who can stand before his cold ?" You cannot help thinking of the poor in a hard winter only a hard heart can forget them when FROST AND THAW. 45 you see the snow lying deep. But suppose that snow continued to fall ! What is there to hinder it ? The same God who sends us snow for one day could do the like for fifty days if he pleased. Why not ? And when the frost pinches us so severely, why should it not be continued month after month ? We can only thank the goodness which does not send " His cold" to such an extent that our spirits expire. Travellers toward the North Pole tremble as they think of this question, " Who can stand before his cold ?" For cold has a de- gree of omnipotence in it when God is pleased to let it loose. Let us thank God for the restraining mercy by which he holds the cold in check. Not only negatively, but positively there is mercy in the snow. Is not that a suggestive metaphor ? " He giveth snow like wool." The snow is said to warm the earth ; it protects those little plants which have just be- gun to peep above the ground, and might otherwise be frost-bitten ; as with a garment of down the snow pro- tects them from the extreme severity of cold. Hence Watts sings, in his version of the hundred and forty- seventh Psalm " His flakes of snow like wool he sends, And thus the springing corn defends. " It was an idea of the ancients that snow warmed the heart of the soil, and gave it fertility, and therefore they praised God for it. Certainly there is much mercy in the frost, for pestilence might run a far longer race if it were not that the frost cries to it, " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther." Noxious insects would multiply until they devoured the precious fruits of the earth, if sharp nights did not destroy millions of them, so that these pests are swept off the earth. Though man 46 TALKS TO FARMERS. may think himself a loser by the cold, he is a great ulti- mate gainer by the decree of Providence which ordains winter. The quaint saying of one of the old writers that " snow is wool, and frost is fire, and ice is bread, and rain is drink," is true, though it sounds like a par- adox. There is no doubt that frost in breaking up the soil promotes fruitfulness, and so the ice becomes bread. Thus those agencies, which for the moment deprive our workers of their means of sustenance, are the means by which God supplies every living thing. Mark, then, God's goodness as clearly in the snow and frost as in the thaw which clears the winter's work away. Christian, remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity. Rest assured that when God is pleased to send out the biting winds of affliction he is in them, and he is always love, as much love in sorrow as when he breathes upon you the soft south wind of joy. See the lovingkindness of God in every work of his hand ! Praise him he maketh summer and winter let your song go round the year ! Praise him he giveth day and sendeth night thank him at all hours ! Cast not away your confidence, it hath great recompense of reward. As David wove the snow, and rain, and stormy wind into a song, even so combine your trials, your tribulations, your difficulties and adversities into a sweet psalm of praise and say perpetually " Let us, with a gladsome mind, Praise the Lord, for he is kind. " Thus much upon the operations of nature. It is a very tempting theme, but other fields invite me. II. I would address you very earnestly and solemn- ly Upon THOSE OPERATIONS OF GRACE, OF WHICH FROST AND THAW ARE THE OUTWARD SYMBOLS. FROST AND THAW. 47 There is a period with God's own people when he comes to deal with them by the frost of the law. The law is to the soul as the cutting north wind. Faith can see love in it, but the carnal eye of sense cannot. It is a cold, terrible, comfortless blast. To be exposed to the full force of the law of God would be to be frost-bitten with everlasting destruction ; and even to feel it for a season would congeal the marrow of one's bones, and make one's whole being stiff with affright. " Who can stand before his cold ?" When the law comes forth thundering- from its treasuries, who can stand before it ? The effect of law-work upon the soul is to bind up the rivers of human delight. No man can rejoice when the terrors of conscience are upon him. When the law of God is sweeping through the soul, music and dancing lose their joy, the bowl forgets its power to cheer, and the enchantments of earth are broken. The rivers of pleasure freeze to icy despondency. The buds of hope are suddenly nipped, and the soul finds no comfort. It was satisfied once to grow rich, but rust and canker are now upon all gold and silver. Every promising hope is frost-bitten, and the spirit is winter-bound in despair. This cold makes the sinner feel how ragged his garments are. He could strut about, when it was summer weather, and think his rags right royal robes, but now the cold frost finds out every rent in his gar- ment, and in the hands of the terrible law he shivers like the leaves upon the aspen. The north wind of judg- ment searches the man through and through. He did not know what was in him, but now he sees his inward parts to be filled with corruption and rottenness. These are some of the terrors of the wintry breath of the law. This frost of law and terrors only tends to harden. 48 TALKS T'"> FARMERS. Nothing splits the rock or iTiakes the cliff tumble like frost when succeeded by thaw, but frost alone makes the earth like a mass of iron, breaking the ploughshare which would seek to pierce it. A sinner under the influ- ence of the law of God, apart from the gospel, is hard- ened by despair, and cries, " There is no hope, and therefore after my lusts will I go. Whereas there is no heaven for me after this life, I will make a heaven out of this earth ; and since hell awaits me, I will at least enjoy such sweets as sin may afford me here." This is not the fault of the law ; the blame lies with the cor- rupt heart which is hardened by it ; yet, nevertheless, such is its effect. When the Lord has wrought by the frost of the law, he sends the thaw of the gospel. When the south wind blows from the land of promise, bringing precious re- membrances of God's fatherly pity and tender loving- kindness, then straightway the heart begins to soften and a sense of blood-bought pardon speedily dissolves it. The eyes fill with tears, the heart melts in tender- ness, rivers of pleasure flow freely, and buds of hope open in the cheerful air. A heavenly spring whispers to the flowers that were sleeping in the cold earth ; they hear its voice, and lift up their heads, for " the rain is over and gone ; the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." God sendeth his Word, saying, " Thy warfare is accomplished, and thy sin is pardoned ;" and when that blessedly cheering word comes with power to the soul, and the sweet breath of the Holy Spirit acts like the warm south wind upon the heart, then the waters flow, and the mind is filled with holy joy, and light, and liberty. FROST AND THAW. 49 " The legal wintry state is gone, The frosts are fled, the spring comes on, The sacred turtle-dove we hear Proclaim the new, the joyful year." Having shown you that there is a parallel between frost and thaw in nature and law and gospel in grace, I would utter the same thoughts concerning grace which I gave you concerning nature. i. We began with the directness of God's works in nature. Now, beloved friends, remark the directness of God's works in grace. When the heart is truly affected by the law of God, when sin is made to appear exceed- ing sinful, when carnal hopes are frozen to death by the law, when the soul is made to feel its barrenness and utter death and ruin this is the finger of God. Do not speak of the minister. It was well that he preached earnestly : God has used him as an instrument, but God worketh all. When the thaw of grace comes, I pray you discern the distinct hand of God in every beam of comfort which gladdens the troubled conscience, for it is the Lord alone who bindeth up the broken in heart and healeth all their wounds. We are far too apt to stop in instrumentalities. Folly makes men look to sac- raments for heart-breaking or heart-healing, but sacra- ments all say, " It is not in us." Some of you look to the preaching of the Word, and look no higher ; but all true preachers will tell you, " It is not in us." Elo- quence and earnestness at their highest pitch can neither break nor heal a heart. This is God's work. Ay, and not God's secondary work in the sense in which the phi- losopher admits that God is in the laws of nature, but God's personal and immediate work. He putteth forth his own hand when the conscience is humbled, and it is 50 TALKS TO FARMERS. by his own right hand that the conscience is eased and cleansed. I desire that this thought may abide upon your minds, for you will not praise God else, nor will you be sound in doctrine. All departures from sound doc- trine on the point of conversion arise from forgetfulness that it is a divine work from first to last ; that the faint- est desire after Christ is as much the work of God as the gift of his dear Son ; and that our whole spiritual his- tory through, from the Alpha to the Omega, the Holy Spirit works in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure. As you have evidently seen the finger of God in casting forth his ice and in sending thaw, so I pray you recognize the handiwork of God in giving you a sense of sin, and in bringing you to the Saviour's feet. Join together in heartily praising the wonder-working God, who doeth all things according to the counsel of his will. " Our seeking thy face Was all of thy grace, Thy mercy demands, and shall have all the praise : No sinner can be Beforehand with thee, Thy grace is preventing, almighty and free." 2. The second thought upon nature was the ease with which the Lord worked. There was no effort or disturb- ance. Transfer that to the work of grace. How easy it is for God to send law-work into the soul! You stub- born sinner, you cannot touch him, and even providence has failed to awaken him. He is dead altogether dead in trespasses and sins. But if the glorious Lord will graciously send forth the wind of his Spirit, that will melt him. The swearing reprobate, whose mouth is blackened with profanity, if the Lord doth but look FROST AND THAW. $ I upon him and make bare his arm of irresistible grace, shall yet praise God, and bless his name, and live to his honor. Do not limit the Holy One of Israel. Persecut- ing Saul became loving Paul, and why should not that person be saved of whose case you almost despair ? Your husband may have many points which make his case difficult, but no case is desperate with God. Your son may have offended both against heaven and against you, but God can save the most hardened. The sharpest frost of obstinate sin must yield to the thaw of grace. Even huge icebergs of crime must melt in the Gulf- stream of infinite love. Poor sinner, I cannot leave this point without a word to you. Perhaps the Master has sent the frost to you, and you think it will never end. Let me encour- age you to hope, and yet more, to pray for gracious visitations. Miss Steele's verses will just suit your mournful yet hopeful state. " Stern winter throws his icy chains, Encircling nature round: How bleak, how comfortless the plains, Late with gay verdure crown'd ! The sun withdraws his vital beams, And light and warmth depart : And, drooping lifeless, nature seems An emblem of my heart My heart, where mental winter reigns In night's dark mantle clad, Confined in cold, inactive chains ; How desolate and sad ! Return, O blissful sun, and bring Thy soul-reviving ray ; This mental winter shall be spring, This darkness cheerful day. " It is easy for God to deliver you. He says, " I have 52 TALKS TO FARMERS. blotted out like a thick cloud thy transgressions." I stood the other evening looking up at a black cloud Which was covering all the heavens, and I thought it would surely rain ; I entered the house, and when I came out again the sky was all blue the wind had driven the cloud away. So may it be with your soul. It is an easy thing for the Lord to put away sin from repenting sinners. All obstacles which hindered our pardon were removed by Jesus when he died upon the tree, and if you believe in him you will find that he has cast your sins into the depths of the sea. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 3. The next thought concerning the Lord's work in nature was the variety of it. Frost produces a sort of trinity in unity snow, hoarfrost, ice ; and when the thaw comes its ways are many. So it is with God in the heart. Conviction comes not alike to all. Some convictions fall as the snow from heaven : you never hear the flakes descend, they alight so gently one upon the other ; There are soft-coming convictions ; they are felt, but we can scarcely tell when we began to feel them. A true work of repentance may be of the gen- tlest kind. On the other hand, the Lord casteth forth his ice like morsels, the hailstones rattle against the window, and you think they will surely force their way into the room, and so to many persons convictions come beating down till they remind you of hailstones. There is variety. It is as true a frost which produces the noiseless snow as that which brings forth the terrible hail. Why should you want hailstones of terror ? Be thankful that God has visited you, but do not dictate to him the way of his working. With regard to the gospel thaw. If you may but FROST AND THAW. 53 be pardoned by Jesus, do not stipulate as to the man- ner of his grace. Thaw is universal and gradual, but its commencement is not always discernible. The chains of winter are unloosed by degrees : the surface ice and snow melt, and by and by the warmth perme- ates the entire mass till every rock of ice gives way. But while thaw is universal and visible in its effects you cannot see the mighty power which is doing all this. Even so you must not expect to discern the Spirit of God. You will find him gradually operating upon the entire man, enlightening the understanding, freeing the will, delivering the heart from fear, inspiring hope, waking up the whole spirit, gradually and universally working upon the mind and producing the. manifest ef- fects of comfort, and hope, and peace ; but you can no more see the Spirit of God than you can see the south" wind. The effect of his power is to be felt, and when you feel it, do not marvel if it be somewhat different from what others have experienced. After all, there is a singular likeness in snow and hoarfrost and ice, and so there is a remarkable sameness in the experience of all God's children ; but still .there is a great variety in the inward operations of divine grace. 4. We must next notice the rapidity of God's works, " His word runneth very swiftly." It did not take many days to get rid of the last snow. A contractor would take many a day to cart it away, but God send- eth forth his word, and the snow and ice disappear at once. So is it with the soul: the Lord often works rapidly when he cheers the heart. You may have been a long time under the operation of his frosty law, but there is no reason why you should be another hour under it. If the Spirit enables you to trust in the fin- 54 TALKS TO FARMERS. ished work of Christ, you may go out of this house re- joicing that every sin is forgiven. Poor soul, do not think that the way from the horrible pit is to climb, step by step, to the top. Oh no ; Jesus can set your feet upon a rock ere the clock shall have gone round the dial. He can in an instant bring you from death to life, from condemnation to justification. " To-day shall thou be with me in Paradise," was spoken to a dying thief, black and defiled with sin. Only believe in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. 5. Our last thought upon the operation of God was his goodness in it all. What a blessing that God did not send us more law-work than he did ! " Who can stand before his cold ?" Oh ! beloved, when God has taken away from man natural comfort, and made him feel di- vine wrath in his soul, it is an awful thing. Speak of a haunted man ; no man need be haunted with a worse ghost than the remembrance of his old sins. The child- ish tale of the sailor with the old man of the mountain on his back, who pressed him more and more heavily, is more than realized in the history of the troubled con- science. If one sin do but. leap on a man's back, it will sink the sinner through every standing-place that he can possibly mount upon ; he will go down, down, under its weight, till he sinks to the lowest depths of hell. There is no place where sin can be borne till you get upon the Rock of Ages, and even there the joy is not that you bear it, but that Jesus has borne it all for you. The spirit would utterly fail before the law, if it had full sway. Thank God, " he stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind." At the same time, how thankful we may be, that we ever felt the law-frost in our soul. The folly of self-righteousness is killed by the winter of con- FROST AND THAW. 55 viction. We should have been a thousand times more proud, and foolish, and worldly, than we are, if it had not been for the sharp frost with which the Lord nipped the growths of the flesh. But how shall we thank him sufficiently for the thaw of his lovingkindness ? How great the change which his mercy made in us as soon as its beams had reached our soul ! Hardness vanished, cold departed, warmth and love abounded, and the life-floods leaped in their channels. The Lord visited us, and we rose from our grave of despair, even as the seeds arise from the earth. As the bulb of the crocus holds up its golden cup to be filled with sunshine, so did our new-born faith open itself to the glory of the Lord. As the primrose peeps up from the sod to gaze upon the sun, so did our hope look forth for the promise, and delight itself in the Lord. Thank God that spring-tide has with many of us matured into summer, and winter has gone never to return. We praise the Lord for this every day of our lives, and we will praise him when time shall be no more in that sunny land " Where everlasting spring abides, And never withering flowers. A thread-like stream alone divides That heavenly land from ours. " Believe in the Lord, ye who shiver in the frost of the law, and the thaw of love shall soon bring you warm days of joy and peace. So be it. Amen. THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. " And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it : and he that hateth his life in thi world shall keep it unto life eternal. " JOHN 12 : 23-25. CERTAIN Greeks desired to see Jesus. These were Gentiles and it was remarkable that they should, just at this time, have sought an interview with our Lord. I suppose that the words " We would see Jesus" did not merely mean that they would like to look at him, for that they could have done in the public streets ; but they would " see" him as we speak of seeing a person with whom we wish to hold a conversation. They de- sired to be introduced to him, and to have a few words of instruction from him. These Greeks were the advanced guard of that great multitude that no man can number, of all nations, and people, and tongues, who are yet to come to Christ. The Saviour would naturally feel a measure of joy at the sight of them, but he did not say much about it, for his mind was absorbed just then with thoughts of his great sacrifice and its results ; yet he took so much no- tice of the coming of these Gentiles to him that it gave a color to the words which are here recorded by his servant John. THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. 57 I notice that the Saviour here displays his broad human- ity, and announces himself as the " Son of man." He had done so before, but here with new intent. He says, " The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified." Not as " the Son of David" does he here speak of himself, but as " the Son of man." No longer does he make prominent the Jewish side of his mission, though as a preacher he was npt sent save to the lost sheep of the honse of Israel ; but as the dying Saviour he speaks of himself as one of the race, not the Son of Abraham, or of David, but " the Son of man": as much brother to the Gentile as to the Jew. Let us never for- get the broad humanity of the Lord Jesus. In him all kindreds of the earth are joined in one, for he is not ashamed to bear the nature of our universal manhood ; black and white, prince and pauper, sage and savage, all see in his veins the one blood by which all men are constituted one family. As the Son of man Jesus is near akin to every man that lives. Now, too, that the Greeks were come, our Lord speaks somewhat of his glory as approaching. " The hour is come," saith he, " that the Son of man should be glori- fied. ' ' He does not say " that the Son of man should be crucified," though that was true, and the crucifixion must come before the glorification ; but the sight of those first-fruits from among the Gentiles makes him dwell upon his glory. Though he remembers his death, he speaks rather of the glory which would grow out of his great sacrifice. Remember, brethren, that Christ is glorified in the souls that he saves. As a physician wins honor by those he heals, so the Physician of souls gets glory out of those who come to him. When these de- vout Greeks came, saying, " Sirs, we would see Jesus," $8 TALKS TO FARMERS. though a mere desire to see him is only as the green blade, yet he rejoiced in it as the pledge of the harvest, and he saw in it the dawn of the glory of his cross. I think, too, that the coming of these Greeks some- what led the Saviour to use the metaphor of the buried corn. We are informed that wheat was largely mixed up with Grecian mysteries, but that is of small importance. It is more to the point that our Saviour was then under- going the process which would burst the Jewish husk in which, if I may use such terms, his human life had been enveloped. I mean this : aforetime our Lord said that he was not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and when the Syrophenician woman pleaded for her daughter he reminded her of the restricted character of his commission as a prophet among men. When he sent out the seventy, he bade them not to go into the cities of the Samaritans, but to seek after the house of Israel only. Now, however, that blessed corn of wheat is breaking through its outer integument. Even be- fore it is put into the ground to die the divine corn of wheat begins to show its living power, and the true Christ is being manifested. The Christ of God, though assuredly the Son of David, was, on the Father's side, neither Jew nor Gentile, but simply man ; and the great sympathies of his heart were with all mankind. He regarded all whom he had chosen as his own breth- ren without distinction of sex, or nation, or the period of the world's history in which they should live ; and, at the sight of these Greeks, the true Christ came forth and manifested himself to the world as he had not done before. Hence, perhaps, the peculiar metaphor wkich we have now to explain. In our text, dear friends, we have two things upon THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. 59 which I will speak briefly, as I am helped of the Spirit. First, we have profound doctrinal teaching, and, secondly, we have practical moral principle . First, we have PROFOUND DOCTRINAL TEACHING. Our Saviour suggested to his thoughtful disciples a number of what might be called doctrinal paradoxes. First, that, glorious as he was, he was yet to be glorified. " The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glo- rified." Jesus was always glorious. It was a glorious thing for the human person of the Son of man to be personally one with the Godhead. Our Lord Jesus had also great glory all the while he was on earth, in the perfection of his moral character. The gracious end for which he came here was real glory to him : his conde- scending to be the Saviour of men was a great glorifica- tion of his loving character. His way of going about his work the way in which he consecrated himself to his Father and was always about his Father's business, the way in which he put aside Satan with his blandish- ments, and would not be bribed by all the kingdoms of the world all this was his glory. I should not speak incorrectly if I were to say that Christ was really as to his moral nature never more glorious than when through- out his life on earth he was obscure, despised, rejected, and yet the faithful servant of God, and the ardent lover of the sons of men. The apostle says, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth," in which he refers not only to the transfiguration, in which there were special glimpses of the divine glory, but to our Lord's tabernacling among men in the common walks of life. Saintly, spiritual minds beheld the glory of his life, the 60 TALKS TO FARMERS. glory of grace and truth such as never before had been seen in any of the sons of men. But though he was thus, to all intents and purposes, already glorious, Jesus had yet to be glorified. Something more was to be added to his personal honor. Remember, then, that when you have the clearest conceptions of your Lord, there is still a glory to be added to all that you can see even with the word of God in your hands. Glorious as the living Son of man had been, there was a further glory to come upon him through his death, his resurrec- tion, and his entrance within the veil. He was a glo- rious Christ, and yet he had to be glorified. A second paradox is this that his glory was to come to him through shame. He says, " The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified," and then he speaks of his death. The greatest fulness of our Lord's glory arises out of his emptying himself, and becoming obedi- ent to death, even the death of the cross. It is his highest reputation that he made himself of no reputa- tion. His crown derives neiv lustre from his cross ; his ever living is rendered more honorable by the fact of his dying unto sin once. Those blessed cheeks would never have been so fair as they are in the eyes of his chosen if they had not once been spat upon. Those dear eyes had never had so overpowering a glance if they had not once been dimmed in the agonies of death for sinners. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl, but their brightest adornments are the prints of the cruel nails. As the Son of God his glory was all his own by nature, but as Son of man his present splendor is due to the cross, and to the ignominy which sur- rounded it when he bore our sins in his own body. We must never forget this, and if ever we are tempted THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. 6 1 to merge the crucified Saviour in the coming King we should feel rebuked by the fact that thus we should rob our Lord of his highest honor. Whenever you hear men speak lightly of the atonement stand up for it at once, for out of this comes the main glory of your Lord and Master. They say, " Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe on him." If he did so what would remain to be believed ? It is on the cross, it is from the cross, it is through the cross that Jesus mounts to his throne, and the Son of man has a special honor in heaven to-day because he was slain and has redeemed us to God by his blood. The next paradox is this Jesus must be alone or abide alone. Notice the text as I read it : " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die," and so gets alone, " it abideth alone." The Son of man must be alone in the grave, or he will be alone in heaven. He must fall into the ground like the corn of wheat, and be there in the loneliness of death, or else he will abide alone. This is a paradox readily enough explained ; our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of man, unless he had trodden the winepress alone, unless beneath the olives of Geth- semane he had wrestled on the ground, and as it were sunk into the ground until he died, if he had not been there alone, and if on the cross he had not cried, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" so that he felt quite deserted and alone, like the buried corn of wheat could not have saved us. If he had not actually died he would as man have been alone forever : not without the eternal Father and the divine Spirit, not without the company of angels; but there had not been another man to keep him company. Our Lord Jesus cannot bear to be alone. A head without its members 62 TALKS .TO FARMERS. is a ghastly sight, crown it as you may. Know ye not that the church is his body, the fulness of him that fill- eth all in all ? Without his people Jesus would have been a shepherd without sheep ; surely it is not a very honorable office to be a shepherd without a flock. He would have been a husband without his spouse ; but he loves his bride so well that for this purpose did he leave his Father and become one flesh with her whom he had chosen. He clave to her, and died for her ; and had he not done so he would have been a bridegroom without a bride. This could never be. His heart is not of the kind that can enjoy a selfish happi- ness which is shared by none. If you have read Solo- mon's Song, where the heart of the Bridegroom is re- vealed, you will have seen that he desires the company of his love, his dove, his undefiled. His delights were with the sons of men. Simon Stylites on the top of a pillar is not Jesus Christ ; the hermit in his cave may mean well, but he finds no warrant for his solitude in him whose cross he professes to venerate. Jesus was the friend of men, not avoiding them, but seeking the lost. It was truly said of him, " This man receiveth sinners, and eateth -with them." He draws all men unto him, and for this cause he was lifted up from the earth. Yet must this great attractive man have been alone in heaven if he had not been alone in Geth- semane, alone before Pilate, alone when mocked by sol- diers, and alone upon the cross. If this precious grain of wheat had not descended into the dread loneliness of death it had remained alone, but since he died he " bringeth forth much fruit." This brings us to the fourth paradox Christ must die to give life. " Except a corn of wheat fall into the THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. 63 ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bring- eth forth much fruit": Jesus must die to give life to others. Persons who do not think confound dying with non-existence, and living with existence very, very different things. " The soul that sinneth it shall die :" it shall never go out of existence, but it shall die by being severed from God who is its life. There are many men who exist, and yet have not true life, and shall not see life, but " the wrath of God abideth on them." The grain of wheat when it is put into the ground dies ; do we mean that it ceases to be ? Not at all. What is death ? It is the resolution of anything possessing life into its primary elements. With us it is the body part- ing from the soul ; with a grain of wheat it is the. dis- solving of the elements which made up the corn. Our divine Lord when put into the earth did not see corrup- tion, but his soul was parted from his body for a while, and thus he died ; and unless he had literally and actually died he could not have given life to any of us. Beloved friends, this teaches us where the vital point of Christianity lies, Chrisfs death is the life of his teaching. See here : if Christ's preaching had been the essential point, or if his example had been the vital point, he could have brought forth fruit and multiplied Christians by his preaching, and by his example. But he declares that, except he shall die, he shall not bring forth fruit. Am I told that this was because his death would be the completion of his example, and the seal of his preaching ? I admit that it was so, but I can conceive that if our Lord had rather continued to live on if he had been here constantly going up and down the world preaching and living as he did, and if he had wrought miracles as he did, and put forth that mysterious, 64 TALKS TO FARMERS. attracting power, which was always with him, he might have produced a marvellous number of disciples. If his teaching and living had been the way in which spiritual life could have been bestowed, without an atonement, why did not the Saviour prolong his life on earth ? But the fact is that no man among us can know anything about spiritual life except through the atone- ment. There is no way by which we can come to a knowledge of God except through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, by which we have access to the Father. If, as some tell us, the ethical part of Christianity is much more to be thought of than its peculiar doctrines, then, why did Jesus die at all ? The ethical might have been brought out better by a long life of holiness. He might have lived on till now if he had chosen, and still have preached, and still have set an example among the sons of men ; but he assures us that only by death could he have brought forth fruit. What, not with all that holy living ? No. What, not by that matchless teaching ? No. Not one among us could have been saved from eternal death except an expiation had been wrought by Jesus' sacrifice. Not one of us could have been quick- ened into spiritual life except Christ himself had died and risen from the dead. Brethren, all the spiritual life that there is in the world is the result of Christ's death. We live under a dispensation which shadows forth this truth to us. Life first came into the world by a creation : that was lost in the garden. Since then, the father of our race is Noah, and life by Noah came to us by atypical death, burial, and resurrection. Noah went in unto the ark, and was shut in, and so buried. In that ark Noah went among the dead, himself enveloped in the rain and in the ark, THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. 65 and he came out into a new world, rising again, as it were, when the waters were assuaged. That is the way of life to-day. We are dead with Christ, we are buried with Christ, we are risen with Christ; and there is no real spiritual life in this world except that which has come to us by the process of death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. Do you know anything about this, dear friends ? for if you do not, you know not the life of God. You know the theory, but do you know the ex- perimental power of this within your own spirit ? When- ever we hear the doctrine of the atonement attacked, let us stand up for it. Let us tell the world that while we value the life of Christ even more than they do, we know that it is not the example of Christ that saves anybody, but his death for our sakes. If the blessed Christ had lived here all these nineteen hundred years, without sin, teach- ing all his marvellous precepts with his own sublime and simple eloquence, yet he had not produced one single atom of spiritual life among all the sons of men. Without dying he brings forth no fruit. If you want life, my dear hearer, you will not get it as an unregener- ate man by attempting to imitate the example of Christ. You may get good of a certain sort that way, but you will never obtain spiritual life and eternal salvation by that method. You must believe on Jesus as dying for you. You have to understand that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanses us from all sin. When you have learned that truth, you shall study his life with advantage ; but unless you recognize that the grain of wheat is cast into the ground, and made to die, you will never realize any fruit from it in your own soul, or see fruit in the souls of others. One other blessed lesson of deep divinity is to be 66 TALKS TO FARMERS. learnt from our text : it is this since Jesus Christ did really fall into the ground and die, we may expect much as the result of it. " If it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Some have a little Christ, and they expect to see little things come of him. I have met with good people who appear to think that Jesus Christ died for the sound people who worship at Zoar Chapel, and, perhaps, for a few more who go to Ebenezer in a neighboring town, and they hope that one day a chosen few a scanty company indeed they are, and they do their best by mutual quarrelling to make them fewer will glorify God for the salvation of a very small remnant. I will not blame these dear brethren, but I do wish that their hearts were enlarged. We do not yet know all the fruit that is to come out of our Lord Jesus. May there not come a day when the millions of London shall worship God with one consent ? I look for a day when the knowledge of the glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, when kings shall fall down before the Son of God, and all nations shall call him blessed. " It is too much to expect," says one ; " mis- sions make very slow progress." I know all that, but missions are not the seed : all that we look for is to come out of that corn of wheat which fell into the ground and died: this is to bring forth much fruit. When I think of my Master's blessed person as perfect Son of God and Son of man ; when I think of the infinite glory which he laid aside, and of the unutterable pangs he bore, I ask whether angels can compute the value of the sacrifice he offered. God only knows the love of God that was manifested in the death of his Son, and do you think that there will be all this planning and working and sacrifice of infinite love, and then an insig- THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. 67 nificant result ? It is not like God that it should be so. The travail of the Son of God shall not bring forth a scanty good. The result shall be commensurate with the means, and the effect shall be parallel with the cause. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. Halle- lujah ! Ay., as the groanings of the cross must have astounded angels, so shall the results of the cross amaze the seraphim, and make them admire the excess of glory which has arisen from the shameful death of their Lord. O beloved, great things are to come out of our Jesus yet. Courage, you that are dispirited. Be brave, you soldiers of the cross. Victory awaits your banner. Wait patiently, work hopefully, suffer joyfully, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations. Thus have I spoken upon profound divinity I close with a few words upon PRACTICAL INSTRUC- TION. Learn now that what is true of Christ is in measure true of every child of God : " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." This is so far applicable to us, as the next verse indicates " He that loveth his life shall lose it ; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." First, we must die if we are to live. There is no spir- itual life for you, for me, for any man, except by dying into it. Have you a fine-spun righteousness of your own? It must die. Have you any faith in yourself? It must die. The sentence of death must be in your- self, and then you shall enter into life. The with- ering power of the Spirit of God must be experienced before his quickening influence can be known : " The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : because the spirit 68 TALKS TO FARMERS. of the Lord bloweth upon it." You must be slain by the sword of the Spirit before you can be made alive by the breath of the Spirit. Next, we must surrender everything to keep it. " He that loveth his life shall lose it." Brother, you can never have spiritual life, hope, joy, peace, heaven, except by giving everything up into God's hands. You shall have everything in Christ when you are willing to have nothing of your own. You must ground your weapons of rebellion, you must drop the plumes of your pride, you must give up into God's hand all that you are and all that you have ; and if you do not thus lose everything in will, you shall lose everything in fact ; indeed, you have lost it already. A full surrender of everything to God is the only way to keep it. Some of God's people find this literally true. I have known a mother keep back her child from God, and the child has died. Wealthy people have worshipped their wealth, and as they were God's people, he has broken their idols into shivers. You must lose your all if you would keep it, and renounce your most precious thing if you would have it preserved to you. Next, we must lose self in order to find self. ' ' He that hateth his life shall keep it unto life eternal. ' ' You must entirely give up living for yourself, and then you your- self shall live. The man who lives for himself does not live; he loses the essence, the pleasure, the crown of ex- istence ; but if you live for others and for God you will find the life of life. " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." There is no way of finding yourself in per- sonal joy like losing yourself in the joy of others. Once more : if you wish to be the means of life to others. THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT. 69 you must in your measure die yourself. " Oh," say you, " will it actually come to death ?" Well, it may not, but you should be prepared for it if it should Who have most largely blessed the present age ? I will tell you. I believe we owe our gospel liberties mainly to the poor men and women who died at the stake for the faith. Call them Lollards, Anabaptists, or what you will, the men who died for it gave life to the holy cause. Some of all ranks did this, from bishops down- ward to poor boys. Many of them could not preach from the pulpit, but they preached grander sermons from the fagots than all the reformers could thunder from their rostrums. They fell into the ground and died, and the " much fruit " abides to this day. The self-sacrificing death of her saints was the life and in- crease of the church. If we wish to achieve a great pur- pose, establish a great truth, and raise up a great agency for good, it must be by the surrender of o irselves, yea, of our very lives to the one all-absorbing purpose. Not else can we succeed. There is no giving out to others, without taking so much out of yourself. He who serves God and finds that it is easy work will find it hard work to give in his account at the last. A sermon that costs nothing is worth nothing ; if it did not come from the heart it will not go to the heart. Take it as a rule that wear and tear must go on, even to exhaustion, if we are to be largely useful. Death precedes growth. The Sa- viour of others cannot save himself. We must not, there- fore, grudge the lives of those who die under the evil climate of Africa, if they die for Christ ; nor must we murmur if here and there God's best servants are cut down by brain exhaustion : it is the law of divine husbandry that by death cometh increase. 70 TALKS TO FARMERS. And you, dear friend, must not say, " Oh, I cannot longer teach in the Sunday-school : I work so hard all the week that I I I " shall I finish the sentence for you ? You work so hard for yourself all the week that you cannot work for God one day in the week. Is that it ? " No, not quite so, but I am so fagged." Very true, but think of your Lord. He knew what weariness was for you, and yet he wearied not in well-doing. You will never come to sweat of blood as he did. Come, dear friend, will you be a corn of wheat laid up on the shelf alone ? Will you be like that wheat in the mummy's hand, unfruitful and forgottten, or would you grow ? I hear you say, " Sow me somewhere." I will try to do so. Let me drop you into the Sunday-school field, or into the Tract-lending acre, or into the Street-preach- ing parcel of land. " But if I make any great exertion it will half kill me." Yes ; and if it shall quite kill, you will then prove the text, "If it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Those who have killed themselves of late in our Lord's service are not so numerous that we need be distressed by the fear that an enormous sacrifice of life is likely to occur. Little cause is there just now to repress fanaticism, but far more reason to denounce self-seeking. O, my brethren, let us rise to a condition of consecration more worthy of our Lord and of his glorious cause, and henceforth may we be eager to be as the buried, hidden, dying, yet fruit-bear- ing wheat for the glory of our Lord. Thus have I merely glanced at the text ; another day may it be our privi- lege to dive into its depths. THE PLOUGHMAN. 11 Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow ?" ISAIAH 28 : 24. UNLESS they are cultivated, fields yield us nothing but briers and thistles. In this we may see ourselves. Unless the great Husbandman shall till us by his grace, we shall produce nothing that is good, but everything that is evil. If one of these days I shall hear that a country has been discovered where wheat grows with- out the work of the farmer, I may then, perhaps, hope to find one of our race who will bring forth holiness without the grace of God. Hitherto all land on which the foot of man has trodden has needed labor and care ; and even so among men the need of gracious tillage is universal. Jesus says to all of us, " Ye must be born again." Unless God the Holy Spirit breaks 'up the heart with the plough of the law, and sows it with the seed of the gospel, not a single ear of holiness will any of us produce, even though we may be children of godly parents,, and may be regarded as excellent moral people by those with whom we live. Yes, and the plough is needed not only to produce that which is good, but to destroy that which is evil. There are diseases which, in the course of ages, wear themselves out, and do not appear again among men ; and there may be forms of vice, which under changed circumstances, do not so much abound as they used to 7* TALKS TO FARMERS. do ; but human nature will always remain the same, and therefore there will always be plentiful crops of the weeds of sin in man's fields, and nothing can keep these under but spiritual husbandry, carried on by the Spirit of God. You cannot destroy weeds by exhortations, nor can you tear out the roots of sin from the soul by moral suasion ; something sharper and more effectual must be brought to bear upon them. God must put his own right hand to the plough, or the hemlock of sin will never give place to the corn of holiness. Good is never spontaneous in unrenewed humanity, and evil is never cut up till the ploughshare of almighty grace is driven through it. The text leads our thoughts in this direction, and gives us practical guidance through asking the simple question, " Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow ?" This question may be answered in the affirmative, ' ' Yes, in the proper season he does plough all day to sow ;" and, secondly, this text may more properly be answered in the neg- ative, " No, the ploughman does not plough every day to sow ; he has other work to do according to the season." I. First, our text may be ANSWERED IN THE AFFIRM- ATIVE " Yes, the ploughman does plough all day to sow." When it is ploughing time he keeps on at it till his work is done ; if it requires one day, or two days, or twenty days to finish his fields, he continues at his task while the weather permits. The perseverance of the ploughman is instructive, and it teaches us a double les- son. When the Lord comes to plough the heart of man he ploughs all day, and herein is his patience ; and, secondly, so ought the Lord's servants to labor all day with men's hearts, and herein is our perseverance. THE PLOUGHMAN. 73 " Doth the ploughman plough all day?" So doth God plough the heart of man, and herein is his patience. The team was in the field in the case of some of us very early in the morning, for our first recollections have to do with conscience and the furrows of pain which it made in our youthful mind. When we were little children we woke in the night under a sense of sin ; our father's teaching and our mother's prayers made deep and pain- ful impressions upon us, and though we did not then yield our hearts to God, we were greatly stirred, and all indifference to religion was made impossible. When we were boys at school the reading of a chapter in the Word of God, or the death of a playmate, or an address at a Bible-class, or a solemn sermon, so affected us that we were uneasy for weeks. The strivings of the Spirit of God within urged us to think of higher and better things. Though we quenched the Spirit, though we stifled con- viction, yet we bore the marks of the ploughshare; fur- rows were made in the soul, and certain foul weeds of evil were cut up by the roots although no seed of grace was as yet sown in our hearts. Some have continued in this -state for many years, ploughed but not sown ; but, blessed be God, it was not so with others of us ; for we had not left boyhood before the good seed of the gospel fell upon our heart. Alas ! there are many who do not thus yield to grace, and with them the ploughman ploughs all day to sow. I have seen the young man com- ing to London in his youth, yielding to its temptations, drinking in its poisoned sweets, violating his con- science, and yet continuing unhappy in it all, fearful, un- restful, stirred about even as the soil is agitated by the plough. In how many cases has this kind of work gone on for years, and all to no avail. Ah ! and I have known 74 TALKS TO FARMERS. the man come to middle life, and still he has not re- ceived the good seed, neither has the ground of his hard heart been thoroughly broken up. He has gone on in business without God ; day after day he has risen and gone to bed again with no more religion than his horses: and yet all this while there have been ringing in his ears warnings of judgment to come, and chidings of con- science, so that he has not been at peace. After a power- ful sermon he has not enjoyed his meals, or been able to sleep, for he has asked himself, " What shall I do in the end thereof?" The ploughman has ploughed all day, till the evening shadows have lengthened and the day has faded to a close. What a mercy it is when the furrows are at last made ready and the good seed is cast in, to be received, nurtured, and multiplied a hundred fold. It is mournful to remember that we have seen this ploughing continue till the sun has touched the ho- rizon and the night dews have begun to fall. Even then the long-suffering God has followed up his work ploughing, ploughing, ploughing, ploughing, till dark- ness ended all. Do I address any aged ones whose lease must soon run out ? I would affectionately beseech them to consider their position. What! Threescore years old and yet unsaved ? Forty years did God suffer the man- ners of Israel in the wilderness, but he has borne with you for sixty years. Seventy years old, and yet un regen- erated ! Ah, my friend, you will have but little time in which to serve your Saviour before you go to heaven. But will you go there at all ? Is it not growing dread- fully likely that you will die in your sins and perish for ever ? How happy are those who are brought to Christ in early life ; but still remember THE PLOUGHMAN. 75 "While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest sinner may return. " It is late, it is very late, but is not too late. The plough- man ploughs all day ; and the Lord waits that he may be gracious unto you. I have seen many aged persons converted, and therefore I would encourage other old folks to believe in Jesus. I once read a sermon in which a minister asserted that he had seldom known any con- verted who were over forty years of age if they had been hearers of the gospel all their lives. There is certainly much need to caution those who are guilty of delay, but there must be no manufacturing of facts. Whatever that minister might think, or even observe, my own observation leads me to believe that about as many people are converted to God at one age as at another, taking into consideration the fact that the young are much more numerous than the old. It is a dreadful thing to have remained an unbeliever all these years ; but yet the grace of God does not stop short at a certain age ; those who enter the vineyard at the eleventh hour shall have their penny, and grace shall be glorified in the old as well as in the young. Come along, old friend, Jesus Christ invites you to come to him even now, though you have stood out so long. You have been a sadly tough piece of ground, and the ploughman has ploughed all day ; but if at last the sods are turned, and the heart is lying in ridges, there is hope of you yet. " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" I answer Yes, however long the day may be, God in mercy ploughs still, he is long-suffering, and full of tenderness and mere)- and grace. Do not spurn such patience, but yield to the Lord who has acted toward you with so much gentle love. 76 TALKS TO FARMERS. The text, however, not only sets forth patience on God's part, but it teaches perseverance on our part. " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" Yes, he does ; then if I am seeking Christ, ought I to be discouraged because I do not immediately find him ? The promise is, " He that asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." There may be reasons why the door is not opened at our first knock. What then ? " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" Then will I knock all day. It may be at the first seeking I may not find ; what then ? " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" Then will I seek all day. It may happen that at my first asking I shall not receive ; what then ? " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" Then will I ask all day ? Friends, if you have begun to seek the Lord, the short way is, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. ' ' Do that at once. In the name of God do it at once, and you are saved at once. May the Spirit of God bring you to faith in Jesus, and you are at once in the kingdom of Christ. But if peradventure in seeking the Lord, you are ignorant of this, or do not see your way, never give up seeking ; get to the foot of the cross, lay hold of it, and cry, " If I perish I will perish here. Lord, I come to thee in Jesus Christ for mercy, and if thou art not pleased to look at me immediately, and forgive my sins, I will cry to thee till thou dost." When God's Holy Spirit brings a man to downright earnest prayer which will not take a denial, he is not far from peace. Careless indifference and shilly-shallying with God hold men in bondage. They find peace when their hearts are roused to strong resolve to seek until they find. I like to see men search the Scriptures till they learn the way of salvation, and THE PLOUGHMAN. 77 hear the gospel till their souls live by it. If they are resolved to drive the plough through doubts, and fears, and difficulties, till they come to salvation, they shall soon come to it by the grace of God. The same is true in seeking the salvation of others. " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" Yes, when it is ploughing-time. Then, so will I work on, and on, and on. I will pray and preach, or pray and teach, however long the day may be that God shall appoint me, for " 'Tis all my business here below The precious gospel seed to sow. " Brother worker, are you getting a little weary ? Never mind, rouse yourself, and plough on for the love of Jesus, and dying men. Our day of work has in it only the appointed hours, and while they last let us fulfil our task. Ploughing is hard work ; but as there will be no harvest without it, let us just put forth all our strength, and never flag till we have performed our Lord's will, and by his holy Spirit wrought conviction in men's souls. Some soils are very stiff, and cling together, and the labor is heart-breaking ; others are like the unreclaimed waste, full of roots and tangled bramble ; they need a steam plough, and we must pray the Lord to make us such, for we cannot leave them untilled, and therefore we must put forth more strength that the labor may be done. I heard some time ago of a minister who called to see a poor man who was dying, but he was not able to gain admittance ; he called the next morning, and some idle excuse was made so that he could not see him ; he called again the next morning, but he was still refused ; he went on till he called twenty times in vain, but on the twenty-first occasion he was permitted 78 TALKS TO FARMERS. to see the sufferer, and by God's grace he saved a soul from death. " Why do you tell your child a thing twenty times?" asked some one of a mother. "Because," said she, " I find nineteen times is not enough." Now, when a soul is to be ploughed, it may so happen that hundreds of furrows will not do it. What then ? Why, plough all day till the work is done. Whether you are ministers, missionaries, teachers, or private soul- winners, never grow weary, for your work is noble, and the reward of it is infinite. The grace of God is seen in our being permitted to engage in such holy service ; it is greatly magnified in sustaining us in it, and it will be pre-eminently conspicuous in enabling us to hold out till we can say, " I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." We prize that which costs us labor and service, and we shall set all the higher value upon the saved ones when the Lord grants them to our efforts. Tt is good for us to learn the value of our sheaves by going forth weeping to the sowing. When you think of the plough- man's ploughing all day, be moved to plod on in earn- est efforts to win souls. Seek " With cries, entreaties, tears to save And snatch them from the fiery wave. " Doth the ploughman plough all day for a little bit of oats or barley, and will not you plough all day for souls that shall live for ever, if saved, to adore the grace of God, or shall live for ever, if unsaved, in outer darkness and woe ? Oh, by the terrors of the wrath to come and the glory that is to be revealed, gird up your loins, and plough all day. I would beg all the members of our churches to THE PLOUGHMAN. 79 keep their hands on the gospel plough, and their eyes straight before them. " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" let Christians do the same. Start close to the hedge, and go right down to the -bottom of the field. Plough as close to the ditch as you can, and leave small headlands. What though there are fallen women, thieves, and drunkards in the slums around, do not neglect any of them ; for if you leave a stretch of land to the weeds they will soon spread among the wheat. When you have gone right to the end of the field once, what shall you do next ? Why, just turn round, and make for the place you started from. And when you have thus been up and down, what next ? Why, up and down again. And what next ? Why, up and down again. You have visited that district with tracts ; do it again, fifty-two times in the year multiply your furrows. We must learn how to continue in well doing. Your eternal destiny is to go on doing good for ever and ever, and it is well to go through a rehearsal here. So just plough on, plough on, and look for results as the reward of continued perseverance. Ploughing is not done with a skip and jump ; the ploughman ploughs all day. Dash and flash are all very fine in some things, but not in ploughing ; there the work must be steady, persistent, regular. Certain persons soon give it up, it wears out their gloves, blisters their soft hands, tires their bones, and makes them eat their bread rather more in the sweat of their face than they care for. Those whom the Lord fills with his grace will keep to their ploughing year after year, and verily I say unto you, they shall have their reward. " Doth the ploughman plough all day?" Then let us do the same, being assured that 8o TALKS TO FARMERS. one day every hill and valley shall be tilled and sown, and every desert and wilderness shall yield a harvest for our Lord, and the angel reapers shall descend, and the shouts of the harvest-home shall fill both earth and heaven. II. But, now, somewhat briefly, THE TEXT MAY BE ANSWERED IN THE NEGATIVE. " Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?" No, he does not always plough. After he has ploughed he breaks the clods, sows, reaps, and threshes. In the chapter before us you will see that other works of husbandry are mentioned. The ploughman has many other things to do beside ploughing. There is an advance in what he does ; this teaches us that there is the like on God's part, and should be the like on ours. First, on God's part, there is an advance in what he does. " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?" No, he goes for- ward to other matters. It may be that in the case of some of you the Lord has been using certain painful agencies to plough you. You are feeling the terrors of the law, the bitterness of sin, the holiness of God, the weakness of the flesh, and the shadow of the wrath to come. Is this going to last forever ? Will it continue till the spirit fails and the soul expires? Listen : " Doth the ploughman plough all day ? " No, he is preparing for something else he ploughs to sow. Thus doth the Lord deal with you ; therefore be of good courage, there is an ending to the wounding and slaying, and bet- ter things are in store for you. You are poor and needy, and you seek water, and there is none and your tongue faileth for thirst ; but the Lord will hear you, and de- liver you. He will not contend forever, neither will he be always wroth. He will turn again, and he will have THE PLOUGHMAN. 8 1 compassion upon us. He will not always make furrows by his chiding, he will come and cast in the precious corn of consolation, and water it with the dews of heaven and smile upon it with the sunlight of his grace ; 'and there shall soon be in you, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear, and in due season you shall joy as with the joy of harvest. O ye who are sore wounded in the place of dragons, I hear you cry, Doth God always send terror and conviction of sin ? Listen to this : " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land," and what is the call of God to the willing and obedient but this : " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved " ? Thou shalt be saved now, find peace now, if thou wilt have done with thyself and all looking to thine own good works to save thee, and wilt turn to him who paid the ransom for thee upon the tree. The Lord is gentle and tender and full of compassion, he will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever. Many of your doubts and fears come of unbelief, or of Satan, or of the flesh, and are not of God at all. Blame him not for what he does not send, and does not wish you to suffer. His mind is for your peace, not for your distress ; for thus he speaks : " Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned." " I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins : return unto me ; for I have redeemed thee." He has smitten, but he will smile ; he has wounded, but he will heal ; he has slain, but he will make alive ; therefore turn unto him at once and receive comfort at his hands. The ploughman does not plough for ever, else would he 82 TALKS TO FARMERS. reap no harvest ; and God is'not always heart-breaking, he also draws near on heart-healing errands. You see, then, that the great husbandman advances from painful agencies, and I want you to mark that he goes on to productive work in the hearts of his people. He will take away the furrows, you shall not see them, for the corn will cover them with beauty. As she that was in travail remembers no more her sorrow for joy that a man is born into the world, so shall you, who are under the legal rod, remember no more the misery of conviction, for God will sow you with grace, and make your soul, even your poor, barren soul, to bring forth fruit unto his praise and glory. " Oh !" says one, " I wish that would come true to me." It will. " Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?" You expect by-and-by to see ploughed fields clothed with springing corn ; and you may look to see repentant hearts glad- dened with forgiveness. Therefore, be of good courage. You shall advance, also, to a joyful experience. See that ploughman ; he whistles as he ploughs, he does not own much of this world's goods, but yet he is merry. He looks forward to the day when he will be on the top of the big wagon, joining in the shout of the har- vest home, and so he ploughs in hope, expecting a crop. And, dear soul, God will yet joy and rejoice over you when you believe in Jesus Christ, and you, too, shall be brimful of joy. Be of good cheer, the better portion is yet to come, press forward to it. Gospel sorrowing leads on to gospel hoping, believing, rejoicing, and the rejoicing knows no end. God will not chasten all day, but he will lead you on from strength to strength, from glory unto glory, till you shall be like himself. This, then, is the advance that there is in God's work among THE PLOUGHMAN. 83 men, from painful agencies to productive work and joyful experience. But what if the ploughing should never lead to sow- ing ; what if you should be disturbed in conscience, and should go on to resist it all ? Then God will make another advance, but it will be to put up the plough, and to command the clouds that they rain no rain upon the land, and then its end is to be burned. Oh ! man, there is nothing more awful than for your soul to be left to go out of cultivation ; God himself giving you up. Surely that is hell. He that is unholy will be unholy still. The law of fixity of character will operate eter- nally, and no hand of the merciful One shall come near to till the soul again. What worse than this can happen ? We conclude by saying that this advance is a lesson to us; for we, too, are to go forward. " Doth the ploughman plough all day ?' ' No, he ploughs to sow, and in due time he sows. Some churches seem to think that all they have to do is to plough; at least, all they attempt is a kind of scratching of the soil, and talking of what they are going to do. It is fine talk, certainly ; but doth the ploughman plough all day ? You may draw up a large programme and promise great things ; but pray do not stop there. Don't be making furrows all day ; do get to your sowing. I fancy that those who promise most perform the least. Men who do much in the world have no programme at first, their course works itself out by its own inner force by the grace of God ; they do not propose but perform. They do not plough all day to sow, but they are like our Lord's servant in the parable of whom he saith, " the sower went forth to sow." Let the ministers of Christ also follow the rule of 84 TALKS TO FARMERS. advance. Let us go from preaching the law to preaching the gospel. ' ' Doth the ploughman plough all day ?' ' He does plough ; he would not sow in hope if he had not first prepared the ground. Robbie Flockart, who preached for years in the Edinboro' streets, says, " It is in vain to sew with the silk thread of the gospel, unless you use the sharp needle of the law." Some of my brethren do not care to preach eternal wrath and its ter- rors. This is a cruel mercy, for they ruin souls by hid- ing from them their ruin. If they must needs try to sew without a needle, I cannot help it ; but I do not mean to be so foolish myself ; my needle may be old- fashioned, but it is sharp, and when it carries with it the silken thread of the gospel, I am sure good work is done by it. You cannot get a harvest if you are afraid of dis- turbing the soil, nor can you save souls if you never warn them of hell fire. We must tell the sinner what God has revealed about sin, righteousness, and judgment to come. Still, brethren, we must not plough all day. No, no, the preaching of the law is only preparatory to the preaching of the gospel. The stress of our busi- ness lies in proclaiming glad tidings. We are not fol- lowers of John the Baptist, but of Jesus Christ ; we are not rugged prophets of woe, but joyful heralds of grace. Be not satisfied with revival services, and stirring ap- peals, but preach the doctrines of grace so as to bring out the full compass of covenant truth. Ploughing has had its turn, now for planting and watering. Re- proof may now give place to consolation. We are first to make disciples of men, and then to teach them to ob- serve all things whatsoever Jesus has commanded us. We must pass on from the rudiments to the higher truths, from laying foundations to further upbuilding. THE PLOUGHMAN. 85 And now, another lesson to those of you who are as yet hearers and nothing more. I want you to go from ploughing to something better, namely, from hearing and fearing to believing. How many years some of you have been hearing the gospel ! Do you mean to continue in that state for ever ? Will you never believe in him of whom you hear so much ? You have been stirred up a good deal ; the other night you went home almost broken-hearted ; I should think you are ploughed enough by this time; and yet you have not received the seed of eternal life, for you have not believed in the Lord Jesus. It is dreadful to be always on the brink of ever- lasting life, and yet never to be alive. It will be an awful thing to be almost in heaven, and yet forever shut out. It is a wretched thing to rush into a railway station just in time to see the train steaming out ; I had much rather be half-an-hour behind time. To lose a train by half-a-second is most annoying. Alas, if you go on as you have done for years, you will have your hand on the latch of heaven, and yet be shut out. You will be within a hair's-breadth of glory, and yet be covered with eternal shame. O beware of being so near to the kingdom, and yet lost ; almost, but not altogether saved. God grant that you may not be among those who are ploughed, and ploughed, and ploughed, and yet never sown. It will be of no avail at the last to cry, " Lord, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. We had a seat at the chapel, we attended the services on week-nights as well as on Sun- days, we went to prayer-meetings, we joined a Bible- class, we distributed tracts, we subscribed our guinea to the funds, we gave up every open sin, we used a form of prayer, and read a chapter of the Bible every day." 86 TALKS TO FARMERS. All these things may be done, and yet there may be no saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Take heed lest your Lord should answer, " With all this, your heart never came to me ; therefore, depart from me, I never knew you." If Jesus once knows a man he always knows him. He can never say to me, " I never knew you," for he has known me, as his poor dependant, a beggar for years at his door. Some of you have been all that is good except that you never came into contact with Christ, never trusted him, never knew him. Ah me, how sad your state ! Will it be always so ? Lastly, I would say to you who are being ploughed and are agitated about your souls, Go at once to the next stage of believing. Oh ! if people did but know how simple a thing believing is, surely they would believe. Alas, they do not know it, and it becomes all the more difficult to them because in itself it is so easy. The difficulty of believing lies in there being no diffi- culty in it. " If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it?" Oh, yes, you would have done it, and you would have thought it easy too ; but when he simply says, " Wash, and be clean," there is a difficulty with pride and self. If you can truly say that you are willing to abase your pride, and do anything which the Lord bids you, then I pray you understand that there is no further preparation required, and believe in Jesus at once. May the Holy Spirit make you sick of self, and ready to accept the gospel. The word is nigh thee, let it be believed ; it is in thy mouth, let it be swallowed down ; it is in thy heart, let it be trusted. With your heart believe in Jesus, and with your mouth make confession of him, and you shall be saved. A main part' of faith lies in the giving up of all THE PLOUGHMAN. 87 other confidences. O give up at once every false hope. I tried once to show what faith was by quoting Dr. Watts's lines : " A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On thy kind arms I fall. Be them my strength, and righteousness, My Jesus and my all. " I tried to represent faith as falling into Christ's arms, and I thought I made it so plain that the wayfaring man could not err therein. When I had finished preach- ing, a young man came to. me and said, " But, sir, I cannot fall upon Christ's arms." I replied at once, " Tumble into them anyhow ; faint away into Christ's arms, or die into Christ's arms, so long as you get there." Many talk of what they can do and what they cannot do, and I fear they miss the vital point. Faith is leaving off can-ing and cannot-ing, and leaving it all to Christ, for he can do all things, though you can do nothing. " Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow ?" No, he makes progress, and goes from plough- ing to sowing. Go, and do thou likewise ; sow unto the Spirit the precious seed of faith -in Christ, and the Lord will give thee a joyous harvest. PLOUGHING THE ROCK. " Shall horses run upon the rock ? will one plough there with oxen ? " AMOS 6 : 12. THESE expressions are proverbs, taken from the familiar sayings of the east country. A proverb is gen- erally a sword with two edges, or, if I may so say, it has many edges, or is all edge, and hence it may be turned this.way and that way, and every part of it will have force and point. A proverb has often many bear- ings, and you cannot always tell what was the precise meaning of him who uttered it. The connection would abundantly tolerate two senses in this place. An ancient commentator asserts that it has seven meanings, and that any one of them would be consistent with the context. I cannot deny the assertion, and if it be cor- rect it is only one among many instances of the manifold wisdom of the Word of God. Like those curiously carved Chinese balls in which there is one ball within another, so in many a holy text there is sense within sense, teaching within teaching, and each one worthy of the Spirit of God. The first sense of the text upon which I would say just a word or two is this : The prophet is expostulating with ungodly men upon their pursuit of happiness where it never can be found. They were endeavoring to grow rich and great and strong by oppression. The prophet PLOUGHING THE ROCK. 89 says, " Ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock." Justice was bought and sold among them, and the book of the law was made the instrument of fraud. " Yet," says the prophet, " there is no gain to be gotten in this way no real profit, no true happiness. As well may horses run upon a rock, and oxen plough the sand ; it is labor in vain." If any of you try to content yourselves with this world, any hope to find a heaven in the midst of your business and your family without looking upward for it, you labor in vain. If you hope to find pleasure in sin, and think that it will go well with you if you despise the law of God, you will make a great mistake. You might as well seek for roses in the grottoes of the sea, or look for pearls on the pavements of the city. You will find what your soul requires nowhere but in God. To seek after happiness in evil deeds is to plough a rock of granite. To labor after true prosperity by dishonest means is as useless as to till the sandy shore. " Where- fore do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" Young man, you are killing yourself with ambition ; you seek your own honor and emolument, and this is a poor, poor object for an immortal soul. And you, too, sir, are wearing out your life with care ; your mind and body both fail you in endeavoring to amass riches, as if a man's life consisted in the abundance of the things which he possesses ; you are ploughing a rock ; your cares will not bring you joy of heart or content of spirit ; your toil will end in failure. And you, too, who labor to weave a righteousness by your works apart from Christ and fancy that with the diligent use of outward ceremonies you may be able to do the work of the Holy 90 TALKS TO FARMERS. Spirit upon your own heart, you, too, are ploughing thankless rock. The strength of fallen nature exerted at its utmost can never save a soul. Why, then, plough the rock any longer ? Give over the foolish task. So far, I believe, we have not misread the text, but have mentioned a very probable meaning of the words ; still another strikes me, which I think equally suitable, and upon it I shall dwell, by God's help. It is this. God ivill not always send his ministers to call men to repentance. When men's hearts remain obdu- rate, and they do not and will not repent, then God will not always deal with them in mercy. " My Spirit shall not always strive with man." There is a time of ploughing, but when it is evident that the heart is wilfully hardened, then wisdom itself suggests to mercy that she should give over her efforts. " Shall horses run upon the rock ? will one plough there with oxen ?" No, there is a limit to the efforts of kindness, and in fulness of time the labor ceases, and the rock remains un- ploughed henceforth and for ever. I. Taking that sense, we shall speak upon it, and remark, first, that MINISTERS. LABOR TO BREAK UP MEN'S HEARTS ; the wise preacher tries by the power of the Holy Ghost to break up the hard clods of the heart, so that it may receive the heavenly seed. Many truths are used like sharp ploughshares to break up the heart. Men must be made to feel that they have sinned, and they must be led to repent of sin. They must receive Christ, not with the head only, but with the heart ; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. There must be emotion ; we must cut into the heart with the ploughshare of the law. A farmer PLOUGHING THE ROCK, 91 who is too tender-hearted to tear and harrow the land will never see a harvest. Here is the failing of certain divines, they are afraid of hurting any one's feelings, and so they keep clear of all the truths which are likely to excite fear or grief. They have not a sharp plough- share on their premises, and are never likely to have a stack in their rickyard. They angle without hooks for fear of hurting the fish, and fire without bullets out of respect to the feelings of the birds. This kind of love is real cruelty to men's souls. It is much the same as if a surgeon should permit a patient to die because he would not pain him with the lancet, or by the necessary removal of a limb. It is a terrible tenderness which leaves men to sink into hell rather than distress their minds. It is pleasant to prophesy smooth things, but woe unto the man who thus degrades himself. Is this the spirit of Christ ? Did he conceal the sinner's peril ? Did he cast doubt upon the unquenchable fire and the un- dying worm ? Did he lull souls into slumber by smooth strains of flattery ? Nay, but with honest love and anxious concern he warned men of the wrath to come, and bade them repent or perish. Let the servant of the Lord Jesus in this thing follow his Master, and plough deep with a sharp ploughshare, which will not be balked by the hardest clods. This we must school ourselves to do. If we really love the souls of men, let us prove it by honest speech. The hard heart must be broken, or it will still refuse the Saviour who was sent to bind up the broken-hearted. There are some things which men may or may not have, and yet may be saved ; but those things which go with the ploughing of the heart are indispensable ; there must be a holy fear and a humble trembling before God ; there must be an acknowledg- 92 TALKS TO FARMERS. ment of guilt 'and a penitent petition for mercy ; there must, in a word, be a thorough ploughing of the soul before we can expect the seed to bring forth fruit. II. But the text indicates to us that AT TIMES MIN- ISTERS LABOR IN VAIN. " Shall horses run upon the rock ? will one plough there with oxen ?" In a short time a ploughman feels whether the plough will go or not, and so does the minister. He may use the very same words in one place which he has used in another, but he feels in the one place great joy and hopefulness in preaching, while with another audience he has heavy work, and little hope. The plough in the last case seems to jump out of the furrow ; and a bit of the share is broken off now and then. He says to himself, " I do not know how it is, but I do not get on at this," and he finds that his Master has sent him to work upon a particu- larly heavy soil. All laborers for Christ know that this is occasionally the case. You must have found it so in a Sunday-school class, or in a cottage meeting, or in any other gathering where you have tried to teach and preach Jesus. You have said to yourself every now and then, " Now I am ploughing a rock. Before, I turned up rich mould which a yoke of oxen might plough with ease, and a horse might even run at the work ; but now the horse may tug, and the oxen may wearily toil till they gall their shoulders, but they cannot cut a furrow ; the rock is stubborn to the last degree." There are such hearers in all congregations. They are as iron, and yet they are side by side with a fine plot of ground. Their sister, their brother, their son, their daughter, all these have readily felt the power of the gospel ; but they do not feel it. They hear it respect- PLOUGHING THE ROCK. 93 fully ; and they so far allow it free course that they per- mit it to go in at one ear and out at the other, but they will have nothing more to do with it. They would not like to be Sabbath-breakers and stop away from wor- ship ; they therefore do the gospel the questionable compliment of coming where it is preached and then refusing to regard it. They are hard, hard, hard bits of rock, the plough does not touch them. Many, on the other hand, are equally hard ; but it is in another way. The impression made by the word is not deep or permanent. They receive it with joy, but they do not retain it. They listen with attention, but it never comes to practice with them. They hear about repentance, but they never repent. They hear about faith, but they never believe. They are good judges of what the gospel is, and yet they have never accepted it for themselves. They will not eat ; but still they insist that good bread shall be put on the table. They are great sticklers for the very things which they personally reject. They are moved to feeling ; they shed tears occasionally ; but still their hearts are not really broken up by the word. They go their way, and forget what manner of men they are. They are rocky-hearted through and through ; all our attempts to plough them are failures. Now this is all the worse, because certain of these rocky-hearted people have been ploughed for years, and have become harder instead of softer. Once or twice ploughing, and a broken share or two, and a disappointed ploughman or two, we might not mind, if they would yield at last ; but these have since their childhood known the gospel and never given way before its power. It is a good while since their childhood now with some of them. 94 TALKS TO FARMERS. Their hair is turning gray, and they themselves are get- ting feeble with years. They have been entreated and persuaded times beyond number, but labor has been lost upon them. In fact, they used to feel the word, in a certain fashion, far more years ago than they do now. The sun, which softens wax, hardens clay, and the same gospel which has brought others to tenderness and re- pentance has exercised a contrary effect upon them, and made them more careless about divine things than they were in their youth. This is a mournful state of things, is it not ? Why are certain men so extremely rocky ? Some are so from a peculiar stolidity of nature. There are many people in the world whom you cannot very well move, they have a great deal of granite in their constitution, and are more nearly related to Mr. Obstinate than to Mr. Pliable. Now, I do not think badly of these people, because one knows what it is to preach to an excitable people, and to get them all stirred, and to know that in the end they are none the better ; whereas some of the more stolid and immovable people when they are moved are moved indeed ; when they do feel they feel intensely, and they retain any impression that is made. A little chip made in granite by very hard blows will abide there, while the lashing of water, which is easy enough, will leave no trace even for a moment. It' is a grand thing to get hold of a fine piece of rock and to exercise faith about it. The Lord's own hammer has mighty power to break, and in the breaking great glory comes to the Most High. Worse still, certain men are hard because of their infidelity not heart-infidelity all of it, but an infidel- ity which springs out of a desire not to believe, which PLOUGHING THE ROCK. 95 has helped them to discover difficulties. These difficul- ties exist, and were meant to exist, for there would be no room for faith if everything were as plain as the nose on one's face. These persons have gradually come to doubt, or to think that they doubt, essential truths, and this renders them impervious to the gospel of Christ. A much more numerous body are orthodox enough, but hard-hearted for all that. Worldliness hardens a man in every way. It often dries up all charity to the poor, because the man must make money, and he thinks that the poor-rates are sufficient excuse for neglecting the offices of charity. He has no time to think of the next world ; he must spend all his thoughts upon the present one. Money is tight, and therefore he must hold it tight ; and when money brings in little interest, he finds therein a reason for being the more niggardly. He has no time for prayer, he must get down to the counting- house. He has no time for reading his Bible, his ledger wants him. You may knock at his door, but his heart is not at home ; it is in the counting-house, wherein he lives and moves and has his being. His god is his gold, his bliss is his business, his all in all is himself. What is the use of preaching to him ? As well may horses run upon a rock, or oxen drag a plough across a field sheeted with iron a mile thick. With some, too, there is a hardness, produced by what I might almost call the opposite of stern worldliness, namely, a general lev.ty. They are naturally butterflies flitting about and doing nothing. They never think, or want to think. Half a thought exhausts them, and they must needs be diverted, or their feeble minds will utterly weary. They live in a round of amusement. To them the world is a stage, and all the men and women only 96 TALKS TO FARMERS. players. It is of little use to preach to them ; there is no depth of earth in their superficial nature ; beneath a sprinkling of shifting worthless sand lies an impenetra- ble rock of utter stupidity and senselessness. I might thus multiply reasons why some are harder than others, but it is a well-assured fact that they are so, and there I leave the matter. III. I shall now ask everybody to judge whether the running of horses upon a rock and the ploughing there with oxen shall always be continued. I assert that IT is UNREASONABLE TO EXPECT THAT GOD'S SERVANTS SHOULD ALWAYS CONTINUE TO LABOR IN VAIN. These people have been preached to, taught, instructed, admonished, ex- postulated with, and advised ; shall this unrecompensed work be always performed ? We have given them a fair trial ; what do reason and prudence say ? Are we bound to persevere till we are worn out by this unsuccessful work ? We will ask it of men who plough their own farms ; do they recommend perseverance when failure is certain ? Shall horses run upon the rock ? Shall one plough there with oxen ? Surely not for ever. I think we shall all agree that labor in vain cannot be continued for ever if we consider the ploughman. He does not want to be much considered ; but still his Master does not overlook him. See how weary he grows when the work discourages him. He goes to his Master with, " Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" " Why hast thou sent me," says he, " to a people that have ears but hear not ? They sit as thy people sit, and they hear as thy people hear, and then they go their way and they forget every word that is spoken, and they obey not PLOUGHING THE ROCK. 97 the voice of the Lord." See how disappointed the preacher becomes. It is always hard work when you appear to get no forwarder, although you do your utmost. No man, whoever he may be, likes to be set upon work which appears to be altogether a waste of time and effort. To his own mind it seems to have a touch of the ridiculous about it, and he fears that he will be despised of his fellows for aiming at the impos- sible. Shall it always be the lot of God's ministers to be trifled with ? Will the great Husbandman bid his ploughmen spill their lives for nought ? Must his preachers continue to cast pearls before swine ? If the consecrated workers are so bidden by their Lord they will persevere in their painful task ; but their Master is considerate of them, and I ask you also to consider whether it is reasonable to expect a zealous heart to be for ever occupied with the salvation of those who never respond to its anxiety ? Shall the horses always plough upon the rock ? Shall the oxen always labor there ? Again, there is the Master to be considered. The Lord is he always to be resisted and provoked ? Many of you have had eternal life set before you as the result of believing in Jesus ; and you have refused to believe. It is a wonder that my Lord has not said to me, " You have done your duty with them ; never set Christ before them again ; my Son shall not be insulted." If you offer a beggar in the street a shilling and he will not have it, you cheerfully put it into your purse and go your way ; you do not entreat him to have his wants relieved. But, behold, our God in mercy begs sinners to come to him, and implores them to accept his Son. In his condescen- sion he even stands like a salesman in the market, cry- ing, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 98 tALRS TO FARMERS. waters, and he that hath no money ; come, _buy wine and milk without money and without price." In an- other place he says of himself, " All day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsay- ing generation." If the Lord of mercy has been refused so long in the sight of you who reverence him, does not some indignation mingle with your pity, and while you love sinners and would have them saved, do you not feel in your heart that there must be an end to such insulting behavior ? I ask even the careless to think of the matter in this light, and if they do not respect the ploughman, yet let them have regard to his Master. And then, again, there are so many other people who are needing the gospel, and who would receive it if they had it, that it would seem to be wise to leave off wearying oneself about those who despise it. What did our Lord say ? He said that if the mighty things which had been done in Bethsaida and Chorazin had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented. What is more wonderful still, he says that if he had wrought the same miracles in Sodom and Gomorrah which were wrought in Capernaum, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Does it not occur to us at once to give the word to those who will have it, and leave the despisers to perish in their own wilful ness ? Does not reason say, " Let us send this medi- cine where there are sick people who will value it ?" Thousands of people are wi/ling to hear the gospel. See how they crowd wherever the preacher goes how they tread upon one another in their anxiety to listen to him ; and if these people who hear him every day will not receive his message, " in God's name," saith he, " let me go where there is a probability of finding soil PLOUGHING THE ROCK. 99 that can be ploughed." " Shall horses run upon the rock ? Will one plough there with oxen ?" Must I work always where nothing comes of it ? Does not reason say, let the word go to China, to Hindostan, or to the utmost parts of the earth, where they will receive it ; for those who have it preached in the corners of their streets despise it ? I shall not lengthen this argument, but shall sol- emnly put the question again. Would any of you con- tinue to pursue an object when it has proved to be hope- less ? Do you wonder that when the Lord has sent his servants to speak kind, gracious, tender words, and men have not heard, he says to them, " They are joined unto their idols ; let them alone " ? There is a boun- dary to the patience of men, and we soon arrive at it ; and assuredly there is a limit, though it is long before we outrun it, to the patience of God. " At length," he says, "it is enough. My Spirit shall no longer strive with them." If the Lord says this can any of us complain ? Is not this the way of wisdom ? Does not prudence itself dictate it ? Any thoughtful mind will say, " Ay, ay, a rock cannot be ploughed for ever." IV. Fourthly. THERE MUST BE AN ALTERATION, then, and that speedily. The oxen shall be taken off from such toil. It can be easily done, and done soon. It can be effected in three ways. First, the unprofitable hearer can be removed so that he shall no more hear the gospel from the lips of his best approved minister. There is a preacher who has some sort of power over him ; but as he rejects his testimony, and remains impenitent, the man shall be removed to another town, where he shall hear monoto- 100 TALKS TO FARMERS. nous discourses which will not touch his conscience. He shall go where he shall be no longer persuaded and en- treated ; and there he will sleep himself into hell. That may be readily enough done ; perhaps some of you are making arrangements even now for your own removal from the field of hope. Another way is to take away the ploughman. He has done his work as best he could, and he shall be released from his hopeless task. He is weary. Let him go home. The soil would not break up, but he could not help that ; let him have his wage. He has broken his plough at the work ; let him go home and hear his Lord say, " Well done." He was willing to keep on at the disheartening labor as long as his Master bade him ; but it is evidently useless, therefore let him go home, for his work is done. He has been sore sick, let him die, and enter into his rest. This is by no means improb- able. Or, there may happen something else. The Lord may say, " That piece of work shall never trouble the ploughman any more. I will take it away." And he may take it away in this fashion : the man who has heard the gospel, but rejected it, will die. I pray my Master that he will not suffer any one of you to die in your sins, for then we cannot reach you any more, or indulge the faintest hope for you. No prayer of ours can follow you into eternity. There is one name by which you may be saved, and that name is sounded in your ears the name of Jesus ; but if you reject him now, even that name will not save you. If you do not take Jesus to be your Saviour he will appear as your judge. I pray you, do not destroy your own souls by continuing to be obstinate against almighty love. PLOUGHING THE ROCK. 161 God grant that some better thing may happen. Can nothing else be done ? This soil is rock ; can we not sow it without breaking it ? No. Without repentance there is ho remission of sin. But is there not a way of saving men without the grace of God ? The Lord Jesus did not say so ; but he said, " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." He did not hint at a middle course or hold out a " larger hope ;" but he declared " He that believeth not shall be damned," and so he must be. Dream not of a back door to heaven, for the Lord has provided none. What then ? Shall the preacher continue his fruit- less toil ? If there is only half a hope left him, he is willing to go on and say, " Hear, ye deaf, and see, ye blind, and live, ye dead." He will even so speak this day, for his Master bids him preach the gospel to every creature ; but it will be hard work to repeat the word of exhortation for years to those who will not hear it. Happily there is one other turn which affairs may take. There is a God in heaven, let us pray to him to put forth his power. Jesus is at his side, let us invoke his interposition. The Holy Ghost is almighty, let us call for his aid. Brothers who plough and sisters who pray, cry to the Master for help. The horse and the ox evidently fail, but there remains One above who is able to work great marvels. Did he not once speak to the rock, and turn the flint into a stream of water ? Let us pray him to tlo the same now. And, oh, if there is one who feels and mourns that his heart is like a piece of rock, I am glad he feels it ; for he who feels that his heart is a rock gives some evidence that the flint is being transformed. O rock, instead of loi TALKS to FARMERS. smiting thee, as Moses smote the rock in the wilderness and erred therein, I would speak to thee. O rock, wouldst thou become like wax ? O rock, wouldst thou dissolve into rivers of repentance ? Hearken to God's voice ! O rock, break with good desire ! O rock, dissolve with longing after Christ, for God is working upon thee now. Who knows but at this very moment thou shall begin to crumble down. Dost thou feel the power of the Word ? Does the sharp ploughshare touch thee just now? Break and break again, till by contrition thou art dissolved, for then will the good seed of the gospel come to thee, and thou shalt receive it into thy bosom, and we shall all behold the fruit thereof. And so I will fling one more handful of good corn, and have done. If thou desirest eternal life, trust Jesus Christ, and thou art saved at once. " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," says Christ, " for I am God, and beside me there is none else." He that believeth in him hath everlast- ing life. " Like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." O Lord, break up the rock, and let the seed drop in among its broken substance, and get thou a harvest from the dissolved granite, at this time, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. " And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: a sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock ; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away,_ because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns ; and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." LUKE 8 : 4-8. IN our country, when a sower goes forth to his work, he generally enters into an enclosed field, and scatters the seed from his basket along every ridge and furrow ; but in the East, the corn-growing country, hard by a small town, is usually an open area. It is divided into different properties, but there are no visible divis- ions, except the ancient landmarks, or perhaps ridges of stones. Through these open lands there are footpaths, the most frequented being called the highways. You must not imagine these highways to be like our macad- amized roads ; they are merely paths, trodden tolerably hard. Here and there you notice by-ways, along which travellers who wish to avoid the public road may jour- ney with a little more safety when the main road is infested with robbers ; hasty travellers also strike out short cuts for themselves, and so open fresh tracks for others. When the sower goes forth to sow he finds a plot of ground scratched over with the primitive Eastern 104 TALKS TO FARMfcRS. plough ; he aims at scattering his seed there most plen- tifully ; but a path runs through the centre of his field, and unless he is willing to leave a broad headland, he must throw a handful upon it. Yonder, a rock crops out in the midst of the ploughed land, and the seed falls on its shallow soil. Here is a corner full of the roots of nettles and thistles, and he flings a little here ; the corn and the nettles come up together, and the thorns being the stronger soon choke the seed, so that it brings forth no fruit unto perfection. The recollection that the Bible was written in the East, and that its metaphors and allusions must be explained to us by Eastern travel- lers, will often help us to understand a passage far better than if we think of English customs. The preacher of the gospel is like the sower. He does not make his seed ; it is given him by his divine Master. No man could create the smallest grain that ever grew upon the earth, much less the celestial seed of eternal life. The minister goes to his Master in secret, and asks him to teach him his gospel, and thus he fills his basket with the good seed of the kingdom. He then goes forth in his Master's name and scatters precious truth. If he knew where the best soil was to be found, perhaps he might limit himself to that which had been prepared by the plough of conviction ; but not knowing men's hearts, it is his business to preach the gospel to every creature to throw a handful on the hardened heart, and another on the mind which is over- grown with the cares and pleasures of the world. He has to leave the seed in the care of the Lord who gave it to him, for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only accountable for the care and industry with which he does his work. If no single ear should ever make THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 105 glad the reaper, the sower will be rewarded by his Mas- ter if he had planted the right seed with careful hand. If it were not for this fact with what despairing agony should we utter the cry of Esaias, " Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord re- vealed ?" Our duty is not measured by the character of our hearers, but by the command of our God. We are bound to preach the gospel, whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear. It is ours to sow beside all waters. Let men's hearts be what they may the minister must preach the gospel to them ; he must sow the seed on the rock as well as in the furrow, on the highway as well as in the ploughed field. I shall now address myself to the four classes of hear- ers mentioned in our Lord's parable. We have, first of all, those who are represented by the way-side, those who are " hearers only"; then those represented by the stony ground ; these are transiently impressed, but the word produces no lasting fruit ; then,, those among thorns, on whom a good impression is produced, but the cares of this life, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the pleasures of the world choke the seed ; and lastly, that small class God be pleased to multiply it exceedingly that small class of good ground hearers, in whom the Word brings forth abundant fruit. I. First of all, I address myself to those hearts which are like the WAY-SIDE: " Some fell by the way- side ; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it." Many of you do not go to the place of worship desiring a blessing. You do not intend to worship God, or to be affected by anything that you 100 v TALKS TO FARMERS. hear. You are like the highway, which was never in- tended to be a cornfield. If a single grain of truth should fall into your heart and grow it would be as great a wonder as for corn to grow up in the street. If the seed shall be dexterously scattered, some of it will fall upon you, and rest for a while upon your thoughts. 'Tis true you will not understand it ; but, nevertheless, if it be placed before you in an interesting style, you will -talk about it till some more congenial entertain- ment shall attract you. Even this slender benefit- is brief, for in a little season you will forget all that you have heard. Would to God we could hope that our words would tarry with you ; but we cannot hope it, for the soil of your heart is so hard beaten by continual traffic, that there is no hope of the seed finding a living root-hold. Satan is constantly passing over your heart with his company of blasphemies, lusts, lies, and vani- ties. The chariots of pride roll along it, and the feet of greedy mammon tread it till it is hard as adamant. Alas ! for the good seed, it finds not a moment's res- pite ; crowds pass and repass ; in fact, your soul is an exchange, across which continually hurry the busy feet of those who make merchandise of the souls of men. You are buying and selling, but you little think that you are selling the truth, and that you are buying your soul's destruction. You have no time, you say, to think of religion. No, the road of your heart is such a crowded thoroughfare, that there is no room for the wheat to spring up. If it did begin to germinate, some rough foot would crush the green blade ere it could come to perfection. The seed has occasionally lain long enough to begin to sprout, but just then a new place of amusement has been opened, and you have entered THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 107 there, and as with an iron heel, the germ of life that was in the seed was crushed out. Corn could not grow in Cornhill or Cheapside, however excellent the seed might be ; your heart is just like those crowded thoroughfares ; for so many cares and sins throng it ? and so many proud, vain, evil, rebellious thoughts against God pass through it, that the seed of truth can- not grow. We have looked at this hard roadside, let us now describe what becomes of the good word, when it falls upon such a heart. It would have grown if it had fallen on right soil, but it has dropped into the wrong place, and it remains as dry as when it fell from the sower's hand. The word of the gospel lies upon the surface of such a heart, but never enters it. Like the snow, which sometimes falls upon our streets, drops upon the wet pavement, melts, and is gone at once, so is it with this man. The word has not time to quicken in his soul ; it lies there an instant, but it never strikes root, or takes the slightest effect. Why do men come to hear if the word never enters their hearts ? That has often puzzled us. Some hear- ers would not be absent on the Sunday on any account; they are delighted to come up with us to worship, but yet the tear never trickles down their cheek, their soul never mounts up to heaven on the wings of praise, nor do they truly join in our confessions of sin. They do not think of the wrath to come, nor of the future state of their souls. Their heart is as iron ; the minister might as well speak to a 'heap of stones as preach to them. What brings these senseless sinners here ? Surely we are as hopeful of converting lions and leop- ards as these untamed, insensible hearts. Oh feeling ! 108 TALKS TO FARMERS. thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason ! Do these people come to our assemblies be- cause it is respectable to attend a place of worship ? Or is it that their coming helps to make them comfortable in their sins ? If they stopped away conscience would prick them ; but they come hither that they may flatter themselves with the notion that they are religious. Oh ! my hearers, your case is one that might make an angel weep ! How sad to have the sun of the gospel shining on your faces, and yet to have blind eyes that never see the light ! The music of heaven is lost upon you, for you have no ears to hear. You can catch the turn of a phrase, you can appreciate the poetry of an illustration, but the hidden meaning, the divine life, you do not per- ceive. You sit at the marriage-feast, but you eat not of the dainties ; the bells of heaven ring with joy over ransomed spirits, but you live unransomed, without God, and without Christ. Though we plead with you, and pray for you, and weep over you, you still remain as hardened, as careless, and as thoughtless as ever you were. May God have mercy on you, and break up your hard hearts, that his word may abide in you. We have not, however, completed the picture. The passage tells us that the fowls of the air devoured the seed. Is there here a wayside hearer ? Perhaps he did not mean to hear this sermon, and when he has heard it he will be asked by one of the wicked to come into com- pany. He will go with the tempter, and the good seed will be devoured by the fowls of the air. Plenty of evil ones are ready to take away the gospel from the heart. The devil himself, that prince of the air, is eager at any time to snatch away a good thought. And then the devil is not alone he has legions of helpers. He can THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. top set a man's wife, children, friends, enemies, customers, or creditors, to eat up the good seed, and they will do it effectually. Oh, sorrow upon sorrow, that heavenly seed should become devil's meat ; that God's corn should feed foul birds ! O my hearers, if you have heard the gospel from your youth, what wagon-loads of sermons have been wasted on you ! In your younger days, you heard old Dr. So-and-so, and the dear old man was wont to pray for his hearers till his eyes were red with tears ! Do you recollect those many Sundays when you said to yourself, " Let me go to my chamber and fall on my knees and pray " ? But you did not ; the fowls of the air ate up the seed, and you went on to sin as you had sinned before. Since then, by some strange impulse, you' are very rarely absent from God's house ; but now the seed of the gospel falls into your soul as if it dropped upon an iron floor, and nothing comes of it. The law may be thundered at you ; you do not sneer at it, but it never affects you. Jesus Christ may be lifted up ; his dear wounds may be exhibited ; his streaming blood may flow before your very eyes, and you may be bidden with all earnestness to look to him and live ; but it is as if one should sow the sea-shore. What shall I do for you ? Shall I stand here and rain tears upon this hard highway ? Alas ! my tears will not break it up ; it is trodden too hard for that. Shall I bring the gospel plough ? Alas ! the ploughshare will not enter ground so solid. What shall we do ? O God, thou knowest how to melt the hardest heart with the precious blood of Jesus. Do it now, we beseech thee, and thus magnify thy grace, by causing the good seed to live, and to produce a heavenly harvest. 110 TALKS TO FARMERS. II. I shall now turn to the second class of hearers: ' And some fell upon a ROCK ; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moist- ure. " You can easily picture to yourselves that piece of rock in the midst of the field thinly veiled with soil ; and of course the seed falls there as it does everywhere else. It springs up, it hastens to grow, it withers, it dies. None but those who love the souls of men can tell what hopes, what joys, and what bitter disappoint- ments these stony places have caused us. We have a class of hearers whose hearts are hard, and yet they are apparently the softest and most impressible of men. While other men see nothing in the sermon, these men weep. Whether you preach the terrors of the law or the love of Calvary, they are alike stirred in their souls, and the liveliest impressions are apparently produced. Such may be listening now. They have resolved, but they have procrastinated. They are not the sturdy ene- mies of God who clothe themselves in steel, but they seem to bare their breasts, and lay them open to the minister. Rejoiced in heart, we shoot our arrows there, and they appear to penetrate ; but, alas, a secret armor blunts every dart, and no wound is felt. The parable speaks of this character thus: " Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth : and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth." Or as another passage explains it : "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground ; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness ; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time : afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended." Have we not thousands of hearers THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. Ill who receive the word with joy ? They have no deep convictions, but they leap into Christ on a sudden, and profess an instantaneous faith in him, and that faith has all the appearance of being genuine. When we look at it, the seed has really sprouted. There is a kind of life in it, there is apparently a green blade. We thank God that a sinner is brought back, a soul is born to God. But our joy is premature ; they sprang up on a sudden, and received the word with joy, because they had no depth of earth, and the self-same cause which hastened their reception of the seed also causes them, when the sun is risen with his fervent heat, to wither away. These men we see every day in the week. They come to join the church ; they tell us a story of how they heard us preach on such-and-such an occasion, and, oh, the word was so blessed to them, they never felt so happy in their lives ! " Oh, sir, I thought I must leap from my seat when I heard about a precious Christ, and I believed on him there and then ; I am sure I did." We question them as to whether they were ever con- vinced of sin. They think they were ; but one thing they know, they feel a great pleasure in religion. We put it to them. " Do you think you will hold on ?" They are confident that they shall. They hate the things they once loved, they are sure they do. Every- thing has become new to them. And all this is on a sudden. We enquire when the good work began. We find it began when it ended, that is to say, there was no previous work, no ploughing of the soil, but on a sud- den they sprang from death to life, as if a field should be covered with wheat by magic. Perhaps we receive them into the church ; but in a week or two they are not so regular as they used to be. We gently reprove 112 TALKS TO FARMERS. them, and they explain that they meet with such oppo- sition in religion that they are obliged to yield a little. Another month and we lose them altogether. The rea- son is that they have been laughed at or exposed to a little opposition, and they have gone back. And what, think you, are the feelings of the minister? He is like the husbandman, who sees his field all green and flour- ishing, but at night a frost nips every shoot, and his hoped-for gains are gone. The minister goes to his chamber, and casts himself on his face before God, and cries, " I have been deceived ; my converts are fickle, their religion has withered as the green herb." In the ancient story Orpheus is said to have had such skill upon the lyre, that he made the oaks and stones to dance around him. It is a poetical fiction, and yet hath it sometimes happened to the minister, that not only have the godly rejoiced, but men, like oaks and stones, have danced from their places. Alas ! they have been oaks and stones still. Hushed is the lyre. The oak returns to its rooting-place, and the stone casts itself heavily to the earth. The sinner, who, like Saul, was among the prophets, goes back to plan mischief against the Most High. If it is bad to be a wayside hearer, I cannot think it is much better to be like the rock. This second class of hearers certainly gives us more joy than the first. A certain company always comes round a new minister ; and I have often thought it is an act of God's kindness that he allows these people to gather at the first, while the minister is young, and has but few to stand by him; these persons are easily moved, and if the minister preaches earnestly they feel it, and they love him, and rally round him, much to his comfort. But time, that THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 113 proves all things, proves them. They seemed to be made of true metal ; but when they are put into the fire to be tested, they are consumed in the furnace. Some of the shallow kind are here now. I have looked at you when I have been preaching, and I have often thought, " That man one of these days will come out from the world, I am sure he will." I have thanked God for him. Alas, he is the same as ever. Years and years have we sowed him in vain, and it is to be feared it will be so to the end, for he is without depth, and without the moisture of the Spirit. Shall it be so ? Must I stand over the mouth of your open sepulchre, and think, " Here lies a shoot which never became an ear, a man in whom grace struggled but never reigned, who gave some hopeful spasms of life and then subsided into eternal death ?" God save you ! Oh ! may the Spirit deal with you effectually, and may you, even you, yet bring forth fruit unto God, that Jesus may have a reward for his sufferings. III. I shall briefly treat of the third class, and may the Spirit of God assist me to deal faithfully with you. " And some fell among THORNS ; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it." Now, this was good soil. The two first characters were bad ; the wayside was not the proper place, the rock was not a congenial Situation for the growth of any plant ; but this is good soil, for it grows thorns. Wherever a thistle will spring up and flourish, there would wheat flourish too. This was fat, fertile soil ; it was no marvel therefore that the husband- man dealt largely there, and threw handful after hand- ful upon that corner of the field. See how happy he is when in a month or two he visits the spot. The seed 114 TALKS TO FARMERS. has sprung up. True, there's a suspicious little plant down there of about the same size as the wheat. " Oh !" he thinks, " that's not much, the corn will outgrow that. When it is stronger it will choke these few thistles that have unfortunately mixed with it." Ay, Mr. Husband- man, you do not understand the force of evil, or you would not thus dream ! He comes again, and the seed has grown, there is even the corn in the ear ; but the thistles, the thorns, and the briers have become inter- twisted with one another, and the poor wheat can hard- ly get a ray of sunshine. It is so choked with thorns every way, that it looks quite yellow ; the plant is starved. Still it perseveres in growing, and it does seem as if it would bring forth a little fruit. Alas, it never comes to anything. With it the reaper never fills his arm. We have this class very largely among us. These hear the word and understand what they hear. They take the truth 'home ; they think it over ; they even go the length of making a profession of religion. The wheat seems to spring and ear ; it will soon come to perfection. Be in no hurry, these men and women have a great deal to see after ; they have the cares of a large concern ; their establishment employs so many hundred hands ; do not be deceived as to their godliness they have no time for it. They will tell you that they must live ; that they cannot neglect this world ; that they must anyhow look out for the present, and as for the future, they will render it all due attention by-and-by. They continue to attend gospel-preaching, and the poor little stunted blade of religion keeps on growing after a fashion. Meanwhile they have grown rich, they come to the place of worship in a carriage, they have all that heart can wish. Ah ! now the seed will grow, will it THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. v 11$ not ? No, no. They have no cares now ; the shop is given up, they live in the country ; they have not to ask, " Whe*-e shall the money come from to meet the next bill ? or " how shall they be able to provide for an increasing family." Now they have too much in- stead of too little, for they have riches, and they are too wealthy to be gracious. " But," says one, " they might spend their riches for God." Certainly they might, but they do not, for riches are deceitful. They have to entertain much company, and chime in with the world, and so Christ and his church are left in the lurch. Yes, but they begin to spend their riches, and they have surely got over that difficulty, for they give largely to the cause of Christ, and they are munificent in charity ; the little blade will grow, will it not ? No, for now behold the thorns of pleasure. Their liberality to others involves liberality to themselves ; their pleasures, amusements, and vanities choke the wheat of true re- ligion ; the good grains of gospel truth cannot grow be- cause they have to attend that musical party, that ball, and that soiree, and so they cannot think of the things of God. I know several specimens of this class. I knew one, high in court circles, who has confessed to me that he wished he were poor, for then he might enter the kingdom of heaven. He has said to me, " Ah ! sir, these politics, these politics, I wish I were rid of them, they are eating the life out of my heart. I cannot serve God as I would." I know of another, overloaded with riches, who has said to me, " Ah ! sir, it is an awful thing to be rich ; one cannot keep close to the Saviour with all this earth about him." Ah ! my dear readers, I will not ask for you that God may lay you on a bed of sickness, that he may strip you Jl6 TALKS TO FARMERS. of all your wealth, and bring you to beggary ; but, oh, if he were to do it, and you were to save your souls, it would be the best bargain you could ever make. If those mighty ones who now complain that the thorns choke the seed could give up all their riches and pleas- ures, if they that fare sumptuously every day could take the place of Lazarus at the gate, it were a happy change for them if their souls might be saved. A man may be honorable and rich, and yet go to heaven ; but it will be hard work, for " It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." God does make some rich men enter the kingdom of heaven, but hard is their struggle. Steady, young man, steady ! Hurry not to climb to wealth ! It is a place where many heads are turned Do not ask God to make you popular ; they that have popularity are wearied by it. Cry with Agur, " Give me neither poverty nor riches." God give me to tread the golden mean, and may I ever have in my heart that good seed, which shall bring forth fruit a hundredfold to his own glory. IV. I now close with the last character, namely, the GOOD GROUND. Of the good soil, as you will mark, we have but one in four. Will one in four of our hear- ers, with well-prepared heart, receive the Word ? The ground is described as "good "; not that it was good by nature, but it had been made good by grace. God had ploughed it ; he had stirred it up with the plough of conviction, and there it lay in ridge and furrow as it should lie. When the gospel was preached, the heart received it, for the man said, " That is just the blessing I want. Mercy is what a needy sinner re- THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 117 quires." So that the preaching of the gospel was THE thing to give comfort to this disturbed and ploughed soil. Down fell the seed to take good root. In some cases it produced fervency of love, largeness of heart, devotedness of purpose of a noble kind, like seed which produces a hundredfold. The man became a mighty servant for God, he spent himself and was spent. He took his place in the vanguard of Christ's army, stood in the hottest of the battle, and did deeds of daring which few could accomplish the seed produced a hundred- fold. It fell into another heart of like character ; the man could not do the most, but still he did much. He gave himself to God, and in his business he had a word to say for his Lord ; in his daily walk he quietly adorned the doctrine of God his Saviour he brought forth sixtyfold. Then it fell on another, whose abilities and talents were but small ; he could not be a star, but he would be a glow-worm ; he could not do as the great- est, but he was content to do something, however hum- ble. The seed had brought forth in him tenfold, perhaps twentyfold. How many are there of this sort here ? Is there one who prays within himself, " God be merciful to me a sinner "? The seed has fallen in the right spot. Soul, thy prayer shall be heard. God never sets a man longing for mercy without intending to give it. Does another whisper, " Oh that I might be saved "? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou, even thou, shalt be saved. Hast thou been the chief of sinners ? Trust Christ, and thy enormous sins shall vanish as the mill- stone sinks beneath the flood. Is there no one here that will trust the Saviour ? Can it be possible that the Spirit is entirely absent ? that he is not moving in one soul ? not begetting life in one spirit ? We will pray that he may now descend, that the word may not be in vain. THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. " The principal wheat. " ISAIAH 28 : 25. THE prophet mentions it as a matter of wisdom on the part of the husbandman, that HE KNOWS WHAT is THE PRINCIPAL THING TO CULTIVATE, and makes it his princi- pal care. The text, with the connection, runs thus : "Does not the husbandman cast in the principal wheat ?" He does not go to the granary and take out wheat, and cummin, and barley, and rye, and fling these about right and left, but he estimates the value of each grain, and arranges them in his mind accordingly. He does not think that cummin and caraway, which he merely grows to give a flavor to his meal, are of half such importance as his bread-corn ; and, though rye and barley have their values, yet he does not reckon that even these are equal to what he calls " the principal wheat." He is a man of discretion, he arranges things; he places the most important crop in the front rank, and spends upon it the most care. Here let us learn a lesson. Do keep things distinct in your minds not huddled and muddled by a careless thoughtlessness. Do not live a confused life, without care and discretion, running all things into one ; but sort things out, and divide and distinguish between the precious and the vile. See what this is worth, and what the other is worth, and set your matters in rank and THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. 1 1 9 order, making some of them principal, and others of them inferior. I suggest to you young people especial- ly that, in starting life, you say to yourselves, " What shall we live for ? There is a principal thing for which we ought to live, what shall it be ?" Have you turned over that question, or have you gone at it hit or miss ? What are you living for ? What is your principal aim ? Is it going to be that of the old gentleman in Horace who said to his boy, " Get money : get it honestly, if you can ; but, by all means, get money." Will' you be a money-spinner ? Shall coin be your principal corn ? Or will you choose a life of pleasure " a short life and a merry one," as so many fools have said to their great sorrow ? Is it in dissipation that your life is to be spent ? Are thistles to be your principal crop ? Be- cause there is a pleasure in looking at a Scotch thistle, do you intend to grow acres of pleasurable vice ? And will you make your bed upon them when you come to die ? Search and see what is worthy of being the prin- cipal object in life ; and, when you have found it out, then beseech the Holy Spirit to help you to choose that one thing, and to give all your powers and faculties to the cultivation of it. The farmer, who finds that wheat ought to be his principal crop, makes it so, and lays himself out with that end in view ; learn from this to have a main object, and to give your whole mind to it. This farmer was wise, because he counted that to be principal which was the most needful . His family could do without cummin, which was but a flavoring. Perhaps the mistress might complain, or the cook might grum- ble, but that did not signify so much as it would do if the children cried for bread. They certainly must have wheat, for bread is the staff of life. It is bread that I2O TALKS TO FARMERS. strengtheneth man's heart, and therefore the farmer must grow wheat if he does not grow anything else. That which is necessary he regarded as the principal thing. Is not this common sense ? If we were wisely to sit down and estimate, should we not say, " To be forgiven my sins, to be right with God, to be holy, to be fit to live eternally in heaven, is the greatest, the most needful thing for me, and therefore I will make it the principal object of my pursuit"? A creature cannot be satisfied unless he is answering the end for which he is created ; and the end of every intelligent creature is first, to glorify God, and next, to enjoy God. What a bliss it must be to enjoy God himself for ever and ever! Other things may be desirable, but this thing is need- ful. A competence of income, a measure of esteem among men, a degree of health all these are the flavor- ing of life, but to be saved in the Lord with an everlast- ing salvation is life itself. Jesus Christ is the bread A :y which our soul's best life is sustained. Oh, that we were all wise enough to feel that to be one with Christ is the one thing needful ; that to be at peace with God is the principal thing ; that to be brought into harmony with the Most High is the true music of our being. Other herbs may take their place in due order, but grace is the principal wheat, and \ve must cultivate it. This farmer was wise, because he made that to be the principal thing which was the most fit to be so. Of course, barley is useful as food, for nations have lived on barley bread, and lived healthily too ; and rye has been the nutriment of millions ; neither have they starved on oats and other grains. Still, give me a piece of wheat- en bread, for it is the best staff for life's journey. This farmer knew that wheat was the most fitting food for THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. 121 man, and so he did not put the inferior grain, which might act as a substitute,, into the prominent place ; but he gave his wheat the preference. He did not say, " the principal barley," or " the principal rye," much less "the principal cummin," or "the principal fitches," but " the principal wheat." And what is there, brethren, that is so fit for the heart, the mind, the soul of man, as to know God and his Christ ? Other mental foods, such as the fruits of knowledge, and the dainties of science, excellent though they may be are inferior nutriment and unsuit- able to build up the inner manhood. In my God and my Saviour, I find my heaven and my all. My soul sits down to a crumb of truth about Jesus, and finds great satisfaction in living upon it. The more we can know God, and enjoy God, and become like to God, and the more Christ is our daily bread, the more do we perceive the fitness of all this to our new-born natures. O be- loved, make that to be your principal object which is the fittest pursuit of an immortal mind. " Religion is the chief concern Of mortals here below ; May I its great importance learn, Its sovereign virtue know ! " More needful this than glittering wealth, Or aught the world bestows : Not reputation, food, or health, Can give us such repose." Moreover, this farmer was wise, because he made that the principal thing which was the most profitable. Under certain circumstances, in our own country, wheat is not the most profitable thing which a man can grow ; but, ordinarily, it is the best crop that the earth yields, and 122 TALKS TO FARMERS. therefore the text speaks of " the principal wheat." Our grandfathers used to rely upon the wheat stack to pay their rent. They looked to their corn as the arm of their strength ; and though it is not so now, it always was so of old, and perhaps it may yet be so again. Anyhow, the figure holds good with regard to true re- ligion. That is the most profitable thing. I am told that rich men find it very hard to get hold of anything which yields five per cent, nowadays ; but this blessed fear of the Lord is an extraordinarily profitable invest- ment, for it does not yield a hundred per cent, or a thousand per cent, but a man begins with nothing and all things become his by faith. Being freely discharged of our sins, we are by overflowing grace greatly en- riched, so that we number among our possessions heaven itself, Christ himself, God himself. All things are ours. Oh, what a blessed crop to sow ! What a harvest comes of it ! Godliness is profitable for the life that now is, and for that which is to come. Godliness is a blessing to a man's body, it keeps him from drunkenness and vice ; and it is a blessing to his soul, it makes him sweet and pure. It is a blessing to him every way. If I had to die like a dog, I would like to live like a Christian. If there were no hereafter, yet still, for comfort and for joy, give me the life of one who strives to live like Christ. There is a practical everyday truth in the verse " 'Tis religion that can give Sweetest pleasures while we live ; 'Tis religion must supply Solid comfort when we die. " Only that religion must not be of the common sort ; it must have for its root a hearty faith in Jesus Christ. THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. 123 See ye to it. Our religion must be either everything or nothing, either first or nowhere. Make it " the principal wheat," and it will richly repay you. II. Secondly, the husbandman is a lesson to us because HE GIVES THIS PRINCIPAL THING THE PRINCIPAL PLACE. I find that the Hebrew is rendered by some eminent scholars, " He puts the wheat into the principal place." That little handful of cummin for the wife to flavor the cakes with he grows in a corner ; and the various herbs he places in their proper borders. The barley he sets in its plot, and the rye in its acre ; but if there is a good bit of rich soil the best he has he appropriates it to the principal wheat. He gives his choicest fields to that which is to be the main means of his living. Now, here is a lesson for you and for me. Let us give to true godliness our principal powers and abili- ties. Let us give to the things of God our best and most intense thought. I pray you, do not take religion at second hand from what I tell you, or from what some- body else tells you ; but think it over. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the word of God. The thoughtful Christian is the growing Christian. Re- member, the service of God deserves our first considera- tion and endeavor. We are poor things at our prime, but we ought to give the Lord nothing short of our best. God would not have us serve him heedlessly, but he would have us use all the brain and intellect and mind that we have in studying and practising his word. "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace." " Meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them." If your mind is more clear and active at one 124 TALKS TO FARMERS. time than at another, then sow the principal wheat. If you feel more fresh and more inclined to think at one time of the day than at another, let your mind then go towards the best things. Be sure, also, to yield to this subject your most earnest love. The best field in the little estate of manhood is not the head, but the heart ; sow the principal wheat there. Oh, to have true religion in the heart ; to love what we know intensely to love it ; to hold it fast as with the grip of life and death never to let it go ! The Lord says, " My son, give me thy heart," and he will not be contented with anything less than our heart. Oh, when your zeal is most burning, and your love is most fervent, let the warmth and the fervency all go towards the Lord your God, and to the service of him who has redeemed you with his precious blood. Let the principal wheat have the principal part of your nature. Towards God and his Christ also turn your most fervent desires. When you enlarge your desire, de- sire Christ ; when you become ambitious let your am- bition be all for God. Let your hunger and your thirst be after righteousness. Let your aspirations and your longings be all towards holiness, and the things that shall make you like to Christ. Give to this principal wheat your principal desires. Then let the Lord have the attentive respect of your life. Let the principal wheat be sown in every action. If we are truly Christians we must be as much Christians out side the church as in it. We shall try to make our eat- ing and our drinking, and everything we do, tend to the glory of God. Draw no line between the secular and the religious part of your conduct, but let the secu- lar be made religious by a devout desire to glorify God THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. 125 in the one as much as in the other. Let us worship God in the commonest duties of life, even as they do who stand before his throne. So it ought to be. Let us sow the principal wheat in all the fields of our conversation, in business, in the family, among our friends, and with our children. May we each one feel, " For me to live is Christ. I cannot live without Christ, or for anything but Christ." Let your whole nature yield itself to Jesus, and to none else. We should give to this principal wheat our most earnest labors. We should spend ourselves for the spread of the gospel. A Christian man ought to lay himself out to serve Jesus. I hate to see a professing man zeal- ous in politics and lukewarm in devotion ; all on fire at a parish vestry, and chill as winter when he comes to a prayer-meeting. Some fly like eagles when they are serving the world, but they have a broken wing in the service of God. This should not be. If anything could rouse us up, and make the lion within us roar in his strength, it should be when we confront the foes of Jesus or fight in his cause. Our Lord's service is the principal wheat, let us labor most in connection with it. This, I think, should also taken possession of us so as to lead to our greatest sacrifices. The love of Christ ought to be so strong as to swallow up self, and make sacrifice our daily joy. For Christ's name's sake we should be willing to endure poverty, reproach, slander, exile, death. Nothing should be dear to a Christian in comparison with Christ. Now, I will put it to you whether it is so or no. Is the love of Jesus the principal wheat with us ? Are we giving our religion the chief place or not ? I am afraid some people treat religion as certain gentlemen treat an off-hand farm ; they put 126 TALKS TO FARMERS. a bailiff into it, and only give an eye to it now and then. Their minister is the bailiff, and they expect him to see to it for them. These off-hand farms are losing con- cerns. Look at these half-and-half brethren. They have religion ? Certainly. But they are like the man of whom the child spoke at the Sunday-school. " Is your father a Christian ?" said the teacher. " Yes," said the child, " but he has not worked much at it lately." I could point out several of this sort, who are sowing their wheat very sparingly, and choosing the most bar- ren patch to sow it in. They profess to be Christians, but religion is a tenth-rate article on their farm. Some have a large acreage for the world, and a poor little plot for Christ. They are growers of worldly pleasure and self-indulgence, and they sow a little religion by the roadside for appearance sake. This will not do. God will not thus be mocked. If we despise him and his truth we shall be lightly esteemed. O come let us give our principal time, talent, thought, effort to that which is the chief concern of immortal spirits. May we imi- tate the husbandman who gives the principal wheat the principal place in his farm. III. Let us learn a third lesson. THE HUSBANDMAN SELECTS THE PRINCIPAL SEED-CORN WHEN HE IS SOWING HIS WHEAT. When a farmer is setting aside wheat for sow- ing, he does not choose the tail corn and the worst of his produce, but if he is a sensible man he likes to sow the best wheat in the world. Many farmers search the country round for a good sample of wheat for sowing, for they do not expect to get a good harvest out of bad seed. The husbandman is taught of God to put into the ground " the principal wheat," Let me learn that THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. 127 if I am going to sow to the Lord and to be a Christian, I should sow the best kind of Christianity. I should try to do this, first, by believing the weightiest doctrines. I would believe not this " ism," nor that, but the unadulterated truth which Jesus taught ; for a holy character will only grow by the Spirit of God out of true doctrine. Falsehood breeds sin : truth begets and fosters holiness. You and I therefore ought to select our seed carefully, and cast out all error. If we are wise we shall think most of the most important truths, for I have known people attach the greatest importance to the smallest things. They fight over the fitches, and leave the wheat to the crows. As for me, those who will may dispute over vials and trumpets, I shall mainly preach the doctrine of the precious blood and the glori- ous truths of substitution and atonement. These doc- trines are the principal wheat, and therefore these shall have my choice. Next to that, we ought to sow the noblest examples. Many men are dwarfed because they choose a bad model to start with. They imitate dear old Mr. So-and-so till they grow wonderfully like him with the best of him left out. A minister happens to be of a gloomy turn of mind, and he preaches the deep experience of the chil- dren of God, and in consequence a band of good people think it their duty to be melancholy. Why need they fall into a ditch because their leader has splashed him- self ? We should never copy any man's infirmities. To be like Paul there is no need to have weak eyes ; to be like Thomas there is no necessity to doubt. If you copy any good man, there is a point at which you ought to stop short. If I must have a human model, I would prefer one of the bravest of the saints of God ; 128 TALKS TO FARMERS. but oh how much better to follow that perfect pattern which you have in Christ Jesus ! We should sow the best wheat by seeing that we have the purest spirit. Alas ! how soon do spirits become soiled by self or pride, or despondency or sloth, or some earthly taint. But what a grand thing it is to live in the spirit of Christ ! May we be humble, lowly, bold, self-sacrificing, pure, chaste, and holy. And, then, there is one more mode of sowing select- ed seed. We should endeavor to live in the closest com- munion with God. A dear brother prayed just now that we might have as much grace as we were capable of re- ceiving, and that God would bring us into such a state that we might not hinder him in anything which he willed to do by us. This is a good prayer. It should be our desire to rise to the highest form of spiritual life. If you sow this principal wheat, get the best sort of it. There is a spirit and a spirit ; and there are doctrines and doctrines ; the best is the best for you. O young men, if you mean to have piety, go in for it thoroughly. Do not sneak through the world as if you were ashamed of your Lord. If you are Christ's, show your colors. Rally to his banner, gather to his trumpet call, and then stand up, stand up for Jesus. If there is any manhood in you, this great cause calls for it all ; exhibit it, and may the Spirit of God help you so to do. IV. Fourthly, THE HUSBANDMAN GROWS THE PRINCI- PAL WHEAT WITH THE PRINCIPAL CARE. Some critics say that the proper translation is that the husbandman plants his wheat in rows. It is said that the large crops in Palestine in olden time were due to the fact that they planted the wheat. They set it in lines, so that it was THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. 129 not checked or suffocated by its being too thick in one place, neither was there any fear of its being too thin in another. The wheat was planted, and then streams of water were turned by the foot to each particular plant. No wonder, therefore, that the land brought forth abundantly. We should give our principal care to the principal thing. Our godliness should be carried out with dis- cretion and care. Brethren, are we careful enough as to our religious walk ? Have you ever searched to the bottom of your profession ? Why do you happen to be members of a certain church ? Your mother was so. Well, there is some good in that reason, but not enough to justify you in the sight of God. I pray you judge your standing. If any Christian minister is afraid to urge you to this duty, I stand in doubt of him. I am not at all afraid. I beg you to examine all that I teach you, for I would not like to be responsible for another man's creed. Like the Bereans, search and see whether these things be according to Scripture or not. One of the greatest blessings that could come upon the church would be a searching spirit which would refer every- thing to the Holy Scriptures. If they speak not accord- ing to this word it is because there is no light in them. Do your service to God as carefully as the eastern farmer planted his wheat, when he set it in rows with great orderliness and exactness. You serve a precise God, therefore serve him precisely. He is a jealous God, therefore be jealous of the least taint of error or will-worship. Take care, also, that you water every part of your religion, as the farmer watered each plant. Pray for grace from on high that you may never be parched and 130 TALKS TO FARMERS. dried up. Perform to your faith, to your hope, to your love, and to all the plants that are in your soul every other service which the husbandman renders to his wheat. Give grace your principal care, for it de- serves it. V. With this I close. Do this, because FROM THIS YOU MAY EXPECT YOUR PRINCIPAL CROP. If religion be the principal thing, you may look to religion for your principal reward. The harvest will come to you in various ways. You will make the greatest success in this life if you wholly live to the glory of God. Success or failure must much depend upon the fitness of our object. It is of no use my attempting to sing, for I shall never be able to conduct a choir. I could not succeed in that, but if I preach, I may succeed, for that is my work. Now you, Christian man, if you try to live to the world you will not prosper, for you are not fitted for it. Grace has spoiled you for sin. If you live to God with all your heart you will succeed in it, for God has made you on purpose for it. As he made the fish for the water, and the birds for the air, so he made the believer for holiness, and for the service of God ; and you will be out of your element, a fish out of water, or a bird in the stream, if you leave the service of God. The Eastern farmer's prosperity hinges on his wheat, and yours upon your devotion to God. It is to Godli- ness that you must look for your joy. Is there any bliss like the bliss of knowing that you are in Christ, and are the beloved of the Lord ? It is to your religion that you must look for comfort on a sick and dying bed, and you may be there very soon. In the world to come what a crop, what a harvest THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT. 131 will come of serving the Lord ! What will come out of all else ? What but mere smoke ? A man has made a million of money, and he is dead. What has he got by his wealth ? A man's fame rings throughout the earth as a great and successful warrior, and he is dead. What has he as the result of all his honors ? To live to the world is like playing with boys in the street for half- pence, or with babes for bits of platter and oyster shells. Life for God is real and substantial, but all else is waste. Let us think so, and gird up our loins to serve the Lord. May the divine Spirit help us to sow " the principal wheat," and to live in joyful expectation of reaping a happy harvest according to the promise, " They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." SPRING IN THE HEART. " Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly : thou settlest the furrows thereof : thou makest it soft with showers : thou blessest the springing there- of. "PSALM 65 : 10. THOUGH other seasons excel in fulness, spring must always bear the palm for freshness and beauty. We thank God when the harvest hours draw near, and the golden grain invites the sickle, but we ought equally to thank him for the rougher days of spring, for these pre- pare the harvest. April showers are mothers of the sweet May flowers, and the wet and cold of winter are the parents of the splendor of summer. God blesses the springing thereof, or else it could not be said, " Thou crownest the year with thy goodness." There is as much necessity for divine benediction in spring as for heavenly bounty in summer ; and, therefore, we should praise God all the year round. Spiritual spring is a very blessed season in a church. Then we see youthful piety developed, and on every hand we hear the joyful cry of those who say, " We have found the Lord." Our sons are springing up as the grass and as willows by the water-courses. We hold up our hands in glad astonishment and cry, " Who are these that fly as a cloud and as doves to their win- dows ?" In the revival days of a Church, when God is blessing her with many conversions, she has great cause SPRING IN THE HEART. 133 to rejoice in God and to sing, " Thou blessest the springing thereof." I intend to take the text in reference to individual cases. There is a time of springing of grace, when it is just in its bud, just breaking through the dull cold earth of unregenerate nature. I desire to talk a little about that, and concerning the blessing which the Lord grants to the green blade of new-born godliness, to those who are beginning to hope in the Lord. I. First, I shall have a little to say about THE WORK PREVIOUS TO THE SPRINGING THEREOF. It appears from the text that there is work for God alone to do before the springing conies, and we know that there is work for God to do through us as well. There is work for us to do. Before there can be a springing up in the soul of any, there must be plough- ing, harrowing, and sowing. There mu;. be a. plough- ing, and we do not expect that as soon as ever we plough we shall reap the sheaves. Blessed be God, in many cases, the reaper overtakes the ploughman, but we must not always expect it. In some hearts God is long in preparing the soul by conviction : the law with its ten black horses drags the ploughshare of conviction up and down the soul till there is no one part of it left unfur- rowed. Conviction goes deeper than any plough to the very core and centre of the spirit, till the spirit is wounded. The ploughers make deep furrows indeed when God puts his hand to the work : the soil of the heart is broken in pieces in the presence of the Most High. Then comes the smving. Before there can be a springing up it is certain that there must be something 134 TALKS TO FARMERS. put into the ground, so that after the preacher has used the plough of the law, he applies to his Master for the seed-basket of the gospel. Gospel promises, gospel doc- trines, especially a clear exposition of free grace and the atonement, these are the handfuls of corn which we scatter broadcast. Some of the grain falls on the high- way, and is lost ; but other handfuls fall where the plough has been, and there abide. Then comes the harraiving work. We do not expect to sow seed and then leave it : the gospel has to be prayed over. The prayer of the preacher and the prayer of the Church make up God's harrow to rake in the seed after it is scattered, and so it is covered up within the clods of the soul, and is hidden in the heart of the hearer. Now there is a reason why I dwell upon this, name- ly, that I may exhort my dear brethren who have not seen success, not to give up the work, but to hope that they have been doing the ploughing, and sowing, and harrowing work, and that the harvest is to come. I mention this for yet another reason, and that is, by way of warning to those who expect to have a harvest with- out this preparatory work. I do not believe that much good will come from attempts at sudden revivals made without previous prayerful labor. A revival to be per- manent must be a matter of growth, and the result of much holy effort, longing, pleading, and watching. The servant of God is to preach the gospel whether men are prepared for it or not ; but in order to large success, depend upon it there is a preparedness necessary among the hearers. Upon some hearts warm earnest preach- ing drops like an unusual thing which startles but does not convince ; while in other congregations, where good SPRING IN THE HEART. 135 gospel preaching has long been the rule, and much prayer has been offered, the words fall into the hearers' souls and bring forth speedy fruit. We must not expect to have results without work. There is no hope of a church having an extensive revival in its midst unless there is continued and importunate waiting upon God, together with earnest laboring, intense anxiety, and hopeful expectation. But there is also a work to be done which is beyond out- power. After ploughing, sowing, and harrowing, there must come the shower from heaven. " Thou visitest the earth and waterest it," says the Psalmist. In vain are all our efforts unless God shall bless us with the rain of his Holy Spirit's influence. O Holy Spirit ! thou, and thou alone, workest wonders in the human heart, and thou comest from the Father and the Son to do the Father's purposes, and to glorify the Son. Three effects are spoken of. First, we are told he waters the ridges. As the ridges of the field become well saturated through and through with the abundant rain, so God sends his Holy Spirit till the whole heart of man is moved and influenced by his divine operations. The understanding is enlightened, the conscience is quick- ened, the will is controlled, the affections are inflamed ; all these powers, which I may call the ridges of the heart, come under the divine working. It is ours to deal with men as men, and bring to bear upon them gospel truth, and to set before them motives that are suitable to move rational creatures ; but, after all, it is the rain from on high which alone can water the ridges: there is no hope of the heart being savingly affected ex- cept by divine operations. Next, it is added, " Thou settlest the furrows," by 136 TALKS TO FARMERS. which some think it is meant that the furrows are drenched with water. Others think there is an allusion here to the beating down of the earth by heavy rain till the ridges become flat, and by the soaking of the water are settled into a more compact mass. Certain it is that the influences of God's Spirit have a humbling and settling effect upon a man. He was unsettled once like the earth that is dry and crumbly, and blown about and carried away with every wind of doctrine ; but as the earth when soaked with wet is compacted and knit to- gether, so the heart becomes solid and serious under the power of the Spirit. As the high parts of the ridge are beaten down into the furrows, so the lofty ideas, the grand schemes, and carnal boastings of the heart begin to level down, when the Holy Spirit comes to work up- on the soul. Genuine humility is a very gracious fruit of the Spirit. To be broken in heart is the best means of preparing the soul for Jesus. " A broken and a con- trite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Brethren, always be thankful when you see high thoughts of man brought down ; this settling the furrows is a very gra- cious preparatory work of grace. Yet again, it is added, " Thou makest it soft with showers." Man's heart is naturally hardened against the gospel ; like the Eastern soil, it is hard as iron if there be no gracious rain. How sweetly and effectively does the Spirit of God soften the man through and through ! He is no longer towards the Word what he used to be : he feels everything, whereas once he felt nothing. The rock flows with water ; the heart is dis- solved in tenderness, the eyes are melted into tears. All this is God's work. I have said already that God works through us, but still it is God's immediate SPRING IN THE HEART. 137 work to send down the rain of his grace from on high. Perhaps he is at work upon some of you, though as yet there is no springing up of spiritual life in your souls. Though your condition is still a sad one, we will hope for you that ere long there shall be seen the living seed of grace sending up its tender green shoot above the soil, and may the Lord bless the springing thereof. II. In the second place, let us deliver A BRIEF DE- SCRIPTION OF THE SPRINGING THEREOF. After the operations of the Holy Spirit have been quietly going on for a certain season as pleaseth the great Master and Husbandman, then there are signs of grace. Remember the apostle's words, " First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." Some of our friends are greatly disturbed because they cannot see the full corn in the ear. in themselves. They sup- pose that, if they were the subjects of a divine work, they would be precisely like certain advanced Christians with whom it is their privilege to commune, or of whom they may have read in biographies. Beloved, this is a very great mistake. When first grace enters the heart, it is not a great tree covering with its shadow whole acres, but it is the least of all seeds, like a grain of mustard seed. When it first rises upon the soul, it is not the sun shining at high noon, but it is the first dim ray of dawn. Are you so simple as to expect the har- vest before you have passed through the springing- time ? I shall hope that by a very brief description of the earliest stage of Christian experience you may be led to say, " I have gone as far as that," and then I hope you may be able to take the comfort of the text to yourselves : " Thou blessest the springing thereof." 138 TALKS TO FARMERS. What then is the springing up of piety in the heart? We think it is first seen in sincerely earnest desires after salvation. The man is not saved, in his own apprehen- sion, but he longs to be. That which was once a mat- ter of indifference is now a subject of intense concern. Once he despised Christians, and thought them need- lessly earnest ; he thought religion a mere trifle, and he looked upon the things of time and sense as the only substantial matters ; but now how changed he is ! He envies the meanest Christian, and would change places with the poorest believer if he might but be able to read his title clear to mansions in the skies. Now worldly things have lost dominion over him, and spiritual things are uppermost. Once with the unthinking many, he cried, " Who will show us any good ?" but now he cries, " Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me." Once it was the corn and the wine to which he looked for comfort, but now he looks to God alone. His rock of refuge must be God, for he finds no com- fort elsewhere. His holy desires, which he had years ago, were like smoke from the chimney, soon blown away; but now his longings are permanent, though not always operative to the same degree. At times these desires amount to a hungering and a thirsting after righteousness, and yet he is not satisfied with these de- sires, but wishes for a still more anxious longing after heavenly things. These desires are among the first springings of divine life in the soul. " The springing thereof " shows itself next in prayer. It is prayer now. Once it was the mocking of God with holy sounds unattended by the heart; but now, though the prayer is such that he would not like a human ear to hear him, yet God approves it, for it is SPRING IN THE HEART. 139 the talking of a spirit to a Spirit, and not the muttering of lips to an unknown God. His prayers, perhaps, are not very long : they do not amount to more than this, "Oh!" "Ah!" " Would to God !" " Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner !" and such-like short ejacula- tions; but, then, they are prayers. " Behold he pray- eth," does not refer to a long prayer; it is quite as sure a proof of spiritual life within, if it only refers to a sigh or to a tear. These " groanings that cannot be uttered," are among " the springings thereof." There will also be manifest a hearty love for the means of grace, and the house of God. The Bible, long un- read, which was thought to be of little more use than an old almanac, is now treated with great considera- tion ; and though the reader finds little in it that com- forts him just now, and much that alarms him, yet he feels that it is the book for him, and he turns to its pages with hope. When he goes up to God's house, he listens eagerly, hoping that there may be a message for him. Before, he attended worship as a sort of pious necessity incumbent upon all respectable people ; but now he goes up to God's house that he may find the Saviour. Once there was no more religion in him than in the door which turns upon its hinges ; but now he enters the house praying, " Lord, meet with my soul," and if he gets no blessing, he goes away sighing, " O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat." This is one of the blessed signs of " the springing thereof." Yet more cheering is another, namely, that the soul in this state has faith in Jesus Christ, at least in some degree. It is not a faith which brings great joy and peace, but still it is a faith which keeps the heart from 140 TALKS TO FARMERS. despair, and prevents its sinking under a sense of sin. I have known the time when I do not believe any man living could see faith in me, and when I could scarcely perceive any in myself, and yet I was bold to say, with Peter, " Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." What man cannot see, Christ can see. Many people have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are so much engaged in looking at it that they do not see it. If they would look to Christ and not to their own faith, they would not only see Christ but see their own faith too ; but they measure their faith, and it seems so little when they contrast it with the faith of full-grown Christians, that they fear it is not faith at all. Oh, little one, if thou hast faith enough to receive Christ, remember the promise, " To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Poor, simple, weak hearted, and troubled one, look to Jesus and answer, Can such a Saviour suffer in vain ? Can such an atonement be offered in vain ? Canst thou trust him, and yet be cast away ? It cannot be. It never was in the Saviour's heart to shake off one that did cling to his arm. However feeble the faith, he blesses " the springing thereof." The difficulty raises partly from misapprehension and partly from want of confidence in God. I say misapprehension : now if like some Londoners you had never seen corn when it is green, you would cry out, " What ! Do you say that yonder green stuff is wheat ?" " Yes," the farmer says, " that is wheat." You look at it again and you reply, 41 Why, man alive, that is nothing but grass. You do not mean to tell me that this grassy stuff will ever pro- duce a loaf of bread such as I see in the baker's window; I cannot conceive it," No, you could not conceive it, SPRING IN THE HEART. 141 but when you get accustomed to it, it is not at all won- derful to see the wheat go through certain stages ; first the blade, then the ear, and afterwards the full corn in the ear. Some of you have never seen growing grace, and do not know anything about it. When you are newly converted you meet with Christians who are like ripe golden ears, and you say, " I am not like them." True, you are no more like them than that grassy stuff in the furrows is like full-grown wheat ; but you will grow like them one of these days. You must expect to go through the blade period before you get to the ear period, and in the ear period you will have doubts whether you will ever come to the full corn in the ear ; but you will arrive at perfection in due time. Thank God that you are in Christ at all. Whether I have much faith or little faith, whether I can do much for Christ or little for Christ, is not the first question ; I am saved, not on account of what I am, but on account of what Jesus Christ is ; and if I am trusting to him, however little in Israel I may be, I am as safe as the brightest of the saints. I have said, however, that mixed with misapprehen- sion there is a great deal of unbelief. I cannot put it all down to an ignorance that may be forgiven : for there is sinful unbelief too. O sinner, why do you not trust Jesus Christ ? Poor, quickened, awakened con- science, God gives you his word that he who trusts in Christ is not condemned, and yet you are afraid that you are condemned ! This is to give God the lie ! Be ashamed and confounded that you should ever have been guilty of doubting the veracity of God. All your other sins do not grieve Christ so much as the sin of thinking that he is unwilling to forgive you, or the sin 142 TALKS TO FARMERS. of suspecting that if you trust him he will cast you away. Do not slander his gracious character. Do not cast a slur upon the generosity of his tender heart. He saith, " Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Come in the faith of his promise, and he will receive you just now. I have thus given some description of " the spring- ing thereof." III. Thirdly, according to the text, THERE is ONE WHO SEES THIS SPRINGING. Thou, Lord thou blessest the springing thereof. I wish that some of us had quicker eyes to see the beginning of grace in the souls of men ; for want of this we let slip many opportunities of helping the weak- lings. If a woman had the charge of a number of chil- dren that were not her own, I do not suppose she would notice all the incipient stages of disease ; but when a mother nurses her own dear children, as soon as ever upon the cheek or in the eye there is a token of ap- proaching sickness, she perceives it at once. I wish we had just as quick an eye, because just as tender a heart, towards precious souls. I do not doubt that many young people are weeks and even months in distress, who need not be, if you who know the Lord were a little more watchful to help them in the time of their sorrow. Shepherds are up all night at lambing time to catch up the lambs as soon as they are born, and take them in and nurse them ; and we, who ought to be shepherds for God, should be looking out for all the lambs, especially at seasons when there are many born into God's great fold, for tender nursing is wanted in the first stages of the new life. God, however, when his SPRING IN THE HEART. 143 servants do not see " the springing thereof," sees it all. Now, you silent, retired spirits, who dare not speak to father or mother, or brother or sister, this text ought to be a sweet morsel to you. " Thou blessest the springing thereof, " which proves that God sees you and your new-born grace. The Lord sees the first sign of penitence. Though you only say to yourself, " I will arise and go to my Father," your Father hears you. Though it is nothing but a desire, your Father registers it. " Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book?" He is watching your return ; he runs to meet you, and puts his arms about you, and kisses you with the kisses of his accepting love. O soul, be encouraged with that thought, that up in the cham- ber or down by the hedge, or wherever it is that thou hast sought secrecy, God is there. Dwell on the thought, " Thou God seest me." That is a precious text " All my desire is before thee ;" and here is another sweet one, " The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy." He can see you when you only hope in his mercy, and he takes pleasure in you if you have only begun to fear him. Here is a third choice word, " Thou wilt perfect that which concerneth me." Have you a concern about these things ? Is it a matter of soul-concern with you to be reconciled to God, and to have an interest in Jesus' precious blood ? It is only " the springing thereof," but he blesses it. It is written, " A bruised reed he will not break, and the smoking flax he will not quench, till he bring forth judgment unto victory." There shall be victory for you, even before the judgment-seat of God, though as yet you are only like the flax that smokes and 144 TALKS TO FARMERS. gives no light, or like the reed that is broken, and yields no music. God sees the first springing of grace. IV. A few words upon a fourth point : WHAT A MISERY IT WOULD BE, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, TO HAVE THIS SPRINGING WITHOUT GOD'S BLESSING ! The text says, " Thou blessest the springing there- of." We must, just a moment, by way of contrast, think of how the springing would have been without the blessing. Suppose we were to see a revival among us without God's blessing. It is my conviction that there are revivals which are not of God at all, but are produced by excitement merely. If there be no bless- ing from the Lord, it will be all a delusion, a bubble blown up into the air for a moment, and then gone to nothing. We shall only see the people stirred, to be- come the more dull and dead afterwards ; and this is a great mischief to the church. In the individual heart, if there should be a spring- ing up without God's blessing, there would be no good in it. Suppose you have good desires, but no blessing on these desires, they will only tantalize and worry you ; and then, after a time, they will be gone, and you will be more impervious than you were before to relig- ious convictions ; for, if religious desires are not of God's sending, but are caused by excitement, they will probably prevent your giving a serious hearing to the Word of God in times to come. If convictions do not soften they will certainly harden. To what extremities have some been driven who have had springings of a certain sort which have not led them to Christ ! Some have been crushed by despair. They tell us that religion crowds the madhouse : it is not true ; but there SPRING IN THE HEART. 145 is no doubt whatever that religiousness of a certain kind has driven many a man out of his mind. The poor souls have felt their wound but have not seen the balm. They have not known Jesus. They have had a sense of sin and nothing more. They have not fled for refuge to the hope which God has set before them. Marvel not if men do go mad when they refuse the Saviour. It may come as a judicial visitation of God upon those men who, when in great distress of mind, will not fly to Christ. I believe it is with some just this you must either fly to Jesus, or else your burden will become heavier and heavier until your spirit will utterly fail. This is not the fault of religion, it is the fault of those who will not accept the remedy which religion presents. A springing up of desires without God's blessing would be an awful thing, but we thank him that we are not left in such a case. V. And now I have to dwell upon THE COMFORTING THOUGHT THAT GOD DOES BLESS " THE SPRINGING THERE- OF." I wish to deal with you who are tender and troubled ; I want to show that God does bless your springing. He does it in many ways. Frequently he does it by the cordials which he brings. You have a few very sweet moments : you cannot say that you are Christ's, but at times the bells of your heart ring very sweetly at the mention of his name. The means of grace are very precious to you. When you gather to the Lord's worship you feel a holy calm, and you go away from the service wishing that there were seven Sundays in the week instead of one. By the blessing of God the Word has just suited your case, as if the Lord had sent his servants on purpose to you : 146 TALKS TO FARMERS. you lay aside your crutches for awhile, and you begin to run. Though these things have been sadly transient, they are tokens for good. On the other hand, if you have had none of these comforts, or few of them, and the means of grace have not been consolations to you, I want you to look upon that as a blessing. It may be the greatest blessing that God can give us to take away all comforts on the road, in order to quicken our running towards the end. When a man is flying to the City of Refuge to be protected from the man-slayer, it may be an act of great consid- eration to stay him for a moment that he may quench his thirst and run more swiftly afterwards ; but per- haps, in a case of imminent peril, it may be the kindest thing neither to give him anything to eat or to drink, nor invite him to stop for a moment, in order that he may fly with undiminished speed to the place of safety. The Lord may be blessing you in the uneasiness which you feel. Inasmuch as you cannot say that you are in Christ, it may be the greatest blessing which heaven can give to take away every other blessing from you, in order that you may be compelled to fly to the Lord. You perhaps have a little of your self-righteousness left, and while it is so you cannot get joy and comfort. The royal robe which Jesus gives will never shine brilliantly upon us till every rag of our own goodness is gone. Perhaps you are not empty enough, and God will never fill you with Christ till you are. Fear often drives men to faith. Have you never heard of a person walking in the fields into whose bosom a bird has flown because pursued by the hawk ? Poor, timid thing, it would not have ventured there had not a greater fear compelled it. All this may be so with you ; your fears may be sent to SPRING IN THE HEART. 147 drive you more swiftly and more closely to the Saviour, and if so, I see in these present sorrows the signs that God is blessing " the springing thereof." In looking back upon my own " springing" I some- times think God blessed me then in a lovelier way than now. Though I would not willingly return to that early stage of my spiritual life, yet there were many joys about it. An apple tree when loaded with apples is a very comely sight : but give me, for beauty, the apple tree in bloom. The whole world does not present a more lovely sight than an apple blossom. Now, a full- grown Christian laden with fruit is a comely sight, but still there is a peculiar loveliness about the young Chris- tian. Let me tell you what that blessedness is ; you have probably now a greater horror of sin than professors who have known the Lord for years ; they might wish that they felt your tenderness of conscience. You have now a graver sense of duty, and a more solemn fear of the neglect of it, than some who are further advanced. You have also a greater zeal than many : you are now doing your first works for God, and burning with your first love ; nothing is too hot or too heavy for you : I pray that you may never decline, but always advance. And now to close. I think there are three lessons for us to learn. First, let older saints be very gentle and kind to young believers. God blesses the springing thereof mind that you do the same. Do not throw cold water upon young desires : do not snuff out young believers with hard questions. While they are babes and need the milk of the Word, do not be choking them with your strong meat ; they will eat strong meat by-and-by, but not just yet. Remember, Jacob would not over- drive the lambs ; be equally prudent. Teach and in- 148 TALKS TO FARMERS. struct them, but let it be with gentleness and tender- ness, not as their superiors, but as nursing fathers for Christ's sake. God, you see, blesses the springing thereof may he bless it through you ! The next thing I have to say is, fulfil the duty of gratitude. Beloved, if God blesses the springing thereof we ought to be grateful for a little grace. If you have only seen the first shoot peeping up through the mould be thankful, and you shall see the green blade waving in the breeze ; be thankful for the ankle-deep verdure and you shall soon see the commencement of the ear ; be thankful for the first green ears and you shall see the flowering of the wheat, and by-and-by its ripening, and the joyous harvest. The last lesson is one of encouragement. If God blesses " the springing thereof," dear beginners, what will he not do for you in after days ? If he gives you such a meal when you break your fast, what dainties will be on your table when he says to you, " Come and dine "; and what a banquet will he furnish at the sup- per of the Lamb ! O troubled one ! let the storms which howl and the snows which fall, and the wintry blasts that nip your springing, all be forgotten in this one consoling thought, that God blesses your springing, and whom God blesses none can curse. Over your head, dear, desiring, pleading, languishing soul, the Lord of heaven and earth pronounces the blessing of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Take that blessing and rejoice in it evermore. Amen. FARM LABORERS. " I have planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one : and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God : ye are God's husbandry. " i CORINTHIANS 3 : 6-9. I SHALL begin at the end of my text, because I find it to be the easiest way of mapping out my discourse. We shall first remark that the church is God 's farm : "Ye are God's husbandry." In the margin of the revised version we read, " Ye are God's tilled ground," and that is the very expression for me. " Ye are God's tilled ground," or farm. After we have spoken of the farm we will next say a little upon the fact that the Lord employs laborers on his estate : and when we have looked at the laborers such poor fellows as they are we will remember that God himself is the great worker : " We are laborers together with God." I. We begin by considering that THE CHURCH is GOD'S FARM. The Lord has made the church his own by his sovereign choice. He has also secured it unto himself by purchase, having paid for it a price immense. ' The Lord's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." Every acre of God's farm cost the Saviour a bloody sweat, yea, the blood of his heart. He loved us, and gave himself for us : that is the price 150 TALKS TO FARMERS. he paid. Henceforth the church is God's freehold, and he holds the title deeds of it. It is our joy to feel that we are not our own, we are bought with a price. The church is God's farm by choice and purchase. And now he has made it his by enclosure. It lay ex- posed aforetime as part of an open common, bare and barren, covered with thorns and thistles, and the haunt of every wild beast ; for we were " by nature the chil- dren of wrath, even as others." Divine foreknowledge surveyed the waste, and electing love marked out its portion with a full line of grace, and thus set us apart to be the Lord's own estate forever. In due time effec- tual grace came forth with power, and separated us from the rest of mankind, as fields are hedged and ditched to part them from the open heath. Hath not the Lord de- clared that he hath chosen his vineyard and fenced it ? " We are a garden wall'd around, Chosen and made peculiar ground ; A little spot, enclosed by grace Out of the world's wide wilderness. " The Lord has also made this farm evidently his own by cultivation. What more could he have done for his farm? He has totally changed the nature of the soil : from being barren he hath made it a fruitful land. He hath ploughed it, and digged it, and fattened it, and watered it, and planted it with all manner of flowers and fruits. It hath already brought forth to him many a pleasant cluster, and there are brighter times to come, when angels shall shout the harvest home, and Christ " shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." This farm is preserved by the Lord's continual protection. Not only did he enclose it, and cultivate it by his miraculous power, to make it his own farm, but he FARM LABORERS. J5I continually maintains possession of it. " I the Lord do keep it ; I will water it every moment : lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." If it were not for God's continual power her hedges would soon be thrown down, and wild beasts would devour her fields. Wicked hands are always trying to break down her walls and lay her waste again, so that there should be no true church in the world ; but the Lord is jealous for his land, and will not allow it to be destroyed. A church would not long remain a church if God did not preserve it unto himself. What if God should say, " I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up ; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down" ? What a wilderness it would become. What saith he ? " Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel." Go ye to Jerusa- lem, where of old was the city of his glory and the shrine of his indwelling, and what is left there to-day ? Go ye to Rome, where once Paul preached the gospel with power : what is it now but the centre of idolatry ? The Lord may remove the candlestick, and leave a place that was bright as day to become black as darkness itself. Hence God's farm remains a farm because he is ever in it to prevent its returning to its former wild- ness. Omnipotent power is as needful to keep the fields of the church under cultivation as to reclaim them at the first. Inasmuch as the church is God's own farm, he ex- pects to receive a harvest from it. The world is waste, and he looks for nothing from it ; but we are tilled land, and therefore a harvest is due from us. Barrenness suits the moorland, but to a farm it would be a great discredit. I5 TALKS TO FARMERS. Love looks for returns of love ; grace given demands gracious fruit. Watered with the drops of the Saviour's bloody sweat, shall we not bring forth a hundredfold to his praise ? Kept by the eternal Spirit of God, shall there not be produced in us fruits to his glory ? The Lord's husbandry upon us has shown a great expen- diture of cost, and labor, and thought ; ought there not to be a proportionate return ? Ought not the Lord to have a harvest of obedience, a harvest of holiness, a harvest of usefulness, a harvest of praise ? Shall it not be so ? I think some churches forget that an increase is expected from every field of the Lord's farm, for they never have a harvest or even look for one. Farmers do not plough their lands or sow their fields for amusement ; they mean business, and plough and sow because they desire a harvest. If this fact could but enter into the heads of some professors, surely they would look at things in a different light ; but of late it has seemed as if we thought that God's church was not expected to produce anything, but existed for her own comfort and personal benefit. Brethren, it must not be so ; the great Husbandman must have some reward for his husbandry. Every field must yield its increase, and the whole estate must bring forth to his praise. We join with the bride in the Song in saying, " My vineyard, which is mine, is before me : thou, O Solomon, must have thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred." But I come back to the place from which I started. This farm is, by choice, by purchase, by enclosure, by cultivation, by preservation, entirely the Lord's. See, then, the injustice of allowing any of the laborers to call even a part of the estate his own. When a great FARM LABORERS. 153 man has a large farm of his own, what would he think if Hodge the ploughman should say, " Look here, I plough this farm, and therefore it is mine : I shall call this field Hodge's Acres" ? " No," says Hobbs, " I reaped that land last harvest, and therefore it is mine, and I shall call it Hobbs's Field." What if all the other laborers became Hodgeites and Hobbsites, and so parcelled out the farm among them ? I think the landlord would soon eject the lot of them. The farm belongs to its owner, and let it be called by his name ; but it is ab- surd to call it by the names of the men who labor upon it. Shall insignificant nobodies rob God of his glory ? Remember how Paul put it : " Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos ?" "Is Christ divided ? was Paul cruci- fied for you ? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul ?" The entire church belongs to him who has chosen it in his sovereignty, bought it with his blood, fenced it by his grace, cultivated it by his wisdom, and preserved it by his power. There is but one church on the face of the earth, and those who love the Lord should keep this truth in mind. Paul is a laborer, Apollos is a laborer, Cephas is a laborer ; but the farm is not Paul's, not so much as a rood of it, nor does a single parcel of land belong to Apollos, or the smallest allotment to Cephas ; for " Ye are Christ's." The fact is that in this case the laborers belong to the land, and not the land to the laborers : " For all things are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas." " We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." II. We have now to notice, as our second head, that THE GREAT HUSBANDMAN EMPLOYS LABORERS. By hitman 154 TALKS TO FARMERS. agency God ordinarily works out his designs. He can, if he pleases, by his Holy Spirit get directly at the hearts of men, but that is his business, and not ours ; we have to do with such words as these : " It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." The Master's commission is not, " Sit still and see the Spirit of God convert the nations ;" but, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creat- ure." Observe God's method in supplying the race with food. In answer to the prayer, " Give us this day our daily bread," he might have bidden the clouds drop manna, morning by morning, at each man's door ; but he sees that it is for our good to work, and so he uses the hands of the ploughman and the sower for our supply. God might cultivate his chosen farm, the church, by miracle, or by angels ; but in great condescension he blesses her through her own sons and daughters. He employs us for our own good ; for we who are laborers in his fields receive much more good for ourselves than we bestow. Labor develops our spiritual muscle and keeps us in health. " Unto me," says Paul, " who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Our great Master means that every laborer on his farm should receive some benefit from it, for he never muzzles the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. The laborer's daily bread comes out of the soil. Though he works not for himself, but for his Master, yet still he has his portion of food. In the Lord's granary there is seed for the sower, but there is also bread for the eater. However disinterestedly we may serve God in the hus- bandry of his church, we are ourselves partakers of the FARM LABORERS. 155 fruit. It is a great condescension on God's part that he uses us at all, for we are poor tools at the best, and more hindrance than help. The laborers employed by God are all occupied upon needful work. Notice : "I have planted, Apollos watered." Who beat the big drum, or blew his own trumpet ? Nobody. On God's farm none are kept for ornamental purposes. I have read some sermons which could only have been meant for show, for there was not a grain of gospel in them. They were ploughs with the share left out, drills with no wheat in the box, clod- crushers made of butter. I do not believe that our God will ever pay wages to men who only walk about his grounds to show themselves. Orators who display their eloquence in the pulpit are more like gypsies who stray on the farm to pick up chickens, than hon- est laborers who work to bring forth a crop for their master. Many of the members of our churches live as if their only business on the farm was to pluck blackberries or gather wild flowers. They are great at finding fault with other people's ploughing and mowing ; but not a hand's turn will they do themselves. Come on, my good fellows. Why stand ye all the day idle ? The harvest is plenteous, and the laborers are few. You who think yourselves more cultivated than ordinary people, if you are indeed Christians, must not strut about and despise those who are hard at work. If you do, I shall say, " That person has mistaken his master ; he may probably be in the employ of some gentleman farmer, who cares more for show than profit ; but our great Lord is practical, and on his estate his laborers attend to needful labor." When you and I preach or teach it will be well if we say to ourselves, " What will 156 TALKS TO FARMERS. be the use of what I am going to do ? I am about to teach a difficult subject ; will it do any good ? I have chosen an abstruse point of theology ; will it serve any purpose ?" Brethren, a laborer may work very hard at a whim of his own, and yet it may be all waste labor. Some discourses do little more than show the difference between tweedle-^/// and tweedle-^, and what is the use of that ? Suppose we sow the fields with sawdust, or sprinkle them with rose-water, what of that ? Will God bless our moral essays, and fine compositions, and pretty passages ? Brethren, we must aim at usefulness : we must as laborers together with God be occupied with something that is worth doing. " I," says one, " have planted" : it is well, for planting must be done. " I," answers another, " have watered" : that also is good and necessary. See to it that ye can each bring in a solid report ; but letno man be content with the mere child's- play of oratory, or the getting up of entertainments and such like. On the Lord's farm there is a division of labor. Even Paul did not say, " I have planted and watered." No, Paul planted. And certainly Apollos could not say, " I have planted as well as watered." No, it was enough for him to attend to the watering. No man has all gifts. How foolish, then, are they who say, " I enjoy So-and-so's ministry because he edifies the saints in doctrine ; but when he was away the other Sunday I could not profit by the preacher because he was all for the conversion of sinners." Yes, he was planting ; you have been planted a good while, and do not need planting again ; but you ought to be thankful that others are made partakers of the benefit. One soweth and an- other reapeth, and therefore instead of grumbling at FARM LABORERS. 157 the honest ploughman because he did not bring a sickle with him, you ought to have prayed for him that he might have strength to plough deep and break up hard hearts. Observe that, on God's farm, there is unity of purpose among the laborers. Read the text. " Now he that planteth and he that waterethareone." One Master has employed them, and though he may send them out at different times, and to different parts of the farm, yet they are all one in being used for one end, to work for one harvest. In England we do not understand what is meant by watering, because the farmer could not water all his farm ; but in the East a farmer waters almost every inch of his ground. He would have no crop if he did not use all means for irrigating the fields. If you have ever been in Italy, Egypt, or Palestine, you will have seen a complete system of wells, pumps, wheels, buckets, channels, little streamlets, pipes, and so on, by which the water is carried all over the garden to every plant, otherwise in the extreme heat of the sun it would be dried up. Planting needs wisdom, watering needs quite as much, and the piecing of these two works together needs that the laborers should be of one mind. It is a bad thing when laborers are at cross purposes, and work against each other, and this evil is worse in the church than anywhere else. How can I plant with success if my helper will not water what I have planted ; or what is the use of my watering if nothing is planted ? Husbandry is spoiled when foolish people undertake it, and quarrel over it ; for from sowing to reaping the work is one, and all must be done to one end. Let us pull together all our days, for strife brings barrenness. We are called upon to notice in our text that all the 158 TALKS TO FARMERS. laborers put together are nothing at all. " Neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth." The workmen are nothing at all without their master. All the laborers on a farm could not manage it if they had no one at their head, and all the preachers and Christian workers in the world can do nothing unless God be with them. Remember that every laborer on God's farm has derived all his qualifications from God. No man knows how to plant or water souls except the Lord teaches him from day to day. All these holy gifts are grants of free grace. All the laborers work under God's direction and arrangement, or they work in vain. They would not know when or how to do their work if their Master did not guide them by his Spirit, without whose help they cannot even think a good thought. All God's laborers must go to him for their seed, or else they will scatter tares. All good seed comes out of God's granary. If we preach, it must be the true word of God, or nothing can come of it. More than that, all the strength that is in the laborer's arm to sow the heavenly seed must be given by the Master. We cannot preach except God be with us. A sermon is vain talk and dreary word-spinning unless the Holy Spirit enlivens it. He must give us both the prepara- tion of the heart and the answer of the tongue, or we shall be as men who sow the wind. When the good seed is sown the whole success of it rests with God. If he withhold the dew and the rain the seed will never rise from the ground ; and unless he shall shine upon it the green ear will never ripen. The human heart will re- main barren, even though Paul himself should preach, unless God the Holy Ghost shall work with Paul and bless the word to those that hear it. Therefore, since FARM LABORERS. 159 the increase is of God alone, put the laborers into their place. Do not make too much of us ; for when we have done all we are unprofitable servants. Yet, though inspiration calls the laborers nothing, it says that they shall be rewarded. God works our good works in us, and then rewards us for them. Here we have men- tion of a personal service, and a personal reward : ' ' Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." The reward is proportionate, not to the suc- cess, but to the labor. Many discouraged workers may be comforted by that expression. You are not to be paid by results, but by endeavors. You may have a stiff bit of clay to plough, or a dreary plot of land to sow, where stones, and birds, and thorns, and travellers, and a burning sun may all be leagued against the seed ; but you are not accountable for these things ; your reward shall be according to your work. Some put a great deal of labor into a little field, and make much out of it. Others use a great deal of labor through- out a long life, and yet they see but small result, for it is written, " One soweth, and another reapeth" : but the reaping man will not get all the reward, the sowing man shall receive his portion of the joy. The laborers are nobodies, but they shall enter into the joy of their Lord. Unitedly, according to the text, the workers have been successful, and that is a great part of their reward. " I have planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave the in- crease." Frequently brethren say in their prayers, " A Paul may plant, an Apollos may water, but it is all in vain unless God gives the increase." This is quite true ; but another truth is too much overlooked, namely, that when Paul plants and Apollos waters, God does give the increase. We do not labor in vain. 160 TALKS TO FARMERS. There would be no increase without God ; but then we are not without God : when such men as Paul and Apollos plant and water, there is sure to be an increase ; they are the right kind of laborers, they work in a right spirit, and God is certain to bless them. This is a great part of the laborer's wages. III. So much upon the laborers. Now for the main point again. GOD HIMSELF is THE GREAT WORKER. He may use what laborers he pleases, but the increase comes alone from him. Brethren, you know it is so in natural things : the most skilful farmer cannot make the wheat germinate, and grow, and ripen. He cannot even preserve a single field till harvest time, for the farmer's enemies are many and mighty. In husbandry there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip ; and when the farmer thinks, good easy man, that he shall reap his crop, there are blights and mildews lingering about to rob him of his gains. God must give the increase. If any man is dependent on God it is the husbandman, and through him we are all of us depend- ent upon God from year to year for the food by which we live. Even the king must live by the produce of the field. God gives the increase in the barn and the hay-rick ; and in the spiritual farm it is even more so, for what can man do in this business ? If any of you think that it is an easy thing to win a soul I should like you to attempt it. Suppose that without divine aid you should try to save a soul you might as well at- tempt to make a world. Why, you cannot create a fly, how can you create a new heart and a right spirit ? Regeneration is a great mystery, it is out of your reach. " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and FARM LABORERS. l6l thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit." What can you and I do in this mat- ter ? it is far beyond our line. We can tell out the truth of God ; but to apply that truth to the heart and con- science is quite another thing. I have preached Jesus Christ with my whole heart, and yet I know that I have never produced a saving effect upon a single unregener- ate man unless the Spirit of God has opened the heart and placed the living seed of truth within it. Experi- ence teaches us this. Equally is it the Lord's work to keep the seed alive when it springs up. We think we have converts, and we are not long before we are disap- pointed in them. Many are like blossoms on our apple trees ; they are fair to look upon, but they do not come to anything ; and others are like the many little apples which fall off long before they have come to any size. He who presides over a great church, and feels an agony for the souls of men, will soon be convinced that if God does not work there will be no work done : we shall see no conversion, no sanctification, no final perseverance, no glory brought to God, no satisfaction for the pas- sion of the Saviour, unless the Lord be with us. Well said our Lord, " Without me ye can do nothing." Briefly I would draw certain practical lessons out of this important truth : the first is, if the whole farm of the church belongs exclusively to the great Master Worker, and the laborers are worth nothing without him, let this promote unity among all whom he employs. If we are all under one Master, do not let us quarrel. It is a miserable business when we cannot bear to see good being done by those of a different denomination who 162 TALKS TO FARMERS. work in ways of their own. If a new laborer comes on the farm, and he uses a hoe of a new shape, shall I become his enemy ? If he does his work better than I do mine, shall I be jealous ? Do you not remember reading in the Scriptures that, upon one occasion, the disciples could not cast out a devil ? This ought to have made them humble ; but to our surprise we read a few verses further on that they saw one casting out devils in Christ's name, and they forbade him because he followed not with their company. They could not cast out the devil themselves, and they forbade those who could. A certain band of people are going about win- ning souls, but because they are not doing it in our fashion, we do not like it. It is true they have odd ways ; but they do really save souls, and that is the main point. Instead of cavilling, let us encourage all on Christ's side. Wisdom is justified of her children, though some of them are far from handsome. The laborers ought to be satisfied with the new ploughman if their Master smiles upon him. Brother, if the great Lord has employed you, it is no business of mine to question his choice. Can I lend you a hand ? Can I show you how to work better ? Or can you show me how I can improve ? This is the proper behavior of one workman to another. This truth, however, ought to keep all the laborers very dependent. Are you going to preach, young man ? "Yes, I am going to do a great deal of good." Are you ? Have you forgotten that you are nothing ? " Neither is he that planteth anything." A divine is coming brimful of the gospel to comfort the saints. If he is not coming in strict dependence upon God, he, too, is nothing. " Neither is he that watereth anything." FARM LABORERS. 163 Power belongeth unto God. Man is vanity and his words are wind ; to God alone belongeth power and wisdom. If we keep our places in all lowliness our Lord will use us ; but if we exalt ourselves he will leave us to our nothingness. Next notice that this fact ennobles everybody who labors in God's husbandry. My soul is lifted up with joy when I mark these words, " For we are laborers together with God ": mere laborers on his farm, and yet laborers with him. Does the Lord work with us ? We know he does by the signs following. " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work," is language for all the sons- of God as well as for the great Firstborn. God is with you, my brethren, when you are serving him with all your heart. Speaking to your class concerning Jesus, it is God that speaks by you ; picking up that stranger on the way, and telling him of salvation by faith, Christ is speaking through you even as he spoke with the woman at the well ; addressing the rough crowd in the open air, young man, if you are preaching pardon through the atoning blood, it is the God of Peter who is testify- ing of his Son, even as he did on the day of Pentecost. But, lastly, how this should drive us to our knees. Since we are nothing without God, let us cry mightily unto him for help in this our holy service. Let both sower and reaper pray together, or they will never re- joice together. If the blessing be withheld, it is be- cause we do not cry for it and expect it. Brother labor- ers, come to the mercy-seat) and we shall yet see the reapers return from the fields bringing their sheaves with them, though, perhaps, they went forth weeping to the sowing. To our Father, who is the husbandman, be all glory, for ever and ever. Amen. WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN DO AND WHAT THEY CANNOT DO. " And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed Into the ground ; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself ; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. " MARK 4 : 26-29. THERE is a lesson for " laborers together with God." It is a parable for all who are concerned in the kingdom of God. It will be of little value to those who are in the kingdom of darkness, for they are not bidden to sow the good seed : " Unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes ?" But all who are commissioned to scatter seed for the Royal Hus- bandman, will be glad to know how the harvest is pre- paring for him whom they serve. Listen, then, ye that sow beside all waters ; ye that with holy diligence seek to fill the garners of heaven listen, and may the Spirit of God speak into your ears as you are able to bear it. I. We shall, first, learn from our text WHAT WE CAN DO AND WHAT WE CANNOT DO. Let this stand as our first head. " So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground :" this the gracious worker can do. " And the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how :" this is what he cannot do : seed WHAT THE; FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 165 once sown is beyond human jurisdiction, and man can neither make it spring nor grow. Yet ere long the worker comes in again : " When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle." We can reap in due season, and it is both our duty and our priv- ilege to do so. You see, then, that there is a place for the worker at the beginning, and though there is no room for him in the middle passage, yet another oppor- tunity is given him further on when that which he sowed has actually yielded fruit. Notice, then, that we can sow. Any man who has received the knowledge of the grace of God in his heart can teajch others. I include under the term " man" all who know the Lord, be they male or female. We can- not all teach alike, for all have not the same gifts ; to one is given one talent, and to another ten ; neither have we all the same opportunities, for one lives in ob- scurity and another has far-reaching i ; :luence ; yet there is not within the family of God an infant hand which may not drop its own tiny seed into the ground. There is not a man among us w r ho needs to stand idle in the market-place, for work suitable to his strength is waiting for him. There is not a saved woman who is left without a holy task ; let her do it and win the ap- proving word, " She hath done what she could." We need never quarrel with God because we cannot do everything, if he only permits us to do this one thing ; for sowing the good seed is a work which will need all our wit, our strength, our love, our care. Holy seed sowing should be adopted as our highest pursuit, and it will be no inferior object for the noblest life. You will need heavenly teaching that you may carefully select the wheat, and keep it free from the darnel of 1 66 TALKS TO FARMKRS. error. You will require instruction to winnow out of it your own thoughts and opinions ; for these may not be according to the mind of God. Men are not saved by our word, but by God's word. We need grace to learn the gospel aright, and to teach the whole of it. To different men we must, with discretion, bring for- ward that part of the word of.God which will best bear upon their consciences ; for much may depend upon the word being in season. Having selected the seed, we shall have plenty of work if we go forth and sow it broadcast everywhere, for every day brings its opportunity, and every com- pany furnishes its occasion. " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand." " Sow beside all waters." Still, wise sowers discover favorable opportunities for sowing, and gladly seize upon them. There are times when it would clearly be a waste to sow ; for the soil could not receive it, it is not in a fit condition. After a shower, or before a shower, or at some such time as he that hath studied husbandry prefers, then must we be up and doing. While we are to work for God always, yet there are seasons when it were casting pearls before swine to talk of holy things, and there are other times when to be silent would be a great sin. Sluggards in the time for ploughing and sowing are sluggards indeed, for they not only waste the day, but throw away the year. If you watch for souls, and use hours of happy vantage, and moments of sacred soften- ing, you will not complain of the scanty space allowed for agency. Even should you never be called to water, or to reap, your office is wide enough if you fulfil the work of the sower. WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 167 For little though it seem to teach the simple truth of the gospel, yet it is essential. How shall men hear without a teacher ? Servants of God, the seed of the word is not like thistle-down, which is borne by every wind ; but the wheat of the kingdom needs a human hand to sow it, and without such agency it will not enter into men's hearts, neither can it bring forth fruit to the glory of God. The preaching of the gospel is the necessity of every age ; God grant that our country may never be deprived of it. Even if the Lord should send us a famine of bread and of water, may he never send us a famine of the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, and how can there be hearing if there is no teaching ? Scatter ye, scatter ye, then, the seed of the kingdom, for this is essential to the harvest. This seed should be sown often, for many are the foes of the wheat, and if you repeat not your sowing you may never see a harvest. The seed must be sown everywhere, too, for there are no choice corners of the world that you can afford to let alone, in the hope that they will be self-productive. You may not leave the rich and intelligent under the notion that surely the gospel will be found among them, for it is not so : the pride of life leads them away from God. You may not leave the poor and illiterate, and say, " Surely they will of themselves feel their need of Christ." Not so : they will sink from degradation to degradation unless you uplift them with the gospel. No tribe of man, no pecu- liar constitution of the human mind, may be neglected by us ; but everywhere we must preach the word, in season and out of season. I have heard that Captain Cook, the celebrated circumnavigator, in whatever part of the earth he landed, took with him a little packet of 1 68 TALKS TO FARMERS. English seeds, and scattered them in suitable places. He would leave the boat and wander up from the shore. He said nothing, but quietly scattered the seeds wher- ever he went, so that he belted the world with the flow- ers and herbs of his native land. Imitate him wherever you go ; sow spiritual seed in every place that your foot shall tread upon. Let us now think of what you cannot do. You can- not, after the seed has left your hand, cause it to put forth life. I am sure you cannot make it grow, for you do not know how it grows. The text saith, " And the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how." That which is beyond the range of our knowledge is certainly beyond the reach of our power. Can you make a seed germinate ? You may place it unde'r cir- cumstances of damp and heat which will cause it to swell and break forth with a shoot, but the germination itself is beyond you. How is it done ?- We know not. After the germ has been put forth, can you make it further grow, and develop its life into leaf and stem ? No ; that, too, is out of your power. And when the green, grassy blade has been succeeded by the ear, can you ripen it ? It will be ripened ; but can you do it ? You know you cannot ; you can have no finger in the actual process, though you may promote the conditions under which it is carried on. Life is a mystery ; growth is a mystery ; ripening is a mystery : and these three mysteries are as fountains sealed against all intrusion. How comes it that there is within the ripe seed the preparations for another sowing and another growth ? What is this vital principle, this secret reproducing energy ? Knowest thou anything about this ? The philosopher may talk about chemical combinations, and WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 169 he may proceed to quote analogies from this and that ; but still the growth of the seed remains a secret ; it springs up, he knoweth not how. Certainly this is true of the rise and progress of the life of God in the heart. It enters the soul, and roots itself we know not how. Naturally men hate the word, but it enters and it changes their hearts, so that they come to love it ; yet we know not how. Their whole nature is renewed, so that instead of producing sin it yields repentance, faith, and love ; but we know not how. How the Spirit of God deals with the mind of man, how he creates the new heart and the right spirit, how we are begotten again unto a lively hope, we cannot tell. The Holy Ghost enters into us ; we hear not his voice, we see not his light, we feel not his touch ; yet he worketh an effectual work upon us, which we are not long in per- ceiving. We know that the work of the Spirit is a new creation, a resurrection, a quickening from the dead ; but all these words are only covers to our utter igno- rance of the mode of his working, with which it is not in our power to meddle. We do not know how he per- forms his miracles of love, and, not knowing how he works, we may be quite sure that we cannot take the work out of his hands. We cannot create, we cannot quicken, we cannot transform, we cannot regenerate, we cannot save. This work of God having proceeded in the growth of the seed, what next ? We can reap the ripe ears. After a season God the Holy Spirit uses his servants again. As soon as the living seed has produced first of all the blade of thought, and afterwards the green ear of con- viction, and then faith, which is as full corn in the ear, then the Christian worker comes in for further service, 170 TALKS TO FARMERS. for he can reap. " When the fruit is brought forth, im- mediately he putteth in the sickle." This is not the reaping of the last great day, for that does not come within the scope of the parable, which evidently relates to a human sower and reaper. The kind of reaping which the Saviour here intends is that which he referred to when he said to his disciples, " Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are white already to harvest." After he had been sowing the seed in the hearts of the Samaritans, and it had sprung up, so that they began to evince faith in him, the Lord Jesus cried, " The fields are white to harvest." The apostle saith, " One soweth, and another reapeth." Our Lord said to the disciples, " I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor." Is there not a promise, " In due season we shall reap, if we faint not " ? Christian workers begin their 'harvest work by watching for signs of faith in Christ. They are eager to see the blade, and delighted to mark the ripening ear. They often hope that men are believers, but they long to be sure of it ; and when they judge that at last the fruit of faith is put forth, they begin to encourage, to congratulate, and to comfort. They know that the young believer needs to be housed in the barn of Chris- tian fellowship, that he may be saved from a thousand perils. No wise farmer leaves the fruit of the field long exposed to the hail which might beat it out, or to the mildew which might destroy it, or to the birds which might devour it. Evidently no believing man should be left outside of the garner of holy fellowship ; he should be carried into the midst of the church with all the joy which attends the home-bringing of sheaves. The worker for Christ watches carefully, and when he WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 171 discerns that his time is come, he begins at once to fetch in the converts, that they may be cared for by the brotherhood, separated from the world, screened from temptation, and laid up for the Lord. He is diligent to do it at once, because the text saith, " immediately he putteth in the sickle." He does not wait for months in cold suspicion ; he is not afraid that he shall encourage too soon when faith is really present. He comes with the word of promise and the smile of brotherly love at once, and he says to the new believer, " Have you con- fessed your faith ? Is not the time come for an open confession ? Hath not Jesus bidden the believer to be baptized ? If you love him, keep his commandments." He does not rest till he has introduced the convert to the communion of the faithful. For our work, beloved, is but half done when men are made disciples and baptized. We have then to encourage, to instruct, to strengthen, to console, and succor in all times of diffi- culty and danger. What saith the Saviour? " Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptiz- ing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Observe, then, the sphere and limit of agency. We can introduce the truth to men, but that truth the Lord himself must bless ; the living and growing of the word within the soul is of God alone. When the mystic work of growth is done, we are able to garner the saved ones in the church. For Christ to be formed in men the hope of glory is not of our working, that remains with God ; but, when Jesus Christ is formed in them, to discern the image of the Saviour and to say, " Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, wherefore standest thou without ?" this is 172 TALKS TO FARMERS. our duty and delight. To create the divine life is God's, to cherish it is ours. To cause the hidden life to grow is the work of the Lord ; to see the uprising and development of that life and to harvest it is the work of the faithful, even as it is written, " When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." This, then, is our first lesson ; we see what we can do and what we cannot do. II. Our second head is like unto the first, and Consists Of WHAT WE CAN KNOW AND WHAT WE CANNOT KNOW. First, what we can know. We can know when we have sown the good seed of the word that it will grow ; for God has promised that it shall do so. Not every grain in every place ; for some will go to the bird, and some to the worm, and some to be scorched by the sun ; but, as a general rule, God's word shall not return unto him void, it shall prosper in the thing whereto he hath sent it. This we can know. And we can know that the seed when once it takes root will continue to grow ; that it is not a dream or a picture that will disappear, but a thing of force and energy, which will advance from a grassy blade to corn in the ear, and under God's blessing will develop to actual salvation, and be as the " full corn in the ear." God helping and blessing it, our work of teaching will not only lead men to thought and conviction, but to conversion and eternal life. We also can know, because we are told so, that the reason for this is mainly because there is life in the word. In the word of God itself there is life, for it is written "The word of God is quick and powerful," WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 173 that is, " living and powerful." It is " the incorrupti- ble seed which liveth and abideth for ever." It is the nature of living seeds to grow ; and the reas6n why the word of God grows in men's hearts is because it is the living word of the living God, and where the word of a king is there is power. We know this, because the Scriptures teach us so. Is it not written, " Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth" ? Moreover, the earth, which is here the type of the man, " bringeth forth fruit of herself." We must mind what we are at in expounding this, for human hearts do not produce faith of themselves ; they are as hard rock on which the seed perishes. But it means this that as the earth under the blessing of the dew and the rain is, by God's secret working upon it, made to take up and embrace the seed, so the heart of man is made ready to receive and enfold the gospel of Jesus Christ within itself. Man's awakened heart wants exactly what the word of God supplies. Moved by a divine influence the soul embraces the truth, and is embraced by it, and so the truth lives in the heart, and is quickened by it. Man's love accepts the love of God ; man's faith wrought in him by the Spirit of God believes the truth of God ; man's hope wrought in him by the Holy Ghost lays hold upon the things revealed, and so the heavenly seed grows in the soil of the soul. The life comes not from you who preach the word, but it is placed within the word which you preach by the Holy Spirit. The life is not in your hand, but in the heart which is led to take hold upon the truth by the Spirit of God. Salvation comes not from the personal authority of the preacher, but through the personal conviction, personal faith, and personal love of the hearer. So much as this 174 TALKS TO FARMERS. we may know, and is it not enough for all practical purposes ? Still, there is a something which we cannot know, a secret into which we cannot pry. I repeat what I have said before : you cannot look into men's inward parts and see exactly how the truth takes hold upon the heart, or the heart takes hold upon the truth. Many have watched their own feelings till they have become blind with despondency, and others have watched the feel- ings of the young till they have done them rather harm than good by their rigorous supervision. In God's work there is more room for faith than for sight. The heavenly seed grows secretly. You must bury it out of sight, or there will be no harvest. Even if you keep the seed above ground, and it does sprout, you cannot discover how it grows ; even though you microscopically watched its swelling and bursting, you could not see the inward vital force which moves the seed. Thou knowest not the way of the Spirit. His work is wrought in secret. " Explain the new birth," says somebody. My answer is, " Experience the new birth, and you shall know what it is." There are secrets into which we cannot enter, for their light is too bright for mortal eyes to endure. O man, thou canst not become om- niscient, for thou art a creature, and not the Creator. For thee there must ever be a region not only unknown but unknowable. So far shall thy knowledge go, but no farther ; and thou mayest thank God it is so, for thus he leaves room for faith, and gives cause for prayer. Cry mightily unto the Great Worker to do what thou canst not attempt to perform, that so, when thou seest men saved, thou mayest give the Lord all the glory evermore. WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 175 III. Thirdly, our text tells us WHAT WE MAY EXPECT IF WE WORK FOR GOD, AND WHAT WE MAY NOT EXPECT. According to this parable we may expect to see fruit. The husbandman casts his seed into the ground : the seed springs and grows, and he naturally expects a harvest. I wish I could say a word to stir up the expectations of Christian workers ; for I fear that many work without faith. Tf you had a garden or a field, and you sow seed in it, you would be very greatly surprised and grieved if it did not come up at all ; but many Christian people seem quite content to work on without expectation of result. This is a pitiful kind of working pulling up empty buckets by the year together. Surely, I must either see some result for my labor and be glad, or else, failing to see it, I must be ready to break my heart if I be a true servant of the great Master. We ought to have expected results ; if we had expected more we should have seen more ; but a lack of expectation has been a great cause of failure in God's workers. But we may not expect to see all the :eed which we sow spring up t e moment we sow it. Sometimes, glory be to God, we have but to deliver the word, and straightway men are converted : the reaper overtakes the sower, in such instances ; but it is not always so. Some sowers have been diligent for years upon their plots of ground, and yet apparently all has been in vain ; at last the harvest has come, a harvest which, speaking after the manner of men, had never been reaped if they had not persevered to the end. This world, as I believe, is to be converted to Christ ; but not to-day, nor to-morrow, peradventure not for many an age ; but the sowing of the centuries is not being lost, it is working on toward the grand ulti- matum. A crop of mushrooms may soon be produced ; 176 TALKS TO FARMERS. but a forest of oaks will not reward the planter till gen- erations of his children have mouldered in the dust. It is ours to sow, and to hope for quick reaping ; but still we ought to remember that " the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long pa- tience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain," and so must we. We are to expect results, but not to be dispirited if we have to wait for them. We are also to expect to see the good seed grow, but not always after our fashion. Like children, we are apt to be impatient. Your little boy sowed mustard and cress yesterday in his garden. This afternoon Johnny will be turning over the ground to see if the seed is growing. There is no probability that his mus- tard and cress will come to anything, for he will not let it alone long enough for it to grow. So is it with hasty workers ; they must see the result of the gospel directly, or else they distrust the blessed word. Certain preach- ers are in such a hurry that they will allow no time for thought, no space for counting the cost, no oppor- tunity for men to consider their ways and turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart. All other seeds take time to grow, but the seed of the word must grow be- fore the speaker's eyes like magic, or he thinks nothing has been done. Such good brethren are so eager to produce blade and ear there and then, that they roast their seed in the fire of fanaticism, and it perishes. They make men think that they are converted, and thus effectually hinder them from coming to a saving knowl- edge of the truth. Some men are prevented from being saved by being told that they are saved already, and by being puffed up with a notion of perfection when they are not even broken in heart. Perhaps if such people had WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 177 been taught to look for something deeper they might not have been satisfied with receiving seed on stony ground ; but now they exhibit a rapid development, and an equally rapid decline and fall. Let us believ- ingly expect to see the seed grow ; but let us look to see it advance after the manner of the preacher firstly, secondly, thirdly : first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. We may expect also to see the seed ripen. Our works will by God's grace lead up to real faith in those he hath wrought upon by his word and Spirit ; but we must not expect to see it perfect at first. How many mistakes have been made here. Here is a young person under impression, and some good, sound brother talks with the trembling beginner, and asks profound questions. He shakes his experienced head, and knits his furrowed brows. He goes into the corn-field to see how the crops are prospering, and though it is early in the year, he laments that he cannot see an ear of corn ; indeed, he perceives nothing but mere grass. " I cannot see a trace of corn," says he. No, brother, of course you cannot ; for you will not be satisfied with the blade as an evidence of life, but must insist upon seeing every- thing at full growth at once. If you had looked for the blade you would have found it ; and it would have en- couraged you. For my own part, I am glad even to perceive a faint desire, a feeble longing, a degree of uneasiness, or a measure of weariness of sin, or a crav- ing after mercy. Will it not be wise for you, also, to allow things to begin at the beginning, and to be satis- fied with their being small at the first ? See the blade of desire, and then watch for more. Soon you shall see a little more than desire ; for there shall be conviction and 178 TALKS TO FARMERS. resolve, and after that a feeble faith, small as a mustard seed, but bound to grow. Do not despise the day of small things. Do not examine the new-born babe to see whether he is sound in doctrine after your idea of soundness ; ten to one he is a long way off sound, and you will only worry the dear heart by introducing difficult questions. Speak to him about his being a sinner, and Christ a Saviour, and you will in this way water him so that his grace in the ear will become the full corn in the ear. It may be that there is not much that looks like wheat about him yet ; but by-and-by you shall say, " Wheat ! ah, that it is, if I know wheat. This man is a true ear of corn, and gladly will I place him among my Master's sheaves." If you cut down the blades, where will the ears come from ? Expect grace in your converts ; but do not look to see glory in them just yet. IV. Under the last head we shall consider WHAT SLEEP WORKERS MAY TAKE, AND WHAT THEY MAY NOT TAKE ; for it is said of this sowing man, that he sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed springs and grows up he knoweth not how. They say a farmer's trade is a good one because it is going on while he is abed and asleep ; and surely ours is a good trade, too, when we serve our Master by sowing good seed ; for it is grow- ing ev,en while we are asleep. But how may a good workman for Christ lawfully go to sleep ? I answer, first, he may sleep the sleep of restfulness born of confidence. You are afraid the king- dom of Christ will not come, are you ? Who asked you to tremble for the ark of the Lord ? Afraid for the infinite Jehovah that his purposes will fail ? Shame on WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN AND CANNOT DO. 1)9 you! Your anxiety dishonors your God. Shall Omnip- otence be defeated ? You had better sleep than wake to play the part of Uzzah. Rest patiently ; God's pur- pose will be accomplished, his kingdom will come, his chosen will be saved, and Christ shall see of the travail of his soul. Take the sweet sleep which God gives to his beloved, the sleep of perfect confidence, such as Jesus slept in the hinder part of the ship when it was tossed with tempest. The cause of God never was in jeopardy, and never will be ; the seed sown is insured by Om- nipotence, and must produce its harvest. In patience possess your soul, and wait till the harvest comes, for the pleasure of the Lord must prosper in the hands of Jesus. Also take that sleep of joyful expectancy which leads to a happy waking. Get up in the morning and feel that the Lord is ruling all things for the attainment of his own purposes, and the highest benefit of all who put their trust in him. Look for a blessing by day, and close your eyes at night calmly expecting to meet with better things to-morrow. If you do not sleep you will not wake up in the morning refreshed, and ready for more work. If it were possible for you to sit up all night and eat the bread of carefulness you would be unfit to attend to the service which your Master appoints for the morning ; therefore take your rest and be at peace, and work with calm dignity, for the matter is safe in the Lord's hands. Is it not written, "So he giveth his beloved sleep"? Take your rest because you have consciously re- signed your work into God's hands. After you have spoken the word, resort to God in prayer, and com- mit the matter into God's hand, and then do not fret l8o TALKS TO FARMERS. about it. It cannot be in better keeping, leave it with him who worketh all in all. But do not sleep the sleep of un watchfulness. The farmer sows his seed, but he does not therefore forget it. He has to mend his fences, to drive away birds, to remove weeds, or to prevent floods. He does not watch the growth of the seed, but he has plenty else to do. He sleeps, but it is only in due time and meas- ure, and is not to be confounded with the sluggard's slumbers. He never sleeps the sleep of indifference, or even of inaction, for each season has its demand upon him. He has sown one field, but he has another to sow. He has sown, but he has also to reap ; and if reap- ing is done, he has to thresh and to winnow. A farmer's work is never done, for in one part or the other of the farm he is needed. His sleep is but a pause that gives him strength to continue his occupation. The parable teaches us to do all that lies within our province, but not to intrude into the domain of God : in teaching to the era we are to labor diligently, but with regard to the secret working of truth upon man's mind, we are to pray and rest, looking to the Lord for the inward power. THE SHEEP BEFORE THE SHEARERS. "As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." ISAIAH 53 : 7. OUR Lord Jesus so took our place that we are in this chapter compared to sheep : " All we like sheep have gone astray," and he is compared to a sheep also " As a sheep before her shearers is dumb. ' ' It is wonder- ful how complete was the interchange of positions be- tween Christ and his people, so that he became what they were in order that they might become what he is. We can well understand how we should be the sheep and he the shepherd ; but to liken the Son of the High- est to a sheep would have been unpardonable presump- tion had not his own Spirit employed the condescend- ing figure. Though the emblem is very gracious, its use in this place is by no means singular, for our Lord had been before Isaiah's day typified by the lamb of the Passover. Since then he has been proclaimed as " the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world ;" and indeed even in his glory he is the Lamb in the midst of the throne. I. In opening up this divine emblem I would invite you to consider, first, OUR SAVIOUR'S PATIENCE, set forth under the figure of a sheep dumb before her shearers. 182 TALKS TO FARMERS. Our Lord was brought to the shearers that he might be shorn of his comfort, and of his honor, shorn even of his good name, and shorn at last of his life itself ; but when under the shearers he was as silent as a sheep. How patient he was before Pilate, and Herod, and Caia- phas, and on the cross ! You have no record of his uttering any exclamation of impatience at the pain and shame which he received at the hands of these wicked men. You hear not one bitter word. Pilate cries, " Answerest thou nothing ? Behold how many things they witness against thee''; and Herod is wofully disappointed, for he expected to see some miracle wrought by him. All that our Lord does say is in submissive tones, like the bleating of a sheep, though infinitely more full of meaning. He utters sentences like these " For this purpose was I born, and came into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth," and, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Otherwise he is all patience and silence. Remember, first, that our Lord was dumb and opened not his mouth against his adversaries, and did not accuse one of them of cruelty or injustice. They slan- dered him, but he replied not ; false witnesses arose, but he answered them not. One would have thought he must have spoken when they spat in his face. Might he not have said, " Friend, why doest thou this? For which of all my works dost thou insult me ?" But the time for such expostulations was over. When they smote him on the face with the palms of their hands, it would not have been wonderful if he had said, " Wherefore do you smite me so ?" But no ; he is as though he heard not their revilings. He brings no accusation to his Father. He needed only to have lifted his eye to heaven, and THE SHEEP BEFORE THE SHEARERS. 183 legions of angels would have chased away the ribald soldiery ; one flash of a seraph's wing and Herod had been eaten by worms, and Pilate had died the death he well deserved as an unjust judge. The hill of the cross might have become a volcano's mouth to swallow up the whole multitude who stood there jesting and jeering at him : but no, there was no display of power, or rather there was so great a display of power over himself that he restrained Omnipotence itself with a strength which never can be measured. Again, as he did not utter a word against his adver- saries, so he did not say a word against any one of us. You remember how Zipporah said to Moses, " Surely a bloody husband art thou to me," as she saw her child bleeding ; and surely Jesus might have said to his church, " Thou art a costly spouse to me, to bring me all this shame and bloodshedding. " But he giveth liberally, he open- eth the very fountain of his heart, and he upbraid- eth not. He had reckoned on the uttermost expendi- ture, and therefore he endured the cross, despising the shame. " This was compassion like a God, That when the Saviour knew, The price of pardon was his blood, His pity ne'er withdrew. " No doubt he looked across the ages ; for that eye of his was not dim, even when bloodshot on the tree : he must have foreseen your indifference and mine, our coldness of heart, and base unfaithfulness, and he might have left on record some such words as these : " I am suffering for those who are utterly unworthy of my re- gard ; their love will be a miserable return for mine. Though I give my whole heart for them, how lukewarm 184 TALKS TO FARMERS. is their love to me ! I am sick of them, I am weary of them, and it is woe to me that I should be laying down my heart's blood for such a worthless race as these my people are." But there is not a hint of such a feeling. No. " Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end," and he did not utter a syllable that looked like murmuring at his suffering on their behalf, or regretting that he had commenced the work. And again, as there was not a word against his adversaries, nor a word against you nor me, so their was not a word against his Father, nor a syllable of repining at the severity of the chastisement laid upon him for our sakes. You and I have murmured when under a comparatively light grief, thinking ourselves hardly done by. We have dared to cry out against God, " My face is foul with weeping, and on my eye- lids is the shadow of death ; not for any injustice in mine hands : also my prayer is pure." But not so the Saviour ; in his mouth were no complaints. It is quite impossible for us to conceive how the Father pressed and bruised him, yet was there no repining. " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" is an exclamation of astonished grief, but it is not the voice of complaint. It shows manhood in weakness, but not manhood in revolt. Many are the Lamentations of Jeremiah, but few are the lamentations of Jesus. Jesus wept, and Jesus sweat great drops of blood, but he never murmur- ed nor felt rebellion in his heart. Behold your Lord and Saviour lying in passive resignation beneath the shearers, as they take away everything that is dear to him, and yet he openeth not his mouth. I see in this our Lord's complete submission. THE SHEEP BEFORE THE SHEARERS. 185 He gives himself up ; there is no reserve about it. The sacrifice did not need binding with cords to the horns of the altar. How different from your case and mine ! lie .stood there willing to suffer, to be spit upon, to be shamefully entreated, and to die, for in him there was a ( umplete surrender. He was wholly given to do the Father's will, and to work out our redemption. There was complete self-conquest too. In him no faculty arose to plead for liberty, and ask to be exempted from the general strain ; no limb of the body, no portion of the mind, no faculty of the spirit started, but all submitted to the divine will : the whole Christ gave up his whole being unto God, that he might perfectly offer himself without spot for our redemption. There was not only self-conquest, but complete absorp- tion in his work. The sheep, lying there, thinks no more of the pastures, it yields itself up to the shearer. The zeal of God's house did eat up our Lord in Pilate's hall as well as everywhere else, for there he witnessed a good confession. No thought had he but for the clear- ing of the divine honor, and the salvation of God's elect. Brethren, I wish we could arrive at this, to sub- mit our whole spirit to God, to learn self-conquest, and the delivering up of conquered self entirely to God. The wonderful serenity and submissiveness of our Lord are still better set forth by our text, if it be indeed true that sheep in the East are even more docile than with us. Those who have seen the noise and roughness of many of our washings and shearings will hardly believe the testimony of that ancient writer Philo-Judaeus when he affirms that the sheep came voluntarily to be shorn. He says : " Woolly rams laden with thick fleeces put themselves into the shepherd's hands to have their wool 1 86 TALKS TO FARMERS. shorn, being thus accustomed to pay their yearly tribute to man, their king by nature. The sheep stands in a silent inclining posture, unconstrained under the hand of the shearer. These things may appear strange to those who do not know the docility of the sheep, but they are true." Marvellous indeed was this submis- siveness in our Lord's case ; let us admire and imitate. II. Thus I have feebly set forth the patience of our beloved Master. Now I want you to follow me, in the second place, to VIEW OUR OWN CASE UNDER THE SAME METAPHOR AS THAT WHICH IS USED IN REFERENCE TO OUR LORD. Did I not begin by saying that because we were sheep he deigns to compare himself to a sheep ? Let us look from another point of view ; our Lord was a sheep under the shearers, and as he is so are we also in this world. Though we shall never be offered up like lambs in the temple by way of expiation, yet the saints for ages were the flock of slaughter, as it is written, " For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are ac- counted as sheep for the slaughter !" Jesus sends us forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, and we are to re- gard ourselves as living sacrifices, ready to be offered up. I dwell, however, more particularly upon the sec- ond symbol : we are brought as sheep under the shear- ers' hands. Just as a sheep is taken by the shearer, and its wool is all cut off, so doth the Lord take his people and shear them, taking away all their earthly comforts, and leav- ing them bare. I wish when it came to our turn to un- dergo this shearing operation it could be said of us as of our Lord, " As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, THE SHEEP BEFORE THE SHEARERS. 187 so fr