XXIX. ON THE PRODUCTION OF CHAFF

FROM CLEAN SEED.

WHEN I beheld how the seed, that last year I had so carefully winnowed and purified from chaff, and sown in my garden, pure and good, when it came to maturity, was not only cumbered with weeds and other annoyances, which the ground naturally cast up, but had as much stalk, chaff, and other rubbish as it had the year before, which grew up with it, and adhered to it, and was naturally produced by the seed; and that it had as much need of weeding, threshing, and winnowing, as it had the year before, to make it fit for use or market :-this reminded me that thus it has been with the human race since the fall. A gracious man, who has taken much pains with his heart to weed out corruption, and mortify sin, and has been fanned and purified many years, and that not without much labour, pains, and diligence, and many a prayer and tear, yet has not necessarily godly children; but chaff, and corruption adheres to them also, nay inheres in them, and they have as much need of refining as ever the father had. And though God do more usually make choice of his people out of such families, the covenant being with them and their seed, and has respect to their prayers, and gives a blessing to their education and exhortations,

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yet this is not always so, neither are they born thus; for they are the "children of wrath, even as others," Eph. ii. 3; and though sin be hereditary, grace is not.

Ah, sin! what confusion hast thou made in the world! the most of men perish eternally by thee, and those that escape, are saved, as by fire, with a very great deal of pains and difficulty. Holy David was the father of lascivious Amnon and rebellious Absalom; pious Isaac, of profane Esau; yea, and faithful Abraham, of scoffing Ishmael. For, as a learned man has not necessarily a learned child, (for learning is not a birth privilege, but an acquired qualification,) so grace is not born with, but freely given to those whom God thinks fit to bestow it upon. A rich man's child comes into the world as naked, destitute, and miserably impotent and helpless as any other. This, as it may remind us of our miserable condition by the fall, so also of our duty to our children, that as we are careful of their bodies, so should we be much more careful of their souls; and as we are careful that they get learning, so should we be much more that they get grace. An estate is not so needful as an interest in Christ. We should endeavour, by instruction, correction, and good education, to train them up in the fear of God; and, when we can do no more, to go to him who is able to give it, to beg grace for them; for, as we were instrumental in their ruin, so we should seek their recovery. But too many train up their children, just as they train their horses; teach them to drudge, and think they have done well;

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especially if they can leave them an estate behind them, which oftentimes is so badly acquired as to entail a curse upon them and their posterity; and God does, in a visible manner, punish their children to the third and fourth generation.

O my soul, how stands the case with thee? Thou art a child of wrath by nature, as well as others. Is thy relation to thy God changed? Of an enemy art thou an adopted son? Thou hadst dross; is that consumed, and the soul refined? Thou hadst chaff; is that blown away? Hast thou the marks of adoption now upon thee, that formerly hadst the marks of an enemy? Dost thou resemble thy father? dost thou bear his image? God has no children who have not some resemblance to him; he never adopts any, but he changes their nature and disposition, as well as their relation: he hath no unnatural children. Has he made good that promise to thee, "I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty," 2 Cor. vi. 18. Has he performed the duty of a father, in thy new birth, in maintaining thee, and in instructing and correcting thee; and hast thou the nature, dispositions, and privileges of his children? Hast thou communion with him? Does he feed thee with bread from heaven? clothe thee with the robes of righteousness, and adorn thee with the jewels of his grace? Is there a thorough change wrought in thee, and a new nature put into thee? Hast thou given up thy heart as well as thy name to Christ? If it be so, it is well. If thou hast this privilege for thyself, seek it for thy children also. As thou hast

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dedicated them to God, do thy endeavour to make them God's; and that the work of grace may be timely wrought in their souls, curb corruption while they are young: a green twig will easily be bended; but when old and dry, the work is difficult. Withhold not correction nor instruction, and go to God for a blessing upon both.

O my God, am I wild by nature, and hast thou planted me into the true olive? Hast thou taken me off my own stock, and planted me into the true vine? Lord, what shall I render to thee for this? Lord, help me to give up my heart as well as my name to thee, and may I live thanks as well as speak thanks. Hast thou made me a son? Lord, give me a son-like disposition, and let me honour my God by a holy life and conversation. And oh, that my children might live before thee. Lord, purge out the dross, blow away their chaff, make them thy sons and thy daughters.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.-That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, John iii. 3, 6.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them God, and they shall be to me a people, Heb. viii. 10

XXX.-UPON A VIPER LURKING IN THE GRASS.

WALKING in the garden, I had nearly trod upon a viper lurking in the grass, and so was in unexpected danger where I least dreaded it. When the agitation it occasioned me had somewhat abated, it made me consider what daily need we have of Divine protection, and how unsafe it is to be from under the providence of God. It led me also to consider, that thus it is in all our earthly enjoyments there is no security in any, much danger in all; there is a little honey, and many stings; a little pleasure, and much pain: there is no age, no calling, no condition of life free. Riches are held by many to be the greatest happiness, and more valued than holiness and grace; yet are they not without their snares, they cannot place their possessors out of the reach of danger; they are called deceitful riches, Matt. xiii. 22; and well they may be so called, for they always deceive those who trust them: they promise content, satisfaction, and happiness, when oftentimes, like strong drink in a fever, they do but enrage the appetite; "he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver," Eccl. v. 10. But this is not all their vanity; for as they are unsatisfying, so they are uncertain; "they make themselves wings, and fly away," Prov. xxiii. 5; they are never true to those who trust them; they are often as transitory as a headlong torrent. In like manner, pleasures are commonly followed by a