An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, fortieth, forty-first, and forty-second,…

That which was scattered abroad in the field, is gathered into ⟨p. 379⟩the barn. Some may think when they see the Husbandman cast his seed into the ground, that he casts it away; but by the labour of the Ox, by the skill of the Husbandman, and the blessing of God upon all, the seed cometh home again. Thus the Apostle spake in a spiritual sense; He that ploweth, should plough in hope; and he that thresheth in hope, should be partaker of his hope (1 Cor. 9.10.) It should be so according to the ordination of God, as to the faithful Ministers of God (of whose labour in ploughing up souls by the word, and sowing those souls with the word, the Apostle there treats) And it is so through the benediction of God, as to laborious Husband-men and their cattle, in ploughing and sowing the soil of the earth. Yea, thus it is in all we do, our actions (good or bad) are as seed sown, which will certainly come again, they will not be lost. Good done, will assuredly turn to good; and evil done (and not undone by repentance) will as surely turn to evil. The Apostle gives us this double assurance (Gal. 6.7, 8.) Whatsoever a man soweth, that (not numerically, but specifically) shall he also reap: For, He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And thus in special, works of charity, or our distributions to the necessities of others, are more significantly called sowing (Psal. 112.9.) He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor (That is, he hath sowed his alms abundantly; what then? It followeth) His righteousness endureth for ever, his horn shall be exalted with honour. To give to the poor, especially to Gods poor, to the godly poor, or to those that are made poor for Gods sake, is sowing good seed; and he that soweth thus, shall receive a fruitful crop. Grain sowed in the field, may yield a good increase; but that which is rightly sowed in the bowels of the poor, shall certainly yield a better. What we give, is like seed sowed in the field, which increaseth thirty, sixty, an hundred fold: What we keep by us, is like corn stored up in the garner, which we bring forth and spend, and there's an end of it. Here's great encouragement to do good, yea to abound in doing good to others. What we so part with, is not lost, but sowed;