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we are bid to plow up the fallow ground of the heart, and not to sow among thorns, Jer. iv. 3.

This spurious crop of cares, covetousness, love of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, pride, self-confidence, self-righteousness, and ending in the flesh, &c.; I say this spurious crop never had the axe laid at the root, much less were they grubbed up, or rooted out at first. If the Holy Spirit had done this in them, he would never have suffered lust and corruption, briers and thorns, earthly cares and deceitful riches, to choke, overtop, or root out his work: "Whatsoever God. doeth it shall be for ever, nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it; and God doeth it that men should fear before him," Eccl. iii, 14. Besides, where the grace of life is planted, and the Holy Spirit takes possession, that plantation is not deserted, but watched over with the utmost

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attention. Sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine; I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day," Isai. xxvii. 2, 3. There is a perpetual flowing of the water of life from the Saviour's fulness by the Spirit to every believing soul. "Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all," Jer. xxxi. 12. Wherever inbred corruptions,

or worldly cares, the love of money, or the love of this world, prevail and overcome, there the Holy Spirit never took up his abode. He goes through these briers and thorns, and burns them altogether; and, as soon as he sets fire to them within, you may see them wither without. This is his first effectual work in the heart, as I shall now proceed to shew.

Ile finds the sinner dead in sin, or in the sleep of death; and not only dead, but alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him, with the strong man armed in full possession, and his goods in peace. The word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, is sent home to the heart and soul with terrible majesty, and with a life-giving power. Sin, wrath, and the fiery law, which lay at the door, now enter in at the breach which the Holy Spirit has made; and this fire within withers and blasts the whole infernal crop before described. "The voice said, Cry, And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever," Isai. xl. 6-8. The Almighty calls the people grass because of their green, verdant, increasing, and flourishing condition, and because of the innumerable multitude of the inhabitants of the world. The goodliness thereof is that

which men pride themselves upon, boast of, and glory in: this is called the flower of the field, which adorns it. Some glory in their wisdom, others in their strength, some in riches, and some in their beauty, in their learning, parts, and abilities; others in their self-righteousness, holiness, the uprightness of their ways, their almsgiving, their devotion, attendance on ordinances, fastings, long prayers, &c. &c.: and some glory in their shame. But it is plain that the goodliness as well as the flesh, the flower of the field as well as the grass, wither and fade under the quickening, convincing, and convicting operations of the Holy Spirit; for the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, saith the prophet.

The Spirit of God works in a sovereign way, as Christ himself says, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 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," John iii. 8. And the prophet here tells us what is done by this blowing: "The grass withereth and the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass."

But this work is not done without the word, as appears by the prophet's account. He tells us, first, there is a voice that cries; at this cry the spirit of the Lord bloweth; and under this blowing the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but that the word of our God, which the voice

uttered, and which the Spirit applied, shall stand There are five things which attend this blowing of the Spirit.

for ever.

1. Light, which discovers sin in all its malignity, and dreadful consequences, for, "All things which are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever maket manifest is light," Eph. v. 13.

2. A soul-piercing and soul-condemning power, attended with cutting convictions, reproofs and rebukes by the word, which is the Spirit's sword: "The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," Heb. iv. 12. This is the sword by which the Spirit pierces and wounds the soul, and, "A wounded spirit who can bear?" Prov. xviii. 14.

3. The wrath and curse of a broken law attend this work, and enter the soul by the caul of the heart, rent and laid open by the Spirit of God: at the entrance of the law actual transgressions roll in, and the whole mass of corruptions rise up; a dreadful meeting this is: "Sin revived, and I died," says Paul.

4. The Holy Spirit, at his entrance, quickens the soul, or breathes the breath of life into it; and this gives the sinner a quick feeling, and makes his sensations exceeding keen, so that the piercings and woundings, the reproofs and re

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bukes become intolerable.

All convictions that

are not attended with the quickening influences of God's Spirit are sure to die away: it is life by the Spirit that keeps them alive. Nor will any thing short of divine life wither the grass, or fade the flower of the field. The whole crop will live and thrive under all convictions, except where the Spirit quickens. The young man in the gospel turns his back upon heaven and endless glory, rather than part with the root of all evil: and, though he went away sorrowful, or full of sorrow, knowing that the die with him was cast, yet he risks it, and holds his great possessions. "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God?" No reproofs, rebukes, or convictions, by the word will ever make the sinner relinquish his sweet morsels, or his favourite idols, unless eternal life be communicated: and this God declares. "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; and from all your idols will I cleanse you," Ezekiel xxxvi. 25. Many sit and endure reproof till they get miserable, yet remain just as they were, if not more hardened: and, "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy," Prov. xxix. 1; and others, being unable to bear it, like Cain, go out from the presence of God. "Wo unto them! for they have

fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies

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