By John Flavel.
Husbandry Spiritualized Or, The Heavenly Use of Eartly Things.
By John Flavel.
About the Author:
John Flavel (1627-1691) was an English Presbyterian minister and author, known for his devotional writings and sermons. He served as a pastor in the town of Dartmouth, England, and was a prominent figure in the Puritan movement of the 17th century. Some of his notable works include “Navigation Spiritualized” and “The Method of Grace.”
About Husbandry Spiritualized:
Consisting of many pleasant observations, pertinent applications, and serious reflections; and each chapter concluded with a divine and suitable poem. Directing gardeners to the most excellent improvements of their common employments. Whereunto are added, by way of Appendix, several choice occasional meditations, upon birds, beasts, trees, flowers, rivers, and several other objects; fitted for the help of such as desire to walk with God in all their solitudes, and recesses from the world.
It is an excellent are to discourse with birds, beasts, and fishes, about sublime andspiritual subjects, and make them answer to your questions; and this may be done, Job 12:7, 8. “Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach you, and the birds of the air, and they shall tell you; or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto you.” That is (says Caryl) the creatures teach us whenwethink of them: ‘They teach us, though not formally, yet virtually; they answer and resolve the question put to them, though not explicitly to the ear, yet convincingly to the conscience.
So then, we ask the creatures, when we diligently consider them, when we search out the perfections and virtues that God has put into, or stamped upon them. To set our mind thus upon the creature, is to discourse ‘with the creature; the questions which man asks of a beast, are only his own meditations.
Again, the creatures teach us, when we in meditation make our collections and draw down a demonstration of the power, wisdom, and goodness of God in making them, or the frailty of man in needing them: such conclusions and inferences are the teachings of the creatures.’ Common objects (says another) may be improved two ways; namely, In an argumentative, and in a representative way; by reasoning from them, and by viewing the resemblance that is between them and spiritual matters.
FIRST, In meditation argue thus, as in the present case and similitude of the apostle. If an gardener upon the ordinary principles of reason can wait for the harvest, shall not I wait for the coming of the Lord, the day of refreshing? the corn is precious to him, and so is the coming of Christ to me. Shall he be so patient, and endure somuch for a little corn? and shall not I for the kingdom of Heaven! He is willing to stay until all causes have had their operations, until he has received the former and the latter rain; and shall not I, until the Divine decrees be accomplished.
SECONDLY, In meditation, make the resemblance, and discourse thus within yourselves: This is my seed-time, Heaven is my harvest; here I must labor and toil and there rest. I see the husbandman’s life is a great toil: no excellent thing canbeobtained without labor, and an obstinate patience. I see the seed must be hidden in the furrows, rotten and corrupted, before it can spring forth with any increase. Our hopes are hidden, light is sown for the righteous; all our comforts are buried under the clods, and after all this there must be long waiting, we cannot sowand reap in a day; effects cannot follow until all necessary causes have first wrought.
It is not in the power of gardeners to ripen fruits at pleasure, our times are in the hands of God, therefore it is good to wait; a long-suffering patience will reap the desired fruit. Thus you have some hints of this heavenly are of improving the creatures.
The motives inducing me to this undertaking, were the Lord’s owning with some success, my labors of a like nature, together with the desire and inclination (stirred up in me, I hope by the Spirit of the Lord) to devote my vacant hours to his service in this kind. I considered, that if the Pharisees, in a blind zeal to a faction, could compass sea and land, to proselyte men to their party, though thereby they made them sevenfold more the children of the devil than before; how much more was I obliged, by true love to God, and zeal to the everlasting happiness of souls, tousemy utmost endeavors both with seamen and gardeners, to win them to Christ, and thereby make them more than seventy-seven fold happier than before? Not tomention other encouragements to this work, which I received from the earnest desires of some reverend and worthy brethren inviting there unto; all which I hope the event will manifest to be a call from God to this work.
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