Sow in Righteousness

Sow in Righteousness.

We know that the Prophet, though he would lead the people to Christ, yet his preaching was most in a legal way, Sow Righteousness: that is, Go on in the works of righteousness, those works that are right, and just, and equal, such as you may give a good accompt of them before God and man; as if he should say, Do not you think to put me off merely with outward services, with offering sacrifices, and with this kind of pompous worship, in this superstitious way, I will never accept of these things; but let me have righteousness, let there be the works of righteousness, according to the rules of righteousness, so work. And the Jews if they did but perform the external works of righteousness, they might have external mercies, if so be there were a proportion between one work and another. If indeed they did some works of righteousness, and not the other, then they could not expect mercy from God; but though there were no saving grace in them, yet if they did but perform external works of righteousness, and there was a proportion between one and another; there does seem to be an external covenant that they were under for outward mercies that they should have for their outward righteousness; Not but that I think for Heaven there they must have true grace and godliness, as the Saints must have now; but external mercies were more annexed to external duties than now among us.

You will say, We have external promises too.

Yes, but that's made to godliness in Christ Jesus.

Now from the words we may note,

First, That the actions of men they are seeds; such seeds as will certainly come up: other seeds may die in the ground and rot and never come up; but there is never an action that you perform, but it will come up one way or other, it will come up to something.

And secondly, It will come up in the same kind; the seeds of tares will not come up to wheat; but it will be a tare; and so the wheat a wheat: all our actions will come up in the same kind. Men neglect their actions, and think that when they have done, it's over, they forget what they did yesterday or the day before; but though you may forget it, yet it will come up in the same kind, though you think not of it. I remember Pliny reports of some parts in Africa, that when they sow their seeds, they go away and never look after it for many months together: So it is in many men they sow but they never mind what they have done, and quite forget what they have done till they must come to reap. But certainly your actions there they lie and will grow up to something.

Thirdly, The seed lies in the ground rotting a while, but afterwards comes up: so it is in our actions, they seem as if they were quite forgotten, but they will come up, yes, and good actions they seem as if they were wholly lost many times; well, though the seed does rot, rot in the ground for a time, yet it will come up afterwards.

Fourthly, The seed when it is sown it comes up through the blessing of God upon it; it's no endeavor of the husbandman can make the seed come up, but he must leave it to the blessing of God. So the seeds of our actions must be left to God, God's justice will make the seeds of the wicked come up, and his goodness and mercy will make the seeds of the Saints to come up; leave your actions to the blessing of God.

Fifthly, The better the seed, is for the most part the longer it lies under ground. When you sow wheat and rye you sow it at this time of the year, but when you sow barley and oats you sow them in the spring time, but that endures not frost and snow as the wheat does. And so the best of our actions lies longest under ground.

The minister of God they are sowers of the seed of the Word; and the hearers they should be sowers too. The ministers sow the Word in your ears, and then you should take it from there and sow it in your heart, your life and conversation.

If our actions be seeds that we sow, then large opportunities of doing much service for God should be our riches: like a large field, that is sown with good grain, if you have a heart to improve those opportunities.

Oh! that we would but consider of this, That when the Lord gives to men and women a large opportunity for service, God lets them out so much Land, Go (says God) you must husband so much Land, and sow it for mine advantage: Many of you that are poor people you have not a foot of Land in the world, and you think that those that are Landed-men they are happy men. Does God give you opportunity of service to honor him? Oh! you have got a great deal of Land, the meanest of you that have opportunities of service, God lets you out his Land, you have abundance of Land and ground that God gives to you, and a man should account himself rich according to the opportunity of his service. As men in the country account themselves rich according to the Land that they have to plow and sow, in (Leviticus 27:16) If a man shall sanctify to the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then your estimation shall be according to the seed thereof. The meaning is, That if a man will sanctify a piece of Land to God, well, what is this Land worth? Why (says the Holy Ghost) you shall prize it according to the seed thereof, if it be a great piece of Land, yet if it be not fit to bear so much seed you must account it worth but little, but if it be a less piece of Land yet if it be fit to receive so much seed, then it's worth so much, you shall prize it according to the seed thereof. So the opportunities that are fit to receive much seed, Oh! those opportunities should be rich opportunities; and we should account the price of our lives to be according to the seed thereof. You live such a year, what's your life worth? It's according to the seed thereof. And so for these four or five last years, Oh! what opportunities have we had for service for God? Now they are to be prized according to the seed thereof, that is, as we might do service and work in these years. Then certainly if we must make the estimation of our lives according to the advantage of service that we might do for God, then these last five years we may reckon for fifty. It's a great blessing to have a good seed time; the Lord has blest us with this good seed-time. Oh now, what a folly were it for a man out of base penuriousness to save his seed, that he will not sow his ground, because he is loth to venture it, or through love of his ease he is loth to go abroad, it's somewhat cold, and he will keep by the fire side, and will not go abroad to sow his seed. Oh! thus it is with us, we through our base unbelief, we will venture nothing for God, we are loth to put our selves upon any difficulty, Oh this is our folly.

Well, it is not every seed will serve the turn. Be sowers, but sow in righteousness, let it be righteousness, let it be precious seed, in (Psalm 126:6) They shall bear precious seed with them. Oh! there's many that sow venomous seed, that will bring forth poisonful fruit, all their days they have been sowing nothing but seed of unrighteousness. Yes, this field that God has given to us, of opportunity of service for him, what have many done? What have they sown? They have sown salt in it: that is, they have sown their passions, they have sown contention, and they have sown the seeds of discord, for that has been the cause that our field that we have had, those opportunities that we have enjoyed for God has been so barren, there has been so much salt, the salt spirits of men and women have been so manifested in their passion and frowardness, and their contentions one against another, that it has made us barren. In (Proverbs 6:14) Frowardness is in his heart; he devises mischief continually, he sows discord. And verse 19 it is made one of the things that the soul of God does hate, that a man should sow discord. And so in (Proverbs 16:28) Froward men sow strife. Oh! how many are there among us that go from one place to another, and tell you such a tale, and such a report, and sow nothing but strife and discord? Oh! it's that that the Lord hates. What! in such a time as this is to sow discord! There could never have been a time wherein the sowing of discord could have been so abominable as in such a time as this is. Oh! let men take heed of sowing discord; God calls for the seed of righteousness.