world when it was most populous even in the days of Noah we reade but of eight persons that were saved out of it well therefore might Peter call them but few but how few why but eight souls wherein few that is eight souls were saved by water 1 Pet. 3. â—0 He touches a second time upon this truth saying he spared not the old world but saved Noah the eight person preâ—câ—er of righteousness bringing in the sloud upon the world of the ungodly mark all the rest are called the ungodly and there were also a world of them 2 Pet 2. 5. These are also taken notice of in Job and go there also by the name of wicked men Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have troden which were cut down out of nine whose foundation was overflown with a sloud which said unto God depart from us and what can the almighty do for them Job 22. 15. 16. 17. 18. There were therefore but eight persons that escaped the wrath of God in the day that the sloud came upon the earth the rest were ungodly there was also a world of them and they are to this day in the prison of hell Heb. 6. 11. 6. 1 Pet. 3. 19. 20. Nay I must correct my pen there were but seven of the eight that were good for Ham though he scaped the Judgment of the water yet the curse of God overtook him to his damnation Secondly when the world began again to be replenished and people began to multiply therein how few even in all ages do we reade of that were saved from the damnation of the world 1. One Abraham and his wife God called out of the land of the Caldeans I called said God Abraham alone Isa. 51. 1. 2. 2. One Lot out of Sodom and Gomorah out of Adma and Zeboim one Lot out of four cities indeed his wife and two daughters went out of Sodom with him but they all three proved naught as you may see in the nineteenth of Genesis wherefore Peter observes that Lot only was saved He turned the citys of Sodom and Gomorah into ashes condemning them with an overthrow making them an example unto those that often should live ungodly and delivered just Lot that righteous man reade 2 Pet. 2. 6. 7. 8. Jude says that in this condemnation God over-threw not only Sodom and Gomorah but the cities about them also and yet you finde none but Lot could be found that was righteous either in Sodom or Gomorah or the cities about them wherefore they all of them suffer the vengance of eternal fire vers 7. Thirdly come we now to the time of the Judges how sew then were the godly even then when the inhabitants of the villages ceased they ceased in Israel the high ways of God were then unoccupied Judg. 5. 6. 7. Fourthly there were but few in the days of David help Lord says he for the godly man ceaseth for the faithful fail from among the children of men Psal. 12. 1. Fifthly In Isaia's time the saved were come to such a few that he positively says but that there were a very small number left God had made them like Sodom and they had been like unto Jomorah Isa. 1. 8 9. Sixthly It was cryed unto them in the time of Ieremiah that they should run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see and know and seek in the broad places thereof if ye can finde a man if there be any that executeth judgment that seeketh the truth and I will pardon it Ier. 5. 1. Seventhly God shewed his servant Ezâ—kiel how few there would be saved in his day by the vision of a few hairs saved out of the midest of a few hairs for the saved were a few saved out of a few Ezâ—k 5. 3 4 5. Eighthly you finde in the time of the Prophet Micha how the godly complain that as to number they then were so few that he compares them to those that are left behinde when they had gathered the summer-fruit Mic. 7. 1. Ninthly when Christ was come how did he confirm this truth that but few of them that put in claim for heaven will have it for their inheritance But the common people could not hear it and therefore upon a time when he did but a little hint at this truth the people even all in the Synagogue where he preached it were filled with wrath rose up thrust him out of the City and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built that they might cast him down headlong Luke 4. 24 25 26 27 28 29. Tenthly John who was after Christ saith that the whole world lies in wickedness that all the world wondred after the beast and that power was given to the beast over all kindreds tongues and nations power to do what why to cause all both great and small rich and poor bond and free to receive his mark and to be branded for him Joh. 5. 19. Revel 13. 3 8 16. Eleventhly should we come to observation and experience the shew of the countenance of the bulk of men doth witness against them they deciare their sin like Sodom they hide it not Isa. 3. 9. where is the man that maketh the almighty God his delight and that designeth his glory in the world do not even almost all pursue this world their lusts and pleasures and so consequently say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledg of thy ways or what 's the Almighty that we should serve him it's in vain to serve God c. So that without doubt it will appear a truth in the day of God that but few of them that shall put in their claim to heaven will have it for their inheritance Before I pass this head I will shew you to what the saved are compared in the Scriptures First they are compared to an handful there shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains c. Psal. 27. 16. this corn is nothing else but them that shall be saved Matt. 3. 12. chap. 13. 30. But mark there shall be an handful what 's an handful when compared with the whole heap or what 's an handful out of the rest of the world Secondly As they are compared to an handful so they are compared to a lillie among the thorns Song 2. 2. which is rare and not so commonly seen As the lillie among thorns saith Christ so is my beloved among the daughters By thorns we understand the worst and best of men even all that are destitute of the grace of God for the best of them is as a bryer and the most upright of them as a thorn-hedge Mich. 7. 4. 2 Sam. 23. 6. 2. I know that she may be called a lillie amongst thorns also because she meets with the pricks of persecution Ezek. 2. 6. chap. 29. 24. 3. she may also be thus termed to shew the disparitie that is betwixt hypocrites and the Church Luk.
8 14. Heb. 8. But this is not all the saved are compared to a lillie among thorns to shew you that they are but few in the world to shew you that they are few and rare for as Christ compares her to a lillie among thorns so she compares him to an apple-tree among the tres of the wood which is rare and scarce not common Thirdly they that are saved are called but one of many for though there be threescore queens and fourscore concubines and virgins without number yet my love saith Christ is but one my undesiled is but one Song 6. 8. 9. according to that of Jeremiah I will take you one of a city Ier. 3. That saying of Paul is much like this know you not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize 1 Cor. 9. 24. but one that is few of many few of them that run for he is not here comparing them that run with them that sit still but with them that run some run and lose some run and win they that run and win are few in comparison of them that run and lose They that run in a race run all but one receives the prise let there then be threescore queens and fourscore concubines and virgins without number yet the saved are but few Fourthly they that are the saved are compared to the gleaning after the vintage is in wo is me said the Church for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruit as the grape gleanings after the vintage is in Mich. 7. 1. The gleanings what 's the gleanings to the whole crop and yet you here see to the gleanings are the saved compared 't is the devil and sin that carry away the cart-loads while Christ and his ministers come after a gleaning But the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim are better then the vintage of Abiezer Jud. 8. Them that Christ and his ministers glean up and binde up in the bundle of life are better then the loads that go the other way you know it is often the cry of the poor in harvest poor gleaning poor gleaning And the rainisters of the Gospel they also cry Lord who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed Isa. 53 1. When the prophet speaks of the saved under this metaphor of gleaning how doth he amplify the matter Gleaning grapes shall be left says he two or three berries in the top of the upper most bough four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof saith the Lord. Isa. 17. 6. Thus you see what gleaning is left in the vineyard after the vintage is in two or three here four or five there Alas they that shall be saved when the devil and hell have had their due they will be but as the gleaning they will be but few they that go to hell go thither in clusters but the saved go not so to heaven Matt. 13. 30. Mich. 7. wherefore when the prophet speaketh of the saved he saith there is no cluster but when he speaketh of the damned he saith they are gathered by clusters Revel 14. 18. 19. O sinners but few will be saved O professors but few will be saved Fifthly they that shall be saved are compared to jewels And they shall be mine saith the Lord in the day that I make up my jewels Malachi 3. 13. Jewels you know are rare things things that are not found in every house Jewels will lie in little room being few and small though lumber takes up much In almost every house you may find brass and iron and lead and in every place you may finde hypocritical professors but the saved are not these common things they are Gods peculiar treasure Psal. 35. 4. wherefore Paul distinguisheth betwixt the lumber and the treasure in the house there is saith he in a great house not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth and some to honour and some to dishonour 2. Tim. 2. 20 here is a word for wooden and earthy professors the jewels and treasure are vessels to honor they of wood earth are vessels of dishonour that is vessels for destruction Rom. 9. 21. Sixthly they that shall be saved are compared to a remnant except the Lord had left in us a very small remnant we should have been as Sodom and should have been like unto Gomorrah Isa. 1. 9. A remnant a small remnant a very small remnant O how doth the holy Ghost word it and all to shew you how few shall be saved every one knows what a remnant is but this is a small remnant a very small remnant So again sing with gladness for Jacob and shout among the chief of the nations publish ye praise ye and say O Lord save thy people the remnant of Israel Jer. 31. 7. What shall I say the saved are often in Scripture called a remnant Eâ—r 9. 8. 14. Isa. 10. 20 21 22. chap. 11. 11 16. Ier. 23. 3. Ioel 2. 32. But what 's a remnant to the whole piece what 's a remnant of people to the whole kingdom or what 's a remnant of wheat to the whole harvest Eightly the saved are compared to the tithe or tenth part wherefore when God sendeth the prophet to make the hearts of the people fat their ears dull and to shut their eyes The prophet asketh how long to which God answereth until the cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses with ut man and the land be utterly desolute and the Lord have removed man far away and there be a great forsaking in the middest of the land but yet as God saith in another place I will not make a full end in it shall be a tenth so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof Isae 6. 10. 11. 12. 13. but what 's a tenth what 's one in ten and yet so speaks the holy Ghost when he speaks of the holy seed of those that was to be reserved from the Judgment and observe it the fatning and blinding of the rest it was to their everlasting destruction and so both Christ and Paul expounds it often in the new Testament Matt. 13. 14. 15. Mar. 4. 12. Luk. 8. 10. Joh. 12. 40. Acts. 28. 26. Rom. 11. 8. So that those that are reserved from them that perish will be very few one in ten A tenth shall return so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof I shall not add more generals at this time I pray God that the world be not offended at these but without doubt but few of them that shall put in their claim for heaven will have it for their inheritance which will yet further appear in the reading of that which follows Secondly therefore I come more particularly to shew you that but few will be saved I say but few of professors themselves will be saved for that is the truth that the text doth more directly look at and defend Give me therefore thy hand good
reader and let us soberly walk through the rest of what shall be said and let us compare as we go each particular with the holy Scripture First 't is said The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vinyard as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers as a besieged citie Isa. 18. The vineyard was the Church of Israel Isa. 5. 1. the cottage in that vinyard was the daughter of Zion or the truly gracious amongst or in that Church a cottage God had but a cottage there but a little habitation in the Church a very few that were truly gracious amongst that great multitude that professed and had it not been for these for this cottage the rest had been ruined as Sodom Except the Lord of hosts had left in us in the Church a very few they had been as Sodom v. 9. wherefore among the multitude of them that shall be damned professors will make a considerable party Secondly for though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea a remnant shall return a remnant shall be saved Isa. 10. 22. Ro. 9. 27. for though thy people Israel whom thou brought'st out of Egypt to whom thou hast given Church-constitution holy laws holy ordinances holy prophets and holy covenants thy people by seperation from all people and thy people by profession though this thy people be as the sand of the sea a remnant shall be saved wherefore among the multitude of them that shall be damned professors will make a considerable party Thirdly Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them Jer. 6. 30. the people here under consideration are called in verse 27. Gods people his people by profession I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people that thou maiest know and try their way what follows They are all grievous revolters walking with standers reprobate silver the Lord hath rejected them In chapter â— ver 29. they are called also the generation of his wrath for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath This therefore I gather out of these holy Scriptures that with reference to profession and Church-constitution a people may be called the people of God but with reference to the event and final conclusion that God will make with some of them they may be truly the generation of his wrath Fourthly In the 5. of Isa. you read again of the vinyard of God and that it was planted on a very fruitful hill planted with the choicest vines had a wall a tower a wine-press belonging to it and all things that could put it into right order and good government as a Church but this vinyard of the Lord of hosts brought forth wild grapes fruits unbecoming her constitution and government wherefore the Lord takes from her his hedge and wall and lets her be â—roden down reade Christs exposition upon it in Matt. 2. and 33. c. look to it professors these are the words of the text for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able Fifthly Son of man said God to the Prophet the house of Israel is to me become dross all they are brass and tin and iron and lead in the midest of the furnace they are the dross of silver Ezek. 22. 18. God had silver there some silver but it was but little the bulk of that people was but the dross of the Church though they were the members of it but what doth he mean by the dross why he looked upon them as no better notwithstanding their Church-membership then the rabble of the world that is with respect to their latter end for to be called dross it is to be put among the rest of the sinners of the world in the judgment of God though at present they abide in his house Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross therefore I love thy testimonies Psal. 119. 119. God saith of his saved ones he hath chosen them in the furnace of affliction The refiner when he putteth his silver into his furnace he puts lead in also among it now this lead being ordered as he knows how works up the dross from the silver which dross still as it riseth he putteth by or taketh away with an instrument and thus deals God with his Church there is silver in his Church I and there is also dross now the dross are the hypocrites and graceless ones that are got into the Church and these will God discover and afterwards put away as dross So that it will without doubt prove a truth of God that many of their professors that shall put in claim for heaven will not have it for their inheritance Sixthly It is said of Christ his â—an is in his hand and he will throughly purge his floor and will gather his wheat into his garner but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire Mat. 3. 12. 1. The floor is the Church of God O my threshing and the corn of my floor said God by the prophet Isa. 21. 10. to his people 2. The wheat are those good ones in his Church that shall be undoubtedly saved therefore he saith gather my wheat into my garner 3. The chaff groweth upon the same stalk and ear and so is in the same visible body with the wheat but there is not substance in it wherefore in time they must be severed one from the other the wheat must be gathered into the garner which is heaven and the chaff or professors that want true grace must be gathered into hell that they may be burned up with unquenchable fire therefore let professors look to it Seventhly Christ Jesus casts away two of the three grounds that are said to receive â—â—e word lâ—k 8. The stony ground received it with joy and the thorny ground brought forth fruit almost to perfection indeed the high-way ground was to shew us that the carnal while such receive not the word at all but here is the pinch two of the three that received it fell short of the kingdom of heaven for but one of the three received it so as to bring forth fruit to perfection look to it professors Eighthly The parable of the unprofitable servant the parable of the man without a wedding garment and the parable of the unsavory salt do each of them ju 〈…〉 ie this for truth Matt. 25. 24 25 chap. 22. 11 12 13. chap. 5. 13. that of the unprofitable servavt is to shew us the â—â—â—th and idleness of some professors that of the man without a wedding-garment is to shew us how some professors have the shame of their wickedness seen by God even when they are among the children of the bridgroome and that parable of the unsavory salt is to shew that as the salt that hath lost its savor is fit for nothing no not for the dunghill but to be troden under the foot of men So some professors yea and great ones too for this