Jerusalem what ever it Costs him Therefore said he in his Answer to his Disciples What mean you to Weep and to Break my heart As much as if he should say what mean you to be thus earnest to hinder me from the Work of the Lord away with all your Entreaties and away with all your Perswasions for I am more afflicted and wounded in heart at the Consideration of your perswasions in this Case than I am at the Consideration of all my Sufferings at Jerusalem For I would have you to think that I am Ready not onely to be Bound but also to Dye at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus Oh that this valiant Spirit of Pauls were but Seated and Grounded in the hearts of all Professors at this Day how would it Glorifie God and make his Truth and Gospel shine in the World and mightily amaze and astonish the hearts of our Enemies and exceedingly Engage the Lord to Crown us speedily with Victory and Deliverance Therefore now let us seriously weigh these things and lay them to heart And let us Rouse up our Dull Spirits and be Valiant for God and the more our Adversaries increase in their Rage and Fury against us the more let us increase in our Zeal and Courage for Christ and let us Remember the Lord is with us and for us and if we continue Faithful to him he will never leave us nor forsake us But continually Support us and Comfort us and in his due time deliver us out of all our Troubles and Afflictions Therefore to conclude this point Let us be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his might and take unto our selves the whole Armour of God That we may be able to stand and withstand in this evil Day That so having fought a good Fight and having finished our Course and kept the Faith we may at length receive that Crown of Righteousness and that Eternal weight of Glory which is laid up for all those that love the Appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ I have done with this point of Doctrine and shall now come to the last Branch of the Text wherein is comprehended the third and last Observation which I raised from the words I shall now endeavour to Manage and Prosecute that as the Lord shall direct me Therefore I proceed and say That it is the good pleasure of Almighty God to provide and prepare a Kingdom for his People The Lord hath so much Love and Affection for his People as that he takes Delight and Pleasure in their Glory and Happiness therefore he will be sure to have so much Care and Tender Respect towards them as to provide a Reward for his Flock And their Reward shall be no less than a Crown and Kingdom I say it is the good Pleasure of Almighty God to provide an Eminent Reward for his People yea to prepare a Kingdom for his despised little Flock Fear not little Flock for it 's your Father's good Pleasure to give you the Kingdom Though possibly now they may not be counted worthy of a poor contemptible Cottage by the Men of the World yet the Lord himself will one Day count them worthy of a Crown and Kingdom though now it may be they are not counted fit to have a being in the World yet the LORD will one Day count them fit to have a Being in a Glorious Kingdom though now it may be they are so much despised by the World as that they are not counted worthy to dwell amongst Sinful Men upon Earth yet they are so much honoured by the Lord as that he will one day count them worthy to dwell with Glorious Angels in Heaven though now it may be they are poor and despised and trampled under Foot yet they shall one Day be Rich and Honourable and sit upon Thrones Though now it may be they are cloathed with Reproach and covered with shame yet they shall one Day be cloathed with Majesty and Crown'd with Glory though now it may be they are tossed to and fro and have no certain dwelling place yet they shall one Day enjoy a City which hath Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God Here 's a Glorious Portion laid up in store for the poor despised Flock of Christ Here 's that which will abundantly make them amends for all their Sorrow and Travel in their Earthly Pilgrimage though now possibly they are counted the filth and the off-scouring of the World yet the very poorest and meanest of God's People shall one day be promoted and advanced to an Honourable Kingdom I say a Kingdom shall one Day be the Portion of the poorest and meanest of Gods People yea even those that are the most despised and most abused are no less than Heirs of a Kingdom they have it now in promise and they shall assuredly one Day have it in possession But for the better Confirmation of this Glorious Truth I shall endeavour to give you some Scripture-Testimonies which strongly bear witness thereunto See one in Mat. 25.34 Then shall the King say to them on his right hand which is his little Flock being then Separated from the Goats Come ye Blessed of my Father A Glorious Invitation indeed he doth not onely invite them to come But come ye BLESSED Why what 's the matter Wherein doth their Blessedness consist See the next words and you shall find Inherit the KINGDOM prepared for you from the Foundation of the World Herein doth their Blessedness consist and herein are they Blessed Persons indeed It was the good pleasure of Almighty God to provide and prepare a Kingdom for them now they are called to come and possesse it therefore this is one clear Scripture Testimony to prove the Truth of this Proposition namely That it is the good pleasure of Almighty God to provide and prepare a Kingdom for his People See another in Mat. 5.10 Where our Saviour Christ speaks this Language Blessed are they which are Persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the KINGDOM of Heaven Mark Blessed are they which are PERSECUTED for Righteousness sake Though in a PERSECUTED State yet in a BLESSED State though in troubled Condition yet in a happy Condition Why so How doth it appear that they are Blessed in a Persecuted State Why here 's the business there is a Kingdom-Portion prepared to make them amends for their Suffering-Portion therefore though they may be Persecuted and Reproached and evil spoken of yet their Condition is blessed and happy Because their Reward shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven Alas now we are but strangers and Pilgrims Travelling towards our Fathers house and we must expect to meet with many Rubs and difficult steps in our Journey we must expect to meet with many Storms and bitter Blasts in our way to Heaven and to climb over many troublesome stiles before we come to the Land of Rest But when we come home to our own Country and Arrive at our continuing City Then we shall
see in vers 4. And I say unto you My Friends Be not afraid of them that kill the Body and afterwards can do no more For the Lord Jesus Christ know right well that his Disciples would be exceedingly hated by the World and that they would meet with implacable Enemies and Adversaries which would oppose them with great force and cruelty in their journey towards Heaven Now as a means to Establish them in the Truth and to arm and fortifie them against the terrour of these implacable Opposites he spreads several Considerations before them from vers 4. to vers 13. And at length sums up all into this Exhortation and Encouragement Fear not little Flock for it 's your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom Secondly By Fear in this Text is intended thus much viz. That we must not be afraid of wanting Wordly things relating to the outward Man as Food and Raiment or any thing that may be convenient and necessary for us for many times the World proves such a snare and such a clogge to Christians as that it fetters and intangles them so as they cannot run with patience the Race that is set before them and is ready many times to pull them back again into Egypt when they are Travelling towards Canaan And to make them with Demas forsake the Communion of Saints in the wayes of God and to close in with their Affections to the Transitory things of this present World And many times Christians are very much filled with Fears and Cares and Perplexities of Spirit upon the account of this World fearing that Holiness and Purity being to much opposed by the World will tend too much to Poverty And if they continue and persevere in that Path they shall not be able to find Temporal Subsistance And so under that Consideration they are incident many times to corrupt themselves and close in with any thing for Profit and Advantage Therefore it is the great Care of our Saviour Christ to arm and fortifie them against this kind of Fear also As you may read at large from vers 13. to the words of my Text and there he comes to fasten his Concluding Injunction and backs it with a very Glorious Encouragement Fear not what ye shall do for Food and Raiment do but you continue faithful in your Duty towards God and to be sure he will continue faithful in his Mercies towards you and whatever Crosses and Losses you may sustain in this World yet be of good chear keep on your way the time will come when you shall largely be made amends for all when you shall receive a hundred fold for every particular lofs For it 's your Pather's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom The Words being chus Opened and Explained I shall now come to deduct something from them by way of Doctrinal Observation hoping it may through the Blessing of God be of some use unto our Souls Observ 1. That Christ's Flock is but a little Flock A Mean Contemptible Despised little Flock Little in comparison of that great Multitude which runs the contrary way Mean and Contemptible in the eyes of the World in comparison of the many Mighty and the many Noble which belongs to the Prince of this world There are but few will come and abide in the Fold of Jesus because he will not grant his Flock Liberty to feed upon the fat Pastures of worldly Pleasures nor glut themselves with Sin and Iniquity There are a great many that will run freely and swiftly into the Path of Iniquity but there are but a few that will run so freely into the high-way of Holiness and continue in the Paths of Righteousness Again there are a great many that will take abundance of Care how they may make themselves Rich and how they may grow Great in the World but there are but a few that will take so much Care how they may please the Lord or how they may make themselves Rich in Faith and good Works that so they may be great in the Kingdom of Heaven And again There are a great many that follow the Devi in the broad-way to Destruction but there are but a few that follow Jesus Christ in the narrow-way to Salvation For strait is the Gate and narrow is the Way which leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it And again many are Called but few are Chosen So that it seems Christ's Flock is but Little and the Children of Election are but few Well But what 's the Reason that Christ's Flock is so Little And what is the Reason that there are so few runs the narrow-way to Salvation What is the Reason or Cause may some say why so few are saved I shall therefore through the Assistance of God offer to your Consideration some few Reasons or Grounds why I judge so few belong to the Flock of Christ First Negatively What is not the Reason I do not believe that the Cause lyes at all in God but altogether in Man It is not because God hath determined or absolutely Decreed that no more should be saved as some weakly imagine for God desires not the Death of a Sinner nor delights in the Destruction of any man but rather Grieves and Mourns over Persons for their Iniquities and for destroying themselves and is troubled and sorrowful that they will not turn unto him that they might be saved Psal 81.13 Jer. 4.14 compared with Chap. 13.27 and 44.4 Luk. 19.41 42 c. So that it 's clear from all these Scriptures together with many more which might be given That it is not because God hath absolutely Decreed before the Foundation of the World that no more should be Holy and partake of Salvation for he is not willing that any should perish but that ALL should come to the knowledge of the Truth and be saved Neither is it because Christ Died for no more and so they want a Saviour for this is most certain That Christ Died for All 1 Tim. 2.6 Heb. 10.10 for EVERY Man Heb. 2.9 for the VVorld Joh. 3.16 4.42 yea for the whole VVorld â— Joh 2.2 Therefore glad Tydings is to be Preached to every Creature and all are Commanded to Repent and Believe the Gospel so that it cannot be because Christ Died for no more for Christ Died as well for those that deny him and for those that perish as for those that believe in him and are saved 2 Pet. 2.1 1 Cor. 8.11 Neither is it because God with-holds the Means of Salvation from any man for God affords sufficiency of Means to all People for their Salvation and puts every one into a Capacity to perform that which he requires at their hands and God never did nor never will Condemn any for that which they could not do but alwayes for that which they would not do Psal 81.11 Luk. 13.34 Joh. 5.40 Therefore it is not because God with-holds the Means of Salvation from any for he never Requires that from any
man to Salvation which they are not in a Capacity to perform nor he never Commanded Impossibilities Well having now shewed you Negatively VVhat is not the Reason I shall also endeavour to shew you Affirmitively VVhat is the Reason why the Flock of Christ is but Little And the First Reason I judge may be this Reas 1. Because the Reward which Christ hath promised to his Flock is in another World it is not to be found here below on this side the Grave but it is to be enjoyed in another Life And men generally love present things and are much taken with that which is of a present enjoyment Therefore it is that most men are so Careful and so desirous after the things of this World because the Benefit and Pleasures of the things here below are of a present enjoyment but the Benefit of Holiness and the Reward of God's People is not to be enjoyed in this Life but in the World to come Therefore it is that men do so little regard the Service of God because the reward seems to be at a great distance from them For I am very much perswaded That if the Reward of Godliness were but of a present Enjoyment there would be abundance of Godly People and Christ's Flock would be the greatest Flock in the World As for Instance Go to a Covetous Worldly-man and Exhort him to Charity and desire him to lay out great part of his Estate for the good of the Poor and tell him That he shall be sure to Receive a Hundred fold for it about a Week or a Fortnight hence and if he were but really Convinced of the Truth of this I am perswaded he would presently become a Charitable Person and would easily be drawn to part with his Money willingly upon this account But if you should go to him and bid him Sell all that he hath and give it to the Poor and come and follow Christ and tell him That he shall be sure to have Treasure in Heaven and be eminently Rewarded at the Resurrection of the Just Oh! how little would this be Regarded by him Oh! How little would this prevail upon him Oh! The Reward seems to be such a great way off that he durst hardly part with his Money upon such terms Yea I am perswaded that he would be so far from embracing your Counsel as that he would rather be troubled and grieved at you for speaking such Language to him So that I judge this may be one great Reason why the Flock of Christ is but Little and the Number of the Elect but few But Secondly Another is this Reas 2. Because the Flock of Christ must expect to meet with Troubles and Tribulations in their journey towards Heaven They must expect to carry a bitter Cup of Afflictions along with them in their Christian Progress They must not expect to spend their dayes in Pleasure and Pride of Life to promote their own Honour and Reputation in the World but rather Troubles and Afflictions Tryals and Temptations must be their daily Portion in this Life Yea All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution Therefore this I also judge to be another Reason why so few follow Jesus Christ because his way is attended with Sufferings and men generally seek after their own Pleasure Ease and Worldly Advantage and do not love to Travel in a Suffering-Path nor walk in a Way that is attended with Straits and Difficulties Now you shall find most men are very willing to be saved if they could be saved upon their own terms by walking in Pleasures and in the vanity of their own minds but they are not willing to go through Sufferings to Salvation they are not willing to go to Heaven upon God's terms nor to follow the Lord Jesus Christ no further than it consists with their own carnal Interest Advantage Most men are willing to are the Death of the Righteons but they are not willing to live the Life of the Righteous They are very willing to receive the Reward of the Righteous but they are not willing to Run the Race of the Righteous They are very willing it may be to Reign with Christ and wear the Crown but they are not willing to suffer with Christ and bear the Cross They are very willing to accept of the Crown of Glory and drink Wine with Christ in his Kingdom but they are not willing to accept of the Crown of Thorns and drink Vinegar with Christ upon the Cross Therefore this may be one great Reason why so few walk in the way of the Gospel because it is attended with Persecution Therefore sayes Christ There are some which hear the Word and receive it with joy and keep it and continue in it for a while so long as the world smiles upon them but when Tribulation or Persecution ariseth for the Gospels sake then presently they fly off and leave the Gospel and by and by are angry and offended with it for bringing Troubles upon them Matth. 13.20 21. So that it 's the Tribulation of the Gospel that many times keeps Persons at a distance from the Gospel and makes many fall away from it after Professing of it And this we can too clearly evidence and witness by experience at this day That many Persons could very willingly follow Jesus Christ in his own way and walk in the true Order of the Gospel according to God's Appointment but for fear of Trouble and Persecution they dare not For they think if they should embrace the Truth as it is in Jesus and walk in Obedience thereunto then they may come to lose the Love it may be of Father or Mother or some other Relations and all their former Friends will now turn to be their Enemies and hate them And those that use to speak well of them formerly will now Mock and Reproach them and do them what mischief they can and so by this means they may come to expose themselves to a great many straits and difficulties And therefore under this Consideration they stand off at a distance and dare not obey the Gospel nor come into the Fold of Christ Hence it is There are many Persons that if you should say unto them and ask them Are you willing to go to Heaven and dwell with God to all Eternity in the Kingdom of Glory They will be ready to Answer Yes Oh! with all my heart It is the desire of my Soul to be with God in the Kingdom of Glory But if you tell them That they must go through much Tribulation and suffer much Persecution if they will enter into the Kingdone of God Then they will be ready to ture their backs of the Kingdom and satisfie themselves without it rather than expose themselves to so much trouble about it So that I judge this may be another great Reason why Christ's Flock is but little But Thirdly Another is this Reas 3. Because there are but a very few great Men that
the Truth upon the Earth and take the Tribulations of the Gospel chearfully and joyfully yea we shall make our very Enemies admire at us if we have but a right spirit upon this account when they shall see and take notice how we are troubled on every side and how we are Persecuted and Afflicted and trampled under foot and yet we are chearful and full of Courage and not at all daunted nor terrified at it They must needs think there is more than ordinary in our Profession and so by that means God is exceedingly glorified and his Truth admired by his Enemies though possibly they may still obstinately and willingly oppose it yet notwithstanding they shall by this means be left without excuse and the power of the Truth shall witness against them to the praise and glory of God and to the peace and comfort of our own Souls Therefore saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 4.14 If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory resteth upon you On their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified There is also a notable passage of our Saviour Christ concerning Peter John 21.18 19. Verily verily saith Christ unto Peter when thou wast young thou girdest thy self and walkest whither thou wouldst but when thou shalt be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldst not This spake he signifying by what death he should GLORIFIE God So that it seems those that have so much Courage as to suffer chearfully for the Name of Christ and to lay down their lives for the sake of Christ their Death and Sufferings will tend much to the Glory of God and to the Eternal Blisse and Happiness of their own Souls Therefore when our Enemies shall threaten us and command us to speak nor preach no more in the Name of Jesus nor Meet any more to Worship God in his own way Let us with Peter and John ask them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye And let us tell them plainly to their faces That we must obey God rather than Men Therefore we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard and we cannot but practise the things which we have learned and received in Command from Jesus Christ There are two notable and very remarkable Examples worthy of our Consideration which I shall briefly urge for our Encouragement in this matter The one is concerning the three Children in Dan. 3.16 17 18. Oh! that there were but such a spirit amongst the People of God now in this day of Sions bleeding Well but let us a little consider how they behaved themselves the King had made a Decree and given forth Command That all People should fall down and Worship the Golden Image which he he had set up and whosoever would not should the same hour be cast into the midst of a Burning fiery Furnace Well but Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they broke his Decree and disobeyed his Command and was not at all afraid of his fury nor terrified at the punishment and when they were called to an account before the King for this their Disobedience to his Decree he proffered them Pardon upon condition of their now complying But if not they must expect to feel the effects of his Rage and Fury in the Fiery Furnace and who is that God that should deliver them out of his hands Well now it is come to this with them they must either Turn or Burn they must either Bow to the Image or be Burnt in the Fire they must either conform with their Bodies to the Kings Command or else expose their Bodies to the Burning Flames Well and how did they behave themselves in this Case See the story and you shall find it at large Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the King O Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the Burning Fiery Furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King But now Herein consists chiefly the Excellency of their Spirit in the next words therefore mark But if not whether God will deliver us or no Yet be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the Golden Image which thou hast set up Here 's an admirable Spirit for the service of God full of Confidence and Resolution for the Glory of the true and living God As much as if they should say If it be so O King do thy worst we matter it not our God whom we serve is able to deliver us and he will deliver us from thy Rage and Cruelty O King therefore we are not careful to answer thee in the Business And further we testifie unto thee O King that whether he will deliver us or not deliver us whether we Burn or not Burn come Life or come Death yet we would have thee to know O King that we will not serve thy Gods nor we will not worship the Golden Image which thou hast set up Oh therefore now let us endeavour to bear upon our hearts the Example of these three Famous Children or rather Champions of the most High God That we may through their example be provoked and Encouraged to hold fast the Name and Faith of Jesus Christ even in the worst Condition that may befall us that so being Faithfull unto Death we may receive the Crown of Life and sit with Christ in his Throne and Kingdom Another Example that I shall take notice of for our Consideration and Encouragement is concerning Paul in Acts 21.13 which indeed is very Remarkable and worthy of our observation and practise Paul it seems had some Work to do for God at Jerusalem and was much pressed in Spirit to go and bear witness to the Name of Jesus there But it seems before he went he was foretold in a Figure how he should Suffer when he came there and how he should be delivered into the hands of Persecutors for there was a certain Prophet named Agabus came down from Judea and when he was come among the Disciples he took Pauls Girdle and bound his own hands and Feet with it and Prophesied in the Spirit that so the Jews at Jerusalem should bind the Man that owed that Girdle and should deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles And when the Disciples heard that they began to perswade him and earnestly entreat him not to go to Jerusalem and laid before him the Consideration of his Sufferings thinking to prevent him of his Journey Well but what doth Paul do in this Case Doth he neglect the Work of the Lord to avoid his Sufferings Doth he forbear to go because of Danger No it s almost Death to him to think of forbearing and leaving the Work of the Lord undone at