caft down; for "there is hope of a tree, though it be cut down, that it will sprout again," Job xiv. 7.

5.

That this diftinguished remnant fhall be the stay and fup port of the public intereft: The holy feed fhall be the fubftance thereof. Where we may notice two things.

ift, A description of God's little remnant; they are the holy feed.

2dly, The bulk they bear in the land, or in God's view, however little account may be made of them by the men of the world; though they be the drofs and off-fcouring of the earth, in the view of men'; yet, before the Lord, they are the substancé thereof.

For the firft of thefe, the defignation given unto God's rem nant, the holy feed. Some by the holy feed understand Christ; who is fometimes called the feed of the woman, the feed of Abraham, fometimes the feed of David according to the flesh, and he, before his coming in the flesh, was the substance or ftrength of the Jewish nation; that nation was preferved from utter ruin till the Meffiah fhould come of it; hence is that of the prophet, If. lxv. 8." Deftroy it not, for a bleffing is in it;" and when once that bleffing was come, in whom men were to be bleffed, the nation and church of the Jews was foon deftroyed and cut off. Others, by the holy feed, understand the godly remnant that were among that people. These are fre quently in fcripture spoken of under the notion of feed: Pfal. xxii. 30. "A feed fhall ferve him, it fhall be accounted to the Lord for a generation." And If. liii. 10. "He fhall fee his And then they are called a holy feed; because they are renewed after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness; feparate from the reft of the profane world, who were carried down the ftream both of perfonal and public pro

vocarion.

2dly, Notice the bulk and room this holy feed bears in God's view, however much they may be defpifed in the eyes of the world; they are the fubftance thereof, that is, of the church and nation. Some think, that in this laft claufe the former metaphor of a tree is still continued. The body of the Jewish nation is compared to a tree, common profeffors unto the leaves of a tree, which in the autumn and winter are blown away in a ftorm, and driven hither and thither with the wind; but the holy feed, or God's remnant of believers, or fanctified souls, are like the trunk or ftem of the tree, which remains firm against the winter-wind of temptation, error, defection, or perfecu-, tion; and having the life and fap of the reality of the grace of God in them, fprouts and flourishes again in the fpring, when the winter is over and paft. Some read the words, VOL. II.

A a

The

The holy feed fhall be the stay, strength, or fupport thereof; being an allufion, as they think, unto the elms and oaks which grew on either fide of the causeway, or raised way, that led from the king's palace unto the temple, 1 Kings x. 5. which served to fupport the terrace, or raifed way, that the earth might not crumble away from it: fo the truly godly in the nation are the ftay and fupport of it; the pillars of the land, that keep things together, that the whole nation and church do not go to utter

ruin.

OBSERVE, "That God's remnant, or his holy feed, in a church or nation, are just the ftrength and substance thereof." The holy feed fhall be the fubftance thereof.·

The doctrine being the fame with the words, I fhall not stay upon the proof or confirmation thereof: fcriptures to this purpose will occur in the profecution, which hall, through the Lord's affiftance, attempt in the following order and me thod.

1. Give fome account of God's remnant, as contradiftinguished from the rest of the world.

II. Why called a feed.

III. Why called a holy feed.

IV. What may be imported in their being called the fubftance of a land or church.

V. In what refpect they are fo. And,

VI. Apply.

I. The first thing is, to give fome account of this remnant, who are here called a holy feed, in contradistinction from the rest of mankind.

1. then, They are a people of a diftinct pedigree from the rest of mankind. It is true, indeed, as to their natural birth, they are come of the fame common stock of the first Adam, and therefore" children of wrath, even as others :" but as to their fpiritual or fupernatural birth, they are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God," John i. 13.; hence it is that they are ready to fay unto God, If. Ixiii. 16. " Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and lfrael acknowledge us not; thou, O Lord, art our father."

2. This remnant, this holy feed, they are a people under a diftinct government from the rest of mankind. All mankind by nature are under the government of the devil, the god of this world; and their lufts are the laws by which they walk,

Eph.

Eph. ii. 2. 3. But God's remnant, through the power of grace, have broken their covenant with hell, and agreement with death, and caft themfelves under the government of a God in Chrift, faying, "O Lord, other lords befides thee have had dominion over us but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, and he will fave us."

3. They are a people that ftand upon a quite different foundation than the reft of the world do. Others are building upon the fand of general mercy, of an empty profeffion, common providences, common graces, the works of the law, or fome fuch fandy foundation; they are building their hope of acceptance and falvation there; but God's remnant have quit all thefe foundations of fand, and taken their only ftanding upon the clear and cleanly foundation that God hath laid in Zion, viz. an incarnate God, doing and dying, and interceding in the room of guilty finners: here, I fay, they fet down their stand for eternity, faying, "This is my reft;" and indeed" another foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jefus Chrift."

4. They are a people of a different fpirit from the rest of mankind: 1 Cor. ii. 12. "We have received, not the fpirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God." It is faid of Caleb and Joshua, that they were of another spirit than the rest of the common Ifraelites. God's holy feed have received the Spirit of their everlafting Father, according to his promife, "I will put my Spirit within them, and caule them to walk in my ftatutes.

5. They travel a different road from the rest of the world. The men of the world travel in the broad way that leadeth to deftruction, the road of open profanity, the road of mere morality, or the road of legality at beft, which all lead down to the chambers of death; but God's remnant walk in the strait and narrow way that leadeth unto life, the cleanly way of obedience, of faith: If. xxxv. 8. " An highway fhall be there, and a way, and it fhall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it fhall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, fhall not err therein." And hence it comes,

6. Laftly, That they make a quite different end, and have a different landing at death from the reft of mankind : Pfal. xxxvii. 37. 38: mark the perfect man, and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace. But the tranf grefffors fhall be destroyed together, the end of the wicked 1hall be cut off."

II. The

II. The fecond thing propofed was, to inquire why this rem nant is here called the feed: The holy feed fhall be the fubftance thereof. Now, for clearing this, you would confider, that all mankind are divided into the feed of the woman, and the feed of the ferpent; the feed of Chrift, and the feed of the devil. Chrift himself is the feed of the woman, and the feed of Abraham, in a way of eminence and excellency; but out of this one feed has fprung a numerous iffue and offfpring promised to him of his Father, If. liii. 10. "He shall fee his feed, he fhall prolong his days;" and this is the feed that is here fpoken of. And they are called a feed, or his feed, for these reasons.

1. Because they owe their very being to him, not fimply as a God Creator, but as a God Redeemer. You know children derive their natural being from their parents, they are just pieces of themfelves; fo believers owe their fpiritual being to a God in Christ, they are partakers of the divine nature, and the feed of God abideth in them; and in this refpect they "are his workmanship, created in Chrift Jefus."

2. Because of the likeness that they bear unto him. As a man's feed and offspring bears a refemblance unto him; fo here, as we are the feed of the first Adam, and creatures in this world, we bear a fimilitude unto him; but as we are the feed of the fecond Adam, we will bear a refemblance unto him; "We beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the fame image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

3. They are his feed in refpect of their dependence on him. A man's children, or offspring, depend on him for food, clothing, counfel, and every thing: fo believers depend upon a God in Chrift for their all, they trust in him, and call upon him for their daily bread, for fupplies of grace, light, and life; and accordingly out of his fulness they receive grace for grace."

4. Their being his feed implies, that they are his family and household in this lower world; hence, fays the apostle," We are no more aliens and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the faints, and of the household of God." They have got a name and a place, in his houfe and within his walls, even an everlafting name, that fhall never be cut off.

5. It implies that they are the heirs of his eftate. A man's feed they heir his inheritance; fo believers, being the feed of Chrift, they are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Chrift Jefus," heirs of a large fortune indeed, even "an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away:" he fettles all by the covenant on them.

Before

Before I fhut up this head, I will give you a few remarks concerning this feed of Christ.

1. then, This feed is but a remnant of mankind, as you fee in the text, In it shall be a tenth ; but like the tithe, or tenth part, which is but little in refpect of the rest of the field; hence called "a little flock; a few names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments." But yet,

2. For all that, it is a numerous feed, abfolutely confidered in themselves: Kev. vii. 9. they are called " an innumerable company, which no man could number." As the natural feed of Abraham are faid to be like the fand of the sea for multitude; fo the fpiritual feed of Abraham, who are the feed of Christ alfo, they will be an innumerable company, when they are all gathered together unto Chrift; therefore compared unto the drops of the dew.

3. They are an honourable feed; and no wonder, for they are the feed of the "King of kings, and Lord of lords, and each one of them refembles the child of a king," yea they are "made kings and priefts unto God." "Ever fince thou waft precious in my fight, thou hast been honourable."

4. They are a coftly feed unto our glorious Redeemer; for they are the purchase of his blood, "redeemed not with corruptible things, as filver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ."

5. They are a flourishing and fruitful feed; they fhall be called the "trees of righteoufnefs, the planting of the Lord, in whom he will be glorified." They abide in Christ, and Christ abides in them; and they who are thus "planted in the houfe of the Lord, they flourish in the courts of our God," Pfal. xcii.

6. They are a troubled and perfecuted feed in this world. You know the hufbandman's feed-corn it must be threshed; the cart-wheel is made to pass over it; the ox and the afs were made to tread upon it; hence that command, "Thou fhalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn." So the feed of Chrift, they are frequently threshed with the flail of affliction: “ Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven." God fets the oxen, the affes, the brute beafts, the men of this world, who, like beafts, "have their portion in this life, to trample upon his feed, that they may be prepared and fitted for the Mafter's ufe; for by thefe afflictions he "makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the faints in light."

7. Though they be a troubled and perfecuted feed, yet they are a very durable feed, "His feed fhall endure for ever," Pfal. lxxxix. 28. 29. Chrifl's feed, and his throne, they

run