69z THE CHURCH COMPARED To A FLOCK oF SHEEP. Book IV. METAPHOIL their Cud; •nd being faved from the Vehemency of the fcorch:ng Sun, th~y With the greater Alacri– ty return to rheJr l.)a.H:ure. PARALLEL. thefT!, Cant. i. 7· in the midfl: of which, faith Mr. /linfworth, Chrifl: giveth fweet Repofe unto his Sheep; they have Peace in him, <hough Tribu– lation in the VI orld, John xvi. 33· '[bou jhalt not hurtgtr, nor tbirfl, nCllber jha/1 the ll<at ilor Sun fmite them, &c. lfa. xlix. 10. Under the Shadow of thy Wings will l make my Ref 1 we, wztil thefe Calamities be o<:Jcr-pofl, Pjizl. lvii. 1. Hence Chrift is faid to be as the Sha– dcw of a great Rock in a u·enry Land, !fa. xxxiii. 2. X I. Sheep have many Enemies, X I. So God' s poor Flock have many flrong and aS L10ns, Wolves, Be~rs, Dogs, cruel Adverlanes, who would foon teJr them in Foxes, and the like ; and all rheir pieces, and urtcrly dcfl:roy them, were it ndt for Safety flands only in the Care of the precious Love ar.d Care oi Jefus Chrifl:. We (·.eir Shepherd: O:hen~ife thefe are killed all the Day long, and accounted as Sbeefr cruel Bcafts, befides Men, who for the Slaughter, Rom. viii. 36. hence called the kill ffi<lnY in a Night, would foon }'iock of Slaughter, Zech. 11. 4· tear them ro pieces. XI!. A Flvck <>f Sheep love to feed and he down togtlher; ir is a difficult Thing to icaner and di– vide them. Jl' they be frightened b y an Enemy, or purfued by Dogs, Foxes, or Wolves, and fhould be feparated , they would loon get to– gether ag<1in. XII. So the Saints of God do greatly love to affemb!e together: 'Fbey that feared the Lord,fpake often one to another, &c. Mal ii:. 16. 'fley that fear thee, faii11 Da~·id, will be glad w.ben they fte me, becauje I bave hoped in tby Word, Pfal. cxix. 74· It is a hard Thing to divide Chritt's choice Sheep, their 1-Irans art knit· one tu another, as Jonaihan's wc.s to David's. And if wichd Me11, like Dogs and Wolves, do endeavor to fcatter them by Perfecurion, they will foon ger together again; as is !ignified, /Jnd being let go, they we11t to tbeir own Company, /Ills iv. 23. Xlll. A Flock of Sheep are XIII. So the Godly and Faithful in Chrifl:jefns fubjeCl: to take Soil and I· ilth, and are very fubj<Cl:, as they are in themfelves, to con– . therefore have need of wafhing. traCl: much Guilt and Pollmion, Sin being of a defiling Nature; and therefore it is they are wath– ·ed by their Shepherd: If I wajh thee not, thou bafl no part in me, John xiii. The be– lieving CorinthiaiiS are faid to be wafhed, they were before very unclean and filthy: Such were fome ofyou, bl!t ye are wojhed, but )'e are fanclified, but ye are juftijicd, m the Name •f o;,r L ord JeJi's, and by the Spirit of our God, who bath loved us, and wafhed tlS from our Sins in his own Blood, I Cor. vi. 1 I. Rev. i. 5· XIV. Sheep will livewhereorher XIV. So the Gncere and truly gracious Soul Beafis cannot ; they will live upon can Ji ve by Faith in a Time of \Vant •nd Scar– very hard and barren Commons, city, when the Hopes of other Men die, and pine where theGrafs is exceeding fhorr, awJy. And though the World frown upon them, and yet feem very well contented. and they cannot fee which way by an Eye ofSenfe the) fhould ful,filt, yet they make a <>ood Shift to live upon the Providence of God, who carerh for them, and are very c;nrented and fatisfied with fuch Pafl:,lle as God is pleafed to put them into. /1/tho'ugh the Fig– 'free jha/1 not blof!om, neith:r Jhal! Fmit be on the Vine; the L abor of the Olive jha/1 fail, and tbe Fields jha/1 )•;e/d 1lO Meat; the Hocks /hall be cut offfr.om the Fold, and the-te fhalt be 1lo Herd in the Stall: Yet will I rejoice in tbe Lord, and joy in the God of my Sal– . vation, !-lab. iiJ. 1 7, 18. XV. There are often times in a Flock of Sheep fame Goats. XV!. Sheep are very fruitful; they alllltiply in a little T ime ex– ceedingly, though many be killed by Butchers. XV. So in the Church of Chrifl: are fome evil and corrupt Members, or fuch who are none of Chrifl's Sheep, Hypocrites, fuch as are unlound at Heart, who are alia calkd Goats, Nlatt. xiii. 47· XVI. So the Church of God is fruitful; from a fe w they have often increafed to a great Multi– tude, /J[/s xii. 40, 41. Nay, though there have .been many of them Oaughtered by the perfecuting Butchers of Babylo11, yet th _y have rather multi– plied the more; from whence that l'vL•xim grew, '{he Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church. XVII. So
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