Secondly, Other scriptures do abundantly confirm it: The doctrine of Jesus Christ was such as made many of his disciples say, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” John vi. 60. And from that time many of them “went back, and walked no more with him.” A young man, a ruler, who came to him with great affection, was so cooled and discouraged at hearing of the cross, and selling of all he had, that he went away sad and sorrowful, Mark x. 21, 22. The apostles themselves having heard him say, that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,” “they were exceedingly amazed [at this doctrine], saying, Who then can be saved?” Matt. xix. 24, 25. As for his life and actions, they were such that not only did the Gadarenes beseech him to depart out of their coasts (Matt. viii. 34), but his own friends and kinsfolks were about “to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself,” Mark iii. 21. His sufferings were such, that all his disciples did forsake him, and went away every man to his own home again. And what shall be the condition of those that will follow him? If we will indeed be his disciples, he hath forewarned us to sit down first, and count our cost, Luke xiv. 28. He hath told us, It will cost us no less than the bearing of the cross, the forsaking of all, yea, which is hardest of all, the denying of ourselves, John v. 26; ii. 33. We must even cease to be ourselves, and cannot be his, except we leave off to be our own, Matt. xvi. 24. And what shall the world think of us all this while? “Know ye not (saith James) that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God,” James iv. 4; “Let no man deceive himself (saith Paul). If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise,” 1 Cor. iii. 18. What do ye think now? Are not all these hard sayings for flesh and blood to hear? I might add much more of this kind.
Thirdly, Thus it must be, to set the higher value upon Christ, and upon the lot of God's children: “Will I offer burnt-offerings to the Lord my God (saith David) of that which doth cost me nothing”? 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. And shall our lines fall to us in pleasant places? or shall we have a goodly heritage which doth cost us nothing? How should the preciousness of the saint's portion be known, if we lose nothing that is dear to us to come by it? Phil. iii. 7, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ;” Matt. xiii. 44-46, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls; who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Jacob's family must give away all the strange gods, and all their ear-rings also (Gen. xxxv. 4), before they get leave to build an altar unto the Lord at Bethel; Abraham must get him out of his country, and from his kindred, if he will come unto the land which the Lord will show him; Moses must forsake the court of Egypt, if he will take him to the heritage of Jacob his father; the disciples must leave ships, nets, fathers, and all, if they will follow Christ. And as they who come in sight of the south pole lose sight of the north pole, so, when we follow Christ, we must resolve to forsake somewhat else, yea, even that which is dearest to us.
Fourthly, If it were not so, there should be no sure evidence of our closing in covenant with Christ; for then, and never till then, doth the soul give itself up to Christ to be his, and closeth with him in a covenant, when it renounceth all other lovers, that it may be his only. Shall a woman be married to a husband with the reservation of another lover, or upon condition that she shall ever stay in her father's house? So the soul cannot be married to Christ, except it not only renounce its bosom sins, lusts, and idols, but be content also to part with the most lawful creature-comforts for his sake: “Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house,” Psal. xlv. 10. The repudiating of creature-comforts, and a covenant with Christ, go hand in hand together, Isa. lv. 2, 3. Nahash would not make a covenant with the men of Jabesh-Gilead, [pg 7-008] unless they would pluck out their right eyes, intending (as Josephus gives the reason) to disable them from fighting or making war; for the buckler or shield did cover their left eye when they fought, so that they had been hard put to it, to fight without the right eye. This was a cruel mercy in him; but it is a merciful severity in Christ, that he will make no covenant with us, except the right eye of the old man of sin in us be put out.
O then, let us learn from all this how miserably many a poor soul is deluded, imagining, as the Jews did, that Christ shall even satisfy their carnal and earthly desires, and that the way of salvation is broad and easy enough. If the way of Christ be such as you have now heard, then surely they are far from it, who give loose reins to the flesh, as David did to Adonijah (1 Kings i. 6; Eccl. ii. 10); who have not displeased their flesh at any time, nor said, “Why hast thou done so?” who do not withhold their heart from any joy, and whatsoever their eyes desire, they keep it not from them; who are like the “wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure” (Jer. ii. 24), and like “the swift dromedary, traversing her ways” (ver. 23); who cannot endure to be enclosed into so narrow a lane as ministers describe the way to heaven to be. These are like fed oxen, which have room enough in the meadows, but they are appointed for slaughter, when the labouring oxen, which are kept under the yoke, shall be brought home to the stall and fed there. Was it not so with the rich man and Lazarus? Luke xvi. 25. Nay, and many of the children of God fall into this same error, of making the way of Christ broader and easier than ever Christ made it, and taking more liberty than ever he allowed; therefore mark ye well our Saviour's words: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” Matt. vii. 13, 14. There be but few that seek it, and yet fewer that find it, but fewest of all that enter in at it.
But how doth all this agree with Matt. xi. 30, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light;” and 1 John v. 3, “His commandments are not grievous.”
I answer, 1. That is spoken to poor [pg 7-009] souls that are labouring and heavy laden; a metaphor taken from beasts drawing a full cart,—which both labour in drawing, and are weary in bearing. But my text speaketh to those that are like undaunted heifers, and like bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke. The same Christ is a sweet and meek Christ to some, but a sour and severe Christ to others.
2. Christ's yoke is easy in comparison of the yoke of the law, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear.
3. As wisdom is easy to him that understandeth, so is Christ's yoke easy, and his burden light, to those that are well acquainted with it, and have good experience of it: “When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shall not stumble,” Prov. iv. 12: this is spoken of the way of wisdom. But he saith, “When thou goest,” not “when thou beginnest,” or “when thou enterest.” If thou art but once upon thy progress, going and running, thou shalt find the way still the easier, and still the sweeter.
4. Mark Christ's own words: It is a yoke, though an easy one, and a burden, though a light one: a yoke to the flesh, but easy to the spirit; a burden to the old man, but light to the new man. He poureth in wine and oil into our wounds: oil to cherish them, and wine to cleanse them. He can both plant us as trees of righteousness, and at the same time lay the axe to the root of the old tree: he will have mercy upon the sinner, but no mercy upon the sin; he will save the soul, but yet so as by fire.
And thus much, in general, of the difficulty and hardship of the way of Christ,—the great point held forth in this text; which I have the rather insisted upon, as a necessary foundation for those particulars which I am to speak of. Were this principle but rightly apprehended, it were easy to persuade you when we come to particulars.